Now accepting nominations for August, 2021, Group Reads

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Greetings all!
The Southern Literary Trail is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in August, 2021.

We will consider books with a southern literary theme that have not been read by the group in the last 24 months. As always, there are two categories, books originally published before 1980 or those published in or after 1980. You may make one nomination in each category. Authors may not nominate their own works. Please post your nominations below and specify which category you are nominating it for.

Nominations will stay open for one week or until we receive six nominations in each category. Voting will take place in the first ten days of next month.

The eligible nominations received will be listed below:

For the Pre-1980 nominations we have
1. Georgia Boy, by Erskine Caldwell
2. Go Down, Moses, by William Faulkner
3. The Land Breakers, by John Ehle
4. In the Heat of the Night, by John Dudley Ball
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
6. North Toward Home, by Willie Morris

For the Post-1980 nominations we have
1. The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War, by Michael Gorra
2. The Long Home, by William Gay
3. The Killing Hills, by Chris Offutt
4. In the Fall, by Jeffrey Lent
5. The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris
6. Kate Vaiden, by Reynolds Price

[Helena]

Books by Southern musicians?

Steve Earle's: I Can't Remember We said Goodbye

JD Hollingsworth: Frankenstein's Paradox or Spring Valley Ape

Jim White: Superwhite

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

if you would like to nominate one, please do so.

[Nick]

I would like to nominate Georgia Boy by Erskine Caldwell for pre-1980.

It has the same ribald irreverance of Caldwell's God's Little Acre and Tobacco Roadbut in a slightly different format. And when I first saw Billy Bob Thornton's SlingBlade I felt a strange kinship between that film and this book. I wonder if that's a thang.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Nick, ribald is a good word. First time I saw that word was in a cormac book. Or at least remembered it sticking out. I’m going to take a look at this book.

[Joey]

How about a double-barreled Faulkner month?

Pre-1980: Go Down, Moses

Post-1980: The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War by Michael Gorra

[Lori]

Pre-1980 The Land Breakers by John Ehle

Post-1980 The Long Home by William Gay

[Wyndy]

For Post-1980, I’ll nominate the new Chris Offutt novel, The Killing Hills. It sounds like a hot and humid August read to me 😉

[Suzy]

I will nominate pre-1980 In the Heat of the Night. Another hot and humid August read.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Wow, some great nominations so far. I want to read them all.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

I agree with Diane….great nominations.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

In the Heat of the Night……that one looks promising too.

[Nick]

Laura wrote: "Nick, ribald is a good word. First time I saw that word was in a cormac book. Or at least remembered it sticking out. I’m going to take a look at this book."

👍

[``Laurie]

Helena wrote: "Books by Southern musicians?

Steve Earle's: I Can't Remember We said Goodbye

JD Hollingsworth: Frankenstein's Paradox or Spring Valley Ape

Jim White: Superwhite"



Any Louvin Brother fans?

[Sara]

Post 1980: In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent

Too many good books to choose from this month!

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

``Laurie wrote: "
Satan Is Real The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers by Charlie Louvin

Any Louvin Brother fans?

Is that a nomination?

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

We have four excellent nominations for each category so far. Some folks have suggested biographies of southern musicians but haven't actually said that they want to nominate one. That sounds like a good idea as there are a lot of good ones out there. I, for one, would like to read Rick Bragg's biography of Jerry Lee Lewis. Unfortunately, unless somebody works up the gumption to actually nominate one of these books, I can't but it in the polls. That's a hint folks.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

With some reservations, I will nominate The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris for post-1980. I say with reservations only because this is brand new, an Oprah pick, and getting lots of rave reviews, so it may be difficult to get from libraries because of waiting lists. It sounds like it's right up our alley.

[Suzy]

Diane wrote: "With some reservations, I will nominate The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris for post-1980. I say with reservations only because this is brand new, an Oprah pick, and getting lo..."

This looks so good!

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Here's one more for the pre-1980 list: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Now we only need one more in each category to wrap this up.

[Jessica]

I nominate North Toward Home Willie Morris for pre
I nominate Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price for post

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Jessica wrote: "I nominate North Toward Home Willie Morris for pre
I nominate Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price for post"

That's an intriguing pair of nominations!

And with that, our slate of candidates is complete and the nominations are closed. I will set up the polls and voting will begin at the first of the month. Thank you all for your excellent selections.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Greetings all! I hope you all manage to stay relatively cool and enjoy celebrating Independence Day.

The polls for the August selections are open. Thanks to all of you who nominated and to all of you who participate. There are some excellent nominations on the ballot.

For the Pre-1980 nominations, Vote here!

For the Post-1980 poll, Vote here!

The polls will remain open for ten days and the winners will be announced mid-month.

As for the July selections, the discussion boards are up and ready for your thought. They can be found here:

For Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry., (Moderator’s Choice):
Initial Impressions: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry-June/July 2021
Final Impressions: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry-June/July 2021

For The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers, (Pre-1980):
Initial Impressions: The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers- July 2021
Final Impressions: The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers- July 2021


For Call Your Daughter Home, by Deb Spera, (Post-1980):
Initial Impressions: Call Your Daughter Home, by Deb Spera- July 2021
Final Impressions: Call Your Daughter Home, by Deb Spera- July 2021


Stay safe.

Happy reading!

Big Daddy Tom

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Here is the list of books that we will be reading in August.

For the Pre-1980 selection:, we will be revisiting In the Heat of the Night, by John Dudley Ball.

For the Post-1980 selection we will be reading The Long Home, by William Gay.

For the Moderator’s Choice, I have decided to exercise a moderator’s prerogative and promote a book that has twice gotten a good number of votes but has never won. The Land Breakers, by John Ehle.

”Set deep in the Appalachian wilderness between te years of 1779 and 1784, The Land Breakers is a saga like Norse sagas or the Book of Genesis, a story of first and last things,of the violence of birth and death, of inescapable sacrifice amd the faltering emergence of community.”

Discussion boards will be set up for each book soon.

Stay safe.

[Lori]

Yay, Tom! Thank you for choosing The Land Breakers!!

[Sara]

A thanks from me as well, Tom. I have wanted to read it for some time.