tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:05:35 +0000I, Diana Fields, am a bibliophile for which there is no cure. I would rather spend my last dollar on a good book, than a loaf of bread. My reading passions are Appalachian Literature, History and True Life Adventures.http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/diana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)Blogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-6208500247166378307Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:26:00 +00002009-08-18T08:32:23.255-04:00Wish You WellVirginiaDavid BaldacciOral historyAppalachian MountainsWish You Well, by David Baldacci. 2000. New York: Warner Books. 400 pp. ISBN: 0446527165Author David Baldacci, best known for his suspense thrillers, has taken a different course in the writing of Wish You Well. Drawing on oral histories told to him by his grandmother and his mother, of his ancestral home in southwestern Virginia, Mr. Baldacci has written an emotional family drama set in the 1940http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/wish-you-well-by-david-baldacci.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-5244659643337002092Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:06:00 +00002009-07-16T14:22:23.820-04:00Ken FollettScotlandVirginiaAppalachian MountainsPlace Called FreedomFictionCoal miningA Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett, 1995. Crown. 405 pp.A Place Called Freedom. The title alone gets the imagination going, somewhere perhaps only the mind will ever find. There are as many ideals of freedom as there are forms of bondage. Best-selling author Ken Follett's novel tells the story of two different lives each a victim of bondage inherited by birth, one physical fraught with pain http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/07/place-called-freedom.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-5377814805597079164Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:02:00 +00002009-08-03T11:29:37.375-04:00Society and CultureUnited StatesRaleighVirginiaNorth CarolinaRaleigh North CarolinaCivil WarKaye GibbonsHistoryOn the Occassion of My last Afternoon by Kaye Gibbons. 1998. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 273 pp.Emma Garnet Tate, raised on a James River plantation in Virginia before the Civil War, recollects her past, as her life comes to an end, in Kaye Gibbons' fifth novel. Gibbons, a native of North Carolina, has received numerous awards for her writing. However, I did not find this particular novel to http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-occassion-of-my-last-afternoon-by.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-214612008306457953Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:32:00 +00002009-08-03T11:43:21.978-04:00Jim Wayne MillerUnited StatesRobert WellsVanderbilt UniversityTennesseeBerea CollegeNorth CarolinaBook ReviewAppalachiaLiteratureAppalachian State UniversityNewfound by Jim Wayne Miller. 1989. NY. Orchard Books. pp 213.“There are two classes of people, the good livers and the sorry.” was how Robert’s Grandma Wells explained life. “Good livers were workers, they looked ahead, laid up for a rainy day. They were good providers. The sorry were shiftless, didn’t look ahead. They were improvident, lived from hand to mouth. A person should have goals, http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/newfound-by-jim-wayne-miller.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-6627179484986085937Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:44:00 +00002009-08-03T15:45:46.224-04:00New YorkMark TwainboatingtravelWilliam Least Heat-MoonJohn SteinbeckPacific OceanNew JerseyMississippi Riveramerica"River Horse, The Logbook of a Boat Across America" by William Least Heat-Moon. 1995. MA. Houghton Mifflin Co. 506 ppExploration seems to be coded into human DNA, some more than others. Most of us are only able to experience exciting travel adventures by reading about the journeys of others who are fortunate enough to make exploring a way of life. William Least Heat-Moon is just such a man and http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/river-horse-logbook-of-boat-across.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-4267215894891410190Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:37:00 +00002009-08-03T16:01:49.471-04:00James LetartNative Americans in the United StatesFrench and Indian WarAmerican RevolutionEthnicityNative AmericanOhio RiverHistoryReviewed by Diana Fields“A Pioneer on the new frontier of Self-Publishing” is how C. Stephen Badgley describes himself and his Ohio based book publishing company. Badgley is a modern self-publishing pioneer who comes from a long line of pioneers, many of whom you can read about in his self-published historical fiction novel Where the Lilies Cry set around present day Meigs County, OH during the http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-2624684110696793449Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:59:00 +00002009-06-28T14:29:17.491-04:00PlumscookingrecipesPlum Wild Breadby Diana FieldsAdapted from a recipe for Georgia Peach Bread by Doris Porter Jones in the cookbook complied by the Junior Service League of Gainsville, Georgia.Ingredients:3 cups sliced plums(I used frozen Damson Plums picked this fall from the Branyan Farm in Peterstown, WV)1 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons sugar, divided(For Sugar-Free I used Splenda plus (1 cup nonfat dry milk and 1 http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/plum-wild-bread-recipe.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-2770544851454122768Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:44:00 +00002009-06-28T14:30:31.770-04:00Children's literatureVirginiaNative Americans in the United StatesIndigenousColoring bookEthnicityNative AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States CensusReviewed by Diana FieldsNative American folklore uses animals in stories to teach life lessons. M. Jane Holt, descendant of the Paumkey tribe of Virginia, has drawn on her Native American heritage in writing her second children’s book, Eaglet and Crow Woman, to teach a lesson that kindness to strangers in need is a responsibility not a choice.In the aftermath of a great storm, Eaglet lies injuredhttp://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/eaglet-and-crow-woman-by-m-jane-holt.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-5141426986394591354Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:59:00 +00002009-08-03T16:12:57.609-04:00Boy ScoutCrime and JusticeVirginiaNew HampshireNorth CarolinaInjusticeSouthwest VirginiaMaineAppalachiaReviewed by Diana FieldsLiving in Appalachia, I am always interested in books that pertain to this region, fiction or non-fiction. Angel’s Rest written by Charles Davis is a fictional account of a young boy growing up in the mountains of Virginia in the 1960’s. While the town in the story is called Sunnytown, the descriptions of the areas in this book, as well as the title, give the impression http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-new-year.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-2449209661763023255Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:46:00 +00002009-08-03T16:28:13.813-04:00Society and CultureUnited StatesVirginiaSupreme Court of the United StatesAugusta County VirginiaNorth CarolinaU.S. Supreme CourtOld-Time MusicAppalachiaReviewed by Diana FieldsThe Great Wagon Road is present VA Route 11, which runs from Pennsylvania to Georgia. This was the path carved first by the Native Americans and then used by the earliest pioneers on their quest for land and freedom. Immigrating Scots and Irish, along with English indentured servants and runaway African slaves, made their way through the wild frontier of Virginia along http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-christmas.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-6330597733267751721Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:43:00 +00002008-11-03T15:51:36.453-05:00I would like to thank all that helped with the Haunted Gardens: Mick Branyan, Patti and Willie Amos, Levi Neely, Sparky, Charley Branyan, Jeb Rawnsley, Kim Chambers, Vicky from the Post Office, Alys Sink, Mallory Metheny, Jon, Sarah, Forrest Lee & Lynda Piver, and JakeWe all had a great time.Mark your calendars now for next year!http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/haunted-gardens.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611399571221144451.post-2782704931535268919Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:18:00 +00002008-10-28T14:44:29.096-04:00Halloween will be my bookstore's Grand Opening.There will be refreshments and a door prize.Following business hours, will be a Haunted Garden Tour.Admission is only $2.00.Come on out and bring the whole family.It is sure to be a SCREAMMMMMMM!http://dianasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/10/grand-opening.htmldiana@dianasbooks.com (Diana Fields)0