Reader's Choice

Eating on a Mountain at the End of the World: How I Found Love, Humor, & Beauty in My Quest for Ethical Food

By Zackary Vernon

Talk about food for thought: Vernon, an associate professor of English at Appalachian State University, spent years striving to eat according to his values. Finding truly sustainable sustenance—the kind that plays zero part in harming people or the environment—proved tougher than he expected, even with an expansive home garden and assists from organic farmers. Vernon’s unsparingly honest account offers much more than pie in the sky. (UNC Press, June 2026, 156 pages, $20)

Tight Lines & Tall Tales: Stories of Southern Appalachian Fly Fishing

by Neil Norman

In a book animated by interviews with seasoned local anglers, outfitters, and “piscatologists,” Norman pays poignant tribute to the finest fly-fishing locale in the world. Readers may well come to share his rhapsodic take on our famed brook trout (or “brookies”): “In a native trout, the air, the land, and the water of its home all come together—it’s Southern Appalachia through and through, from fin to flank to back.” (UNC Press, June 2026, 232 pages, $28)

These Empty Places 

By Sarah Loudin Thomas

This historical fiction set in and around Lake Toxaway—an area rocked by the Great Flood of 1916—feels especially timely in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Thomas’s third North Carolina novel follows two local women from a century ago as they ride the tides of love, fate, tragedy, and possibility. (Bethany House Publishers, May 2026, 268 pages, $19)

Western North Carolina & Eastern Tennessee in the American Revolution

by Michael C. Hardy

What do the WNC counties Ashe, Avery, Burke, Buncombe, and Rutherford have in common? For one, they were all named for men who fought as Patriots in the Revolutionary War. As the nation celebrates the semiquincentennial of Independence, this High Country historian’s latest work offers a thoroughly researched guide to the events, places, and people of the American Revolution in the mountains. (Arcadia Publishing, June 2026, 192 pages, $25) 

Historic Hikes in Western North Carolina

by Nancy East

As if the variety and beauty of WNC’s wild settings weren’t enough, these mountains and the trails that crisscross them are  also rich in history. The author, an avid hiker and Haywood County search-and-rescue volunteer, explores 30 of the area’s most story-filled treks, guiding us to old cemeteries, fire towers, homesteads, and even the filming locations of blockbusters like The Last of the Mohicans. (Arcadia Publishing, May 2025, 256 pages, $25)