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Political leanings aside, I think most of us can agree that 2016 was a rough year, marked by divisiveness, disappointment and loss around just about every corner. No doubt many will be happy to hit the reset button this winter and escape into hibernation mode with a hot beverage in one hand and a good book in the other. I’m happy to report that despite our country’s social and political upheavals, this year’s harvest of literature with a Kentucky connection has been especially fruitful, providing readers with an abundance of voices to please even the most particular of pallets. Below, we’ve tapped on staff members from Lexington’s leading literary hub, The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, along with a few favorite local literary experts to recommend some of those voices for your winter reading pleasure.
Kids of Appetite
by David Arnold
Recommended by ALISON KERR COURTNEY, Biblioremedy
David Arnold’s “Kids of Appetite” begins with Victor Benucci, 16, stalling for time in an interrogation room at the Hackensack Police Department. It ends – well, I’m not going to tell you how it ends. But I will say that this is one of the best young adult novels of the year, full of unforgettable characters whose raw emotions and intelligence fill the reader’s heart. The novel also contains, in no particular order, a quest, Moebius syndrome, a murder, a Russian butcher, Congolese refugees, super racehorses, music, art, beauty and many, many references to S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders.” Oh, and love, too.
CrimeSong: True Crime Stories from Southern Murder Ballads
by Richard H. Underwood
Recommended by JAY MCCOY, The Morris Bookshop
If you spend any time in Kentucky, it’s not a far stretch to think you might eventually happen upon a musical soirée where a haunting rendition of a ballad is played – one that recounts a heart-wrenching or gruesome tale that sounds too far-fetched to be true. In “CrimeSong: True Crime Stories from Southern Murder Ballads,” author and University of Kentucky law professor Richard H. Underwood delves into such lyrics and pulls back the autopsy sheet on 24 Southern murder ballads based on true stories – some well-known, others obscure and all fascinating. Underwood shares findings from his extensive investigations of the actual crimes that inspired the songs, eight of which took place in Kentucky. In addition to the extensively annotated text, the book includes an intro by UK professor of music Ron Pen, ballad lyrics, newspaper clippings, photographs and illustrations (including three works by Lexington artist Christine Kuhn). “CrimeSong” is the first book from the newly established local publishing house Shadelandhouse Modern Press.
Kentucky Kaiju
by Shawn Pryor, Justin Stewart, and Tressina Bowling
Recommended by JASON SIZEMORE, Apex Publications editor in chief
Billed as a “field guide to the monsters of the Bluegrass state,” “Kentucky Kaiju” is beautifully illustrated and wildly inventive. The artists have drawn inspiration from cinematic influences such as Godzilla and Pacific Rim (“kaiju” is Japanese for “strange beast”), placing these monsters in some of the more colorfully named cities and towns in Kentucky. Wolf Lick, Mummie, Barefoot, Wax and Future City are just a few of the cities the kaijus hail from, adding a folksy and local feel to field entries for magnificent kaiju such as the giant horse Blazenfoal and coal monster Smokestack.
The Light Fantastic
by Sarah Combs
Recommended by JENNIFER MATTOX, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning development director
A young adult novel about school shootings could easily veer into extremely dark territory, however, Lexington-based author Sarah Combs uses her second novel, which weaves through seven interrelated narratives, to show her readers the light. We’re reminded of the call after the Boston Marathon bombing to “look for the helpers,” and many of Combs’ troubled characters do, finding far more good than bad in this world. Gavin perhaps says it best: “They’re everywhere, I promise you. You have to believe that they are. Not just believe it, but know it deep down in that place in your heart where the true stuff lives.” It’s a novel that will not let you go – and of all the messages it carries, the one that resonates most is one of hope.
The Affrilachian Sonnets
by Frank X Walker
Recommended by BIANCA SPRIGGS, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning literary arts liaison
We’ve seen a spectrum of material spiral out of former Kentucky poet laureate Frank X Walker’s pen over the years – experimentation with alternate versions of historical events, unflinching poems about family addiction and reclaimed black narratives highlighting horse jockey Isaac Murphy and the illiterate slave York. This year, Walker returns quite literally to his roots in both form and content, with a refreshing new collection of “counter sonnets” that blend family and myth against the backdrop of Danville, Kentucky, Walker’s hometown. Hand-printed and bound by the visionary team at Larkspur Press and featuring three new wood engravings by Joanne Price, this is a gorgeous collection for the poetry enthusiast in your life – one that will certainly stick to their ribs.
The Sport of Kings
by C.E. Morgan
Recommended by NEIL CHETHIK, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning executive director
Centering on a Kentucky horse-breeding family, C.E. Morgan’s expansive, exquisitely detailed sophomore novel “The Sport of Kings” offers insights about today’s America that you won’t find anywhere else. It combines a riveting modern horse racing story with a “here’s how it works” understanding of American racism and sexism. Morgan is a spectacular writer whose descriptions of Kentucky’s land and people – spanning nearly 200 years of the commonwealth’s history – will leave you either nodding your head in recognition or shaking it in astonishment. Winner of this year’s Kirkus Prize for Fiction, “The Sport of Kings” took Morgan seven years to write; for this reader, at least, it was worth every moment.
Nearly Perfect Photograph
by Christopher McCurry
Recommended by BRONSON QUINN, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning technology associate
Christopher McCurry’s poems are at once hilarious and uncomfortable, beautiful and terrifying. In his 2016 collection of sonnets “Nearly Perfect Photograph,” he manages to capture marriage at its best, worst and most mediocre. As a newlywed, I’ve found this collection of poems to hint at truths of marriage that I’ve already learned and others that I’m simultaneously excited and anxious to unravel in the coming years. Christopher McCurry’s work can be found at Workhorse, Accents Publishing and Lafayette High School, where he teaches English; I highly encourage everyone to seek him out before he leaves Lexington, either from a talent scout or an angry mob – both after him for his brutal honesty.
The More They Disappear
by Jesse Donaldson
Recommended by JESSICA MOHLER, Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning marketing director
Jesse Donaldson’s debut novel “The More They Disappear” takes place in a rural Kentucky town, but his cast of characters is recognizable in any urban area these days, even Lexington. Set in the early ’90s during the beginning of our state’s OxyContin epidemic, Donaldson’s literary thriller lets the reader ride shotgun as he drives through the back roads of addiction, poverty, despair and perpetual corruption.