Book Recommendation List

[Eric]

I just recently read both of these and was wondering was Fay part of the family in Joe? If so i missed that. As i read it that thought had crossed my mind but i couldnt remember the names of the daughters.

[Eric]

thanks Marge ~ what a great work. I just picked up his last book (the one with catfishes in the title) and only then I learned that he was no longer with us. I cant help but be a little bitter as i was looking forward to many more novels by Brown. It seems that every author i have found recently, that i fall in love with, has passed far befor their time. Tristan Eggolf is one worth mention

[Charles]

I read "The Well and the Mine" by Gin Phillips and absolutely loved it. Very vivid characters and a beautiful story. I also loved "One Foot in Eden" by Ron Rash. I am a big fan of these two now.

[Tom]

Eric,
I felt exactly the same when I learned of his too early death, after I fell in love with his work.
Vastly mixed emotions; from anger at not being able to look forward to his next; to feeling guilty for that anger; to a sense of mourning for him, his family and yes, for his lost future work.

Eric wrote: "thanks Marge ~ what a great work. I just picked up his last book (the one with catfishes in the title) and only then I learned that he was no longer with us. I cant help but be a little bitter as i..."

[Eric]

I agree it seems so selfish but unavoidable at the same time. humans...bagh!

[Eric]

Charles thanks for the suggested reads

[Charles]

You are welcome Eric,and thanks to you and everyone. I love it here. My reading list just exploded. I am going to start with Larry Brown. I'm tempted to start with 'Joe' and 'Fay' but 'Father and Son' seems to be tugging at me. Suggestions?

[Eric]

Joe was my first and i went directly to my favorite used book stores in search of everything else i could find. Fay was second and i have father and son as well as the miracle of catfish that i still need to get to. seems like i have taken a bit of a Vonnegut side trail...it happens...I dont think you will regret starting with anything he has put out. And you are right as soon as i got on this sight i have devoured new books i would have not known about.

[Charles]

Thanks man. I guess I'll go with my gut and start with 'Father...'. Check out Rick Bragg when you get a chance. Ava's Man was very good and 'Shoutin'' is supposed to be better. ..and so it goes..later!

[Eric]

I will thanks and i'll let you know how goes. Thanks agian and have fun with brown~ E

[Eric]

Thanks Charles thatsa why i love this site new stuff to sink into

[Vanessa]

I have GOT to read that, Wes. I adored "The Moviegoer.".

[Brent]

Hey all,
I know this thread has been inactive for a while. But I think fans of Southern Lit would really enjoy reading "Carry My Bones" by J. Wes Yoder. Published when he was only 26, it truly shows Yoder's talent. I can't wait to see what else he writes in the near future!

[Nick]

Just finished Hard Rain Falling -- Cody's obsession with it is well warranted. I don't think you could've sold me on a book whose chief locales were pool halls and prison before --especially in the juevenile delinquency-oriented 1950's--, but this one is, as the introduction says, an "overlooked American classic."

[Eric]

Yes agreed Hard Rain Falling was one of my fvorites I read in 2010. Thanks for the heads up!

[TC]

Terah wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "It's Oklahoma, Terah! I've heard it's fantastic! His mother, Billie, was my professor in college. "


Yes! I got tickets to the play in Tulsa! Can't wait!!"

Vanessa, sorry I'm only now seeing this post - I've been away from goodreads for awhile. How was the play? I missed it last year due to icy roads. I've heard great reviews about August:Osage County.

[Kate]

Judy wrote: "

I recommend Martin Clark—all his books but especially "Plain Heathen Mischief"

And Clyde Edgerton "The Bible Salesman""

Clyde Edgerton is wonderful and such a character in person (I met him at a writer's conference when I was just a teen). Though not my usual cuppa tea, as a North Carolinian, I can't sing his praises loudly enough (which is a blessing, since I can't really sing at all). :D

[Gary]

Vanessa wrote: "Hi, all. I'm so happy to have found this group I could spit! Or something. The last two books I've read have been by William Gay and there is just something about him. It's like, I'm reading al..."

I have never read William Gay.....which book do you recommend of his that I start with?

[Eric]

Gary try "Provinces of night", it is the only one I have read but I loved it.

[Stephen]

Glad someone mentioned Ron Rash. His book of short stories "Chemistry" is excellent. I have his book "Serena" which is also supposed to be excellent (it was a Pen/Faulkner award finalist), but I haven't cracked it yet.

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention Donna Tartt. She grew up in the Mississippi Delta and was taught by Barry Hannah and Willie Morris at Ole Miss before transferring to Bennington College in VT where she was classmates with Bret Easton Ellis of all people. Her first book, "The Secret History" is set at a small college in the northeast, but her second book "The Little Friend" is set in the Mississippi delta of the '70s. Recommended.

I also highly recommend William Gay's book of short stories "I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down."

Also, if no one has read any James Dickey, you really should. Best known for "Deliverance" (which is one of the best examples of the perfect confluence of plotting and lyrical writing I've ever seen) he also wrote loads of poetry and a couple of other novels (including the stark "To The White Sea"). Even if you've seen the movie, "Deliverance" is a must read.

[Paul]

I've just joined this group and have enjoyed seeing everyone's recommendations. I would recommend Reynolds Price to anyone who enjoys well-written southern stories. His characters are deep, imperfect, and memorable.

One of my favorite Eudora Welty books is The Ponder Heart.

And I agree wholeheartedly about Clyde Edgerton.

Check out James Wilcox, though--Modern Baptists, etc. Excellent!

[Eric]

Thanks for the recommendations a few of these are new to me.

[Nick]

Paul wrote: "I've just joined this group and have enjoyed seeing everyone's recommendations. I would recommend Reynolds Price to anyone who enjoys well-written southern stories. His characters are deep, imper..."

Reading The Ponder Heart now for a "real life" book club -- years ago I read the play adaptation and remember thinking it more than just local color, even though it was probably the most "local color"-ist of any Welty I had read.

The Golden Apples is on my 5 favorite books list, and the short story "The Hitchhikers" would probably make my top 10 list of ss's.

[Sandra]

I'm reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne Burns and thoroughly enjoying it. The author depicts small town Southern life through the attitudes, settings, and dialect so well that I can almost taste the grits! It's a fun read.
Cold Sassy Tree

[Paul]

Nick wrote: "Paul wrote: "I've just joined this group and have enjoyed seeing everyone's recommendations. I would recommend Reynolds Price to anyone who enjoys well-written southern stories. His characters ar..."

Nick wrote: "Paul wrote: "I've just joined this group and have enjoyed seeing everyone's recommendations. I would recommend Reynolds Price to anyone who enjoys well-written southern stories. His characters ar..."

Hey, Nick
Have you read Eudora Welty's "One Writer's Beginnings" ? It is a series of lectures she delievered--great reading.

[Paul]

Sandra wrote: "I'm reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne Burns and thoroughly enjoying it. The author depicts small town Southern life through the attitudes, settings, and dialect so well that I can almost taste ..."

That is a great book. If you really like that, then I think you'll like Ferrol Sams' books. Also popular in the 90's but seems to have disappeared--Bailey White--"Mama Makes Up Her Mind"--fantastic essays and stories about Ms White's mother and extended family.

[Nick]

Paul wrote: "Paul wrote: Hey, Nick
Have you read Eudora Welty's "One Writer's Beginnings" ? It is a series of lectures she delievered--great reading.
"

I read through

One Writer's Beginnings several years ago. I remember liking it, but I don't remember much about it -- except is that where Ms Welty raves about Faulkner's short story "The Bear" as her favorite short story? Maybe that's somewhere else, but it is fascinating to hear her write about Faulkner, since she felt a real shadow over her own writings from him.

[Stine]

I have decided my next reading project is Faulkner. I have never read anything by him before, so I wondered if anyone could suggest a good starting place? I have on my bookshelf "Absalom, Absalom!" (in a rather old Danish translation) and "Sound and Fury". Would any of these be a good place to start? Any input would be highly appreciated :-).

[Judy]

Stine wrote: "I have decided my next reading project is Faulkner. I have never read anything by him before, so I wondered if anyone could suggest a good starting place? I have on my bookshelf "Absalom, Absalom!"..."

I would not recommend "Absalom, Absalom!" as your first Faulkner. Personally, it made my brain bleed—Many people do like that book but it aint easy. Go with "Sound and Fury" or "As I Lay Dying" as your first.

[Stine]

It made your brain bleed :-)?? That does not sound pleasant!!! I'll give "Sound and Fury" a go first then. Thank you:-).

[Stine]

But you did read "Absalom, Absalom!! eventually? Did you end up liking it or??

[Nick]

I read them in the opposite order -- Absalom, Absalom! first followed by The Sound and the Fury and they became, like, my favorite books ever. I found "Absalom..." much easier to get through than "Sound...." ...perhaps because it has a more traditional Gothicism, even from the first chapter where Miss Rosa Coldfield's narrative conjures up the ghostly images of the Sutpens.

"Sound..." is much more reliant on interpreting inner psychology, the id, the ego, the superego, and the stream-of-consciousness passages get very confusing if you don't have some predisposition to Faulkner's style.

[Judy]

Stine wrote: "It made your brain bleed :-)?? That does not sound pleasant!!! I'll give "Sound and Fury" a go first then. Thank you:-)."

At the time I read about a quarter inch thickness of Absalom, Absalom!, and found it verbose, stiffly Victorian in style and bloated with filler-words—I could not go on. The characters and events did not grab me and I was bored. Some people love this book, others hate it. Best to give it a try and find out for yourself. I loved other Faulkner novels I have read though.

[Janet]

Hi. I'm new to the group. I love Faulkner, but I think the easiest book for newbies to him is Light In August. The first time I read Sound and Fury I was so confused.
Has anyone read Mark Childress? His Crazy in Alabama is fantastic.

[Sandra]

Paul wrote: "Sandra wrote: "I'm reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne Burns and thoroughly enjoying it. The author depicts small town Southern life through the attitudes, settings, and dialect so well that I ca..."Paul, I like Bailey White too! I also enjoyed "The Same Sweet Girls" by Cassandra King.

[Derk]

William Gilmore SimmsThe Yemassee: A Romance of Carolina

A must read for South Carolinians or South Cackalackans!

[Amanda]

Janet wrote: "Hi. I'm new to the group. I love Faulkner, but I think the easiest book for newbies to him is Light In August. The first time I read Sound and Fury I was so confused.
Has anyone read Mark Childr..."

One Mississippi by Childress is excellent. It was a one-sitting read, and I agree about Light in August. It is my favorite of Faulkner's books.

[Julianne]

I loved-

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
Last of the Southern Girls by Willie Morris


And I'm about to start Dean Faulkner Well's memoir Every Day by the Sun. I ordered my signed copy from Square Books in Oxford, MS and can't wait to read about growing up in the Faulkner family.

[Kelley]

Tom wrote: "The Rosewood CasketSharyn McCrumb
Sharyn McCrumb has a wonderful feel for Appalachaia and it's people. I especially liked Rosewood Casket and She Walks These Hills. The latter is a ghost story, f..."

I love Sharyn McCrumb. I have read all but one of the ballad novels although I guess that should be two as I don't know when Hang Down You head TOm Dooley was released. The Rosewood Casket is one of the best!!

[Susan]

Hi y'all!
(as we say here in the South)

I'm delighted to find this group on Goodreads and wanted to introduce myself. I was born and raised in the Southeast and other than 3 years in Colorado, I have lived here all my life. So reading Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty was just like reading about normal everyday life, as are most of Ron Rash's books. He lives right over the next mountain.

My profession is writing books and I swore for years that I would never ever write "southern fiction" because of wanting to distance myself from all the "characters" in my gene pool. But never say never, as they say.

What I love about southern fiction the most, I think, is how the landscape becomes a character, too. Since I live in the southern Appalachian mountains, I get to study this landscape every day, and feel very fortunate to get to do that.

I look forward to meeting other members of this group.

Susan

[Susan]

P.S. I just did a blog post of Eudora Welty's garden in Mississippi.

You can find the post here: http://www.susangabriel.com/blog/writ...

Road trip, anyone?

[Nick]

Susan wrote: "P.S. I just did a blog post of Eudora Welty's garden in Mississippi.

You can find the post here: http://www.susangabriel.com/blog/writ...

Road trip, anyone?"

Some nice pix Susan, Thanks.

[Nick]

Just started a re-read of some Eudora Welty. My personal fav of hers is The Golden Apples. The story (short novel?) "Moon Lake" centers the book for me with the almost Gothic innocence of its heroine and the facing up to death and sex at the same time which inevitably happens to her. I think I'll get into The Robber Bridegroom this Welty-go-round.

[Helena]

MUST READ ALL OF McCARTHY!
I have recently started reading Daniel Woodrell's books and ran across a great novel called The Harvest Black by JW Lollar.. great prose!

[Helena]

Judy wrote: "
Carson McCullers: "A Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe"—they will knock your socks off."

I READ THE BALLAD OF A SAD CAFE! Absolutely loved loved loved it!The whole setting exemplifies Southern Gothic from the word go! "The town itself is dreary; not much is there except the cotton-mill, the two-room houses where the workers live, a few peach trees, a church with two coloured windows, and a miserable main street only a hundred yards long."

I recommed JW LOllar's The Harvest Black or some of Daniel Woodrell's novels!

[Vanessa]

If you're reading these posts, I'm thinking you might enjoy reading William Gay.

[Lane]

Although it is not fiction, I'm really enjoying "Voices in Our Blood: America's Best on the Civil Rights Movement", by Jon Meacham. It is a wonderful collection of essays by great writers both black and white. While a few are Yankees, the vast majority of writers are God's chosen people...Southerners, both black and white.

[Phillip]

"Poachers" by Tom Franklin, "The Oxygen Man," by Steve Yarbrough and "Father and Son" by Larry Brown. And a whole bunch of others!

[Maryann]

Hi Y'all. I seem to read everything my favorite Southern writers write. Pat Conroy, Anne Rivers Siddons. Loved THE HELP, PRETTY GIRL. KITCHEN HOUSE, For thrillers and mystery, John Grisham. The above posts seem to mention past writers that I need to read, Love Sue Monk Kidd and for beach fluff, Dorthea Benton Frank.

[Nick]

Tom Franklin, Chris Offutt, Ron Rash, Jesmyn Ward --- all contemporary and continuing the gritty Southern tradition.

One of my fav's of the contemporary "Southern" scene is Donald Ray Pollock who writes about the agrarian grotesque "White trash" experience of -- Ohio! Still, he's as Flannery O'Connor-esque as they come.