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Coach Roy’s autobiography In this new book, the highly respected basketball coach shares the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood to the North Carolina Tar Heels’ 2009 national championship season. The college coach traveled an unlikely path to a winning career. Williams recounts his rough early years with unbridled honesty, growing up poor in the western North Carolina mountains. During the troubled times of his adolescence, Roy’s escape was a basketball court—whether it was a neighbor’s dirt court or the local school gym where he’d shoot for hours at night. The first in his family to go to college, Williams landed at the University of North Carolina, learning under famed coach Dean Smith. Williams also recalls his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas and the accusations that followed tough decisions. The autobiography lays plain how the Hall Of Famer recruits, teaches and motivates his players. Co-author Tim Crothers, a former writer at Sports Illustrated, lives in Chapel Hill, as does Williams. “Hard Work: A Life On And Off The Court” is published by Algonquin Books in Chapel Hill. Hardcover, 286 pages , $24.95. (919) 967-0108 |
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“Real NASCAR” This history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s when the sport gained national recognition. Following NASCAR founder Big Bill France from his start as a mechanic, author Daniel Pierce details the sport’s genesis. Drawing on the memories of a variety of participants—including colorful characters like Lloyd Seay, Roy Hall, Gober Sosebee, Smokey Yunick, Bunky Knudsen, Humpy Wheeler and Junior Johnson—“Real NASCAR” shows how the reputation for wildness of these racers-by-day and bootleggers-by-night drew throngs of spectators to the tracks in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Pierce lives and teaches in Asheville. “Real NASCAR” is hardcover, 360 pages, $30. (800) 848-6224 |
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Gardening with native plants Many homeowners and professional gardeners are discovering a vast “new” palette of native plants. They are realizing that native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, and grasses are better suited, and therefore easier to grow and maintain, than most imported plants that populate traditional landscapes. In "Gardening with Native Plants of the South,” author and landscape designer Sally Wasowski and husband and photographer Andy Wasowski offer many possibilities and advantages of “going native.” Illustrated with more than 250 color photographs, the book is both an introduction to more than 200 of the most familiar and easiest to find native plants and a basic primer on how to use them effectively. Published by Taylor Trade Publishing in Lanham, MD. Softcover, 203 pages, $22.95. (800) 462.6420 |
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Long Story Short This unique collection gathers short-short stories—none longer than 1,800 words—by some of North Carolina’s best authors. Here are 65 established and emerging writers who remind us why we read fiction: to laugh, to learn, to feel, to be transported, and to make connections with the world outside our own skins. The writers include Margaret Maron, Jill McCorkle, Doris Betts, Orson Scott Card, Fred Chappell, Sarah Dessen, Haven Kimmel, Robert Morgan, Lee Smith and Daniel Wallace. Marianne Gingher, an English professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, edited “Long Story Short.” Softcover, 200 pages, $32.50. |
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Building Storage with Style This new book for amateur and professional woodworkers features 20 modern, attractive, and practical storage items to make. Each item is created with basic tools and off-the-shelf lumber and begins with simple box construction. Beginners can handle the super-easy footed nesting tables and then can progress to making a metal rolling cart for under the bed, a refined wall-mounted medicine cabinet, and a playful bookcase with nooks and crannies. Projects in “Building Storage with Style,” co-authored by Clarke Snell and Lisa Mandle, are shown in color photographs, along with specific how-to details. Published by Lark Boos, Asheville. Softcover, 144 pages, $17.95. |