On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
General Bookishness
>
Retired: What are you reading?
Sycamore Row – John Grisham – 3***
A wealthy man commits suicide and leaves the majority of his estate to his black housekeeper. Why would he do such a thing? John Grisham can certainly write a thriller, and his courtroom scenes are entertaining, suspenseful and informative. I liked the various characters, or more accurately, I like the way Grisham writes these characters, even the smarmy attorneys hired by Seth’s children and Lettie’s n’er-do-well husband and distant relatives.
LINK to my review
I finally read a southern book. It's about high school football but it is southern to the core and a fun read, Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team by Drew Jubera. Here's my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Bring, this was written about my hometown. I have had it on my to read shelf for some time.
Mod
Have you read [book:Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream?
NOT southern, but a worthy read ...
Kitchens of the Great Midwest – J Ryan Stradal – 3.5***
A debut novel that shows the writer’s promise. The story is told in roughly chronological order, but each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character. Through them the reader gets to know Eva, “the mysterious chef behind the most sought-after dinner reservation in the country.”
LINK to my review
Tom I read Friday Night Lights years ago- pre GR- so I don't have it shelved. Great book.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
18430919
``Laurie Henderson's review Oct 19, 2014 · edit
it was amazing
bookshelves: tear-jerkers, military-soldiers-fiction
Let me tell you right now that this book is going to hurt.
The suffering the Iraqi War veterans endure in this book will touch a raw spot in you that you might prefer not to experience.
You will probably, like me, have a lump in your throat and teary eyes most of the time when reading this excellent first novel by Kevin Powers. 5 stars all around and I'm looking forward to reading all future books by Powers, a combat veteran of the Iraq war.
Half Broke Horses – Jeannette Walls – 4****
In what she calls a “true life novel,” Walls turns her attention to her maternal grandmother: Lily Casey Smith. Walls is a wonderful storyteller; she really brings Lily and all the other characters to life. And what a life! The author also does a fine job of putting the reader into this time and place. I could practically smell the horses, and feel the dust on my skin.
LINK to my review
Laurie, I thought as I was reading it that if I were still teaching at the Naval Academy Prep School, Yellow Birds would be on my syllabus. It really was a gem of a book, heartfelt & authentic. As a vet, I hope more works will come out of these almost invisible conflicts that we continue year after year. With only about 1% of the population serving, a very different 1% than the economic elite, our overseas conflicts do not seem to impact the nation enough to warrant notice, which is sad and dangerous.
Im reading The Marsh King's Daughter (newly published) and Nightmare Alley (published in the 1940s). Both excellent!
BC, Laurie, and LeAnne. All these books you list now sound really good. I keep hearing amazing things about Walls and hopefully one day I get to her. Ditto the 1940s book. Once I whittle my tbr down I will add these.
Not southern, but a good, new grit lit novel She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
``Laurie wrote: "The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
18430919
``Laurie Henderson's review Oct 19, 2014 · edit
it was amazing
bookshelves: tear-jerkers, military-soldiers-fiction .."
It was a 4-star read for me. I was lucky enough to see Powers when he was on the book tour, so I have a signed first edition.
LINK to my REVIEW
Brina wrote: "BC, Laurie, and LeAnne. All these books you list now sound really good. I keep hearing amazing things about Walls and hopefully one day I get to her. Ditto the 1940s book. Once I whittle my tbr dow..."If it makes it easier, Nightmare Alley is available as a free audio from the library. Nice and creepy for Halloween :)
I finished Points North by Howard Frank Mosher. He's been compared to Faulkner, although he wrote about a fictional Vermont county. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
Gods of Howl Mountain
A bit of a letdown for me since I'm such a huge fan. I'll blame it on missing hormones. Thoughts on In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cathrine ☯️ wrote: "A bit of a letdown for me since I'm such a huge fan. I'll blame it on missing hormones. Thoughts on In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead [bookcover:In the Electric Mist With Con..."It was also made into a really bad movie starring Tommy Lee Jones.
Faith wrote: "Cathrine ☯️ wrote: "A bit of a letdown for me since I'm such a huge fan. I'll blame it on missing hormones. Thoughts on In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead [bookcover:In the El..."Faith my review includes thoughts on the movie which I watched afterwards. I actually liked it better than the book.
NOT Southern, but a great read ...
Under This Unbroken Sky – Shandi Mitchell – 5*****
This debut work just about broke my heart. Mitchell’s writing is luminous and poetic in places, making the landscape and weather central characters in the drama that unfolds in the last 1930s on the plains of Northern Canada. The novel touches on the immigrant experience, the harsh realities of prairie life, domestic abuse, faith, friendship, charity, pride, survival and forgiveness. This is a book, and an author, that deserves a wider audience.
LINK to my review
Recently finished a book titled Stoner by John Williams. Excellent book on life in academia, in this case the English Dept at the U of Missouri (1910-56). Stoner is a man who simply wants to be a good teacher and family man. He enjoys the academic life (apart from "the world" outside). However, his wife makes things pretty miserable for him. American realism and a gem of a book. First published in 1965.
Mod
I've seen a lot of really favorable reviews about Stoner but have never been able to convince myself to check it out. The descriptions of it have always seemed unrelentingly bleak which is the exact opposite of what I look for in a book.
Mod
Book Concierge wrote: "NOT Southern, but a great read ... Under This Unbroken Sky
– Shandi Mitchell – 5*****
This debut work just about broke my heart. Mitchell’s writing..."
I also loved this book BC
Tom wrote: "B. R. wrote: "Recently finished a book titled Stoner by John Williams. Excellent book on life in academia, in this case the English Dept at the U of Missouri (1910-56). Stoner is a man who simply w..."I was on the fence about Stoner too but I caved in an listened to it. I am on team "depressing and pointless".
B. R. wrote: "Recently finished a book titled Stoner by John Williams. Excellent book on life in academia, in this case the English Dept at the U of Missouri (1910-56). Stoner is a man who simply wants to be a g..."It's a sad book in ways (particularly his marriage), however, in the end I think Stoner triumphs. I agree with Diane's comments.
The Member of the Wedding – Carson McCullers – 4****
Twelve-year-old Frankie Adams is bored with life and longing for adventure, for a sense of belonging to something “bigger.” Carson McCullers has a way of writing her characters that draws the reader into their very souls. Frankie’s journey through this phase of adolescence is at once painfully distressing, funny and charming. I was, in turns, afraid for Frankie and amused by her.
LINK to my review
Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty★ ★ ★ ★
Although this novel is geared for mature middle school children, it is an enjoyable read for adults, too, especially if you enjoy historical fantasies. I found listening to this audiobook especially enjoyable because of the accents attributed to the local mountain residents. I also found the portrayal of the Vanderbilits and life in Biltmore in the late 19th century congruent with depictions in Diane Kiernan's non-fiction, The Last Castle. I look forward to listening to the third novel in the series, Serafina and the Splintered Heart.
Mod
Diane wrote: "Tom, Stoner is a perfect book in my opinion, because I happen to think that a man's character and the way he handles his life, the good and the bad, is more important that a fast paced book where e..."They are turning Stoner into a movie.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/cas...
Mod
Mod
Here is my review.
I've been a bit too distracted to read-read, but tonight I finished the audio book for The Night Circus. It is a YA book, not my genre of choice, but its scenes were described in such frilly sculpture that my reading experience was wonderful. Do you remember that icy room in the movie Dr. Zhivago where intricate ice crystals coated everything like the interior of a fairy castle? That's what the book was like.My youngest boy has a book club for whom he will be hosting the Halloween meeting, and we had toyed with this title and a couple of others. Kirk Smith decided to do me a favor last month, as I was mildly concerned that the book could have inappropriate content for a bunch of 14 year olds. Kirk read the whole thing for my son and me... he reviewed it in his perfect style and gave me the green flag to go for it.
How many friends do you have that will read over 400 pages of a kid book just to help you out? Kirk will forever be in my heart.
Eventide - Kent Haruf – 5*****
Continuing the story of the residents of fictional Holt, Colorado, the novel features some of the same characters that readers came to love in Plainsong . Life can be hard in Holt. Accidents cause injury and death. Alcohol fuels violent tendencies and foolish behavior. Then again, some people rise to the occasion and help one another, moving forward with courage and grace. I came late to the party when it comes to reading Haruf. But better late than never.
LINK to my review
Fabulous!!!!!!! I finally got around to reading Twilight and am floored by how good it was. Yes, there is the weirdness up front with Breece, yes, there is the bad dude Sutter who enjoys killing, but wow - once I got to the section where Kenneth is taking refuge with a local family, my mind was blown, and I could not stop from gobbling the rest of the story down.This is going to be a hard act to follow.
Saint Monkey - Jacinda Townsend – 3***
In the late 1950s, two friends in a small town in Kentucky share big dreams. But their paths diverge and the lose one another in the process of growing up. This debut novel shows that Townsend is a talented writer, and some of the scenes she paints are very vivid, but the novel never really captured my attention. Still, I would read another book by her.
LINK to my review
Mod
http://southernlitreview.com/reviews/...
Just finished reading White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America along with Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. They seem like good companion books, since they deal with broadly overlapping social groups. I was disappointed in White Trash. Ms. Isenberg did a great job of documenting that there has been a white lower class in America since its founding, but didn't really seem to go anywhere with that information.
I enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy more. It was a memoir of a self-described hillbilly who offered himself as one example of someone with roots in Appalachia, and contrasted his life with those of friends and family in that same group. His work was more personal, and he described some of the effects of poverty, isolation, and a dogged need for self-reliance on himself and others.
As someone who has some not-so-distant ancestors and family members who might be called white trash or hillbillies, I expected deeper insights into the group. Maybe I'm just too familiar with white rural southerners. I'd be interested to hear what others think of the books.
Lamb In His Bosom - Caroline Miller – 5*****
This 1934 Pulitzer winner deals with a backwoods existence in rural Georgia, following the Carver / Smith families from 1832 until shortly after the Civil War. They battle weather, wild animals, disease, and injuries. And, when called, the men leave to fight a war they never wanted, and have no stake in. Descriptions so vivid you can feel the heat, smell the blood, hear the birds or the wail of panthers. It is a simple story, of simple people, but their lives are anything but simple.
LINK to my review
David wrote: "Just finished reading White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America along with Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. They seem ..."I have read both books and recommend each to those wishing to increase understanding of poverty. I also found Hillbilly Elegy to be the more readable, but still think White Trash is worth a read. I am currently reading The Half has Never Been Told. This is a good book to learn about slavery in the US. Be warned there are graphic descriptions.
I finished historical fiction The Alphabet of Heart's Desire by Brian Keaney. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
http://deepsouthmag.com/2017/10/05/de...Has anybody read any of these that they could recommend to me ?
I have become somewhat wary of newly published hype after a few disappointments this year
Jane wrote: "http://deepsouthmag.com/2017/10/05/de...Has anybody read any of these that they could recommend to me ?
I have become somewhat wary of newly published hype aft..."
I just started Lightning Men and like it so far. I also liked the first book in the series. I tried Bluebird, Bluebird but found it too slow so I gave up. Here is my review of Sing, Unburied, Sing:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wonderful for your suggestions , thank you
Mod
Thank you for sharing list. I'm going to look into some of these.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
Baker Towers – Jennifer Haigh – 3.5***
This is the kind of character-driven literary fiction that I love to read and discuss with my F2F book club. Haigh focuses on the Novak family to tell the story of America in the years following World War II. It’s a microcosm of American life, that encompasses many of the issues faced by the nation during the 1930s through 1970s.
LINK to my review