Colored People a Memoir

WEEREAD: Colored People: A Memoir

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a man known by multiple titles and accolades but is perhaps best known as a literary critic and who rediscovered early African-American novels and pushed for their inclusion in the Wes...
Strange as this weather has been

WEEREAD: Strange as This Weather Has Been

Told in alternating viewpoints by matriarch Lace Ricker See and her three eldest children, Ann Pancake’s debut novel Strange as This Weather Has Been is an urgent, poignant story about the environmental damages...
55 Strong book review

WEEREAD: 55 Strong

With written testimonials and spontaneous on-the-street interviews, 55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike is a deeply personal account of the circumstances that sparked the 2018 strike and its pr...
At Home in the Heart of Appalachia

WEEREAD: At Home in the Heart of Appalachia

A poignant memoir of family and place, At Home in the Heart of Appalachia’s opening chapter begins with author John O’Brien traveling for his father Jim’s funeral. A strained relationship with his father and hi...
WEEread

WEEREAD: Holiday Reading for Children

A Day for Skating by Sarah Sullivan Written in simple rhyming couplets with no more than two lines to a page, Sarah Sullivan’s A Day for Skating is perfect to share with children who are just learning to r...
Shiner

WEEREAD: Shiner

In her stunning debut novel Shiner, Amy Jo Burns explores friendship and grief in the mountains of West Virginia. Teenaged Wren Bird and her family live an isolated and antiquated life in Randolph County, nearl...
WEEread

WEEREAD: Who’s Telling Appalachia’s Story?

Since it's release in 2016, J.D. Vance's memoir Hillbilly Elegy has received both praise and criticism. Borne out of a need to respond to Hillbilly Elegy, Appalachian Reckoning and What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia tackle issues that have plagued the region long before Vance came on the scene. Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts on the role that they play in telling our story as Appalachians?
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Recommended Reading: WV Books for Kids

As the kids settle into the new school year, check out these books to keep their minds active and explore the mountain state through reading. All of the books featured are either written by West Virginia author...
The Unquiet Grave

WEEREAD: The Unquiet Grave

For many a West Virginian, the story of Zona Heaster Shue — better known as the Greenbrier Ghost — is a familiar one. The small details may differ, but the story usually goes something like this: in 1897, a rec...
A Hero's Essence

WEEREAD: ‘A Hero’s Essence’

While the main character of the recently released YA novel, A Hero’s Essence, has the superpower of shapeshifting, author Taylor Andrews’ appears to be writing.  A rising freshman at Wheeling Park High ...
Appalachia North

WEEREAD: Appalachia North — A Memoir

Appalachia, even to us West Virginians, seems at times like a foreign place. Appalachia is over there, not here. Appalachians are them, not us. In reality, Appalachia, as defined by the Appalachian Regional Com...
Riding on Comets

WEEREAD: Riding on Comets

In her memoir Riding on Comets, born-and-bred West Virginian Cat Pleska recalls coming of age in the 1950s and ‘60s in a story that, at its core, is about a family trying to stay together. At first look, Pleska...
Rocket Boys

WEEREAD: Rocket Boys

Sixty-odd years ago, no one expected kids from Coalwood, West Virginia, to be whip-smart. Coalwood produced football stars and coal miners, not rocket scientists. “Rocket Boys” is the story of how the book’s au...
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WHAT WEE ARE READING

Some of us have more downtime now than we did before we began to shelter in place during the pandemic. What better time than now to catch up on those books in the “to-read” pile next to your bed! Here are some ...
Suspended Aggravation

SUSPENDED AGGRAVATION: Chapter 12

Editor's note: Suspended Aggravation is an original, Wheeling-centric novel by Nora Edinger and is published exclusively through Weelunk. While some of the places mentioned in Suspended Aggravation are real (or...