Here’s what’s on my reading list these days:

• LISTEN HERE | Women Writing in APPALACHIA, Edited by Sandra L. Ballard and Patricia L. Hudson, is an anthology of 105 Appalachian women writers. (The University Press of Kentucky)
• MINDING THE MUSE | A Handbook for Painters, Composers, Writers, and Other Creators, by Priscilla Long, is a practical handbook for the artist or writer—highly experienced, aspiring, or someone in between. (Coffeetown Press)
• ON WRITING | A Memoir of the Craft, is a memoir by Stephen King, published in 2000, which documents his experiences as a writer and also serves as a guide book for those who choose to enter the craft. (Scribner)
• RETHINKING ORPHANAGES FOR THE 21st CENTURY, Edited by Richard B. McKenszie, reviews the policy reforms necessary for children’s homes or private orphanages to become reliable solutions for many of the nation’s disadvantaged and abused children. (Sage Publications, Inc.)
• BLINK | The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant—in the blink of an eye—that actually aren’t as simple as they seem. (Little, Brown and Company)
• LIVING FEARLESSLY | Bringing out Your Inner Soul Strength, by Paramhansa Yogananda, teaches us how to break the shackles of fear and reveals how we can overcome our own limitations. (Crystal Clarity Publishers)
• OLD MAN’S WAR, by John Scalzi. John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.  The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. (Tor Science Fiction)
• PADDLE TO-THE-SEA, by Holling Clancy Holling, is a children’s book about a small canoe carved by an Indian boy that makes a journey from Lake Superior all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. (©1941 Holling Clancy Holling).