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The past and present storms added thrills and chills to the dual-timeline coastal Alabama story. Predicting a few elements of the mystery didn't diminish my enjoyment of the fast-paced tale in which a young woman digs to understand a suspicious death and ends up coming to terms with her legacy and her future. St. Medard's Bay, Alabama, seems to attract the strongest of hurricanes, and the only building that's withstood every storm for a century is the charming Rosalie Inn. But St. Medard's Bay was also the center of a media whirlwind in the early 1980s following the mysterious death of Landon Fitzroy, the governor's handsome son, in the midst of that year's hurricane. Married Landon was having a passionate affair with a beautiful, spunky local young woman, Lo Bailey, who was later accused of his murder but never convicted. Now Geneva Corliss is running the money pit Rosalie Inn, taking up the mantle of her family's business. When Lo Bailey and a handsome ghostwriter come to stay while crafting a book about the events around Landon's death, Geneva begins uncovering secrets that shake what she always believed to be true regarding the inn, her community, and even her own family. The small-town setting was great, and the pacing of The Storm moved along nicely. I felt equally invested in the past and present timelines, and while I predicted a few elements of the big reveal, I was intrigued by how Lo turned the demonization of the Oth er Woman on its head and gained power from the media slander and efforts to discredit her. Hawkins delivers a wrapped-up, satisfying ending although (as becomes apparent in relatively early foreshadowing) not every character survives the modern-day storm. I received a prepublication version of The Storm  courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. More from Rachel Hawkins Rachel Hawkins is also the author of The Heiress , The Villa , Reckless Girls , and The Wife Upstairs .

The debut novel from one of my favorite authors tracks a horse thief and an orphan who bond and find love amid the turmoil and destruction of the final year of the brutal Civil War. “You like to think that people, in general, and I mean on the scale of generations, are learning from their mistakes, getting better. But with what all I seen, I don't know if I could believe that.” Taylor Brown's debut novel Fallen Land is set in the final year of the Civil War. Callum, an Irish horse thief, fled to America an orphan at fifteen years old. Ava's family is gone, killed by war. The young couple find one another and bond to each other in their desperate run to escape the devastated South. They encounter the fiery ruin of Sherman's March on their way to safety and a new life, and their love is one beautiful light in the darkness of the country's ravaging war. “You die down there, you better hope I live a real long time. Because that's all the goddamn peace you're gonna get.” I was soooo stressed reading Ava and Callum's circumstances, but the preciousness of lives lived moment by moment (while the characters fight for survival--and also attempt to live as good people and find love and joy) was wrought beautifully by Brown. Their perspective of coming upon the devastation immediately after Sherman's March through Atlanta was particularly shocking and affecting. This is a rough yet sometimes tender story set at the end of the Civil War, amid the confusion and desperation and cruelty and kindnesses of that time. I love Taylor Brown's books! I included this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War . Brown also wrote the wonderful novels Gods of Howl Mountain , Wingwalkers , and Rednecks .

facing missteps and disappointment, through her unlikely journey to stand-up, to the embracing of her Southern Her voice is a striking, uniquely nasal Southern drawl, and her Netflix special "I'm Every Woman" features

Annis is a young Southern woman enslaved, sold, and abused in the years before the Civil War.

But Titus is facing challenges beyond the effects of generations of racism in his small Southern community

For me, a main strength of Kin is Jones's ability to build a rich Southern setting and to layer issues

Whitehead, inspired by a real-life reform school that abused and terrorized boys for over a century, shares a tale of racial injustice, abuse and horrors, terrible fear, and the very real threat of death at the hands of openly, willfully cruel white men. We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness. Elwood Curtis is a promising young man in 1960s Tallahassee. But when he hitchhikes with the wrong guy to his first day of scholarship university classes, he's unfairly sent to a boys' reform school, The Nickel Academy. The "Nickel Boys" endure endless injustices, abuse, and horrors, including the looming threat of being "disappeared" out back, never to be heard from again. But as naive as it may be, Elwood persists in pursuing justice and clinging to the moral high road just like his idol Martin Luther King, Jr., and he is unwavering in his ideals regardless of the dangers. His best friend Turner is more savvy, careful, and jaded, while loyal to Elwood. If everyone looked the other way, then everybody was in on it. If he looked the other way, he was as implicated as the rest. That's how he saw it, how he'd always seen things. In the midst of becoming pawns in the crooked trading away of the school's supplies to line the pockets of the corrupt men in charge, Elwood and Turner form a friendship that has repercussions for the rest of their lives. The Nickel Academy is based on a real-life reform school that, horrifyingly, abused boys for 111 years. The Nickel Boys doesn't shy away from infuriating, relentless, insidious, damaging, often deadly racial injustice and cruelties. I felt a little manipulated regarding the "twist" Whitehead introduces late in the book, but the living out of an identity and living into an envisioned future is a powerful element. I listened to The Nickel Boys  as an audiobook. For more fiction and nonfiction books about race Colson Whitehead is also the author of The Underground Railroad . For other titles that center around race, please check out the books at this link . For more nonfiction titles that focus on race, please click here .

Erin Crosby Eckstine's richly detailed historical fiction explores the life of Junie, an enslaved young woman in rural Alabama haunted by her sister's speaking, demanding ghost while she dares to dream of love and maybe even a life of freedom. The Civil War is looming, and Junie is a sixteen-year-old who has spent her whole life enslaved on an Alabama plantation. She works alongside her family, caring for the plantation owners' daughter Violet, who is her own age, and gaining cursory exposure to Violet's studies of poetry and knowledge. But Junie wanders restlessly at night, haunted by her sister Minnie's sudden death not long ago and by Minnie's ghost. She fears that Minnie's death is her fault, and when Minnie asks her to complete three mysterious, questionable-feeling tasks, Junie feels compelled to do so. When a potential suitor for Violet and his sister come for an extended stay, he makes known his casual cruelty toward Junie as well as toward his own enslaved servants--meanwhile, Junie is falling for his right-hand man, Caleb, and is finally letting down her guard with him. When there is talk of Violet's engagement and pending marriage, Junie realizes that this shift would throw her own position into jeopardy. She feels torn by serving her sister's ghost when she wants to explore possibilities with Caleb, and she must determine how far she's willing to go to try to find freedom and autonomy in her life. Erin Crosby Eckstine balances the horrors of living in an enslaved situation with the complex interpersonal relationships Junie forges. Without shying away from the often hopeless lack of autonomy, lack of power, and lack of say-so and constant fear of the enslaved, Eckstine builds a rich story of detail of life at the time. She also explores the complicated Violet-Junie dynamic, in which Junie is Violet's only company for many years, yet is at her mercy for all opportunities to learn, explore, and pause from backbreaking work. The slow pace of uneventful Alabama life shifts dramatically when guests come to stay, and the story's events and the book's pacing begin snowballing in urgency as the story draws to its end. More books about the Civil War I received a prepublication edition of Junie courtesy of Random House-Ballantine Books and NetGalley. For more Bossy reviews of books about the Civil War, please check out this link .

In the small Southern town of Troy, Georgia, a lending library and a battle over banned books pits nemeses A caricature of Southern prim-and-proper ladyhood and over-the-top frills and flowers, Lula sets up a

William Kent Krueger's writing is beautiful, and J.D. Jackson reads the audiobook wonderfully, but I felt impatient with the focus on logistics and the bullheaded man who ignored the coming flood and endangered the lives of countless others. In William Kent Krueger's audio novella The Levee, four men in a rowboat struggle to rescue a family trapped by the rising waters of the Mississippi after a storm. The river balloons to 80 feet wide, and three convicts and their leader arrive at the ancestral home to rescue the family--but not all of them want to leave. Secrets and loyalties swirl as the levee threatens to give, flooding the land. In the author's note, William Kent Krueger explains that The Levee was inspired by William Faulkner‘s story The Old Man and is set at the beginning of the worst flood in American history. (In 1927, the Mississippi flooded 27,000 square miles, becoming 80 miles wide south of Memphis and 30 feet deep in places.) The Levee is largely about the buildup to the flood, and it centers specifically on the attempted rescue of a family from their home, Ballymore. The widower patriarch of the family is stubborn and refuses to leave despite the rising waters. His prideful focus on material objects and on his societal standing seems perfectly showcased by the fact that the grand house he takes such pride in is built below the levee, out of sight of the nearby river--yet it is poised for destruction by the forces he is willfully ignoring. His devoted daughter is determined to stick by him, and the family's servants stay in order to keep an eye on the daughter. Meanwhile we learn about the motivations and secrets of those in the boat full of would-be rescuers, and we see nefarious plots unfold aimed at theft and escape. Krueger's writing is beautifully spare, but I felt impatient with the entire enterprise. The men's efforts are aimed at rescuing a bullheaded man who comes off as maddeningly foolish, while multiple others willingly put their own lives in danger to support him. There’s a lot of page time spent on figuring out the potential logistics of shoring up the levee, which slowed the pacing further. I didn’t feel character connections between the characters or a connection to them as a reader. I did find interesting the examination of unpredictability of both man and nature, which the author mentioned in his author's note, as well as the exploration of the immense power of weather and water. I received an audiobook edition of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio Originals as part of the Libro.fm ALC program. The story is narrated wonderfully by J.D. Jackson. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? William Kent Krueger is also the author of Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land.

The historical fiction story about the building of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, had a romantic element that was bigger than I was anticipating, but I enjoyed Callaway's storytelling on building logistics, the power of class and society, complications of widespread TB infection, visionaries shaping the future, as well as the love story that for much of the book seems destined for failure. I love a North-Carolina-set story, and Joy Callaway's historical fiction What the Mountains Remember had me hooked: the novel traces the building of the famous Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. It's 1913, and Belle Newbold hasn't been into the mountains since her father died in a tragic West Virginia mining accident. In the seven years since, Belle's mother has reinvented herself as a society woman and has remarried, while Belle has learned to keep the family's past poverty, hunger, and struggles a secret. Belle is set up to marry an eligible (and wealthy) bachelor who's a stranger to her, Worth Delafield, and since she and Worth have each sworn off love, they're sure to keep their heads on straight as partners, without drama or heartbreak. But when they meet, sparks fly. Belle is fearful--particularly for her mother's sake--that her father's true origins may be uncovered and be their undoing. All of this, along with her pain at the loss of her beloved father, keeps her closed off emotionally. For Worth, his tragic family past and complicated present seem to be stumbling blocks that can't be overcome. Belle is determined to write the stories of the extraordinary everyday men who are building the Grove Park Inn, and her unwelcome, growing affection for Worth is distracting her. Meanwhile, he's finding himself overwhelmed by the magic of Belle and rethinking his own desire to stay distant. The Asheville of the novel is on the verge of becoming a city of tuberculosis sanatoriums; those behind the Grove Park Inn project are working furiously to shift the city's focus into tourism and, they hope, a brighter and stronger future. The tuberculosis situation is a tricky one: bosses are worried about the Grove Park Inn timeline and potential slowdown due to worker illnesses; Belle is set on protecting the workers' jobs by keeping their illnesses a secret from supervisors; and having men go to work sick is likely to infect others with the potentially deadly disease. The complex moral and practical aspects of the TB raging through the area are not fully resolved. The ins and outs of the Grove Park Inn's design and logistics of building were fascinating; Belle's research serves as an avenue for sharing this information, which feels thoroughly researched by the author herself. The romance aspect of the story became more of a focus than I was anticipating, and I enjoyed Callaway's realistically tangled obstacles that persistently thwarted the easy path to love. The meddlesome, shallow, foolish character who repeatedly threatens to undo all of the good things that are being built in the book is a source of tension for the story, and one whose comeuppance felt welcome when it came. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this book! For more North Carolina stories, check out the books on this Bossy list . I listened to What the Mountains Remember  as an audiobook. Joy Callaway is also the author of The Grand Design , The Fifth Avenue Artists Society , All the Pretty Places , and Secret Sisters .

Ron Rash's newest Appalachian-set novel explores a small town shaken by upended expectations, the Korean War, and selfish rigidity that threatens to undo them all. In Ron Rash's newest novel, The Caretaker, Blackburn Gant is the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery in 1951 Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn lives a quiet life, which is partially dictated by his physical limitations since suffering through polio as a child. When his best (and only) friend Jacob is sent to serve overseas in the Korean War, Blackburn promises to look after Jacob's wife, Naomi. The two had eloped just months after meeting, which led to Jacob's being disowned by his wealthy family. Blackburn and Naomi grow close as they anxiously await word of Jacob's fate halfway around the world. When an important telegram arrives, they fear the worst. A series of elaborate falsifications, outrageous subterfuge, and outright lies creates a tangled web for all involved--and the situation just begs for justice to be served to those blinded by selfish desire and rigid expectations. I loved the glimpses of rural life and of the specific place and time that Rash crafts so well. The writing is beautifully spare, and the ending is satisfying in multiple ways. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Doubleday Books. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I included the wonderful Ron Rash short story collection Nothing Gold Can Stay in my Greedy Reading List Six Short Story Collections to Wow You, and I loved his novel One Foot in Eden. North Carolina's Rash (he teaches at Western Carolina University) is also the author of other books set in Appalachia: Serena, The World Made Straight, Burning Bright, Above the Waterfall, The Risen, and The Cove.

ICYMI: Smith evokes a vivid sense of the regional South in her fiction, and in this memoir she traces her Appalachian youth, offering striking depth and, at times, darkness. “...the linear, beginning-middle-end form doesn’t fit the lives of any women I know. For life has turned out to be wild and various, full of the unexpected, and it’s a monstrous big river out here.” In her memoir Dimestore, Lee Smith traces her beginnings in the Appalachian coal-mining town of Grundy, Virginia, where the background of her life was filled with tent revivals, mountain music, and her daddy's dime store and the community that flocked to it. What could have been simply a charming memoir about growing up in Appalachia and an account the incredible changes in rural Virginia from the time of Smith's childhood to the present day is those things, but it's more: the depth and darkness of Dimestore surprised and intrigued me. I was taken with Smith's open exploration of the good, bad, and ugly in her life. I adored reading her mentions of University of North Carolina English professors, other Chapel Hill figures, and the hidden gems of places I love. I mentioned this book in my Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Lee Smith has written numerous fictional stories about the Appalachian South, including Fair and Tender Ladies, On Agate Hill, The Last Girls, and Oral History. Her newest book is Silver Alert.

Blaylock's story centers around a packhorse librarian in 1930s Appalachian Kentucky and adds layers like a complicated past, second chances, mining tragedy, a bad guy who's pure evil, mountain justice, and the promise of a happy ending. In Bonnie Blaylock's Light to the Hills , it's 1930 in the Kentucky Appalachians, and Amanda Rye is a traveling packhorse librarian, a widowed young mother, and somewhat of a local to the region, albeit estranged from her pastor father and her mother due to past scandal. Amanda makes a special connection with a mountain family on her route that's facing tough times despite their double work at the coal mine and their small farm. The MacInteers--tough yet tender mother Rai, her clever daughter Sass, playful young adult Finn, and a hardworking father as well as the family's younger children--are hesitant to accept any semblance of help. But Amanda brings them reading materials, apples for treasured pies, and some joyful company, and a deep friendship develops. The bond between Amanda and the family tempts her to share a dark secret from her past--one that caused a deep rift between Amanda and her parents when they (against all logic, but when faced with the threat of scandal) believed outlandish, harmful rumors without discussion, then cut ties with her. When a haunting figure from the past shows up in town again, Amanda's history not only threatens to shake up her future, but turns out to be intricately linked to some of the MacInteers's emerging complications. Blaylock celebrates tough women, stand-up men, and never-ending hard work. Mining's dangers aren't glossed over, and tragedies abound. But Light to the Hills seems destined to provide happy endings. Blaylock offers up second chances at love, avoidance of punishment for our heroes' missteps when they tell the truth about others' wrongdoings, and a heartwarming chosen-family element (one of my favorite themes). The story showcases a love for books and the power of the written word. The bad guy in the story is pure evil, and there's little doubt he'll get a comeuppance by the story's end. The mountain justice that's carried out by the women was thrillingly shocking. I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this book! I love a historical fiction story set in Appalachia , and I also love to read books about books . You can check out some of my Bossy favorites at the links here. Other books I've loved about traveling librarians include The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and The Giver of Stars .

Addison Allen's magical realism story is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and offers lots of heart, interactive ghosts, and friends like family. "There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don't sing. Maybe they don't fly. Maybe they don't fit in. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing." Addison Allen's Other Birds is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina as main protagonist Zoey comes to take ownership of her deceased mother's apartment. After Zoey's beloved mother died, Zoey's father and stepmother prioritized her stepsiblings emotionally and in every other way. Yet Zoey is without bitterness, and she is eager to experience the world and become independent. (An inherited apartment and money she has gained access to at age 18 help.) Zoey shows her kind and delightfully unguarded nature as she befriends her mother's neighbors and begins working for the charming complex's owner, all the while cultivating her obsession with a reclusive, mysterious local author whose magical story or personal generosity seems to have affected every person on Mallow Island. When one neighbor in the condo complex dies suddenly, Zoey embarks on a search for answers that leads her to the heart of the island. Other Birds is big-hearted story with magical realism, ghosts that haunt or help, earnest sweetness, a little wholesome romance, and a cute small-town setting. The friendships that are forged into a sort of family were lovely. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Sarah Addison Allen is a North Carolina author. Other Bossy reads with magical realism (you can find reviews for each of these on this site) include Thistlefoot, What You Can See From Here, The Harpy, The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle, The Light Pirate, and The Water Dancer.

ICYMI: Taylor Brown's five-star, 1950s North Carolina-set novel offers mountain clans, whiskey runners, folk healers, family conflict, and dark, brooding woodland settings. I loved it. Rory Docherty has returned to rural North Carolina with a wooden leg and haunting memories of his time fighting in the Korean War. He's running whiskey to juke joints, brothels, and other seedy spots in his 1940 Ford, driving fast, avoiding federal agents, and living with his grandmother, a healer with strong opinions about Rory's love interest, a snake-handling preacher's daughter in the mill town nearby. Family secrets and conflicts come to a head as The Gods of Howl Mountain reaches a dark, brooding, beautiful crescendo. Brown’s descriptions are intensely arresting. He delves deeply and deftly, cutting to the quick and avoiding what in less skilled hands could have been caricatures of North Carolina mountain folk. I loved every bit of this story. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Taylor is also the author of Pride of Eden (a book I own that is still on my to-read list), Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War, and the upcoming (to be published next week) historical fiction novel Wingwalkers. Stay tuned for that review, coming soon!

Kevin Wilson's wonderfully odd 1990s coming-of-age novel centers around teens Frankie and Zeke, their mysterious artistic creation, and the work's ripple effect, which reaches well beyond what they ever could have imagined. Sixteen-year-old aspiring writer Frankie is just trying to get through a late 1990s summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, where she's lived all her life. Despite her noisy, raucous household (she has triplet brothers and a busy single mom), she's used to being a loner. But then a new kid, Zeke, moves into his grandmother's house with his mom, who's in Coalfield nursing a heartbreak. Zeke is an artist, also a loner, and he's fascinating to Frankie. Frankie and Zeke want to create something--something strange, something people will notice, yet something that is all their own. They come up with an original enigmatic phrase and add attention-getting artwork, then spread mysterious posters of their creation far and wide--causing speculation, alarm, and repercussions far beyond what they could have predicted. As he did in a different way in his novel Nothing to See Here, in Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Wilson creates a fascinatingly odd situation, then offers characters' vulnerabilities and imperfections to bring the story to life. By tracking the fictional course of events as they spiral out of control, exploring Zeke and Frankie's potential responsibility as the creators of the original artwork, then following them to a much later point in their lives, when the truth about the work's origins begins to emerge, Wilson paints a full picture that spans the characters' coming-of-age young adoration as well as their separate adult lives--and how "the poster" unequivocally shaped them into who they are today. Wilson's Author's Note, which precedes the novel, explains the phrase from the story's poster and what it meant to him in real life. He shares the way in which the concept of the novel grew from hearing the utterance of this phrase in his youth, and explores the circumstances surrounding it. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Ecco and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Check out this link for my review of Kevin Wilson's Nothing to See Here. Wilson is also the author of Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine, The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories.

All Her Little Secrets shines when Ellice Littlejohn wrests control of her increasingly dangerous circumstances and when racial issues are explored. Despite some implausible details, the Atlanta-set mystery is a fast-paced read. A faction of my book club attends (virtually, the past couple of years) our local Library Foundation's fundraising event, in which authors read from and speak about their recent books, and we try to read a couple of these books in the following year. All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris is one of our picks from last year's event, and because it's a fast-paced mystery, it seemed like a great summer read. In the story, Ellice Littlejohn is coping with the challenges of being a Black female lawyer in what seems like an Atlanta company that is increasingly hostile to women and minorities. Ellice never said she was perfect, but as her professional and personal lives begin to unravel in dramatic fashion, Ellice's past mistakes threaten to destroy everything she's worked so hard to build. And she's not about to allow that to happen. Some of the plot elements and resolutions felt far-fetched, but All Her Little Secrets shines when Morris examines racial issues and when she allows Ellice to wrest control of her increasingly complicated, potentially deadly situation. Morris offers some revenge-fantasy satisfaction, but there are some grave casualties in the world of our main protagonist in this Atlanta-set mystery. Do you have any Bossy feelings about this book? Like her main protagonist, Wanda M. Morris is an attorney. Her second book, Anywhere You Run, is scheduled for publication in October 2022.

Carolina author Rash offers a fascinating, Appalachian-set mystery told from various points of view with a Southern One Foot in Eden is a quiet, haunting story with a Southern gothic feel and understated revelations from

David Joy's mystery, Those We Thought We Knew, set in the North Carolina mountains, explores issues of racism, corruption, generational privilege, betrayal, forgiveness, and the power of art. "I don't know what to say," Coggins said, and that was the truth. He'd come with empty hands and now they were full, and he didn't know what to do with what he was holding. What she'd handed him was heavy and he had no place to sit it down. Toya Gardner has returned from Atlanta to her rural North Carolina town to track her family's history and finish her thesis for graduate school. But the young Black artist encounters a local Confederate statue that is still standing, and its existence shifts her focus and energy. Meanwhile, a man from outside the community believed to be living in his station wagon turns out to be a Klan member--and he has a notebook full of the names of local residents. When two terrible crimes shake the small community, they also bring to light generations of dark history and dangerous secrets. I felt torn about this book. The issues it raises are powerful: generational racism and privilege, the power of art, and abhorrent tendencies that may be overlooked or willfully ignored within a community, to tragic ends. Yet I thought some of the characters' shock at seeing racism, hatred, ignorance, and fear laid bare felt naive, while some of these same characters' moments of awakening to their own racism and their realizations of their own privilege felt too easy. The evil at the center of the mystery was a surprise because of the varied points of view, so while I felt a little bit manipulated, I was also glad to not have been certain of the disturbing truth behind the deadly mystery. "I guess there comes a moment you start realizing that keeping your mouth shut's the same thing as nodding your head." I found myself wanting more character development--particularly regarding the younger members of the police force, who are immensely appealing and interestingly faulted. But the book was driven by plot, multiple mysteries, the North Carolina mountain setting, and the story's social commentary on race, racism, power, and art. I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? David Joy is also the author of the wonderful When These Mountains Burn as well as Where All Light Tends to Go, The Weight of This World, and a memoir, Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman's Journey. You can click here to find fiction and nonfiction books I've read and reviewed that explore issues of race and racism and politics or social justice as well as titles set in the South.

Brown's signature immersive details and wonderfully imagined, rich characters bring Depression-era scenes to life against an irresistible backdrop of swooping, soaring, daring aviation in Wingwalkers. They were over Georgia somewhere, another nameless hamlet whose dusty streets lay flocked and trembling with the pink handbills they’d rained from the sky that morning, the ones that announced the coming of DELLA THE DARING DEVILETTE, who would DEFY THE HEAVENS, shining like a DAYTIME STAR, a WING-WALKING WONDER borne upon the wings of CAPTAIN ZENO MARIGOLD, a DOUBLE ACE of the GREAT WAR, who had ELEVEN AERIAL VICTORIES over the TRENCHES OF FRANCE. What is it about aviation stories and my being so in love with them? In Taylor Brown's recently published historical fiction novel Wingwalkers, Zeno, a former World War I ace pilot, and Della, his daring wingwalking wife, travel Depression-era America, wowing audiences and inspiring hope in a dark, sober time. Zeno and Della are vagabonds, putting on shows for small bills and change, scrambling to make enough to fuel their plane, feed their dog, and to hopefully have enough left over to eat meager meals, just enough to keep them going. They're daring, sometimes haunted, broken, in love, and irresistible to read about. She wanted to rip the weights from his chest, the heavy stones he carried, blacked by the great fire of his heart. Brown offers another parallel storyline tracking the frustrated would-be pilot and burgeoning author Bill (William) Faulkner, his three beloved brothers, his lost loves, his torment and motivation, and his struggles and successes. When the characters from the two rich stories that make up Wingwalkers briefly intersect, it's fantastic. Wingwalkers shines through immersive descriptions offered in signature Taylor Brown style, including glimpses of Depression-era America both from the sky and at close range; vivid moments placing these wonderfully wrought characters solidly in place and time; and various views of a broken landscape that perfectly mirrors the dashed dreams of so many during grim times. The Depression's dark effects on the country contrast dramatically with the majestic, gutsy aviation at the heart of the story, which boosts the stubborn hopes of those who allow themselves to be inspired. "Stories," she said. Sometimes she could hardly believe her own. Sometimes she wondered if she held the threads of her own story or if there were another hand out there, unseen--god or author or fate--pulling the strings and banshee wires of their world. Or no one, only the wind. Sometimes she wondered if they were not haunted but haints themselves, turning endless circles over the land, performing the same acts over and over, replaying the same deaths--unable to move on. Wingwalkers swoops and soars yet grounds the reader in wonderfully imagined (and researched) details that bring the story to life. I loved this book! I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Taylor is also the author of Gods of Howl Mountain, a book I loved and gave five stars, Pride of Eden (a book still on my to-read list that looks wonderful), and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War. (If you’re not on the Taylor Brown train yet, may I strongly suggest you join me?)

In his newest book, Wiley Cash offers a mystery and police procedural set in a small Southern town.

ICYMI: Wiley Cash's The Last Ballad explores race relations and the fight for dignity in a 1929 North Carolina mill camp community. “There is an old saying that every story, even your own, is either happy or sad depending on where you stop telling it.” Cash provides rich details of life in a mill camp in 1929 North Carolina. The Last Ballad explores race relations and complicated relationships within a largely segregated living but racially mixed working arrangement. An individual tragic end also serves as a heroic sacrifice within a larger and extremely important fight for the dignity and conditions afforded by a union. This heart-wrenching struggle for survival and for dignity was at the heart of the book. It took me a little time to get into Cash's Last Ballad. It was a slow build but worth riding Cash's wave to an affecting middle of the story and a powerful sequence of final events. I really wish I’d read the final author’s note about Cash's personal links to the story before reading the book--the information there was fascinating, and I think would have lent even more power to my reading experience. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I read The Last Ballad with my book club, and this week I reviewed When Ghosts Come Home, Wiley Cash's character-driven mystery set in 1980s Eastern North Carolina. Next I want to read Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy. Have you read either of these? Wiley Cash's writing reminds me somewhat of that of Ron Rash, another wonderful North Carolina author.

Geraldine Brooks's Horse digs into issues of race across three timelines, linked by a special bond between an enslaved man and a horse in 1850s Kentucky. He wants to think he’s from the best breeding. He wants to think himself brave. Can he win against all comers? And if not, does he have self-mastery to take a loss, stay cool in defeat, and try again undaunted? Those are the qualities of a great racehorse and a great gentleman. A gentleman likes to have a horse that gives the right answers to those questions, then he can believe that he will give the right answers too. In Geraldine Brooks's newest novel, Horse, she links three periods in time: 1850 Kentucky, where an enslaved groom and a foal forge a bond and an itinerant painter captures their likenesses; 1954 New York City, in which a gallery owner becomes obsessed with the mid-nineteenth-century painting; and 2019 Washington, DC, when two historians are linked by their interest in a record-breaking stallion from the past. Horse takes place primarily in the 1850s timeline, as we see Jarrett grow up enslaved and dedicated to his horse Darley (later renamed Lexington in a change of control--of both horse and man). Jarrett builds a complex sense of self, linked to the horse and enjoying moments of autonomy related to training and care, yet ultimately trapped without any say in his present or future and subject to all manner of cruelties, both careless and intentional. But Brooks also builds rich stories in each of the other interconnected timelines, as we see privileged Martha Jackson dive into the art world and, decades later, the fraught attraction between Jess and Theo. Horse is, on the surface, about the deep bond between Jarrett and Lexington. But issues of race and their inextricable involvement in our nation's history are really the bedrock for the book--Jarrett is an enslaved man who suffers greatly yet experiences moments of respect due to his insight and talent; Martha's link to her Black maid is also her link to a key painting and therefore the other timelines here; and Jess and Theo struggle to understand each other's contexts across a racial divide. Painter Scott presents himself as a forward-thinking liberal, but through Jarrett's eyes we see his faulted approach to expressing this. Theo is frequently frustrated by Jess's lack of understanding and off-the-cuff remarks that showcase her white privilege. Jess's modern-day expertise and Smithsonian access were one of the most captivating elements of the book for me. Based on the true story of the thoroughbred Lexington, Horse delves into fascinating, complicated aspects of science, art, and race as it spans decades. Do you have any Bossy thought about this book? Geraldine Brooks is also the author of The People of the Book, March, Year of Wonders, Caleb's Crossing, and The Secret Chord.

#mysterysuspense, #southern, #fourstarbookreview

Joy offers an often dark work of Southern literary fiction through which bubbles of hope emerge. #gothicnoir, #southern, #fourstarbookreview

The Invention of Wings is historical fiction that tracks the characters of (the real-life) Sarah Grimke and her enslaved maid Handful through decades of cruelties, resolve, heartbreak, and discovery in early nineteenth century Charleston. In 1803 Charleston, plantation owners wield cruel and immense control over their many enslaved people. In The Invention of Wings, young Hetty, whose real name is Handful, is given to eleven-year-old Sarah Grimke as a gift for her birthday, and the two girls' lives become unevenly, twistingly intertwined forevermore. Sue Monk Kidd spins this historical fiction story, inspired by the real-life Sarah Grimke, and includes excruciating details of the time, including various horrifying punishments for enslaved people considered disobedient; the oppressive power exercised over the humans considered by many in the region to be white property; and the incredible, brave spark that leads some of those in even the most dire situations to keep hope and to resist. It feels appropriate to have complicated feelings about this book. It's uncomfortable, disturbing, and infuriating to read historical fiction about the actual horrors that occurred in this place and time: enslaving people, dehumanizing the Black race, and the exercising of frequent, obscene abuse. The secondary subjugation explored in the book is that of women by men, and various instances and examples of women's powerlessness are apparent throughout the story. The Invention of Wings tracks the character of Handful through decades of bided time, resistance, tragedy, abuse, resolve, and heartbreak, and Kidd grounds Handful in her mother's stories and in her history, which she pieces together similarly to the way she creates her quilts, stitch by stitch. Handful and her mother are gifted seamstresses, somewhat more valuable than others on the plantation because they contribute to the outward, fancy, socially acceptable appearance of the Grimke family by creating beautiful gowns and clothing. In a heart-wrenching scene, Handful sees a list of family property that details her own asserted worth. The dollar amount by her name is relatively high, and she finds herself proud to see it, even as she recognizes the horrifying nature of the entire system, in which humans could possibly be thought to be worth dollar amounts. The Invention of Wings also follows a version of events in which the real-life figure of Sarah Grimke makes a slow, twisting shift from her role as a young woman holding papers asserting ownership of another person (and living within a plantation and Charleston society that were powered by the unwilling work of enslaved people) into an early, outspoken abolitionist. Sarah's stammer feels like a symbol of her longtime ineptitude and inability to achieve any change in her own household for herself or others. When her father dies, she cobbles together a clumsy version of freedom for herself. Later, when she must overcome her fears of public speaking, it feels fitting that she does so in order to excoriate those enslaving others and to encourage the freeing of enslaved persons. I finally read (listened to) this book after my friends Sara, Kiki, and Stirling repeatedly recommended it, and the title also came up in a recent discussion with my friend James when he kindly had me as a guest on his Maybe I'm Amazed podcast. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I'd love to hear what you thought! Sue Monk Kidd has also written other books, like The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, and The Book of Longings, which made it onto two Greedy Reading Lists: Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year and My Twelve Favorite 2020 Books.

This Depression-era-set historical fiction story tracks characters in intensely difficult situations as they successfully fight for justice, peace, love, and forgiveness in a satisfying story arc that captivated me. The Saints of Swallow Hill traces the paths of Rae Lynn and Del, disparate characters in Depression-era Georgia who have two important things in common: each of their searches for food, shelter, and survival is becoming more desperate; and each of them is running from dark secrets that threaten to destroy them. Their hardscrabble stories intersect at a turpentine camp in Georgia. There, workers struggle to flip the pattern of owing more money to the camp than they can earn; try to avoid the unwelcome notice of the cruel boss; and aim to escape before meeting untimely deaths in the dangerous woods, as many unlucky workers seem to do. Everhart includes one of my favorite setups, in which a woman dresses as a man in order to achieve some end. Here, Rae Lynn seeks an escape from danger and needs to earn a wage, but unwittingly places herself in greater jeopardy. As I read the first pages of this book, I admit that I was fairly hesitant--the tone felt increasingly bleak, and I wasn't sure if Everhart was going to revel in creating further mishaps and disasters for her characters. I was grateful when she laid out not only a tale of intense hardship, bad luck, and rough circumstances in a difficult period of our nation's history, but also a captivating story of determination, struggles for improvement, deep human connection, justice, love, and hope. I'm so very glad I stuck this one out so I could see these characters through and witness their journeys' ends. I received a prepublication digital copy of this recently published book courtesy of NetGalley and Kensington Books. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Donna Everhart is also the author of The Road to Bittersweet, The Moonshiner's Daughter, The Education of Dixie Dupree, and The Forgiving Kind, none of which I have yet read. I want to read more of her books.

The first in the series sets up a strong young Black heroine who bucks tradition as she explores her own heritage, flexes her newfound power, and digs into the story of her mother's mysterious death--while infiltrating a magical, centuries-old Arthurian secret society. “Two faults. My race and my gender. But they are not faults. They are strength. And I am more than this man can comprehend.” After sixteen-year-old Bree's mother dies in an accident, she escapes the painful memories of her childhood home and town in favor of a special program for gifted youth at UNC-Chapel Hill (Go Heeeels!). But her first night on campus, she witnesses the magical attack of a mythical creature on a student--then must evade a fellow student's attempts to wipe her memory of the event. The experience jogs a buried recollection: a wizard was present at the hospital after her mother's accident. Now Bree is determined to find the truth about what happened. Was her mother connected to all of these mysterious goings-on? Did her mother have some sort of abilities she never told Bree about? When Bree, who is Black, stumbles upon an all-white, powerful secret society, she ends up with more questions than answers. So she infiltrates the group, pretending to be interested in pledging--but the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined. Bree is wonderfully bristly, with a loyal best friend, Alice, that I loved. Bree has to keep in her trusted longtime friend in the dark about her delving into magical worlds and secrets, and this leads to tensions between them. Her forged connections to those who knew her mother and knew of her mother were a story element I loved. Much of the book is about duty and being born into roles, and Bree frequently struggles against racial inequalities and assumptions. The novel frequently questions the importance society places upon birth into privilege or hardship, race, and other factors beyond an individual's control. In the face of restrictions and rules, Bree repeatedly challenges the world's limitations, forging her own path. I was reading Legendborn, with its Arthurian references, during the same period I was reading another (very different) young adult book with references to Arthur and his court, Silver in the Bone. Whereas Silver in the Bone was more playful, Legendborn felt more earnest. Bree spends much of the book researching and wondering, and I preferred when she was taking action. There's a lot of fairly chaste attraction with a heavy emphasis on romantic feelings. I found Bree's main love interest Nick a little overbearing after a time. Deonn seems to be setting up a clear love triangle for book two--duties and resulting romantic possibilities are dramatically shaken up by the end of the book. And war is coming. I felt a little disjointed by the many elements of the Shadowborn, Legendborn, multiple Merlins, shapeshifters, Scions, Roots, and the various embodiments of some of these. I wasn't sure the story was made stronger for me by the links to Arthurian legend at its heart--I found myself wishing Deonn had developed her own wholly independent network of magic, inheritance, bucking expectations, and pending danger for her strong young Black heroine who's figuring out her place in the world. I loved Bree's infiltration of the white, storied, generational power. The story's many correlations to slavery in the South are fascinating and chilling. And Bree dramatically shakes up the ritual-based, staid, formal foundations of the Legendborn by the story's end. I'm imagining that book two shows Bree coming into her own with her power, drawing strength from her heritage, and a major reckoning, and I am up for all of it. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Legendborn is the first in Tracy Deonn's young adult Legendborn Cycle series. I look forward to reading the second book in the series, Bloodmarked.

I had imagined that the tone of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires would be campy, but #fantasyscifi, #southern, #booksaboutbooks, #fourstarbookreview

#dysfunctionalfamily, #faith, #threestarbookreview, #southern

Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. Coates's The Water Dancer explores the relentless oppression and hopelessness of slavery, the resigned existence of the imprisoned, masters' willful brutality--although the horrors here are largely slow builds rather than violently wrought--and the spark to escape that persists. The Water Dancer traces the life of Hiram Walker, a "Tasked" man (the word "slavery" is rarely used in the book) living and working on a Virginia plantation. His mother died when he was young, and he has no memory of her. But the white master of the plantation is Hiram's biological father, and composed young Hiram is set up as a companion to his foolish white half-brother (his father's heir). Hiram's lineage is acknowledged, and he shows himself to be far more intelligent and capable than his white brother--as well as preferred company for his father--yet racial barriers are rigid and clear. He may not inherit, nor may he rise above his station as owned and commanded by his white master. Coates intersperses bursts of magical realism that promise an unexpected path to freedom, but in order to take advantage of these, Hiram must learn to understand and master his mysterious powers that allow for shifts in time and space. The Underground wishes to use his powers toward their own ends--which often coincide with Hiram's--but when their desired paths diverge, he must take ownership of his abilities for himself, reckoning with consequences and his own secure conscience. The white savior character of Corinne is faulted and imperfect, yet I found myself bristling at her presence in the story. The weight put upon Hiram's inability to remember early moments with his mother felt unfair and its resolution felt too convenient. The book was a slow mover; Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. There's a lot of thinking and considering and talking with short bursts of change or brief moments in which plans are enacted. The pacing suited the situation being explored, of the trapped and enslaved, but it was a struggle to read at times and made me impatient. The brief author's note mentions Coates's inspiration of the real-life Still family for the family portrayed in The Water Dancer but refers the reader to other sources for more information. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I listened to this as an audiobook, and Joe Morton's narration was excellent. Ta-Nehisi Coates also wrote the memoir Between the World and Me. I mentioned this book (along with The Plot and Forgotten Kingdom) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/10/21 Edition.

#mysterysuspense, #southern, #gothicnoir, #threestarbookreview

The characters aren't deeply developed, but twists and turns make The Wife Upstairs a magnetic, fast read to add to your mystery reading this winter. In Rachel Hawkins's new mystery The Wife Upstairs, each of the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets to sell for cash or just because she can, none of her privileged clients are likely to ever be the wiser. But the young woman who has taken on the name of Jane and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even Jane could have manipulated into reality. But is she doing the scheming, or is something more complicated--even sinister--going on? The reader is required to gloss over certain details in order for the premise to work (I was distracted wondering about hygiene logistics, only vaguely mentioned relatively late in the book, and curious about how intermittent noise did not factor in more heavily). Certain characters' emotional roller coasters and loyalties felt abhorrent in light of what I believed had occurred--but then Hawkins turned my feelings about the protagonists' feelings upside down with a story twist. Each of the main characters is consumed by wealth, class, and appearances, and hearing about superficial concerns at such length began to be a little tiresome. But each of these characters turned out to be hiding elements of their histories that put into context their obsessions with financial security (and the promise of a level of freedom that is linked to having enough money). I felt as though Jane was a frequent contradiction--she is said to be young and pretty, but also to be helpfully nondescript. She is said to be cutthroat and clever, but she also seemed incredibly naive. She seemed to be searching for a quick fix for her financial situation, but she rapidly became entrenched in what felt like a long-term commitment. Yet her character is used to desperately scrambling, finding an angle and taking advantage of it, and being what people expect or want to see (or someone others refuse to acknowledge, sometimes to her own benefit), which made the contradictions feel possible. It seems necessary to the book that there is not a lot of character depth so that the plot surprises can feel plausible, but its twists and turns make The Wife Upstairs a magnetic, fast read to add to your mystery reading this winter. I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you read this one, please let me know what you think! I mentioned this book--along with Today Tonight Tomorrow and Here For It--in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Wiley Cash's upcoming Southern mystery, When Ghosts Come Home; More Kind than Home and The Last Ballad, here offers a mystery and police procedural set in a small Southern

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry's newest light fiction novel about best friends and polar opposites Poppy and Alex on their annual vacation; Now You Say Yes, Bill Harley's irresistible middle-grade novel about orphans on a cross-country journey as they desperately try to stay together as a family; and Don't Look for Me, Wendy Walker's suspenseful, character-driven novel about a mother coping with the worst grief imaginable while a lurking evil endangers key characters' safety. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry In Emily Henry's newest novel People We Meet on Vacation, best friends and polar opposites Alex and Poppy are on their annual vacation. Poppy is impulsive and fun-loving, and Alex would generally rather stay home and read than seek out adventure. The pair has long been emotionally inseparable despite living in different cities--Poppy in New York and Alex in their small hometown. But two years ago on their vacation, something BIG happened. It threatened their friendship and continues to loom over everything between them. They haven't talked about any of it, but Poppy has convinced Alex to join her again on vacation to try to recapture their effortless times together. Surely, she thinks, they can fix everything in a week. She'll just push down her strange feelings about Alex and pretend that fateful time never even happened. This is already feeling like a will they/won't they story I'll love. Henry's Beach Read was a favorite book of mine last year, and it made it into the Greedy Reading List Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism. 02 Now You Say Yes by Bill Harley In Bill Harley's newest work, the middle-grade novel Now You Say Yes, we follow newly orphaned fifteen-year-old Mari and her on-the-spectrum nine-year-old stepbrother, Connor, as they strike out on a cross-country journey in a desperate attempt to avoid foster care. Mari, who finds that she's tough in the face of adversity, is bent on staying with her brother, preserving the only family they each have left. But she's not legally an adult, and she doesn't have many options of who she can rely on to keep them safe. Harley's story about loyalty, loss, and pushing forward is beautiful; it's sometimes heartbreaking and consistently lovely. 03 Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker Molly Clarke is dealing with bottomless grief. Her youngest daughter died in an unthinkable accident, and for Molly, making her way through each day is like wading through waters threatening to drown her. So she walks away--from her distant husband, her always-furious oldest daughter, her absent middle son, her broken life, and her relentless pain. At least, that's what the clues left behind seem to indicate. But the truth of what has occurred is horrible, terrifying, twisty--and fascinating. Walker's premise is difficult to read and experience on the page, but the character depth, exploration of grief, and self-actualization she offers in Don't Look for Me is pleasantly surprising and continues to build and grow. I'm flying through this tale and can't wait to find out what's what.

#historicalfiction, #civilwar, #southern, #fivestarbookreview, #newsoftheworld

I worried during the first chapter that Gertrude was going to feel like a caricature of a backwoods Southern

I love Jiles's richly imagined Civil War-era historical fiction, and I'm in for her other books. Simon the Fiddler is set at the end of the Civil War. Simon is scruffy and hot-tempered, headstrong but kind. He tends toward brawling, but he is a loyal and measured friend. As the Confederates' surrender looms, Simon's ragtag band plays for officers from both sides of the conflict at a celebration marking the end of the war. That's where Simon lays eyes on the Irish governess for a Union colonel's family. He falls hard for young Doris despite their brief conversation. They part ways, but the thought of her keeps him strong during the hardships and uncertainty of life after war's end. Simon and his "scratch band" eke out a meager living near the Texas coast and begin to cautiously make plans for the future. Meanwhile Simon makes excuses to write to Doris and eagerly awaits her replies, and over time their friendship blossoms. Simon remains desperate to get back to Doris and figure out if the reality of her matches up to the mental pedestal he's placed her high upon. Significant page time is spent on descriptions of music and performance, which seems like it could potentially be tedious, but Jiles handles these passages deftly, and I found them soothing. Simon's significant musical ability and ear for arrangement help to build him as a layered character. Simon is shown to be faulted but true, and Doris emerges as a more full, brave character once she occupies more of the active story. Jiles provides details of the couple's burgeoning relationship while placing us squarely in a rich 1865 Texas setting, and she immerses readers in the mayhem of mixed joys and sorrow that one can imagine makes up life at the end of war. I might have liked a little more character development, but in a way, the slightly emotionally distant characters suited the conventions of the time, and I didn't feel a lack of connection. The action scenes, when they occur, are fast and furious, with aftershocks the characters scramble to cope with. Simon and Doris's paths are shaped by villains I loved to detest as well as heroes I adored. As the story wended its way toward the end, I was unable to tell whether Jiles was going to lead the bighearted characters toward destruction or if she would save them from heartbreak. I trusted her not to leave me in complete despair, yet things didn't unfold too easily or positively for long enough that I was on pins and needles. This is the kind of richly imagined historical fiction I adore, and I'm in for each of Paulette Jiles's books from here on out. I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator of Grover Gardner is wonderful. What did you think? This is the third Paulette Jiles Civil War-era historical fiction book I've read. She also wrote News of the World, which I loved. (In Simon the Fiddler there's a cameo from Captain Kidd, a character I adored from News of the World.) She also wrote The Color of Lightning, a book I adored. Next on my to-read list from her is Enemy Women. I first mentioned Simon the Fiddler in my Greedy Reading List Three Wackily Different Books I'm Reading Right Now, 9/12/20 Edition.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Paper & Blood, Kevin Hearne's second and final book in his quirky Ink & Sigil fantasy duology; The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd's historical fiction story about a plantation, oppressive power, and enslaved people at the turn of the nineteenth century in Charleston; and Jack, a quiet, gorgeous book from Marilynne Robinson that's focused on a meandering romance between an unlikely pair of characters just after World War II. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne In Kevin Hearne's latest book, the second and final installment in his Ink & Sigil duology, we catch up with the gloriously Scottish, unfailingly calm, crankily aging sigil agent Al MacBharrais and the loyal, lazy, creative, mischievous hobgoblin by his side, Buck Foi, for adventure and more of their somewhat grumpy attempts to save the world. Paper & Blood is a quirky, lighthearted fantasy with entertaining pop culture references, copious Scottish lingo, magical creatures in the wondrous wilds of Australia, and steadfast partners like Nadia (an accountant who moonlights as a pit fighter), as well as potentially ill-advised companions like the ancient Druid Atticus O'Sullivan and his sentient dogs. I really enjoyed Hearne's Ink & Sigil last year, and it made it onto the Greedy Reading List Three Offbeat Series I Just Started and Love. 02 The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd In 1803 Charleston, plantation owners wield cruel and immense control over their many enslaved people. In The Invention of Wings, young Hetty, whose real name is "Handful," is given to eleven-year-old Sarah Grimke as a gift for her birthday, and the two girls' lives become unevenly, twistingly intertwined forevermore. Sue Monk Kidd spins this historical fiction story, inspired by the real-life Sarah Grimke, and includes excruciating details of the time, including various horrifying punishments for enslaved people considered disobedient; the oppressive power exercised over the humans who are considered by many in the region to be white "property"; and the incredible, brave spark that leads some of those in even the most dire situations to keep hope and to resist. Sue Monk Kidd also wrote The Book of Longings, which made it onto my Greedy Reading Lists Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year and My Twelve Favorite 2020 Books. 03 Jack by Marilynne Robinson Jack, a quiet, gorgeous book from Marilynne Robinson, focuses on a meandering romance between an unlikely pair of characters just after World War II. John Boughton is the self-loathing, drifting prodigal son of a Presbyterian minister, and Della Miles is a thoughtful, pensive, upstanding high-school teacher and also the child of a preacher. The two--John is white, and Della is Black--keep crossing paths in segregated St. Louis, and Robinson explores complex issues regarding race and related societal pressures of the time; John's and Della's evolving thoughts about faith and meaning in life; and the fraught, heart-wrenching, tender, likely ill-fated romance between the two main characters.

Hart reliably offers character-driven mysteries with heartbreaking interpersonal complications. The twists and turns here are excellent, with interestingly layered motivations and compromises. The Unwilling is John Hart's newest book, published last week. Hart's books reliably offer deftly crafted, often stark landscapes, character-driven stories, heartbreaking situations and compromises, and enough protagonists' strength and grit to stick with you. The Unwilling offers all of those elements and more, unraveling the workings of a family in the South during the Vietnam War, including brothers at odds; as well as complex issues regarding corruption, prison, war, money, power, and violence; and a brother's unfailing loyalty in the face of terrible conflict and danger. Hart tells a captivating story of broken boys and men, battered by experiences of wartime brutality or frozen by the fear of their potential involvement in battle; the destruction of drugs and other desperate attempts to forget; limited choices and bad decisions; deeply felt loss; and crushing familial and societal expectations. There are intensely grisly elements here--deeply upsetting, excruciating torture and willful cruelty; a shockingly corrupt prison system in which inmates' reaches extend disturbingly far beyond the walls; extensive page time spent with a sociopathic serial killer on death row; and a complicated wartime-hinged flux of feelings about duty, destiny, and death. But Hart also offers the hope of young love, the bedrock of true friendship, and brothers and their father who are earnestly trying to heal rifts that threaten to split them forever. The twists and turns here are excellent, with interestingly layered motivations and complications. One moment is shown to turn multiple situations and lives on their heads. The book is set in Charlotte, although the setting is not pivotal to the plot. I received a prepublication copy of The Unwilling courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I mentioned my love for Hart's book The Last Child in the Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year. He's written many other books, including The Hush, the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and the wonderfully written, often tough-to-read Redemption Road. I first mentioned The Unwilling (along with The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James and Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/28/21 Edition.

01 Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon It's the last day of high school, and nemeses Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have battled bitterly for every title, position, honor, and moment of recognition during their high school career. They wake up today texting their usual taunts and challenges. But today will be different: this is the day they'll find out which of them has earned the desired title of class valedictorian. For the unfortunate one, the only hope of regaining glory would be to win the elaborate seniors' game of Howl, a challenging competition that spans the city of Seattle. And if Neil and Rowan look like they're teamed up for the game, it's only because they each intend to use their teammate to get into a winning position--and then take them down. But spending time working together for once allows Rowan and Neil to see sides of the other person that aren't so infuriating and off-putting after all. It sounds crazy, but in a way, they almost seem like the perfect match. Rachel Lynn Solomon's young adult novel Today Tonight Tomorrow feels like a smart, sweet read to start the new year. (For my review, see Today Tonight Tomorrow.) 02 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins In Rachel Hawkins's mystery The Wife Upstairs, set for January 5, 2021 publication, the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is a young woman who is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets, to sell for cash or just because she can, no one is likely to ever be the wiser. But Jane--who's taken on this new name and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her--has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even she could have manipulated into reality. But is Jane doing the scheming, or is something more sinister going on? I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. (For my review, see The Wife Upstairs.) 03 Here For It by R. Eric Thomas In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart "Eric Reads the News" column, shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently make me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and I'm finally getting around to reading it--I'm actually listening to it as an audiobook, and I adore hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. This is refreshing and so playful yet thoughtful, I love it so far. (I finished! For my full review, see Here For It.) What are you reading to start the new year? I've just started Today Tonight Tomorrow, my book club's first title of the year, and I do like the idea easing into 2021 with a young adult nemeses-fall-in-love premise. The Wife Upstairs has been aging nicely in my Kindle for months, until my realization that its publication date was fast approaching. It's a fast and engaging read so far, which also feels just right for these gray days of winter. And I'm listening to R. Eric Thomas read his audiobook, which I highly recommend. His voice and delivery are fabulous. What are you reading at the start of this new year? I just picked up an armful of library holds, and along with the stack of books I received as holiday gifts, I am now in possession of all the books. I hope this weekend holds some cozy reading time with books you love.

#mysterysuspense, #southern, #fourstarbookreview 04 Utopia Avenue ​ In Utopia Avenue, Mitchell takes #gothicnoir, #southern, #fourstarbookreview 06 This Is All He Asks of You ​ I just loved this book.

I worried during the first chapter that Gertrude was going to feel like a caricature of a backwoods Southern

#historicalfiction, #civilwar, #southern, #fourstarbookreview, #thecoloroflightning

listening to Kirsten Miller's entertaining novel about a lending library and banned books in a small Southern 01 Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller In a small Southern town, a lending library

01 All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore Beth Moore grew up the fourth of five children, a Southern Baptist mother's deteriorating mental health, the development of her faith and beliefs, and her split with the Southern

mother and mysterious man in the Alaskan wilderness by a favorite author, Eowyn Ivey; I'm listening to Southern A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings by Leanne

Cosby's Southern small-town murder mystery, All the Sinners Bleed; and I'm reading The Night Tiger author Titus is facing challenges beyond the obvious--like the effects of generations of racism in his small Southern

I'm reading Tayari Jones's newest novel, Kin , about childhood friends and the diverging paths of two Southern