Nancy’s Picks: Give the Gift of N.C. Authors
Independent booksellers play an essential role in supporting local and regional writers by highlighting and recommending their work to readers. Their stores are warm and welcoming venues for book readings, signings and special events that introduce the authors to new audiences or alert fans to new releases. But most importantly, local booksellers elevate the work of local authors whose work might otherwise be overlooked or overshadowed by mass market “blockbusters.” Their recommendations are not only available to store visitors but also to online communities, newspapers and magazines, expanding the awareness of local authors far beyond local audiences.
Nancy Olson
In North Carolina, independent bookstores like Malaprops Bookstore & Cafe in Asheville, McIntyre’s Fine Books at Fearington Village in Pittsboro, The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, Fireside Books & Gifts in Forest City and City Lights Bookstore in Sylva are all lively spots for lovers of local literature.
Quail Ridge Books & Music, an independent bookstore in Raleigh, has advocated for North Carolina authors for 25 years. Owner Nancy Olson has shared her favorite reads with National Public Radio and has nurtured the careers of North Carolina writers including Ron Rash, Angela Davis Gardner and Jan Karon, helping to make their works bestsellers. Quail Ridge was named Bookseller of the Year by Publishers Weekly in 2001, and Olson was described as a “cultural treasure” when inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2007.
Below are holiday picks by Nancy Olson. The books are all written by North Carolina authors.
New In Paperback
“Clarrie Hancock” by Fuquay Varina author Evelyn Rizzo (Zouk Publishing, $19.99). This is a compelling autobiographical novel about a child growing up in pre-war England. You will care about this girl and her working-class family.
“The Bible Salesman” by Wilmington writer Clyde Edgerton (Back Bay, $13.99). You’ll fall in love with the innocent, young salesman who thinks he’s helping catch car thieves, when he’s actually fencing hot cars. Our hero sometimes ends up in dark corners as he contemplates the true meaning of the Bible and applies it to his own life.
“Serena” by Cullowhee author Ron Rash (Ecco, $14.99) is a beautiful gothic tale set in the N.C. mountains in the late 20s and features one of the most intriguing characters I’ve ever encountered. Lady Macbeth has nothing on her! Rash won the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance book award in the category of fiction for “Serena.” Rash is a North Carolina native, he grew up in Boiling Springs.
“The Southern Woman: New & Selected Fiction” by Chapel Hill writer Elizabeth Spencer (Modern Library, $16). This first story collection from the South’s most distinguished living writer is her first in 15 years and shows why she’s compared to Eudora Welty and Peter Taylor.
New In Hardcover
“Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back” by Durham author Reynolds Price (Scribner, $35). I devoured every word of this luscious memoir of Price’s time at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Seeing Europe through the eyes of this Carolina boy who had never traveled outside the South is fascinating, compelling and very moving.
“Ancestors & Others: New & Selected Stories” by former state poet laureate and Greensboro author Fred Chappell (St. Martin’s, $27.99) shows this author’s mastery across a range of genres. It features folk fables in the Twain tradition, realistic stories of growing up in remote Appalachia and other highly imaginative fantastic stories. A real surprise and delight! Chappell is also a North Carolina native, he was born in Canton.
You can visit Quail Ridge Books online at www.quailridgebooks.com. For a list of independent book stores across North Carolina, visit Authors ‘Round the South.
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Many thanks and much appreciation to Nancy Olson for the encouragement and promotional help she gives local authors. Eve. Rizzo
Does Quail Ridge Books provide manuscript reading services for potential novelists. I’ve just completed a non-boring life story filled with childhood adventures, strong opinions on issues like politics and religion, considerable humor, traumatic times, reflections, etc. If you do not provide such services do you have any suggestions for a career writer-editor, but never a novelist. Thank you.