OPINION

38 local books for gift giving

Jayne Moore Waldrop

Books make wonderful holiday gifts, with no problems finding the right size or color. They’re easy to ship to distant friends and family, easy to pack if you’re traveling over the holidays. And purchasing books by local authors supports our literary community, presses and bookstores. All good.

The following suggestions are books that have been released in the past year, written by Kentucky and Indiana authors, or published by local presses. Choose from coffee table books, small stocking stuffers, compelling fiction and creative nonfiction, and books for kids on your list. For readers, 2015 has been a very good year.

Big beautiful books

"Red River Gorge: My Second Home" by John Snell (Acclaim Press) is filled not only with stunning photography but also a wealth of information about the natural and recreational aspects of the Red River Gorge area. Snell’s lifelong love of the place is distilled into an amazing book.

"Kentucky by Design: The Decorative Arts and American Culture," edited by Andrew Kelly (University Press of Kentucky) offers the first comprehensive examination of Kentucky objects that were included in the Index of American Design, a New Deal initiative that attempted to document authentic American style in everyday objects. The book is a hefty and handsome volume for coffee tables or research collections.

"Graviss Studios: Beauty, Joy & Laughter Shared through the Art of Debbie Graviss," edited by Diane Sherill (Acclaim Press) features artwork by the Midway artist, known for her painterly portraits of animals and flowers. The book includes more than 200 images of Graviss’ artwork.

"The Birth of Bourbon: A Photographic Tour of Early Distilleries" by Carol Peachee (University Press of Kentucky) is an evocative exploration of bourbon’s past. Peachee, a fine art photographer and cofounder of the Kentucky Women’s Photography Network, has documented what’s left of lost distilleries like Buffalo Springs and Atherton to the current renewal of the Old Taylor and James E. Pepper facilities. It’s a very handsome book with more than 220 photographs.

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Books for Foodies

"Lost Restaurants of Louisville" by Stephen Hacker and Michelle Turner (American Palate) celebrates Louisville as an important force in American cuisine. Louisvillians will love the opportunity to remember restaurants like Casa Grisanti, Kunz’s, Melrose Inn, Afro-German Tea Room, Timothy’s and many others. And anyone who loves food and Louisville’s place in food culture will appreciate the authors’ impeccable research that includes treasured photographs, stories and recipes. Hacker and Turner blog about food and cooking at gourmandistan.com.

"Louisville Diners" by Ashlee Clark Thompson (American Palate) is a great guide to casual dining in Louisville today. Thompson has chronicled diners all around Louisville, looking for homestyle American cooking, entrees under $10, and places often affectionately referred to as mom-and-pop establishments, greasy spoons and holes in the wall. Thompson blogs about local food news at ashleeeats.com.

"The Manhattan Cocktail: A Modern Guide to the Whiskey Classic" by Albert W.A. Schmid (University Press of Kentucky) is a pretty little book that’s perfect for stuffing the stockings of those hankering for a classic cocktail. Also suitable for fans of TV’s "Mad Men," which single-handedly brought the drink back into popular culture. The author, who directs the Sullivan University hotel-restaurant management program, includes more than 50 recipes.

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Fiction

"The Best Small Fictions 2015," edited by Robert Olen Butler and Tara L. Masih (Queen’s Ferry Press) is a neat little collection of stories under 1,000 words, by well-known and emerging writers including three from Kentucky: Bobbie Ann Mason, Jonathan Humphrey of Lexington, and Leesa Cross-Smith of Louisville. These small stories are perfect for readers who want to quick dive into a fictional world.

"The Chintz Age: Tales of Love and Loss for a New New York" by Ed Hamilton (Červená Barva Press) is a collection of seven stories and a novella that focus on modern gentrification of cities via government programs that assist developers and real estate speculators. The characters are forced to confront their own obsolescence in rapidly changing neighborhoods. Hamilton, a New York resident, also has Kentucky roots. He attended Louisville’s Trinity High School and is a graduate of both the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

In "Walking Air" by Sharon Mauldin Reynolds (Pen-L Publishing), the author provides an intimate look at several characters connected to a small town in Mississippi. Reynolds, a Lexington resident, is a Mississippi native. Tim O’Brien, author of "The Things They Carried"and a National Book Award winner, called the collection “beautiful, graceful, and immaculately constructed.”

"My Blessed, Wretched Life: Rebecca Boone’s Story" by Sue Kelly Ballard (Butler Books) is historical fiction based on the life of Rebecca Boone, wife of better-known settler Daniel Boone. The stories of women pioneers aren’t as familiar as their male contemporaries, but Ballard’s extensive research gives Rebecca a voice to tell about the settlement of Kentucky.

Nonfiction

"Row by Row: Talking With Kentucky Gardeners" by Katherine J. Black (Ohio University Press) is a lovely book in spirit and execution. For more than two years, Black traveled Kentucky to document why people raise their own food in garden patches from creek bottoms to former pastureland. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Deirdre A. Scaggs, these portraits of Kentucky farmers are sure to please gardeners, local food enthusiasts, and sustainability advocates.

"Venerable Trees: History, Biology and Conservation in the Bluegrass" by Tom Kimmerer (University Press of Kentucky) tells the story of the ancient trees – the chinkapins, bur oaks and blue ashes – that dot Kentucky landscapes. Kimmerer, chief scientist of a nonprofit dedicated to conserving trees in the Bluegrass, has meticulously researched and photographed the giants that have somehow survived in both rural and urban settings.

"Justus S. Stearns: Michigan Pine King and Kentucky Coal Baron, 1845-1933" by Michael W. Nagle (Wayne State University Press) traces the life and business successes of Stearns, who made a fortune in the lumber business up north and came to McCreary County for coal. The book details Stearns’ range of accomplishments and explores the influence of both paternalism and Social Darwinism in his business practices.

"Golfing the Bluegrass: The Top Courses in Kentucky that Anyone Can Play" by Scott Hite is a new guide to golf courses for value-conscious golfers. Hite details courses from Mineral Mound in Eddyville to Eagle Ridge in Louisa, including fees, hours and ratings for condition, hospitality and wow factors.

Poetry

"Bright Dead Things" by Ada Limón (Milkweed) examines the chaos and thrill of life and was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in Poetry. The author now lives in Lexington.

"The Table of the Elements" by J.T. Whitehead (Broadkill River Press) also was nominated for the 2015 National Book Award in Poetry. Based on the periodic table, the collection is the poetry debut for Whitehead, an Indianapolis lawyer.

"Circe’s Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry,"edited by Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, will be released this month by Lexington’s Accents Publishing. The collection gathers poems by women writers from around the world and celebrates women who have challenged societal expectations despite the consequences.

Creative nonfiction and memoir

"Beans, Biscuits, Family & Friends: Life Stories by Bill Goodman" (RRP International Publishing). Goodman, host of KET’s Kentucky Tonight, tells stories from his childhood in Glasgow to his mountain-climbing adventures as an adult.

"Walk Till The Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia," edited by Adrian Blevins and Karen Salyer McElmurray (Ohio University Press), is an essay collection about the silencing forces of gender, faith, class, sexuality and family in Appalachian culture. Some of the region’s best writers are included, like Silas House, Chris Offut, and Julia Watts. Anyone trying to find their voice would benefit from reading it.

"Sweet Evening Breeze and Other Kentucky Characters, Communities and Chronicles" by Sheila Joyce Strunck (Motes Books) is a funny, tender collection of stories about people and events that many Kentuckians will appreciate. Strunck’s paragraph about arriving at the flagship university will resonate with many young people getting their first taste of college life: “In the autumn of 1951 tuition at the University of Kentucky was $80; room and board in the dormitories cost $120 per semester. I suppose never since has it been possible to go to heaven for a whole year for $400.”

Sci-fi and Steampunk

"The Apex Book of World SF: Volume 4," edited by Mahvesh Murad (Apex Publications), includes a world of fantasy in one package, from Spanish steampunk and Italian horror to Nigerian science fiction and subverted Japanese folktales. The stories in this volume showcase the best of contemporary speculative fiction, wherever it’s written. The series Volume 3 was selected as one of NPR’s top 40 books for 2014. Apex Publications is a Lexington-based small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy and horror; its books and magazine have received some of the genre’s most prestigious awards, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award.

For the gift that keeps giving, consider giving a subscription to Apex Magazine, a monthly digital e-zine of science fiction, fantasy and horror short fiction edited by Jason Sizemore. The magazine has been nominated for three Hugo Awards and won the last two Nebula Awards. For more information, go to www.apex-magazine.com

Young Adult

These acclaimed YA books by writers in or from Kentucky have appeared previously in this column, but they deserve another mention. They’re some of the best storytelling of the year.

"Trampoline" by Robert Gipe (Ohio University Press).

"Saint Monkey" by Jacinda Townsend (W.W. Norton).

"Mosquitoland" by David Arnold (Viking/Penguin).

Children’s picture books

"Little Tree" by Loren Long (Philomel Books) is a gently told and illustrated story about growing up and embracing change. Long, who grew up in Lexington, graduated from UK, and now lives in Cincinnati, is the bestselling author and illustrator of the Otis the tractor series.

"Ellen: The Little Girl Who Found Her Voice" by Ellen Skidmore (West High Publishing) is the stunningly illustrated story of a child with a speech disability who comes to see that no one is perfect. Skidmore is a central Kentucky artist.

"Santa’s Sleigh Is on Its Way to Kentucky"by Eric James and Robert Dunn (Sourcebooks) is a fun Christmas adventure book. Santa travels to towns throughout Kentucky among illustrations of diverse families.

Gift subscription for all 2016 Sarabande books

Louisville’s Sarabande books offers a perfect gift for the book lover in your life – a subscription for every new title in the coming year. For $125, the recipient will have each new release shipped directly to their home, hot off the press, including:

  • "Swallows and Waves" by Paula Bohince
  • "Solarium" by Jordan Zandi
  • "You Should Pity Us Instead" by Amy Gustine
  • "The Spoons in the Grass are There to Dig a Moat" by Amelia Martens
  • "Allegheny Front" by Matthew Neill Null
  • "Antiquity" by Michael Homolka
  • "Malafemmena" by Louisa Ermelino
  • "The Brand New Catastrophe" by Mike Scalise
  • "Him, Me, Muhammad Ali" by Ronda Jarrar

For more information, go to www.sarabandebooks.org.

Award-winning flash fiction

And, after a busy day of holiday shopping for everyone else, reward yourself with the gift of sitting down to read. One possibility – and it doesn’t cost a dime – is an award-winning story by Louisville author Ellen Birkett Morris. Morris recently won the Bevel Summers Prize for the Short Story, sponsored by Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review. Her story, “May Apples,” appears in the fall issue of the magazine.

Editor R. T. Smith said, “Ms. Morris’s story, or flash fiction, is remarkable for its vivid particularity and range of implication. It’s about youth and age, art and nature, resistance and acceptance. A lovely, thrifty story.” Find the story at: http://shenandoahliterary.org/651/2015/07/21/may-apples/

Jayne Moore Waldrop is a Lexington writer and attorney. Share local literary news with her at kyliterature101@gmail.com.