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Southern Literature

This group is for any reader interested in southern literature, from the classics (Thomas Wolfe, Eudora Welty, Erskine Caldwell, etc.) to the contemporary (Fannie Flagg, Lee Smith, Nicholas Sparks, etc.). Members should share a love of texts that relay the often humble lives of eccentric southerners as they tackle the odds, build character, and...more »
  • Category: Genres | Started February 2007

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  • Book Concierge

    Nominations Needed for Our Next Group Read

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    .
    So as not to overtax our group members' reading schedules, I figured we'd do a group read every other month.

    So now is the time to nominate a book for our December group read.

    I'll leave the nominations open for a week or so ... let's say until Nov 8

    No theme ... just as long as it's Southern. Post your nominations here, as replies to this opening. Be sure to include the Title / Author and a brief summary.

    Nominate away ...
    .

    Book Concierge started this discussion 8 months ago (edited). ( permalink )

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    bookkaddict removed this reply 7 months ago.
    • Mark
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      I also want read that so I'll second the nomination (not that it matters).

      posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Book Concierge
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      B.A. .... I think holding off until a future read is a good idea for this meatier book. I definitely want to read Salvage the bones and it deserves our undivided attention.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • bookkaddict
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      Agreed.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • bookkaddict
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    Just a thought here: December is a busy, busy month for most of us. How about we push this group read over into January. I know I will have more time to read it (whatever it is) if we skip December (as my f2f group does every year). Just a suggestion...:-)

    posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Wendy B
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    Yes, my problem is - I am reading all Christmas books in Dec.
    So unless everyone wants to read a Southern Christmas book - I'm out.

    posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Book Concierge
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    I have no problem with skipping December and moving on to January. I am here to serve the members.

    But if we're to have any group read, then I need nominations.

    posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Diana S

    Diana S (edited)

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    Here are two Christmas Books that take place in the South.

    A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid ( Takes place in Kansas)
    In this heartwarming novel, author Greg Kincaid tells the tender story of how one very special dog changed the lives of his adoptive family—and an entire town—forever. “Todd, they always want you to adopt a dog. That’s what they do. Besides, we don’t need another animal around here, and most definitely not a dog.” When Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man still living on his parents’ Kansas farm, hears that a local animal shelter is seeking temporary homes for its dogs during the days leading to Christmas, he knows exactly what he wants for the holidays. His father objects, but Todd’s persistence quickly wins out. Soon the McCrays are the short-term foster family for a lovable pooch the young man names Christmas . But what about all the other dogs who will be forced to spend the Yuletide season in cages? In the days that follow, Todd uses his special gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the “Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.” What follows from his small act of kindness will teach his family, and his community, about peace on earth and good will toward men—and animals.

    The Christmas Note by Donna VanLiere (Takes place in Texas, Florida)
    Gretchen Daniels has recently moved into a condo with her two children to be closer to her mother, Miriam. As they build a life together in their new community, they notice a mysterious young woman, Melissa McCreary, who lives next door. She has few possessions, little personality, and keeps to herself. One day a local landlord who is looking for Melissa knocks on Gretchen’s door for assistance. Melissa’s mother has died and in the coming weeks the landlord needs Melissa to empty her mother’s apartment. Gretchen reaches out and offers to help Melissa, but the apartment is a gut-wrenching shamble of a home. There is little worth saving except for a few photos and a note that is discovered on the crate beside the bed. It is unfinished, but in the two scribbled lines, Melissa discovers secrets about her family that she never could have imagined. Can two very different women embark on a journey that explores a long-buried need for forgiveness, hope, and redemption?

    Anyone interested?

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • Wendy B
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      Well if others want to read Christmas, I'm in!

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Wendy B
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    The Christmas Pearl - DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK (takes place in SC)
    Still spry at ninety-three, Theodora has lived long enough to see her family grow into an insufferable bunch of truculent knuckleheads. Having finally gathered the whole bickering brood together for the holidays at her South Carolina home, the grand matriarch pines wistfully for those extravagant, homey Christmases of her childhood. How she misses the tables groaning with home-cooked goodies, the over-the-top decorations, those long, lovely fireside chats with Pearl, her grandmother's beloved housekeeper and closest confidante. These days, where is the love and the joy . . . and the peace?


    LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS - Hope Ramsay (takes place in SC)
    In LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS, we meet Lark Chaikin. She is on a mission to scatter her father's ashes down in South Carolina. It was her father's last wish and no matter what, she is going to make sure it gets done! He doesn't want them scattered just anywhere either. He wants them scattered on the 18th hole of the Golfing for God miniature golf course!
    When Lark starts digging into the past, she learns some troubling things. Not everyone is forthcoming with the details and some just won't talk at all and tell her to leave town. Lark is not giving up. There must be some big reason why her father wanted his ashes spread in Last Chance and she is determined to find out.


    Wow its hard because so many of them do not say where they take place.
    But here's a couple.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Mark
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    I'll roll with the flow. December, January, whatever.

    Michael Knight has two short novellas collected in one book titled, THE HOLIDAY SEASON. I suspect it's probably not what the group is looking for but I figure it can't hurt to mention it. It's very short.

    And I think I almost ran him over last night. Accidentally, of course. The least I can do is mention his book.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • Wendy B

      Wendy B (edited)

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      Ha! My library has it!
      It sounds good.
      library one has 195 p.
      Nook book has 208 p.
      So thats not too short.


      And, what do you mean you almost ran over him??? Do you know him?

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Mark
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      I don't know him but I have met him. He lives in town (Knoxville) and teaches at the university. He was crossing the street, before the signal permitted, because there was no traffic. I was turning right on red, looking back to be sure there was no traffic. Glad I didn't hit him. Very nice guy (as most people are when you're buying something they've created). ; )

      For a book, 200 pages is relatively short especially when you consider it's two separate novellas. I'm afraid they're more "family portraits" (which I tend to enjoy) and potential downers instead of happy, feel-good stories (which are preferred for the Holiday season).

      Here's a link to him speaking: https://stream.lib.utk.edu/embed/stream.php?file=wil/WIL_Michael_Knight.mp4&w=512&h=288

      If you decide to watch, skip ahead to about the 2:00 mark (for intro) or 3:30 mark (for the start of his actual presentation). Probably ought to skip to 5:40 if you're impatient (he talks about how proud he is of his students for a few minutes before that). Although, the best part, in my opinion, starts around 14:30.

      He's not the greatest orator but clearly puts his heart into his writing.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • bookkaddict

    bookkaddict (edited)

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    If you all decide you want to read a Christmas book, then I'm going to remove Salvage the Bones from the list and save it for another time, because it is certainly not a Christmas book and I think it deserves more consideration than it's gonna get if we stack it up against Christmas. It isn't my usual custom to read a Christmas book just because it is Christmas but as long as it is something not too difficult to access (i.e., my library has it and I don't have to buy it) then I'm in. Whatever the group prefers is fine with me.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • Wendy B
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      Just put it back up for Jan. it is a book I am interested in too.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Mark
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      Agree. Want to read Salvage but don't have to do it now if others want to try some sort of Christmas book.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • bookkaddict
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      Sounds good. I'll nominate it next time.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Diana S
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      I agreed! I been wanting to read Salvage the Bones for a while!

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Mark
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      Just saw that Salvage the Bones made the list for World Book Night this spring. If you're not familiar with it, here's a link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2012/11/08/world-book-night-titles-book-giveaways/1684417/

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • bookkaddict
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      That's an interesting list, Mark. I've read a lot of them. Thanks for the link.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Book Concierge
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    Seems like there's some interest in reading a "light" Christmas read for December. With that in mind, I'd like to suggest

    A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
    This tiny gem of a holiday story, although a memory, is told in the present tense, which gives it a certain immediacy. Written by Capote as if a backward glance at his childhood while in college, the story traces a month of pre-Christmas doings in his parentless, poor household. The seven-year-old and his "friend," a distant, eccentric, and in those times elderly (mid-sixties), cousin prepare several dozen fruitcakes and mail them to people they admire. Gathering the pecans from those left behind in the harvest, buying illegally made whiskey for soaking the cakes, getting a little tipsy on the leftovers, cutting their own tree, and decorating it with homemade ornaments are some of the adventures the two share. The outside world barely intrudes on this portrayal of a loving friendship which wraps readers in coziness like the worn scrap quilt warms the old woman.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • Wendy B
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      Thats on my list too.
      Well it looks like we've got us a list!

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Mark
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      Works for me.

      If we're going to do a short story and want something more to compare and contrast, Bobbie Ann Mason has one called Drawing Names. It's about 14 pages (I think) and can be found in her collection titled, Shiloh and Other Stories. Might be available in other collections, too.

      posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Book Concierge
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    I'm going to add
    A Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg
    Lured by a brochure his doctor gives him after informing him that his emphysema has left him with scarcely a year to live, 52-year-old Oswald T. Campbell abandons wintry Chicago for Lost River, Ala., where he believes he'll be spending his last Christmas. This down-home story about good neighbors and the power of love sparkles with wit and humor, as Flagg tells of Oswald's new life in a town with one grocery store and a resident cardinal (or redbird, as the natives call it). Frances Cleverdon, one of four widows and three single women in town, hopes to fix him up with her sister, Mildred—if only Mildred wouldn't keep dying her hair outrageous colors every few days. The quirky story takes a heartwarming turn when Frances and Oswald become involved in the life of Patsy Casey, an abandoned young girl with a crippled leg.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Book Concierge
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    Nominations are now closed. I'll set up a thread for voting.

    posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )
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