On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
Y'all. I'm listening to The Vegetarian during the daytime, and while I am compelled and fascinated by it, there are certain aspects that really rub me the wrong way. But - gotta finish! I am also reading a darkly funny southern work - The Heavenly Table by DR Pollock. I was anticipating totally loving it but have run into some grumbling aspects. Still very early!
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I'm looking forward to The Heavenly Table.
I enjoyed Redemption Road and would like to read these other two as well.
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Hey y'all - Sorry I have not checked in ! I have been doing the " Doctor Office Visit " Dance again this month so what I do is mostly read and if I ever get near a computer on which I can type I will post what I have been reading !
I really am excited about all of the MAGNIFICENT books we have had on our lists and those other New Releases I have been waiting for and yes I am dying to tell you about my Friday Luncheon Plans to surprise you about what will be on my next TO BE READ list!!!
First, you know , I have said how wonderful Eileen was way back when I reviewed it after LeAnne wrote her motivating review. That really was a good book . Then for the Podcast group The Readers We have been reading The Sympathizer!!! Wow ! What a book ! If you have not yet read this one , you should . It really is not about the battles or the war itself , it is about the affects that war has on people !!! This book is as relevant for the Vietnam War as for any other war . Revolution or change begins with protests and riots . People are treated unfairly on both sides, innocent people are always in the middle and harmed the most . War leaves behind bitter hatred and misplaced prejudices. There are the combinations of two cultures that make it hard for these " others" to fit anywhere they try to excise. Hatred, violence, torture, rape, murder, lynchings , etc... have always played part in wars on both sides. It just reinforces that war will never solve a problem but it may be a temporary solution to a most serious issue. You can't keep ignoring the basic human rights of people in this manner. This book fully deserved its Pulitzer ! I want to read Nyugen's historical book that is a historical account of this time too . They say it is just as good.
Now, another goodie : THE VEGETARIAN and you will never eat the same way again . After reading this brief 188 pg . novel I was so excited ! I wanted to get out note cards and go through the book to analyze every sentence on every page of the sometimes simply written story or sometimes very lyrical and beautifully descriptive prose . The story was unique , strange and as I like my stories , character driven with very elaborately developed characters that you could have them siting in any setting . So short a book but packed full ! Loved this one !
Now Surprise, Surprise!!! Guess who I am eating lunch with on Friday at Square Books ? Winston Groom the famed writer of our favorite FOREST GUMP is going to come and eat with us and talk about his new book too! I am so excited !!! I picked the best piece of chocolate out of the box this week ! I am also practicing on my running to make there in time !!! HA!
Run ! Dawn ! Run !
Mod
Sorry I have not checked in ! I have been doing the " Doctor Office Visit " Dance again this month so what I do is mostly read and if I ever get near a computer on which I can type I ..."
Thanks for the great post, Dawn. As always, you've made my day.
Dawn great to hear from you!!! I am looking forward to hearing about your lunch with Winston Groom. I have El Paso on hold/freeze from the library. Even though I wasn't a huge Gump fan, this book sounds fascinating. Hope you are doing well.
Dawn, nice to "see" you ! Have a great lunch .
Brina ~ thank you for the kind words ! I am fine . It will be so wonderful to visit with some authors and a luncheon at that ! It will be a lovely day ! I will certainly keep you all posted ! I have been reading more than I have been reviewing! I need to catch up . I just get so excited when I get that new book ! I can't wait to start ! I hope all is going your way . Take care and personal message me sometime with what you have been reading and up to ! Sincerely ,
Dawn
Diane S. My next " I can't wait to read book!" Is They Say We Have Nothing !!! I am so glad you liked it ! I just am fascinated by the subject and the story sounds amazing to enthrall me into the life of rich characters ! I really need to loose 20 pounds of Coconut Cakes that my Daddy has been bringing home all summer long that I have been snacking on with coffee in the evening . I need to try that A Walk In the Woods Diet ! HA! My Daddy thinks he is spoiling me like his little girl bringing those things home ! You know he still calls me Sissy which was my pet name from Childhood??? HA! The shots they give him for his cancer make him crave sweets ! Not to good for my Mom and me ! LOL ! I need to walk some mountains !
I will take pictures tomorrow if I can with the Forest Gump author . This new book is going to be great!
Dawn
Hope you like it Dawn. My youngest daughter in a daddy's girl too, so I know exactly what you mean, he calls her lovey.Finished The Second Mrs. Hockaday
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Daaaaawwwwn! So glad to see you pop up to the surface for a little bit. It sounds like you are doing a great job of keeping your dad happy while he struggles with his illness - keep eating the goodies, just exercise when he's not looking :)I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the bizarrely wonderful "Eileen" novel! What a strange ride in a car with a dangerously broken heater. Loved loved loved it.
As for "The Vegetarian" I just finished it myself yesterday. Wow! It was harder for me, and I cannot honestly say I enjoyed reading the book, but it was incredibly well written. Looks like we have been on the same wavelength for reading. I do have two other books going on at the same time but have been ignoring a bit. Bad book-mommy.
I finished Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, and it was luminously wonderful. My review is here.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last evening I started Cypress Grove by James Sallis and I'm actually happily anticipating getting on a seven-hour flight so I can read it this evening!
Having finished The Odyssey I'm looking forward to re-watching Oh Brother Where Art Though
Mod
That would be fun!
Dawn wrote: "Diane S. My next " I can't wait to read book!" Is They Say We Have Nothing !!! I am so glad you liked it ! I just am fascinated by the subject and the story sounds amazing to enthrall me into the l..."I wonder if it's a Southern thing :) My father, from Kentucky, always called me Sissy also.
The Odyssey (for kirk)O Daddy, Where Art Thou?
I've been everywhere son.
O Daddy, These strange men are eating us out of house and home and they want to take Mama away. Have no fear. She won't let a celebrity touch her.
Here I am son. Shhh don't tell! We make a plan and kill us some bad guys.
Hide the sharp pointies. Lock the doors. Send the women upstairs.
Whew, that was some hard work.
O Daddy, I got me a couple of dem som-bitches.
Good boy. Find a fatted steer. It's BBQ time
It's great to be the king.
Sweet Talk one of 3 books i have won off of www.listia.com started it just a little while ago. got the 3 books in today in the mail
With 5 more days of holidays left to cook for I am keeping my reading pace with middle grade kids books. I recently discovered Jacqueline Woodson and just finished my third book of hers: After Tupac and D Foster. The lady can write!!! Just wish she would write a full length novel for adults-- Another Brooklyn is so poetic it almost doesn't count. Then again with her prose a 350 page novel would be out of her comfort zone.
Tom wrote: "John wrote: "Having finished The Odyssey I'm looking forward to re-watching Oh Brother Where Art Thou"That would be fun!"
Yes it was Tom. It is a fun movie.
Mod
Here's the GR description:
After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand. But though long uninhabited, the third house is not empty. Inside, something deadly lies in wait. Something that has terrified Dauphin Savage and Luker McCray since they were boys and which still haunts their nightmares.
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The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock has some extremely offensive, profane, 1917 illiterate sharecropper humor. But it is as fun a ride since The Sisters Brothers! Just finished reading it with my posse of weirdos and loved it.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I just finished reading and reviewing "Toybreaker" by Roy Chester my review can be found in the link above.
Faith wrote: "City of Thieves by David Benioff was terrific and the narration of the audiobook was excellent."One of my favorites, ever. Despite some of the language by the young army officer and a couple sexual scenes (off in another room), I let my 12 year old read it last year. Loved it!
Tom wrote: "Has anybody read or heard anything about The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan? I happened on a copy at the library and it looks really interesting. It ..."The Micheal Donald case? I had no idea there was a book ! Thanks for the heads up.
Mod
That's the one! I need to figure out a way to squeeze it into my schedule.
Finished Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupationhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and starting Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman
Faith wrote: "City of Thieves by David Benioff was terrific and the narration of the audiobook was excellent."Agree - fantastic book!
Sit! Stay! Speak!
– Annie England Noblin – 1* Addie Andrews has inherited her Aunt Tilda’s house in tiny Eunice Arkansas, so she moves from Chicago, and the painful memories there, to refurbish the homestead and heal from her wounds. The best part of this novel – and unfortunately it’s a small part – is Felix, the pit bull puppy; and I say that even though I’m not a “dog person.” I knew going in that it was chick lit, and I wasn’t expecting great literature but this was really bad.
Full Review HERE
I just finished The One Man by Andrew Gross it was a wonderful WWII thriller. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
R.G. Vliet was a poet and playwright - but also wrote three novels set in Texas. They are historical and western (southern too, I presume), but not in any way genre novels. The first of them, Rockspring: A Novel, was recommended to me - but I ended up reading Soledad, which I thought was pretty impressive. He deserves to be better known. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Peter wrote: "R.G. Vliet was a poet and playwright - but also wrote three novels set in Texas. They are historical and western (southern too, I presume), but not in any way genre novels. The first of them, [book..."What a find. I hope one if the GR Librarians writes a synopsis for this book. Added to my TBR based on your fine review.
I'm reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. This is nothing at all what I anticipated, not that that's a bad thing...
Five more days until the end of holiday season and then I can read and discuss more than 1 book a week again. So excited.
Pax
– Sara Pennypacker – 4**** Peter is forced to turn his pet fox, Pax, loose in the woods, but then reconsiders and sets out to rescue his beloved pet. This is a wonderful tale of loyalty, love, grief and perseverance. The point of view shifts from from Pax’s story to Peter’s experiences by chapters. Both Peter and Pax have been betrayed and are distrustful as a result. They draw on reserves of strength, courage and perseverance they didn’t know they had to help not only themselves but those around them.
Full Review HERE
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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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This memoir is written for a young adult audience. It is very interesting to see how the historic events unfold through the eyes of a child, and how seductive the opportunities promised by the Nazis were to the young students they recruited. The book is rated as being for age 12 and older; there are some horrific experiences related here, so it may not be the best book for particularly sensitive youngsters.
Full Review HERE