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Half & Half: A Collection Of Short Stories & True Stories
Don Reid, multiple Grammy winner, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and author of novels and nonfiction books is a member of the acclaimed Statler Brothers. In this book, he brings together the art of short story writing with the personal touch of true vignettes taken from his life experiences. It is a mixture of fact and fiction that may invent a new genre in literature. One-half of the stories comes from his heart and mind while the other half comes from his memories of true-life adventures.
154 pages, Paperback
Published December 3, 2015
About the author
Don Reid
40 books37 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Don Reid, a member of the legendary Statler Brothers, has three Grammy awards, thirteen gold albums, and eight platinum albums. An award-winning songwriter, Reid is also the author of several books, including One Lane Bridge and O Little Town. He and his wife, Deborah, live in Staunton, Virginia.
Don Reid, a member of the legendary Statler Brothers, has three Grammy awards, thirteen gold albums, and eight platinum albums. An award-winning songwriter, Reid is also the author of several books, including One Lane Bridge and O Little Town. He and his wife, Deborah, live in Staunton, Virginia.
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October 11, 2026
(Going to attempt to be very spoiler-free with this review, but that makes it a little tricky since the stories are short. If I give away any details it kind of spoils the whole section!)
First of all I'll happily, eagerly admit I'm a big Statler Brothers fan. Perhaps that means I'm biased in what I'm about to type, but I think I'm being fair and accurate.
This is the first of his books I've read. I bought it recently with a couple others (the others being Random Memories and the Statler Bros. Music Anthology) intending to use this one as a "bedtime snack" of sorts. Short stories before going to sleep? Perfect! However even reading as slowly as I could and trying to pace myself, whoops, I read it in two nights. I just enjoyed it that much. If I had practiced a little more discipline it would've lasted a while, since there are plenty of stories inside. Maybe I'll be able to read just a story or two per night the next time (but knowing me, probably not). And that brings me around to my first review point:
Is it a book I could read again? Absolutely. Personally I don't think all books have to be the type that one wants to read over and over, sometimes a one-time experience is enough, but it's worth mentioning this one feels VERY repeatable, in a good way. I feel the variety and flow of it all will make it as enjoyable the next time I pick it up as it was this first time.
How was the style? I walked into it blind. I didn't know what to expect, but maybe I should have! If you're like me, you're well acquainted with his songwriting style. It certainly carries over into his approach to short stories. I'm not completely sure how to convey what I mean if you aren't often bopping around with some Don Reid song in your head like I am, but if you are, you'll get it immediately when you pick up the book. There's particular a way he often does a complete story arc in a confined space that'll feel very familiar. It's tight without losing a single emotional beat. You walk away from one of his songs or one of these short tales feeling as if you'd consumed something much longer, a vividly lived experience in a couple pages. I hesitate to call it efficient because that feels too dry and clinical. It's just that he's perfected the art of conveying something genuine and clear in a short span. (Tiny tiny spoiler, he does touch on how he learned his greatest writing lessons in the book! That was fun.)
There's a little trick he uses in his writing sometimes that I really like and am not sure how to describe if you're not familiar with it, but he's got a great knack at using even a small line to recontextualize a whole piece. It's not even necessarily witheld information, he just knows how and when to reveal that particular detail. It's as if he adds a puzzle piece that somehow turns the picture into something new. (This is making me really want to read his other books.) This is yet another thing that can be found in his songwriting. It's not something one doesn't see in other works by other authors, but I must say I'm a fan of the way he does it.
There were several really nice turns of phrase that I WANT to talk about and spoil, but won't. Again, each story is so short that if I discuss it much at all...bam, spoiled. Oof. But they hit so well that I'm putting it down as yet another reason to get the book. He's got a way with words and it's worth experiencing yourself.
If you're going into this looking for warmfuzzies *specifically,* I wouldn't. I didn't expect such so I wasn't surprised at what I found: this is a variety bag. The dates, settings, characters, and conclusions run across a broad spectrum (no surprise to a Statler Brothers fan). There aren't always happy endings. I appreciate this a lot, namely for HOW he does it. I'm not the sort that thinks cynicism equals realism, that you have to be blisteringly negative to create the right feel for a story that doesn't necessarily end with rainbows, but a lot of people are. He avoids that pitfall by just writing completely naturally. Even when someone is doing something quite dark, or heartbreaking, it doesn't feel like a lot of current storytelling trends where they just try SOOO hard and it comes off fake. Sometimes life is messy, or awful, and he writes it well. It feels grounded, never forced. And on the other end, the happier stories are just that, nice stories that are pleasant without being saccharine. In a lot of cases, regardless of which part of the book you're in, it's slice of life---but whose life? Some of these people are lovely, and some of them are a-holes, and I found that a lot of fun. It's just done so well but dang I can't tell you specifically without spoilers! Just go read it!
The title of the book is a pretty fair description: about half of it is fiction and about half is nonfiction. I say about, since I believe there's a little more fiction, but that's fine. The whole thing was enjoyable and I didn't favor one section over the other.
The actual quality of the book is nice, doesn't feel cheap, doesn't feel like it's going to disintegrate on my library shelf, which I love. I like a book that'll last. Feels like the paper is acid-free, but I haven't checked to be sure. (I hope it is!)
The font and formatting are good and made for an easy read. No issues there. The size of the book will fit great on a shelf (but I'm going to have to figure out which shelf to put it on, since...half-and-half, heh.) The price of the book (which I got off the S.B.'s website shop) was good for the quality and experience.
This might be a good spot for a "content warning," which is a bit of a spoiler too but not too bad: two snakes die. (I like snakes, sorry Don.) I mean, I get it, I grew up in rural Tennessee so it isn't like I haven't seen it happen before, but I do like snakes. It didn't ruin anything for me personally but some people might not care for that. It's a brief and quick thing.
There are also some slightly harrowing moments, fiction and nonfiction, and some violence. Again, doesn't bother me a bit but I'll throw it out there 'cause that's the sort of thing reviews are good for, to talk about the content.
This is a great book for sticking in a bag or on your side table to have something quick to do that isn't doomscrolling on your phone. It's got me excited for his other novels (which I'll buy pretty soon, but I have to wait for a paycheck!). I hope he's still writing. I could read a ton more of this.
TL;DR: Fantastic, pleased as punch, 10/10, would read again. I don't know why anyone would give it less than four stars. Can't wait to read his other stuff now that I've read this one.
First of all I'll happily, eagerly admit I'm a big Statler Brothers fan. Perhaps that means I'm biased in what I'm about to type, but I think I'm being fair and accurate.
This is the first of his books I've read. I bought it recently with a couple others (the others being Random Memories and the Statler Bros. Music Anthology) intending to use this one as a "bedtime snack" of sorts. Short stories before going to sleep? Perfect! However even reading as slowly as I could and trying to pace myself, whoops, I read it in two nights. I just enjoyed it that much. If I had practiced a little more discipline it would've lasted a while, since there are plenty of stories inside. Maybe I'll be able to read just a story or two per night the next time (but knowing me, probably not). And that brings me around to my first review point:
Is it a book I could read again? Absolutely. Personally I don't think all books have to be the type that one wants to read over and over, sometimes a one-time experience is enough, but it's worth mentioning this one feels VERY repeatable, in a good way. I feel the variety and flow of it all will make it as enjoyable the next time I pick it up as it was this first time.
How was the style? I walked into it blind. I didn't know what to expect, but maybe I should have! If you're like me, you're well acquainted with his songwriting style. It certainly carries over into his approach to short stories. I'm not completely sure how to convey what I mean if you aren't often bopping around with some Don Reid song in your head like I am, but if you are, you'll get it immediately when you pick up the book. There's particular a way he often does a complete story arc in a confined space that'll feel very familiar. It's tight without losing a single emotional beat. You walk away from one of his songs or one of these short tales feeling as if you'd consumed something much longer, a vividly lived experience in a couple pages. I hesitate to call it efficient because that feels too dry and clinical. It's just that he's perfected the art of conveying something genuine and clear in a short span. (Tiny tiny spoiler, he does touch on how he learned his greatest writing lessons in the book! That was fun.)
There's a little trick he uses in his writing sometimes that I really like and am not sure how to describe if you're not familiar with it, but he's got a great knack at using even a small line to recontextualize a whole piece. It's not even necessarily witheld information, he just knows how and when to reveal that particular detail. It's as if he adds a puzzle piece that somehow turns the picture into something new. (This is making me really want to read his other books.) This is yet another thing that can be found in his songwriting. It's not something one doesn't see in other works by other authors, but I must say I'm a fan of the way he does it.
There were several really nice turns of phrase that I WANT to talk about and spoil, but won't. Again, each story is so short that if I discuss it much at all...bam, spoiled. Oof. But they hit so well that I'm putting it down as yet another reason to get the book. He's got a way with words and it's worth experiencing yourself.
If you're going into this looking for warmfuzzies *specifically,* I wouldn't. I didn't expect such so I wasn't surprised at what I found: this is a variety bag. The dates, settings, characters, and conclusions run across a broad spectrum (no surprise to a Statler Brothers fan). There aren't always happy endings. I appreciate this a lot, namely for HOW he does it. I'm not the sort that thinks cynicism equals realism, that you have to be blisteringly negative to create the right feel for a story that doesn't necessarily end with rainbows, but a lot of people are. He avoids that pitfall by just writing completely naturally. Even when someone is doing something quite dark, or heartbreaking, it doesn't feel like a lot of current storytelling trends where they just try SOOO hard and it comes off fake. Sometimes life is messy, or awful, and he writes it well. It feels grounded, never forced. And on the other end, the happier stories are just that, nice stories that are pleasant without being saccharine. In a lot of cases, regardless of which part of the book you're in, it's slice of life---but whose life? Some of these people are lovely, and some of them are a-holes, and I found that a lot of fun. It's just done so well but dang I can't tell you specifically without spoilers! Just go read it!
The title of the book is a pretty fair description: about half of it is fiction and about half is nonfiction. I say about, since I believe there's a little more fiction, but that's fine. The whole thing was enjoyable and I didn't favor one section over the other.
The actual quality of the book is nice, doesn't feel cheap, doesn't feel like it's going to disintegrate on my library shelf, which I love. I like a book that'll last. Feels like the paper is acid-free, but I haven't checked to be sure. (I hope it is!)
The font and formatting are good and made for an easy read. No issues there. The size of the book will fit great on a shelf (but I'm going to have to figure out which shelf to put it on, since...half-and-half, heh.) The price of the book (which I got off the S.B.'s website shop) was good for the quality and experience.
This might be a good spot for a "content warning," which is a bit of a spoiler too but not too bad: two snakes die. (I like snakes, sorry Don.) I mean, I get it, I grew up in rural Tennessee so it isn't like I haven't seen it happen before, but I do like snakes. It didn't ruin anything for me personally but some people might not care for that. It's a brief and quick thing.
There are also some slightly harrowing moments, fiction and nonfiction, and some violence. Again, doesn't bother me a bit but I'll throw it out there 'cause that's the sort of thing reviews are good for, to talk about the content.
This is a great book for sticking in a bag or on your side table to have something quick to do that isn't doomscrolling on your phone. It's got me excited for his other novels (which I'll buy pretty soon, but I have to wait for a paycheck!). I hope he's still writing. I could read a ton more of this.
TL;DR: Fantastic, pleased as punch, 10/10, would read again. I don't know why anyone would give it less than four stars. Can't wait to read his other stuff now that I've read this one.
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