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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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)…
Read More

Comment

 

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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

Honoring the old ways

“I make a prayer for words. Let me say my heart.” — M. Scott Momaday As the winner of almost all…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

Sitting in the sweetgrass of freedom

“I want to dance for the renewal of the world.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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,…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

Redemption and Occasional Magic: two books of inspiration
 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

 

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…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.