Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is likely as familiar to Americans as any other story on the planet.

Ron Rash’s new novel “The Caretaker” (Doubleday, 2023, 252 pgs.) is much different than his previous novels.

I have always been a fan of old books. There’s a comfort I find in between the pages of a story written long ago, a sort of escape from my modern-day life.

People who don’t like crime fiction should try Tana French. That’s what I’d heard, so when a copy of “The Searcher” (Viking, 2020, 464 pages) came my way, and a free weekend came as well, the two were a natural fit. 

“Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me” was a song and a skit on television’s “Hee-Haw Show.”

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).

Every once in a while, readers come across a book that by itself constitutes a small library. Anthologies of history, art, children’s stories, poetry: open up those hefty tomes, some of which might serve as doorstops or as weights for light lifting, and you’ve got a smorgasbord of information at your fingertips. 

“The artist is first and foremost the reflection of his times, and his ability

to stay a few steps ahead of the rest of the society is his contribution to his society.” 

— Phil Ochs

“Where’s the rest of me?” cries out Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan) when he awakens from surgery in the 1942 film “Kings Row” and finds an evil doctor has amputated both his legs.

Some writers put out shoot-em-up thrillers, like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. Some of us experience catharsis through such books by watching justice served up close and personal.