There’s Magic in Sharing.
I believe one creative endeavor feeds another, and The Gallery is a creative space for poetry and prose, books I love, projects I’m working on. I am delighted you are here.
Writing
Fiction
Stone Cold
short story in litmosphere: Journal of Charlotte Lit
3rd Place Winner, Lit/South Awards
Edna Allen’s Descent
Best of the Net 2020 nomination
Poetry
Eliza
Creative Nonfiction
Painting
Available
If you would like to know more about any of these paintings, contact Cathy. >
Archive
Reading
My Very Faves
Visit Goodreads to see more of Cathy’s all time favorite books. >
Audio Greatest Hits
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
Lucy by the Sea*, Elizabeth Strout
A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson
These Precious Days*, Ann Patchett
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
Where I Come From: Stories from the American South*, Rick Bragg
Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, Cheryl Strayed
Call Your Daughter Home, Deb Spera
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Jeffery McGuire
Varina, Charles Frazier
The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
The Starless Sea, Erin Morganstern
This is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel
On Agate Hill, Lee Smith
Becoming, Michelle Obama
Educated, Tara Westover
City of Girls, Elizabeth Gilbert
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her therapist, and our Lives Revealed*, Lori Gottlieb
Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You, Jen Hatmaker
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life, Jen Hatmaker
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
Reads of 2023
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
FICTION
* denotes I read it on audio
Miracle Creek*, Angie Kim
Shark Heart: A Love Story, Emily Habeck
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey
Those We Thought We Knew, David Joy
The Bear*, Andrew Krivak
I Have Some Questions For You*, Rebecca Makkai
The Guest*, Emma Cline
We are the Brennans*, Tracey Lange
The Trackers, Charles Frazier
Maureen, Rachel Joyce
Silver Alert, Lee Smith
Signal Fires*, Dani Shapiro
Killers of a Certain Age*, Deanna Raybourn
The Man in the Window, Jon Cohen
The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies*, Deesha Philyaw
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
Ms. Demeanor, Eleanor Lipman
I am the Light of this World, Michael Parker
The Bullet That Missed*, Richard Osman
I Capture the Castle*, Dodie Smith
NONFICTION & MEMOIR
Hallelujah Anyway*, Anne Lamott (reread)
The Hero of this Book, Elizabeth McCracken
The Speckled Beauty*, Rick Bragg
The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power*, Katherine Morgan Schafler
Share Your Stuff; I’ll Go First*, Laura Tremaine
Enchantment*, Katherine May
The Anthropocene Reviewed*, John Green
Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing*, Matthew Perry
Reads of 2022
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
FICTION
* denotes I read it on audio
Still Life*, Louise Penny
We are the Light, Matthew Quick
Frankenstein*, Mary Shelley
Traces: A Novel, Patricia L. Hudson
Lucy by the Sea*, Elizabeth Strout
Lark Ascending, Silas House
Sycamore, Bryn Chancelor
The Whispering House, Elizabeth Brooks
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
The Shell Seekers*, Rosamunde Pilcher (a re-read for me)
A Town Called Solace*, Mary Lawson
Verity*, Colleen Hoover
Flying Solo*, Linda Holmes
The Guide*, Peter Heller
The Paris Apartment*, Lucy Foley
Miss Benson’s Beetle, Rachel Joyce
This Time Tomorrow, Emma Straub
Book Lovers, Emily Henry
One Italian Summer*, Rebecca Serle
Hell of a Book*, Jason Mott
Tides, Sara Freeman
Oh William, Elizabeth Strout
Taste: My life Through Food*, Stanley Tucci
The Stars are Not Yet Bells, Hannah Lillith Assadi
Where the Crawdads Sing*, Delia Owens
The Maid*, Nita Prose
The Good Lord Bird,*, James McBride
Nothing to See Here*, Kevin Wilson
The Push*, Ashley Audrain
NONFICTION & MEMOIR
Have I Told You This Already?, Lauren Graham
Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to BreatheDeep and Find a New Rhythm for Life*, Morgan Harper Nichols
Stillness is the Key*, Ryan Holiday
Isrelience: What Israelis Can Teach the World, Dickson/Baum
Israel: Biblical Sites Travel Guide, Todd M. Fink
Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man*, Emmanuel Acho
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet*, Shauna Niequist
The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation*, Suzanne Stabile
The Story of You*, Ian Morgan Cron
Going There*, Katie Couric
The Sketchbook Challenge, Sue Bleiweiss
Urban Watercolor Sketching: A guide to Drawing, Painting, Sketching and Storytelling in Color, Felix Scheinberger
How to See, Thich Nhat Hanh
Atomic Habits*, James Clear
These Precious Days*, Ann Patchett
The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll
APPALACHIAN
Shiner, Amy Jo Burns
When Ghosts Come Home*, Wiley Cash
ON WRITING
Refuse To Be Done, Matt Bell
Reads of 2021
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
* denotes I read it on audio
FICTION
Seven Days of Us*, Francesca Hornak
The Paper Palace*, Miranda Cowley Heller
The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles
The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson
Malibu Rising*, Taylor Jenkins Reid
After Me Comes the Flood, Sarah Perry
Project Hail Mary*, Andy Weir
84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff
Who is Maude Dixon?*, Alexandra Andrews
Then She Was Gone*, Lisa Jewell
In the Valley: Stories and a Novella Based on Serena, Ron Rash
Greenlights, Matthew McConnaughey (DNF)
The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz
The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave
Whiskey When We’re Dry*, John Larison
Olympus, Texas*, Stacey Swann (DNF)
The People We Meet on Vacation*, Emily Henry (DNF)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo*, Taylor Jenkins Reid (DNF)
The Midnight Library*, Matt Haig
The Thursday Murder Club*, Richard Osman
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
Leave the World Behind*, Rumaan Alam
The Searchers*, Tana French
Writers & Lovers*, Lily King
The Once and Future Witches, Alix E. Harrow
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V. E. Schwab
The Searcher*, Tana French
Evidence of the Affair*, Taylor Jenkins Reid
NONFICTION & MEMOIR
Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life, Sutton Foster
Dare to Lead, Brene Brown
Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
Breath*, James Nester
Soundtracks*, Jon Acuff
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, Ingrid Fetell Lee
Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne LaMott
Where I Come From: Stories from the American South*, Rick Bragg
How Stella Learned to Talk, Christina Hunger
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics*, Carlo Rovelli
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain*, George Saunders
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May
The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo (ongoing)
APPALACHIAN
Drowned Town, Jayne Moore Waldrup
Roots Branches & Spirits: the Folkways & Witchery of Appalachia, H. Byron Ballard
ON WRITING
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping, Matthew Salesses
Wild Words, Nicole Gulotta
The Writing Life*, Annie Dillard
Structuring Your Novel: Hands-on Help for Building Strong and Successful Stories *, K.M. Weiland
Reads of 2020
FICTION
* denotes I read it on audio
The Book of Longings, Sue Monk Kidd
The Glass Hotel*, Emily St. John Mandel
The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden
The Guest List*, Lucy Foley
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
Mexican Gothic*, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Redhead by the Side of the Road, Anne Tyler
The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes
Such a Fun Age*, Kiley Reid
Blood*, Allison Moorer
Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout
Beach Read*, Emily Henry
Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano
Call Your Daughter Home*, Deb Spera
What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty
Dark Matter, Blake Crouch
Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner
Camino Winds, John Grisham
Sea Wife, Amity Gaige
NONFICTION & MEMOIR
The Lazy Genius Way*, Kendra Adachi
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brow
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee*, Casey Cep
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters*, Kate Murphy
Fierce, Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You*, Jen Hatmaker
Food Rules, Michael Pollan
APPALACHIAN
Even as We Breathe, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
Blue Marlin, Lee Smith
Wanting Radiance, Karen Salyer McElmurray
New Selected Poems, Wendell Berry
The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, Lee Smith
Clay’s Quilt, Silas House
ART & CRAFTS
Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More, Katrina Rodabaugh
The Embroidery Book: Visual Resource of Color & Design, Christen Brown
ON WRITING
Wild Words, Nicole Gulotta
Draft No. 4, John McPhee on the Writing Process
Before and After the Book Deal, Courtney Maum
Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction, Debra Dixon
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
Coming up
Visit Cathy’s shop on BookShop for more info or to order. >
Hour of the Witch: A Novel, Chris Bohjalian
Painting Time, Maylis de Kerangal
Migrations: A Novel, Charlotte McConaghy
Better Luck Next Time, Julia Claiborne Johnson
The Cold Millions, Jess Walter
Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne Lamott
Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry
Simon the Fiddler, Paulette Jiles
The Daughters of Erietown, Connie Schultz
Miss Jane, Brad Watson
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Dearly Beloved, Cara Wall
F*CKFACE and Other Stories, Leah Hampton
One Writer’s Beginnings, Eudora Welty
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, Anonymous
Florida, Lauren Goff
Galaxie Wagon, Poems, Darnell Arnoult
Waking Up White, Debby Irving
Brushstrokes: Acrylic: Effortless Painting with Minimal Tools and Materials, Angela Marie Moulton
Florence Adler Swims Forever, Rachel Beanland