Upcoming and New Releases from North Carolina Authors
We Are the Light by Matthew Quick
From Belinda: "The depth and breadth of loss suffered by the narrator and townspeople in We Are the Light by Matthew Quick took me to my knees. The devastation I felt was matched only by the hope that rose from the characters' ineffable strength to overcome the horrific events they endured. Their sheer strength of will, forgiveness, and support of each other in the aftermath still leaves me breathless, awestruck by their capacity to overcome life's darkest events. The author skillfully reveals the story through letters from the narrator to his therapist, and leads the reader to confront and viscerally experience the crushing wounds we inflict upon each other. He does not leave us bereft, and ultimately allows us to see the possibility of surviving the devastation. A profound and moving read that will leave you wounded by the depths of horrors we wreak upon each other, and uplifted by our boundless capacity to rise above them."
Across the Line : Tales of the First Black Basketball Players in the ACC and SEC by Barry Jacobs
In the 1960s, college sports required more than athletic prowess from its African American players. For many pioneering basketball players on 18 teams in the Atlantic and Southeastern conference, playing ball meant braving sometimes menacing crowds during the tumultuous era of civil rights. Perry Wallace feared he would be shot when he first stepped onto a court in his Vanderbilt uniform. During one road game, Georgia's Ronnie Hogue fended off a hostile crowd with a chair. Craig Mobley had to flee the Clemson campus, along with other black students. C.B. Claiborne couldn't attend the Duke team banquet when it was held at an all-white country club. Wendell Hudson's mother cried with heartache when her son decided to play at the University of Alabama, and Al Heartley locked himself in a campus dorm at North Carolina State for safety the night Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Grounded in the civil rights struggles on campuses throughout the south, the voices of players, coaches, opponents and fans reveal the long-neglected story of race, sports and social history.
Control Freak : My Epic Adventure Making Video Games by Cliff Bleszinski
Toiling away in his bedroom, Bleszinski created and shipped his first game before graduating high school, and at just seventeen joined a fledgling company called Epic Games. He describes the grueling hours, obscene amounts of Mountain Dew and obsessive focus necessary to achieve his singular creative visions. He details Epic’s rise to industry leader, thanks largely to his work on bestselling franchises Unreal and Gears of War (and, later, his input on a little game called Fortnite), as well as his own awkward ascent from shy, acne-riddled introvert to sports car-driving celebrity rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates. As he writes, “No one is weirder than a nerd with money.” While the book is laced with such self-deprecating humor, Bleszinski also bluntly addresses the challenges that have long-faced the gaming community, including sexism and a lack of representation among both designers and the characters they create.
Together : The Amazing Story of Carolina Basketball's 2021–2022 Season by Adam Lucas, Steve Kirschner, & Matt Bowers
In words and photos full of behind-the-scenes moments, this book reveals how belief in the program's rich traditions and in one another enabled the 2021-2022 Tar Heels to achieve what at times seemed impossible, writing a thrilling new chapter in the story of Carolina basketball. From Davis's remarkable work to build a new staff and roster to the ups and downs of the conference season to the amazing run through March to the pinnacle of the college game, the story takes fans through one of the most dramatic years in program history.
Art of the State : Celebrating the Visual Art of North Carolina by Liza Roberts
This beautiful and informative volume illustrates the vitality and importance of North Carolina's contemporary art scene, showcasing the creation, collection, and celebration of art in all its richness and diversity. Featuring profiles of individual artists, compelling interviews, and beautiful full-color photography, this book tells the story of the state's evolution through the lens of its art world and some of its most compelling figures. Liza Roberts introduces readers to painters, photographers, sculptors, and other artists who live and work in North Carolina and who contribute to its growing reputation in the visual arts. Roberts also provides fascinating historical context, such as the influence of Black Mountain College, the birth and growth of Penland School of Crafts, and short histories of North Carolina's art museums, including Charlotte's Mint Museum, Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art, Winston-Salem's Reynolda House, and those flourishing at universities. Artists featured include Stephen Hayes, Mel Chin, Cristina Cordova, Beverly McIver, and Scott Avett. The result is the most comprehensive, informative, and visually rich story of contemporary art in North Carolina.
Will You Give Me a Reading?: What You Need to Read Tarot with Confidence by Jenna Matlin
Learn to confidently deliver tarot readings that leave you energized and querents clamoring for more. Tarot professional Jenna Matlin gives you extensive tips and techniques for not only giving helpful and accurate readings to others, but also ensuring that you're not punished for being the bearer of bad news. Deciding to read tarot for others opens you up to a new world of opportunities and challenges, and this book shows you how to navigate it all. Learn what to do when a reading goes wrong, how to navigate the difficulties of the court cards, why asking the right questions is so important, and how to build resilience in yourself. Featuring insightful anecdotes, advice on controlling the flow of your readings, and more, this book is a must-have for anyone who is asked, Will you give me a reading?
Seven Goddesses of the Hellenistic World : Ancient Worship for Modern Times by Jo Graham
In this book, Jo Graham introduces you to the history and mythology of seven Hellenistic goddesses and teaches you how to work with each one in your spiritual practice. With the help of these powerful deities, you can improve your luck, resilience, teamwork, transformation, and more. Through stories, journal prompts, meditations, and rituals, Jo encourages you to explore your personal connection to each goddess. Draw on Athena's wisdom to bring clarity to your endeavors. Embody the power of a ruling queen with a rite to honor Atargatis. And, enjoy all shades of love under Aphrodite's guidance. With this book, you can apply the ancient--but still relevant--lessons of Tyche, Isis, Epona, Cybele, and others for a more inspired devotional experience and empowered life.
How to Be Weird: An Off-Kilter Guide to Living a One-of-a-Kind Life by Eric G. Wilson
It's all too easy to get caught up in the often monotonous nature of our day to day--moving from one rote task to the next, only to rinse and repeat the next day. Weirdness, however, is an easily accessible antidote to these feelings of languishing. The quirky, eccentric, and peculiar can take us out of our normal habits of thought and perception, surprising us by breaking up our routines and reminding us that there's more to life than the everyday. In How to Be Weird, Eric G. Wilson offers 99 fun and philosophically rich exercises for embracing all the weird in the world around us--taking aimless walks, creating a reverie nook, exploring the underside of bridges, making tombstone rubbings, finding your own Narnia, and more. With brief digestible entries on how to make sense of the random, guidelines on how to defamiliarize familiar objects through meditation, and exercises for locating weird states and phenomena for ourselves, How to Be Weird is an invitation to lean into the weird and to live a fuller life.
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything. It couldn’t save their marriage. Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had. Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?
The Double Agent by William Christie
Alexsi Smirnoff - a Russian orphan - was trained as an agent by the Russian Secret Service and inserted into Nazi Germany, where he rose to a position in German intelligence services. As the war grinds on, trapped between two brutal dictatorships, Alexsi betrays both sides in a desperate ploy that succeeds...and fails. His false identities burned, his life at risk, Alexsi attempts to disappear in the hills - but is caught by the British.
Abandoned Western North Carolina : Echoes in the Architecture by Alexa Atkins
Beyond the falling leaves, Blue Ridge Mountains, and plethora of wildlife lies a rich history. Ask any older inhabitant of the mountains about their recollection to enjoy hours of conversation. With some cities left without inhabitants to tell their stories, Alexa Atkins has worked to meticulously capture the remaining details in film. Surrounded by these places as a child, Atkins finally began to express her fascination by photographing the areas near her childhood home in 2017. First filling rolls of 35mm covering Burke County, she began to stop the car and dig for a camera every few minutes when on the road in Western North Carolina. Growing up near beauty and a wealth of relics to the past can lead to stagnation--a boredom of views others would kill to see. This project began as an effort to capture the sites passed without a second glance. However, taking these photos reinvigorated the artist's love and appreciation for these abandoned sites, and with this book she hopes to open many more eyes to this beauty while reintroducing others to their home.
Hank Heals : A Novel of Miracles by David Guy
Henry "Hank" Wilder, a divorced loner, is unsuccessfully trying to establish a new Zen center when he accidentally cures an ex-girlfriend's recurring cancer with his touch and discovers--at least this is what people keep telling him--that he has healing powers.Suddenly the empty zendo is overcrowded with Zen students who also want to be touched and healed by Hank. At first he resists, but when he cures a local Mexican boy of a bad limp, his reputation takes off. A TV story on Hank's healings goes viral. The Latino community shows up, bearing food and icons of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Hank befriends a Catholic priest and falls in love again. When his life gets totally out of hand, he escapes to Mexico on a spiritual odyssey and finds out who he really is.
Bread Over Troubled Water by Winnie Archer
A regular who used Yeast of Eden as a workspace, Josh Prentiss always turned heads with his startlingly good looks and thousand-watt smile. But Ivy can’t help noticing one morning that he seems distracted and off his game. Later, during a visit to the park where she and Miguel plan to hold their engagement party—with plenty of baked goods on the menu—her rescue pug, Agatha, sniffs out Josh lying in a bed of poppies…scone cold dead. There’s no reason for Ivy to get involved. Then a band of rabble-rousers starts picketing the bakery, claiming that Olaya’s sourdough roll is what killed Josh—and Ivy hears some salacious gossip about her beloved boss. She doesn’t think there’s a grain of truth to the seedy rumors—but to prove it, she’ll have to start sleuthing . . .
