A Hidden Gem from a Kentucky Author

"I was born to dig coal," Father said. "Somewheres they's a mine working. Fires still burning the world over, and they got to be fed. All the hearthstones in North Americkee hain't gone cold. I been hearing of a new mine farther than the head o'Kentucky River, on yon side Pound Gap. Grundy, its name is."

-Father in River of Earth, by Kentucky author, James Still, 1940

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I read a good little book this week about an Appalachian family who struggled for every little piece of food that they got. The narrator of River of Earth by Still is one of the children, a boy who was often hungry and cold along with the rest of his family. James Still depicts the struggles of his own mountain people in Kentucky as if he knew exactly what they were going through. His poetic use of the mountain language of the day in the early 20th century is an art form in itself. Granted, it was difficult for me to understand at times, so I just reread the sentence until I got what the character was saying. 

I first heard of this book when I read Dimestore by Lee Smith last month.  Smith devotes a chapter to this writer. She was very impressed with his natural writing ability, and she was very happy to be able to get to know him. She grew up in Grundy, Virginia, a small town that Still mentions in the above quote from his book. River of Earth reminds me of books like The Grapes of Wrath where great human suffering affects droves of people who cannot seem to find a way out. Still depicts a family who lived on some farmland, but they rarely were successful in growing enough food for the family. On top of that, Father would often allow relatives to stay a while when they had nowhere else to go because they were kin. Of course, this took food from the mouths of the children, and it angered Mother to no end. Eventually, Father felt he had no choice but to work in the coal mines, so he moved the family to one of the company houses in Blackjack. The narrator vows that he will never become a coal miner because he plans to become a "horse doctor" one day, yet the people around him say that there is no way out once your family works in the mines. His own relatives told him this would be his fate, and their words burned in his ears: "'What'er you're aiming to be, you'll end snagging jackrock.' It throbbed in my head like truth, and however swiftly I ran, it sped with me." The book only covers about three years in the life of this family, so I don't know if the boy ever became a veterinarian. But the ending doesn't lead the reader to believe that he will reach his dreams. 

Today I counted the number of books that I read in 2016, and I found that I read 24 of them. I seem to read from various genres so it's hard to pin me down on what kinds of books that I like. I read historical novels such as The Nightingale by Hannah and Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings by O'Connor. I also read some fun novels set in Paris such as A Paris Apartment by Gable, and Hidden in Paris by Gantz, I enjoyed some memoirs such as The French House by Don Wallace and The Magnolia Story by the Gaines'. I enjoyed all of these and look forward to discussing some great ones in the months ahead. Next on my list is a book that I got for Christmas, War & Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans. It was on the NY Times best 10 books of the year list in 2016, so it's going to be a great ride. Have you read it? If you have, no spoilers please!

I appreciate the book list of one of my readers, and I will hang on to it for when I need a new book. Readers, please leave me your thoughts on what I've shared today - your opinions are truly appreciated.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

 

A Reading List That Grows

"She'd become an English major for the purest and dullest of reasons: because she loved to read."

-Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

(goodreads)

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Well, we finished another year, a year that had some ups and down for all of us. The year 2016 is over and done with, and now is the time to think about what we are going to do in 2017. We may not want to change anything, and we may accept that there are many things that we just can't change. Many things are out of our control, and yet we still strive to be healthy and happy, somehow reaching for our dreams at the same time. Oh, and by the way, I was an English major too, and I received my secondary teacher's certificate as well. I guess I do enjoy languages and literature, because my minor was Spanish.

One dream I have is to write about my E.S.L. students and to figure out how to get published. I teach E.S.L. in a public elementary school, and I always hear funny and honest things come from the mouths of my First and Second graders. The first language of all of my kids is Spanish, and they are quite good at speaking English, but some of them struggle in the areas of comprehension and writing. But all learning aside, they always seem to have a lot of things on their minds. I would like to write these stories down and find a way to get them published so that other people can enjoy them.

My other dreams are to read more and travel more. I am a restless soul and I'm always on a quest to do something that I've never done before. No matter where I go, I can find some interesting things to do there. I remember a few years ago when we visited our son in Sandusky, Ohio. I researched what there is to do in the area, and a found a little gem that I'll never forget - we visited the birthplace of Thomas Edison in nearby Milan. It was so much fun to learn about Edison, tidbits of info that we had never read before. While in Sandusky we also visited one of the Lake Erie islands, Kelley's Island. We rented a golf cart and drove around the island. Wow - such a pretty little place for a quiet vacation, complete with beautiful homes and a nice beach. On the negative side, I don't remember seeing any hotels there, but I'm sure there must be some. Last summer I went to visit a friend in the Birmingham, Alabama area and we found some beautiful gems there as well. We visited the home of Helen Keller in Ivy Green, and then we visited the hometown of Harper Lee (Monroeville). There are no adequate words to express how much I enjoyed these two outings. Again, I'm always looking for something new to learn and experience, and these two places met all of my expectations and then some. Interestingly, my friend has lived in Alabama for many years, but she had never visited the Keller or Lee hometowns. I think she enjoyed the day trips almost as much as I did!

In December I did a good bit of reading. I finished The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan. I wrote about the book last time, so I'll just summarize it now. I loved this book so much because I learned about something that happened in America that I had never heard of before, the making of the atomic bomb and the war attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The book discusses the science behind the project, but it also gives us a glimpse into the lives of young, ordinary women who left their families far behind to move to Tennessee to work. They had no idea what they were going to do, and the secret of their work was kept from them for a very long time. The young peopled were lured to Oak Ridge because of the good pay and the ability to help their families back home who were just coming out of the depression. I highly recommend this book to history buffs or anyone who is looking for a good, true story to read. Other true stories that I thoroughly enjoyed in the past few years are Unbroken, The Boys in the Boat, A Woman in Berlin, The House at Sugar Beach, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

One day last month I picked up a newer book from the library, All the Winters After by Sere Halverson. It's the story of Kachemark Winkel, a depressed man who returned to Alaska long after his family was killed in an airplane crash there. He meets a young woman, Nadya, who is living in the family home deep in the woods while she is hiding out from the Old Believers sect of Russians and her ex-husband who was abusive. As you can guess, it's a love story between Kache and Nadya, and there relationship helps them both to get out of their depression and loneliness. I don't usually just pick up a book while browsing at the library, but I admit that I enjoyed this one. It doesn't hurt that the story takes place in beautiful Alaska amid beautiful wildlife and vegetation.

Most recently, I finished reading a little hardback book that just came out in 2016, Dimestore by Lee Smith. Incidentally, Smith lives in our nearby Hillsborough, North Carolina, a small town that is known for its artistic residents and good restaurants. Smith is a prolific writer who teaches writing. She has published several books, and I saw that I've read one other book by her, The Last Girls. Dimestore is a memoir of her years growing up in Appalachia in Grundy, Virginia, a small town that is close to my home state of Kentucky. Smith's father owned a Ben Franklin store, and she remembers fondly the life that they had in small-town America. If you've lived very long in the south, I'm sure you can remember the Ben Franklin stores. They had just about anything you might need in the way of clothes, household goods, etc. They usually had a lunch counter too, a place where you could order a BLT or ice cream soda and wile away the hours. Smith was an only child and was much-loved, but her home wasn't perfect. Both of her parents suffered periodically from mental illness, diseases that she really didn't understand. All she knew that Mom or Dad sometimes "went away" for a while. Her parents loved each other very much, and they doted on their only child, Lee, while always hoping for the very best for her. I think she would say that she's thankful that she grew up in Grundy, Virginia, a memorable town where life was simple and strong values were taught.

I did a lot of reading in December, and I thoroughly enjoyed each book. I also browsed through Moravian Christmas in the South as well as some magazines such as American Bungalow, one of my favorite periodicals. I'm an avid browser, although sometimes that means I miss some important details. But it is what it is, and I just enjoy just about everything that I read. There is power in words, and there is knowledge in words, and these two things together make for an adventurous life.

I am currently reading a book by a Kentucky author, River of Earth by James Still.  I borrowed this book from my mother a long time ago, and since Lee discusses Still in Dimestore, I felt it was an omen that I should go ahead and read it now. I have a new book that I got for Christmas that I'm anxious to read as well, but I'll get to it soon since I'm enjoying Still's book so much and can't put it down. Sometimes I just have to chase a rabbit when it's dangling in front of me.

I hope you're reading a scrumptious book right now. If you aren't, get at it - your reading list will grow!

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com