WEEREAD: Foote, A Mystery Novel

Meet James “Big Jim” Foote: longtime Morgantown resident, private investigator, and bigfoot. After decades spent hiding in plain sight as a bigfoot, observing and blending in come naturally to Jim, so working a...

WEEREAD: The Marrowbone Marble Company

On all accounts, protagonist Loyal Ledford seems to be a typical American man: The Marrowbone Marble Company opens on an eighteen-year-old Ledford working for the Mann Glass Company while taking classes at Mars...

WEEREAD: The Midwife’s Tale

From the midwives and medicine women of yesteryear to today’s frontline healthcare workers, women have provided care and healing for as long as humankind has existed. In recognition of their contributions to he...

WEEREAD: Monsters in Appalachia

With compelling prose and an ear for Appalachian dialects, author Sheryl Monks’ Monsters in Appalachia chronicles monsters ranging from hellish beasts to everyday evils in this collection of fifteen short stori...
Hippie Homesteaders

WEEREAD: Hippie Homesteaders

A writer and sculptor born in Huntington, Carter Taylor Seaton has long been a part of the arts and crafts movement in West Virginia. In 2016, Seaton was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the West Vir...
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...
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...
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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 ...
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...
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WEEREAD: The Clarinet Polka

Author - Keith Maillard Author Keith Maillard was born right here in Wheeling in 1942, where he lived until eventually moving to Canada in opposition to the Vietnam War. He has utilized his vast knowledge o...
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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WEEREAD: Quiet Dell

A Small West Virginia Town Hides a Big Secret By 1931, the Great Depression had most of the nation in its grasp, including the once affluent Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. Asta Eicher was widowed several years ...
wee read book review

WEEREAD: Murder Never Dies

When the Friendly City Turned Rogue With 250 years of history, Wheeling’s story isn’t only innovation, triumphs and celebrations. Just like any other city, there has been a dark past we would rather forget. An...