Southern Reading Challenge Eve is upon us and I hope all list are made. It would be so nice if y'all went to bed with visions of columned plantations in your heads. :)
If you visited earlier today, you may have noticed a couple of test posts. Mister Linky and I were having a slight row, but all is well now. He was quite the gentleman and is now ready to admit I was right. Right all along, fiddle-lee-dee! :D
So, with out further ado, pick up y'all's books and commence to reading.
Here's a quick rule reminder. Spend the hot, humid months of June, July, and August reading three Southern books by Southern authors. Most lists were approved ahead of time, because some contain variables to the Southern author/book rule. You Know Who You Are and the reasons I allowed them. Please note that when writing notes or reviews on the books. Also, one may substitute two movies based on a book/play by a Southern author for one book.
Within these books, spend some time finding that "sense of place" we talked about. It could be a description of a smokey mountain in the Appalachians or the red clay dirt of a Georgia field, and how it bonds a character to their community. Why, when a southerner meets another southerner they are always quick to discover each others' "home place" or "peoples".
Prizes will be drawn at the end of each week starting on Friday. Have fun and as said earlier, "I will try to be YOUR ultimate Southern Librarian!"
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Is Mister Linky Southern?
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Water for Elephants (copy)
Why wait? He swings his walker forward, leading with the right foot and only slightly dragging the left, as he advances down the hall. No one will notice and he will be alongside the biddies in 15 minutes, tops. He smiles, humming hokey-pokey, as he reaches the hens without any assistance.
Hazel commands the others to make room for Jacob as she situates herself closest to him. “Oh, it’s so exciting! They’ve been at it all morning!”
As Jacob looks up from his walker, the white and magenta stripped tent comes into view. He suddenly clutches his chest as his heart races with pleasure or is it dread.
“Nurse! Nurse! Hurry! It’s Mr. Jankowski!”
Later that day, Jacob, resigned to his wheelchair, is rolled directly across from the new guy at his lunch table. Why does this old coot get to sit with him and the ladies? Did they think we would have something in common? I mean, I was a vet and he was a lawyer, two totally different professions.
The ladies are all talking at once about the circus, of course, when mightier than thou spits out, (Don’t lawyers have any manners?) “I once carried water for the elephants.”
“What?!? You did no such thing! You old coot!” Dang it, my heart is again banging louder than a marching drum. Why is it every yahoo seems to think they can tell the world they carried water for elephants? Not our elephant. Not our Rosie. She drank tons, not gallons, of the stuff and if she had it her way, it would be lemonade.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a gritty, coming-of-age tale set in 1930’s depression era America. Our hero, Jacob, retells his life as a fallen Cornell student. One, who in desperation, jumps a train in the middle of the night. Not just any train, though. It’s the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth!
Question?
Do y'all want another blog for the challenge, separate from this?
This is the one I set up. It's wordpress which I was hoping to teach myself during the summer. A blog that would be purely Southern and not include my (copy) articles. Now, with all the challenges, I believe it is just another headache to keep up with yet another blog. (I'm really not happy with my template, either.) So, use it or lose it?
Monday, May 28, 2007
4 days and counting...
Have you got that list in order?
What about substituting a couple of movies?
I promised Working Words 100 that 2, set-in-the-South, movies might be substituted for one book. It might really be fun to pair the same Southern book with movie for a full-family, literature-based, activity. I’m big on reading aloud and think To Kill a Mockingbird would be an awesome, summer experience.
Book-2-movie list which compliments our SRC theme:
All the King’s Men
Any John Grisham such as The Firm and A Time to Kill
Because of Winn-Dixie
Big Fish
Cape Fear
Cold Mountain 
The Color Purple
Deliverance
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Forrest Gump
Fried Green Tomatoes
Gone with the Wind
The Great Santini
In the Heat of the Night
Last Picture Show 
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
My Dog Skip
The Notebook
Terms of Endearment
(play-2-movie) Any Tennessee Williams such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
SRC Lister Needs Help...
Jackson and The Optimist's Daughter by Welty. I'm thinking about the first Miss Julia, but wouldn't mind something with a little bluesy heat to it."Saturday, May 26, 2007
Everyone Needs a Little Kira-Kira!
Newbery Challenge 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
6 more days...
...until Southern Reading Challenge begins! So, pull up a rocker and get comfortable!
~ Bill Ferris
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The (Southern) Ladies of Covington, NC
Lynne of Lynne's Little Corner had this to say about Joan Medicott's An Unexpected Family, the newest book in the Ladies of Covington series.
I've been reading this series of books about 3 "mature" ladies living in Covington, NC for quite a few years now. They're nice, cozy little books, quick and easy to read. This is the eighth in the series. The writing is simple, the stories a bit predictable, but still pleasant to read.
It's enjoyable to see books written about women a little bit older than the normal star of a book. Ms. Medlicott has shown that even though a woman is older, she can still have a full and exciting life. Hobbies, new careers, friends, love, marriage - even sex. Maybe just at a trifle slower pace. I've heard that the 50's are the new 30's, so the 60's must be the new 40's. Shoot, we're still kids! We've got a whole lot of living left in us!
The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love (2000)
The Gardens of Covington (2001)
From the Heart of Covington (2002)
The Spirit of Covington (2003)
At Home in Covington (2004)
A Covington Christmas (2005)
Two Days After the Wedding (2006)
An Unexpected Family (2007).
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
8 Random Things (I Won't Tell My Mother!)
JenClair from A Garden Carried in the Pocket tagged me for this meme.
The rules -
1: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2: Write a post with the 8 random things, and post these rules.
3: Tag 8 people and include their names.
4: Leave a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.
1) I chew my fingernails when I read.
2) I drive too fast when alone. The guard calls me, "Little Lady with Big Feet."
3) My nickname in Alpha Eta Rho, our flying fraternaty, was Mag Drop.
4) My grandmother's name, since forever, is Sweetheart.
5) I taught myself to typw, I mean tpye, damnit TYPT, AUGH
6) I used to be the editor of a small British Car Club newsletter, Wyres & Tyres.
7) My middle name is Carol, but Sweetheart spells it Carole.
8) When I worked at Smyrna Air Center, I would layout between the hangers on breaks. I also spent one summer as the flag-in-airplanes, lure with your looks, get them to the gas-pumps, girl. (About 10 times, the gag got old and the ramp got hot!)
If you read this, nay-nay, you're IT!
Oh, No! Not the Wolf's Head!
Newbery Challenge 2007Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
2003 Newbery Medal Winner
Main Characters: Crispin(Asta’s Son) and Bear
Setting: Medieval England
Time Period: 1377
Plot: Heir to the thrown, Crispin, who knows himself only as Asta’s Son, loses his mother one day and spends the following days running for his life.
I love quest books! I love traipsing through unknown kingdoms, being amazed at the news sights, sounds, smells, and adventures that await me. Could I be a little “Dorothy?”
Recently orphaned, our hero, Crispin, has been falsely accused of stealing from the manor and killing a priest. For this, a “wolf’s head” is placed on his name, and anyone who finds him may kill him as a hunted animal. So, he runs, he runs so far away… (Please, excuse me, Flock of Seagulls!)
Unbeknownst to Crispin, he is the illegitimate son of the manor’s Lord. This comes as a shock to the steward, too. His plans for becoming the next Lord are in jeopardy if Crispin is allowed to live. Thank goodness, Crispin meets a likable fellow in the joker, Bear.
This is one of those books, where you see the ending before it arrives, only to find out it doesn’t happen. You know that place in a book, when you are nearing the end, and go ahead and finish it for the author. In a good book, I savor this junction. I come up with two or three different endings. Avi had other plans. ;D
Summer Reading Ideas (copy)
Summertime is right around the corner, and you know what that means--summer reading! As last year, I would like to provide you with a shopping list of new books, ready for the beach, front porch, or lazy hammock.
Hilma Wolitzer’s new novel, Summer Reading, is the perfect start to a long, hot summer. Library Journal says, “It's a lazy summer in the Hamptons, and earnest Angela hopes to convince her book group that reading Flaubert and Bronte really will make a difference.” And guess what, the book comes complete, with its own reading group guide.
David Baldacci new book, Simple Genius, places Secret Agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell at odds as they move through this Washington, D.C. thriller.
Hey, Girls! Zane’s new title, Dear G-Spot, contains real letters to the author with naughty Dear Abby answers.
Booklist has this to say about A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, “Unimaginably tragic…second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable follow-up.”
Barbara Kingsolver spends a year eating local, home-grown food in her new non-fiction, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Publisher’s Weekly claims, “Local food—in the growing, buying, cooking, eating and the telling—demands teamwork.” Kingsolver provides the prose, hubby Hopp provides the technique, and daughter Camille provides the recipes in this group effort.
Need help with that swing? Two golf books promise a taste for the greens: Tales from the Q School by John Feinstein and Alice Cooper, Golf Monster by the aged rocker.
Bring Baywatch’s David Hasselhoff to the shore, via his autobiography, Making Waves.
Finally, run, don’t walk, to the library and sign-up for these sure-fire bestsellers: Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich, The Overlook by Michael Connelly, The Good Guy by Dean Koontz, Bungalow 2 by Danielle Steel, and James Paterson’s The Quickie and The 6th Target.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Mississippian Wins Pulitzer!
Reknown poet and proud father, Eric Trethewey, stated, “Natasha had the gift of language even when she was a little girl, and I knew it was extraordinary.”
Margaret Gibson, former professor at University of Massachusetts, added, “Natasha’s poems are grounded in personal experience and observation, grounded in what I would call an ethical or moral point of view.”
My Name in Print!
Monday, May 14, 2007
She Used that Word!
Newbery Challenge 2007
The High Power of Lucky by Susan Patron 
2006 Newbery Medal Winner
Main Characters: Lucky and guardian Brigitte
Setting: Trailer Park in Hard Pan, California
Time Period: Modern
Plot: Ten-year-old Lucky lives with her father’s, French ex-wife after her mother dies. She finds clues that lead her to believe Brigitte is moving back to France and not adopting her.
I consider any Newbery a quality chapter book for children. That being said, there has been some controversy surrounding this year’s winner. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron includes the word “scrotum.” Not once, not twice, but six times it appears in print.
Knowing the controversy, pre-read, I was not shocked when I read it on the first page. I’ll admit, it takes a lot to shock me, but I initially thought, “Why this word?”
Picture yourself at a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where someone is telling their “rock bottom” story. Our main character, Lucky, is attending one such meeting by crouching behind a fence, when the offending word is said. Do you think a rough, ex-alcoholic would say “scrotum” or whip-out one of the many colorful slang representations? (I was shocked because he didn’t say balls!) ;D
I don’t want to give away the ending, but I found the word an essential element, tying the story together in the end. Before, you jump to harsh conclusions, I plead with you to read the book from cover-to-cover. Newbery committees aren’t arbitrary popular vote members. They spend a year discussing the pros and cons; and in this case, the book is worthy of all accolades.
South of Illinois, but NOT Southern!
Newbery Challenge 2007
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 
2001 Newbery Medal Winner
Main Characters: Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel
Setting: Chicago to rural Illinois
Time Period: Post-depression, 1930’s
Plot: Mary Alice is sent to live with her ancient grandmother in a hick town south of Chicago. Mary Alice learns it isn’t the age or the place that confines her from learning.
The story is rich with humor and inter-generational play between a grandmother and her granddaughter. I don’t know about most people, but I consider my grandmother’s generation a hoot. They tell the best stories and they have the oddest names for everyday objects. My grandmother insist that I roll the glass down (window), and always wants to know where my pocketbook (purse) is.
Peck brings the feel of small-town America, with its limits and freedoms, to Mary Alice’s awareness. Knowing all in town has its advantages; until, one who knows you, won’t give you a chance. For instance, I have enjoyed stage fright all my life. People in my hometown know this, and cater to my problem. I was given parts where emotions could run high, such as I could yell a part and be red in the face because of acting and not fear. When I moved to the small town of Como, I was eager to get back on stage, so to speak. I performed a solo within a year of living there. I wasn’t nervous, my voice didn’t quiver, and the experience was rather liberating. I contribute it all to people not knowing my history, thus not pooh-poohing me into lesser demanding roles.
Loved this book and highly suggest it to other readers. Not as innocent as Anne of Green Gables, and a little too slow for the Harry Potter types, this is a possible read-aloud in 5th or 6th grade class. I think it complements Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer, because of the inter-generational relationship.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Honor thy Southern Moms w/ Books!
Sage got me thinking about Southern mothers with his comment on the Faulkner quote post: "Roy Blount, a southern writer in exile, has written a humorous book about his relationship with his mother (and about southern mothers in general). [The book is Be Sweet: A Conditional Love Story] In it, he says something like, `My mother loved me to pieces. I've spent my entire adult life trying to put those pieces back together again!’"
Friday, May 11, 2007
More From Mo!
Mo of Inside Mo’s Mind also suggest, "Karin Slaughter, who grew up in Georgia, and now lives in Atlanta."
Grant County Novels
Blindsighted (2001)
Kisscut (2002)
A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
Indelible (2004)
Faithless (2005)
Beyond Reach (2007)
I Suggest Raney!
The Raleigh News and Observer said, “Clyde Edgerton is the love child of Dave Barry and Flannery O’Connor."
Where Trouble Sleeps (1997)
In Memory of Junior (1992)
Killer Diller (1991)
The Floatplane Notebooks (1988)
Walking Across Egypt (1987)
Raney (1985)
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
This Made Me Giggle!
If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the"Ode on a Grecian Urn" is worth any number of old ladies.
~ William Faulkner
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Who's the Clown?
We had a surprise visit from Rainbow the Clown (Millee Wrenn) 
Thursday! Millee is my friend from Tunica whom happens to be the Children's Librarian at Olive Branch Library.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Lost In My Own Backyard (copy)
Author Tim Cahill lives 50 miles north of Yellowstone National Park and considers this his backyard. And what a backyard! One can spend a lifetime discovering the 2.22 million acres of mountains and valleys filled with geysers, mud pots, and thermal springs. In the past 25 years, Cahill has done just that.
Cahill’s book, Lost In My Own Backyard, isn’t a guide book, but rather an answer to frequent Yellowstone questions. For instance, “How close is too close to a bison?” Um, silly question, but Cahill claims common sense lacking in some tourist. He has a special name for those who edge closer and closer to a bison for that amazing, once-in-a-lifetime shot, “instamatic injury.” He adds, “If the tail goes up it means either charge or discharge.”I feel in love with Cahill’s style of writing. He talks to the reader such as an actor, who faces the camera, might tell a plot twist. In the first section of the book titled, “Trails,” he employs his mini-me as a discussion partner on the trail. On the Mt. Washburn trail we overhear older Cahill telling younger, know-it-all self, how not to be a “dumb butt” as they view the “embarrassment of wonders” which is the park.
In the second section titled, “In the Backcountry,” the reader visits the park few have ever seen. Cahill says out of a billion visitors a year, 99.2% never venture into the backcountry for an overnight stay. Could it be all those “Beware of Bear” signs? Cahill is one of the few who have seen rare moonbows, petrified forests and odd faces in the hoodoo formations while walking the outback.
To my librarian’s delight, his last section is titled, “A Selected Yellowstone Bookshelf.” His shelves contain guidebooks, trail maps, and educational books associated with the park, such as biology, history, and geology. The first book mentioned, Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, just happens to include his written forward.
I highly recommend this humorous book to anyone about to explore America’s first backyard, Yellowstone National Park.
Southernest Dog-Bloodhound!
Mo from Inside Mo's Mind says, “her Bloodhound series is set in the Okefenokee. A great little cozy mystery…” HarperCollins says, “Virginia Lanier lived on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp in Echols County, Georgia. She published her first book at age 65.”
Death In Bloodhound Red (1995)
The House on Bloodhound Lane (1996)
A Brace of Bloodhounds (1997)
Blind Bloodhound Justice (1998)
Ten Little Bloodhounds (1999)
A Bloodhound to die for (2003)
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
SRC Warm Ups by Readers!
Sage at Musings has written a lovely review of Georgian author Judson Mitcham's Sabbath Creek.
Lynne of Lynne's Little Corner of the World had this to say about the Southern Comedy of Manners Series written by 
Ann B. Ross.
"I've enjoyed all of the books in this series. I love the characters of Miss Julia, Hazel Marie, Little Lloyd, Sam, and all of the others. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Miss Julia Strikes Back, which is out in hardcover now."
Miss Julia Stands Her Ground (2006)
Miss Julia's School of Beauty (2005)
Miss Julia Meets Her Match (2004)
Miss Julia Hits the Road (2003)
Miss Julia Throws a Wedding (2002)
Miss Julia Takes Over (2001)
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (1999)
