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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LOL! How gory is it? Seriously, this book and Blood Meridian prompted me to create a new bookshelf called Not for the squeamish".
Tom wrote: "LeAnne wrote: "The Man-Booker nominees out of the UK usually thrill me, and Ive recently wrapped up THE NORTH WATER with 5 gory stars. It is nothing like Woodrell or Larry Brown or Cormac but like ..."Well, this one will certainly feel right at home on your shelf. Put out the welcome mat! Sometimes, McCarthy's (and Franklin's) violence seems a bit over-the-top and that knocks me out of the novel. Instead of living the story, it makes the author's shadow show up, seemingly trying too hard.
This is a different type, and while I winced terribly, the gore fit the scenes and setting perfectly. Hard to explain but here if you want it.. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
But Doug said it better. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tom wrote: "LeAnne wrote: "The Man-Booker nominees out of the UK usually thrill me, and Ive recently wrapped up THE NORTH WATER with 5 gory stars. It is nothing like Woodrell or Larry Brown or Cormac but like ..."It wasn't just the gore, it was the depraved cruelty and abuse that put me off this book. I finished it for some unknown reason and then ranted about it in my review. I found this book really nasty in every way.
Hillbilly Elegy – J.D. Vance – 4****
Subtitle: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Vance is a former Marine, a graduate of Ohio State and Yale Law School. But getting to his current place in life was a struggle, given his family upbringing. He is brutally honest looking at his life and at the culture of the working poor. He reviews government policies, and offers insight into how the working poor, themselves, might take steps to give the next generation a fighting chance. This memoir is both brutally honest, and movingly tender.
LINK to my review
There is nothing "Southern" about this read, but it's a darn good story.
Queen of the Air – Dean Jensen – 4****
Subtitle: A True Story of Love & Tragedy at the Circus. This is a love story, a tragedy to rival Shakespeare, a history of early twentieth century America, and a thrilling adventure. Lillian Leitzel and Alfredo Codona were the biggest stars in the early twentieth century Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I was completed engaged and enthralled by their story.
LINK to my review
Finally read McCullers. Here is my review of The Member of theWedding:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished “if the Creek don’t rise” a debut novel by Leah Weiss. Absolutely fabulous story of Appalachian life in 1970s Backwoods North Carolina. Great characters, especially strong women making the best of their sad, rough living situations.....I havent found many books like this and am looking for more. Lee Smith and Silas House come to mind. Has anyone else read this? Any recommendations?
Clara, I just read If the Creek Don't Rise this past month as well and thought it was very well done. A great debut novel! I don't really have any recommendations, as this was a fairly new sort of read for me personally. I loved the characterizations in this!
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Thanks, Tom. I loved Winters Bone and will check out Gods of Howl Mountain.
Thanks, Everyone. I’ve added these to my TBR list.
The only thing "south" about this memoir is that it is set in South Africa ... 
Born a Crime – Trevor Noah – 4****
Trevor Noah had a white Swiss German father, and a black Xhosa mother, at a time when such a relationship was punishable by up to five years in prison. This is his memoir of growing up under Apartheid and the years as it was being dismantled in South Africa. Honest and interesting.
LINK to my review
Another fascinating memoir ...
Catch Me If You Can – Frank Abagnale – 4****
Subtitle depends on the edition: The Amazing True Story of the Most Extraordinary Liar in the History of Fun and Profit! -or- The True Story Of a Real Fake. Frank Abagnale began his career as a forger, check-kiter and con-man when he was just sixteen years old. It’s a fascinating memoir of his years of crime, full of daring escapades, humorous situations, and outlandish lies.
LINK to my review
Not southern but intriguing. My review of Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing
by Ben Blatt:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky – Heidi W Durrow – 4****
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on a Chicago rooftop. I found the book in turns horrifying, moving, disturbing, riveting, and confusing. The story moves back and forth in time, and with multiple narrators. I was moved by Rachel’s predicament. And empathized with her struggles to come to terms with what had happened to her, and to those she loved. All told, this is a great debut, and I look forward to reading future works by Durrow.
LINK to my review
I'm slowly reading through Eudora Welty's fiction and (predictably) enjoyed The Ponder Heart, though probably more for the virtuosity of Edna Earle's amazing monologue voice than for the actual content. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....It's not at all southern, but I should also give a plug for another Virago Modern Classic in a very distinctive voice: Barbara Comyns' Sisters by a River - both an eccentric childhood memoir and a memoir of an eccentric childhood. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
It's NONfiction, and it's not really in the South ... but it's a darn good read....
Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann – 4****
Wow. I am ashamed to say that I knew nothing of this shameful episode of American history. Grann did a marvelous job researching and reporting his findings. He did more than simply report what the FBI managed to uncover, and that only emphasizes how institutionalized the racist attitudes were.
LINK to my review
I suppose Indiana is a bit far north to be southern, but any book of short stories with a title like Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler's List has to be interesting - and it is. Especially if you like James Dean, Colonel Sanders, John Dillinger, and anyone who may turn up unexpectedly in the Indiana of Michael Martone's imagination. Review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Commonwealth – Ann Patchett – 4****
The novel follows the four parents and six children of the Cousins and Keating families over five decades. As children, the six kids are frequently left to their own devices, the adults in their lives too busy with their own drama to focus on the children. How the adult siblings each interpret and remember what has happened, and how they manage the guilt or shame is the main focus. Patchett really shines when exploring human relationships. She slowly reveals secrets, hopes, and fears until the reader feels she truly knows these people. Little by little events are revealed, and characters are fully realized. Like her other works, this would be a great choice for a book club discussion.
LINK to my review
Cotton – Christopher Wilson – 1.5*
I was intrigued by this idea of a “white-skinned black boy” in the segregated South of the mid-20th century. But the novel took a decided turn for the weird. …. Let’s just say that Lee Cotton changes skin color and/or gender like some women change hair color. Wilson gives Lee a unique voice – with an odd mixture of local dialect and educated English. But in the end, I found this just too fantastically absurd to be believed. I never warmed up to Lee or any of the other characters, and I found it a chore to finish.
LINK to my review
Hidden Figures – Margot Lee Shetterly – 3.5***
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. I had seen the movie, but it covers just a few years, and compresses the story of many women into three characters. Shetterly’s book covers the time from the early years of WW2 to the Moon Landing in August 1969. I’m glad I read it, and that these women’s stories are finally brought to the forefront of America’s consciousness.
LINK to my review
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Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones
It was good with the side of learning about leaRNING about different kinds of folk lore.
i was going put a hold on a steinbeck book but drawing a black on title its something row
thanks
It was good with the side of learning about leaRNING about different kinds of folk lore.
i was going put a hold on a steinbeck book but drawing a black on title its something row
thanks
Mod
You are probably thinking of Cannery Row. My favorite of his has always been Of Mice and Men.
Incredibly, I got an ARC of The Fighter in the mail a couple weeks ago and have finally wrestled it away from hubby. Let's see if Michael F Smith can pull a hat trick! Starting tonight...It pays to have Mississippi connections!
A most amazing poetry collection, The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks
edited by Peter Kahn. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I decided to read The Moviegoer now and Woman on the Porch next month because I make it a point to only read women authors in March. So far I like what I am reading.
Brina wrote: "A most amazing poetry collection, The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks [bookcover:The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks|307579..."This is one I want to read.
The Butterfly’s Daughter – Mary Alice Monroe – 2.5**
I knew this was a chick-lit, road-trip, find-yourself kind of novel going in. I was intrigued by the link to the monarch butterfly migration, and by the main character’s journey. I liked how Luz grew through the novel, and liked the various characters she picked up along the way and how they helped her. I also liked that the ending, while hopeful, was NOT just wrapped up in a pretty little happy-ever-after bow. But there were elements that dropped it a half-star, chiefly how bad the audio performance was. If you want to read it, do so in text format. Skip the audio.
LINK to my review
Not reading much excepts old favorites. Currently Harpoon and Gone the Dream ...Harpoon
Gone the Dreams and Dancing
Mod
’Round Midnight – Laura McBride – 3.5***
As she did in her debut work, McBride tells the story of four different characters with little apparent connection, until their stories come together in one specific event. The reader gets a pretty clear idea of the connection of at least two of these women early on but must wait for events to unfold over several decades before the characters will catch on.
LINK to my review
Certainly not southern, but an excellent book, my review of Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
You Remind Me of Me – Dan Chaon – 3.5***
Chaon’s skill as a short-story writer shows in his debut novel. The first four chapters of the book introduce us to four different characters and time frames. Eventually the connections between them will be clear to the reader. What I really like about Chaon’s writing is how he explores issues of identity, how characters are shaped by their environment, by chance and opportunity, and by the choices they make. There is much to dislike about these damaged people, and yet I am drawn to these characters and their stories.
LINK to my review
Southern author Ellen Gilchrist frequently appears in our polls, but I don't think she has ever been a winner. I picked up her first short story collection In the Land of Dreamy Dreams some time ago and have now got round to reading it. I confess I was disappointed - perhaps because the title suggested something a little more out of the ordinary - but others seem to like it. Review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick – 4****
What a delightfully quirky and touching story. I never saw the movie, but knew it was very popular. I put the book on my tbr knowing basically nothing about it and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Pat is a wonderful character and narrator. Tiffany is so confused and hurt and hopeful, that she, too, just pulls me in.
LINK to my review
Another NOT Southern book ... but still a very good read.
Lockdown – Laurie R King – 4****
King is probably best known for her Mary Russell series, but this is a stand-alone psychological thriller. The novel focuses on an incident at Guadalupe Middle School in San Felipe, California, and follows the characters from shortly after midnight to about 1:30 in the afternoon. I thought a couple of the elements of the plot’s ending were just too conveniently pat, but I was still entertained throughout.
LINK to my review
This is NONfiction / Memoir
March: Book Two – John Lewis – 4****
This is the second in a trilogy of graphic memoirs detailing the Civil Rights Movement and early career of U.S. Representative John Lewis. I applaud Lewis and his collaborators for bringing this era in America’s history to the attention of young readers. Providing this information in this format makes it more accessible to a young audience, and it’s important that they learn about this episode in our nation’s history.
LINK to my review
The setting is never exactly disclosed, but may as well be sothern, I'm 150 pages in and really digging this!The Origin of the Brunists
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L Hopp, Camille Kingsolver – 3.5***
Memoir of a year during which Kingsolver’s family vowed to eat only what they grew or could find locally available. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, though Hopp’s essays, in particular, left me feeling that I was being scolded. I was happy that Kingsolver included some very humorous vignettes (the stories of “turkey sex” and her 9-year-old’s entrepreneurship was particularly engaging).
LINK to my review
The Boys of Summer (p. 1972) by Roger Kahn. I can't believe I waited so long before finally reading this book. One of the best sports books I've ever read but it's also about Kahn growing up in Brooklyn, becoming a baseball fan, and his association with the '52 and '53 Dodgers. The baseball focus is the late 40s-early 50s Brooklyn Dodgers with a follow-up in 1970. This was the Jackie Robinson team. Great stuff.
Kerns wrote a splendid memoir of her growing up years and the Brooklyn Dodgers. She was featured in the Ken Burns Baseball documentary. Sorry, I can't think of her name nor the title. Not much good am I.Dang it.
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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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Im currently in the midst of another Man-Booker nominee ELMET. It is a gentler narrative than North Water (heck, so is THE ROAD ☺️) told by an English teen down on his luck. Good family drama, and although I am not certain how my rating will line up, it was a finalist this year so somebody way smarter than me thought it was fantastic.
Sorry not to stick in links but y’all know how to find the blurbs. Happy New Year!!! 🥂🍾