A list of recommended summer reading picks from the Carnegie Center staff, highlighting Kentucky authors
The Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning is a bastion for the literary arts in the heart of downtown Lexington. Providing regular writing workshops, language classes and literary readings throughout the year, this month the organization will host its annual Books-in-Progress Conference, geared toward writers in various stages of writing or publishing. The conference will take place June 1-3 and features keynote speaker Angela Jackson-Brown.
Just in time for summer vacation season, our friends at the Carnegie Center have put together an intriguing list of summer reading picks for us, focusing on new books by Kentucky authors that were released within the past year. Read on to find your next favorite book!
‘Wake the Bones’ by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
This novel by Lexington author Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a hauntingly beautiful depiction of a young, strange woman, Laurel Early, who comes back home to her Kentucky farm only to find the place and the people she once knew have changed. As we follow Laurel deep into the woods to learn why the soil beneath her feet is awakening, this dark and atmospheric young adult novel brings to life the themes of grief, survival and coming home. Kilcoyne illustrates how the deeply personal ties to one’s land can seemingly be the perfect solution to defeat the dark magic brewing in their small town.
– Review by Erica Lynne Cook, Carnegie Center marketing & communications director
‘When We Were Sisters’ by Cynthia Ellingsen
Lexington author Cynthia Ellingsen’s eighth novel takes readers to the shores of the Outer Banks, where two sisters estranged since childhood learn they have inherited their grandmother’s beach house – but on the condition they renovate it and live in it together for a year. Repairing the house is a major undertaking but nothing compared to repairing their relationship and forgiving each other for the past. Ellingsen delivers a page-turning story filled with characters you wish you could meet for yourself in this perfect summertime/beach read.
– Review by Jennifer Hester Mattox, Carnegie Center development director & coordinator for Kentucky Great Writers Series
‘Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania and Motherhood’ by Amelia Zachry
Amelia Zachry has a very different kind of memoir from Stamper, but it’s no less captivating. She is from Malaysia and has struggled with bipolar disease since suffering a sexual assault while in college. She writes an honest and gripping account of her journey from Malaysia to Japan to Canada and eventually Lexington, where she now lives with her husband and two young daughters. Zachry is a gifted writer whose memoir offers a lot of inspiration to people who struggle with mental illness, either personally or with a family member’s or friend’s.
– Review by Tom Eblen, Carnegie Center literary arts liaison
‘Dear Medusa’ by Olivia A. Cole
This novel-in-verse is told from the point of view of 16-year-old Alicia, as she grapples with a life haunted by sexual assault from a revered teacher. Author Olivia A. Cole expertly brings the characters and Marshall High School to life with language that’s powerful yet economical. This young adult novel is hard hitting and emotional, with thoughtful and nuanced representation of youth with a wide range of ethnicities, sexual identities and experiences. Alicia’s story is not uncommon, which makes this novel an important but harrowing read.
– Review by Lucy Jayes, Carnegie Center development associate
‘Snow Falling on Water: New and Selected Poems & Bull’s Hell: Poems on the Life of Cassius M. Clay’ by Richard Taylor
Richard Taylor has been a Kentucky literary fixture for more than five decades, including as a former state poet laureate, award-winning author and beloved teacher at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, where he lives, and at Transylvania University. As he turned 81 last year, Taylor published two new books that showcase his skill and range as a poet, as well as his deep love for and knowledge about Kentucky’s landscape and history. “Snow Falling on Water” showcases many of his best poems, as well as new work. “Bull’s Hell” uses clever, engaging verse to tell about the most exciting events in the long and bizarre life of Cassius Marcellus Clay, the iconoclastic Kentucky abolitionist and politician. Both books are great reads that should be on every Kentuckian’s bookshelf.
– Review by Tom Eblen, Carnegie Center literary arts liaison
‘Girl’ by Wendy Jett
One page into ”Girl,” and readers will be captivated by the innocent voice of a daughter trying to make sense of what it means to be a girl in a family that wanted a son. Wendy Jett’s unique blend of story, poetry and even recipes works together seamlessly to create this page-turning story about family dynamics, identity, loss and acceptance. Not a single word is wasted in this haunting story, and what is left unsaid becomes equally as powerful as the words printed on the page. This is a book that can be read in an afternoon, but Jett’s cast of characters and world remain vivid long after the last page. Readers will want to pick up “Girl” again and again to read in its entirety or to open to a random page to savor a scene, poem or maybe to try one of the recipes in this finely crafted story.
– Review by Marcia Thornton Jones, NYT bestselling children’s book author & Carnegie Center author services coordinator
‘A Is For Affrilachia’ by Frank X Walker
With an abundance of children’s alphabet books available, Frank X Walker’s “A is for Affrilachia” is unique in that it offers a history lesson, a chance for reflection and an opportunity for important conversations with our children and each other. Vibrant and whimsical illustrations by award-winning artist upfromsumdirt make it a masterpiece. Each page features a list of names and terms from Black history in the Appalachian region. Some, like Nina Simone, are well-known. Others, like Edward J. Cabbell, may not be so familiar, making this book an essential tool for examining the gaps in our knowledge and educating our children about this region’s diverse history.
– Review by Lucy Jayes, Carnegie Center development associate
‘Small Acreages: New and Collected Essays’ by Georgia Green Stamper
In many ways, Georgia Green Stamper has lived a typical Kentucky life of her generation. And, boy, can she write about it well. A seventh-generation Kentuckian, she grew up on an Owen County tobacco farm and moved to Ashland as a young bride in the 1960s. She now lives in Lexington. Stamper experienced firsthand many of Kentucky’s economic and societal changes since the 1950s. This collection of essays about family, home and our journey through life is at times poignant, illuminating and hilarious. This is a book you may not think you would like – until you can’t put it down. No wonder it has been long-listed for a PEN America Literary Award.
– Review by Tom Eblen, Carnegie Center literary arts liaison
Honorable Mentions
Additional recent books by Kentucky authors
“The Hurting Kind” by Ada Limón
“The Bird Catcher” by Gayl Jones
“Lark Ascending” by Silas House
“Light Always Breaks” by Angela Jackson-Brown
“Mother Country” by Jacinda Townsend
“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
“Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year” by Arwen Donahue
“Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood” by DaMaris B. Hill
“Mr. and Mrs. Witch” by Gwenda Bond
“Stealing” by Margaret Verble
“The Poet Laureate of Aurora Avenue” by Jeff Worley
“Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” by Janet Holloway
“The Gamer: Clone Trouble” by Shawn Pryor
“Black Girl at the Intersection” by LeTonia Jones