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Bearing the Torch: The University of Tennessee, 1794-2010 by T. R. C. Hutton. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2022. 240 pages with an Index, Bibliography, and Notes. Hardback with pictorial cover. This is the first scholarly history of the University of Tennessee since 1984 and reflects the changing consciousness of the last more than quarter of a century. For example, it treats issues of race and gender extensively and considers the perspectives of students, staff, townies, and faculty as well as administrators. It is more of a social history and less of a top-down treatment than earlier books on UT....

NON-FCTION Eerie Appalachia by Mark Muncy and Kari Schultz. Charleston, South Carolina: History Press, 2022. 139 pages, illustrated with black-and-white photos on many pages. Trade paperback. About forty short tales of inexplicable incidents form this book, almost all centered in Southern Appalachia except that a few from places like Quebec, New Jersey and Florida somehow make it in. Upbeat writing and fascinating stories will thoroughly engage monster-loving readers.  You may already know about Mothman, but do you know about the Flatwoods Monster, the Rat Man, or Bench Leg? Unconquerable: The Story of John Ross, Chief of the Cherokees, 1828-1866 by...

CHILDREN AND TEENS West Virginia (Blastoff! Discovery: State Profiles) by Betsy Rathburn. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bellweather Media, 2022. 32 pages with an Index, Glossary, “To Learn More,” and full color illustrations and photos. 6.75” X 9.5” hardback with pictorial cover and library binding. Each of the 50 states is covered in this pictorial series for grades 2-5. Most of the text is picture captions, but it includes a treatment of native peoples; Minnie Buckingham Harper, the first Black woman to serve in an American state legislature; country music star Brad Paisley, and a recipe for pepperoni rolls. NON-FICTION Appalachian Health: Culture,...

NON-FICTION Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2022. 171 pages. Trade paperback. In this title, the word “Indian” means South Asian, not Native American. The author grew up in the Charleston, West Virginia, suburbs, where her father, ironically, was the physician for Union Carbide for the sister plant to the plant in Bhopal, India, that blew up in 1984 causing the deaths of thousands of people. This is a book of autobiographical essays, not strictly a memoir, but it is fascinating and engaging from the beginning. Having...

NON-FICTION Critical Essays on the Writings of Lillian Smith edited by Tanja Long Bennett. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. 179 pages with an Index, maps, photos, and illustrations. Trade paperback. This is a collection of seven scholarly essays about the work of Lillian Smith (1897-1966). She lived with her family in Florida until, when she was 17, they relocated to property they owned in the northeastern Georgia mountains. After a year in college and a couple of years at a conservatory, she returned home and taught in mountain schools and then taught music in China. In 1925, she returned...