Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wendy Welch

Wendy Welch and her husband (Scottish folksinger Jack Beck) own and operate Tales of the Lonesome Pine Used Books in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. An Ethnography PhD, she rescues shelter animals (SPAY and NEUTER, thanks!) and is one of the world’s fastest crocheters. This is a good thing because between her day job teaching college courses on culture and public health, running special events at the shop, writing about stuff, and chasing kittens out of roads, she doesn’t have a lot of spare time.

Welch's new book is The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book.

A couple of weeks ago I asked the author what she was reading.  Welch's reply:
I just finished Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter. I enjoyed the sense of character she created, the terse first-person narrator who sees the world a little differently. The stranger elements of the plot (the main character conjures ghosts with her cooking) just added charm to a very human story--of people trying to get over grief, trying to get on with life, trying to get past old hurts. A pleasant story, it had turns, twists and recipes aplenty. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Kitchen Daughter.
Visit Wendy Welch's blog.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Wendy Welch & Zora and Bert.

--Marshal Zeringue