A murder story unlike any other you’ve read
 

A murder story unlike any other you’ve read

In recent years, literary works that are classified as “investigative reporting” have not only become best sellers, but have lingered…
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Harper Lee’s ‘Watchman’ hits the mark
 

Harper Lee’s ‘Watchman’ hits the mark

So, Scout (Jean Louise) comes back home to Maycomb — where “everyone is either kin or almost kin”— at age…
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Discovering Rome with the help of American ex-pats
 

Discovering Rome with the help of American ex-pats

When we think of American writers living and working overseas, most of us turn to those authors who lived in…
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Manana is a shocking, dark and fantastic read
 

Manana is a shocking, dark and fantastic read

I have been waiting for this book for a long time.  Back in 1978, I read Falling Angel, which was that…
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Keats’ Roman home honors one of our great poets
 

Keats’ Roman home honors one of our great poets

It is not yet ten o’clock on this Saturday morning in late June, and already Rome’s Spanish Steps and the…
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Scotland pays homage to its writers
 

Scotland pays homage to its writers

With literary tours, literary pub crawls, monuments, plaques, and museums, Scotland honors her writers.
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Bronte sisters part and parcel of the magic of Haworth
 

Bronte sisters part and parcel of the magic of Haworth

Haworth, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.  It’s 4:30 in the morning, Sunday June 18, and I stood a few moments…
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Stratford-on-Avon: in search of ‘The Bard’
 

Stratford-on-Avon: in search of ‘The Bard’

It is mid-June in England, and the skies are a brilliant blue. Sunshine spills on the street and the clipped…
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The literary signposts will point the way
 

The literary signposts will point the way

In the opening pages of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, we meet Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who treasures his snug home…
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A fantastic collection of life-changing stories
 

A fantastic collection of life-changing stories

I have always been a Russell Banks fan, and when I look back over the last 40 years, he has…
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Ten years of soaking up great books
 

Ten years of soaking up great books

About two months ago, I began culling books from my shelves. I live in an apartment with several thousand books,…
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Soil harkens back to the Southern gothic tradition
 

Soil harkens back to the Southern gothic tradition

Some 30 years ago, I saw a disturbing film entitled “Koyaanisqatsi.” The title comes from a Hopi word meaning “unbalanced life.”…
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A place where home is an elusive ideal
 

A place where home is an elusive ideal

In the last decade, British authorities uncovered evidence of massive sexual abuse and human trafficking in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Two…
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A Mother’s Day bouquet: Ten quotes and comments on motherhood
 

A Mother’s Day bouquet: Ten quotes and comments on motherhood

Back in the days when I still believed in Santa Claus (well, actually I still believe, I just no longer…
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A withering cultural critic takes aim
 

A withering cultural critic takes aim

In Withering Slights: The Bent Pin Collection (National Review Books, 2015, ISBN 978-0-9847650-3-4, 186 pages, $24.95), Florence King demonstrates once…
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Dam politics and freedom of religion
 

Dam politics and freedom of religion

The growing threat of drought in the Southeast and the problems of “water politics” has prodded the memory of many…
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Fate and fortune sing in new novel
 

Fate and fortune sing in new novel

Spartanburg poet and nonfiction writer John Lane has broken out of his comfort zone and journeyed into the netherworld of…
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Remembering the horrors of Europe’s wars
 

Remembering the horrors of Europe’s wars

Many Americans — and I count myself among them — are often hard on Europeans when it comes to issues…
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An outlandish life makes for hilarious novel
 

An outlandish life makes for hilarious novel

Irish novelist Kennedy Marr is making millions of dollars through the sale of his books and as a Hollywood scriptwriter.…
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A story that makes one look differently at life
 

A story that makes one look differently at life

Like some other readers I know, my taste in books these last 20 years or so has shifted from fiction…
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Below ‘the line,’ it’s a world unto itself
 

Below ‘the line,’ it’s a world unto itself

I spent a week reading this novel, and each time I laid it down, I expected to find a damp…
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Book captures turn-of-the-century north Georgia
 

Book captures turn-of-the-century north Georgia

In Annaliese From Off (Five Points Press, ISBN 978-0-692-24434-0, 362 pages, $15.99), Lindy Keane Carter gives us a rich, old-fashioned…
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First novel by local writer strikes a chord
 

First novel by local writer strikes a chord

Eighteen-year-old Jacob McNeely, a shy high school dropout from Walter Middleton High School in Jackson County, North Carolina, seems resigned to…
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Words, language and grammar do matter
 

Words, language and grammar do matter

“In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell We live in an…
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Larry Brown earns his spot in Southern pantheon
 

Larry Brown earns his spot in Southern pantheon

One of my bookshelves is reserved for books that I have not read, but that I am saving for some…
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Guys, don’t fear Valentine’s Day, embrace it
 

Guys, don’t fear Valentine’s Day, embrace it

Note to readers: this is one of the few times I have written a column addressed to one sex —…
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King’s newest novel is as good as it gets
 

King’s newest novel is as good as it gets

During the past 60 years, I have maintained a hearty appreciation for what is called “fantasy/horror” literature. I guess it…
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Painted Horses is one for the ages
 

Painted Horses is one for the ages

When people ask me what I’ve been doing this fall, I tell them I’ve been on a reading jag —…
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Advice for becoming a body ‘gardener’
 

Advice for becoming a body ‘gardener’

In French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure, Mirielle Guiliano produced a No. 1 New York…
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Regrets: books I now know I shall never read
 

Regrets: books I now know I shall never read

For many of us, the bells ringing in the New Year carry a bittersweet tune. We look forward to better…
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The fascinating evolution of the fool killer
 

The fascinating evolution of the fool killer

One of the oldest traditional folktales, ‘Godfather Death,’ exists in all cultures; however, the tone of the stories may vary…
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A renewed appreciation for ‘The Great Gatsby’
 

A renewed appreciation for ‘The Great Gatsby’

In 1977 I fell in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. That was a year of deep reading…
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Country noir masterpiece gets its due — again
 

Country noir masterpiece gets its due — again

One of the things that I admire about the New York Review of Books is a special honor that they…
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Start your holiday shopping at the bookstore
 

Start your holiday shopping at the bookstore

For all of you who haven’t started your holiday shopping yet, for you who scorn Black Friday, who keep telling…
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Tolle Lege: Reading that changed my Life
 

Tolle Lege: Reading that changed my Life

When I was 6 years old, I entered the first grade at Boonville Elementary School. For months, various adults had…
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Teen horror sequel is a wild ride
 

Teen horror sequel is a wild ride

About three years ago, I reviewed a bloody little horror tale filled with black humor called Breed. It was a…
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Is democracy bad for the country?
 

Is democracy bad for the country?

The story goes that as Benjamin Franklin was leaving the final session of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a Mrs.…
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Book explores clash between religion and science
 

Book explores clash between religion and science

In Lauren Grodstein’s novel The Explanation For Everything (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013, 336 pages, $24.95), we meet Andrew…
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Celebrating the ever-popular essay
 

Celebrating the ever-popular essay

This week it’s time to break out the champagne, pop that cork, and raise a flute of bubbly to the…
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Being manipulated by a book not all bad
 

Being manipulated by a book not all bad

Gone Girl is currently the most popular novel in America and it has been around since 2012; it is also…
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Learning how to organize information overload
 

Learning how to organize information overload

Twenty-five years ago, while under a good deal of pressure and stress, I began noticing I was forgetting things. I…
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Complicated, confusing and utterly fascinating
 

Complicated, confusing and utterly fascinating

I am intimidated by this book. In fact, this is one of the most challenging reviews that I have ever undertaken.…
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The end is near — now what?
 

The end is near — now what?

When the novel, The Leftovers came out several years ago, it was an immediate success. (Oprah gave it a significant boost…
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A realist writer examines uncomfortable topics
 

A realist writer examines uncomfortable topics

“Evil is no more at an end than History, and so long as there are men there will be no…
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Collective guilt permeates novel’s characters
 

Collective guilt permeates novel’s characters

A little over one year ago, Mark Powell published The Dark Corner, a novel that was set in the northwest…
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Time to clear the desk of books waiting for review
 

Time to clear the desk of books waiting for review

For many reasons, this summer in particular afforded many opportunities for reading. During a 60-hour stay at Figure Eight Island,…
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A dark world explored by a gifted writer
 

A dark world explored by a gifted writer

In case you haven’t noticed, let me call your attention to a disturbing fact regarding current Appalachian literature: some critics have been…
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Book challenges me to critique the critic
 

Book challenges me to critique the critic

In Why Read?, University of Virginia professor Mark Edmundson discusses the practice of student reviews of a teacher, then writes:…
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Poems to honor the insatiable mystery of cats
 

Poems to honor the insatiable mystery of cats

By Michael Beadle • Contributing writer Anyone who’s spent serious time with a cat knows there are a myriad of ways…
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Novel explores life in  Chairman Mao’s China
 

Novel explores life in Chairman Mao’s China

After running into numerous critical references to this little novel, which has won a series of international awards and has…
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