3.5 Stars. Even As We Breathe caught my eye because it’s set in my part of the world (Asheville, NC) and it’s written by a Cherokee woman. I wanted to add some diversity to my Southern Lit challenge so I picked it up. This was a beautifully-written coming-of-age story. Cowney (rhymes with county) is struggling to find his place in the […]
I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell: Book Review
Jess, his mom, dad, grandmother and farmhand/adoptive brother, Johnson, live a quiet life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. They farm, visit with relatives, play some baseball, and get up to a whole lot of no good, as my grandmother would say. Jess’s dad is a mischief-maker. He just can’t help it. Johnson Continue Reading…
Season of the Dragonflies by Sarah Creech: Book Review
The Lenore women grow a rare flower that is the secret ingredient in their powerful perfume. Each generation, only a few women are chosen to wear their coveted scent. These women inevitably rise to the top of their professions and become the envy of the world. But Willow, Mya, and Lucia Lenore, the current generation, Continue Reading…
Salt by Isabel Zuber: Book Review
Title: SaltAuthor: Isabel ZuberGenres: Historical Fiction, Southern LiteratureFormat: Paperback Synopsis: John Bayley meets Anna Stockton when she’s in her late teens. He decides right away that he’s going to marry her. She looks to be a strong woman who knows how to work. After burying two wives, that combination appeals to John. The rest of Continue Reading…
Oral History by Lee Smith: Book Review
The Cantrell family has lived in Hoot Owl Holler in the mountains of Virginia for as long as anyone can remember. They love hard, play hard, and suffer deeply. There doesn’t seem to be any in-between for them. Oral History follows…let’s call it three…generations of Cantrells, starting with handsome Almarine and his run-in with a Continue Reading…
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: Book Review
This is the story of Jeannette Walls’s childhood growing up with a father who adored his children but who also neglected them shamefully and became downright scary when he drank. Her mother was a carefree spirit who couldn’t be bothered to take care of her children. She thought it was good for them to learn Continue Reading…
Naked Came the Leaf Peeper by Brian Lee Knopp: Book Review
4 Stars. Zany, unpredictable, and hilarious are probably the best words to describe this Western North Carolina tale. Written by 12 local authors, each getting a chapter, this seems to be a competition to see which one can throw the biggest curveball out for the next author to catch. They each did an […]
Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb: Book Review
This is a story told from many points of view. First is Zebulon Vance, the real life Civil War governor of North Carolina. We follow him from his days as a hotel porter fresh off the farm until his rise to governor. Next is Malinda Blalock, a tough mountain woman who follows her husband to Continue Reading…
Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani: Book Review
**Very minor spoilers for Big Stone Gap** Ave Maria has been married for eight years now. She and her husband have a beautiful daughter, but they’ve also had some very difficult times. Now Ave feels that they’re growing apart. Everyday life has gotten in the way of love, and it’s time for both of them Continue Reading…
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani: Book Review
Ave Maria (Please don’t call her Ava) Mulligan has lived all her life in Big Stone Gap in the mountains of Virginia. Yet she’s still seen as a “furriner” by everyone else because her mother was from Italy. Ave is sort of a “pillar of the community”; she’s the town pharmacist, she makes house calls, Continue Reading…
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe: Book Review
I decided to read this because Thomas Wolfe was from my area and I only had to read one short story of his for an English class. I wanted to see what he was all about. This is basically the slightly fictionalized story of his childhood and young adult years growing up in the mountains Continue Reading…