The Third Southern Reading Challenge
May 21, 2009
Y’all, I’m so excited about this one. :D I’ve always really wish I was Southern (yes, I consider Texas my home state, but that’s not *really* the South and both of my parents are Yankees), and if I could get away with it I’d speak with a North Carolina accent all of the time. So obviously, I have to join the third round of Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge. And since I’m me, I have a nice big pool to choose from!
- Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler: this just sounds so woman-y, if you know what I mean. :) The narrator’s nine, which I always think is interesting. Set in Florida.
- A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor: I got this one at my library sale last May. I’ve been to Memphis twice, and it’s such a neat city! Oh, and this won a Pulitzer. Set in Tennessee.
- A Death in the Family by James Agee: I’ve heard great things about Agee. Set in Tennessee.
- Mudbound by Hillary Jordan: there have been so many great reviews of this one! Set in Mississippi.
- The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson: I’ve read and loved Jackson’s other two books, so of course this one has to be on the list. Set in Florida.
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest: Chris reviewed this one forever ago, and I’ve been meaning to read it ever since. Set in Tennessee.
- City of Refuge by Tom Piazza: You know I’m all about New Orleans! I’m nervous about this one, since it deals with Hurricane Katrina, but I have high hopes. Set in Louisiana.
- Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons: another book all about women, which lately I’ve been really craving. Set in North Carolina.
- Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn: Maggie reviewed this, and its sounds like such a fun book with all of the language play. Set in South Carolina.
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: It’s Maya Angelou! Enough said. Set in Arkansas.
- Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace: I looooove Wallace. Set in ? (all I could find was ‘the American South’.
- The Collected Stories by Eudora Welty: I own this collection, which I bookmooched after falling in love with Welty’s writing.
And there you have it! I need to read at least three by August 15th. :)
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I *love* Ella Minnow Pea!
I love your list! We both picked some of the same authors for this challenge: Taylor, Jordan, Welty, Jackson, and Agee. Happy reading.
What a great list! Enjoy!
i have yet to do a reading challenge, but this one is tempting! i love southern lit despite the fact that i’m a new jersey native. :) there’s just something so mint julep-y about southern writing…i love it.
Read Mudbound!!
Read Mudbound!!
Read Mudbound!!
Read Mudbound!!
One of the best books I read last year :-)
I’m reading The Girl Who Stopped Swimming too.
I have I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings but I need some motivation or a push to get to it. I should probably wait for your review Eva.
I read Ella Minnow Pea quite a few years ago, and it was a lot of fun! A quick read, but a good one!
I also have A Summons to Memphis in my TBR pile – I got it for cheap as well, but I’ve heard good things about it AND it did win the Pulitzer! Plus, I live in Tennessee, and the first part of the book is set in Nashville, and it always gives me a thrill when I’m reading a book that references specific streets, etc., that I actually know! And I also want to read A Death In The Family by Agee (for much of the same reason!).
City of Refuge is supposed to be amazing, so I hope you like it. I borrowed it from the library a while back, but the copy I got smelled so strongly of someone else’s perfume I had to return it unread – it made me feel ill just to hold the book!
Looks like a great challenge! I’m going to the Southern Women Writers conference in September. Reading a few of these would be a great way to prepare!
James Agee? Sigh! Just plain sigh! Oh, and I’m FROM N.C. and wish I had a N.C. accent (which I don’t). Either that or a VA accent (which I don’t have either).
Speaking Pulitzer-ly, I loved Agee’s book (would also like to read his film criticism, it’s said that he was very good) but disappointed in the Taylor book.
You’ve got a great list. Hooray for the Maya Angelou book…although I haven’t read it since…I don’t know when, I still vividly remember most of it.
Oh!!!! Is is possible to join this or is it just for invitees? I would love to read some Southern Lit and get to know it. I’ve had some of Eudora Welty’s books home from the library from time to time but never got around to read them etc. This would be a great opportunity! I am not really that familiar with the “genre”, so may need some help in choosing books – if allowed to join, that is :)
Oh man, next year I’m coming to you before I put together my list for this challenge! You came up with so many great ones…some I didn’t realize would work for the challenge, like Four and Twenty Blackbirds. I just may have to “adjust” my list. I’d like to add that book Chris just reviewed, Voodoo Season, too.
And I’ll be anxious to see if you like A Summons to Memphis. We lived in Memphis for four years, and I have to admit that I have very mixed feelings about the place myself.
This is a great list…makes me itchy to join this challenge. I am such a southern girl at heart.
Wordlily, I definitely want to read it them!
Vasilly, obviously, we’re united in our excellent taste. ;)
Jessica, thanks!
Nat, you sohuld join in!
SuziQ, lol: ok, I put that on hold after all of your exclamation points. :p
Violet, I’ll try to motivate you!
Steph, I’m jealous that you live in Tennessee. :p That perfume thing is awful; I’m glad I’ve never had that problem with a library book!
Amy, that sounds like a neat conference! And any excuse is a good one for reading. ;)
Emily, lol; do big city NCers not have the accent?
Bybee, yeah: I’ve heard mixed things about the Taylor. So we’ll see.
Louise, I’ve e-mailed you, but you can deifnitely join!! On my post for the challenge last year, I gave some recommendations.
Debi, you know, I was visiting my best friend who went to college in Memphis, and all of the students who lived there had mixed feelings about it too. So I understand.
Becca, me too! :)
I’ve joined this challenge too!
I love your choiced Eva! The first one I have just added to my TBR. Good luck with the challenge!