“Dunea is back with a celebration of a musical genre known for good ol’ down-home God-fearing folk: country. She’s assembled 50 musicians, both famous (Kenny Rogers) and obscure (Julianne Hough), in lavish full-color photo spreads. Though Dunea unfortunately asks the same questions of all involved, it’s still interesting to discover that Clint Black would have been an astronaut if he hadn’t gone into country, or that David Allen Coe doesn’t ‘believe in the God that you’re wanting me to think of,’ or that Rosanne Cash wishes she had written ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’ Had Dunea included stories behind these basic responses, she may have combated the redundancy. There are also some glaring omissions, like Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, and Loretta Lynn. But a short list of each performer’s favorite songs almost makes up for the flaws (and Kris Kristofferson fans will be pleased to see how often ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night’ appears).”

“MOTIF v2: COME WHAT MAY (an anthology of writings about CHANCE) is the second book in the MOTIF anthology series from publisher MotesBooks. Each piece in this collection uses CHANCE as a theme in works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and song lyrics. Contributors include Joseph Bathanti, Cathy Smith Bowers, Barbara Crooker, Randall Horton, Silas House, Marilyn Kallet, George Ella Lyon, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Michael McFee, Alan McMonagle, Jim Minick, Noel Smith, Frank X Walker and Dana Wildsmith. Reviewer Janice Eidus says: ‘With remarkable insight and intelligence, 136 talented writers across a broad spectrum of geography, generations and genres delve deeply into the meaning and nature of synchronicity, coincidence, luck, fate, bashert and kismet – and the very enigma of human existence.’ From reviewer Neela Vaswani: ‘Here are brief encounters that sprout generations; split seconds of ruin; sudden migrations, lust, and strife. These pieces remind us to cling to life’s lessons with grace and humor.’”