On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
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Angela M
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Jan 05, 2016 06:03AM
Finished Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe. 5 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Happy New Year, y'all!I've either been reading some stinkers lately or re-reading good ones for my real world book clubs. I absolutely adored A Man Called Ove, despite having already read it earlier this year, but his latest book starts out with some magical thinking and a pair of highly unbelievable characters. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry will surely get better, but at this point, I'm tempted to put it down. Fans of Neil Gaiman might enjoy it.
Once I get past the Backman book, I'll be reading Tom's pick, The Orchard Keeper. Looking forward to some Cormac (despite Laura & Josh's failure to get a high-five or an autograph from him last summer ;) )
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LeAnne , I'm with Diane - worth sticking with it .
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I'm another who recommends sticking with My Grandmother. There's really a lot there.
LeAnne wrote: "Happy New Year, y'all!I've either been reading some stinkers lately or re-reading good ones for my real world book clubs. I absolutely adored A Man Called Ove, despite having alrea..."
A Man Called Ove is on my to-read list as well, sounds like fun!
I'm doing another reading challenge this year, and I just finished my first books of 2016:
Joseph Roth, The Emperor's Tomb; Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest; and T. C. Boyle, The Harder They Come, which is definitely my favorite out of the three.
Looking for a new book to read (I swear, GoodReads and Amazon's Kindle deals will be the death of me) I came across Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings. It sounds really interesting - would anybody here recommend it? :)
Stepped back into
Go Down, Moses for anther re-read. This may be just a spot read here and there as my library holds are rushing in. This is one of my favorite Faukner's. "WAS" opens the story line. Tomey's Turl jumping the plantation and headed for his love Tennie, on another plantation. quick paced and funny. Follows the recurring theme that the 'darkies' are smarter than the owners. While they just want to get their nigger back Uncle Buck is lucky to escape with his bachelorhood intact.
To follow this book one needs a genealogical chart. The McCaslin string is convoluted and confusing.
I find it to be one of his most powerful reads, full of familial complexity, detailed descriptions, and social observations of the coming changes to the South.
'The Bear' suffers the encroachment of man into the wilderness just as the South begins to suffer outside pressures; of population growth, Federal interference in perceived State's Rights, and the impending Civil Rights movement.
As an aside, I use the nigger word because it is true to the text and the times, but more than that I believe that to remove political charge requires judicious use yet discretion. A slippery slope to walk considering how we have seen sexually forbidden words become mainstream reflecting our social acceptance of sexual mores changing. Remember as a child how we just didn't say these things? I would hate to see 'nigger' become that loose in our language.
Sue wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Sue wrote: "For some reason I'm not consistently receiving these messages. Perhaps since I'm adding a message myself I will.I just reviewed the latest, third, book in a Canadian m..."
I just finished reading Cold Mourning and really enjoyed it. Thank you for mentioning this series. Looking forward to continuing with her books.
Beverly wrote: "Sue wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Sue wrote: "For some reason I'm not consistently receiving these messages. Perhaps since I'm adding a message myself I will.I just reviewed the latest, third, book in ..."
I'm glad you enjoyed it Beverly. There's one more available now and the 3rd comes out soon.
I finished Thomas Murphy. 5 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... A new favorite!
I finished Not all Bastards are from Vienna. 3 stars rounded up . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm currently reading two books which is something new for me, because I usually feel like I can only focus on one book at a time or one of them will suffer and eventually be put aside. But, since one of them is a short story collection, it's easier because I can always squeeze in a story before bedtime or when I'm on the subway :)The collection is Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders which is the third book of his that I'm reading. I'm really warming up to his writing and imaginative stories, and although I'm not a huge fan of short stories, I feel like he does some great work there.
The other book I'm reading is John Williams' Stoner and I can already see this becoming one of my favorite books. Its style is rather simple, the language is not specifically unique but the narration seems completely natural, it just draws you in.
I really need a good 4 or 5 stars to bring my reading choices up! Am listening to an audio of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and for my tastes, its down in the 2-3 star territory. Ive got Cormac downloaded, but only have time to read-read after kids are asleep. Who has a winner to recommend? I read The Pecan Man last summer & loved it - need another goodie, especially if the library has the audio. Thanks!
LeAnne , I'm currently reading Only Love Can Break Your Heart too but I'm liking it more than you so far . I'm only half way and I'm thinking 4 stars . Love the different view points here .
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Leanne, not sure if it's in audio or not, but Wilderness, by Lance Weller, is an incredible book. I could not believe that it was a first novel. In fact, I recommend it to everyone here.
Angela, I was good w it until about the halfway point. It may turn around for me in a couple chapters. Diane, none of my three library apps have it :(
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I'm not sure I'd recommend Cormac for audio. I've found his books require you to pay attention and my mind has been known to wander at times when I'm listening to a book.
Have Wilderness but who knows when I'll get to it. Leanne it does all come together but whether you will like it more or not that I can't say. It worked for me.
Finished After the Crash
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
LeAnne wrote: "Who has a winner to recommend? ... especially if the library has the audio. Thanks!"LeAnne, I've never done an audio, but when I was reading The Orenda recently I remember thinking it would probably be great in that format. It's told in 3 distinct first person POV "voices" and it's a powerful story.
Diane wrote: "Wilderness, by Lance Weller, is an incredible book. I could not believe that it was a first novel. In fact, I recommend it to everyone here."
That does sound good, Diane. I've added it to my TR list.
Finished Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passagehttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Need to read The Orenda.
I've finished Only Love Can Break Your Heart. 4 stars . My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Just started The Rabbit Factory
Another run around with Larry Brown. Misfits, strange circumstances, hot babes, decrepit old men, booze, babes. and that's just in the first 50 pages.
I dedicated much of my Saturday to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and didn't regret it. I was probably most impressed with the way she narrated her childhood years, because the issues were told with such an innocent spirit.
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I also finished off In the Garden of Iden, the first book in Kage Baker’s The Company time travel series starring the Spaniard Mendoza, who I just found out is a girl. My review is here.
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Probably a good idea seeing how the two football games I watched turned out.
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I kill men. I kill women because I don’t discriminate. I don’t kill children because that’s a different kind of psycho.
Sorry for posting this in this particular spot! The Geronimo Johnson discussion will not pull up on my phone. This is from the FB page of the Louisiana Book Festival. Thought some of y'all might like to know about this :)--------------
Before receiving the the 9th annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence in a ceremony this Thursday, January 21st, author T Geronimo Johnson (Welcome to Braggsville) will be honored with a luncheon at the home of Ernest J. Gaines himself. We are particularly delighted to see Johnson chosen for this award, having brought him together with Gaines for the first time at the 2013 Louisiana Book Festival.
For more, read this interview from Deep South Magazine in which Johnson "talks about pop culture, rap music, and the political extremes of California and Georgia."
http://deepsouthmag.com/2016/01/inter...
http://theadvocate.com/features/fooda...
Finished my first 5 star read for this year.Tuesday Nights in 1980
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I may be veering off the Trail for a few days just to try something different. At least this Volume Time Regained by Proust comes with guides to characters and themes. Maybe I will have half a chance..
Y'all that have Net Galley memberships - do you know if Michael Farris Smith's new book, "Desperation Road" is available as an advanced reader copy? What is that other pre-reading website? I'm setting him up for an author chat in March for Rivers with one of my two real-world book clubs and am hoping to read the new one between now and March. It would make for more in-depth questions on various themes his work explores.Here are the accolades for it so far from Tom Franklin, Ron Rash ( <3 ), and Wiley Cash ( <3 ).
“Michael Farris Smith is one of the best writers of his generation, and this very well may be his best work — Desperation Road is taut, tense and impossible to put down.” Tom Franklin, NYT bestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
“An outstanding performance.” Ron Rash, NYT bestselling author of Serena and The Cove
“Michael Farris Smith’s Desperation Road reads as if it were forged in a fire stoked by the ghosts of Carson McCullers, Larry Brown, and William Gay. The result is a novel rife with violent beauty and incredible grace. Smith’s terse, muscular prose encapsulates a heart that renders this novel as rich and alive and wounded as any you’ll find in contemporary fiction.” Wiley Cash, NYT bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy
LeAnne , I checked NetGalley and it wasn't available there and also not on Edelweiss yet .
Angela M wrote: "LeAnne , I checked NetGalley and it wasn't available there and also not on Edelweiss yet ."Darn. Thank you! I'll try again in February.
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Why isn't it showing up on GR? March release?
Laura wrote: "LeAnneWhy isn't it showing up on GR? March release?"
No, we are doing Rivers in March, but Desperation Road doesn't come out until either late this year or early next. I saw the early reviews on Michael's FB page and had hoped that meant the ARCs were out.
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Why isn't it showing up on GR? March release?"
No, we are doing Rivers in March, but Desperation Road doesn't come out until either late this year or early nex..."
Gotcha! I obviously did not read carefully.
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Y'all had me at 'forged in a fire stoked by...'
Tom wrote: "I just finished Cormac McCarthy's first book The Orchard Keeper. I've read all of his later books so it is interesting to see how his style has evolved over the years. My review is he..."I've gotten distracted from my 'reading-reading' by audio books! I generally 'audio-read' during the day and 'read-read' at night, but sometimes, it's hard to turn off a narrated thriller. Cormac is one of my hub's favorite authors and he just finished Suttree. Loved it.
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