On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
Diane I wasn't going to read Tom's mod choice but you sold me on the food and that I've been slightly obsessed with road trip books. Hopefully the library has a copy.
Diane wrote: "LeAnne, Tom's MOD choice for September is a great one for a discussion of what it means to be southern. I can't imagine anyone not liking it. And even though it's not a novel, but essays, there's l..."We have had a copy on our bookshelf for years, but it never drew me. The hub has read it - will see what he thinks. THANKS!!!
Tom wrote: "LeAnne wrote: "Y'all Im looking for a few suggestions for One of my book clubs. This is the one that I started last December and have tried to make it a coed club for our neighborhood. We did City ..."Mary Doria Russell's "the Sparrow" was a hard sell in my book club - they don't like science fiction - but the moral implications of the story prompted a good discussion. It was one of more disturbing books I've read. Still sticks with me.
I am currently reading RETURN TO TAYLOR'S CROSSING by JANIE DEMPSEY WATTSgot it in the mail this morning
LeAnne wrote: "Y'all Im looking for a few suggestions for One of my book clubs. This is the one that I started last December and have tried to make it a coed club for our neighborhood. We did City of Thieves, Man..."A local university hosts a book discussion group and it attracts several men. Here are some of the titles that had a good response from both genders:
True Grit by Charles Portis
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Out of Africa by Isak Dinnesen (it is NOT the movie)
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Have fun!
Book Concierge wrote: "LeAnne wrote: "Y'all Im looking for a few suggestions for One of my book clubs. This is the one that I started last December and have tried to make it a coed club for our neighborhood. We did City ..."Many men prefer non-fiction. There's great choices: "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough or any of McCullough's excellent histories; "Dead Wake" by Eric Larson, Robert Morgan's "Boone" or "Lions of the West."
My dad's group has read Dead Wake, The Wright Brothers, and Boys in the Boat. They also enjoyed a few books by Sherman Alexie.
I loved Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke. My review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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That is the problem with Russell and I actually had a chance to tell her that last year. The Sparrow gets "I don't like science fiction," Doc gets "I don't read westerns." A Thread of Grace will get you "I don't do war stories."
I put off reading The Sparrow for 10 years because the description didn't thrill me. Now for penance I am doomed to wander through eternity trying fruitlessly to get people to read this excellent book.
Tom wrote: "Deirdre wrote: "Mary Doria Russell's "the Sparrow" was a hard sell in my book club - they don't like science fiction - but the moral implications of the story prompted a good discussion. It was one..."Keep trying. We've read a lot of things in my book club that I would never have chosen. Most are pleasant surprises.
Tom , I don't want you to be doomed for eternity so I'm adding The Sparrow to my tbr! Not sure when I'll get to it though .
I loved The Sparrow. It sticks with me. I keep imagining Edward James Olmos as the priest, although when I first read it, I was younger. She is a terrific writer, but some books come to us when we are meant to read them, and they do not work for us until we are ready for them. Watership Down was like that for me, as were the LOTR books.
He was younger, I meant. I WAS younger, also, but that was not relevant. I blame that glitch on the fact that I am reading my second book in 36 hours in which author kills good dogs. I do not like that, I do not like it at all. It puts me in a very bad space.
Tom, I found a list of books I wanted to read that I had put on a spreadsheet back in 1998. I checked it to see how many of the books there I had subsequently read. The Sparrow was on it, still unread. So, should I prepare for a curse?
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There's only one thing that can save you now. You know what it is.
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*GRIN*
In the Land of Dreamy Dreams. Thank you, Dawn!! Got from the library today along with...drumroll... Rae Meadows book. I am set for the week.
A Deadly Cliché
– Ellery Adams – 3*** I like this series. I like Olivia’s independence and “get on with it” attitude. Her relationships with the town’s residents are developing nicely in this second installment. She is definitely beginning to open up to the possibility of love and affection in her life. I thought the reveal was a little over-the-top, but I was still sufficiently entertained. I’ll keep reading this series.
Full Review HERE
I finished A Covenant With Death by Stephen Becker. Thank you to those here who recommended it as it really is a hidden gem of a book.
Brina wrote: "I finished A Covenant With Death by Stephen Becker. Thank you to those here who recommended it as it really is a hidden gem of a book."And we didn't even make you eat a live chicken..
This week is starting well, book-wise! I Will Send Rain is beginning really well, with snake-oil styled desperation to end a months long drought and the kind of cabin fever that goes with being snowed in, rained in, or in this case, encrusted with dust. I'm reading with a small posse of friends and holding a hardback cover in my hands. Super enjoyable.For my audiobook, I'm revisiting a book I totally love. Today, you may not know, is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. While it took several days for the levees to breach and the massive tsunamis of water to inundate homes in New Orleans, the deaths had already begun their foul tally on the coast. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital is written by a Pulitzer-winning writer, and while it is of course meticulously researched and factual, this thing reads like something that William Gay might write.
What most of y'all probably do not know is that one of our hospitals - a wonderful hospital, actually, where both my children were born - went utterly haywire. While the staff at other hospitals in very similar situations was able to save nearly every patient, at Memorial, a doctor and her nurses injected lethal doses of meds into patients and then evacuated, leaving the bodies to decompose. Was this mercy killing on a grand scale? Was it murder? The author objectively reports the facts in a way that allows the reader to make that decision, but does so in a style that feels like fiction...maybe even horror.
I am rereading this book as a simple little homage to the thousands of family members who lost somebody they loved.
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I have that audiobook and really need to listen to it. I feel very silly now that I decided to start listening to My Sister's Grave, another GR group's selection.
By the way, I just finished The Code of the Woosters. I'm convinced that P.G. Wodehouse is the funniest author who ever drew a breath.
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I think some Wodehouse will be in my future. I'm reading wonderful things, but there has been pretty uniform heartbreak. So some well place humor would be a good thing.The Land Breakers is turning out to be phenomenal.
I also am reading I Will Bring Rain. It's a nice story so far but not omg special. The book has the distinction of being read right after House of the Spirits which is my favorite book ever, so it is not the book's fault. This week I also how to finish Another Brooklyn and start Negroland by Margo Jefferson. Next up is one of the group reads for this group either Rick Bragg or Robert McCammon but haven't figured out which one first.
I adore Wodehouse. Bought a whole slew of omnibus editions in England to cheer my husband up while we lived there, he had a tough job with exceedingly unpleasant co-workers for a while, and a dose of P.G. Before bed gave him a more restful night.
Kim wrote: "I adore Wodehouse. Bought a whole slew of omnibus editions in England to cheer my husband up while we lived there, he had a tough job with exceedingly unpleasant co-workers for a while, and a dose ..."Sounds good. I should key him up on my kindle for some last minute late night light reading. Thanks for the idea!
I save my English village books, or re-reads of some favorite authors, for lights out just falling asleep reading. Better dreams, on the whole. Also, I often read poetry before bed. My daughter used to climb into bed with me after all her stories & songs, bit of a night owl as a child. I would read to her from whatever poetry I was reading, she got Little Giddings and Burnt Norton one series of nights when her dad was working on Crete while we were living in England. She may have gotten some Growltiger and Jellicle cats as well as Prufrock as I was re-reading a lot of Eliot then.
It's not Southern Lit, but it has that Southern Gothic "feel" to it...
Once Upon a River
– Bonnie Jo Campbell – 3*** I hardly know what to write about this novel. Very early on I was disturbed by Margo and the adults around her. I wanted to hug her and keep her safe and warm. And then I wanted to shake her till her teeth rattled. And yet … she is a compelling character and I couldn’t just turn away from her. Still, this is no Huckleberry Finn. Twain’s central character had a certain innocence about him, which Margo seems to lack.
Full Review HERE
Kim wrote: "I save my English village books, or re-reads of some favorite authors, for lights out just falling asleep reading. Better dreams, on the whole. Also, I often read poetry before bed. My daughter use..."The poetry is good too. I'm currently reading Anne Sexton, though--not a late night poet. I should pull out my complete Robert Frost and read more of that. I seem to have too many heavy books lately.
Angela I want to read that book. It looks interesting. I just finished Another Brooklyn.
Brina , it's definitely worth reading . I also loved Another Brooklyn.
I am reading it as a treat after my holidays are over. This month I am doubling up on sept/October group reads.
I have to get caught up on some advance copies so I can get back to joining in group reads .
Angela M wrote: "I have to get caught up on some advance copies so I can get back to joining in group reads ."I'm so far behind that I never get caught up. I'm trying to stay somewhat even on the ARCs but I always have so many good ones to read. Then I squeeze a few group reads in around them. So I always have at least a few books going. (That's one reason the Wodehouse is sounding good!)
I read one book at a time- no kindle or audio or arcs. I have concentrated on group reads for a few groups lately that any purely pleasure reads have been put on the back burner. I am putting the month of October aside for myself.
Sue, I need to fit some in because I'll never get caught up either ! I just can't read more than one book at a time . I've tried but I just put one aside and keep reading the one I'm liking most .
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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)
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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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Yeah, too bad Devil in the White City is so old...none of his others can compare. One of the women had suggested The Orchardist or My Sunshine Awaywhich have male protags. I loved Sunshine... will keep looking