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A real American baseball hero
Paul O’Connor, Briar Patch Books contributing editor, is on the road this summer. He’s had a little time to read and reflect on the national pastime, his own particular passion for the St. Louis Cardinals, the greatest Cardinal of them all – and life in America. By Paul T. O’Connor STAN MUSIAL: AN AMERICAN LIFE.…
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In the Briar Patch, May 26-29
Here in the briar patch, we’ve had lots of rain, thunderstorms mostly, punctuated by hot weather. And new books for summer reading keep rolling in, too.
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From the days when a story was a story
Bob Moyer enjoys new stories from an old favorite author, who died in 2007. By Robert Moyer WHILE MORTALS SLEEP. By Kurt Vonnegut. Delacorte Press. 253 pages. $27. Maybe it’s because we miss him. Maybe it’s because the editor put the best of these stories at the back of the book. For whatever reason, these…
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Red clay, bad blood
Valerie Nieman is a seasoned journalist, a novelist and a poet. She uses all those experiences and talents to good effect in this, her third novel. Originally from western New York State, Valerie Nieman teaches writing at N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C. She arrived in North Carolina via West Virginia, where she graduated…
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Watch out: Here comes Miss Julia
Ann B. Ross of Hendersonville, N.C., is a delightful lady whom I’ve had the privilege of interviewing twice – once for the Winston-Salem Journal back in the 1980s when she published The Pilgrimage, a novel about two orphaned sisters traveling on the Oregon Trail, and then for Our State magazine when her 11th Miss Julia…
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Food for thought
Paul O’Connor is on the road this summer, sampling high-quality beers, but avoiding meat. Before he headed west, he left some food for thought for the rest of us. Do not read this review close to mealtime if you still indulge in animal flesh. By Paul T. O’Connor EATING ANIMALS. By Jonathan Safran Foer. Back…
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In the Briar Patch, May 14-16
It’s been rainy in the briar patch. Thank goodness for plenty of new books to while away the time. Outdoors, there are a few new wildflowers, but getting out into the woods and fields to see them hasn’t been easy. Above is a fire pink (pink refers to the family, not the color).
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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.…
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Back on the mean streets
Bob Moyer has been reading Walter Mosley’s new series again – with pleasure. By Robert Moyer WHEN THE THRILL IS GONE. By Walter Mosley. Riverhead Books. 368 pages. $26.95 Leonid McGill makes only his third appearance in Walter Mosley’s new series, but we’ve seen his kind before — the hard-boiled kind. Short, stocky and deadly,…
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Wishnevsky a la Lincoln
Steve Wishnevsky weighs in with a review that reminds me of a quote that’s been widely circulated as having been written by Abraham Lincoln when reviewing a book: “People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” Whether Lincoln really said it, I have no idea. One can…