Tennessee Books

THIS IS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSTON OILERS NOW THE TENNESSEE TITANS. THE AUTHOR GOES IN GREAT DETAIL GIVING US A LOOK AT THE COACHING, FREE AGENTS, DRAFT, GAME BY GAME INFO AND THE ANTICS OF OWNER BUD ADAMS. THE BOOK IS LOADED WITH FACTS, STATS AND PHOTOS. IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO READ THIS FOR THERE IS A TON OF INFO DONE IN GREAT DETAIL. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL DIE HARD FANS WHO WERE DISAPPOINTED YEAR AFTER YEAR. A GREAT READ.

I found this book to be a definite read for any (or former) die hard Oilers/Titans fan. Growing up and loving the Oilers and then seeing them leave Houston, we are fortunate that Pirkle took the time to write this incredible summary of the franchise now known as the Titans.
Pirkle does a great job of breaking down the seasons, one by one, and the draft picks the team makes (or could have made). It's incredible to see the potential that the team posed. It also makes you sit back and realize how much talent some of the teams had, especially during the 70's and 90's to make a run for the Super Bowl.
Pirkle really does a nice job of explaining the death of the Oilers franchise in Houston, from the arguments in city hall to Bud Adams' demands, which today still is head-scratching to everyone. I strongly recommend this book to any football fan, especially those who are Titans fans.

Go Titans!
Pat

Once I started reading it when it arrived, I honestly had a hard time putting it down for the night. It was definitely worth what I paid for it.

The title of this book best sums up being an Oiler fan: frustrating. Despite the fact that the team made the Super Bowl last year, they did it as the Titans and not in Houston, but Tennessee. There are so many other near misses and could have beens with this franchise and this book humorously accounts the almost 40 years of Oilers history. The book is nicely broken up into chapters for each season and although there is some historical inaccuracies, the book isn't about stats or names. The book is about the missteps and blunders the team's management has made through the years, so it's kind of appropriate that John Pirkle makes some errors along the way. If you're an Oiler fan, this is a must read and if you are not fan, this book is still enjoyable as it is funny and has a nice cynical edge to it.

1. It brings back a lot of old memories, not so painful in the rearview mirror. Wouldn't you be happy to pay one dollar and sit with all the other Jr. Q'Backs at Jeppesen again? Reading this book is like that.

2. It's full of errors in player names, place names, and typos ("felled by a viscous hit" is my favorite). For example, Pirkle tells us about "Dan" Floyd for 40 pages, then for some reason he starts getting it right ("Don"). Trust me, I'm not picking on Pirkle; there are dozens of these. It gets to where you look forward to the next booboo as much as the next game you remember being at. Did anybody think to edit this thing? Is Pirkle too young or too sloppy to do it well himself? Oh heck it doesn't matter. 4 stars, well deserved.

I enjoyed this book, I don't understand the 2 rating above, but I found it to be fun and easy to read. I felt the story was real, energetic, and fun. I don't write, wish I could, but reading I know and this read is well worth it.

Yarbrough, Shannon L. "The Other Side of What", XLibris, 2003.

Fate or Coincidence?

Amos Lassen

"The Other Side of What" by Shannon Yarbrough is one of those books that keep you guessing. Matthew, the main character, harbors a secret, and he thinks that is something special but he soon realizes that everyone else also has some sort of secret. As you are drawn into Matthew's world, you begin to realize that here is a book that shows what good gay fiction is.
Matthew, in an effort to hide his past, leaves his small home town in the South and moves to the big city--Memphis, Tennessee. There he meets Jacob and the two quickly become friends. Matthew, even with his great charm, seems to be unable to tell the truth about anything, not just to others but to himself as well. His secret could possibly destroy his relationships with his friends as well as with his brother. He thinks that life in Memphis will make everything easier for him but he soon realizes that he must own up to himself and questions the choices he has made. As he questions himself, the reader also questions himself and when the conclusion is reached, truth is confronted head on in this exciting first novel.
Yarbrough has written a gay love story which has you turning pages as fast as you can. It looks at the issue of truth and makes you wonder if life is simply a series of coincidences or whether everything happens for a reason. The intrigue is deep and the tension constantly climbs. The characters are beautifully drawn and the story is quite powerful. Issues of fate, love and friendship as well as past memories are the themes as Matthew wrestles with who he really is. The very fact that the reader has to guess so much is what keeps interest high.
There are a lot of people who attempt to write a first book and do not succeed. Yarbrough has the gift that enables him to grab us by the collar and take us on a journey that is not easily forgotten. Being from the South, he uses many of the colloquialisms of the region and incorporates them into the story and the author's sense of place is what endeared me to the book. It is a fast read but that does not mean it will be forgotten quickly. Instead it may make you question yourself the next time you want to hide behind a bit of a fib.

This unfortunate effort by Shannon L. Yarbrough fails to rise above adolescent obsession with sexual identity.

The protagonist, Matthew, is uninteresting and unconvincing. One hopes -- and hopes again -- that this character might come alive. He does not.

The book is not helped by the piling on of southern clichés. No matter how hard the author tries to evoke place with these trite references, there is no covering over the shallowness of the characters and their failure to engage the reader.

(I decided to give the book a generous two stars, because I suspect that it is an early effort from this writer. Perhaps future efforts will yield something more substantial.)

This is a must read for the summer. The book is cleverly written and the reader is constantly guessing himself and the characters in the book. The main character has a secret but soon learns that everyone close to him has a secret as well. This book will you keep you up late at night until the very end. This is the first book written by Shannon Yarbrough and I for one look forward to reading many more to come.

"The Other Side of What" opened my eyes to what I never thought I'd find--good gay fiction. So many gay authors attempt to (and usually successfully do) use sex to sell their books, disregarding the fact that many gays want to read good fiction that involves gay characters. Yarbrough magnificently achieves this with a moving story about fate, friendship, love and the hauntings of the past. Read this book if you're tired of the same sex-driven plots mired with tedious, predictable pretenses. Thanks to Yarbrough for bringing someone back to the fold.

I was visiting with some friends in the South Carolina area when i first saw the author, Kibibi Voloria Mack, (now "Mack-Shelton"), being interviewed on the television show, "Inside Orangeburg". Her vivacious speaking style first caught my attention but after hearing her describe the contents of her book, I knew I had to read it for myself. I am not a history lover nor do I read many nonficition books, but I read "Parlor Ladies" and i must confess that I was pleasingly surprised! It is indeed the best darn book I have enjoyed in a long time!! The book is written in a fashion that makes it easy to follow but I was most impressed with the discourse she writes in that allows even an ordinary, nonscholarly person like myself to to read, understand, and appreciate a good peice of history. This book is a breath of fresh air when it comes to reading American history: it was never dull and is filled with information that I never would have known about southern black women or the black community had i not read this marvelous book. The photos were wonderful!

This is the best book that I have ever read on black women,since it compared black women with black women. It's well-organised and very interesting with wonderful pictures. I really appreciated the many photos since it gave me a visual history of these women.

I first heard of PARLOR LADIES & EBONY DRUDGES when i saw the author, Dr. Kibibi V. Mack-Shelton, on C-SPAN BOOK TV in 1999; her vivacious speaking style and wonderful narration of her book aroused my curiosity. I read this book and must confess that this is the best book I have ever read on the history of southern African American women in the early 1900s. Mack-Shelton does an excellent job of not only comparing the upper classes of black women with their lower class peers, she provides some rather insightful information in her research that further explains the origins of modern day attitudes that some blacks still have in the black community in relations to how they still see light-skinned/straight hair blacks as being on a more superior level than those who are darker-skinned with non-straight hair. Her excellent use of oral history creates a picture of these women's daily life experiences in their own voices, bringing them to life. I am an avid reader of American history and am very impressed with Mack's style of writing. Her account of these women's historical lives is written in a discourse that both the trained, sophistocated scholar or an ordinary lay person (like myself) can follow easily. It's a breath of fresh air to read a history book that is never boring nor needs a dictionary to translate each word. It is a well-organized comparative study that is indeed an easy, interesting read that a person could actually read in a few days, if time permitted. This is a "must" read for everyone interested in American history, Women's history, or African American history must read this important book and add it to your personal library. Keep up the good writing and I can't wait to read your next book!!

I am an avid reader of women's history and this is, by far, one of the best books I have read on African American women. Mack's use of oral history to delve into these southern women's daily life experiences during the early 1900s was an excellent source for hearing these women's voices. I saw her on C-Span Book TV in 1999 talking about PARLOR LADIES; her presentation was so vibrant and interesting, I immediately purchased a copy of her book. Her comparison of black women with black women is unique within itself; she does a fine job of showing the diversity of these women and the subtle tensions that existed due to their class differences. I learned so much about the discrimination that some light-skinned women with straight-textured hair posited towards those with darker skin and non-straight hair. It made me better understand the subtle color discrimination that still exists within the African American community today. In terms of her writing style, this well-researched scholarly information is written in a language that is easily understood for those who are not trained scholars of history; it was nice to read a history book that was neither boring nor filled with words requiring a genius to decipher. Also, the organization of this book allows the reader to be able to compare the upper class African American women easily with her middle or working class peers; I could go on and on. Everyone who is interested in American history, Women's history, and African American history should have a copy of this book in their personal library. Once you start reading it, you won't stop until you reach the concluding chapter. I know I didn't! I hope Mack plans to write future books examining the African American women's life experiences. Thank you for this fine book!! Don't change your style!

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. Very much an eye opener for me, not knowing a great deal about that area of American history. I was attracted to the book by the title. It then turn out to be a real enjoyable learning experience.

Nice work.

What an incredible book by an upcoming author. If you like mysteries you will love this book. Full of suspense and a couple of unexpected turns this book leaves nothing to be desired.

It is a quick read and once you start it you can't put it down.

We need more books Lori!

Palmer Reed is ecstatic when she is selected to the exclusive position on the board of directors for the Diamond Foundation. As a child she had been kidnapped by her father's enemies so she can related well to the Foundations goal to raise money to help victims of crime. She is especially pleased to have been hand chosen by the Foundation's high profile Chairperson Marjoram Swall. Swall was also the woman who had rescued her from her kidnappers twenty years before. It seems like a perfect combination of women to work together to help victims such as Jeremiah who nearly died when his parents lit him on fire or the rape victim, and the parents of murdered children. It seems like a golden opportunity to both help others and advance her own career.

Palmer's grand dreams come to crashing end when, at one of the Board meetings, Marjoram Swall lets the newest board members in on the ways the Board actually raises the majority of its funds. Palmer is greatly disturbed by the choice she must make- agree to be part of the method she feels is not right or resign her position on the Board. This decision becomes a moot point when she alone discover Swall's personal means of revenge for the victims. Palmer must take flight for her life from pursuers of both her present and past

In this up coming book (September 2006) Capital Crimes is publishing another twist on the moral mystery/crime scene. Lori Lacefield has written a book that manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking. The drama enfolds both the plot lines, which realistically weave Palmer's past and present together, and the ethical principles involved with revenge. A crisp story line with straight forward writing style enhance the pace of the narrative. Lacefield wisely draws the reader into the drama on both an emotional, personal level (what would I do) and a narrative level. the main characters are well thought out but the characters are not the focus of the book- it is the events and the ideals that are the real protagonists. It is an excellent feat for a debut writer.

We will be looking forward to Lacefield's next endeavor, 99 Truths, advertised as the first in a series about novice FBI agent Frankie Johnson.

The Diamond Foundation is one of the most prestigious in East Tennessee. Their mission is to help survivors of crime from families who've lost a member to murder to employers who have had funds embezzled, the Diamond Foundation attempts to give some restitution when the Justice System simply has nothing to offer. What's exceptional is that in the heartland of the 'good old boys' club', this group is run solely by an all-woman board of directors.

Palmer Reed finds it a signal honor that she and her best friend Keely have been invited to join the Foundation as directors. Marjoram Swall, the head of Diamond, is one of Palmer's personal heroes, since she saved Palmer from kidnappers years ago.

That kidnapping still haunts her and is coming to the foreground, since Scott Thurgood, the man who masterminded the kidnapping, is running for Congress and will stop at nothing to win.

Worse, as Palmer learns more about the Diamond Foundation, she realizes the group's method of collection is not entirely legal--and that people who don't pony up the cash have a bad habit of disappearing...

What will happen to her if she tells?

"The Seventh Survivor" is a well-told tale of suspense from first-time author, Lori Lacefield. The CO-based author has a good feeling for the South and recreates much of the landscape very well.

Ms. Lacefield also has a knack for building suspense. Her story is well-constructed, particularly for a first-time author. Kudos also to her editor for actually copy-editing this book.

Palmer has good depth of character, but much of the rest of the cast are simply paper tigers-tigresses.

This novel's only serious flaw is that Ms. Lacefield was somewhat over-ambitious. "Survivor" is just over 300 pages, covering from March to September. The book is comprised of 88 chapters--I think the longest chapter is about 4 pages. In the case of this particular novel, the James Patterson style partitioning is somewhat distracting and takes away from suspense.

I loved Frankie Johnson, and hope this is the first book of a series based on her character. Lacefield does a great job of creating a realistic woman investigator who is smart, clever and a bit cocky... but still has her "female" side. So many women in this genre are either super-butch, super-bitchy or fem-fatales in disguise. I was waiting for someone to get this right. Lacefield finally did. I read the book in one sitting. I guess that makes it a true page-turner. Highly recommended!

Lacefield does a wonderful job getting you intested and wrapped into the characters. If you love mysteries you should try this book.

I had to respect the approach that the author took in putting the information together in the book. She meticulously cited her sources and was very clear on what was based on conjecture. She was also frank that she was not offering an insider's view, but rather was combing through business records, interviews, etc. I read it before visiting New Orleans, and I believe it made my trip that much more vivid and enjoyable.

Carolyn Long's book is one of the foremost works on the subject of African American conjure. In fact, it was the first book-length work to examine modern hoodoo shops, which are its primary focus. I strongly recommend it as an interesting and informative read.

What an impressive book! Ms. Long has definitely done her homework on this tome. I have wondered for many years about the sources she discusses in this book, and I find it thorough, open-minded and extremely enlightening. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone curious about those strange little bottles of oils and perfumes, packets of powder, 7-day candles with silkscreened decorations on them, and any and all accoutrements of this most fascinating of subjects. I look forward to seeing more of her work!

I have been researching hoodoo and voodoo for the past two years, but none of the books I've come across compare to Spiritual Merchants. Not only is it honest, but it's simple...it reads almost like a conversation. I appreciate the oodles of images and merchants, especially since Long distinguishes between their races. Unfortunately, most of the web sites are defunct. I will treasure this book always!

I liked this book. It was interesting to learn about how African belief systems were transformed in the New World--and how profit was made from those transformed beliefs, mostly by white people. The author danced around this contradiction a bit but never really addressed it. I wish she had.

I felt disappointed by her section on High John the Conqueror Root. Her hints that the root is something other than Ipomoea jalapa were intriguing, but she never came to any conclusion about the herb's actual identity. This mirrored her hesitation about addressing the contradiction of white retailers selling the props of African American magic to black people.

This book had a lot of nifty details, though. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out what Indio's incense powder is made out of, for instance.

Three Deuces Down is a first novel, and I tried to be charitable. But I have to admit that I was disappointed. Donnelly has some potential riches in characters and environment, but if these fail to be realized in future works, I am afraid he has squandered his resources. Bluntly, his characters are cardboard and predictable, pasted on a shallow canvas of place names that is East Tennessee. There just seems to be a disconnect. A missing person case in a small Southern city, a long-lost love, a new-found love, connections to the Mob -- these could have been good story lines if Donnelly had made them so. Unfortunately, he didn't. He could have written in myriad ways from his roots in the region, which the reader thinks he sets out to do. Unfortunately, he didn't

Okay, I spent half my life in the same town that Donnelly did, although I never knew him. Perhaps you can say that makes me hyper-critical, and yet... His detective in the first person is fine, and the idea of a Cherokee best friend is fine, too -- but from Connecticut? I don't think so. His affair with a sexy career woman takes up a fair part of the first half of the book -- and then she moves away like a narrative wisp of smoke, literally and figuratively. With all the stories and fascinating characters of the East Tennessee where he grew up, and where he still lives, with all this local color, Donnelly ended up with a work that he just as easily could have set in New York or Berlin. This calls for more "groundedness" than just inserting a minor killer named something-Earl.

The old advice is still true: write what you know. There are enough unique figures of speech, crazy double cousins, and crime and corruption old and modern in the "Mountain Center" of his and my experience to keep him busy through three, uh, dozen books. Three Deuces Down

Three Deuces Down is impressive as a first novel. It was fast reading and concise with well thought out characters and plot(s). The venues are descriptive and diverse...made you want to have the next one directly on hand! Bravo!

Great characters, fast paced, interesting premise and a number of richly diverse settings made this a great read!

Keith Donelly's debut novel Three Deuces Down: A Donald Youngblood Mystery is a suspenseful adventure following Donald Youngblood, a Wall Street genius turned private investigator on a whim, and Billy Two Feathers, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, who opens Cherokee Investigations with him to work small cases together. When the wealthy and powerful Joseph Fleet demands that Donald and Billy find his missing daughter and son-in-law, they become submerged in a nefarious plot involving a killer on the loose, a restless girlfriend, and a beautiful but determined blond police officer. A high-stakes conflict ensues, where cunning is just as a crucial to staying alive as dexterity and sweat! The forthcoming second Donald Youngblood mystery, "Three Days Dead", can't arrive soon enough.

This book qualifies as a page turner that holds your interest from page 1 to the end, and you will go a long time between times of having as good a book in your hot little hands to read. I found myself slowing down at the end of the book before I realized why I was doing it; didn't want it to end. This makes us anxious for his next book to be published.
One additional reason "Three Deuces Down" was spell binding for me was that it is located in our part of the world, and the thinly veiled references to places in our mountains resonated on a personal level, therefore. Our Book Club will be enjoying this next season.

A good book, but seemed to be a bit biased towards Jacob's home state of GA. They had the most comprehensive reviews and got more waters than others. To his credit, it is still a good read with some decent information on access points. I'd recommend a book more concentrated to the area you are going, but for all regions of Southern Appalachia, this is not bad considering there is not many books that cover this many miles of trout waters.

If Jimmy Jacobs has written a book on a subject of interest to you, buy it. His guide books on southern trout fishing are thorough, concise and leave the reader prepared to catch fish regardless of the destination. He gives you all the information you need to be in position to succeed...the rest is up to you.

The author's knowledge of the territory, exact locations and land marks is very helpful. He does not go in to much, if any, detail about insect life in the streams. Overall a very good book in rating streams, fishing quality, and helping you get there.

This book provides the most comprehensive guide to the fishing streams in North and South Carolina. It is a great resource and each description has a map number so each is very easy to locate.

Just spent three days fishing in the GSMNP in eastern Tennessee, and found Mr. Jacobs book to be right on target. A lot of the information can be found from local flyshops, but his book really helped plan our trip in advance. Coupling this book with local advice is a formula for success.

Although packed with a vast amount of information on natural dye history and formulas, this book reads like a dissertation. It's lengthy and exacting on all accounts. If preparing and using natural dyes sounds like something "fun" to do, this book may just leach all the excitement right out of you.

This is one of the most amazing books I have ever come across. The amount of information on this all but forgotton craft is astonishing, and a tribute to the dogged diligence of the author. As to the dye recipes, every color of the rainbow is brought forth - and the concoctions made solely from nature for producing them - including information on dyeing hard to dye cottons and linens. An amazing guide from this master of natural dyeing.

This book is a must for anyone studying the history and techniques of natural dyeing. I study as well as teach techniques for historical dyes and this is the only reference that helped me with difficult questions. For example, Liles covers how the roots of the Madder plant can dye orange, red, or brown depending on the temperature of the dye bath, which he provides in great detail. I could never have consistently achiedved that red red without it. Liles give an excellent overview of the evolution of natural dyes from ancient times to modern day. He inludes excellent tables for chemical names, and his advise on disposal of chemicals is excellent and very much appreciated. Liles thoroughly explains the nature of dyes on various fibers and his recipies are fiber specific, although because the recipies are chaptered by color/fiber you sometimes have to look in several different sections to find out everything you may want to know about a specific dye. For natural dyers in the Society for Creative Anachronism and other historical research groups, this book is a must.

This book is geared more toward precise recipes and reproducibility. It does not discuss the growing of dye plants, but is aimed at those using purchased dyestuffs. The recipes are organized by color instead of by plant, with some interesting discussion of historical colors (the author is involved in historical reenactments). A few color plates are relegated to the middle of the book. Getting an idea of the finished product for a given recipe required a lot of hunting around and digging through captions. I did appreciate the historical and biochemical information given for many of the plant dyes, though. Although this book was less enjoyable to leaf through than other natural dyeing books, it seems very well-researched and practical.

I have read all the current and out-of-print books on natural dyeing that are available, and I have tried a large number of the "recipes". This is the only book I would recommend. The information is factual, as opposed to annecdotal--a fault most of the others suffer from--and you actually get the colours given, if you follow the steps accurately. It is definitely the best book if you are interested in the classic natural dyes, such as indigo and madder, and it is the only one I have found that gives you a good procedure for Turkey Red! If you use this book, you won't need any others (although they are fun to read!).

Normally, I don't read that much middle grade books, but I made an exception and I'm very glad I did. Autumn is a very awesome character and hilariously creative. Not only is she down to earth, she's spunky and surpriingly relatable even though she's from a different time period.
Though a little bit slow in some parts, it made up for it by having a wide range of characters varying from the most interesting personalities. Autumn is not the only character that grabs your attention, Autumn's grouchy but awesome grandfather makes me wish he was a part of my family and so many others that are special in their own way.

Packed with southern charm and originality, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different earns a solid 4 stars. It's one-of-a-kind story will make it memorable for a very, very long time.

Autumn is proud of how she does things that aren't necessarily what others do. She's excited about moving to the city of Knoxville. But then Gramps gets ill and her mother tells both her and her sister they have to stay. Gramps is up to something with the whole national park and Autumn is determined to find out.

I LOVE this character! Autumn is so down to earth and spunky. The charm of the Appalachians rings true in this story. I laughed at Autumn's attics and loved the portrayal of this family.

The issue of the takeover of private land to make a national park is an important one, and here it's told through the voice of Autumn Winifred Oliver. Autumn is a tough, resourceful and utterly believable character. With humor and sympathy, Kristin Tubb shows Autumn's struggle to adapt to the loss of her home and her fight to preserve what is important to her. Minor characters are deftly portrayed--they add to the story without taking it over, and Autumn's interaction with them, especially with Gramps, show us her personality and propel the story to a bittersweet but satisfying conclusion. The dialogue is beautifully rendered and the setting lovingly described. But it's the story of Autumn and her friends and family that will stay with the reader.

Most folks wouldn't shove sticks in the beaks of geese to keep them from eating in their gardens, but Autumn Winifred Oliver does things different. In a mountain town so tiny it only has one road leading in and out, different is something folks in Autumn's parts don't always cotton to. But sometimes it takes a special kind of thinking to make things change, which is the one thing Autumn craves more than anything. Change.

Autumn seems to have a lot in common with Gramps, who's determined to convince the thirty families in Cades Cove to sign papers that will allow a new national park to border their little town. Convinced that there's more to Gramps' idea than just collecting money from passing tourists, Autumn sets out to find the truth, only to find much more than she'd bargained for, including more approaching change than she could have imagined.

With a setting that jumps to life, debut author Kristin O'Donnell Tubb tells the story of Cades Cove through strong character voices intertwined with glorious description:

"The trees had turned into a showy blaze of orange and red and yellow bursts - miniature suns, each one. Those durn trees! They put on this spectacle every year, and I swannee they get better at it with practice."

Historical fiction can sometimes be off-putting to middle grade readers, but the author handles this one so deftly, it's not immediately obvious the book is set during the Great Depression. By the time the subject comes up, Autumn has hooked the audience and is off and running.

Adventures and folktales carry us through Autumn's story as she and her neighbors come to terms with the fact that Cades Cove is about to change forever, one way or another. Readers will appreciate the unique last rites of the small town's traditions and ways of life as they give way to modernization, progress, and change.

A one-of-a-kind, carefully crafted story with a life of its own.

Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince

This is a great book for teens and pre-teens. The story and characters are memorable and the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains really brings the story to life, especially if you have ever been in Cades Cove. To read this book, you'd think Ms. Tubb was actually there during the time period in which it takes place...excellent attention to detail.

My girlfriend and I recently moved to Tennessee and were looking for the BEST places to go TENT camping. What do ya know... someone wrote a book called "The BEST in TENT Camping in TN..." One passage in particular caught my eye.. the one about Edgar Evins State Park. I believe Johnny's description stated "you literally pitch your TENT [people literally park RV's on these platforms] on a level platform notwithstanding that the ground recedes below you... The experience is akin to camping [parking] on a deck looking out on the land below. And I like it." A unique experience such as this right in our own backyard? We were off. We hate RV's, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos. To us the whole meaning of TENT camping is the return to nature, solitude, quiet, and good old fashioned roughing it. This particular park deferred from all of the above. The supposedly unique platforms were mereley individual parking lots spread vast inches from one another, and feet, maybe even yards away from Coke machines and showers; not to mention the electricity and running water ON EVERY PLATFORM. Oh, and the view was nonexistent as well. The lake view off the platform front was blocked by trees-what happened to looking out on the land below?; while the view off the back of the platform was, well, the road you drove in on... Yes, all of 60 platforms sang the same sad story.

Don't get me wrong. If you're an RV owner or a luxury camper you will love this campground! However, if you're looking for a book to direct you to the best TENT camping in TN or KY, ie a book entitled "The Best in Tent Camping: Tennessee & Kentucky..." this book may miss the mark. Although lovely in its own respects, Edgar Evins is more like a Motel 6 minus the roof, but fairly, at half the price. Johnny sighted this campground as the most unusual in the book. My warning is that "most unusual" claim turned out to be most dissapointing. Read with caution and research these sites outside of this book alone.

My family and I like to camp. I want my kids to experience "real" camping! Johnny's frank descriptions and extensive knowledge qualify him as a top-of-the-line outdoor writer. Not only do I enjoy his style, but his accuracy and thoroughness sets a standard. If I am looking for an outdoor book with his name on it, I will order it!

This book opened my eyes to all the camping destinations in Tennessee and Kentucky. I live in Knoxville, TN and had no idea all of these possibilities were around me!

Being so near the Smokies, I just always went there, but now I have branched out in my tent camping endeavors, checking out such places as Turkey Foot campground in Kentuckys' Daniel Boone National Forest. Mammoth Cave National Park also has a great tent campground, Houchins Ford.
My own state of Tennessee has cool destinations like Meriwether Lewis Memorial on the Natchez Trace. I always disdained west Tennessee but was surprised to find Fort Pillow State Park on the bluffs of the Misissippi River. Buy this book if you want to expand your tent camping horizons in Tennessee and Kentucky.
I highly recommend this book -- Molloy makes the information so engaging and interesting as well.

The best thing I like about Molloy's book is that it tells me a lot of great new places to explore. I found Montgomery Bell State Park and it was just like he described. My family and I enjoyed the lakes, trails and especially the campground. Buy this book if you to branch out and see some new sites in Tennessee and Kentucky!

I have known Johnny Molloy for nearly 20 years and he is one camping fool -- he has camped all over the place. And when he finally wrote a campground guidebook for his home state of Tennessee I just had to buy it.

Sure enough it's a winner.

Johnny covered all the highlights of Tennessee -- from the bluffs of the mighty Mississippi River at Fort Pillow to the wild shoreline of the Nolichucky River in East Tennessee.

I have taken him up on his recommmendation to hit Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, which Tennessee shares with Kentucky -- that place will surprise. Check it out. Johnny's got 4 campgrounds from LBL detailed in the book, among 60 total campgrounds.

I haven't yet explored Kentucky yet, but am planning a trip to Mammoth Cave and the Daniel Boone National Forest. Actually, I have the feeling Johnny is going to lead me to a lot of places I've never been!