Land of the Sky 101
Land of the Sky 101 is a community learning circle for those who are interested in the history of Asheville, Buncombe County and Western North Carolina. A four-part series of readings and discussions is modeled after the themes of the exhibit “An Incomplete History of Buncombe County” mounted in the BCSC reading room. Sessions for 2026 will be held from 5:30 pm-7 pm on the first Tuesday of March, June, September, and December.
Read
Readers can choose from two selections; one light read like a novel, essay collection, or poetry; and one rigorous non-fiction read written by an expert on the subject. Pick one or both! The choice is yours! View this year’s reading list below.
Learn
Each session will be facilitated by a Buncombe County Special Collections librarian or special guest who will share their expert knowledge, additional resources, and set the context for the conversation.
Discuss
The learning circle is a place to get curious about your community and meet new friends. Come for the history, stay for the fellowship!
2026 Reading List
March 3
- Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835 by Theda Purdue
- The Journey of August King by John Ehle
June 2
- Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community edited by Susan Keefe
September 1
- The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
- The Maya of Morganton: Work and Community in the Nuevo New South by Leon Fink
December 1
- Super Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History by Anne Mitchell Whisnant
- Lum: A Novel by Libby Ware
Past Reading Lists
2025
March 1: The French Broad by Wilma Dykeman and I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell
June 7: George Masa: A Life Reimagined by Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel and Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
August 2: Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson and Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy
November 1: Murder at Asheville’s Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger’s Killer by Anne Chesky and The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape by Terry Roberts
2024
March 2: The Land Breakers by John Ehle and Dark and Bloody Ground: The American Revolution Along the Southern Frontier by Richard D. Blackmon
May 4: The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb and A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History by Francesca Morgan (This session was held in conjunction with One Book, One Buncombe.)
August 3: Serena by Ron Rash and Blue Ridge Commons: Environmental Activism and Forest History in Western North Carolina by Kathryn Newfont
November 2: LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia edited by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts and What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte
2022-2023
October 15: Long Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee by Lloyd Arneach and Time Before History: The Archaeology of North Carolina by H. Trawick Ward and R.P. Stephen Davis
November 19: The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War by Jimmy Carter and Robert Henry: Western North Carolina Patriot by Richard Russell
January 21: Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier and Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab by Steve Inskeep
February 18: That Bright Land by Terry Roberts and Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge: The Politics of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains by Steven Nash
March 18: The Gaudy Place by Fred Chappell and Unraveled: Labor Strife and Carolina Folk during the Marion Textile Strikes of 1929 by Travis Sutton Byrd
April 18: Welcome to Our City: A Play in Ten Scenes by Thomas Wolfe and Blacks in Appalachia edited by William H. Turner and Edward J. Cabbell
May 18: Black Mountain Poems: An Anthology edited by Jonathan C. Creasy and The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics by Rob Christensen
June 18: “The Brier Sermon” from The Mountains Have Come Closer by Jim Wayne Miller and Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia by Thomas Healy
July 18: 27 Views of Asheville: A Southern Mountain Town in Prose & Poetry edited by Rob Neufeld and Asheville: A History by Nan Chase
Featured image credit: “Asheville, NC in the Land of the Sky” published by Asheville Post Card Company. Buncombe County Special Collections, AC215 [cropped]