Tag Archives: Micah

Inside Chat with Kevin Gibson

If you are familiar with the New York Times Book Review, you may have seen the section where authors and social figures are interviewed about current events or newly released books.  Back in April 2021, I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Gibson, a Louisville author and resident.  You may remember his contributions to the LEO Magazine years ago talking about food and beer culture in the community or may have checked out one of his published works at the library.  Here is my inside chat with Mr. Gibson. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Could you tell everyone a little about yourself?

I am a nerd who loves things like Batman and Star Wars but who also loves sports (especially the Green Bay Packers) and history. I’m very social and tend to make friends easily, yet I am also introverted and enjoy “decompressing” by spending time alone and/or with my dog, Atticus. I also love tacos and sushi.

Growing up, did you know you were going to be an author?  Who encouraged you to pursue this profession?

I first wanted to be a comic book artist. I also had a brief time when I thought I wanted to be a Hollywood stunt man. But when I was in the fifth grade, a local TV journalist came to my class to talk to us about journalism. We did a mock news broadcast and I was given the job of being the sports copywriter. I was hooked for good on the idea of being a writer.

How did you first get into writing and what inspired you to write about specific topics?

I took my first journalism class as a sophomore in high school and never looked back, becoming an active member of the school newspaper staff, then going to college for journalism and English. I have kind of gone through phases, and I think this goes back to my wide variety of interests and passions; my focus was to become a sports writer, which is where I started. After a few years of covering sports, I realized it was starting to burn me out on sports, which was something I didn’t want to ruin as a pastime, you know? I ended up writing film reviews, music reviews, restaurant reviews and more feature/people-oriented stuff from there. I also spent a few years trying my hand at horror fiction, which was a passion for me back in the late 1980s and through the 1990s. But I had very little success getting my creative writing into magazines, so that eventually fell by the wayside.

What kind of reader were you as a child?  Did you have a favorite author or books that stuck with you the most?

I read a lot of comic books – sorry, graphic novels – but also read the usual stuff. My favorite book from childhood was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It really fed my imagination and showed me a story can really go anywhere you want it to. Later, I went through my sci-fi/fantasy phase (Piers Anthony, anyone?), and I remember reading several books about dogs during my tween years – I have always loved dogs, and love stories when they are cast as the hero. I’m sentimental that way.

What is one thing you enjoy the most about Louisville or the Kentuckiana area?

I love the feeling of intimacy juxtaposed with the many features of larger cities, like pro sports, the dining scene, the museums, the parks. Louisville certainly has its problems, but there’s always a lot to do. I also love the neighborhoods and their interesting and unique histories. And I love patronizing the local breweries. I guess that’s more than one thing, though, isn’t it?

What is your wheelhouse as a reader?  Meaning what genres, tropes, themes and such grab your attention to read?

It again depends on mood or phase. I have been reading non-fiction almost exclusively in recent years, from biographies to history to books about actors or TV shows. But as noted, I went through a long stretch in which I was obsessed with horror fiction, especially short fiction. I would go to Hawley-Cooke Booksellers almost weekly to buy horror magazines like Cemetery Dance.

What are you currently reading?

Currently, I’m reading Jerry Seinfeld’s latest book, “Is This Anything?” It’s basically material he never took to stage or to the TV show, so you can just read it in his voice and it’s like you’re at a Seinfeld live show.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has your writing been impacted in any way?

Yes, although I would never call it writer’s block – I don’t believe in writer’s block. For me, the loneliness and depression I went through when I basically had nothing left to write about – being a restaurant/night life writer in a pandemic is a non-starter, you know? – Just sapped me. Also, my mother was very ill as the pandemic began and she died last year on Mother’s Day. So much about 2020 just killed my energy, and I know I’m not alone. Thank goodness I had my current book project in front of me to look forward to. That one should come out this fall.

Do you have a favorite setting when it comes to writing and/or reading?

I can’t say that I do. I wrote most of my beer history book (“Lousville Beer: Derby City History on Draft”, 2014) at the bar at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Highlands. But my last couple of books I’ve written mostly at home on my couch. I can write anywhere, really, because once I get in “the zone,” I can block out pretty much anything. Well, except for my dog, who sometimes forces his way into my lap to get my attention. Hard to dissuade a 70-pound hound dog.

You are hosting a dinner party and can invite any 3 people regardless if they have passed away or are still living, who would you invite?

Wow. Well, Bart Starr would have to be one. He was an idol for me starting at age 9, and just seemed like such an honorable and decent man. After that, maybe John Lennon. I think it would be fascinating to hear his views on what the world has become today. And the third would be my grandfather, just because of how much I miss him every day and would love to just be with him again. I never knew I could miss someone so much until he died.

What are your top 3 restaurant in the Louisville area both past and present? If someone is going to buy you a meal what 3 restaurants would you pick and why?

These questions are really mean. Ha. I have to say one would have to be the late, great Maido on Frankfort Avenue. I love Dragon King’s Daughter, but Maido was special to me. I used to joke with Toki, the owner that I may as well just sign my paycheck over to her every week. There was also a little short-lived gem I loved called Taste of Jamaica. The owner, Ibuka (who I believe is still making food around town), was just great, and the jerk wings were the best I’ve ever had. Every meal I had there was wonderful. But currently? It goes back to mood. Some days I have to have El Mundo. The Irish Rover gets a lot of my money. Anyplace with a seafood boil, like Storming Crab (yes, I realize it’s a chain). Seviche is magnificent. I really like Jake & Elwood’s, too, and I recently tried I Love Tacos and was pretty blown away. Sorry I can’t pick three, it’s just impossible for me.

You released a book in 2014 called Louisville Beer: Derby City History on Draft and contributed to LEO Weekly a section about beer, how has the beer culture evolved to the present day?  Do you see any new opportunities/businesses in a couple years?

I’m not a brewer or a business man, but breweries remained open during the pandemic, and that tells me there’s still room for growth in Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As long as the beer is good, I think a brewery has a shot to make it. And I love that each of Louisville’s breweries seem to have found its own identity – that tells me there is still opportunity. I still am a firm believer that the breweries that will have the most staying power are the ones that serve their neighborhoods and are able to adapt. And I think the bourbon boom actually does offer opportunities for breweries here in Kentucky that might not exist elsewhere.

What can you tell folks about your book being released in the fall titled, This Used to be Louisville?

It’s a look around the city at places that we generally know as one thing but once were something else. In some cases, it’s a historical place that deserves recognition; in other cases, it’s just some random place in a random neighborhood. For instance, there’s a little Italian restaurant on Frankfort Avenue that originally was a toll house that marked the outskirts of the city at the time. It’s one of the last such toll houses from the early 19th century that still exist in Kentucky. Big picture, I wanted to look at a wide variety of buildings and places to drive home the point that so much has happened in the spaces we regularly frequent or merely drive past on our way to living our day-to-day lives.

Kevin Gibson’s published works that are available at LFPL:

100 Things to Do in Louisville Before You Die

Liberation of Crystal Hill

Louisville Beer: Derby City History on Draft

Secret Louisville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Unique Eats and Eateries of Louisville

– Interview by Micah, St Matthews Branch

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

Gather round all who would hear the tale of Ella Louise Ford and her daughter Jessica, the witches of Pilot’s Creek (Kentucky). Ella Louise born into a well-to-do family but was ever the strangest of children. She used dried tobacco leaves to make charms, keep bees in jars under her bed and even talked to opossums. After a time, folks began to shun the Ford family. So, when Ella Louise became of age her mother was determined she be the grandest debutant at the dance in a beautiful gown of pink. On the night of the big dance though, Ella Louise entered with her dress in rags, covered in mud and leaves in her hair. For her long-suffering parents, it was the end; they banished her from their life.

Ella Louise went to live in the woods outside Pilot’s Creek in a small cabin where nine months later she gave birth to her daughter, Jessica. All the town’s people dubbed Ella Louise and her daughter witches but that didn’t stop them from visiting the small cabin in the dark of night for potions and herbs. A pregnant woman’s death was laid at the door of Ella Louise and Jessica. Without proof, the law could do nothing, but a small band of men thought otherwise. They drug Ella Louise and Jessica from their home and burned them alive. Separated in death, Ella Louise was buried far from her daughter deeper in the woods, while Jessica’s bones were sealed in a vault buried in the ground and surrounded by metal crosses that were meant to keep the little girl in her grave.

In 1971, Lee Ketchum, a director, who had heard the stories as a young boy, felt compelled, to retell the witches’ story in a movie. This was the curse of the town’s people of Pilot’s Creek, which they should never forget what had been done on that long-ago night in 1931; the story must live on. Rife with problems from the beginning it would also disrupt Amber’s life, the young girl who plays Jessica.

 In the 1990’s, Amber, still known for playing the role of Jessica in the film “Don’t Tread on Jessica,” is appearing at comic conventions all these years later. She is offered by an ardent fan the role of Ella Louise, rather than Jessica, in a remake he wishes to shoot. Haunted during filming by Jessica and Ella Louise, their desire to be together again, can she face Pilot Creek, Ella Louise, and Jessica once more?  

Filled with suspense, reading from multiple points of view, along with diverse storytelling, Clay McLeod Chapman released The Remaking as his second adult novel last October. An author of various children’s books he engages the reader to keep turning the page in the novel wondering what happens next and how all the characters fit together. If you are interested in learning more about The Remaking and Clay McLeod Chapman, I recommend checking out this episode from the Reading Glasses podcast where he was interviewed not only about his books but his reading quirks and what he enjoys reading.

Review by Micah, St Matthews Branch

The June Boys by Court Stevens

Court Stevens, is a community outreach manager for the Warren County Public Library in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Nestled in a rural section of Tennessee, the small town of Wildwood holds a big mystery. Every June for a decade, some of Wildwood’s children are kidnapped by the someone calling himself the Gemini Thief. The boys usually return unharmed thirteen months later…until this year. Now, four boys are taken and one has been murdered.

Where were the kids all that time? Who took them and why? Why has the Gemini Thief’s pattern changed? Several teens decide it’s about time to take charge and get some answers. 

One teen, Thea Delacroix, is a cousin of one of the June Boys, Aulus McClaghen. Thea, out on a ride with her boyfriend Nick, comes upon a crime scene with a dead body. The victim has a keychain in the shape of a castle exactly like the one Thea carries. Could this be a link to Thea herself? Is it a coincidence that Thea’s father is in the process of renovating a castle on the outskirts of town, or is this another connection? Is the body that of Aulus?

If tales of suspense grabs your attention or if you just like solving a mystery, check out The June Boys by Court Stevens.

Review by Micah, St Matthews Branch

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helen Tursten

I recently finished a collection of stories by the Swedish author Helene Tursten called An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. The book contains five short stories about a the life of a very elderly matron, Maud, and how she deals with people who step into her sphere. These stories got my attention with their dark humor, mystery, and insight into how other cultures look at life (and murder) in a more raw and crude manner.

The first story, An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems, introduces Maud in her apartment when a young art graduate. Jasmin is seeking to take over Maud’s apartment because of its roomier size and prettier view of the skyline.  When Maud gets sense of the young lady becoming too friendly, things begin to change. After multiple visits to see Maud and her dwelling, Jasmin invites Maud to come look at her apartment decorated with phalluses in multiple shapes and sizes.  Read on.

In An Elderly Lady on Her Travels, Maud visits Sardinia to unwind and take care of family. While there, she reminisces about various excursions to Cairo and the South Pole.  In this one story you come to understand how Maud continues to be the one family member who takes care of others before herself. She even does so through many challenges, such as taking care of her mentally ill sister.

Other tales include a tale of Christmastime in Sweden with a twist of mystery when she hears loud voices next door and learns of an “accident” to her neighbor.  Maud senses there is a bigger story behind the accident than what was told and is determined to get to the real truth.

Translated from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

– Review by Micah, St Matthews Library

Freefall by Jessica Barry

What happened? He’s dead. His face is gone. The plane looks like a crushed tin can.  A short business trip turned into a coffin for him and stranded her in a rocky mountain wilderness. With an injured leg, bruises, and sprains, Allison Carpenter had to gather what she could to survive.

Somnublaze, an antidepressant developed by the Prexaline Company, had been facing some scrutiny for its questionable results. Ben, Allison’s fiancé, had been a chief executive of the company. Now he was dead, the plane wrecked, and Allison thought to be dead as well.  Was the plane crash an accident or had someone wanted both Ben and Allison out of the way permanently? As Allison made her way down to a distant water hole, Ben’s words of warning came back to her, “if he thinks you’re on to him he will come after you. Be prepared to run.”

Maggie had been making bread when she got the news that the plane Allison was on had crashed in the Colorado mountains, her daughter presumed dead. Allison and Maggie hadn’t spoken in more than two years, but she wouldn’t accept that her daughter was dead. Distrusting others to find her daughter, Maggie decided that she was going to undertake a search.

Learning more about the company her daughter and Ben worked for, Maggie questions whether the plane crash was indeed an accident or meant to silence the two of them.  She reaches out to possible contacts that might have some insight into what had happened, even making a stop at Prexaline to learn more.  She won’t believe her daughter is dead. Maggie has let their estrangement go too long so she needed to find Allison and bring her home again.

The story plays out in alternating voices, Allison and Maggie, as author Jessica Barry takes us back through the past to the present.  Allison isn’t a clean wholesome character, but she has a strength she’ll need to survive and reunite with her mother.  Maggie hasn’t always made good choices either. 

The story begins with action, is filled with suspense, rocky adventures, and enough mystery to keep you looking over your shoulder until the end. As this is Barry’s debut thriller novel, she sets the tone for what I hope to be more book releases in the future.

Rumor has it Freefall may be headed for the big screen.

Micah Followay – St. Matthews

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

“There’s a living thing, a culture. I guess it’s more American to say ‘starter.” You mix the starter with the flour along with water and salt, and it makes gas, which makes the dough rise. It gives it a certain flavor, too.”  — Beoreg from Sourdough

Start with the essence of friendship, mix in culture, add a pinch of magic, flavor it with a dash of spunk, and you have the beginnings of an adventurous journey that will take the reader from big industry to big dough, the food variety.

Lois Clary is a single young woman, working in the tech industry, still a man’s world, as a software programmer in California.  Life has become repetitive for her, the same task at work, then home, only to get up the next day and do it all over again. There is some small comfort in the form of two brothers who run the local restaurant and catering service.  Sharing good food and pleasant company is her one bright spot in the day.

That is until the brothers must close their restaurant and return home to their home country. But the brothers have one last treat for Lois, one last delivery – a starter bag of culture for their sourdough bread.  Told to, “take care of it feed it, play it music and sing to it and bake with it,” she isn’t quite sure what to do with it.

Indeed, Lois soon finds herself learning to make bread. A bread so delicious, it might even open new opportunities that could alter her future. But is the bread really good enough to sell in the mysterious underground?

Well, it has certainly caught someone’s eye and Lois better be careful or her starter won’t be all she has to lose.

(Think of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club but with farmers and local merchants).

This magical, adventurous journey Sloan has written for readers to follow along and perhaps share similar circumstances with Lois.  Not to mention the potential for love, humor, and the art of questioning.  After reading Sloan’s second novel, I understand how fellow readers follow particular authors, not only subsequent standalone works but also series.  I’d say Sourdough sparked the beginnings of my journeys in the pursuit of upcoming and new releases of authors.

Robin Sloan, who previously wrote Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore released Sourdough in September of last year.

Formats Available:  Audiobook, Book, e-Book

Reviewed by Micah, St. Matthews Branch

 

GodPretty in the Tobacco Fields

The loss of her parents was a tragedy for RubyLyn Bishop. Even worse in her mind, she was shuffled off to live with her Uncle Gunnar in the small rural town of Nameless, Kentucky. For RubyLyn life in Nameless brings changes and challenges from the people who watch and gossip about her.

She must work in the tobacco fields to help support the small farm on which she and her uncle live. Memories of the past and a small scrape of tobacco paper are all RubyLyn has left of happier times with her parents. When her spirits need a bit of a lift, she sometimes folds the scrap of paper into a fun way to tell her fortune, a practice that Uncle Gunnar doesn’t approve.

Surprisingly, RubyLyn finds growing tobacco is something that comes naturally to her. There’s a sense of peace, a solace in working the land and plants, especially when a close neighbor, Rainey Ford, takes an interest. He is easy to talk with and friendly. It isn’t long before she finds herself caring a good deal about him, but there is a problem, he is African-American and she is white. In the 1960’s South, close friendships like theirs were frowned upon and could cause serious problems for them.

Then there is Rose, an older woman and neighbor, who becomes someone that RubyLyn can depend on and talk with when she needs someone. Rose encourages RubyLyn to enter her tobacco plant in the State Fair competition. It may be just the push she needs to realize there is a larger world around her and that she can decide for herself where her future should lie.

Born and raised in central Kentucky, this book drew me in right away. In it, I found an opportunity to spend a short time in the Appalachian area. If you’ve ever wondered what small town life might be like, especially in our turbulent past, this is a book you should take time to sit with. In my opinion, Kim Michele Richardson takes the reader on a journey back in time, using her words to paint pictures of small town life with characters you will come to care about and for whom you can root. It is a realistic portrayal, where life doesn’t always end the way you want it to, where when one road ends another will begin.

Later this year, Ms. Richardson will release a new novel entitled The Sisters of Glass Ferry. For more information about this budding author check out her website.

 

 

Formats Available:  Regular Type, Book Kit

Reviewed by Micah, Shawnee Branch

Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich

When you think of Southern Fiction what comes to your mind?  To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone With The Wind, A Time to Kill, and All Over But the Shoutin’ are just a few of the titles, many of which were adapted for film.

Southern Literature as a genre has been with us for well over 175 years but in recent years we have seen several well written authors taking up their pens to depict a South plagued with problems.  These stories still draw many readers, even if only for the familiar surroundings.

Numerous websites such as BookRiot.com, have published reading lists for readers looking to read more of this fictional genre.  Below is a review of one such, the recent novel by Brian Panowich.  It won the 2016 Thriller Award for Best First Novel, presented by the International Thriller Writers organization.

bullmountain

Bull Mountain delves into the mysteries and life styles of a Southern town.  It is a place where characters abound and suspense creeps along the pages, ending in a way that may well surprise you.  In this gripping, hard edged tale of murder, abuse, drugs, and alcohol, you meet the Burroughs family, a clan that traffics in drug and moonshine.  While running the roads of Georgia, the Burroughs cross paths with the motorcycle gang known as the “Jacksonville Jackals.”

1950’s

The morning is cool in Bull Mountain, Georgia as three men, a young man, his father and his uncle, step into the woods hunting for deer.  It will be the young man’s first deer.  The father instructs his son to take a shot as the deer comes within sight.  A loud shot rings out.  The deer falls.  At that same instant, the young man/boy hears another shot next to him.  As he looks towards the other two, he sees his uncle unmoving, lying on the ground.  “Deddy” had taken deliberate aim at his brother for own form of justice/revenge.

Present Day

Even though his genealogy has past ties to trafficking crimes, Clayton is the one member of the Burroughs clan that has decided to sit on the right side of the law.  Wanting to curtail the illegal business of drug and alcohol trafficking in his home town, he becomes the town sheriff.  But trouble comes for Clayton and his family in the form of a revenuer, Special Agent Simon Holly from the A.T.F. (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms).  Agent Holly wants to see Clayton in regards to his older brother who is running drugs all around the Bull Mountain community.  In order to protect his family Clayton will now have to stop looking the other way, putting an end to the trafficking trade in his both his town and Jacksonville.

There is a great deal going in this tale, digging into the choices people make out of loyalty and family ties.  The author shows the determination and grit of those behind the trafficking drugs and moonshine, and that of the gangs in competition.  Alternating chapters, between past and present, as well as shifting between Sherriff Clayton and Agent Holly as narrator, you are kept on the edge of your seat.

Formats Available:  Audiobook, e-Book, Large Type, Regular Type

Reviewed by Micah, Shawnee Branch

A Tale of Typhoid Mary

hellgate2Step back in time to the early 20th century when typhoid fever ran rampant through the streets of one of the most populous cities in America, New York City.  Mary Mallon had come to America as a fourteen year old girl from Ireland with hopes of finding a position as a housekeeper. It took a bit of doing but Mary worked hard and it wouldn’t be too many years before she became an accomplished cook, much sought after by well to do families. She was content, this move had been a good one.

But what Mary didn’t know was that she would shortly become infamous for something more than cooking. Mary was a carrier of the deadly disease typhoid. Without knowing it she would pass the disease on to others, children and adults alike, some whom would never recover. She would be hunted down, separated from friends, stopped from doing the only job she for which she was equipped and given a name that would follow her the rest of her life. Mary Mallon was Typhoid Mary.

After the authorities, finally caught up with Mary they imprisoned her on North Brother Island. Hell Gate was a place of indescribable misery and horror for the sick, the dying and the condemned. Where, Mary would live her final days in denial of the charges against her.

Now travel to the present and meet Karalee Soper, granddaughter of George A. Soper.  Soper was Mary’s accuser and jailer, the man who consigned Mary to her life sentence on Hell Gate.  Karalee along with a group of friends, known as the Sewer Rats, were studying public health. Seeking a bit of fun, they set sail on a short boat trip searching out abandoned building taking pictures and exploring wreckage. Hell Gate Island had once housed a tuberculosis hospital, now all that is left is ruins and building covered in vines and trees.

Shortly after their arrival, they discover the boat they used to land on the island was severely damaged, soon to sink into the murky depths a.  Now stuck on the island with few food rations, the clothes on their back, Karalee’s new Nikon 35mm camera, and few other tools. Not wanting to be marooned on this eerie island with its over grown dilapidated ruins, they went in search of a means to get back home. Gilligan’s Island it ain’t!staircase

As the night closed in with no way off the island, Karalee sees what appears to be an apparition coming toward them.  As the figure gets closer Karalee realizes it isn’t a specter but a real live, living, breathing person. But, who is it? Surely Mary Mallon was dead after all these years and who could live among the ruins with its smell of death and decay.

Step on to Hell Gate Island and into a tale of horror with enough twists and turns to keep the reader jumping at every little sound, as one by one the Sewer Rats begin disappearing. Will anyone survive The Prisoner of Hell Gate?

This is Dana I. Wolff’s debut novel.

Formats Available: Book

Reviewed by Micah, Shawnee Branch

The Elaborate Life of Stan Lee

stanleeA memoir in graphic novel form?  Say it isn’t so!

Stan Lee, creator of a vast universe of superheroes (The Avengers, Fantastic Four, The Punisher, and Spider-Man to name just a few), recently released a memoir of his journey to becoming an icon in the world of comic books, entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir.  Early in his adolescent years, Lee could always be found with a book close within reach, reading anything he could wrap his hands around.  Lee was greatly influenced by classic characters found in pulp literature (such as Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ Tarzan), as well as Shakespeare’s works of drama and poetry.  These literary influences were combined with images of what a human could become to produce his intriguing, well-rounded characters for Marvel Comics.

While much of the book is devoted to his character development of the superheroes and villains, there is also a more serious side that details Lee’s time in the military.  One of his first duties was as a graphic artist for a campaign on sexual abstinence.  He also developed materials focusing on how American troops should act in other countries.

Readers also learn about how Lee came to do hysterical cameos in recent Marvel movies.  One such example from the recent Avengers: The Age of Ultron shows him sitting around a table with the characters discussing stories over a few beverages.  Lee is as proud of his appearances as all the work he has done over the years.

Lee presents his memoir to readers as if one were to meet him at a Fandom Fest or Comic Con.  Read Amazing Fantastic Incredible and meet the man behind the worlds of some of your comic and film characters.  Hard work, dedication to his craft, and a roller coaster ride of events in his life have formed Stan the Man, a man who has brought joy to millions around the world.

Lee also dedicates portions of his memoir to staff editors, writers, and artists who have contributed to his career.

For the reader who may traditionally prefer reading graphic novels, this selection will possibly open other opportunities to read similar autobiographical texts.  A brief list of works available through the library can be found below.

Formats Available: Book, Audiobook, eBook

Reviewed by Micah, Shawnee Branch