Briar Patch Books

Category: Contemporary Nonfiction

  • Puritans: Authoritarians, reformers?

    Briar Patch Books presents a new reviewer, Chuck McGathy. The Rev. Dr. Charles McGathy, a retired Navy chaplain, is the pastor of the church where I am a member. Lately, he’s been leading thought-provoking seminars on the history of religion in America, based on the PBS series “God in America” as well as other sources.…

  • Families, friends, lovers

    I am becoming so addicted to listening to books on CD when I drive alone that I find is distressing when I don’t have an audio book with me. Elizabeth Berg is the author of a number of best-selling novels, but I had never read any of her books before I listened to her latest…

  • A strange and haunting place

    Mick Scott brings our attention to an intriguing book published in 2010 to considerable acclaim. By Mick Scott DOGTOWN: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town. By Elyssa East. Simon and Schuster. 304 pages. $15, paperback. SAVE. BE CLEAN. USE YOUR HEAD. GET A JOB. These are but a few of the 24…

  • The power of faith unites a power couple

    Residents of the Piedmont Triad take note: The authors of this book will be coming to Winston-Salem Saturday, April 2, for a “conversation” sponsored by the BookMarks organization, with support from Centenary United Methodist Church.  Expect a lively exchange about politics from the view of two people in the know, as well as about marriage…

  • Praise for a History of Christianity

    Stephen Wishnevsky of Winston-Salem weighs in on a weighty book. He hasn’t quite finished the book – it’s long – but his review is worthwhile nonetheless. By Stephen Wishnevsky CHRISTIANITY: THE FIRST THREE THOUSAND YEARS. By Diarmaid MacCulloch. Viking Press.  2010. 1016 pages. $45. As much as I hate to review a book that I…

  • The Hare With Amber Eyes

    Here’s our latest review, by Robert Moyer of Winston-Salem, whose interests are as wide-ranging as his talents. By Robert Moyer THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss. By Edmund De Waal, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 351 pages. $26. In the London hallway of potter and author Edmund De Waal, a brass…