This biography celebrates the lives of 19 Smoky Mountain Women, from hiking legend Margaret Stevenson to famed singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.

Volumes 3 and 4 of the The Encyclopedia of More Great Popular Song Recordings provides the stories behind approximately 1,700 more of the greatest song recordings in the history of the music industry, from 1890 to today. In this masterful survey, all genres of popular music are covered, from pop, rock, soul, and country to jazz, blues, classic vocals, hip-hop, folk, gospel, and ethnic/world music. Collectors will find detailed discographical data—recording dates, record numbers, Billboard chart data, and personnel—while music lovers will appreciate the detailed commentaries and deep research on the songs, their recording, and the artists. Readers who revel in pop cultural history will savor each chapter as it plunges deeply into key events—in music, society, and the world—from each era of the past 125 years. Following in the wake of the first two volumes of his original Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, this follow-up work covers not only more beloved classic performances in pop music history, but many lesser -known but exceptional recordings that—in the modern digital world of “long tail” listening, re-mastered recordings, and “lost but found” possibilities—Sullivan mines from modern recording history. The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volumes 3 and 4 lets the readers discover, and, through their playlist services, from such as iTunes toand Spotify, build a truly deepcomprehensive catalog of classic performances that deserve to be a part of every passionate music lover’s life. Sullivan organizes songs in chronological order, starting in 1890 and continuing all the way throughto the present to include modern gems from June 2016. In each chapter, Sullivanhe immerses readers, era by era, in the popular music recordings of the time, noting key events that occurred at the time to painting a comprehensive picture in music history of each periodfor each song. Moreover, Sullivan includes for context bulleted lists noting key events that occurred during the song’s recording

Immediately celebrated as a tour de force upon its release, Langston Hughes's first published collection of poems still offers a powerful reflection of the Black experience. From "The Weary Blues" to "Dream Variation," Hughes writes clearly and colorfully, and his words remain prophetic.

“A masterpiece. . . . An unforgettable character . . . who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life.” —Chicago Tribune At the age of fifty-seven—living a life riddled with ex-wives, one night stands, and daily diet of Jack Daniels—Bad Blake is on his last legs. His ticker, his liver, even his pick-up truck are all giving him trouble. A renowned songwriter and “picker” who hasn’t recorded in five years, Bad now travels the countryside on gigs that take him mostly to motels and bowling alleys. Enter Jean Craddock, a young journalist sent to interview him after a beautiful concert, and a tentative romance blooms. Can Bad stop living the life of a country-western song and tie a rope around his crazy heart? “A measure of Thomas Cobb’s talent is that he can make Bad Blake’s story amusing even as we watch him fall.” —New York Times Book Review “[Cobb’s] picture of the scraggly underside of Western music is brutally convincing.” —The New Yorker “Crazy Heart just might be the finest country-western novel ever written, bar none.” —Houston Post “[A] moving, respectful evocation of the world of country music.” —Boston Herald “Thomas Cobb’s marvelous first novel doesn’t just play on your heartstrings, it breaks them.” —San Francisco Examiner “A piercing, keenly observed chronicle of modern Americana.” —Los Angeles Times “Heartfelt.” —Houston Chronicle “A beautiful book. . . . Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget.” —Washington Times

Dru and Gina are young, in love, and can’t wait to get out of Marshall, Nebraska, a town where bloodline means everything and whoever has the money makes the rules. But all their dreams are shattered when Gina has a monstrous run-in with the son of the richest man in Marshall—an incident that leaves her broken, battered, and violated. Driven by rage, Dru and Gina take matters into their own hands, and quickly find themselves in over their heads. Without any other options, Dru and Gina are on the run. But there’s more chasing them than they think, and love might not be enough to save them.

G. Anita Johnson, author of Journeys, once again defines herself as a distinct poetic artist in her new book, The Meeting Place and Other Poems (A Collection of Lyric Poems and Haiku). The Meeting Place and Other Poems is a thematic collection of short lyrical poems on Life, Love, Faith, and Nature, concluding with a section on Haiku. Though short, each poem in collection is rich in meaning and imagination. Ms. Johnsons masterful use of language, akin to an artists use of a brush, paints vivid images and evokes powerful emotions. Her lyrical voice resounds in pithy poems of poignant romance, ardent life, and abiding faith expressed in such titles as We Used to Dance, hurting, Time, Buildings of Stone, You Are Not Alone, and Ode to the God of Loyal Love. The skillfully crafted haiku reveal her keen perception of nature and everyday life. These lyrical poems and haiku will inspire, comfort, and nourish the human spirit. The Meeting Place and Other Poems has universal appeal and will touch the heart and soul of each reader. For a unique poetic experience, take a seat, relax and savor the poetry of The Meeting Place and Other Poems.

The perfect gift for fans of The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges's "The Dude", and anyone who could use more Zen in their lives. Zen Master Bernie Glassman compares Jeff Bridges’s iconic role in The Big Lebowski to a Lamed-Vavnik: one of the men in Jewish mysticism who are “simple and unassuming,” and “so good that on account of them God lets the world go on.” Jeff puts it another way. “The wonderful thing about the Dude is that he’d always rather hug it out than slug it out.” For more than a decade, Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges and his Buddhist teacher, renowned Roshi Bernie Glassman, have been close friends. Inspiring and often hilarious, The Dude and the Zen Master captures their freewheeling dialogue and remarkable humanism in a book that reminds us of the importance of doing good in a difficult world.