Reflections on spirituality, creativity and art
Sometimes a book can overwhelm us with its energy and its wisdom. Like most readers, I love when a writer,…
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Throwing punches and having some fun
Jack Reacher must own the toughest set of knuckles on planet Earth. About halfway through the latest Reacher saga, The…
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Unhappy reading vs. happy reading
Books, books, books, and more books. After a long hiatus, in the last month books have again become my daily…
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It’s National Poetry Month: Join the party!
Time to party, everyone! April is here, and along with warmer weather, blossoms and flowers, and grass grown green, April…
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Pick up a book and travel
If you are like me and have been more than somewhat stranded by the pandemic for the past year or…
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Book details atrocities in Chinese factories
Historically, and presently, the women at Masanjia experienced worse torture and degradation than men. The guards would jam and twist…
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Taking a vacation with Nicholas Sparks
February and early March were a little rough on your reviewer. We got slammed with some bad weather — snow…
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Spilling words like a house afire
News flash: Buncombe County author Wayne Caldwell is also a poet! Evidenced by his just-released collection Woodsmoke (Blair Publications, Durham)…
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Silence, devils, pollyanna and peace of mind
“What happens to people who live inside their phones?” In his short novel The Silence (Simon & Schuster, Inc. 2020,…
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Blindsided by Rachel Hollis
My sister, her husband, and a friend recently visited me for several days. Though I don’t own a television, there’s…
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An excellent history lesson
Having recently read and reviewed for the Smoky Mountain Living magazine Vicki Lane’s And The Crows Took Their Eyes, a…
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Lit-bits: a wild week with books and words
Sometimes I feel waist deep not in flood waters, troubles, quandaries, or even grandchildren, but in books, literature, literary classics,…
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A look inside a Nazi family
About 10 years ago, I was standing in the checkout line at my local Ingles. The clerk, age 19 or…
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Ginseng, family, friends and home
Many of us who read novels find ourselves in awe of authors who create a landscape and a place so…
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An earth-focused vision for the future
David Suzuki is an internationally renowned geneticist and environmentalist and is the author of more than 40 books and recipient…
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Joys and comforts of cooking: Kitchen Yarns
Before taking a look at Ann Hood’s Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food (W.W. Norton & Company, 229…
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For what would you lay down your life?
Not everyone will enjoy Michael Walsh’s Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost (St. Martin’s Press, 2020, 358…
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Life, dreams, canoes and rivers
One fond childhood memory involves a yellow fiberglass canoe and the Yadkin River. My dad, one of my younger brothers,…
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Secrets, winning friends, and ‘Ivanhoe’
All families have their secrets, but some families have deeper and darker secrets than others. In June Titus’s novel Banjo Man…
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A resolution to get back to the books
Harper Lee of To Kill A Mockingbird fame once wrote, “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved…
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Folks and faith: two books about the South
In his short essay, “Dear Santa (Again),” Rick Bragg writes, “For my big brother Sam, I would like you to…
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Honoring the old ways
“I make a prayer for words. Let me say my heart.” — M. Scott Momaday As the winner of almost all…
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Too many books, too little time: books unread but recognized
For five years or so, Nick Hornby’s Ten Years In The Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books has occupied…
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Tracing the human family tree
As someone who was an anthropology major in college and have been somewhat obsessed by the truth behind the idea…
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Helpful, innocent, sweet, informative: four reads
As I write this book review, the presidential election is one day away. Like many of my readers, I have…
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A voice of his own: the stories of Ed Stansell
So you’re a reader, a lover of books and the printed word, and if the pandemic permits, you visit your…
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Sitting in the sweetgrass of freedom
“I want to dance for the renewal of the world.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer
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Finding joy and exploring a museum
Near the beginning of Katherine Center’s novel What You Wish For (St. Martin’s Press, 2020, 309 pages), school librarian Samantha…
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Some books for the little ones, some fun for you
It’s time to put away the books About politicos and other crooks, No more fat novels for today, It’s time…
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Good reads: romance, cupcakes, and the Constitution
So why would a guy approaching 70 select for review a “Contemporary Romance” about the owner of a cupcake and…
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Digging into history: a visit to Jamestown
Right after Labor Day, my friend John and I traveled to Virginia’s Historic Triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. A paper…
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Don’t know much about history: time for a change
In mid-August, I was sitting in the waiting room of my local auto repair shop typing away on my computer…
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Lost and found in the woods
It has been said that the best place to start a story is at the beginning. With the first page…
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What if we tried thinking instead of screaming?
It’s September 2020, and you’d have to be living as an anchorite in the deserts of New Mexico if you…
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Looking back at famous Americans
Every once in a while, I’ll read a book of history and want to throw a party: bottles of champagne,…
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A train ride through Prohibition-era NC
“We are here on this earth separated from God, so that we might learn and grow.” — Jedidiah Robbins If there’s…
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Jefferson’s education, books, reading and gifts
For five years, just after we were married, my wife and I were house parents for a sorority at the…
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One long, three short: reviews and reflections
We are, at our core, remembering and story-making creatures, and stories are one of the chief ways we find meaning…
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Two for the price of one
When I find an author I like, I usually get on a roll reading several of their books. Such was…
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Why we need honest journalists right now
The ancient philosopher Diogenes used to stroll about Athens holding a lantern to the faces of those he met and…
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A story about second chances
A friend in a book club to which I once belonged disliked Anne Tyler’s novel, Saint Maybe. “I’ve read other…
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A feast for readers: A Poor Man’s Supper
The years following the Civil War brought great changes to Western North Carolina. The railroads penetrated these coves and mountains,…
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In her own words
If you’re like me and are interested in or curious about the day-to-day life and especially the early life of…
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Advice for those ‘Walking Through Hell’
Many among us have committed crimes or wronged other people, dark deeds which we regret and which may well have…
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Redemption and Occasional Magic: two books of inspiration
Many readers are familiar with his story. Johnny Cash, also known in later life as “The Man in Black,” grew…
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Writer argues that common sense is not so common
“At the heart of this wonderful book by Robert Curry is the simple belief that you as a human being…
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Story delves into illicit affair and its fallout
About halfway through Kate Russell’s My Dark Vanessa (William Morrow, 2020, 372 pages), I nearly put the novel aside. Like…
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An old book for today’s mayhem: The True Believer
Let’s take a look at fanatics, particularly political fanatics. Heaven knows there are enough of them around these days, most…
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Trailblazers & Traditionalists pulses with life
Years ago, in the parking lot of the Haywood County Public Library, I met a man in his late 20s…
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A meeting of two great minds
Looking for a reading challenge and something with a little depth to it? If so, then I’ve got the book…
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