On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
My review of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List by James Mustich:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished The Long Home. Read it in one sitting. Just brilliant!My review here for anyone who is interested.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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My review here for anyone who is interested.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"
I definitely want to read that. I really enjoyed his Twilight.
Tom wrote: "Paul wrote: "Just finished The Long Home. Read it in one sitting. Just brilliant!My review here for anyone who is interested.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"
Yes, Twilight was brilliant too.
Paul, if you're interested you will find a quiz listed on this pagehttps://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/by_...
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Don't make me go look Laura!! i believe you do well. Being fresh helps.
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Just finished an advance copy of Charles Dodd White's In the House of Wilderness. Dang, the man has skill. Very different in tone from what I have read of his before, but gets to the core issue of the human condition in the ways I tend to be drawn to. I would highly recommend it and others from this author (and I think trail member). My review is here
Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell – 5*****
This is fast becoming a classic of children’s literature. O’Dell has crafted an enduring story of strength, courage and resilience. Karana, a young Native American woman left behind on an island off the California coast when her tribe departs, is practical and brave, resourceful and creative. She works hard at survival, but she works “smart” as well. The book won the John Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature.
LINK to my review
Book Concierge wrote: " Island of the Blue Dolphins
– Scott O’Dell – 5*****
This is fast becoming a classic of children’s literature. O’Dell has crafted an enduring sto..."
Wow! I read that one way way way back in like 2nd or 3rd grade! I remember liking it a lot so I'm glad it is still finding readers today.
Two years after Nelle Harper Lee's death, I continue to feel that her first-written, last-published novel
was, in large part, unfairly treated. So I finally reviewed WATCHMAN for GR, just this morning. This is not to say I think it is a brilliant book like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, but on the second reading it held up for me.
Randy wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: " Wow! I read that one way way way back in like 2nd or 3rd grade! I remember liking it a lot so I'm glad it is sti..."
I'd read it before ... just hadn't reviewed/rated it here.
My review of Southern Snacks: 77 Recipes for Small Bites with Big Flavors by Perre Magness:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am enjoying Rick Bragg's, The Best Cook in the World.....Tales from My Mamma's Table. This book tells the story of the great recipes handed down to his mother from her mother as taught to her by his great-grandfather. He also provides the recipes which will have you wanting to put down the book and cook. I highly recommend this, as well as all other books by Bragg.
Just finished a very good debut by Kim Zupan; The Ploughmen
.My brief review is here, for anyone interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton – 4****
I love Edith Wharton’s writing. I love the way she explores relationships and unfulfilled desires. The tension is palpable, the yearning almost unendurable. The setting is Starkfield, Massachusetts, in winter; as if the reader needs a reminder of how depressing and lacking in color Ethan’s life is. Though I was reading in the midst of a summer heat wave, I felt chilled.
LINK to my review
My review of The New Vegetarian South: 105 Inspired Dishes for Everyone byJennifer Brule:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Faith wrote: "My review of The New Vegetarian South: 105 Inspired Dishes for Everyone byJennifer Brule:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I'm never givin' up my Chicago-style Italian Beef sandwiches, but I did like your review (and I LOVE deviled eggs!).
ALLEN wrote: "Faith wrote: "My review of The New Vegetarian South: 105 Inspired Dishes for Everyone byJennifer Brule:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I'm nev..."
Thanks. I bet this author could come up with a substitute that would appeal to you, if not totally erase your beef craving.
I don't eat a lot of red meat, but when I do I enjoy it!
It's only June and ridiculously hot (96 degrees) and humid here in North Carolina, and I'm craving a high seas adventure story. Preferably cool winds, complex characters, and excellent prose. I'm at a loss, so please share your favorite!
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You are wicked. Well at least that one wouldn't be ridiculously hot.
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Ah. Not too long ago I was in Raleigh (NC) on the hottest day of the year so far. Coming from Chicago with its wet, cool spring, I hadn't molted yet and BOY was it hot and humid! But my cousin attended Appy State (Boone, NC), a place so pleasant of climate that people in my part of Virginia would drive there for lunch on nice days....not in the depth of winter, perhaps.
A COLD Southern novel? There must be some. Barren Ground, maybe?
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Laura wrote: "Yes, I was at App State today. So pleasant and what a nice college town. It never disappoints."Is Boone full of retirees? It wouldn't surprise me.
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I suppose Blowing Rock, NC, must have some cold winter weather. To be honest, though, one Jan Karon "Mitford" novel was enuf 4 me.
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Laura wrote: "Well First you’re in the wrong part of NC. I’m enjoying a 66 degree evening in Western NC. I’ll look through my shelves as I put on a sweatshirt 😉"Braggart :)
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Laura wrote: "Oh my gosh, the couple I met yesterday found Blowing Rock from reading that series. Hilarious!!!"I'm old enough to remember the sweet old "auction houses" of Blowing Rock, a throwback to the pre-air conditioning days when the village was a real summer haven for well-heeled Northeasterners.
However, on the one day we paid to see the actual "blowing rock" attraction, there was none of that famous updraft we'd paid to see, so the blowing rock wasn't blowing ...
and that really blew.
Laura wrote: "I know Carol. This coolness has me feeling my oats. I’ll be paying for bragging when I have to go to a outdoor wedding in Ky on Sunday."God may laugh at you Sunday for certain.
It’s 81 outside, and the sun set a few hours back. That’s nothing, of course, but it was 98 for some time earlier today, which was less amusing.
“Written by an author with a genuine flair for narrative storytelling, ‘Honor Among Outcasts’ is a simply riveting read from first page to last -- and will leave enthralled readers looking eagerly toward the concluding volume ‘Something in Madness’.”Honor Among Outcasts - Midwest Book Review
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I really enjoyed The North Water but I should warn you that this book prompted me to add a "Not for the squeamish" bookshelf to my profile. By no means can it be considered a warm and fuzzy summer read.
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Hi Ed,
This post would be more appropriate in the Writer's Corner section. Please relocate it to the thread linked below.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The North Water definitely sounds like an epic adventure tale, so thanks for the recommendation, guys! And I appreciate the content warning - not-for-the-squeamish :-)
For the truly wintry experience, I recommend Ursula le Guin's seminal sci-fi/fantasy The Left Hand of Darkness -- but then not are we only not in the American South, we aren't even in our own solar system! It does talk about, among many other things, a civilized society that lives on such an ice planet that the wheel is almost never used -- sledges work much better. I understand the counter-programming principle. Last January, when the thermostat failed and we were waiting for the landlord to come over, we hauled out LAWRENCE OF ARABIA on DVD. If it gets too hot this summer it's time for DR. ZHIVAGO. Brrrr!
Sixty degrees in Chicagoland at 8:00 a.m. Many local creeks, rivers and viaducts (RR overpasses) are flooded. Heatstroke and sunburn are alien concepts to us right now. Fungus, maybe.
Carol, I'd love to be in the Triangle on a good warm (not too hot) day. For our next visit, I'd like to get out the car some pleasant mid-morning and spend the whole day negotiating the highway-and-freeway system. I've been in Chicago over 35 years and like a good D.C. resident, "grid" streets are highly imprinted on my thinking.
ALLEN wrote: "Ah. Not too long ago I was in Raleigh (NC) on the hottest day of the year so far. Coming from Chicago with its wet, cool spring, I hadn't molted yet and BOY was it hot and humid! But my cousin att..."
Winter's Bone is an outstanding read if you want fiction; The Revenant is fab non-fictionish in Missourri; and The Road of course is freezing dystopia. Cold Mountain and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter also have scenes that'll leave you shivering.
Enjoy the literary A/C this summer!
Diane wrote: "I was going to recommend The North Water too, Wyndy. Action packed. Not cool breezes, but pack ice."Ditto. Ditto. Ditto to Laura and Diane's suggestion. As promised by these two and Tom, you'll have to squinch your eyes to get through the first few chapters and then later to get past some other ugliness. The style is American Realism, so there will indeed be metaphorical flies landing on the dinner plate and pimples on the love interest... but ramp that up a thousand fold.
If you can handle seeing exactly what life was like on these old whaling ships, do read. Five stars and a favorite!
As to the 'What are you reading?' topic, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI was one of those works of nonfiction where your jaw not only drops in disbelief at the wildness of the true story but also at your own ignorance in having zero clue that any of this history even happened.For fans of authors Jon Krakauer and Erik Larsen and Laura Hillenbrand, grab a copy of this short read soon.
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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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To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee – 5***** and a ❤
Is this the quintessential American Novel? Will it stand the test of time as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has done? Time will tell. I do know this, however. This is a singularly powerful novel that has touched generations of readers in the 50-something years since it was first released and remains high on many “must be read” lists. It’s a well-paced novel, a fast read with elements of suspense, family drama, humor, and moral lessons.
LINK to my review