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Wednesday, 22 August 2012 14:01

Notable authors to read from novels in progress

Two award-winning authors, Dawn Gilchrist-Young and Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, who are also English teachers at Swain County High School, will each read from their novels, which are currently in progress, at 7 p.m. on Aug. 28 at the Jackson County…
Wednesday, 22 August 2012 14:00

Descendent tells haunting story of Bobby Dunbar

Blue Ridge Books will host Margaret Dunbar Cutright, the co-author of A Case for Soloman: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping that Haunted a Nation, at 3 p.m. Aug. 25, and a separate private reception will be held later that day.…
Wednesday, 22 August 2012 13:58

A book a day keeps the bad grades away

It’s that time of year when yellow buses roll down country roads, when children disappear from the stores and streets between the hours of eight and three, when teenagers can be seen entering school buildings bent forward like soldiers beneath…
Wednesday, 22 August 2007 00:00

Put your money on Saratoga Fleshpot

Murdering Americans by Ruth Dudley Edwards. Poisoned Pen Press, 2007. 236 pages. Skewering the politically correct codes of our colleges and universities can be great fun, particularly for those writers and readers who are not yet humor-impaired. Like the Babbitts…
Wednesday, 29 August 2007 00:00

Burning down the house

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke. Algonquin Books, 2007. 305 pages. Some writers come to seem like friends to their readers, even like family. Oddly enough, in my own case these writers are not…
Wednesday, 15 August 2012 14:34

Rare book harkens back to a different time

Ramblin’ in Rabun is a reprint of a delightful book that was written down in Clayton, Ga., some 40 years ago. I have always been a fan of books that were compiled by some imaginative journalist who became profoundly interested…
Wednesday, 15 August 2012 14:31

Reading Room news briefs

Real-life mystery talks focus Margaret Dunbar Cutright, author of A Case for Soloman, will be at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville at 3 p.m. on Aug. 25. Cutright’s book tells the spellbinding story of one of the most celebrated kidnapping…
Wednesday, 05 September 2007 00:00

A taste for noir

Wild to Possess and A Taste for Sin by Gil Brewer. Stark House Press, 2006. One of the great delights of reading is to come across an exciting, new author for the first time. Even more delightful is the realization…
Wednesday, 12 September 2007 00:00

Life in the midst of change

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. Harcourt, 2006. 192 pages A blurb on the front cover of Abigail Thomas’ A Three Dog Life: A Memoir reads as follows: “The best memoir I have ever read. This book is a…
Wednesday, 19 September 2007 00:00

Intersection of American minds

American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. Simon & Schuster, 2006. 240 pages Susan Cheever, novelist, critic, and writer of acclaimed memoirs (Note Found in a Bottle and Home Before Dark) shifts her interests to the field of literary biography in American…
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 13:43

Book event includes Asian food tasting

An author reading, book signing, and Vietnamese food tasting with Deanna Klingel, will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, in the meeting room of the Macon County Library in Franklin. Klingel’s book is Bread Upon the Water, based…
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 13:42

Novelist to discuss local struggles

Author Wayne Caldwell will discuss his novel Cataloochee at 6 p.m. on Aug. 9 in the Haywood County Public Library auditorium in Waynesville. Caldwell’s talk is titled “The Genesis of a Novel,” and he will talk about how he attempted…
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 13:40

Crisp prose and humor keep novel moving

In her latest novel, Starting From Happy (ISBN 978-1-4391-02185, $24), Patricia Marx, author of Him Her Him Again The End of Him and a staff writer for the New Yorker, gives the reader an off-beat comedic look at relationships, work,…
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 00:00

What is wrong with teaching in the US?

In 1991, 30-year veteran and master teacher John Taylor Gatto resigned immediately after being named “Teacher of the Year” in New York. A number of educators and concerned parents took note — especially after the disillusioned teacher’s reasons for resigning…
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 00:00

Chick lit, chauvinism and modern Ireland

Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. Knopf, 2007. 352 pages. Recently my sister asked me if I had met anyone, which is a coded inquiry for “anyone of interest in terms of dating.” I told her that my schedule and my…
Wednesday, 03 October 2007 00:00

Not such a safe place

The Pesthouse by Jim Crace. Nan A. Talese, 2007. 255 pages “Let’s drop the big one and see what happens.” This refrain from Randy Newman’s song “Political Science” could serve as the tagline for the whole realm of apocalyptic fiction.
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:59

Author to present her debut short story collection

Stephanie Powell Watts will read from her new collection of short stories, We Are Taking Only What We Need, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2 at City Lights Bookstore. Most of the stories in this collection are set in North…
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:59

Appalachian authors to read from compilation book

Contributors of the Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel Literary Journal will visit City Lights Bookstore at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 3, to share their featured work. The journal focuses on Appalachian writers with the most recent volume being co-edited…
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:58

Bestselling author Kay Hooper to visit City Lights Bookstore

Rutherford County resident and New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper will visit regional bookstores this week to read from her new book, Haven. Hooper will appear at Blue Ridge Books and News in Waynesville at 6:30 p.m. on Aug.…
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:58

Book sale goes into second week

The Haywood Friends of the Library‘s Annual Book Sale will go into the second week on Aug. 3-4. On Friday, Aug. 3, all books left from the first three-day sale will be half price. The following day, there will be…
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:55

New religions and powerful women aplenty

Well, kind hearts, here we are in the fourth of a five-book series.  At the risk of being accused of indulging in extravagant praise, I must begin with words like “amazing, astonishing,” and yes, even “spellbinding.” All of George R. R.…
Wednesday, 10 October 2007 00:00

An undefined culture gets its own guide

Emo. Emo. Emoooooo. Occasionally the word (pronounced, I believe, I-moo) pops up on the Internet or jumps out of some conversation overheard on the street, snagging the ear and eye, but I keep ignoring it. The word and concept belong…
Wednesday, 17 October 2007 00:00

A Storm in the Big Easy

The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. Simon & Schuster, 2007. 384 pages. Fans of James Lee Burke’s bayou detective, Dave Robicheaux, have doubtless wondered not if, but how well, Burke would incorporate Hurricane Katrina into his next novel…
Wednesday, 24 October 2007 00:00

Forgotten poetry illuminated by Dark Horses

Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems by Joy Katz and Kevin Prufer.  University of Illinois Press, 2007. 232 pages Dark Horses: Poets on Overlooked Poems (University of Illinois Press, 2007) might seem at first glance merely another collection in the…
Wednesday, 31 October 2007 00:00

Lessons from the jungle

The Airmen and the Headhunters: A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesman and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War II by Judith Heimann. Harcourt, 2007. 304 pages. The generation of Americans who fought in World War II, the Americans…
Wednesday, 07 November 2007 00:00

Paging all book lovers

Readers of the Smoky Mountain News are acutely aware of the writing and storytelling talent here in Western North Carolina. Several writers for this paper have seen their work published, and a score of local authors have seen their books…
Wednesday, 14 November 2007 00:00

Carter through the eyes of a friend

Prophet From Plains: Jimmy Carter and His Legacy by Frye Gaillard. University of Georgia Press, 2007. 144 pages In the prologue to Prophet From Plains: Jimmy Carter and His Legacy (University of Georgia Press, 2007), Frye Gaillard writes that his…
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 00:00

Of Fathers and Wardrobes

Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress by Russell Smith. Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. 256 pages. For many years Bill Cosby has passionately sought to shore up the deteriorating American family. Both “The Cosby Show” and Cosby’s best-selling Fatherhood…
Wednesday, 28 November 2007 00:00

An English breakdown

Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey. Melville House Publishing, 2006. 154 pages. Lovers of the English language have always suffered the pistol-whip cuts of poor spelling, dreadful grammar, and…
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 13:50

Special children’s story time

Curtis Sikes and Sheena Kohlmeyer will present their new children’s book, The Heart of a King, at 11 a.m. on July 28 at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.   The Heart of a King tells the story of a young lion…
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 13:50

Medical thriller writer comes to library in Sylva

The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will host author Dennis Murphy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 31, for an introduction to his novel, Brain Waves, and a discussion of the process of publishing a novel. The book deals…
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 13:48

An erudite look into the cultural wars

Some years ago, a local artist mounted a painting in a local art show in which he painted Christ with pink paws and Easter bunny ears. “This is going to upset some people around here,” the painter told me. I…
Wednesday, 05 December 2007 00:00

Reading for the holidays

Books are the ideal gift for the Yuletide season. Think of the many advantages in giving a book to a friend or loved one for Christmas. Books provide hours of pleasure. They don’t add inches to the waistline. Books travel…
Wednesday, 12 December 2007 00:00

A look at the dark side of the season

The Christmas Curmudgeon is available at: Barnes &Noble.com, the Western Carolina Internet Café in Dillsboro, or directly from the author at James Cox, P. O. Box 272, Whittier, NC, 28789. Send check ($14.95 plus postage) and your name and address.…
Wednesday, 12 December 2007 00:00

The way of the sword

The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter. Simon & Schuster, 2007. 384 pages. Eight seconds. Eight seconds, according to Stephen Hunter in his latest novel The 47th Samurai (13:978-0-7432-3809-0, $26), is the amount of time it takes a human being to…
Wednesday, 19 December 2007 00:00

Christmas traditions from the Moravians

Moravian Christmas in the South by Nancy Smith Thomas. The University of North Carolina Press, 2007. 184 pages Easter is the religious holiday that most North Carolinians would associate with the Moravian Church. In Winston-Salem, brass bands travel about the…
Wednesday, 26 December 2007 00:00

When Florida was wild

Crackers in the Glade: Life and Times in the Old Everglades edited Betty Savidge Briggs. University of Georgia Press, 2007. 127 pages. Crackers in the Glade: Life and Times in the Old Everglades (University of Georgia Press, ISBN 13-978-0-8203-3043-3) tells…
Wednesday, 02 January 2008 00:00

What? Me read?

Letters to My Son on the Love of Books by Roberto Coltroneo. Ecco Press, 1998. 151 pages. In the Dec. 24 issue of The New Yorker, Caleb Crain addresses the decline of literacy and the increasing disinterest in reading in…
Wednesday, 09 January 2008 00:00

Big as a mountain

The Encyclopedia of Appalachia.  University of Tennessee Press, 2007. 1864 pages Sometimes good things come in big packages. And the Encyclopedia of Appalachia is big. More than 1,800 pages of finely-printed prose make up this boxlike book. I’m not sure…
Wednesday, 16 January 2008 00:00

Another mystery mines our fascination with the past

The Machiavelli Covenant by Allan Folsom. Forge Books,2006. 560 pages The last 20 years have seen the creation of a special niche within the genre of ÒSuspense NovelsÓ as more and more books have appeared featuring a tiny group of…
Wednesday, 23 January 2008 00:00

Evolution In a Nutshell — the book

Evolution In A Nutshell by Martin Malloy. Trafford Publishing, 2007. 302 pages Evolution is one of those wonderfully fiery topics which, when broached at parties or family gatherings, can convert otherwise reasonable friends and relatives into raging maniacs, shouting, slamming…
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 00:00

The peril of complacency

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen. Doubleday, 2007. $22.95 Web 2.0 is killing our culture.
Wednesday, 06 February 2008 00:00

Life chronicles

How To Make A Journal Of Your Life by D. Price. Ten Speed Press, $9.95. Ant Farm by Simon Rich. Random House, $12.95. Many people have attempted at least once in their lives to keep a journal. Whether they use…
Wednesday, 13 February 2008 00:00

Poetry dying for readers

In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus: New and Selected Poems, 1955 by X.J. Kennedy. — The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. 224 pages Although tens of thousands of American citizens today may call themselves poets, the fact is that poetry…
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 00:00

Rash's Chemistry "notable"

Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash. Picador, 2007. 230 pages This remarkable collection of short stories has already been named one of the 15 “notable books” of 2007 by the Story Prize Committee — an award that is presented…
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 00:00

Close encounters

Skywalker: Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Walker. Indigo Publishing, 2007. 224 pages. Bill Bryson’s account of his time on the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods, revealed that the chief amusements of the Trail are not…
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 00:00

Taking back America for Christianity

God’s Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America by Hanna Rosin. Harcourt, 2007. 304 pages Every once in a while a book sees print that inadvertently tells the unwashed what the elite thinks of them. Massa waltzes…
Wednesday, 18 July 2012 13:28

Big Haywood Friends book sale begins July 28

The Friends of the Haywood Library annual book sale begins at 9 a.m. on July 26 and runs through Saturday, July 28. This year’s event has the largest collection of nonfiction books ever assembled for this sale. The books are…
Wednesday, 18 July 2012 13:28

Mystery writer to appear at Shakespeare & Co.

Frank Foster will sign copies of his recently published thriller, Catch a Falling Knife, at Shakespeare & Co. Books from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. Foster, a summer resident of Highlands, will speak about his novel and his writing,…
Wednesday, 18 July 2012 13:26

Martin earns mention alongside Tolkien

I apologize. About a month ago, when I concluded my review of Clash of Kings, I noted that I would not continue reviewing all of the books in the Songs of Ice and Fire series (I believe that there are…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:08

Poet to read from new collection

Local poet and artist Terry Michelsen will visit City Lights Bookstore in Sylva to read from her collection of poetry Soaring on Wings of Word at 6:30 p.m. July 13. Soaring on Wings of Word is a compilation of six…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:07

The Highlands Biological Station releases naturalist’s guide

The Highlands Biological Station has released Highlands Botanical Garden: A Naturalist’s Guide, a guide to the garden, with maps, historical overview and profiles of a generous selection of its hundreds of native plants. Established in 1962, the garden is a…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:07

Book launch for Carden’s play

City Lights Bookstore and the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will celebrate of the release of the book edition of Gary Carden’s new play, Outlander, at 6:30 p.m. July 14. Outlander is a full-length play about Horace Kephart and…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:06

Book discussion series ends with Austen’s ‘Persuasion’

The Friends of the Haywood County Library is hosting a discussion the last book in the Jane Austen “Let’s Talk About It” series, Persuasion, from 4-6 p.m. on July 19 at the Waynesville branch auditorium. Books are available at the…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:04

Frank’s characters confront moral uncertainties

What would you do if your teenaged daughter was assaulted, beaten and shot almost to the point of death, and raped? Would you hunt down the assailants? And what would you do if you were a physician and an ardent…
Wednesday, 04 July 2012 12:01

Ron Rash to be featured on ‘North Carolina Bookwatch’

Ron Rash and his latest novel The Cove will be featured in the season premiere of “North Carolina Bookwatch” on UNC-TV. The program, hosted by D.G. Martin, will be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. July 6 with a repeat showing at…
Wednesday, 04 July 2012 12:00

Civil War literature series continues in Waynesville

Friends of the Haywood County Library’s “Let’s Talk About It” series will continue with The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara from 4-5:45 p.m. July 18 at the Waynesville branch auditorium. Shaara drew inspiration from his own life experiences for the…
Wednesday, 04 July 2012 11:59

Retired Miami police detective to speak in Sylva

Author Marshall Frank will give a talk at the public library in Sylva at 7 p.m. on July 12 based on his books and experiences as a police officer. Frank’s most recent book, a thriller entitled The Upside to Murder,…
Wednesday, 04 July 2012 11:53

Dig deep and ‘The Father’s Tale’ will reward

Michael O’Brien’s The Father’s Tale (Ignatius Press, ISBN 978-0-89870-815-8) has more strikes against it than Babe Ruth on a bad afternoon. Here is a doorstop of a novel, weighing in at nearly three pounds, more than one thousand pages long.…
Wednesday, 27 June 2012 14:02

Snake handlers riveting but cliché

“... and these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poisons, it will not…
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:39

Rivers in WNC bear native names

Long before the first Europeans arrived, the Cherokees developed ceremonials that focused on the spiritual power of running water. When ethnologist James Mooney arrived on the Qualla Boundary in the summer of 1887, those beliefs, which he described as the…
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 14:53

A page turner with a WNC connection

In Frank B. Robinson’s Thirty Days Hath September (ISBN 978-1-4701-6725-7), a man with a murky past, Alex Madrid, finds temporary employment as a security guard at tiny Black Creek College in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The year is…
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 14:52

Ann Hite to speak in Sylva

Novelist Ann Hite, author of the acclaimed debut novel Ghost on Black Mountain will speak at 7 p.m. June 28 at the Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva. Ghost on Black Mountain is told in the voices of five…
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 14:51

Coffee with the Poet

John Quinnett will be featured at City Lights Bookstore’s Coffee with the Poet series at 10:30 a.m. June 21. John Quinnett is a Swain County poet who works with haiku and tanka poems. Attendees are encouraged to bring one or…
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:46

Watch out! Bigfoot sighted in WNC

I’d never read a horror-fiction genre book in my life. That is, until I found myself at an author’s event last month at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville talking with Eric Brown about his recent book about Bigfoot (Sasquatch) set…
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:45

Contributing writers of ‘27 Views of Asheville’ to speak

Four of the contributing writers to the book 27 Views of Asheville will read their selections at 3 p.m. June 16 at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. The authors that will be reading are Wayne Caldwell, Susan Reinhardt, Heather Newton…
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:44

Andrea Ford discusses the benefits of the Enneagram

Holistic healer Andrea Ford will discuss the wisdom of the Enneagram at 2 p.m. June 16 at the City Lights Bookstore. The Enneagram is a road map to understanding your personality in a new way. It is based on nine…
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:43

Poetry reading in Highlands

Poets Shannon Tharp and Whit Griffin will be reading their recently published works at 7 p.m. June 15 at the Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore in Highlands. Griffin is a native of Memphis, Tenn. He met Scaly Mountain’s poet Jonathan Williams…
Wednesday, 06 June 2012 13:13

Sequel picks up enticing tale

Although A Clash of Kings, the second in George R. R. Martin’s epic series, has a multitude of unforgettable characters, none is more fascinating than the grotesquely disfigured Sandor Clegane. Shortly before the final attack on King’s Landing, a great…
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 13:30

Rash, Frazier featured at author lecture series

Ron Rash, Charles Frazier and Wayne Caldwell will be among a group of southern writers to speak at the Summer Authors Speakers Series in the Manheimer Room at UNC-Asheville’s Reuter Center. The sessions are from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on…
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 13:29

Great Smokies Writing Program comes to Waynesville

UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program is offering “A Feast of Memories,” a course in Waynesville that will help local writers hone their skills in poetry and prose. The event will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. June 5,…
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 13:28

Finding the right word

In his Foreword to Robert Hartwell Fiske’s The Best Words (ISBN 978-193333882-8, $14.94), Richard Lederer reminds us of Mark Twain’s much-quoted declaration: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – ’tis…
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 12:39

Bob Plott and Harold Littleton to visit City Lights Bookstore

City Lights Bookstore will host discussions and book signings for two novelists — Bob Plott and Harold Littleton — during the next two weekends. Plott will present his latest book Colorful Characters of the Great Smoky Mountains at 6:30 p.m., May…
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 12:34

Adding the stories of James Still to the Appalachian canon

For those who don’t know, James Still (1906-2001) is one of the most beloved and influential of all Appalachian writers. He left an enduring legacy of novels, stories, and poems during his nearly 70-year career. He is known formally and…
Wednesday, 16 May 2012 13:10

UNC Asheville to host writing program in Waynesville

Local writers will have the opportunity to hone their skills with UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program summer workshops in poetry and prose. This year, a class will be held in Waynesville. Visit www.agc.unca.edu/great-smokies-writing-program to see descriptions of other courses…
Wednesday, 16 May 2012 13:09

Friends of the Library to host annual meeting

Friends of the Haywood Public Library will hold its annual meeting at 7 p.m. on May 24 at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Guest speaker will be Ann B. Ross, author of the Miss Julia series. Her latest book…
Wednesday, 16 May 2012 13:07

George R.R. Martin’s world captures readers

Readers, be forewarned. If you willingly enter the fanciful world of George R. R. Martin’s Songs of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones, you may find yourself “enchanted” like some hapless knight in Arthurian legend. In other words, you…
Wednesday, 09 May 2012 13:09

Youmans returns to City Lights

Former Cullowhee resident Marly Youmans will return to City Lights Bookstore at 6:30 p.m. on May 16 to read from her latest book A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage. “Marly Youmans’ new book is a vividly realized, panoramic novel…
Wednesday, 09 May 2012 13:09

WCU professor’s book focuses on German cavalry

David R. Dorondo, associate professor in Western Carolina University’s Department of History, is author of the newly published book Riders of the Apocalypse: German Cavalry and Modern Warfare, 1870-1945. In the 336-page work, Dorondo examines the history of the German…
Wednesday, 09 May 2012 13:08

WCU’s Leah Hampton wins 2012 Betts Fiction Prize

Leah Hampton, an English instructor and associate director of the Writing and Learning Commons at Western Carolina University, is the winner of the 2012 Doris Betts Fiction Prize competition for her story “The Saint.” Hampton will receive a cash prize…
Wednesday, 09 May 2012 13:06

Dusting off a few worthwhile volumes

Spring-cleaning remains a ritual in many households. We throw open windows, rid closets, shelves, and drawers of unwanted items — books, papers, video cassettes, sweaters that haven’t seen daylight in 10 years, Aunt Matilda’s time-blighted photographs of zinnias — wash…
Thursday, 03 May 2012 01:43

Blue Ridge Books will celebrate National Children’s Book Week

Blue Ridge Books will host a full day of activities to celebrate National Children’s Book Week starting at 10 a.m., May 12, with an event entitled Animal Surprises. Dawn Cusick, owner of Early Light Books and author of a half…
Thursday, 03 May 2012 01:42

Jenny Bennett to read

Jenny Bennett will read from Murder at the Jumpoff on at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. Set in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Murder at the Jumpoff, follows the investigation of of the…
Thursday, 03 May 2012 01:41

A Memoir of a Journey in Healing

Usui and Karuna Reiki Master Deborah Lloyd will visit City Lights Bookstore at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, to present and discuss her book, Believe and it is True. Lloyd’s book is a transformative, healing journey and focuses on…
Thursday, 03 May 2012 01:36

‘Raylan’ is business as usual for Leonard

Like a growing number of FX addicts, I have become a devoted fan of “Justified” (Timothy Olyphant and Sylva’s own Nick Searcy) that airs each Tuesday night at 10 p.m. This fast-moving, smart-talking, funny and violent show represents the culmination…
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 13:15

Joan Byrd to discuss the art of Harvey K. Littleton

City Lights Bookstore will celebrate the launch of Harvey K. Littleton’s A Life in Glass with Western Carolina University’s ceramics instructor Joan Byrd at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 27. Byrd was a member of Littleton’s first glassblowing class at…
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 13:14

Waynesville library to host “Let’s Talk About It” series

Merritt Moseley, a professor at University of Carolina-Asheville, will lead a series of discussions surrounding the works of beloved author Jane Austen at the Waynesville library. A novelist whose reputation has never declined, critic Brooke Allen called Austen “a woman…
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 13:13

Thomas Thibeault to read from novel ‘Balto’s Nose’

Thomas Thibeault will be at City Lights Bookstore to read from his historical thriller, Balto’s Nose, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. Glenn Carnehan, a WWII veteran, spent the war tracking down treasures looted by the Nazis and in…
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 13:13

Library looks for teen feedback

The Teen Advisory Group will meet at 3:30 p.m. on April 30 at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Teens are invited to come share their ideas about materials of interest to them, including what sort of programming they’d like to see…
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 13:11

The tales of two Joyces

In The Guys in the Gang and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-4697-7768-9, $20.95), James T. Joyce and James T. Joyce — that doubling-up is not a misprint — have shared, perhaps inadvertently, the secrets to a fulfilling life. Like a fine…
Wednesday, 18 April 2012 12:28

Light-hearted take on life’s last lingering years

I remember, I remember The house where I was born, The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn; He never came a wink too soon Nor brought too long a day; But now, I often wish the…
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 13:52

Ron Rash to read from ‘The Cove’

Ron Rash will read from his new novel, The Cove, at 2 p.m., April 15 in the community room of the Jackson County Library. Laurel Shelton and her brother live in a cove considered by many to be cursed. Crops fail,…
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 13:51

Jenny Bennett to present new book ‘Murder at the Jumpoff’

Blue Ridge Books will host Jenny Bennett, author of Murder at the Jumpoff, at 3 p.m. on April 21. Bennett’s book tells the story of Donald MacIntyre, an avid off-trail hiker, who fails to return from a quest to bushwhack…
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 13:51

Participate in World Book Night

City Lights Bookstore in Sylva is hosting an event at 6:30 p.m., April 17, for local volunteers the week before World Book Night, in preparation for the givers going out into the community. On April 23, volunteers will give away…
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 13:50

Author Micheal Rivers to read from his new ghost novel

Micheal Rivers of Whittier will be at the Jackson County Public Library at 7 p.m. on April 17 to read from his newest paranormal novel, The Black Witch. The Black Witch is an adventure tale of a ghost ship and…
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 13:47

Homegrown poet spreads her wings

Rose McLarney grew up in rural Western North Carolina, where she continues to live on an old mountain farm. Daughter to a somewhat legendary biologist who founded the international conservation organization ANAI, she is a female reflection (a generation or…
Wednesday, 04 April 2012 12:54

Ron Rash makes appearance at local bookstores

Ron Rash, bestselling author of Serena, will read from his newest novel at local bookstores April 14-15. Rash will be at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. He will read at City Lights Bookstore…
Wednesday, 04 April 2012 12:53

Rash creates new genre of mountain western

Just when we all thought that Ron Rash had taken his Southern Appalachian noir novels to the limit with Serena, he comes back with not only a topper, but creates a new fiction genre in the process. Rash’s new novel,…
Wednesday, 28 March 2012 12:37

Book signing for three mountain women

Barbara Woodall, Amy Ammons Garza and Doreyl Ammons Cain will sign books at City Lights Bookstore at 2 p.m. on March 31. The three women will share how they came to write/illustrate their books, and how they are connected. They…
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