Maggie Reads

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sense of Place Contest

The rules:
Pick out a passage from your southern reading which depicts sense of place

Either take a picture to match the passage or find one on the internet

Paintings are also eligible, see this example

Post quote and picture and Link it to Mister Linky by June 21 to qualify

You don't have to be a participant in the Southern Reading Challenge to play

Good Luck! Deadline is June 21, 2008!
One lucky winner will receive an autographed copy of
Hillary Jordan's Mudbound!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Father of the "Rough South" Genre

As far back as I could remember, I had longed and lusted for an unlimited supply of books . . . When I got to my first duty station and walked into the base library, it was like throwing a starving man a turkey. I did my time in the Corps with a book always at hand.

~ Classic Crews p12

Harry Crews

Novels
The Gospel Singer (1968)
Naked in Garden Hills (1969)
This Thing Don't Lead To Heaven (1970)
Karate is a Thing of the Spirit (1971)
Car (1972)
The Hawk is Dying (1973)
The Gypsy's Curse (1974)
A Feast of Snakes (1976)
The Enthusiast (1981)
All We Need of Hell (1987)
The Knockout Artist (1988)
Body (1990)
Scar Lover (1992)
Classic Crews: A Harry Crews Reader (1993) Mixture of fiction/nonfiction
The Mulching of America (1995)
Celebration (1998)
Where Does One Go When There's No Place Left To Go? (1998)
An American Family: The Baby With the Curious Markings (2006)

Non-Fiction
A Childhood: The Biography of a Place (1978)
Blood and Grits (1979)
Florida Frenzy (1982)
2 By Crews (1984)
Madonna at Ringside (1991)

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Southern Haiku Winner!

run away, bees buzz

girl needs a momma, and love,

worship Black Mary

Congrats Raidergirl3 at An Adventure in Reading!

Friday, June 06, 2008

This Pecan Harvest Ale's For You!

This week's winner is Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot!

Are you ready for Pecans Nymeth?!?

Southern Haiku Contest ends tomorrow!

Don't Miss Out!

Stop and Smell the Second Reviews!

Don't panic if you haven't finished your first book!

This is for those who have sped ahead;

possibly, reading their third southern book.

Don't miss the Southern Haiku Contest!

Your chance to win an autographed copy of Mudbound

by Hillary Jordan ends June 7!

More contest to come such as the Sense of Place and Dead Mule List.

So please, pace yourself for the long hot summer!

Author Jon Clinch promises 2 autographed copies of Finn, too!

I'll need to get out the Mark Twain bust for him.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Lookee-Here!

While reading The Mississippi Story by Patti Carr Black last night, I ran across a familiar photograph. It was the cover of The Known World by Edward P. Jones seen here to your left.

I absolutely love the cover art! What stories one could make of the straw-hat covered girl looking back!

Well it just so happens, this photo is by Eudora Welty! The title is Home by Dark, Yalobusha County (page 29), and it was taken prior to 1935 while Welty was employed by the Works Progress Administration. This photograph was taken on her own initiative as the book explains.

Author Black stated,

Welty said, "a good snapshot stops a moment from running away"; but her photographs do more than that. Welty was an intense observer and worked "to catch something as I came upon it, something that spoke of the life going on aound me." She was the most prolific and sensitive recorder of Mississippi in the 1930s. ~p. 28

Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot just finished The Known World for our challenge. She had this to say,

The Known World is a stunning book. It’s beautifully written, it’s subtle, it’s very moving, and it’s complex. It’s a book in which several tragic things happen, but it moves beyond being a parade of tragedies. It deals with race and gender, but it also goes beyond that. I’d say it’s the best book about slavery I’ve read so far, except it’s not so much a book about slavery as it is a book about several people caught up in a system whose full consequences are not easy to grasp.

The Mississippi Story (copy)

Mississippi Museum of Art moved into a new facility on South Lamar in Jackson last year. June marks a full year of displaying artwork by and for Mississippians in this location. Fully intending to visit, I bide my time with The Mississippi Story: Mississippi Museum of Art edited by Robin C. Dietrick and written by Patti Carr Black.

Like a catalog one might receive at the opening of an exhibition, this book gives full illustration to over 100 items in the museum’s collection. Displayed under the art work, one gets typical descriptive information such as name of artist, title of piece, date of completion, media used (oil, watercolor, clay, bronze, etc.), and size of piece. Each illustration is in color and the sizes vary, but remain easily visible to readers.

As with all great ideas, the museum began with a group of interested artists and community leaders in the Jackson area. The Art Study Club first exhibition of Mississippi art appeared at the state’s fair in 1903. By 1911, they incorporated to become the Mississippi Art Association (MAA), the forerunner to today’s museum. Within the history section is a lovely portrait of the first MAA President, Bessie Cary Lemly, by Karl Wolfe.

The main body of the book is truly Mississippi history through art. Author Black defines Mississippians’ “sense of place” with quotes from local writers. Beginning with Eudora Welty’s, “It seems plain that the art that speaks most clearly, explicitly, directly and passionately from its place or origin will remain the longest understood.” These places are the Delta, the Hill Country, Jackson’s central area, the River Country, the Piney Woods, and the Gulf Coast.

Within each section, one gets a brief history of the area followed by artists in chronological order from earliest to latest. Unfortunately, some of the biographies sound like a resume than personal. Works with bios include: Marie Hull, Wyatt Waters, David Rae Morris, Eudora Welty, Obie Clark, John McCrady, William Hollingsworth, William Dunlap, Theora Hamblett, and so forth.

More than a catalog of museum works, this nine by nine inch book strives to relate the importance Mississippi art has on the world. Too often our state’s creative artists have taken a backseat to the extraordinary talents of other Mississippians in literature, music, and memoir; significantly, they have fled to the appreciative cities of Seattle, Tampa, and New York.

Now the tide has turned, and the art world is looking to the South for inspiration. If one is unable to travel to Jackson—grab this book—take the tour from the comfort of your own rocking chair.

Note: First book for Joy's Non-Fiction Five Challenge!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Southern Author Meme!

Medbie of Medb’s Montage & Andi of Andilt tagged me for this fun author meme. I morphed it to Southern Authors for the challenge.

1. Name your all-time favorite southern author. Why?

An easy answer would be Harper Lee and her ultimate southern book To Kill a Mockingbird. But, I’m more complicated; especially since Miss Lee only wrote one book. In my under-educated opinion, Eudora Welty is my all time favorite. I like her southern ladies, her comical situations, her use of symbols, and her distinguishable southern voice. Although, Richard Wright blew me away with Native Son, the story of Bigger Thomas written in 1940. Wright wrote a stereotypical anti-hero whom happened to be black, poor, and ignorant. Bigger’s life follows the white “what-if” scenario to the letter. (Pretty tough stuff for 1940, folks)

2. Name your first favorite southern author. Why? Do you still consider him or her among your favorites?

I first came to southern literature through ghost stories. I remember being entranced by haunted house stories the most! My memories include a smokey Appalachian mountain where a cabin sits on the dark side (east, cause it gets darker sooner) with one lone lantern light blowing back and forth on the porch. EEERRRIIEE! I’m sure I sought these books out because of campfire stories and wanting to be the kid with the fresh take.

Have you ever heard of the Bell Witch? She is a popular campfire story in Tennessee, and I was a little creep(ed)-out when I found the family moved to Batesville, MS, our current county seat.

Mark Twain would be the first author since I absolutely loved anything about the Mississippi River. Funny thing, I had no trouble with the colloquialisms. I already spoke that way! Um, and still do!

I still like Mark Twain, and visit with him on snowy nights. Finn by Jon Clinch is more to my grown-up taste. :)

3. Name the most recent addition to your list of favorite southern authors. Why?

Hillary Jordan and her ultimate southern tale, Mudbound, excites my “you gotta read this” button!

It has been a joy to present this book to local book clubs and hear the different conversations which spurt up afterwards. I had mentioned the fact that the Jacksons were share tenants and not sharecroppers which was a new term to me. One of the black audience members shook her head vigorously in agreement. After I finished, she told the group how her family was one of the first share tenants in Tate County. And, this only happens in small towns, her family farm and agreement was with another white woman in the audience. Then the white woman gave a testimony on behalf of the black woman’s hard-working family. How Awesome!?!

Miss Jordan doesn’t know the extent of her service by writing this book. We, as in Southerners, need more books like this to spark conversation and get the humanity train a rollin’!

4. If Someone asked you who your favorite southern authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection?

First Thoughts: Hillary Jordan, Clyde Eggerton, Lee Smith, Jon Clinch, Eudora Welty, Carl Hiaasen, Wilma Dykeman, Harper Lee, John Kennedy Toole, Larry Brown, Zora Neale Hurston, Willie Morris, Charlaine Harris, and Tony Earley

Further Reflections: Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Anne Moody, Anne George, Flannery O’Connor, Ricky Bragg, Michael Lee West, Mildred Taylor, and the short stories of Katherine Anne Porter.

5. Tag Your It!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Snail Bait Estate!

And the first autographed Mudbound goes to J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog for (Don't spill your morning coffee J. Kaye!)

Snail Bait Estate!

I wish to thank everyone for participating. It has been a blast reading these entries. All Y'All deserve a book!

For another chance, compose a Southern Haiku based on one of the books reading for the challenge. In this contest you may enter everytime you write a Haiku! Good Luck!

Another International Winner!

Oh My!

Katrina of Katrina's Reads!

I'm pleased to send you a little sumtin from the South.

Pecans are the perfect snack while reading Gone with the Wind.

Pecan Gatherers by artist Larry Strickland

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Southern Haiku Contest!

Ready for the 2nd of 5 contests to win an autographed copy of Mudbound by Hillary Jordan? Note: One entry per Haiku.

Create a 17 syllable Haiku that reflects one of the southern books you are reading this summer. For simplicity, use the 5-7-5 format, as in 5 syllables for the first line, 7 syllables for the second, and 5 for the ending. Place your Southern Haiku in a post then leave a post specific URL on Mister Linky. You may choose not to tell the book title and let bloggers guess.

Hubby and I came up with two for To Kill a Mockingbird.

I’m pretty shure you can guess which one is his.

Atticus was wise
Scout and Jem looked up to him
Radley won’t say Boo.

Snarling dog in road
Afternoon A shot rang out
A biter lies dead.

The drawing will be June 7!

Good Luck!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Blue Star (copy)

Last week, I wrote about “Jim the Boy” by Tony Earley. I enjoyed it so much I read his second book, “The Blue Star,” this week. Normally, I do not read the same author back-to-back. Being a librarian, it is important to experience all types of authors and genres. One might say, better to have a taste of an author’s writing than to spend valuable time analyzing his complete works.

It was Earley’s style that intrigued me. Does “The Blue Star” have the same clear, unassuming story? Will I sit eagerly turning the pages for everyday, ordinary events as occur in “Jim the Boy”? Most important, will hero Jim Glass be compromised by his initial success in the first book?

I am pleased to announce “The Blue Star” is not as quiet, episodic and verging on nostalgic as “Jim the Boy” but evermore pleasing. Jim is 17 now, and 17-year-olds are loud. He still encounters small events which become large, but in a flowing manner than end of chapter cliffhangers. As for nostalgia, we see Jim look back only to remind himself why he does not like the fair-hair Norma Harris anymore. She won’t let him kiss her.

Jim stands proudly with other senior boys on the top steps of the Aliceville High School in the beginning of the book. From years of watching his predecessors, he knows he need only move when a teacher passes. Next to him stands Dennis Deane, his very uncouth and obnoxious friend. All summer Dennis has worked on perfecting a line that will make all the girls fall in love with him. He uses this first day of school to try it out on pretty passersby who get stuck working their way through the crowd.

First through the gauntlet is Ellie Something. (No, I have not forgotten her name.) Ellie is totally stricken by the line and runs blushing to the door as soon as Jim steps aside clearing the way. Not quite the reactions Dennis is looking for, but wait. Here comes half-Cherokee maiden Chrissie Steppe.

Beautiful, long black-hair Chrissie who dates Bucky Bucklaw, a U.S. sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor, is a challenge. Jim asks Dennis to lay-off, but he can’t resist. As she nears, he closes his eyes, puckers up, and says, “Hey. Chrissie Steppe. Kiss me.” The fists ball and the fur detach to fly as Jim steps between the two opponents.

By school’s end, most the boys standing on the top steps will be off to war. “The Blue Star” is number two in the Jim Glass trilogy. The last installment Earley promises to return Jim safe from the war - possibly a quiet man, definitely a man.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I Need Your Help!

Hillary Joran, author of Mudbound, agreed to a bloggie interview! Yippee! Now I'm no reporter and I need your help. Those of you who have read the book, can you think of anything you would like to ask her?

So far I have...

1. Are there plans for a continuation of the characters in Mudbound in another book?
2. Did you draw characteristics of the people in Mudbound from people you know or stories heard?

3. Why did you decide to create so many narrators to tell the story?
4. Why did you choose to omit Pappy's voice from the narrative?

5. Do you have any Mississippi ties?

6. Why use Mississippi as a setting? Is there something specific in the story that wouldn't fit anywhere else?

Monday, May 26, 2008

Faulkner's Memorial Day

I decided to go out to the cemetery to give my respects.

Brought my favorite author Larry Brown along.

Plenty served but I am looking for a Confederate soldier.

Boy, it's hot in this Mississippi Sun!

Let me ask my pal Stark Young.
Known Stark since Ole Miss, I roomed with him while in NYC.
He introduced me to all his literary friends; alas, no one signed me.

Finally, we found him!

Edward Ganes White

Born June 16, 1840

Killed at the Battle of Shiloh

April 6, 1862

Thanks for your service Veteran White!

While visiting today go see Ken at Giant Robots Make Me Nervous! He wrote an excellent multi-media review of Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning book titled The Killer Angels.

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Book Clubs Who Listen Not Discuss

Thursday last week, I presented Mudbound by Hillary Jordan to the Book Listeners Club of Memphis at the posh Chickasaw Country Club. The mean age of this group was 75; thus, more likely to listen to books than actually hold-in-hand read. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not showing ageism here, just explaining the nature of this group. A group that has been in existence for over 30 years with the same name, they are listeners.

In general this older age set prefers books on tape for various reasons: 1.) Books are too heavy 2.) Eyesight is failing 3.) Hand tremors 4.) Limited choices in LT, etc..

Please, don’t bombard me with, my granny read until she dropped dead comments. I know, trust me I know. As a librarian, I have waited on many over the age of 85 who read large-typed (LT) books. One patron in particular (age 92) wanted mysteries, but not cozies, with no violence in the death. She was also tired of Agatha Christie, but preferred them to be British and large-type. Um, not only did I run a small Mississippi library, I was a Miracle Worker!

My contact at the meeting (age 87) was just delightful. Upon meeting me she exclaims, “You’re Pretty!” Hey, I like those compliments, but then she went on, “You’re so young.” I got to throw out my favorite, “I’m older than I look.” And quick as a wit she sails back, “Me, Too!”

Do you ever feel like there is a reason you meet certain people. I was the club’s third choose: the first fell and broke her hip, the second (my boss) had a seminar she had to attend, and both are named Margaret. I joked they were getting the cheap imitation Maggie. Well, anyway, my contact told me she flew her husband’s Cessna 310 upon learning I had a bachelor in aerospace. We told hangar after hangar stories until we were wore out.

Sorry, to be all over the place with this post. My point, some book clubs only meet with the intent of listening to book reviews by members or outside guests. They don’t meet once a month to discuss a book, but rather hear the opinion of a speaker who has read a book.

Our own Como Civic Club started out as Como Book Club in the 1920s with monthly speakers that morphed into community speakers when book talkers were hard to find. It makes me wonder. How many book clubs in North America prefer this format?

Book Club by water colorist Emmy White

Friday, May 23, 2008

All the Way to Zealand!

We have a Winner!
Congratulations Maree of Just Add Books!

Pecans will be going all the way to New Zealand! Enjoy Maree!

Picking Pecans by artist Chris Clark!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

First Review Linky

The critics have spoken!

Time to communicate with other Southern Readers!

Please leave your name only and a post specific URL address for the FIRST southern book read. This way people can read the review without searching the reviewer's blog.

If you are looking like I just spoke a foreign language, read on. To get the post specific address for your blog click the title or if no title click the time stamp at the bottom of the post. The internet screen will display the single post and in the address line will be the post specific URL. Timbo's your uncle!

You Pronounce it "Car In"

My name is Karin (not Karen) Gillespie and it's pronounced "car in" as in "Is that your 'car in' the street with its bumper hanging off? My mother, who gave me this troublesome moniker, pronounces it "car rean" in a lovely lilting Austrian accent. My southern friends sometimes call me "corn" (as in Children of the...). My last name is pronounced the same as Dizzy's. (no relation)

~ Karin Gillespie

Bet Your Bottom Dollar (2004)

A Dollar Short (2005)

Dollar Daze (2006)

Tiny Little Librarian said of Bet your Bottom Dollar, "It's another book full of quirky small-town folks and each chapter begins with a quote from a bumper sticker, sign in someone's shop, someone's favourite quote or a song from the jukebox in the Tuff Luck Tavern, such as selection F-7: "I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim Is Getting Better."

Lynne's Little Corner of the World said of Dollar Daze's main character, "Attalee reminds me of a Southern Grandma Mazur."

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

___Time to go a Visiting

Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner of the World is giving away an extra copy of
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

If you are interested or need it for the challenge maybe you can win it. Go see her and put your name in the hat!

While there stop and read her short review of Dollar Daze by Karen Gillespie for the Southern Reading Challenge.

Oh, tell Lynne, Maggie sent ya!

Georgia Author Mary Kay Andrews

New blogger Angie of What is Angie Thinking? got an e-mail from Mary Kay Andrews this week! Pretty exciting and well humbling for me. I had no idea there was such a nice southern lady. Thank you for raising the rock I was under Angie!

This is an exert from author Andrews' blog:

Now, some writers absolutely hate the idea of a used bookstore. Not me. I know from experience that somebody who picks up a used copy of one of my books for a buck or two will usually decide they really need to buy my new hardback as soon as it comes out. Or, maybe they're a working mom or retiree who can only afford to feed their habit by buying used books. I'm good with that.

~ Mary Kay Andrews

Savannah Blues (2003)
Little Bitty Lies (2004)
Hissy Fit (2005)
Blue Christmas (2006)
Savannah Breeze (2007)
Deep Dish (2008)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Name Your Homeplace Contest

*****

Fair Fields. That's what Henry wanted to call the farm. He announced this to me and the children one day after church, clearing his throat first with the self-consciousness of a small-town politician about to unveil a new statue for the town square.

"I think it has a nice ring to it, without being too fancy," he said. "What do you girls think?"

"Fair fields?" I said.
"Mudbound is more like it."

"Mudbound! Mudbound!" the girls cried!

*****

~p 95 Mudbound

Enter the first of five contests to win an autographed copy of Mudbound by Hillary Jordan!

To play, look around your surroundings and create a name that best represents the ole homeplace. Hubby and I bat this pretentious tradition around quite a lot; lately, we have declared a stalemate over Weed Haven or Mole Rest.

When you decide, write a post about the new name and leave a link on Mister Linky. The drawing will be May 30! Here's your chance to put on airs and have fun!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Friday Night Pecan Winner!

Congratulations Nicola of Back to Books!

You won a magnolia tin chocked full of delicious Pecans!

Don't worry your shipment will be much smaller
than this giant pecan in Brunswick, MO, but the taste will prove HUGE! :D

Instead of Bon-Bons you will be able to read Tobacco Road
by Erskine Caldwell with Bon-Pecans!
Congrats Girl!

Jim the Boy (copy)

Quiet, episodic, and verging on nostalgic is how I explain Jim the Boy by Tony Earley. My gut tells me the story is similar to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, but then again, not really. Earley’s book moves forward in the telling, but Wilder’s Laura is looking back in narration.

Since Jim the Boy is marketed to young adult readers, I thought it similar to Sounder by William H. Armstrong. Sounder is the simple story of a sharecropper’s son who longs for an education instead of the fields. The book is filled with symbols and situations only an adult with experience can appreciate. Not so much the symbols, but many young adults will misinterpret the slow, clean prose of Earley’s work as boring. In my opinion both books are targeting the wrong audience.

Ten-year-old Jim is growing up in Depression Era, small town Aliceville, NC. He lives on a farm with his widowed mother and three of her brothers. The Uncles, Zeno, Coran, and Al, combine efforts to provide Jim with a suitable father figure. His mother, battling depression, still manages to put on a brave face when Jim is around. All-in-all, readers will find they are a happy lot.

As in most ten-year-old boys, prior to the distractions of televisions and Game Boys, hometown is the epicenter of all things. One explores the fields, barns, buildings, and local faces with fascinating curiosity. When one attends the big brick school on the hill for the first time, it is progress. When electricity comes into town, it is life-changing. When the Express hits a cow while Ty Cobb may or may not be lounging on the train, it is earth shattering. The littlest of events become episodes catapulting one closer and closer to adulthood.

Jim the Boy begins with a small quote from E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, “I love it here in the barn,” said Wilbur. “I love everything about this place.” Jim could easily say this about Aliceville. It is his barn which he loves deeply, and as he progresses through his ten years, each month spreads the love even farther by visiting the ocean and his grandfather on the mountain.

Jim is coming-of-age within his heaven on earth, and we the readers are allowed to bounce around on his fluffy clouds. Earley creates this fictional sense of place where things are quiet, episodic, and verging on nostalgic.

Thank you, Tony Earley, for this small, simply satisfying read.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Y'all Ready for This?

Five Autographed Mudbounds Are Here!

Thank You, Hillary Jordan!

Author and Southern Reading Challenge Participant!

And One First Edition Dirty Work by Larry Brown (unsigned)!

I'm also talking with Finn author Jon Clinch...

So if you want to be eliable you need to sign-up.
Tomorrow we draw for Pecans!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Southern Summer II (copy)

Continuing from last week’s article, here are more southern authors to boost our down-home pride.

Tunica native, Charlaine Harris, has a brand new Sookie Stackhouse on the shelves, From Dead to Worse. According to Library Journal, “Louisiana telepath and cocktail waitress Sookie barely escapes with her life when she becomes enmeshed in a struggle for control of the Louisiana vampires. At the same time, werewolf leaders begin a fight to the death, and Sookie is caught in the middle.” I reported last year that Sookie’s Southern Vampire

Series would be appearing on HBO last fall; unfortunately, three full episodes remained in cans due to the writer’s strike. With that over, the series, True Blood, will be released this September.

Memphis is running promotional advertisements this month to encourage tourism. Como residents, Catherine and Douglas Taylor, are part of the push with their book Downtown Ducks. The couple, married at The Peabody, tells of perennial guests Clearwater and Abigail Duck as they make a daily commute from rooftop to fountain then back again. Catherine illustrates in vibrant watercolors as Douglas relates a fun tale through this charming children’s book.

Bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank is in top form with her new book, Bulls Island. This perfect beach book, set in South Carolina’s Low Country, contains scandal, intrigue, and the ominous old boyfriend. Frank’s publicist says, “She and her long-suffering husband, Peter, divide their time between the New York area and Charleston, South Carolina, where their two children are in college and spending every last dime they earn.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning, Alabamian Ricky Bragg is back with another installment of family woes. This time he aims pen at his horrible drunken father and newly acquired step-son in The Prince of Frogtown. We understand Bragg’s violent relationship with his father through All Over but the Shoutin'. Our question to Mr. Bragg, “Will he break the pattern?”

Virginia circuit court judge, Martin Clark, is launching his third novel, The Legal Limit, this July. Said to be the thinking and drinking man’s Grisham, Clark tells of family woe as one brother becomes a lawyer and the other a jailbird. Publishers Weekly said, “Clark…takes his storytelling prowess to the next level in what is his most substantial and thought-

provoking work to date.” Note: Amy just reminded me, Clark's wife Deana has a picturesque and fun filed blog. Go say, Howdy!

Saving the best for last, one of my favorite southern authors is Clyde Edgerton. I started reading him after a local playhouse presented his book Walking Across Egypt. I then followed with the laugh-out-loud Raney and ended with his memoir Solo. Coming this August, to a bookstore and library near you, his ninth novel, The Bible Salesman, will witness his remarkable talent.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Southern Movie Meme

Here's a fun meme I stole from Lynne's Little Corner of the World.

The Rules!

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies. (I picked 10 of my favorite Southern movies.) 2. Go to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and find a quote from each movie. 3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don't guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie. 5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. (That would be cheating, and no fun!)

Remember, all these movies are set in the South!

1. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
Maree, you know your southern movies! A+++ Gone with the Wind

2. They call me MISTER Tibbs!
Too easy huh, Jmnlman!?! Good Job! In The Heat of the Night

3. Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.
This one is fun to try to mimic during mud-bug time, Debi! Ya done good! Forrest Gump

4. Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives.
I think you know Boo, Tammy! Gold Star! To Kill a Mockingbird

5. Careful Maggie, your claws are showing.
I'm sure the set sizzled, Eva! Head of the Class! Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

6. He's got a real pretty mouth on him, don't he?
It creeps me out when my dentist tells me this, Diane! Well done! Deliverance

7. Looks like two pigs fightin' under a blanket.
And, I thought this one would be hard, Jill! Five Smilies! Steel Magnolias

8. Secret's in the sauce.
I get a kick out of this line, Sprite. W2G! Fried Green Tomatoes

9. Coffee makes me nervous when I drink it. Mmm.
Yes, Tammy! This was a hard one! Slingblade

10. Oh yeah, yeah I know my ABC's pretty good, just can't read.
TwisterB came a little late to the party, but it still is open! Driving Miss Daisy

Note: The photo above is King Vidor (1894-1982) who was a successful movie director of silent and talkies. In 1935 he directed a black and white southern movie titled So Red the Rose. The movie was based on a book (1934) with the same name by Como MS, native, Stark Young. They both achieved great success until another book (1936) and movie (1939) titled Gone with the Wind achieved even more.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Have a Southern Summer (copy)

As a librarian, I take some criticism every year for promoting summer reading. Now, I know what you are thinking. That is crazy, right?!?

Well, some people seem to think I should be promoting reading all year. Um, I do! But, I admit, I do a little extra in the summer. People seem to have a little more time to sit down with a book and a glass of tea. There is less to watch on the television, unless one loves reruns. Vacations require books if traveling by air or train. The last two times I flew, I experienced two separate six-hour layovers.

This year, I wish to plug some southern authors to boost our down-home pride.

Richard Price, a native of Jackson, MS, and current writer for the HBO crime-drama, The Wire, has his eighth book out, Lush Life. Set in New York City, the main character Eric and friend Ike are walking down a city sidewalk when a kid pulls a gun. Ike’s last words are, “Not tonight, my man.” A critic for the New York Times Book Review believes Price channels Raymond Chandler and Saul Bellow in this grim noir.

Joshilyn Jackson’s website states, “born in the Deep South and raised by a tribe of wild fundamentalists” she writes an excellent southern story. Author of gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia, her newest book, the girl who stopped swimming, is no exception. Laurel Gray Hawthorne is haunted by a ghost, a small girl, the girl who stopped swimming.

Born and raised in North Carolina and current associate professor at Vanderbilt University, Tony Earley has written a sequel to Jim the Boy. In soon to be classic The Blue Star, main character Jim Glass is now a teenager and in love; unfortunately, his interest is unavailable Chrissie who dates Bucky Bucklaw. Ah, but Bucky is about to be shipped to the Pacific theater.

Looking for funny? Look no farther than Carl Hiaasen’s new nonfiction. The publishing blurb starts, “Ever wonder how to retrieve a sunken golf cart from a snake-infested lake? Or which club in your bag is best suited for combat against a horde of rats? If these and other sporting questions are gnawing at you, The Downhill Lie, Carl Hiaasen’s hilarious confessional about returning to the fairways after a thirty-two-year absence, is definitely the book for you.”

Pour the sweet tea and set a spell—summer reading is on the way.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

___Southern Reading Challenge Y'all!

UPDATE: Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound, is donating 5 autographed books for give away during the Southern Reading Challenge. I think a Name your Home, Land, or Plantation Contest will be great fun. More to come...

To understand the world, you have to understand a place like Mississippi.

~William Faulkner

We moved to Mississippi in 1995 and I still don't quite get it. But, through reading southern literature in my rocking chair on the front porch, I'm getting closer to this sense of (strange new) place.

Come join me on the porch this summer and I promise you will meet some of the strangest characters you have ever read while scratching behind my big dog's ears.

It's time for our hot, sweaty summer of reading Southern Books! Are You Ready?!?

The rules are easy: 3 Southern Setting Books by Southern Authors in 3 Months beginning May 15 through August 15!

How can you pass this amazing challenge up? Incentive you say? A tin full of yummy tasting pecans will be sent to a lucky participant every Friday. I'll also be linking y'all's experiences as they come in, just like last year. Sense of Place Contest? Oh, Yeah! Dead Mule Society List? You Bet! Click here for southern book suggestions.

So, sign on Mister Linky with an address back to your 3 books and join me for sweet tea on the porch!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

How Cool is This?!?

The author of Mudbound, Hillary Jordan, responded to my comment in LibraryThing! How nice is that?!? This is her comment, and the Faulkner reference is a nice local touch.

Many thanks for the kind words and for spreading the gospel of Mudbound! I had a wonderful time traveling around Mississippi on my book tour. My grandfather was from Oxford and knew Faulkner (in fact, the latter was in love with my great aunt at one time - he proposed and she turned him down) and it was fun to imagine them walking the same streets as I was.
Best, Hillary

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

My Sister's Keeper (copy)

Why are we born? Why is anyone born? I know the technicalities, I mean I am thirteen, and listen when my older brother pontificates like a professor on the subject; but, the birds and the bees really isn’t my question.

I want to know why people are born. What circumstances led to their creation? This fascinates me since I am a special case, and unlike any other human in the entire world. So, my question remains. Why are we born?

From most of my adult queries, I can conclude mistakes happen. A little love (but not always) and plenty of passion (again, not always) produce alarming results nine months later. Yes, I realize there are planned pregnancies; but for me, I wish I was a mistake.

See, I was genetically designed—eliminated from a possible six eggs—to match my sick sister Kate’s molecular structure. My name is Anna, Anna Fitzgerald, and I am my sister’s keeper; a test tube baby born with the power to save a specific life.

At first I really was not involved. It was my mother’s unbiblical cord with its rich nutrients that sustained Kate’s treatment and put her into remission from acute promyelocytic leukemia. This nightmare began for her at age two; fortunately, she is 16-years-old thanks to me.

Over time my parents have allowed the doctors and nurses to take my platelets, leukocytes, stem cells, and bone marrow without asking. These “uncomfortable” procedures place me in the hospital for days recovering. I could almost say as much as Kate, but with none of the attention.

Now, they want my kidney, and again they assume I’ll give it without question. This is why I stopped by Campbell Alexander’s law office and now have a petition for medical emancipation.

Written in 2004 by Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper became a crossover sensation. Such as a country song that plays on pop stations, this book written for adults became a huge hit in the teen realistic genre. Among the many awards, My Sister’s Keeper was presented an Alex in 2005 by the American Libraries Association which honors crossovers.

The book is currently in production at New Line Cinema with Cameron Diaz playing the part of Sara, Kate and Anna’s mother. Ew, I cannot wait.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I'm Challenged!

_____I decided to take on a couple of challenges for the summer.

First, I joined Joy at Thoughts of Joy for her 2nd annual Nonfiction Five Challenge. I vow to read 5 nonfiction books between the months May - September. Not really a challenge (I love NF) but a chance for me to gain a sense of accomplishment. You know, build my self-esteem. :D

Secondly, I joined a new (to me) blogger, Jeff at BearCastle, for his Science Book Challenge. For this challenge one has all year to read three science books. Jeff has been very helpful and his Book Notes section is excellent.

I've not spoken of this, but I'm a committee member of the Outstanding Books for the College Bound and Lifelong Learners for American Libraries Association. Within this committee I am on a smaller Science and Technology subcommittee which will pick 25 S&T books for the list. So far we have 5 books we are considering, and we pick in June. Please, if you have any suggestion, leave a comment.

Thirdly, (and I'm so sorry I forget) I joined Nyssaneala at Book Haven's Neustadt Prize Challenge. This will be a real challenge for me! I'll try to read Remembering Babylon by David Malouf 2000 winner, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez 1972 winner, and I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch 1986 winner.

Lastly, I'll be crankin' up the 2nd Annual Southern Reading Challenge soon! Stay tuned for further announcements.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Year of Living Biblically (copy)

I noticed a theme running through recent books read. Most stories occur within a year time frame. For example, Mudbound focuses on the first year the McAllans dwell on the farm. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was written in a year by a victim of stroke who communicated through eye blinking. In High Cotton one follows Zack Killebrew through a full year of cotton production. Even this year’s book discussion choice, Eat, Pray, Love, takes place within a calendar year.

Continuing the theme, The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, is packed with twelve months of entertainment. Author Jacobs is a writer for Esquire magazine and author of The Know-It-All where he read the Encyclopædia Britannica from A to Z. This new book is another daunting task which he manages to write without being sacrilegious.

Jacobs plans to spend a year taking the Bible literally and growing closer to God. First, he cannot decide which version of the Bible to follow, thus he gathers a stack: Revised Standard Version, King James Version, Good News Bible, Torah, and a copy of The Bible for Dummies. Secondly, he needs to omit dangerous rules. Any rule that ask one to cut off or gouge out a body part is skipped. If, by freak accident, he kills another man’s cow, he will pay for said cow instead of purchasing one to kill in return. Thirdly, he must breakdown the Bible parts to thoroughly cover all rules. His decision turns out to be the format of the book, eight months (first eight chapters) within the Old Testament and the rest within the New Testament. Lastly, he needs advisers such as rabbis, ministers, and priests with both conservative and liberal backgrounds. Furthermore, he promises to visit with, “the ultra-Orthodox Jews, the ancient sect of Samaritans, and the Amish.” On day 46 he actually out visits a visiting Jehovah Witness.

By day 62, Jacobs is becoming comfortable obeying rules; although, many like the wearing of tassels still baffle him, but now he faces Leviticus 20:27, “They shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them.” He knows legally he cannot heap stones at another person. His solution (loophole) is to gather small pebbles from New York City’s Central Park and pummel people. Every Saturday and Sunday he walks by the newspaper guy and chucks pebbles at the small of his back for not observing the Sabbath. The funny thing, the man never feels them.

After reading The Year of Living Biblically, I now have a better understanding of the word literal as it pertains to the Bible.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Mudbound (copy)

My name is Mrs. Henry McAllan, but most people call me Laura. For a long time, 31 years, it was Miss. Chappell, and I was okay with that. I earned a college degree in English and began teaching, letting my students pull me through life, never once becoming low for the children I would never have. I was quite comfortable in my old maid(ness).

Henry is handsome, quiet, and college educated. My brother Teddy brought him to dinner because they got along so well at work. At 41 years, Henry was working for the Corps of Engineers building bridges, levees, and airports in the outlying area of Memphis. Well, from the looks I gathered at dinner, he was ready to build a fence around me. How little did I know.

We married, settled down in our own house in Memphis, and I had two little girls. Things again were comfortable until December 25, 1945. On arrival to the annual Christmas dinner at the home of Henry’s sister, Eboline, in Greenville, Mississippi, we were affronted by Pappy, my cantankerous father-in-law who informed us, “Eboline’s husband’s gone and ruint Christmas, killing himself on the eve of Jesus’ birth.”

After weeks of settling Eboline’s affairs, Henry returned home in a new truck. Before I could quiz him, he shocked me with a passionate kiss. This is not my Henry, something was foul. He then blurted out, “I’ve bought a farm!”

The plan was simple. Live in a rental house close to Eboline in Greenville, and Henry would commute to the farm 40 miles away. Pappy would be moving in with us, since Eboline’s move to a smaller house, and I would put up with his criticism of me and the girls.

The rental house was a two-story Victorian with wrap-around porch and azaleas in front. As we climbed the steps, we noticed a light on. While Henry worked the key, a man opened the door from inside, and he wasn’t happy. See, the house was sold to him the previous week which made us trespassers.

Out of 300 dollars and forced to live in one of the sharecropper's houses on the farm, I’m not happy. Matter-of-fact, I’m constantly angry. Dang dirt is in our clothes, laying atop all the furniture, and giving us all tans. Even my tow-colored sweet babies have brown hair. When Henry suggests we call the place “Fair Fields” my mumbled answer becomes family legend. “More like Mudbound.”

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is one of the best southern novels I have read in years. Better than The Secret Life of Bees, she has successfully written a racial tale akin to Flannery O’Connor and Erskine Caldwell. The perfect book for discussion, too.

Powered by Podbean.com

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Happy B-lated Spring!

Spring 2008

A little Dogwood and Redbud in bloom.

My neighbor is the Episcopal church, Holy Innocents.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The Anatomist (copy)

Thank goodness the writers’ strike is over. Now, I can look forward to a new episode in popular drama, Grey’s Anatomy. I so miss my McDreamy and McSteamy.

To pass the time during reruns, I picked up The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray’s Anatomy by Bill Hayes.

For those unfamiliar with Gray’s Anatomy, it is the quintessential reference book for medical students. In its 20th printing, this tome sits alongside other upper-echelon classic references such as Webster’s Dictionary and Bulfinch’s Mythology. First printed in 1858, this year marks 150 years as a viable medical textbook.

Author Hayes feels his whole life has led him to writing, “a book about a book about anatomy.” He cites two childhood favorite activities. First, his two best friends had doctor fathers who kept their medical books on the top most shelves in their respective studies. The boys would sneak in and pull down favorites then hide under desks mulling over the medical deformities for hours.

The second activity gave Hayes a great power over his sisters. In his 1965 World Book Encyclopedia, under H for Human Body, there were transparencies which included systems such as the skeletal, muscular, digestive, etc. Hayes took great pleasure in taunting his unsuspecting sisters with Encyclopedia Man.

While searching the book for a medical spelling Hayes thought, Who wrote this thing? The title page gave little more than Henry Gray, F.R.S. or Fellow of the Royal Society (of London). Further digging at his local library left him discouraged. “Fascinating ‘biographies’ have been written about everything from the number zero to the color mauve, yet there is not one on Gray.”

In Hayes’ research, he discovers Gray’s rise at St. George’s Hospital in London through title changes; “postmortem examiner (1854), curator of the Anatomical Museum (1852), lecturer in anatomy (1854), and so forth.” It is only through Gray’s illustrator Henry Vandyke Carter (an extensive diarist) that Hayes begins to unravel Gray’s personality.

In The Anatomist, Hayes alternates between Carter’s diaries and his own experiences in modern-day anatomy class. I’m not sure what is more interesting, the intimate thoughts of a Victorian medical student or Hayes’ voice as he dissects the human body.

Readers of this book will find themselves counting ribs, poking sternums, and trying to finger their mental foramen during the anatomy class sections, all without the unpleasant funk of formaldehyde.