The following literary events will take place at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

• Wayne Caldwell, author of "River Road," a poetry collection, will read at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 

When it comes to reading, I can tend to be “the bigger, the better” type reader. I search for thick novels, dive headfirst into fantasy worlds, and am never dissuaded by the word trilogy (or better yet, series).

The adage “There are no atheists in foxholes” catches our attention, but is too broad and imprecise for universal application.

Kristen Gentry and Halle Hill will read from and discuss their story collections, “Mama Said” and “Good Women,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library (Room 186) in Cullowhee.  

The Macon County Library Board has signed an overture in opposition to the Fontana Regional Library System going fine-free, a topic that came up most recently during a November meeting of the Fontana Regional Library Board but may not be raised again. 

My oldest son runs ultra-marathons from time to time, whereas for me, an ultra-marathon is staying awake from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. with just one nap. At any rate, this Christmas he gifted me with a copy of Jesse Itzler’s “Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet” (Center Street, 2016, 288 pages). 

In Brad Thor’s thriller “Shadow of Doubt” (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 2024, 368 pages), the Russians are possibly threatening a nuclear reaction to the war in the Ukraine, a scandal involving spies and treason is about to engulf France and a Russian who has defected to Norway with a massive portfolio of secrets finds himself in danger of exposure and assassination. 

I’ve always been a fan of psychology, especially when it comes in the form of self-help. Many times I have found answers I didn’t know I was looking for, or solutions that were far simpler than I expected.

Early in the 1970s, while living and working in Spain, Chen Maoping read a story in “National Geographic” about the Sahara Desert, and it captured her imagination. She became determined to live there.

“In time, maybe the land will decide.”

Scott T. Starbuck is an award-winning poet, career fisherman, climate activist and longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest. His most recent book, “Bridge at the End of the World (New and Selected Poems)” is a culmination of his major published poetic output.