D.G. Martin

John Grisham’s latest novel, “Camino Island,” hit the bookstore shelves on June 6. The book’s release marks a growing connection between our state and the bestselling author–more than 300 million in print at last count. Thus, it is an important moment for North Carolinians, some of whom are claiming Grisham as one of their own. They have some good arguments. For the first time in many years, he is going on a book tour to promote his book. Of the 11 scheduled stops, four are in North Carolina, twice as many as in any other state. Along the way...

  On July 4, SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association) will announce the winners of its Southern Book Prizes. North Carolina connected nominees include Lee Smith for “Dime Store,” John Hart for “Redemption Road,” Kristy Woodson Harvey for “Lies and Other Acts of Love,” Robert Morgan for “Chasing the North Star,” and Vivian Howard for “Deep Run Roots.” North Carolina Bookwatch featured these books recently. During June, UNC-TV will re-air those programs. Lee Smith’s memoir, coming after her 13 novels and numerous short stories, gives her many fans a chance to know her as well as her good friends do....

Every North Carolina author would give his or her eyetooth to get a mention at the top of The New York Times’s lead editorial during the week the author’s new book is released. It happened to best-selling author Jim Dodson last Friday (May 12). His new book, “The Range Bucket List: The Golf Adventure of a Lifetime,” follows his life-long love of golf and an impressive list of popular and critically-acclaimed books, including “Final Rounds” and “A Golfer’s Life” (with Arnold Palmer). “Range Bucket List” is the Greensboro writer and magazine editor Dodson’s personal love affair with golf and...

What event in North Carolina’s modern history had the greatest impact in making our state what it is today? The creation of the Research Triangle Park? The development of a national banking and finance center in Charlotte? The Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s? The Civil Rights revolution? In his latest book, Julian Pleasants argues persuasively that World War II was that event. In “Home Front: North Carolina During World War II,” Pleasants shows how the state, while suffering great losses of service men and women in the conflict and disruptions on the home front,...

Food, fantasy, fiction and politics are my favorite topics. If you read my column regularly, you know these preferences and will not be surprised that the books I recommend for reading in May deal with these themes. First of all, “The Carolina Table: North Carolina Writers on Food,” edited by Randall Kenan, collects some of the best writing by North Carolina authors about their favorite foods and eating experiences. Lee Smith, Daniel Wallace, Marianne Gingher, Jill McCorkle, Jaki Shelton Green, Wayne Caldwell, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Michael McFee and Zelda Lockhart are some of the contributors. My favorite is Kenan...

  Reactions to the so-called repeal of HB2 show one reason why Democrats are already in trouble for the 2018 and 2020 elections. They had hoped this year would be a time of unity to mobilize opposition to the “mis-administration” of the other party in Washington and the state legislature. Instead of strengthening their party and bringing it together for successfully ridding the state of much of the damage from HB2, the repeal has brought about more disappointment and disunity. Instead of unifying and celebrating the achievement of their party’s leader, Gov. Roy Cooper, Democrats have broken into angry factions....

Why would North Carolinian Elizabeth Kostova, who is a New York Times No.1 bestselling author, set her action-packed novel in Bulgaria? The main character of “The Shadow Land,” Kostova’s new book, is a young North Carolina mountain woman named Alexandra Boyd. On her first day in the country she meets a small Bulgarian family group. They tell her they are on the way to a beautiful monastery and suggest she consider visiting it later. After they part ways, Alexandra finds that she has a satchel that belongs to the Bulgarian group. A young taxi driver called Bobby befriends her...

While President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were getting to know each other last weekend, a native North Carolinian was warning that the United States and China are on the brink of war. Graham Allison grew up in Charlotte, where he was a football star for Myers Park High School and later played at Davidson College before transferring to Harvard. There he spent most of his academic life, most recently as director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Based on a careful study of historical situations in which a rising power like China confronts...

Spring is finally here for good, and as light green and new blooms fill our landscapes, it might be time for me to suggest a few books for the new season. In “Argos: The Story of Odysseus as Told by His Loyal Dog,” Carrboro author Ralph Hardy retells the classic adventure story of Odysseus’ travels after the battle of Troy. Seagulls, sparrows, turtles and other animals tell the dog Argos about his master’s encounters in the cave of the Cyclops, on the island of the lovely Kalypso and on the sea at the mercy of Zeus and other Greek...