A bird’s eye view of feathered friends
In a remarkable book that combines eco-poetry, poetic prose and personal and scientific information by award-winning African-American ornithologist and professor at Clemson University, J. Drew Lanham, birds are the major focus, with Lanham even giving us a semi-humorous list of rules for birders.
Dealing with loss, grief, and the balm of love
On the first Saturday of June, my friend John and I were just leaving McKay Used Books in Manassas, Virginia, when I spotted a woman young enough to be my granddaughter seated at a table topped by a couple of piles of books.
Southern stories for summer reading
Perhaps like many people, summer is a time for me to finally read those books I’ve been wanting to get to. While this summer began with determination to dwindle the stack of my “to-read” books, that stack has ended up bigger than smaller.
Time to stop the bashing, says Nina Power
When I heard British writer and philosopher Nina Power interviewed recently, I ordered her book. I was interested in her ideas, but also in her. I liked her curiosity and intellect, her attitude of respect and her low-key sense of humor.
Sebastian Junger on death, visits and physics
Every once in a while, I find myself engrossed in a book that suddenly delivers my ignorance to me on a silver platter.
‘And So I Run’ reading at City Lights
Local author Anne Jobe and editor Christine Reed will host a special reading at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
Books, parrots, love and regrets
If Monica Wood’s “How to Read a Book” were a painting rather than a novel, it would be a triptych, one of those three-paneled works of art often hinged together so that it can be closed or displayed open.
A remedy for the spring-time blues
There are always seasons in life when you feel the need to get away from your day-to-day, and I have found myself in just such a season.
‘Darwin and the Art of Botany’
Local author Jim Costa will present his new book, “Darwin and the Art of Botany: Observations on the Curious World of Plants,” at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
Two fine novels for spring reading
Two novels, one a classic Western set in 1885 Nevada, the other centered on Barcelona and the aftermath of the Spanish Civil war, snagged my attention this past week. I was busy, but every time I caught a break, I was on the front porch, enjoying the May weather and turning the pages.
