North Carolina Books

Michael Hardy has given us an excellent look at the people who helped to shape Avery County, North Carolina. His compilation of historical photographs with well written descriptions is a "must have" for anyone who has Western North Carolina roots, or who enjoys learning more about Appalachian culture.

Anyone living in the Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) will find this travel book to be a practical and useful tool. The author, Eleanor Berman, pairs seasonal activities and local attractions with various locales. For me, this opened my eyes to the many enjoyable short trips my family and I can take without going too far from home. The book contains telephone numbers, driving directions and suggestions for accommodations and restaurants that I likely would never have discovered on my own. My family and I have stayed in several of the book's recommended bed and breakfasts and have been delighted. I keep this book handy to refer to for travel ideas. I reccommend it highly as a thorough and "user friendly" guide to travel in the Southeast.

Fran's book is a wonderful, down-home recollection of what life was like growing up during the Depression. You will feel like you've been sitting on the front porch with her, listening to her stories. She depicts rural mountain life without sappiness or silliness... it's just a good read.

Such a voice. I wonder why this is not yet a movie! and i am not just saying this because one of the characters in the book is modeled after me. I would not do that! Art does not immitate life, in this case, it is the other way round. A most excellent read, if you happen to like the English language and enjoy rolling it around in your head. and Perhaps on your tongue.
My character is the half blind Negro cat, by the way.

I have a love/hate relationship with the books of Sheila Moses. No. Wait. Let me correct that. More of a love/severe dislike relationship. Which is to say that when she wrote, The Legend of Buddy Bush I loved it. Anachronistic yellow telephone and all. But then she followed it up with The Return of Buddy Bush and I didn't like where she'd taken the novel. In both of those books a Ms. Pattie Mae is the protagonist, telling the tale of her Uncle Buddy's trials (both literal and figurative). By the end of "Return", though, I found I seriously didn't like my narrator anymore. She did not appeal. But remembering how much I liked "Legend", when I picked up the third in Moses's series, I had high hopes. Hopes that were never disappointed. In "The Baptism" we have ourselves an entirely new narrator, a new set of circumstances, and a great little story that deserves a lot more serious attention than it has so far received.

"I figure I have six days to sin all I want to. Luke got six days too, if he will go along with the plan." Twin Leon knows the drill. You turn twelve and suddenly you're expected to give up all the fun stuff that goes along with being a kid. Part of that? Getting baptized and sinning no more. Well he knows the deal and he knows he doesn't want any part of it. Sure, it's his Ma's intention to get him on the "morning bench" where he'll be accepted and baptized, but that doesn't fit in with Leon's plans. Plus he has a lot to deal with these days. His older brother (who he's dubbed "Joe Nasty") is a sneak who doesn't do any work. His stepfather ("Filthy Frank") is a no good cheat and gambler. His twin brother Luke ("Twin Luke") is some kind of Mr. Perfect. And his mom is constantly on his case about being good this week and not sinning. In the course of eight days, Leon will get into trouble, fight the elements, escape from work, get pulled away from fun, and witness the breaking apart and coming together of his remarkably strong family. Set in rural North Carolina during the 1940s, this novel explores big themes with a small intricate little novel.

If there's one thing Sheila Moses does well it's write characters with minds entirely of their own. The kids in her books are so headstrong and smart that it's a wonder that even their author is able to wrangle them into place from scene to scene. In Twin Leon you have such a great kid. Anyone who can say right at the start that if baptizing means not sinning then they just won't get baptized is going to be fun to watch. But when Leon catalogs his sins you can see that they aren't all lighthearted Dennis-the-Menace-type romps. He lies, and steals extra cookies, and beats up kids cause they're white, and calls his older brother Joe Nasty because he doesn't bathe regularly. Moses slips in the serious with the silly so skillfully you might miss it if you blinked. At the same time, she asks big questions couched in the mind of a twelve-year-old boy.

Leon's slow change over the course of a week from unapologetic sinner to baptismal hopeful happens over a brief span of time but never feels false or hurried. Really, it's amazing that Moses is able to pack in as much as she does. There's Leon's story regarding the baptism, and his various pranks and problems. Then there's the story of Buddy Bush on the side. There's also the story of Leon's mom and her husband Filthy Frank and how she has to stand up to her abusive new husband. And THEN there's a story in there regarding the family and how they're not too distantly related to a local white family because of their long dead patriarch's philandering during slave times. All this and the story is fast-paced, punchy, and consistently engaging.

It's a shorter book than its predecessors. Standing at a mere slip of 144 pages, it's amazing that Moses is able to pack in as much thoughtful commentary as she has. It's an exercise in watching an author get right to the heart of a concept without extra frills and furbelows. That isn't to say that she doesn't punch up the language in all the right parts. Twin Luke, the kiss-up, sometimes agrees with his mom, "like he was going to eat the shoes right off her feet." The sun coming out behind the rain is what happens when "the devil is beating his wife." Older brother Joe Nasty hearing about the crimes of his stepfather gets angry and, "All the man in Joe Nasty just rise up like the water down in the river right after a big rain." And Twin Leon is prone to saying things that just sound good when you read them aloud. "She know that God know I don't want to get baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and nobody else. I just want to go home and shoot marbles."

Now Ms. Moses hasn't entirely grasped the concept of the stand alone novel yet. As such, she's placed this book in a kind of award jeopardy by including an ending that, not to give anything away, places undue importance on the books that preceded "The Baptism". This book does hearken back to the other "Buddy Bush" books she's written, but for the most part you really don't need to have read them to enjoy this story. Unfortunately, the last moment in the book falls a bit flat. It doesn't ruin the story or anything, but it's a distracting coda in an otherwise forthright novel.

Altogether, this is a keeper. Some people might try to convince you that due to some of the serious themes that come up, this is a young adult novel. Personally, I do not agree. It's got all the kid-appeal and excitement an eight to twelve-year-old would want, but is also packed full of thoughts and ideas that make it perfect for book discussion. A great addition and quite possibly Moses's best work yet.

Dr. Allyson May's "Bar and the Old Bailey" is a major contribution to the history of the legal profession. Well researched, smart, and beautifully expressed, it is a work of enduring importance.

W. Wesley Pue
Nathan T. Nemetz Chair in Legal History
University of British Columbia

Dr. James Leutze, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a foremost military historian who exposes the collaboration between Churchill and Roosevelt regarding the Naval Agreements. The myths regarding the Roosevelt administration wishing to remain neutral during the war in Europe are disspelled, with the meetings and assistances offered by the United States as stark evidence of the nation's path to war.

Buck Paysour has fished North Carolina's waters from more than fifty years and in Bass Fishing In North Carolina draws upon his considerable experience and expertise to share techniques and "insider" information on catching the elusive largemouth and smallmouth bass. In addition to his own techniques, Buck shares his interviews with many of the state's best bass fishermen and professional guides. Any dedicated angler seeking to fish the waters of North Carolina and wanting to know where the fish are to be found, where to put their boat, which lures produce the most successful results would do well to begin by a thorough reading of Buck Paysour's superb compendium of information and advice, Bass Fishing In North Carolina. Also highly recommended for the angler's bookshelf is Buck Paysour's earlier book, Fly Fishing In North Carolina.

This book comprises 132 columns that Elizabeth Lawrence wrote for the Charlotte Observer from 1957 to 1971. They were selected by garden lecturer and writer Ann L. Armstrong and Lindie Wilson, who owns Lawrence's former home in Charlotte, North Carolina. A good cross-section was chosen from over 700 columns that Lawrence wrote during her tenure at the Observer. Chapters include "Seasonal Flowers," "Bulbs, Corms & Tubers," "Trees & Shrubs," "Vegetables and Herbs, Climbers & Creepers," "Gardeners & Gardens," "Gods, Legends & Rituals," and "Bits & Pieces." Each piece runs about 2 pages and includes a wealth of horticultural information as well as vivid descriptions and observations that Lawrence was known for. Ten black & white photos of Lawrence and her garden are included. The amazing thing about these pieces are that they are as relevant today as they were over forty years ago when they were written.

The family-owned Belk department store chain, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is chronicled in this well-written book by Howard Covington. The book contains a wealth of historical information on the Belk chain and some excellent photographs as well, though there are no color photos. It's an interesting and easy read that will please the history buff, the retail fanatic, or the casual reader in most, if not all. This book is out of print but highly reccomended.