“Life Is Short, But It’s Wide”

“Life Is Short, But It’s Wide (in the Southern State of Reality)” is a ranging collection of down-home essays that covers the whackiness of Southern life. Author Ann Ipock, a North Carolina native who currently lives in South Carolina, aims her wit at everyday topics such as grilling, southern sayings, dogs, wild women, supper club parties and bathroom breaks. Published by Carolina Avenue Press in Boonville. Softcover, $14.95. Call (336) 244-4440 or visit www.carolinapress.com

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Sweet stuff

In the new cookbook “Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker’s Favorite Desserts,” the award-winning pastry chef shares 160 recipes, as well as memories of cooking and baking during her Brooklyn childhood. “The Basics: A Baker’s Building Blocks” offers tips on preparing recipes made in advance, along with chapters on pies, cookies, custards and fruit creations. Barker also offers innovative pairings of base recipes with sauces, such as “Lemon Chiffon Ice Cream” drizzled with Concord grape syrup. Published by The University of North Carolina Press. Hardcover, $29.95. Call (800) 848-6224 or visit http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/T-7133.html

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Male gift-giving 101

Car washes, cleaning kits, frying pans, cheap jewelry or nearly anything carved out of a coconut do not generally rank high as gifts in the hearts of women. But for Pete’s sake, how is a man to know what to give a woman? “The Male Gift Giving Survival Guide” understands this masculine quandary and spells everything out. It covers 20 common gift-giving mistakes, 20 male gift-giving rules, and examples of really good and bad gifts. In the chapter on “gifts that will get a smile,” author Tim Connor lists a poem or photo collage. In the chapter on bad gifts, “no-nos “include appliances and mops. Published by Worldwise Press in Davidson. Softcover, wire-bound, $19.95. Call (704) 895-1230 or visit www.timconnor.com

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“Where the Water Dogs Laughed”

This fourth novel by Charles Price, in a series that weaves together factual family history and fiction about 19th-century Southern Appalachian life, focuses on mortal love, loss and questions of race and class against the backdrop of traditional mountain culture. Price is author of three other books including “Freedom’s Altar,” which won a Sir Walter Raleigh award, and teaches in the North Carolina mountains. “Where the Water Dogs Laughed: The Story of the Great Bear” is published by High Country Publishers in Boone. Hardcover, $24.95. Call (828) 964-0590 or visit www.highcountrypublishers.com

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“The Civil War in North Carolina”

“The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers’ and Civilians’ Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865, Volume 2: The Mountains” presents letters, diary entries and other documents that tell the experiences of people from the mountain counties of North Carolina. The counties included are Alleghany, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Rutherford, Surry and Wilkes. The book is arranged chronologically from 1861-1865. Before each letter or diary entry, information is provided about the writer. Edited by Christopher M. Watford, who edited “The Civil War in North Carolina: Volume 1, The Piedmont.” Published by McFarland & Company, Inc. of Jefferson. Hardcover, $39.95. Call (800) 253-2187 or visit www.mcfarlandpub.com

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