Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 3 Weeks - Schedule Now Available!

The Southern Festival of Books released its first version of the Festival schedule today. I'm sure there will be changes in the next few weeks, but it's exciting to be able to start planning which sessions I'd like to attend! I haven't had a chance to look very thoroughly at it, but it looks as though Audrey Niffenegger will be speaking on Friday. Most others that are on my must-see list are appearing on Saturday (Susan Gregg Gilmore, Lee Smith, Rick Bragg, J.T. Ellison, and author duo Jefferson Bass). Louis Sachar and several cookbook authors will appear on Sunday afternoon. Check out the schedule and print one out to start scribbling on. At the Festival, a confirmed list of sessions will be available.

Black Water Rising Just Might Be the Best Book I've Read All Year

I read multiple books each week -- the last month or so being the exception, what with returning to teaching and making lesson plans and such. Most books are fairly good at doing their jobs -- they hold my attention, provide entertainment, make me think, educate me on new and interesting topics. Every once in a while, a book comes along and insinuates itself high above the rest.

Last week, Attica Locke's debut novel Black Water Rising became one such book, a step ahead of even the "good" books. It is an beautifully written novel in which every literary element works perfectly. I'm not sure I could do such a book justice with my usual review. Instead, I'll let the literary elements speak for themselves, as well as Locke's own words via quotes I jotted down from the book as I read:

• Plot: Lawyer Jay Porter and his pregnant wife embark upon a boat ride for her birthday celebration, only to stumble into the midst of a crime with far-reaching proportions. As Locke leads readers through the forward-moving action, she also flashes back to previous events of importance. Jay's past as a civil rights movement organizer and his preacher father-in-law's involvement with the local dockworkers' unions, combined with the crime from the book's beginning make for a fast-paced, high-interest plot. On her website, Locke recalls the events in her own life which inspired her to write Jay's story.
• Characters: Locke creates multi-layered characters who boast both positive and negative personality traits, causing them to fairly jump off the page. Never has a book been filled with more realistic, non-stereotypical characters. One of my favorites later in the book is Jay's wife Bernie; in the book's first few chapters, she comes across as naive or easily pliable, perhaps not very intelligent. Later in the book, the reader realizes that Locke carefully constructed this ruse in order to show depth in the character.
• Setting: Houston, Texas, 1981. As a reader, you can almost smell and see and taste Houston in the pages of Black Water Rising. Never has an author done such an exceptional job at painting a picture with descriptions of setting. The "underbelly" of the city, the bayou, the downtown monuments, the streets and neighborhoods of Houston -- all add to the novel's overall appeal.
• Writing Style: The only way to experience the writing style of this book is to read Locke's words. Here's a small taste of her writing, through some of my favorite quotes:

"King was dead by then, Malcolm and two Kennedys." (128)

"This is what his life has done to him" (144)

"They are each other's history, capable, with just a glance, of unlocking hidden truths." (225)

"He has not slept a solid night in days. Or is it years? He gets mixed up sometimes." (288)

"An hour later, the sight of his wife is breathtaking. . . . He can hear voices inside the house, the clinking of silverware and plates. He smells garlic and fried onions, stewed tomatoes and collards brewing on the stove. But he is in no hurry to leave this spot, this moment with his wife." (296-297)

According to her website, Attica Locke is now hard at work on her second novel. I, for one, will be waiting with bated breath for its release.

More buzz about Black Water Rising:

• The Washington Post review 
• Orange Prize for Fiction Shortlist website
• New York Times review 
• LA Times review
• Nomad Reader's blog review
• Jen's Book Thoughts blog: You've Got a Right to 6 Words featuring Attica Locke

Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 4 Weeks -- Cooking at the Festival

One of my favorite places to be at the Southern Festival of Books is under the Food Tent. Cookbook and foodie writers flaunt their wares via cooking demonstrations that are straight out of the Food Network kitchens. I think I've told this story before, but bear with me. A few years ago my mom, my aunt, and I were lucky enough to hear Julia Reed speak about her New Orleans nonfiction book The House on First Street under the Food Tent at SFB. She talked about making southern food in New York City and about the restaurant industry in The Big Easy after Hurricane Katrina. As she talked, she made food. I don't recall the food portion (although I'm quite sure it was tasty), but as her ending demonstration Julia did a milk punch which made my mom open her eyes wide; in she poured two fifths of whiskey, then proceeded to pass around samples. The alcohol content may have been a bit high, but she was an entertaining speaker. Any combination of books and food is good, in my opinion. So, without further ado, a smattering of the cookbook authors who will appear at the Festival this year (and hopefully make some of their food in the Food Tent for lucky Festival-goers!):

Tammy Algood writes the Market Basket food column that appears on Wednesdays in the Tennessean. She also frequently appears on Nashville television news programs showing off recipes using locally grown produce.  She writes a blog called Complete Southern Cooker where she shares recipes and thoughts. Her cookbook debut, The Complete Southern Cookbook: More than 800 of the Most Delicious, Down-Home Recipes, will be released just in time for the Festival on September 28.

Amy Lyles Wilson and Patsy Caldwell have teamed up to write Bless Your Heart: Saving the World One Covered Dish at a Time, a cookbook that celebrates the ever-important casserole. Whether it be a funeral, ladies luncheon, or church supper, covered dishes are the ultimate weapon a southern cook has in her quest to prove herself the best. Wilson and Caldwell introduce 200 recipes that will help southern cooks everywhere beat out the competition -- and show a little love. This cookbook isn't slated to be released until November, but maybe there will be a few advanced copies for Festival-goers to buy.

Christy Jordan is the latest internet food blog sensation to publish her own cookbook (following in the footsteps of huge bloggers like the Pioneer Woman). Jordan has a successful blog called SouthernPlate.com: Recipes from Below the Mason-Dixon Line where she posts down-home recipes from her Alabama homestead. Her debut cookbook Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Familyis a compilation of recipes featured on her blog and new recipes never seen before, as well as stories to go along with them.

Devon O'Day is a Nashville country radio personality with her own morning show on WSIX, songwriting credits under her belt, and a host of other successes too numerous to name (country music specials, commercials, and television specials, for starters). She has now made her first foray into the book publishing world with the cookbook My Southern Food: A Celebration of the Flavors of the South. O'Day also includes sections such as "What Every Southern Lady Knows" and "Eating Out Southern Style."

The Southern Festival of Books will return to downtown Nashville October 8-10. Learn more about the Festival, sign up for updates, and enter contests at SFB's Facebook site and on Twitter.

Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis Proves You Can't Always Get What You Want

Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way we planned. In Robyn Harding's newest novel, Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis, married couple Lucy and Trent discover the truth in this statement the hard way. After being married for almost twenty years, they've come to know each another better than anyone else. Trent is the first to admit it isn't enough, as he's explaining his leaving to his wife:

"We haven't really been connected for years now, Lucy. We work, we co-parent, we pay the mortgage together, but we're not together, not like we used to be."

Lucy, unprepared for his attack, doesn't understand.

"It's called life, Trent," [she] fires back. "It's called raising a family."

With that, Harding begins this story of two people who love one another, but aren't necessarily still in love with one another. Complicating matters is the couple's teenage daughter Sam, who doesn't really care how her parents feel as long as they stay together like a "normal" family.

Harding uses point of view and narrative voice to lend depth to this light-hearted look at a family in crisis. Lucy and Trent trade off chapters, so that the reader is exposed to both perspectives in the split. The reader learns about Lucy's insecurities, at home and in her job as a prop buyer for a popular WB teen drama. Harding also illustrates both Trent's immature actions and his immense love for his daughter through the chapters written in his voice.

The action intensifies as both Lucy and Trent find themselves in relationships with other people that become too serious too fast. They need time to figure out who they are, not time to build new relationships. Trent gets in over his head with voluptuous coworker Annika, while Lucy finds herself pursued by a teen heartthrob from the television show where she works. Both extramarital affairs spiral out of control, proving that sometimes getting what you want can be disastrous.

Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis proved to be an entertaining read by an author previously unknown to me. Harding is a new contender in the chick lit world, with her witty dialogue and her ultimately sincere examination of marriage.

I have only one gripe: despite the interesting characters and well-rounded plot, the novel gave very few details of setting. Harding lives in Vancouver, Canada, an area that I know little about. To me, setting is an integral part of any book; my favorite novels feature setting almost as an extra character. With a setting outside the United States, I would have loved for it to become a more pivotal part of the book. One reason I love Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan mystery series is for the details she gives in the books set in Montreal, a city previously foreign to me.

Robyn Harding is also the author of the novels The Journal of Mortifying Moments, The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom, and Unravelled; one YA novel; a nonfiction book about Harding's hilarious struggles to raise her family in a more environmentally friendly (and less hormone-enhanced) world; and a story published in the chick lit anthology Girls Night Out. 

Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 5 Weeks -- Children's & Young Adult Authors at the Festival

I have been waxing poetic about all of the authors who will be at the Southern Festival of Books, but I have been leaving out an important genre -- children's and young adult authors. I think that genre fell to the wayside before I went back to teaching, but now it's of high interest to me. As a Language Arts teacher for middle school grades, I need to know something about what my students like to read. Therefore, children's and young adult authors are once again on my radar. SFB always invites a wide array of children's authors, and even has a special Children's Tent with activities and guests aimed towards the younger set.

Here are some of the children's and YA authors slated to appear at the Festival this October:

Tom Angleberger, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Grades 4-6). Summary from Amazon: "Dwight . . . shows up at school one day brandishing a little origami Yoda finger puppet. The really weird thing is that it doles out very un-Dwight-like bits of wisdom, and the mystery is whether the Yoda is just Dwight talking in a funny voice or if it actually has mystical powers. Origami Yoda . . . is the kind of thing that can dominate all those free moments in school for a few weeks. Angleberger’s rendering of such a middle-grade cultural obsession is not only spot-on but also reveals a few resonant surprises hidden in the folds. Naturally, Yoda-making instructions are included."   

Marina Budhos, Tell Us We're Home (Grades 6-9). Summary from Amazon: "It is fate when Jaya, Maria, and Lola meet and quickly become best friends. All three eighth graders are members of immigrant families who have settled in an upscale New Jersey community. The girls find it hard to fit in because their mothers work as nannies and housekeepers for their schoolmates' families. Then Jaya's mother is accused of stealing from one of her clients, and the girls wrestle with the growing divide between them and the community and among themselves. . . . These three girls are outcasts, like many teens, and the story may resonate with readers who often feel like outsiders looking in."  

Lauren Kate, Torment (Grades 9-12). Summary from Amazon: "This sequel to Fallen (2009) continues the complex tale as Luce tries to uncover the truth and break the cycle of falling in love, dying young, and being reincarnated. Daniel, her lover through the ages and a fallen angel, institutes a truce with Demons to protect her from the Outcasts, who would do her harm. For her safety, Daniel hides her at a boarding school for the Nephilim, children of human and fallen angels, and cautions her to remain on campus and learn all she can. . . . It's unlikely this title will garner new fans for the series, but those already hooked on the epic romance won't want to miss it."  

Louis Sachar, The Cardturner (Grades 9-12). Summary from Amazon: "Alton Richard's great-uncle Lester is rich and ailing, a combo that leads Alton's parents to hatch a plan for the teen to cozy up to the old man and carve out a chunk of inheritance. Though blind, Trapp is a brilliant, world-class bridge player and needs someone to read him his cards and make his plays. Enter Alton, who . . . withstands the constant barbs from his irascible uncle and grows more intrigued by the game (in no small part due to the cute, kind-of-crazy girl who also plays). Sachar liberally doles out detailed commentary on the basics and then nuances of the game, and in a nod to the famously dull Moby-Dick chapter on the minutiae of whaling, a little whale image appears when the bridge talk is about to get deep so readers can skip right ahead to a pithy wrap-up. . . . An obvious windfall for smart and puzzle-minded teens, this is a great story to boot, with genuine characters (save the scheming parents) and real relationships, balanced by casual, confident storytelling."  

Jon Scieszka, SPHDZ #1! (Spaceheadz) (Grades 3-5). Summary from Amazon: "Michael's first day in fifth grade is not going well. A new school is bad enough, but the teacher has partnered him with two extremely weird kids. Bob and Jennifer tell Michael that they are Spaceheadz from another planet and that they need his help to save the world. Michael wants to save the Earth – but does that mean helping the Spaceheadz or turning them in? The young aliens speak primarily in TV advertising slogans, which fit remarkably–and hilariously–into the dialogue. The intriguing book design includes chapter headings in English and SPHDZ characters, occasional white-on-black pages, and SPHDZ "stickers" scattered throughout the text. The black-and-white cartoon illustrations are often integrated into the text layout, giving the book a graphic-novel feel."  

Deborah Wiles, Countdown (Grades 5-8). Summary from Amazon: "More than a few books have been written about growing up in the early 1960s, but Wiles takes her story . . . to an impressive new level by adding snippets of songs and speeches and contemporaneous black-and-white photographs to the mix. Drawing on her own experiences during this turbulent time, Wiles’ stand-in is 11-year-old Franny Chapman. Living near Andrews Air Force Base, Franny and her classmates are used to air-raid drills, where they practice how to “duck and cover.” Worries about a nuclear disaster become concrete when President Kennedy announces Russian missiles are in Cuba. But, at the same time, life goes on, and while rumors of war swirl, Franny must also deal with family issues, including a shell-shocked uncle who embarrasses her, an older sister with secrets, and a best friend who has eyes for someone else."  

Mo Willems, Knuffle Bumny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (PreK-2). Summary from Amazon: "Trixie and her family are off on a fantastic trip to visit her grandparents—all the way in Holland! But does Knuffle Bunny have different travel plans? An emotional tour de force, Knuffle Bunny Free concludes one of the most beloved picture-book series in recent memory, with pitchperfect text and art, photos from around the world, and a stunning foldout spread, culminating in a hilarious and moving surprise that no child or parent will be able to resist."

The Southern Festival of Books will take place October 8-10 in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to these children's and young adult authors, many other genres will be represented at the Festival.

Make sure to follow @SoFestofBooks on Twitter so that you can try to win their ongoing Twitter author contest. Watch for clues about a different Festival author each week; be the first to guess the author, and win a pass to be first in line for the author signing of your choice. Also check out their Facebook page for additional info leading up to the Festival.

Lowcountry Summer Disappoints This Long-time Dorothea Benton Frank Fan

After three long weeks spent with Dorothea Benton Franks' newest release Lowcountry Summer: A Plantation Novel, I finally finished it last night. I've been a Frank fan since her first novel Sullivan's Island was published. She is a true southern author, with almost all of her books set along South Carolina's coastline. I have read all of her books, and enjoyed each one -- until this one. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't particularly like Lowcountry Summer. While I loved main character Caroline Wimbley in Franks' second novel Plantation, she somehow fell flat in this sequel. Broken following her divorce and her mother's death, Caroline was a sympathetic character in Plantation. In Lowcountry Summer she comes across as a snotty, unfeeling and archaic stereotype of a southern lady. Lowcountry Summer takes place ten years after the events in Plantation. That time frame has removed Caroline from the devastation she felt at losing her mother and failing in her marriage. Rather than growing older and wiser, she seems almost more immature in this novel.

Another problem I had with the novel was its lack of a cohesive plot. Ostensibly, the premise is Caroline's brother Trip's ongoing family issues. His estranged wife Frances Mae is still causing trouble for the Wimbley family, made worse by her ongoing alcoholism. After she is shipped off to an Intervention-style recovery center in California, Trip and his live-in girlfriend Rusty attempt to care for Trip's four daughters. They need help with the rebellious teenagers and spoiled youngest daughter, of course, from Aunt Caroline -- with varying results. I felt as though the action of the novel was far removed from the main character; although Caroline involves herself heavily in Trip's family life, it seemed staged and unrealistic. The plot just didn't flow for me.

Another issue I had with the novel was its annoying plot twist with a death (no spoiler! just a warning...) that seemed entirely unnecessary to me. It was as though Frank simply couldn't think of a way to make the last half of the novel interesting, so she threw in a death to mix things up. Frank does many things beautifully -- descriptive setting, southern dialogue, and (usually) interesting character portraits. But none of those could save her eleventh novel. I love the idea of returning to characters written about years ago; Franks' Return to Sullivan's Island was an excellent example of how sequels can work perfectly. I drooled over it! (Literally -- the recipes and food described sounded unbelievably good.) I'm still a die-hard Frank fan, and I'll continue reading her novels as soon as they come out. I just wouldn't recommend this as a good example of what she's capable of writing.

The world would be a boring place if we all felt the same about things, so here are some positive reviews of the novel to balance my opinion:

• Review in the Huffington Post
• Interview with Dorothea Benton Frank in the Charleston City Paper
• Review in the Denver Post