Byte-Size Blair | December 22

It’s an end of the year wrap-up! We had a wonderful year here at Blair, our 60th! Not only did we get to celebrate six decades of independent book publishing, we also put out some great new books.

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Our 2014 releases garnered a bevy of great reviews from all over the country. Plus, we were still receiving great reviews (and awards!) for our 2013 books. Below is our wrap up of all the love our authors received this year. To read more about these and all our books, visit our website at blairpub.com.

REVIEWS

JANUARY
Voices of Cherokee Women (Fall 2013)
Kirkus Reviews

FEBRUARY
Met Her on the Mountain (Fall 2013)
The Atlanta Journal Constitution

B.O.Q.
Publishers Weekly

The ACC Basketball Book of Fame (Fall 2013)
NCL Online

Met Her on the Mountain
NCL Online

Voices of Cherokee Women
NCL Online

MARCH
B.O.Q.
Library Journal
BookPeople’s Blog

APRIL
B.O.Q.
North Carolina Libraries

So You Think You Know Gettysburg? Volume 2
North Carolina Libraries

Bearwallow
North Carolina Libraries

MAY
B.O.Q.
Wilmington Star News
Chapter 16

JUNE
B.O.Q.
Reading Reality
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
Boom! Magazine
Wilmington Star News

Bearwallow
Citizen-Times
Shelf Awareness

So You Think You Know Gettysburg? Volume 2
York County’s Cannonball Blog
Midwest Book Review

JULY
Bearwallow
The Times-News Online

Voices of Cherokee Women
NC Historical Review

AUGUST
Bearwallow
The Iowa Review

So You Think You Know Gettysburg? Volume 2
Civil War Librarian

SEPTEMBER
B.O.Q.
UNC University Library Blog

Bearwallow
WNC Magazine

OCTOBER
Chained to the Land
The News Star

Foods That Make You Say Mmm-mmm
Midwest Book Review
The Herald-Sun

NOVEMBER
Voices of Cherokee Women
Appalachian Journal

Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland
The Southeastern Librarian

The Ghost Will See You Now
Myrtle Beach Online

Badass Civil War Beards
Midwest Book Review

DECEMBER
The Ghost Will See You Now
The Advocate

AWARDS

Met Her on the Mountain
Finalist – Thomas Wolfe Award
Gold – Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY), True Crime
Winner – North Carolina Society of Historians Willie Parker Peace History Book Award

Porch Dogs
Gold – IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Animals/Pets
Bronze – Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY), Animals/Pets

Long Gone Daddies
Gold – Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY), Regional Fiction (Southeast)
Finalist – Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Award

Win dinner with Bob Garner from Our State magazine

Two decades ago, Bob Garner set off on a statewide exploration of food and restaurants for UNC-TV. For years we relied on Garner to tell us where to eat, from mom-and-pop places to white-tablecloth restaurants all across North Carolina. Now’s your chance to go with him – in person.

Enter to win an evening with Our State’s favorite foodie! And don’t miss the 36-page feature on North Carolina barbecue in the September issue of Our State magazine, excerpted from Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue.

Mmmm-mmmm!

Father’s Day gift guide

A good book always makes a great gift, don’t you think? We at Blair sure do!  Here are a few suggestions for the pater familias in your life on Father’s Day this Sunday:

For the foodie:

It’s summertime! What man doesn’t love barbecue and beer? Bundle a copy of Erik Lars Myers’s North Carolina Craft Beer and Breweries with a six-pack or a growler from one of the brewpubs or breweries touted in the book. Or couple a copy of the new Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue with a sample from one of the 100 barbecue establishments reviewed in the book? (Or make Dad’s day with both books, dinner at his favorite barbecue joint, and a pint of a North Carolina summer ale.)

For the musician:

If your dad loves the music of the “first” Hank Williams, give him a CD of the original Hank’s greatest hits along with a copy of Rheta Grimsley Johnson’s Hank Hung the Moon and Warmed our Cold, Cold Hearts (NewSouth Books). Johnson writes about Hank, his life, his music, and the influences his music had on the baby boomer generation.

For the amateur sleuth:

If your dad is looking for a good summer mystery, try Murder on the Outer Banks (Upper Ohio Valley Books) by Joe C. Ellis. The discovery of a drug designed to reverse the aging process in human cells leads to a trail of bodies from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Washington, D.C., to the Upper Ohio Valley.

Meet the Barbecue Man in the Triad this weekend

You might have seen the Barbecue Man Bob Garner talk about what makes North Carolina barbecue great on WGHP or WFMY yesterday, but if you want the chance to debate eastern style vs. western style with him yourself, join us this weekend while he signs Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue: North Carolina’s Favorite Food in the Triad. He’ll be at the following events:

Friday, June 8 from 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
1925 Hampton Inn Court
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
Phone: 336-774-0800

Saturday, June 9 from 2 – 4 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
3125 Waltham Blvd.
Burlington, NC 27215
Phone: 336-584-0869

See you there!

Mmmm-mmmm! Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue

Summer is just around the corner–the perfect time for a pig pickin’! Whether you’re ready to pull out the pig cooker or you’d rather stop by your favorite restaurant, you need to check out the brand new Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue: North Carolina’s Favorite Food, available wherever books are sold.

After nearly 20 years, two books, and innumerable television and magazine features on barbecue traditions and recipes, Bob Garner has established himself as the authoritative voice on North Carolina’s favorite food. The accomplished pit master has cooked with chefs Paula Deen and Bobby Flay. He has appeared on the Travel Channel’s Road Trip and ABC’s Good Morning America. He has been a featured speaker at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in New York and the Southern Foodway Alliance’s annual symposium in Oxford, Miss. Now, Garner is at it again, this time setting the record straight on history, traditions, and recipes related to the Tar Heel state’s favorite food.

“Young people are surprisingly fond of barbecue and of holding onto the tradition,” says Garner. He plans on helping them do just that with his latest book.

Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue: North Carolina’s Favorite Food preserves the heritage and tradition of a disappearing rural lifestyle while showing how barbecue continues to evolve. The 101 profiles of Garner’s favorite N.C. barbecue restaurants make this a necessary guidebook for any traveler with a taste for pork in the Old North State. But Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue is more than a guidebook; it is also packed full of barbecue history and culture, engaging anecdotes about Bob’s experiences as “the Barbecue Man,” recipes for barbecue and popular side dishes, and profiles of past and present influential pit masters and barbecue aficionados. This tome is the definitive guide to anything and everything pertaining to North Carolina’s favorite food and its history and tradition.

Bob kicked off his North Carolina book tour this week with a launch party at The Pit in Raleigh, where he serves as Minister of Barbecue Culture. Be sure to stop by when he visits your city–he just might bring some barbecue sliders from the restaurant!

If you can’t wait to get your hands on the book, feel free to try out these recipes, excerpted for the Durham Herald-Sun.

October means fall leaves, jack-o-lanterns, and…barbecue?

In Lexington, N.C., barbecue is legendary. That’s why the city has celebrated its famous fare every October since 1984. And this weekend, you can celebrate with them! Head to Lexington for the 27th Annual Barbecue Festival, filled with  “Hogway Speedway” racing pigs, arts and crafts, performances by some great artists, and, of course, some fantastic barbecue.

If you can’t make it to the festival, you can  make your own Lexington-style barbecue instead. Just roast your own pork shoulder (the crock pot is great for this) and follow this easy dip recipe straight from Blair author Bob Garner‘s North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time.

Lexington-Style Dip

3 cups apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup brown or white sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Texas Pete hot sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce

Combine all ingredients in large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir until sugar melts. Let sit for several hours before serving over chopped or sliced pork shoulder. May be stored in tightly sealed container without refrigeration.

If you need a great hush puppy recipe to go with this, you’ll find it in North Carolina Barbecue. This books takes us on a delectable journey across the state in search of the best examples of this distinctive North Carolina delicacy. Along the way, Garner explores cooking with wood vs. electricity, the proper etiquette for a pig picking, and the differences between North Carolina barbecue and the stuff they serve in the rest of the country.

But if you want to know where to go and what to order when you’re looking for lip-smacking-good barbecue, read Bob Garner’s Guide to North Carolina Barbecue. In this book, Garner picks the 100 best barbecue restaurants in the state, ranging from well-known establishments to little-known holes in the wall.

Have a favorite barbecue joint or recipe? Share it with us in the comments section.