#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 25🎄
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses, is my hero. She started painting "in earnest" at age 78. She is proof that it is never too late to start something you love. One of my favorite books in the world is Grandma Moses "Night Before Christmas." Her folk art illustrates the story perfectly. (And if you find yourself in Bennington, VT, visit the Grandma Moses exhibit at the Bennington Museum).
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 24
I'm not singling out a book by Rick Bragg because I can't. His work is so brilliant that everything is worthy of promotion. His stories expose the heartbeat of the working people of the American South. Jerry Lee Lewis? He wrote his bio. A good dog? He wrote about his puppy. The best cook? He shares stories of his Mama's kitchen. It's all there. I wanna write like Rick when I grow up.
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 23
Of his 7 books (one coming 4/23), Thomas Mullen's debut novel remains my favorite (even as wonderful as the others are!). The Last Town on Earth is a story about a small town in the Pacific Northwest that votes to quarantine from the rest of the world during the 1918 flu. Do you refuse help and care to outsiders to protect your own? And what happens when you bend the rules? Fantastic read!!
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 22
Bobbie Ann Mason is one of Kentucky's literary gifts to the world. Her most famous work is In Country, but my favorite is her memoir, Clear Springs. She brings us right into the heart of her home. I read it out loud to my husband when we were camping in the Smokies and we didn't want it to end. Silas House posted a photo of her which reminded me to make sure I included her remarkable work here!
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 21
Ron Rash is one of the greatest writers of our generation. He is a poet and a novelist and does both with aplomb. His most famous novel is Serena (read the book - don't judge it by the movie). This book has everything - murder, sex, love, hate, sociopaths, all wrapped in Rash's lyrical descriptions of the North Carolina mountains flora and fauna. Anything Rash has written is a good choice.
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 #Day 20
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley is a modern-day retelling of King Lear. Never fear, if you've not read or seen King Lear you will still love the book! Patriarch Larry Cook decides to incorporate the 1000 acre farm and plans to give his three daughters ownership. One daughter is against it, so she is cut out. Dark secrets come out, resentments boil over, and the world as they knew it changes. It is a quietly brilliant work.
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 19
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is one of those books that comes along only once in a generation. Rev. John Ames of Gilead, Iowa, knows he is dying, so he writes a memoir of life and faith for his young son. Each revelation is a treasure, and the fine lines of good and bad, of right and wrong, of belief and unbelief, are beautifully and carefully trod. This work will stay with you. All of her books are great, but this is a masterpiece.
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 18
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and its sequel The Book Woman's Daughter, are novels by Kim Michelle Richardson. These meticulously researched yet fictional accounts are about Cussy Mary and her daughter, Honey Lovett, packhorse librarians in rural Kentucky, the first in the WPA era and the second in the mid-1950s. The women are also two of the "Blue People of Kentucky." I highly recommend them!
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 17
Aimee Bender is one of the most gifted writers of this generation. Her book of short stories, Willful Creatures, is a surreal, emotional trip through the deepest moments of humanity. All of her works are masterpieces. Dip your toe into the world of Aimee Bender and you'll want to dive in completely.
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#BookAdventCalendar2022 Day 16
Silas House has written a powerful novel set in the near future - a future where our careless treatment of Mother Earth has caused global chaos - that deals with life, love, and survival. Lark is a young man trying to get to safety, whatever that means. Every second of this book will speak to you. It is a must-read. While you are in the Silas House section, pick up ANY of his books!
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