Kentucky Books

This beautifully written masterpiece by Billy C. Clark captures the innocence of a child and the childs love of animals. The tender and eloquent way that Billy C. Clark weaves the words is that of a master. This should be a "must read" book for all students in elementary and high school. The way that Mr. Clark deals with life and death, if only we could be so lucky to explain it to our own children that way. This is only one of the many books available by Mr. Clark. He is a gifted master and poet and his books should fill all shelves of your home.

This beautifully written masterpiece by Billy C. Clark captures the innocence of a child and the childs love of animals. The tender and eloquent way that Billy C. Clark weaves the words is that of a master. This should be a "must read" book for all students in elementary and high school. The way that Mr. Clark deals with life and death, if only we could be so lucky to explain it to our own children that way. This is only one of the many books available by Mr. Clark. He is a gifted master and poet and his books should fill all shelves of your home.

This is your book. Excellent advise from the master of feature pictures, Dave Labelle. A must have for any photojournalist. Keep this book in your car, it is a great resource.

If you can get a copy of this book, one of the original prints, or even an authorized repro (if those still exist), it's well worth it. The book is a treasure trove of tips and hints in the great picture hunt for features and news photos. Dave LaBelle put together an excellent collection of images and suggestions. Truly inspirational!

I came across this book recently when the family home was in the process of being sold. It was a gift from my mother to my father, my father being born and spending part of his childhood in Harlan County, KY. I held onto it, and eventually got time to read it. As I got through most of the book, I found some interesting parallels in Mr. Jones' life and some of my family history. I was unaware of the history of "bloody Harlan," and learning about it, even if at this moment from only one voice, gave me a lot of insight on my family that I did not have before, and helped me understand how my family got to where it is now.

I HIGHLY recommend this book, to anyone who has ties to Harlan County, KY, easter Kentucky in general, or for anyone who enjoys the stories of a man who never knew the meaning of a vacation.

A must to read........
I felt I was there with him. I was eating the food and drinking the cold buttermilk. I could hear the heavy breathing of the mules going up the mountains of eastern Kentucky. This is a simple and straight look at a true and honest man, who taught himself and those around him that you choose your path in life. His seemed to be rewarded with an abundance of love.

In 1960, at the age of 40 and after many years wondering the globe, Texas-born writer John Graves bought a worn-out patch of land in the hills south of Fort Worth. It began as something of a retreat and became a life-long attachment. This book, published in 1974, is a humorously thoughtful description of how this new landowner becomes equally owned by the land he has settled on.

Not a long book, it reads at a leisurely pace, as Graves traces the history of the land, once fertile and grass-covered. He tells what he knows of the numerous tribes of Native Americans who once lived on it, including the fierce Comanches. Then he characterizes the first settlers, who knew next to nothing about land stewardship and cared less, exhausting it with poor farming techniques, overgrazing, and a single-crop economy--cotton. We learn of the toll taken in depleted soil, diminished flood control, and the spread of cedar and scrub brush across former prairie. And we learn of the descendants of these early settlers, diminished by reduced circumstances, some of them making a living by cutting down cedar brakes into fence posts.

Having established the history of the land, Graves takes us on a tour of his farm, which he calls Hard Scrabble, describing in turn the fields and streams, the plant and animal life, the weather. Then he describes the long, slow process of reclaiming what he can of his 400 acres, clearing the land, building a house, barn, and other outbuildings, learning stone masonry and carpentry as he goes. In connection with this subject, there is a discourse on the industriousness and workmanship of Mexican laborers, all of them illegal, who help him with building, fencing, and fighting back the growth of unwanted brush and cedar. On the subject of animal husbandry, he tells of raising cattle and goats. And in the investment of himself in all of these he ruminates on how they transform him and root this former world-traveler more firmly into a rural frame of mind.

Of the many things I enjoyed in this book, I especially liked his capturing of the way his country neighbors talk. Their points of view and temperaments are captured in quirky turns of phrase and syntax. An episode involving local fox hunters is a joy to read. Graves is in many ways a Texas version of E. B. White, transplanted from city to country and not only seeing this remote environment with fresh eyes but engaging physically with it, befriending the long-time inhabitants, and discovering a way of life only dimly understood by city-dwellers. Although Graves' writing style is more given to verbal flourishes, his wry humor and literary allusions remind one of White's collection of essays on living in Maine, "One Man's Meat."

I recommend this book to anyone interested in country life, Texas, subsistence farming, and natural history. As companions to "Hard Scrabble," I would recommend books by three other rancher/farmer writers: "Windbreak," by South Dakota writer Linda Hasselstrom, "A Collection of Cowboy Logic" by North Dakota writer Ryan Taylor, and "Sketches From the Ranch" by Montana writer Dan Aadland.

Texan John Graves is not a man to shy away from challenges: he invites them. When he bought his little piece of Texas, he clearly knew he was in for a big one, but I am not sure if he was aware of how his accumulated knowledge of this land would shape the man he was becoming. This book takes you through the process of a bumpy courtship and the resulting marriage between a man and his land.
Already armed with a deep appreciation of Nature, he was able to slowly coax renewed vigor into this misused patch of land through his gentle nurturing of it.

The book is full of his personal adventurers such as stone masonry, animal husbandry, carpentry, and all the hazards inherent in farm life. All presented without regret, with humor and modesty. Inevitably he laments the encroachment of more urban activities as they threaten his bucolic existence. Yet he speaks of the duality of his own urban interactions and compares them to the realities of his rural lifestyle.

This book to me was as much about the man John Graves as it is about his subject, "Hard Scrabble". Tough and complex, like his Patch of Land, he personifies the best Texas has to offer.

WOW! This is an incredible book. Anyone would enjoy this book. It will appeal to anyone interested in a daily chronicle of life in the mid 19th century, the struggles, the hardships, the joys and the wonder.

George Browder, an elder of the local church, responsible for a six county area in middle/western Kentucky registers a daily diary of his life from approx. 1840-1880.

George was a neighbor of my ancestors, Nelson Hadley Waters. I couldn't have possibly gained so much insight as to life in Kentucky at that time. What an incredible insight!

George also chronicles tidbits about life from the early 1800's in Kentucky when he talks about his father coming over from VA and MD.

I especially enjoyed the insights into the terrible civil war. Kentucky was torn between North and South. Neighbors livestock stolen, houses burned, neighbors going into hiding. Even after the war neighbors were not safe. It was incredible to read about how quickly news traveled during the civil war, primarily due to the telegraph. Once was installed at Volney, which gave this small community access to daily events of the war and George provides many details of daily updates in his diary.

I also enjoyed reading about George taking his family to the World's Fair and their trip to Niagra Falls, etc. This is quite the fete on a paron's salary!

I also learned more about the importance of the railroads in the last half of the 1800's and how it changed their lives in gaining more mobility and access to distant places they otherwise wouldn't have had a chance to reach in such short time.

This is great reading for genealogists, history buffs and general public interested in life through the 19th century.

This book is a miracle. No doubt about it. For years and years the diaries of Rev. George R. Browder lay tucked away passed down and read by the family.

One day, in 1974, the manuscripts were introduced by my wife's best friend (a Browder Family descendant) to Dr. Richard L. Troutman, a professor at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. He fell in love with the remarkably rich and compelling writing style detailing not only major events (the Civil War, etc.), but ordinary every day events like working in tobacco, visiting the sick, and my favorite, the descriptions of Christmas Day.

I love this book and highly recommend it to any student of the history of middle 1800's life on south-central Kentucky.

Michael Brown's new book on hiking in Kentucky is a well-written, highly informative addition to the short library of must-have books on the outdoors in Kentucky. He's hiked all the trails described himself, and provides good detail with small maps in the book, and GPS coordinates as well. He's a former reporter for the Courier-Journal, and it shows in the clear, engaging prose.

I field-tested the book this weekend with a hike in the Rockcastle Narrows. The descriptions and directions were fully accurate, and the book described clearly some of the route finding challenges on this particular trail.

Highly recommended.

I echo the previous review. This book is very informative, well written, and very comprehensive with discussions on 79 hikes. For anybody interested in the overwhelmingly beautiful and dynamic landscapes of the Commonwealth, follow the suggestions in this book.

This book is exactly what Brent Kelley set out to write: an entertaining, easy to read horse vet book. Its a perfect blend of anecdotes and technical information. His stories and experiences not only make the various equine aliments easier to understand, but more memorable as well. Definitely a "must have" for any horse owners who have ever struggled through books on equine veterinary medicine.

Finally, a veterinary guide that actually helps a horse owner understand the illness or disease his horse is facing. Dr. Kelley uses to his advantage many actual case stories or studies to help the reader understand technical veterinary terms/diseases. For example, he'll write about a horse he treated for canker/thrush, then he'll go into detail the clinical aspects of canker/thrush. Very interesting read!

Great book on a little reported subject-POW life during the Korean War. Mr. Zellers does an awesome job conveying the fears and hopes of POWs during that time. You can viscerally feel their fear through his writing. I highly recommend this moving book to anyone with even a passing interest for Korean War history.

Larry Zellers, a newly married Methodist minister serving as a missionary and teacher in a small South Korean town near the 38th parallel, was taken prisoner in the early days of the Korean War. He and his fellow prisoners were American combat soldiers who were the very first to arrive in Korea from bases in Japan. The youngest among them had received only minimal combat training. All of the mean were inadequately trained and furnished with sometimes malfunctioning weapons. After being taken prisoner by the North Koreans, the men suffered incredible hardships of cold, hunger, physical abuse, lack of medical attention, fatigue, fear isolation, and intimidation. In Enemy Hands is Zellers' first-hand story of his captivity from June 25, 1950 to his release in 1953. Throughout his personal account Zellers shows that, despite the opinion that POWs live only for themselves, many in the camps worked to help others and conducted themselves with honor. Zellers became a U.S. Air Force chaplain after his release. In Enemy Hands is a valued, important, biographical contribution to the growing body of Korean War literature and a much appreciated contribution to any academic, public library military history collection.

Jack Sprat, Low Fat is the best healthy lifestyle book (including a very conscientious 28-day example complete with "wart hog days"!) that we have ever found (I am the mom, not the 12 year old!). The authors masterfully reveal the culprits that create un-healthy eating habits, and address the issues as they pertain to the informed middle-class American culture. They soundly convince the reader of the dire importance of eating right. Even with a health background, I find that the older we get, the less time there is to committ to even our best lofty intentions of healthy changes! Bryant Stamford and his co-auther R.N. Becca Coffin do NOT endorse or promote any quick-fix or product, but prevail with undisputable common sense and digestable physiological facts the importance of living healthfully. I applaud this book! If you are an informed individual, but still looking for that perfect healthy-lifestyle resource, then look no further. You will find this book in a class of its own. I hope that you will appreciate it as much as I do.

This no-fat cookbook/diet plan/informational book is full of useful information presented in a way that is easily understood. There is a light-heartedness to the approach that keeps the information from being tedious or dull. A good guide to more heathful eating and overall lifestyle.

Cotton Mather and PP Karan traveled the length and breath of Japan in a small red car, attempting to make the landscape "speak." Somewhere on the Kii Peninsula, south of Ise, what they'd been looking at finally began to make sense: categories and generalizations began. From this point on, their generalizations were tested and retested with the resultant Primary and Secondary Characteristics of what one sees in Japan: Paucity of Idle Land; Scarcity of Level Land; Compactness; Meticulous Organization; Immaculateness; Interdigitation; and Tiered Occupance among others. A nice explanation with plenty of photos by men who have been involved with Japan since the Second World War.

When i first bought this book for a gardening friend i thought i wouldn't like but it turned out i did. the next day iwent back and got one for myself.it was stimulating and inspiring and i thought it was excelent!