Kentucky Books

I am a nontraditional student attending Ohio University Eastern Campus. As part of an English class we were required to read this book and attend a lecture given by Dr. Sohn. The book is about the literacy practices of Appalachian nontraditional students (women) before, during, and after graduating college. How it changed the voice of these women. There were many parallels between the women of the study and my life. They have given me hope that I too will succeed in the goals I have set for myself. I too am a whistlin' and crowin' woman! Good luck Dr. Sohn on your next book!

Mr. Seymour's descriptions and pictures of the wildflowers of the cave area are clear and easily used. His comments add an extra dimension to the usual guide book.

When I searched for a wildflower guide specific to the central south, I never expected to find such a thorough and helpful book. Whether you hike the hills and actively hunt for wildflowers, or simply want to know what's growing in your backyard, Wildflowers of the Central South is an indispensable field guide. I've recommended this book to garden clubs and wildflower preservation groups all over the south.

This is the best UK basketball history that I have ever read. It was extremely well researched and written, and combined a genuine love for the University of Kentucky and its program with a recognition that wrongs have been done in the past. It is a "warts and all" story, but one still sympathetic to the subject. The pictures and anecdotes are all great, and in the appendix there is a comprehensive statistical summary of all the games and all the season records. If you are a Wildcat fan, buy this book.

After many years of neglect, this seems to be the time of the Mediterranean theater of operations during World War II. First came Rick Atkinson's excellent An Army at Dawn that talked about the birth of the American Army in North Africa. Now Ms. Tomblin's excellent companion on the Naval Operations.

It was in the Med that the Army and the Navy won their spurs. Although opposed by the American brass, the operations in the Med tought the Army and the Navy vital lessons that would have doomed the cross channel invasion pushed by American leaders for 1942 (Operation Sledgehammer) or 1943 (Operation RoundUp) at the latest.

It was in the Med that the US Army learned the importance of close air support (instead of the strategic long range favored by the Army Air Force). It was in the Med that the Army and the Navy really learned what years of neglect in fielding new equipment would really cost in lives. It was in the Med that the Navy really learned about amphibious operations that would later pay dividends in both the Pacific and the coast of France (both at Overloard and at Dragoon on the southern coast).

Ms Tomblin has done a truly supurb job of researching both the official documents and talking to the veterans from the Med to put together what will probably be the definitive book on naval operations in the Med.

Harland Hubbard's simplisitc woodcuts are an excellent source of inspiration for printmakers and artists. He captures the true meaning of life through his work. Next to his art in the book, are selections from his journal during his shantyboat home,and farm life in Northern Kentucky. This is the next best thing to viewing his original works at the Berringer-Crawford Museum in Norhtern Kentucky!

I am a product of the world that Mr. Davis so eloquently describes in his book, The World of Patience Gromes. I remember actor Denzel Washington making the comment after his portrayal of Coach Boone in the blockbuster hit "Remember the Titans", that it is the actual real life character's reaction to his portrayal that let's him know if he did a good job or not. Having lived 5 doors down in the same block where Mr. Davis stayed during his work in Fulton, being 10 years old when he arrived and although I don't remember him personally, I do feel qualified to put my endorsement on this book. There were some significant gaps in my knowledge of the place where I was reared and how it came to the point of annihilation. I thank Mr. Davis for answering many of my questions and enlightening me in other areas. To say this book hits home would be more than an understatement. I took it very personal for it was about me, my parents, my grandparents and their parents all the way back to a place we dared not go. But Mr. Davis made the journey back one that gave me a sense of dignity, strength and hope. As a writer myself, the way the book ended inspired me to take up the cross and continue the story, for the hope he wrote about had not been realized at the end of his book. The hope has yet to be realized completely in many of the lives of the descendants of Mr. Davis' characters. However, the hope I found in his book is still alive and should be further documented. Bravo, Mr. Davis for your sensitivity, accuracy and unbaised portrayal of my roots. As you have energized my hope, my wish is that you know, like Denzel knew based on the real Coach Boone's reaction, that you did a great job!

The voices in "Writing Who We Are" come from the depths of Kentucky women's souls in the form of flaming poetry. Notorious for their gracious silence, the Kentucky women in this collection used megaphones. Some of the poetry dealt with hardships faced; others spoke of the love of mothers and other powerful, influential women in their lives. Many honed in on the rich landscape of Kentucky, using flowers, earth, and homesteads to weave their "stories" into poems. Those are my favorites--those so rich one could smell the soil, feel the "grit." This is a wise and moving collection that I think every woman would enjoy--not just those from Kentucky or the South. I don't often buy poetry books, but I'm glad I bought this one. Everytime I read it, I discover something new--feel something real.

The title is slightly misleading as the bulk of the narrative focuses on the first-person accounts of Laura Glenmorris and her daughter Medora, as told to George Delmont, the young philosopher. Smith parodies the romanctic/Gothic genre of the eighteenth-century while simultaneously using both modes to her own advantage. She critiques the English legal system, especially as it relates to women, and the views of Delmont, and other philosophical idealists, as inadequate to fight against the corruption of English law. Originally published the same year as _Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman_, 1798, fans of Mary Wollstonecraft should enjoy this novel for Smith shares many of Wollstonecraft's social views. Additionally, fans of Ann Radcliffe and Jane Austen should also enjoy _The Young Philosopher_. The inset tales are suspenseful and humorous while the main plot of the novel is more complex than a simple love story between Delmont and Medora (told by an omniniscient narrator). As a student of Smith's romantic poetry I was pleasantly surprised to discover this enjoyable and thought-provoking novel.

I read this book 19 years ago and just finished it again after a family member mentioned their dentist was Tom Lynch.

I met Tom and Suzie when he first came to Albuquerque and worked with the Gianni's (the mafia, according to the psychos). I recall she had a very hard, cold, dark stare. She gave me the creeps, I guess that's why I remember her.

This book is a great read and the historic details help the reader understand each character and their motivations.

What happens when you take a narcissist, pampered and over indulged in a somewhat delusional well to do old southern family, and mix her with a psychopath from a more twisted and more delusional branch of the same family? Well it spelled disaster for the innocent people who ended up dead as a result of this volatile incestuous combination.

This book was a long, but very interesting look into a horrific series of murders and those tasked with investigating them. I know when I finished this book, I was convinced that the ultimate fate of this pair seemed insufficient, and makes one hope for an eternal brand of justice. I was also amazed at how some families can delude themselves in regard to the true character of their members, and regardless of all evidence to the contrary can continue to make excuses for their evil acts.

It is very well written and researched. I highly recommend this book. It's unbelieveable that this person was able to get away with the things he was doing for so long. How this mother could let something like this happen to her children is scary.

Twenty years late I find a copy of this at a yard sale this weekend. Murder, Mayhem and Mystery being my favorite genre, I found it irrisistible. All 573 pages. I sat down to read it right off and rushed home to keep reading between my regular Sunday obligations. This story is uncommonly horrifying, and for such an overwhelmingly complicated, convoluted story, it was exquisite in its detail; character development; and in the smooth flow of its unweildy, appalling, riveting, repulsive, terrifying, mysterious, chilling, absolutely gripping story. I coudn't put it down. Thank you, Jerry Bledsoe, for all the work it took to research all those details and then to write with the tons of skill and talent it took to suck me into it right in the beginning and not let me go. How did you do that? I was greatly rewarded when you kept going and kept going and kept going... wanting with all your bone marrow to do the right thing by this book and the people in it, no matter how many obstacles and family secrets and denial and skanky politics; and questionably inept or inadequately trained or poorly organized and led, the takedown finally was, you wouldn't let me go. And I grew to care about those people as much as you did, and so repelled by others, and I was at long last satisfied with where you took me, and lamented the end because I would have loved to keep on reading and learning more. EXCELLENT job. I'll be reading more of your books. This one will be a hard act to follow though! Thank you very much.

This is about as engrossing a true crime book as one can get. Well researched and compellingly written, it tracks the story of three families whose lives intertwine only to culminate in boodshed. It is a story that will enthrall the reader, as well as tug at the reader's heartstrings, because of the tragic familial implications.

At the heart of the horror that this book reveals is a beautiful southern belle, Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch, who together with her first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, the mentally unbalanced son of a prominent doctor, goes on to be involved in unspeakable acts. It is a riveting book that will keep the reader turning the pages and is one of the best books in the true crime genre.