Appalachian high school senior Annie Caldwell talks to the animals and they talk back. She’s a quiet girl who keeps to herself until she decides that she wants to be as normal as other kids, the ones that don’t even know about the gift of being able to converse with animals of all sorts. But plans can go array as hers does when a high school cheerleader goes missing.
While she keeps abreast of all the changes going on around her, quilting comes into her life. As her Aint Lulie teaches her, she also learns much about traditions, family genealogy, being psychic, and secrets.
Them That Go is a wonderful story peeking into the mountain way of life of the 1970s. I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Month: September 2016
THOMAS PARK BOOK READING/SIGNING! LOOKING FOR ‘CUDA BROWN
Heads up! Thomas Park is having his book launch at Robinson Ferry Restaurant on Friday, Sept. 23 starting at 7:30. I can hardly wait for this historic event! It’s gonna be a good one!
THE BIRD AND THE FISH, MEMOIR OF A TEMPORARY MARRIAGE by Miriam Valmont- Book Review
There are so many married partners out there that suddenly wake up one morning, without warning, to find they are widows or widowers. It’s shocking to become numb for a year, or two, or three. Your head is in the clouds and your heart is just hanging out of your chest, for everyone to see. It’s painful.
Yet Miriam Valmont agreed, signed up, to do just that. She would marry a man that she grew to deeply love, knowing against all hope, that the marriage would be dead in six months.
Bravely, and with avid interest, she learned another culture, alien to her own. This all-American woman loved an Iranian student 25 years her junior. Her story takes you on an adventure, sparing no details of the emotional roller coaster ride, even learning his language.
They created a bridge between East and West. She immersed herself to see life and Iranian customs through his eyes, willing herself to understand, hoping to influence him with American ways. Reading her story you will witness an extraordinary marriage and wonder if you could ever possibly do the same.
This is an exceptional book, full of honesty and the longing for love that we all desire. It’s a story that will linger in your heart for a long, long, time.
LOOKING FOR ‘CUDA BROWN by Thomas Park- book review
This collection of extraordinary poems tells the story of vivid, African-American characters who have passed through the life of the author in a small, rural town in the South. Sometimes they entertain and sometimes salty tears burst, overflowing the eyelid wells, for the terrible tragedy of a life. Park has reached deep into his soul to let you know that these people lived and died and mattered, without any judgment from him. If these characters were not noticed in life, they will remain with the reader for a long, lingering time.
In all his honesty, Park reports on events that happened . . . and didn’t happen. When dreams blossomed with hope for a community and were taken away leaving disappointment for many who worked hard, giving their all, to bring about ideal living. The author exudes love of his community. He shows this caring by continuing to encourage the arts, the love of words and writing to anyone who wants to participate. I love this book.
SNAPSHOTS: Memories and Recipes by Sandra Martin -book review
These SNAPSHOTS are indeed as varied as the photos that lay in your own drawer at home. Martin’s snaps are words from the life she lived growing up on a Bracey, Virginia farm to Virginia Beach to Manhattan, New York to time spent across country, around the world, and back to holding events in the Dairy Barn on the farm. Her adventures in the big cities as a literary agent and executive producer for television are balanced between recipes from her passion of cooking for friends.
As her spirituality grows, so does her intensity of life. Dreams play a major role as she executive produces the series of The Power of Dreams for the Discovery Channel, interviewing names that every household recognizes.
Martin is a woman who has lived a fascinating life by making things happen, by following her intuition, listening to her dreams, and doesn’t mind talking about it. This is a fabulous read that will inspire others to go ahead, step out, and take a chance on life. I LOVE THIS BOOK!