On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
I finished the original novel that inspired one of my all time favorite films: 
Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
I finished two short story collections by the late William Gay:
I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories by William Gay
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wittgenstein's Lolita and The Iceman by William Gay
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Faith wrote: "My review of The Trees by Percival Everetthttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Nice review. I've heard good things about this one.
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Faith wrote: "My review of The Trees by Percival Everetthttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Nice review. I've heard good things about this one."
Thanks. It was an excellent book.
I finished this grit-lit punch in the kisser:
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It's not Southern Lit ... but such a good book!
Klara And the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro – 4.5****
Klara, the narrator of this extraordinary work, is an artificial friend (AF). She is a keen observer and tries to be a good friend to Josie, the young girl she’s ben bought to accompany. For all her intelligence and perceptiveness, Klara cannot quite understand emotion and she certainly doesn’t have feelings of her own. Her interpretations of what she observes are sometimes quite naïve. What does it mean to love? Can science duplicate that essentially human quality in an artificial intelligence being? Do we want scientists to try?
LINK to my full review
Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle – Ann B Ross – 3***
Book number twelve in the Miss Julia series, featuring a woman of a certain age who cannot help but get involved in the goings on in her North Carolina town. What I love about this series is Miss Julia, herself. She’s a real firecracker of a woman. The supporting cast of characters are wonderful as well. A fast, fun, comfort read.
LINK to my full review
Book Concierge wrote: "It's not Southern Lit ... but such a good book! Klara And the Sun
– Kazuo Ishiguro – 4.5****..."
Fascinating concept, especially for the 21st century.
Hi! I’m a new member. I hope to get a copy of All The King’s Men and join in the discussion.In the meantime, I recently reviewed William Gay’s Provinces of Night. Hope some of you have a look. Always looking for new kindred souls to befriend. Thank you!
The link and a sampler --the opening paragraph of my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tennessee, 1952. B.F. Bloodworth tests the adage, “you can never go home again.” Most especially you can’t if, like Bloodworth, you’re someone who had once thought it a good idea to take to the road with your banjo and your dreams, but make no mention of it to your wife and kids, leaving them behind to fend for their lonesomes. He returns decades later with his banjo and a few 78 rpm records he cut, marketed as “race records” because his handlers think his voice sounds black. But Mama, his wife, is now in her 70s. Her mind is shot. His three sons are grown, and scattered, geographically and personality-wise. Boyd has forever been little more than a rumor, a very local legend. Now in Detroit, he’s tracking down his wife and her lover, for reasons he’s not quite so sure of anymore. The old man’s youngest, Brady, claims to be clairvoyant, and maybe just maybe he is, for the hexes he whips up do seem to work their ill magic. Folks consult with Brady when they have a problem that needs to be eliminated. His price? Fifty bucks. Nice work if you can get it.
Ordinary Girls – Jaquira Díaz – 4****
In this memoir, Díaz relates her childhood and teen years with brutal honesty. She grows up in Puerto Rico and Miami, with a mentally-ill and drug-addicted mother. And looks to her friends for the love and support she does not get at home. I found her writing gripping and enthralling. There were times when I wanted to turn away, because the scenes were so painful, but her writing kept me going. My heart went out to the young girl and struggling teenager. I applauded the woman she became.
LINK to my full review
Ray wrote: "Hi! I’m a new member. I hope to get a copy of All The King’s Men and join in the discussion.In the meantime, I recently reviewed William Gay’s Provinces of Night. Hope some of you have a look. Al..."
Welcome, Ray. I really enjoyed Provinces of Night as well.
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Ray wrote: "Hi! I’m a new member. I hope to get a copy of All The King’s Men and join in the discussion.In the meantime, I recently reviewed William Gay’s Provinces of Night. Hope some of you hav..."
Yes, I noticed, and we have a very percentage of books in common (34%) so I'm following you, and today have read/liked at least one of your reviews. Cheers, Ray
The Book of Lost Friends – Lisa Wingate – 4****
For this work of historical fiction, Wingate was inspired by actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, wherein newly freed slaves search for family members from which they’d been separated. She uses the ubiquitous dual timeline for this story, and while I’ve come to really dislike this device, I thought Wingate did a marvelous job in this case. I was interested and engaged from beginning to end, and I really appreciated learning about the “Lost Friends” advertisements.
LINK to my full review
I finished the Pulitzer and National Book Award winner
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Written by a Yankee, but it takes place in a slightly re-imagined Antebellum South.
I imagine that you all know that Giant is another WEST TEXAS novel.....not Southern.
The Pianist – Wladyslaw Szpilman – 4****
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Extraordinary True Story of One man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945. Szpilman was a Jewish pianist who managed – by luck, courage, tenacity, and the kindness of others – to stay hidden and survive in the bombed and war-torn city. I found it engaging and gripping. Even though I knew he survived, I simply could not stop reading.
LINK to my full review
Set in Mississippi, Percival Everett's The Trees is one of six books shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It is a literary thriller/mystery/horror/satire/tale of vengeance. Something you don't see every day, obviously! I loved it, (5 stars). It's wildly entertaining and thought-provoking, though perhaps not a book for everyone. I hope some of you will have a look at my detailed review. I'll respond by having a look at your book reviews. Thank you https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished the Pulitzer and National Book Award winnerThe Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Rating: 4 stars
Rev..."
Good review! Critical but fair.
Ray wrote: "...Good review! Critical but fair."Thank you, Ray.
The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich – 4****
Erdrich was inspired by the true story of her grandfather, who successfully fought against a US Senator intent on “eliminating” various Indian tribes to craft this novel, set in 1953, on the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota. There are two main characters, Thomas Wazhashk and his niece Patrice Paranteau. Their parallel and interconnecting story lines highlight the life, struggles and triumphs of the Native Americans during this era. I loved these characters, Patrice, in particular, as well as the many supporting characters.
LINK to my full review
The Spook In the Stacks – Eva Gates – 3***
Book number four in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. This series features Lucy Richardson, the librarian (and resident) at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library of the coast of North Carolina. It’s a fast, fun cozy mystery. As the title and cover imply, this one is set around Halloween.
LINK to my full review
Legacy – Nora Roberts
2**
From the book jacket: Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her – before her mother, Lina, stepped in. Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents’ house in Maryland… Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness brand and turning it into a billion-dollar business. … A decade later, Adrian has created her own line of yoga and workout videos. She’s just as coolheaded and ambitious as her mother. But while Lina dismisses the death threats that Adrian receives as a routine part of her daughter’s growing celebrity, Adrian can’t help but find the vicious rhymes unsettling.
My reactions
If that synopsis seemed long, imagine how this 400-plus-page-long tome feels. Lord, but it takes forever for the “thriller” part of the plot to come to fruition. And the romance takes just a long to blossom. The only thing more boring would be to actually watch all the yoga / fitness videos she describes.
There was a nugget of an interesting romantic thriller here, and it’s a pretty fast read. Certainly kept me entertained while I spent hours waiting in an emergency room.
Lightning Men – Thomas Mullen – 3.5***
Book two in the Darktown series continues the story of a newly integrated Atlanta police force in the 1950s. There’s a lot going on here from the basic police procedural involving the crimes the officers are trying to solve, to the racism on the force, to the ugly and dangerous tactics of the Klan, to some personal marital issues, to political corruption. It certainly captured my attention. Mullen crafts a tight thriller, with complex characters, and a couple of stunning scenes. Still, I felt a little lost regarding the relationships between the characters because I hadn’t read the first book in the series first.
LINK to my full review
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I enjoyed it. My only complaint is that I don't think there is a book three.
Tom wrote: "Sue wrote: "The Mullen series looks good BC."I enjoyed it. My only complaint is that I don't think there is a book three."
There is a third book. Midnight Atlanta.
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Dave wrote: "Brilliant. Maybe we can get it to be a group read."I haven't read the book, but I really liked the film, "The Flim-Fam Man." This book sounds even better. I think it sounds like a great choice for The Trail. I'm going looking for a copy.
Mod
I ordered a copy from BetterWorldBooks for under $9. Thank you, Dave.
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I’m in, and will look for a copy. How did you come across this one, Dave?
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Interesting, there were 2 or 3 copies in the $9 range on Abe Books this morning and now a few hours later nothing under $16. You guys are driving up prices, lol! And with free shipping.
One can get a new hardcopy on Amazon for that price with free shipping.
Mod
Better World Books has gone up as well.Amazon has the best deal I can find.
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On the Southern Literary Trail
Books mentioned in this topic
Happy Land (other topics)Take My Hand (other topics)
Happy Land (other topics)
Happy Land (other topics)
Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Bennett Parten (other topics)Wes Browne (other topics)
Hubert Skidmore (other topics)
Mark Twain (other topics)
Delia Owens (other topics)
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The Secret, Book & Scone Society – Ellery Adams – 2.5**
I really like Adams’ “Books By the Bay” mystery series and thought I’d give this series a try, though I was skeptical about the “comfort scones” and Nora’s ability to cure someone’s ills by recommending the right book. I didn’t understand why Nora and her friends decided to investigate the death of a total stranger. By the end of the book, we’ve learned each of the women’s terrible secret, and there are a couple of promising romantic relationships. But I just got the feeling that Adams was trying too hard. Still, I did really love all the book references!
LINK to my full review