This book has a great mixture of old-time playin, dulcimer construction, and history. Chet Hines really createes a friendly tome in this book, sure to spark your curiosity and make you want to start building immediately. His selection of old time songs is likewise indispensable. This book is well worth a read.

The Interstate Railroad is a complete history of a short line Appalachian coal hauler. Packed with pictures and easy to understand text, the book features complete car rosters and locomotive information. Of particular interest are the interviews with former employees and pictures of the towns that the railroad served. Steve Morris

By: Jenny Day

Kentucky Folklore really brings to life the folklore and beliefs of the residents, past and present, of Kentucky. I was really fascinated by the new variations of folklore that I had heard while growing up. Some stories made me quiver with delight while others made me snicker to myself, remembering the tales my great-grandmother told. Kentucky Folklore is full of proverbs, expressions, and riddles, puzzles, folk rhymes, beliefs and superstitions that I thought no one else knew of exept my grandmother and me. This book not only includes information about what happened in Kentucky's past; it also includes a lot of customs of the present day. For half a century they had preserved the traditional ways of their lives everything from the games, ballads, dances, and tales that were their chief entertainment. Our folklore is what makes us who we are today and because people venture to retell it, it keeps us alive generation after generation. I will share the stories with my children's children in the years to come and they will never be outdated. If you are new to folklore, or an old pro, this book is a must have. The author has researched these folklores out personally. Kentucky Folklore is an well-organized text that makes it fun and informative read, perfect for anyone with a love of Kentucky folklore. Although the book is short in content it is thick in context. Myself, I am one who stated to read and could not put it down. It was so real to me. I actually read the book in record time. Anyone who reads this will get a sense of Kentucky heritage and appreciation.

It's common to become overwhelmed when you're reading a poem by Albert Stewart. His work is profoundly, astoundingly, evocative. That's true for first read, last read and all the reads in between. The first half of this book, however, is a little different. It took a reading or two for me to relax and get into its rhythm and begin to "get" it.

There's probably a name for the literary form of the title poem of this book - "A Man of Circumstance" - but I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a saga, although there's nothing legendary about this man or heroic about his exploits. He simply lives his life. It's unlike anything I've ever read by Albert Stewart. Then again, it is alike in that it demonstrates in its own quirky way this poet's uncanny ability to make the ordinary and regional extraordinary and universal. And the language, as in most of his poems, seems exactly right for the subject and form of the poem. If it's true, as Robert Graves wrote, that "in poetry there are no synonyms; there is only the exact word," this piece -- like all Stewart's work -- meets that standard. Its language is terse and matter of fact, but watch out, there are surprises. "...Felt used, a man of circumstance,/ As men caught up in feuds, murders, felt as if he had/ Been pushed along roads he had not meant to travel..."

The other part of the book contains some of my favorite poems from Stewart's earlier work, poems such as "The Way," haunting, full of longing. "I survive/ Gulping air like a fish/ Hollow as a bird bone"

"A Condition of Memory" captures exactly the lifelong legacy of unconditional love. One reviewer called it the most beautiful poem ever written. "...missing the touch of that kind rough hand/ so gentled by time and love and loss/ knowing, as no other, what it means to be blest,/ still blest, remembering that long ago blessing."

There's a little bit of everything in this book. Playful --Blackberry Blossom Blues. Comic -- The New Mule Poignant -- Cumberland Lullaby, Mountain Child. In Mountain Child: "Live on in this quiet country of the mind,/ Unharmed and harmless here,/ Charmed in time and child famous."/

Historic -- Men on Morgans. When Albert Stewart writes history, you feel as though you can remember it.

Nature -- The nature poems in this collection are just barely representative of this particular area of Stewart's genius. Lovers of "The Holy Season: Walking in the Wild," a monumental work which unsettles and astonishes, as well as gracing the reader with the most heartstoppingly beautiful language ever experienced, will find just a sampling here and want more. I did.

The selected Yellow Mountain poems are uneven -- sort of a random sprinkling. Yet, I predict that anyone who reads this book will find at least one poem that will forever change the way he looks at something that had always seemed quite ordinary. It may be mushrooms. Or trains. For me, it was cattle. In "Cattle In Their Summer Pastures," Stewart describes a brief moment when he saw cattle coming down from their summer pastures. That moment was at first snow, after a summer of "their always time and everywhere of plenty."

They came calling, came calling,/ Prayers in their voices and ruin in their eyes./ They came calling against the crime of snow./ And how their voices hurt I know.

This book is a treasure, not as rich as the "Untoward Hills" or as magnificent as "The Holy Season: Walking in the Wild," but a good introduction to Albert Stewart. I wish everyone would get to know his work. As it says in one of his poems, "the message is too marvelous to keep."

I really enjoyed this book and it was an easy read. I would highly recommend it to people who enjoy Southern Literature of the United States. It is one of the most refreshing books in its genre and comes highly recommended by Booklist, Kirkus REview and the New York Times Book Review List.
Four stars!

this book was very thourgh in the area of trail technical difficulty, however the directions to the various trails can be a little confusing. Overall this book can take you to some spectacular riding areas and put you in touch with those that can lead you to more trails.

I have just completed reading Carl Feather's Mountain People in a Flat Land. This book tells the stories of migrants from West Virginia, who left for the jobs in Ashtabula County, Ohio. As one who was born and raised in Ashtabula County during 1948-1971, it brought back memories. Many of the people were people I worked with at the Electromet, or were with friends with my parents. I could hear the noise and the danger,as my father worked there for 25 years. It is a wonderful addition to anyone looking for works on local history. While it does not have the scope of Studs Terkel,one realixes not all migration was to the big cities, but to the many small towns in Ohio who had similiar factories. While I enjoyed reading the book, I was left with a sadness, since many of the shops no longer exist nor do many of the people including my parents.

Barbara Hallowell has certainly done it this time; written a wondrous book about life in southern Appalachia. The life she writes about is that which we step on, the ground, the worms and insects, trees, flowers, fern and birds. She has charted the book monthly so one can know what to expect at each time of the year, and she takes you through the depths of winter, to the glories of autumn, stopping off for a good look at spring and summer. Did you know there were orchids in 'them thar mountains,' and what to do about snake bite? Did you ever wonder what the early days of a baby robin might be like or what a ghost forest is? Hallowell has taught nature classes and workshops for many years and has now turned her knowledge into this informative book with beautiful photographs for those of us not part of her classroom. And I am grateful. It's a wonderful book for any nature lover to cherish; almost encyclopedic with information yet delightfully readable.

This work is a great review on what is to be the rival of the great Appalachian Trail that spands from Maine to Georgia (2,160 miles). this trail will be approx. 900 miles but still contains as many treasures as the Appalachian Trail does.the mountains to sea trail is almost half completed 9400 miles). contains ample examples of the beauty of the trail that in nested completely in the vacation variety spot: North Carolina

"...his special room of treasures," impressed University of Charleston Professor William Plumley, writing a cover piece for Kleeman's collection. Dr. Plumley writes, "He walks around inside the reflections in this book in the same way that the very old, still in touch with a familiar place, a house, a room, find comfort in the objects there, but for Sydney Kleeman one eye is always directed at the activity outside the window. We have here, then some thoughts worth reading." Dedicated to his wife of 70 years (they have lived in the same home for 56 years, have two sons and six grandchildren), his collection contains more than six dozen of these thought starters ("sages," Dr. Plumley calls them.)