Tag Archives: Southern Lit

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Ahhh…Summer, the Time of Beach Reads!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

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Today’s Top Ten Tuesday Topic:
Ahhh…Summer, the Time of Beach Reads!

1.  The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand.  Set on Nantucket Island, as many of her books are, this is a sweet story involving (primarily) the restaurant staff of this popular eatery.  Perfect for a quick summer read.

2.  Home to Italy by Peter Pezzelli.  This is the first book I read by Pezzelli, and I was not disappointed.  It starts in Rhode Island with the death of Anna, Peppi’s wife, but it quickly transitions to Italy as he returns to the land of his birth, reconnects with an old friend, and falls in love again.  It’s predictable, but after a but of a herky-jerky start, Pezzelli settles into a quick & easy style that is perfect for a day at the beach.

3.  Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik.  As with most (or all?) of her books, this one is set in Minnesota, and centers around a group of women living on the same street who decide to start a book club.   It evolves to much more than that, of course, and though the arc of the story is fairly predictable, it is well written and has a lot meat on the bones.  Landvik has an writing style that makes for a fast, easy and enjoyable read, perfect for the beach.

5.  Bitsy’s Bait and BBQ by Pamela Morsi.  I was drawn to this book by the eye-catching title, and found it to be exactly the right thing for a summer read.  It is set in the South, a setting I love, and it has the predictable love story.  However, the writing is engaging and the characters are loveable, so it makes for a delightful read.

6.  Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson.  This was Jackson’s debut novel, but the unusual title suggested right away that it would be a book worth reading.  I was not disappointed.  This is a Southern author whose works I love, and because characters reappear from time to time in different books, this first novel is the ideal place to start.  It is a quick and easy read, but truly enjoyable on every level.

7.  The Last Beach Bungalow by Jennie Nash.  A beach setting, which (obviously) is a great beach read.  I think I picked this up because of the cover art, and it was a lovely, if predictable, summer read.  Great for relaxing in the sun.

8.  The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright.  I love epistolary novels, and this is no exception.  It is the story of a 39 year marriage, documented in a letter written each Wednesday by Jack to Laurel, and it plays out for their children, who are home to attend their funeral.  Though it sounds like a downer, it is not, and it is rich with all the elements of a classic love story.  Worth the time, and great for the beach despite the subject matter because it is quick and easy to read.

9.  Sweetgrass by Mary Alice Monroe.  I have read several of Monroe’s novels over the years, but I particularly loved this one.  I love the Southern setting of South Carolina, the typical “Southern” way (even in the way Monroe writes), and the cultural issues that she included.  It has an authentically Southern feel.  It also deals with some heavy subjects, but Monroe does not have a heavy hand, which makes it a lovely summer read.

10.  Hearts on a String by Kris Radish.  A story that illustrates a grandmother’s anecdote about the thread that connects all women, it is sweet and fun and easy to read.  Radish always has some fairly implausible element to her story lines, but in the end it doesn’t matter, because she touches you, entertains you, and lets you escape from regular life for a bit.  You will not be disappointed.

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REVIEW: Summer Crossing by David Baldacci

Format:  Audiobook (CD)
Genre:  General Fiction
ISBN:  1609412958
Published:  2011 (audio)
Setting:  Ohio, Arizona, South Carolina

Rating:  4 of 5 stars

Back of the book Blurb:

It’s almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children. Then, unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no one able to care for them, the children are separated from each other and sent to live with family members around the country. Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together. Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie’s death, he reunites everyone at Lizzie’s childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack will begin to learn to love again, and he and his children will learn how to become a family once more.

My Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it was a fairly predictable, sappy story.  It is a perfect summer read, and that is exactly what I needed at the time.  I had just finished A Death in the Family by James Agee, which also dealt with loss and grief, but it was on a much deeper, much more serious, much more profound level.  I need a lighter, quicker, less emotionally exacting read, and while this is also a story of grief and loss, Baldacci delivers a nearly effortless summer novel.

This is the first Baldacci book I have read, and I do like his way with words.  I like that he can deal with a hard subject without ripping the reader to emotional shreds.  I like that the story was fairly face paced, and that it focused on an entire family’s reaction to and recovery from grief over an unexpected death.  I also liked that Baldacci moved the characters through sadness, anger, depression, etc. without getting so bogged down that the story suffered.  I liked that it ended on a positive note, but that getting to that point involved some drama.

Sure, it is a fairly formulaic novel…predictable, even.  Perhaps not the typical fare for Baldacci, but pretty standard for it’s genre.  Baldacci, however, is a writer worth getting to know better, and this was a good, easy, and (dare I say it) even fun start for me.  I would recommend it…especially if you’re going on vacation and looking for a book that entertains without exhausting the reader.

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Bogged (and Blogged) Down

I had some pretty lofty reading goals for this year.  I joined a Southern Reading Challenge, an Adoption Reading Challenge, a Read Your Own Books from Your Own Bookshelf…Mostly…and Don’t Buy (or Try Not to Buy) New Books Challenge, a Back to the Classics Challenge, and a What’s In a Name Challenge.

Then I went and lost my mind and joined the 150 Book Challenge in 2012.  Lost my mind because I have never (I repeat, never) read 150 books in one year…in my life.  And I reada lot!  But the closest I’ve ever gotten to that is 84 in one year, and that was a banner year for me.  Apparently that was not a deterrent when I had my brief moment of insanity, and I signed up for a guaranteed failure.  Yay, me.

Now, if you are familiar with my reading habits, you will understand instantly that these are ALL doable challenges for me.  Well, almost all…because I’ve gotten bogged down.  And blogged down.

I’m at a WHOPPING fifteen(ish) books for the year, and half of those are audiobooks.  Further, I am at a complete standstill on realreading.  Every book I start gets set aside after a few pages.  I am completely without motivation to pick it up again.  No, that’s not true.  I am motivated to pick it up again, but I’ve been hard pressed these days to find a book so riveting to read that I carve out chunks of time wherever I can in order to finish it.  This has not been a problem with listening.

Granted, my eyes are not what they used to be, and they get tired quicker.  But this is an excuse.  Beyond the fact that I’ve been involved in a blogging challenge that has been time consuming (and great fun), I am unsure how to explain it.  It’s also true that I’ve been reading blogs a lot more (part of the challenge), and I’ve run across a few new blogs that are on my regular rotation.  Nevertheless, this is still not an adequate explanation for a near cessation of reading.  I LOVE to read.  What is wrong with me??

It has happened in the past.  I don’t know why.  And…of all the crazy things…it does not stop me from buying more books to read.  HAH!

I knew it.

I really have gone insane.

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REVIEW: A Death in the Family by James Agee

Format:  Audiobook (CD)
Genre:  Autobiographical Novel
ISBN:  0788771647
Published:  2000 (audio)
Setting:  Knoxville TN

Rating:  5 of 5 stars

Back of the Book Blurb:

Published in 1957, two years after its author’s death at the age of forty-five, A Death in the Family remains a near-perfect work of art, an autobiographical novel that contains one of the most evocative depictions of loss and grief ever written. As Jay Follet hurries back to his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, he is killed in a car accident?a tragedy that destroys not only a life, but also the domestic happiness and contentment of a young family. A novel of great courage, lyric force, and powerful emotion, A Death in the Family is a masterpiece of American literature.

My Thoughts:

This was a well crafted a book as I have ever read.  It is a powerful story of what happens to a family in the immedaite aftermath of an unexpected death, and Agee is as pitch perfect as is possible in giving voice to the various characters in this book.  His choice of words and phrases are such that each individual is entirely believable and authentic, with a unique voice and a complexity of character that leaves nothing wanting.

Agee has a mastery of the language that rivals writing peers, and the resulting prose appears both effortless and flawless in its formation.  He delivers complex experiences and emotions with simplicity, while never relegating himself to simplistic language or condescending construction.  It is an easy read, not because it has light subject matter or rudimentary language, but rather because the story is written with such linguistic beauty that it seems as natural as if the reader him/herself were speaking.

In the end, regardless of the emotional messiness of a family at loose ends, this is a satisfying read in every way.  The story unfolds as it should, naturally, without a manufactured happy ending…just as one would expect in life.  And Agee guides us through all of the emotional upheaval with aa sensitive voice and linguistic ease.

If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it.

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REVIEW: Sweetgrass by Mary Alice Monroe

Audio CD – 11 disks (13 hours)
Published May 1st 2010 by Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD Lib Ed (first published 2005)
ISBN:  1441852778 (ISBN13:  9781441852779)
3.5 stars overall / 4 stars audio narration
Goodreads Synopsis:
Sweetgrass is a historical tract of land in South Carolina that has been home to the Blakely family for eight generations.  But Sweetgrass — named for the indigenous grass that grows in the area — is in trouble. Bulldozers are leveling surrounding properties. and the Blakelys could be forced to sell the one thing that continues to hold their disintegrating family together. For some of the Blakelys, the prospect of selling Sweetgrass is bittersweet — for others, it is completely unimaginable. But as they find the strength to stay and fight, they realize that their bond as a family is all they need to stay together.
“Mary Alice Monroe is helping to redefine the beauty and magic of the Carolina Lowcountry.  Every book she has written has felt like a homecoming to me.”  – Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and Beach Music
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the story, but it wrapped a little too prettily even for me.  I do agree with Pat Conroy’s compliment regarding Mary Alice Monroe, as she definitely has an intimate knowledge of and love for the Carolina lowcountry that comes through in her writing.  And while I thoroughly enjoy her novels, the often find the endings a bit too neatly tied up.  She is a good & interesting writer, perfect for an enjoyable, quick & relaxing read.  If you are looking for a challenge however, there are many (better) authors to choose from, Pat Conroy among them.
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REVIEW: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Audio CD, 8 disks (10 hours)
Published January 12th 2010 by Penguin Audiobooks (first published January 1st 2010) 
ISBN:  0143145541 (ISBN13: 9780143145547)
primary language:  English
original title:  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
characters:  Cecelia Honeycutt, Oletta Jones, Aunt Tootie, Mrs. Odell
literary awards:  Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction, Debut Author (2010)
4 stars overall / 4 stars audio narrationGoodreads Synopsis:
Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.While Tootie is busy saving Savannah’s endangered historic homes from the wrecking ball, CeeCee encounters a cast of unforgettable, eccentric characters. From the mysterious Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in an outdoor tub under the watchful eyes of a voyeuristic peacock, to Oletta Jones, the all-knowing household cook, to Violene Hobbs, the loud-mouthed widow who entertains a local police officer in her yellow see-through peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.But CeeCee’s view of the world is challenged in ways she could have never imagined: there are secrets to keep, injustices to face, and loyalties to uphold. Just as she begins to find her ballast and experiences a sense of belonging, her newfound joy collides with the long-held fear that her mother’s legacy has left her destined for destruction.Laugh-out-loud funny, at times heartbreaking, and written in a pitch-perfect voice, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a spirited Southern tale that explores the intricate frailties and strengths of female relationships while illuminating the journey of a young girl who loses her mother but finds many others.

My Thoughts:

This was a sweet story, full of Southern charm and the obligatory dose of drama, and complete with happy ending. I loved it, especially since it painted a picture of what true Southern friendship, hospitality & loyalty are all about. Although it was a somewhat sugar-coated story, Hoffman didn’t leave out the complexities of Southern life during the Civil Rights movement, but she did temper the tone in keeping with the light timbre of her novel. This is a quick read, perfect for summer vacation, and it leaves you with the happy feeling of a story that worked out just right.
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REVIEW: The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor

Hardcover, 572 pages 
Published January 1st 1984 by Douglas & McIntyre / Fsg Adult (first published 1971)  
ISBN: 0374127522 (ISBN13: 9780374127527) 
original title: The Complete Stories 
literary awards: National Book Award for Fiction (1972) 
5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: 
The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O’Connor’s monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O’Connor put together in her short lifetime–Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. O’Connor published her first story, “The Geranium,” in 1946, while she was working on her master’s degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, “Judgement Day”–sent to her publisher shortly before her death—is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of “The Geranium.” Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O’Connor’s longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.

My Thoughts:
I’ve been skipping around with the stories in this book, primarily because I’m reading them for book group discussions, and I think I will try and review each story as I read it rather than analyze the book as a whole (which is next to impossible).

Let me first start with saying that Flannery O’Connor is a genius of a writer, with an immeasurable talent for biting social commentary. It is not out of place to compare her in spirit to Mark Twain, and while she is a different style of writer than Twain, they share a common bond of identifying the social ills of their generation(s) and skewering them repeatedly in their writing. O’Connor is a standout in the genre of Southern Gothic, and she used both hyperbole and the grotesque to sharply and critically harpoon accepted social mores, customs and beliefs – both religious and political – with which she vehemently disagreed. She was also a Christian, and had little patience with the legalistic and judgmental “Christians” the she often encountered. To say that she saw them as disingenuous is an understatement, as her writing gives evidence to the fact that she could not suffer the shallowness of their faith or their total misunderstanding of grace and salvation.

O’Connor’s stories, as they shed light on the cultural woes of the American South, make us uncomfortable, and sometimes offend us. But her purpose in going there is to make us think critically about ourselves as she exposes hypocritical behavior in others. These are not for the faint of heart, and they are not frothy or fun. They are, however, meaty and complex, upsetting and difficult, and ultimately satisfying in mental, spiritual and emotional ways.

So, without further ado…my impressions of the stories as I read them.

The Geranium – thoughts forthcoming

The Barber – Skewering the ridiculousness of racial politics with a sharp understanding that political issues should have no color. It’s interesting, though, how O’Connor uses an inarticulate man to make this point, and thus sheds light on the weaknesses and foibles of both sides of the political debate.

Wildcat
The Crop
The Turkey
The Train
The Peeler
The Heart of the Park
A Stroke of Good Fortune
Enoch and the Gorilla

A Good Man is Hard to Find – A very pointed statement about what is good and what is evil, and how perceptions can be very distorted. The Grandmother is “supposed” to be good because she is pious, but she is judgmental and critical, and her faith is shallow. The Misfit – a murderer – is an evil man, but he understands who God is with great clarity, and though he has no faith at all, he is the vehicle through with the Grandmother is exposed, and through which O’Connor causes us as readers to inspect our own beliefs.

A Late Encounter with the Enemy
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
The River
A Circle in the Fire
The Displaced Person
A Temple of the Holy Ghost
The Artificial Nigger

Good Country People – rereading

You Can’t Be Any Poorer than Dead
Greenleaf
A View of the Woods
The Enduring Chill
The Comforts of Home

Everything That Rises Must Converge – rereading

The Partridge Festival
The Lame Shall Enter First
Why Do the Heathen Rage?

Revelation – (on deck) – thoughts next week

Parker’s Back – Here is another sharply critical commentary on Christianity, particularly what constitutes faith and what does not. Parker is not a Christian – not saved, but he marries Sarah Ruth, who is. In the end, though, it is he whose faith is found, and hers that is found wanting.

Judgement Day- thoughts forthcoming

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REVIEW: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Audio CD, 15 disks (18 hours)
Published February 10th 2009 by Penguin Audio (first published 2009)
ISBN:0143144189 (ISBN13: 9780143144182)
primary language: English
original title: The Help
characters: Miss Skeeter, Aibileen, Minny
setting: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962 (United States)
literary awards: Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction (2009), Indies Choice Book Award for Adult Debut (2010), Puddly Award for Fiction (2011)

5 stars overall / 5 stars audio narration (audio perfection)

Goodreads Synopsis:
In 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, two African-American maids and one white Junior League socialite—seemingly as different from one another as can be, will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating withing the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes line are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three memorable women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

My Thoughts:
I’m not sure what to say about this book that hasn’t already been said. I LOVED it. I thought it was as authentic a portrayal of the South as I have read, and it was written with grace, tenderness, and a deep understanding of human nature. The characters were textured and complex, and they evoked a real emotional reaction from me as a reader. I loved that I could love (or hate) these women so passionately, and these emotional connections I had with the characters made this book a rich and rewarding read.

Couple the excellent writing with a stellar cast of narrators for the audiobook. Every one was pitch perfect for her character. It’s not often that a book reaches out and embraces me on every level, but this one has done so, and I will never forget it.