Family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer will present his book “The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice” at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. 

A newly released book from the Great Smoky Mountains Association compiles written accounts from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s archives spanning more than 230 years. 

If you’re looking for a fun, yet informative read, then I’ve got one for you. Jim Buchanan’s “Historic Tales of Sylva and Jackson County” (The History Press, 2020, 125pgs).

A friend offered me a book recently, one that I found mildly intriguing.

“The Novel, Who Needs It?” (Encounter Books, 2023, 152 pages) is the latest work by Joseph Epstein, master of the essay, author of 31 books, 86 years old, and still going strong.

This year, the women’s basketball team of Christendom College, a small school in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, includes a forward, Catherine Thomas, who has averaged 27.7 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. Those are outstanding percentages in any league, no matter its size.

Mrs. Patrick Campbell, famed Victorian actress, was renowned for her sharp wit. On hearing about a sexual relationship between two contemporaries, she supposedly remarked, “My dear, I don’t care what they do, so long as they don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.”

Time to clear the decks — or in my case, the desk.

For whatever reason — to escape our poisonous political atmosphere; take refuge from onerous work; push away some black thoughts; reignite my love of words and language — I have read a raft of books in the last six weeks. Much of my reading occurs in spurts, 15-minute breaks from my obligations, cup of coffee or tea at the elbow, sprawled in a lawn chair in the backyard oblivious, or at least feigning oblivion, to the shouts and scissor-legged running — where in heaven’s name do they get the energy? — of half-a-dozen grandchildren.