The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks

In a minute I will regale you with the story of the time I went sheep shopping, but first I want to tell you about the latest author to visit our library. Actually, there were two authors. There was James Rebanks whose book The Shepherd's Life examines his family's heritage as sheep farmers in England's Lake District. He was interviewed (or at least shared the stage with) Wendell Berry who, if not a national treasure, is definitely a Kentucky treasure.

Both men respect the land, honor community, and at the same time are fiercely independent. It was a pleasure to be in their company. 

Mr. Rebanks doesn't sugarcoat his role as farmer. His book follows the arc of the seasons: baling hay for winter's feed, moving sheep from mountain to valley, attending livestock auctions, shearing the herd, tending to wounds, birthing the lambs. 

It is relentless and grueling labor, but it is work that his family has done for generations. It is a life that he loves.

Sheep farmer and author James Rebanks.

Before attending the event I read about half of The Shepherd's Life. The book is broken down, not into chapters, but numbered dispatches that are part memoir, part history of the Lake District and his family's life there, and part instruction manual on How to Raise Sheep for Fun and Profit. 

OK, not so much Fun. And really, not so much Profit either.

I found him to be well-spoken, funny, and very sincere. I look forward to finishing his book. His voice is in my head.

And now for the sheep shopping story.

A friend of mine and her family live on what is known as a 'hobby farm.' She comes by that life naturally as she was raised on a dairy farm. Her children were all in 4-H. The farm was home to chickens, a couple of goats, and two sheep. 

The time came - this was a few years ago - to add two more sheep to the flock for a 4-H project. I got it into my head that I would go with them and buy a lamb for myself. I figured I could keep it on their farm, pay for its upkeep, and visit it now and again. 

So we all piled into their green Honda Pilot and headed to the nearby sheep farm to see what was on offer. 

I was immediately disabused of the notion of the fluffy lambs that populate children's books. We met the lambs in the barn and their woolly selves were matted with straw, thistles, and stuff that I won't mention. Not a pretty sight. 

Not so cuddly after all.

Since then, when I visit my friend's farm, I give a cheerful wave to the three sheep in the meadow (one of the original flock, Grayson, has since died) and I smile at the memory of that day and my rude awakening to the realities of sheep.

Mr. Rebanks has my full respect.

Faces at the Kentucky Book Fair

The ever-popular Sue Grafton. Fans lined up all day to get her autograph in her latest Kinsey Millhone mystery, W is for Wasted.

Poet, essayist, and novelist Wendell Berry has a faithful following. He was kept busy all day long signing many of his books. I met him at last year's Book Fair. This year I just waved as I walked by.

Mystery writer Duffy Brown looked great in her 'Crime Scene Do Not Cross' scarf. She was signing her entertaining puzzlers set in Savannah, Iced Chiffon and Killer in Crinolines. Her next mystery starring amateur sleuth Reagan Summerside, owner of the consignment shop, The Prissy Fox, is due out in March. This time Reagan will be investigating a crime involving Pearls and Poison. Ms. Brown is very friendly and genuine. I met her last year and have become a fan.

Alecia Whitaker is the author of Queen of Kentucky which I wrote about here. I was delighted and surprised to meet her as she was not listed in the online brochure of authors who would be attending. She was so gracious and like 14-year-old Ricki Jo, the girl on the cover, she had on her cowboy boots. Her new book is Wildflower, a story of a young songwriter/singer's experiences with fame.

Alison Atlee is the author of The Typewriter Girl, the story of Betsey Dobson who is trying to make her way as an independent woman in Victorian England. I wrote a bit about the book here. I spoke with Ms. Atlee about the clever chapter headings in her book concerning the rules of typewriting that she culled from an 1890's book How to Become an Expert in Typewriting. I found the advice to be applicable in life as well as when sitting in front of the typewriter.

 Deidre A. Scaggs is author of The Historic Kentucky Kitchen: Traditional Recipes for Today's Cook. I will be seeing her and her taste-testing co-author, chef Andrew W. McGraw, at another book event tonight. She highly recommended the Parrish Family's Lemon Custard Pie, circa 1850s, and assured me it is a recipe that even I - a non-cook - could follow. "It's super easy!"  Sure enough, the recipe has only five ingredients. I may have to dig out my apron!

This dapper fellow is Dan Andriacco, writer of the Sebastian McCabe-Jeff Cody series. His latest, The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore takes place in London, a favorite location of mine. Mr. Andriacco has been a Sherlock Holmes fan since he was nine and incorporates some of that famous detective's methods in his mysteries. 

Bryan S. Bush is a local historian and lecturer on The Civil War. His book, Louisville and The Civil War, takes a look at the role of my hometown in that conflict. Mr. Bush partipates in reenactment events as a Confederate artillery soldier and leads tours through the portion of historic Cave Hill Cemetery where Union and Confederate soldiers are buried. He told me the fascinating story of accused Confederate spy Elizabeth Temms who died in a Union prison in Louisville. She is the only woman buried with the Confederate soldiers in Cave Hill.

Two Days - Two Book Events

Two literary events on tap for this weekend.

On Saturday, I will be at the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort. Last year I had a blast mingling with the authors and the readers in attendance. For the first time, Kentucky-native Sue Grafton will be there autographing her latest Kinsey Millhone mystery, W is for Wasted. Coincidentally, the book, which has been on my library request list for months, has just now become available for me. 

Also in attendance will be Duffy Brown, whom I met last year and whose Savannah-based mysteries Iced Chiffon and Killer in Crinolines I have very much enjoyed. 

The fair's website lists over 200 authors who will be present including poet, essayist, and novelist Wendell Berry, political reporter Eleanor Clift, and Bobbie Ann Mason. 

My plan, which worked so well last year, is to study the program that is online and choose beforehand the authors I want to meet. The aisles get crowded and it is best to have a strategy so I don't miss anyone. A great day!

Here are links to my posts on last year's Book Fair: here and here.

On Sunday, the award-winning, independent documentary film "Out of Print", produced and directed by Vivienne Roumani, will be shown, for free, at a theater right in my neighborhood.  It asks and debates the question Is the Book Really Dead? I am very much looking forward to seeing this. Here is how the film is described on its website:

Out of Print, narrated by Meryl Streep, draws us into the topsy-turvy world of words, illuminating the turbulent and exciting journey from the book through the digital revolution. Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon.com), Ray Bradbury, Scott Turow, Jeffery Toobin, parents, students, educators, scientists - all highlight how this revolution is changing everything about the printed world - and changing us.

Kentucky Book Fair on My Calendar

The Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort, which I have often attended, is coming up in a couple of weeks. This year I see that some of the regular favorites will be in attendance at this one-day event: Wendell Berry; Bobbie Ann Mason; and, the state's former and only female governor Martha Layne Collins (whom I have had the pleasure of interviewing). Sue Grafton, Louisville native and author of the alphabet mysteries featuring Kinsey Millhone, is scheduled to be there to sign her newest, W is for Wasted.

Also on the list is Duffy Brown who writes the fun mysteries set in Savannah (where I will be next week!). I met her last year, bought her first book, Iced Chiffon, and now, after reading her second, Killer in Crinolines, consider myself to be a fan of hers. 

Here is a link to author photos I took at last year's event.

Even though I am in the midst of getting ready for my Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013, I am definitely going to put this book fair on my calendar. It makes for a fun, literary day. And one that is always full of surprises.

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop

My Bookstore, with an introduction by Richard Russo, is a wonderful 'dip into' book. In it, eighty-four writers describe their favorite bookstores. So the reader gets to visit many places he or she might never get to in real life. A great armchair travel book for those of us who love to read.

I first read the entries on the five or six stores that I had visited - one here in my hometown by Wendell Berry who writes, [Carmichael's] has the quietness, the smell, the tangibility that a bookstore ought to have. 

I would have to agree. 

Then I read about all the bookstores in North Carolina, and there are six featured,  in preparation for what just might be The Second Grand Southern Literary Tour. 

Next, I started reading by writer. So I discovered that Rick Bragg (All Over But the Shoutin') likes The Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham for the simple reason that there are no cats here. Ann Patchett (State of Wonder), on her first visit to McLean & Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, Michigan, fell in love with the town - a dreamy, shady place on the lake - and then immediately its bookstore. Isabelle Allende (The House of the Spirits), calls Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, her personal book store and writes, The only place as comforting as a friendly bookstore is probably your grandmother's kitchen.

Of course, these authors are preaching to the choir and yet it is a cozy way to get a bookstore fix. Some are located in strip malls. Some are urban, while others are suburban. Some bookstores are brand new, others are quite ancient. There are those where one can sip espresso while reading and others that offer bottles of maple syrup for sale at the register. But however quirky, all the store owners have books and a love of reading in common.

One of the nice aspects of the book is that there an illustration of each store at the beginning of its chapter. And in the back of the book, there is a list by state of each store featured. Very helpful for anyone planning a trip.

The Peace of Wild Things

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things 

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

Photo album: Kentucky Book Fair

Samuel, the handsome bookseller, at the Kentucky Book Fair.
Joseph-Beth is an independent bookstore in Lexington and had people at the Fair taking payment for books purchased. I wandered up and down the aisles chatting with authors and picking up books as I went. I paid for all on my way out. I couldn't resist taking Samuel's photo as he stood in line to meet one of his literary idols, Wendell Berry.

Author Bobby Ann Mason looks darling in her beret. She was wearing it in honor of her newest book The Girl in the Blue Beret. I bought and had her sign a copy of Elvis which she wrote in 2002. I had seen Ms. Mason at the Book Fair shortly after publication of that book, part of the Penguin Lives series, but in my ignorance failed to buy it. So, I had to settle for getting her autograph in the paperback edition.

Kentucky literary icon Wendell Berry. I bought a copy of his agrarian essays, Art of the Common Place, and joked with him that I was embarrassed to say that although I had read some of his work I didn't actually own any of his books but was putting that to rights today. He laughed and said, "If you can read them for free, why not?" He began the day wearing his jacket but by noon was signing books in his shirtsleeves. There was always a line of fans at  his table.

And now let me introduce three mystery writers whose books I bought and chatted with about murder most foul:

Gale Borger writes the Miller Sisters Mysteries.  Ms. Borger is a correctional officer, wife, and mother to a college-student daughter. She lives in Wisconsin and was smiling to be in Kentucky. She also is a master gardener and gave me a packet of basil seeds. I am looking forward to starting her books, Totally Buzzed and Totally Fishy.

Abigail Keam writes mysteries that take place in Bluegrass country and star Josiah Reynolds, beekeeper extraordinaire.
Death by a Honeybee is Ms. Keam's first book in the series. She has written four so far. Ms. Keam is a beekeeper herself and has won awards for her honey at the Kentucky State Fair.

Duffy Brown's Iced Chiffon is a cozy mystery featuring Reagan Summerside, consignment store owner in Savannah and part-time amateur sleuth. I love the city of Savannah and couldn't resist buying this first-in-the-series book. Besides, Ms. Brown looked so fresh in her yellow jacket and red carnation.