Kentucky Books

This is the real story of Burnam and Addie Ledford of eastern Kentucky and their ancestors and their descendants. Author John Egerton, who spent quite a lot of time with the two Ledfords whose ages and memories were remarkable, took the ancient art of oral storytelling and crafted it into a well-written book. I felt I was actually there with Burnam and Addie while reading this book.

It's not just the story of this one family, but also a story about how some of our ancestors moved west through the Cumberland Gap; a story about how big and wide-spread a family tree gets over the years; a story about how slow things changed just a few generations ago, but how fast things change in today's world; about how you sometimes can't go back home and find home (devastation of mining in Appalachia). There is also a lesson here. Our ancestors all have interesting stories to tell, but if no one listens or writes them down, they get lost forever and that's a shame.

Loved sharing this book with the family. Worth buying if you or your family grew up or had family that grew up in Harlan. It was great seeing some familiar family names and seeing how they came to be in one big family.

I am the Great-Grandson of Burnham & Addie, Grandson of Carl & Gerry, Son of Sue & Joe.

To John Edgerton - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for preserving the history of our family. I can remember you from Lancaster at Grandaddy's birthday years ago.

To Readers - An incredible story that you'll like to read - and one that I'm proud to be a part of.

I am a densent of Aly Ledford he was my g.g.g.grandfother.I love my book,the Generations. would like for everyone to read it.

I discovered "Generations" a few weeks ago at a used book sale, read it immediately, and passed it on to my octogenarian grandparents. The book is an amazing tale of how one need not be old and feel old at the same time. The central characters, Burnam and Addie Ledford, are great examples of Appalachian people who have wonderful stores of generations of family fact and legend, proven and unproven.

As a native of WV, I have known many people whose age, alertness, and knowledge rivaled that of Burnam and Addie, but few had all three, and seldom did such couples survive to the ages achieved by Burnam and Addie without the death of one or the other.

I'm extremely glad that Egerton took the time to get to know Burnam and Addie. (Read the book and you'll see that it's based on hours and hours of interviews with the couple.) Because we usually take such resources for granted (or just ignore them) we don't appreciate what the likes of Burnam and Addie have until they're gone. And, obviously--but painfully--it's too late then.

It's clear from the other reviews on this site that the Ledford family appreciates Egerton's work. I'm writing this to show that others can appreciate the book as well. Anyone interested in re-hearing the tales he or she heard at grandparents' knees will love Burnam and Addie's stories, which take us back to their great-grandparents and the late eighteenth century--no mean feat when one considers that they lived into the 1980s!

Egerton's coverage of the topic is thorough and entertaining. I was enthralled except when he went into detail about the Ledfords' descendants in order to give a rare view of seven generations of such a family. I was not as interested in the descendants, but for those who are, that part is well done, too.

If you love a good story, read this book. I grew up listening to and appreciating old story tellers like Burnam and Addie. Here in my present urban setting, I know of no one who matches the story-telling skills of the old people I knew in West Virginia. I'm afraid the art is being lost, along with front porches, and shooting the breeze while watching fireflies and listening to crickets. I'm no Luddite, but I do hate to see the loss of resources like Burnam and Addie. Old storytellers will die, but someone can pick up the standard and carry on in their stead. My thanks to Egerton for recording all that they had to say.

Kentucky Chances was a very enjoyable book to read. It also carried a very positive Christian message. I would highly recommend it.

I liked this book, along with the other Chance family stories. Reading them all together was a real treat!

I loved this Book! I very much enjoyed reading it. So much! that I bought more books like it! I hate to read. But find myself not willing to put books like this down! 5 stars!

I loved this book - so much that I read it twice within 3 weeks. Lovejoy was my favorite character! Cathy Hake writes with humor, great love, and perfect doses of scripture. Absolutely ADORE this book and would recommend it to any of my friends who LOVE happy endings. All the stories in this book have heavenly endings and that's what pleased me the most. This book is Enchanting!

If you like Cathy Hake's books you will love this one. I waited anxiously for this one to come out to find out about the three remaining Chance bachelors. Was not disappointed. Am looking forward to more books by this mother-daughter pair.

Although perhaps some of the grand Kentucky scenery is missing, there are some wonderful pictures in this book. Barnes best photographs are perhaps in the subtle colors of the prairie, the Pennyrile and Barren. flowers and insects. Some of the snow dusted scenery, such as Rock Bridge in Daniel Boone National Forest is also well done.

Sometimes the writing tries to be too antidotal; for example he writes that he forgot the price that a five pound mussel would fetch in the commercial market; but I would have preferred knowing the price rather than his forgetting of it. The chapter on biodiversity provides an introduction to each of the regions, but a good map of each each of the regions would have helped me relate to the preserves he discusses.

I might be a little biased as Tom Barnes is my uncle... ok, ok, so I'm really biased, but I have read it all the way through and looked at the pictures on numerous separate occasions, and it never ceases to amaze and inspire me. It makes me wish I lived in Kentucky. :) He truly is a skilled and passionate photographer/writer. Buy this book!

I bought this book to show friends here in Germany how lovely my home state is, since so few of them even know it exists. I was very disappointed. The photography is okay, but far from inspiring, and does not really capture the "great" places of Kentucky, nor why they can be so lovely. The response from people who have looked at the book at my house is just a shrug -- no "ooohs" or "aaaahs". It really doesn't do Kentucky justice.

I thought the photography and composure of this book was well done. The pictures are beautiful and make you want to explore the unknown places. I live in Kentucky and love to travel. My logo is: Simple Life~~~Simple Books. This falls into that category- simple yet breath-taking. Please get this book. Travel to Kentucky!

This author's photographic work is gorgeous but this is not only a "picture book". It is a book of nature, ecology and environment and is worth exploring. I love Kentucky and grieve for the assaults and damages it has suffered for so long. It is my hope that if Kentuckians can see their home state as this book shows it, they will be more protective of it. Greed and exploitation have harmed Kentucky as have poverty and ignorance. The state and the nation need to protect Kentucky's natural environment. One complaint about the book: it needs a state map showing the regions the author writes about! There was no way to refer to the regions because there was no map of that sort. (There was a very limited map but not cross-referenced to the regions covered in the book.) This was an annoying omission from the book, but the book still merits high ratings for its beauty and information.

This book paled in comparison to The Glass Castle [which I could not put down].
I did not find the individuals very interesting and I did not think they were developed to where they became complex, real characters.
I found myself skimming through the last chapters waiting for something dramatic to happen.
And I found the swimming metaphors too constant and annoying.

I enjoyed reading the author's story and thought the writing was great. It really took me to the time and place. And very clever how she tied so much into water, emotions, etc. Hard to articulate my thought there, but it was brillant in places. Those that have read the book will know what I'm referring to. I will recommend this book to my book club. In reading the back flap about Ms. McCall, it appears she's settled and happy and that's nice to see.

This book stands a part from other family stories for me because of the author's ability to discuss her family's strengths AND shortcomings with such honesty and such tenderness. So often authors who share family stories are skilled at detailing either the tremendous adversity of their childhoods or the greatness of the characters they have known. McCall does an excellent job of sharing the simple humanity of her family members, making them real to the reader, not simply characters to admire or villianize. I also appreciated the honesty with which McCall shared her coming out process and the deep understanding she seems to have of the role of her partners and their importance to her life. A tender, meaningful, and enjoyable read.

Treading water, deciding whether to sink or swim, Catherine McCall's "Lifeguarding" is a stunning memoir and well worth the read.
"Lifeguarding" is about a middle class family leading a country club life but what appears to be real is false. Her father, a mediocre insurance salesman, drowns himself in booze and debt. To keep their lives afloat, Catherine's mother gets a job teaching. As she hides their family secrets, Catherine hides one of her own . . .
She is gay.
Catherine's struggle to understand her sexuality, her unconventional desires in a conventional time, makes "Lifeguarding" an unusual story. Her feelings and frustrations flow from pen to page. It is beautifully written, poignant and moving. Going into bars to remind her father to come home, or waiting for him to arrive for a day at the state fair, the reader is right there with the writer.
Catherine McCall takes us back to the agonies of adolescence, when life was supposedly simple. It reminds me of trying to win in the wrong lane. I'm happy to report . . . Catherine McCall is victorious!

Laurie Ames Birnsteel
Kahala

I thought i was burned out with memoirs and along comes "Lifeguarding." Congratuulations to Catherine McCall for an honest, truthful memoir written in a straightforward manner, without the strident, over-the-top, self-proclamation and heavy-handed confessionals that have dominated the genre. This story flows gently but strongly and is a blessed change from the norm in this genre. Read it!

I coordinate a 1st - 2nd grade Girl Scouts troop and the girls were enthralled with this story. Even after a long day at school, when they would much rather be roughhousing together, they sat still and were asking for more after each chapter. I highly recommend this book for elementary aged children - especially girls!

My husband works for the company that Mary Breckinridge began over 80 years ago. So when I heard of this book I had to include it in our collection. What a courageous woman.

Mary Breckinridge (20th century nurse, leader, & visionary) set the standard for rural healthcare. Rosemary Wells' book takes 3 stories from the exciting life & times of a great American woman and brings them to children. This book is for all ages-young & old. I did a college-level biography on Ms. Breckinridge as I found her life and life's work so interesting (her autobiography is excellent & available through Amazon) This would be an excellent classroom reader grades 3-5 and a great read for anyone interested in history, great women, and Americans.

I thought that this book was an incredible testament of the human spirit! The title character completed her dream of caring for the poor people of the Kentucky mountains. This was done after Mary Breckinridge herself had undergone enormous personal tragedy. As an elementary school teacher, I plan to use this book as an example of the great things a person can do inspite of one's own circumstances.

MARY ON HORSEBACK by Rosemary Wells is a beautifully written account of how Mary Breckinridge devoted her life to helping people of rural Appalachia during the 1920's and 30's. In an area where there were no hospitals or doctors, Mary established a nursing service and saved the lives of many people. The story of her devotion and unselfishness is unique and worthy of praise, as is the author's style of writing. Wells does an outstanding job of capturing the dialect, emotions and soul of the mountain people of Kentucky. Black and white illustrations by Peter McCarty add to the beauty and authenticity of the book. People of all ages will enjoy this book. Younger children would love having it read to them. Middle school students can learn valuable lessons from reading it themselves, and it's complex enough to hold the attention of adults.

I moved to KY a few years ago and wanted to garden for the first time in years. This book (and the companion one about what plants grow here) really helped. I am constantly flipping through it's mud-stained pages for reminders. I agree with another reviewer, though, that I wish it were organized by month instead of category (bulbs, annuals, etc.). However, if you only grow roses, say, the organization makes sense. I would recommend this book to any new gardener in KY or TN.

I bought this book when we moved to TN 4 years ago. I think I've used every single section except for the vegetable section, which I plan to use for next summer when I finally set up a gardening area. The climate and soil in TN are unlike any other place that I've lived at in the US and this book is worth it's weight in gold for all the wonderful advice! We now have one of the nicest yards in our neighborhood thanks to this book and our hard work!

Excellent advice for all times of the year, even in the winter months, when you might be wondering how to make yourself useful. There are chapters in all the areas involved: trees, shrubs, lawns, bulbs, etc. And of course it is specific to our area.

Honestly, I'd love to give this book more than 2 stars, because it so clearly covers material needed by gardeners in our area (especially beginning to intermediate gardeners like me). Having lived on the West Coast, where the Sunset Western Garden Book is the definitive gardener's bible, I looked high and low for an analog here in the South.

This is not it.

Don't get me wrong: this book has some good information and what's there is written in a highly readable, friendly voice.

But it is not a reference book, and it will not answer every gardening question you may have. And it may even leave you with some new questions after you try to make sense of some of the overly simple descriptions. And maybe that's OK, because it's not billed as that kind of a reference guide.

What is IS billed as, though, is a month-by-month guide to working in the garden. And it's here that it actually fails the most.

Organized into sections by different types of plants (bulbs, shrubs, trees, etc), this book is then further organized within each of those sections by month... ALPHABETICALLY! If that's not the craziest thing you've ever heard, just try to imagine actually using this book to try to understand what you need to do this weekend. You would need to flip through each section for each type of plant in your garden, and then flip around the counterintuitive listing (since when does April come before February, which comes before January?) to find the appropriate month. Lather, rinse, and repeat for each type of plant in your garden.

Why the author and publisher of this book didn't realize it would have made immeasurably more sense to group all the information together for each month and sort those months in CALENDAR order, I have no idea. But I'm here to tell you, it ain't worth it. Stick with the Southern Living Garden Book and you'll be a lot less frustrated.

This book lives up to its title. I have been gardening for years and learned quite a few new tricks. The book has editions for all parts of the country so buy the right book.
TennesseeGardener.....

Due to its climate and varied terrain, the southeastern United States may have the most varied natural life in the nation. And while it may now be the most populous quarter of the lower 48, the natural world is never far away. The National Audubon Field Guide is an excellent resource to keep close by for those who living and exploring in the southeast.

The book is divided into three main sections. The first covers an overview of the climate, the geography, the habitats and ecology of the south. The second covers the plant and animal life. And the third introduces some of the more significant parks and natural areas of the southeast.

The first great reason this book is valuable is the extensive color photographs and drawings of the different major types of native animal and plant species. The second great reason this book is valuable is its portability. The weekend hiker or boater, and the home gardener will equally appreciate the relative size of this book, as it can be easily thrown into a backpack for easy reference.

The book could do a better job of showing some of the non native plants and animals. Also, the plants and the animals are not indexed, which can make referencing them slower. The final section, which just introduces major parks in the southeast, could have been better with some introductory maps of major hiking and boating areas. That said, this is a fine guidebook that should be useful to anyone in the southeast who enjoys the outdoors.

The book contains a lot of information. It has a lot of good pictures of plants and animals found in the Southeastern States. The info is difficult to access because not all entries a listed in the index. If you are willing to read the entire book you will gain much. But if you want to use it to identify animals and plants you have seen you have to go through each section page by page. A little intelligent thought about providing a proper index would have helped greatly.

This is the BEST nature guide I have found for the southeast, but unfortunately that is not saying much. I have been spoiled by the wealth of naturalist and natural history books available for all different parts of the west, books which not only tell you how to ID a species, but which also give you enough information to feel like you know it afterwards.

I take young people on wilderness trips for a living, and enjoy sharing with them my love of nature. I especially enjoy introducing them to members of the natural community, neighbors they have had all their lives but probably have never taken time to become aquainted with. I grew up in the southeast, before heading west in search of adventure. Now I am back, working with at-risk and adjudicated youth, taking them on canoe paddles in old cypress swamps and along inter-coastal waterways. I normally find a variety of great books to take on trips for my kids to consult when they spot something new. But here in my old stomping grounds, this is the best I could come up with.

The National Audubon guides are great for covering a wide range of information, from weather to constellations to identifying plants and animals. But they won't tell you much of anything about those plants and animals. I know there are naturalists and writers in the south who can do better. Would love to find them (in print) someday soon.

We do nature walks for homeschooling, and I have to say this is the best guide to carry with you. It covers so many plants, animals, reptiles that are easy to find and identfy. The descriptions are concise and informative. I do think it's best to have other books at home for looking up more detailed info at home (or use the internet).

I live out of this book. A must for anyone going outdoors in the South. I continue to impress my friends with the knowledge I retain from this book. If you are packing on the trail this is the book for you. Don't carry 10 different books. This is the only one you need.

Our children used Saxon from 54 to 87, then moved on to advanced math, calculus and physics and they have excelled with this method. Although my background doesn't include an emphasis in math, my husband's education and professional life is steeped in mathematics. He's enthusiastic about Saxon because it creates a strong foundation in the subject.

Admittedly, solving 30+ problems a lesson can be a challenge, however, this process increases one's speed and accuracy over time and as my daughter said, it helped her "to make peace with math." Math is like learning how to play a musical instrument; it takes practice and self-discipline, but it's well worth the effort. Understanding math, like being proficient at reading and writing, is one of those practical skills that make life so much easier.

Using this incremental method of learning made homeschooling through high school a breeze and our college-age children sailed through their college math courses as well. In hindsight, it would be easy to choose it again.

I was very happy to receive this book as quickly as I did. I was able to help my daughter prepare for the CAT 6 more effectively at home.

You should know that saxon math 6/5 is really a 5th grade textbook. My children's private school in Lake Tahoe uses Saxon math. Everyone does math at the same time, and the children are allowed to enter whichever level they test into. Most of my daughter's 4th grade class is using this book. My son in 2nd grade is using the 4th grade text (saxon 5/4). It is a very logical progression of concepts with much review built in. That is why children are often able to skip a whole grade level. For K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade levels, there is a program, but the children work on worksheets and not from textbooks.
Overall, a great program, but if your child is even slightly above average in math, consider going up one level.

My 12 year old daughter is just completing Math 65. WOW!
Although not produced with Special Learning students in mind, the incremental learning is ideal for slower learning or learning disabled students. My daughter has always struggled mightily with Math concepts. She has made tremendous strides using this program. New concepts are introduced slowly and previously learned concepts are reinforced at each lesson. Each lesson includes a practice, some mental math and problems. At the start it took an hour at school and up to an hour at home to complete the lesson. She now gets each lesson done in under an hour! (It is set up for one lesson a day). I highly recommend this book, and I'm looking forward to using the next books in the series.

The product was in good condition, but there was not a picture of the book. Owner says there was a review on the book, but I did not see it, and the ad was misleading. The ISBN number is what I searched under and it ended up being the wrong edition. It was my understanding this was the book on the internet which showed thrid edition.

Recently I spent an extended vacation exploring Mammoth Cave National Park. I was amazed at the vastness and calm of the place. It has a grandeur and a haunting quality. Amidst it all I made another discovery: the powerful, in truth--the GREAT--poetry of Davis McCombs.

Somewhere in his evocations of place and suggestions of identity McCombs finds a beauty much like that of the caves. For the most part it isn't flashy. It is solid. It calls. It is true.

I'm not a huge fan of "narrative" poems. Most such literary beasts should become brave and full enough to stand as short stories. The language and, God help us, rhymes are more torture in such cases than poetry. Yet here in McCombs we have a master of narrative not seen on these shores since Poe.

More powerful than his narrative skills is McCombs's spareness of language. He communicates picture perfect verbal images with the dead-on certainty of phrase of a John Ashbery. He also does it without having to resort to Ashbery's often droning, lengthy verbosity.

My favorite thing about Ultima Thule is the sense of camraderie in McCombs's poetry. We journey into candlelit depths and to solitary gravesites. Yet we are not alone. The sense of brotherhood in these poems rivals the best of Whitman and Baudelaire.

Poe, Ashbery, Whitman and Baudelaire--these are some of my favorite poets. They are some of the greatest who ever lived. With Ultima Thule Davis McCombs joins their number.

Davis McCombs's poems vividly evoke a strange and fantastic landscape. Kentucky's Mammoth Cave and the world above it are so fundamental to the narrator's voice and the poet's that it is as if all these elements are of a piece. What a tremendous debut!

McCombs chiseled away at the cave rock and came up with an edifying, gorgeous metaphor. Formally rigorous but not mincing, the book even uses a historical voice for a third that doesn't clank. I'm from KY, but I don't know this poet as other reviewers may: still impressed, still remember the awe I first felt reading these, the cold drop, three years ago.

It seems to me that Davis McCombs's Ultima Thule has something particularly and refreshingly American about it. His writing shows a real craftsman's touch and sureness of hand. This remarkable book of poems is more than a reflection on the natural wonder of Kentucky's caves, it is a rare and mysterious exploration of the human spirit past and present.

How beautiful to listen to slave/cave guide Stephen Bishop reflect on life through the continued metaphor of the cave. Yes, the voice belongs to a contemporary white university man, but the words are so real and the thoughts as deep as the bottomless chasms he describes. Thank you to WS Merwin for choosing such a poet, who does not dwell on the vulgar and the ugly as so many do, but instead drinks in beauty.

Reviewed by Michele Heather Pollock

Some folks say there are only a handful of stories in the world that get retold again and again in different guises. If that is so, then surely the coming-of-age story would be one of the most frequent: child meets trouble of some sort; child deals with the trouble and, in the process, grows up. What can make these stories interesting, what can keep us reading them again and again, is the nature and character of the child, and the nature and character of the trouble he or she runs into.

In With a Hammer for My Heart, that child is Lawanda, fifteen years old, growing up in a poor community in Kentucky. She wants to go to college, so she gets a job selling magazines. Her sales lead her up "the hill" to where Garland, an old WWII veteran lives in two old school buses. Garland is ostracized by the community because he drinks too much, and because he'd driven away his wife and kids. But Lawanda finds him and his bus, filled with books and old maps, interesting, and she finds herself befriending the old man.

The trouble comes in when the local community learns about Lawanda and Garland's friendship, which they neither understand nor want to tolerate. A rumor leads to an arrest, and Lawanda finds herself on a bus, headed across the state alone, looking for the one person she thinks can help her sort out the situation.

This is Lyon's first novel, though she has written more than 30 books for children and adults. It is a lovely book, full of great characters who each, while acting in what they believe is the best interest of Lawanda, alternately help and thwart her efforts to make the world right again. The cover is gorgeous, and while the typeface used in this paperback edition is distracting and odd, the story is capable of rising above that distraction to discuss ideas of hurt and healing, and the responsibilities we all have to the people we know and love.

Armchair Interviews says: Strong first novel from an established children's author.

If you like a good story told straight from the characters' mouths, then you will enjoy this book. As a Kentuckian, I enjoy stories with a decisively Appalachian flavor, and in With A Hammer For My Heart, Ms. George Ella Lyon (yes, the author is a SHE) weaves a deceivingly simple, yet powerful, story about family, friendship, and forgiveness. Told through the voices of its many characters, the story centers around the friendship between a young girl, LaWanda, and a war-ravaged veteran, Amos Garland. Determined to make her way to college, LaWanda charges into Garland's life selling magazines. Although he does not welcome company, Garland finds that he has become (somewhat unwillingly) a friend to LaWanda. However, through a series of tragic events, LaWanda's loyalty to her family and Garland are tested. Yet, in the end, LaWanda's strength and courage brings about powerful changes in the people around her. Ms. Lyon's first attempt at adult fiction is a success and I look forward to reading more of her adult work. She is truly one of Kentucky's treasures!

With a Hammer for my Heart was one of the greatest novels I've ever read.It was passionate,poetic & just a really lovely book.I gave it five stars because it was so greatly & beautifully written. George Ella Lyon is a literary genius. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel & hated to see it end.I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone looking for a really great read.The plot is fantastic & I just loved the story.

This book is about a little girl named Lawanda. She starts out trying to sell magazines and earn money for college. It's by selling these magazines that she meets Garland. Garland is an older man who lives in a bus, he is generally known as the town's hermit. He chases all strangers away until Lawanda comes along. As Garland and Lawanda get to know each other better, they each encounter conflicts that will forever change their existence. I found this book to be quality reading, but I really couldn't get into the characters. They had such fictional personalities, that it was hard to identify with some of their feelings. The descriptions are exceptional, and I think that's why the book is a Young Adult Book Award Nominee. Somehow I just don't think that Mr. Lyon did his best though. Perhaps another book would help him to create realistic characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sometimes I read books just for the plot, sometimes for the characters, and occasionally for the writing itself. I enjoyed all three aspects of this book.

Highly recommended.