Ben Steelman

Jul 26, 2024 | yahoo.com | Ben Steelman

Ben SteelmanJuly 26, 2024 at 5:01 AM·2 min readForget Jaws. Jasmin Graham thinks sharks are "adorable."Graham, who grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is a marine biologist who's made a career studying sharks. In "Sharks Don't Sink," Graham spends much of her time dispelling legends and falsehoods about the sea predators. Fact: You're more likely to be bitten by a dog than a shark. Most are far smaller than the great whites in the "Jaws" movies, and most would rather avoid humans.

Jun 7, 2024 | yahoo.com | Ben Steelman

Ben SteelmanJune 7, 2024 at 5:01 AM·3 min readA Virginia woman's memoir, "Living Tidal," explores her experience away from the daily grind to a two-year adventure sailing. Henry David Thoreau spent two years in a cabin beside Walden Pond, learning to "simplify, simplify," slow down and appreciate nature. Sheena Jeffers does much the same in "Living Tidal," her memoir of two years on a 43-foot sailboat, mostly in the Caribbean. Unlike Thoreau, she had company.

Apr 19, 2024 | yahoo.com | Ben Steelman

Billy Cone's mailing address is in Wilmington, but a big chunk of his heart lies in the center of France. Since 1997, the photographer has compiled four books of images focused on Paris: Its food, fashion, statues and people. For the latest, "Well Heeled in Paris," he takes a different theme: Women and their shoes. The project, he explains, took him years.

Apr 12, 2024 | yahoo.com | Ben Steelman

Raleigh author Heather Frese made a splash with her 2021 debut novel "Baddest Girl on the Planet," which won the Lee Smith Prize. She returns to that book's territory -- modern-day Hatteras Island -- for her follow-up, "The Saddest Girl on the Beach."This is no sophomore slump -- far from it. While "Baddest Girl" was basically a slim volume of interconnected short stories, "Saddest Girl" is a fleshed-out, mature novel with compelling themes.

Apr 5, 2024 | yahoo.com | Ben Steelman

A retired defense contractor, Bob Adamov is based in Wooster, Ohio, but he frequently calls on the Brunswick beaches. He's set his latest adventure novel, "Holden's Promise," in and around Brunswick County. Our story opens during the Civil War, as the blockade runner Myrtle sinks with all hands in the midst of what we'd call a Category 3 hurricane. Cut to the present. Emerson Moore, ace Washington Post investigative reporter, heads for Shallotte to hang out with an old friend.