Anna Quindlen's Every Last One Threw Me a Curveball I Just Couldn't Recover From

I hate to post in less than a week's time that I abandoned yet another book. I'm especially pained to admit that I stopped reading Anna Quindlen's latest novel Every Last One. And yet here I am, telling you exactly that. The truth is, my reading life is simply too full -- there are too many fabulous reads out in the vast space that is this world -- for me to spend time reading books I don't enjoy. So, after reading Every Last One more than halfway through (and loving it so much that I was up at 4am reading it), I stopped.

Mary Beth Latham is a wife of two decades, a mother of three teenagers, and the owner of a landscaping business. She narrates Every Last One with a wry, self-conscious manner that won me over from the first page. Although I've read other reviews which say the novel's opening chapters focused only the boring minutia of family life, I found her relating the family's activities an interesting way of introducing them.

Her children were not so different from me and my own brothers -- three siblings somehow born into one family, yet unique to each other in almost every way. Her oldest, like myself, is a girl: Ruby, whose interests are largely literary. During the summer months of the novel, Ruby has triumphed over an early-adolescent eating disorder and blossomed into a young lady poised confidently on the cusp of adulthood. She travels to a college campus after her junior year and attends a writing conference designed for high school students. Alex, one of the twin boys, is heavily into sports. He plays soccer and rugby, among other things, and tends to rate himself based on how the school paper portrays his athletic skills. Confident and friendly, he is everything his twin, Max, is not. Max is the quiet one, the more socially isolated of the three. Although he excels at intricate video games and playing complicated drum riffs, Mary Beth and husband Glen worry about his being depressed. He eventually goes to see a therapist who comes highly recommended.

The Lathams are a family like many; unique in some ways and boring in their sameness in others. A unique-for-our-times characteristic is their having stayed together. In a culture where divorce has risen to a higher rate than long-term marriage, the Lathams are an oddity because they have weathered storms and emerged, still intact, on the other side. Again, how like my own family this is; although many more than half of my friends' parents were divorced at some point or another, my own parents have stayed together for forty years. Quindlen painted a portrait of an American family that is, for me, a truth. A family with problems, both individual and as a group, yet a family that cares deeply for each other -- and for themselves as a whole, together.

It's not that I expected Every Last One to end in a typical, fictional happy ending. Quindlen is known for her harsh, reality-based portrayals of difficult and even violent issues within families. She examined infidelity and cancer in 1994's One True Thing, spousal abuse within a police officer's marriage in 1998's Black and Blue, and 9/11 (although in a round-about way) in 2006's Rise and Shine. I've read each of Quindlen's previous novels, as well as some of her non-fiction pieces, so I expected turmoil of some kind to appear within the novel's pages. However, narrator Mary Beth's musings about problems with neighbors, the death of another family's child, and her own guilt at employing Hispanic workers for low wages did not in any way warn me of what was to come in Every Last One.

I won't spoil the novel for those who will go on to read it. I will say simply that what occurred more than 200 pages into the novel shocked me so thoroughly that I had no desire whatsoever to continue reading. In fact, I would go so far as to say I was angry with Quindlen. While that is a completely irrational feeling (yes, I fully realize that Anna Quindlen did not have me in mind when she wrote and published Every Last One), it was still my strong reaction. I felt physically ill after reading what happened; I abandoned the novel with a thump onto the floor beside my bed. Others have reacted differently. To hear their views, browse through the list below:

• NPR.org's Jane Ciabattari
• Bibliophile By the Sea
• Bookmarks Magazine
• Tethered Mommy
• USA Today
• NY Times

Quindlen is the author of a long-running New York Times column, as well as a thoroughly enjoyable Newsweek column. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for her work in journalism, and her novel Black and Blue was an Oprah's Book Club pick.

I'm Famous! Well, Sort Of -- My "Getting Random With..." Interview on Reading with Tequila

Today Jennifer from Reading with Tequila: A bookworm with bite is featuring me and A Worn Path for her weekly "Getting Random With..." blogger interview. Past interviews have included random questions such as "What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?" and "When you were six years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?" For her unique-to-me questions and my (slightly crazy -- and for some reason, largely animal-related) answers, click on over. Readers can also enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card.

The Reading with Tequila book blog features Jennifer's opinions on an eclectic mix of reading material -- from Young Adult novels to mystery series to classic literature. Last week, she posted reviews on books as varied as 1st to Die from James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and the newly released and bestselling vampire novel The Passsage by Justin Cronin.

Jennifer warns that she doesn't actually advocate for reading with tequila in a literal sense. Rather, she states that "reading with tequila means reading with a relaxed, carefree attitude. Reading is exciting, it's soothing, it's something to anticipate highly and it should always be celebrated." Reading with Tequila constantly offers books and book-related items for giveaway, and Jennifer is currently sponsoring a Read-a-long featuring Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which goes through August 12th.

My sincere thanks to Jennifer for having me today. Don't forget to sign up to win that Amazon gift card!

Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 11 Weeks -- Spotlight on Author Lee Smith

Of all the writers who will appear at this year's Southern Festival of Books on October 8-10, one of my favorites is the venerable Lee Smith. She is both a novelist and a writer of short fiction, having penned collections such as Me and My Baby View the Eclipse as well as novels like Fair and Tender Ladies.

It's no accident that I chose Fair and Tender Ladies as my example -- it is not only my favorite of Smith's novels, but one of my favorite books of all books. In fact, if I had to choose a list of books to take with me to a deserted island, it would most likely be towards the top. I've heard criticisms of the novel, but in all fairness, they should simply be discarded. When it comes to Smith's writing, critics may not get it -- especially if they're from the north rather than the south. One of her most amazing talents is her ear for the vernacular, for the accent and cadence of speech in the common man (or woman, as the case may be). Her main character in Fair and Tender Ladies is Ivy Rowe, and the form the novel takes is an epistolary novel written entirely in letters from Ivy to loved ones -- her parents, siblings, a pen pal, her teacher. It is grammatically incorrect and full of typos --  just as the little-educated Ivy would have actually written (you know -- were she actually a living person rather than a fictional character).

Some lines from Fair and Tender Ladies:

• "I take an interest in Love because I want to be in Love one day and write poems about it, do you? But I do not want to have a lot of babys thogh. . . . So it is hard to think what to do. My momma was young and so pretty when she come riding up Sugar Fork, but she does not look pretty now, she looks awful, like her face is hanted, she has had too much on her. Too much to contend with she says" (15).
• "I love it when it rains, it is like a hundred million horses running on top of my head, it is like the Charge of the Ligt Brigade on this old tin roof. . . . I love my room. . . . I can go to the winder and push back my gauzy curtin and look out over all the town. It is mine, I say to myself then" (88).
• "Momma took one step closer. She looked real little. Ivy, you listen to me, she said. I am your mother. But she looked more like the ghost of our mother. And the way she looked put me in mind of how she used to look up on Sugar Fork, how she went up on Pilgrim Knob and stood out in the snow and said, I am a fool for love" (123).
• "I remember Daddy saying, Farming is pretty work. And when Oakley kisses me, it seems like I can hear Daddy saying, Slow down, slow down now, Ivy. This is the taste of spring" (177).

If that doesn't make you want to rush out and find a copy of Fair and Tender Ladies -- or anything by Lee Smith -- I don't know what will.

Smith has just published a collection of new and selected stories titled Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger. I'm a little more than halfway through it (in only a day or two of reading), so I'm sure you can guess that a review will be soon forthcoming. This collection of stories is every bit as fabulous as everything else she has done.

One of my favorite bookish memories is of traveling to Oxford's Conference for the Book in 2004 to hear Lee Smith read while Karren Pell and the Reckon Crew performed various songs inspired by Fair and Tender Ladies. I bought the CD of their songs, which I later played until I knew them by heart. Whatever the format, Smith is sure to be an excellent addition to the Southern Festival of Books events this year.

Remember to check their website from time to time for updates on the Festival, and to follow them on Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

Two Fantastic Reads I Just Couldn't Finish... For Now, Anyway

During the past couple of weeks, I've abandoned two excellent books: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann and The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller. Miller I've read in the past and really enjoyed; her 2008 release The Senator's Wife was one of my favorites from that year. McCann I had never heard of, but with the publication of and subsequent praise for Let the Great World Spin -- not to mention his winning the National Book Award -- he's practically become a household name. Well, in the book world, anyway.

Let the Great World Spin is the story of the man who high-wire walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center buildings on August 7, 1974, an act also captured in the award-winning documentary Man on Wire.

The Lake Shore Limited relates the lives of four people involved in a play about a terrorist attack on the train the Lake Shore Limited, an actual Amtrak route which runs daily between Chicago and Albany, New York. Although technically the play focuses on this fictional attack, the novel's characters harbor strong ties to the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.

Both stories are related through various narrative voices, with The Lake Shore Limited divided into distinct and labeled sections (i.e., "Leslie," and "Rafe"). Let the Great World Spin takes a decidedly different approach, with sections focused on characters who remain unnamed until well into each section. Both are beautifully written pieces of fiction drawn from American history. Miller and McCann execute characters and relate tales with the utmost ease. Why, then, could I not finish these books?

I think the answer is simple: I couldn't find any joy in either book, or in reading them. The prose was pitch-perfect, characters finely drawn on the page. But their lives were so miserable, with no joy to follow such misery. Even the small pieces of almost-joy (Rafe and Billy's night together in The Lake Shore Limited, or the good works done by priest John Corrigan in the ghettos of New York in Let the Great World Spin), pale in comparison to the overriding themes of loss and despair. I want to believe that both novels eventually come to be much more about hope than about loss, but I simply couldn't find it within myself to continue reading either one in order to find out.

Even more true, probably, is that I can't believe that almost a decade has passed since 9/11. Perhaps because I was still in college and in a formative place in my life, or perhaps because until that point my world had been an America free from war and with little loss of life, but whatever the reason, the terrorist attacks of that day continue to remain part of me in a way little else in the world is, or has been. I knew no one involved personally in those attacks, and I have never lived within several hundreds of miles of the places where they occurred. But I still can't bring myself to watch or read anything relating to that day. To me, it's just a bit too soon and too close -- even nine years later. Maybe one day I will be able to pick up The Lake Shore Limited and Let the Great World Spin and appreciate them for what I'm sure they are -- exemplary pieces of literature that document and provide insight into important events. For now, I need more distance.

Uncharted TerriTORI Offers Another Entertaining Episode From Reality Star Tori Spelling's Life

I've been a fan of Tori Spelling since my senior year of high school, when I began watching Beverly Hills, 90210 and started a love affair that would last -- well, until now. My hours watching the 1990s teen drama are vastly reduced now, but there was a time when I watched it every week when a new episode aired, then in following years when reruns came on every morning and every afternoon -- for two hours each time. Ah, the days when FX and Soap Network were part of my life... To this day, if I happen to be home at a time when it's playing, I'm still likely to pause for a little while to see which episode is on. Is it early, when Brenda was still in an on-again/ off-again relationship with Dylan? Or later in the series, when Tiffani-Amber Theissen or Vanessa Marcil entered the picture? I'm pretty confident there isn't an episode of 90210 I haven't seen. Donna Martin wasn't necessarily my favorite character, but she was a constant, and the show wouldn't have been the same without her.

As an aside, she also starred in one of my all-time favorite, but mostly-unknown, flicks -- the Jackie O. inspired The House of Yes.

When she and newlywed husband Dean McDermott began filming their first season of Tori & Dean: Inn Love, I couldn't wait to see what Tori Spelling's real life was like... er, I mean, her "reality" life. I remember watching that season in amazement as Tori and Dean cooked, cleaned, and worked their way towards running an actual inn with actual guests. And then, of course, there was her pregnancy. I could hardly wait to see her little one. Since that first season, the McDermott-Spelling household has seen many changes, with not one but two mini-McDermotts running around now. The show's name changed from Inn Love to Home Sweet Hollywood, and the family moved from deep southern California back to Los Angeles, and has seen at least one or two L.A. neighborhood moves since then.

In uncharted terriTORI, the reality star's third memoir, Tori continues telling her side of the story. Although disappointed by a couple of overlap recollections (I've watched every episode of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood -- I didn't need a season five recap), overall the book was exactly what I expected, and exactly what I wanted. More Tori, more Dean, and more little Monkey (Liam) and Buggy (Stella). In this book, Tori discusses her own difficulties in being not only a wife, mother, and self-professed workaholic, but also herself. She recalls her attempts to heal her constant headaches and stomach troubles by one holistic and traditional healer after another. After undergoing past-life therapy, voodoo rituals, and hospitalization at Cedars-Sinai, she finally finds a sense of calm in an energist's office. Only she has the power to force self-growth and find peace, she realizes.

Sometimes goofy (I mean, really -- she and Dean were married in a past life and he killed her, prompting their current marital problems in this life?), but always down-to-earth and "real," uncharted terriTORI is Tori Spelling not only as she wants everyone else to see her, but as she really is: successful, hardworking, loving, and above all -- uncertain. But trying hard. Really, really hard. Tabloids and naysayers both spread lies and report truths better left private, but her series of memoirs has given Tori a chance to speak for herself. uncharted terriTORI is another honest attempt to communicate with fans and offer explanation for so many things. I've enjoyed them all thoroughly, as I enjoy her reality show each season. But Tori Spelling owes me no explanations; I like her just as she is -- quirky, funny, beautiful, family-oriented, and stylish.

Tori Spelling, on the path her newest book took during the writing process:

Arcadia Falls Returns Carol Goodman to Upstate New York and the Gothic World of Fine Art & Academia

Carol Goodman is known for her gothic, fictional portraits of academia. Her latest release, Arcadia Falls, is no exception. The novel begins as Meg Rosenthal and her daughter Sally travel from their over-sized, suburban home in Great Neck, New York, to the small upstate town of Arcadia. Meg lost her husband Jude last year, and neither she nor Sally has yet dealt with their grief. The two move so that Meg can take a teaching job at a private fine arts boarding school just outside of town called Arcadia Falls. Meg has been working on her doctoral thesis, which examines the literature and artwork of the school's founders, Vera Beecher and Lily Eberhardt. Vera and Lily wrote and illustrated now-out-of-print children's books, particularly fairy tales --the primary focus of Meg's research.

The mother-daughter pair enters the grounds of Arcadia Falls with an already strained relationship; Sally spends most of her time with ear buds inserted and iPod on. Their move from suburban mall-topia to middle-of-nowhere upstate New York does little to mend their bond. Meg hopes she and Sally can find some common ground, and that Sally will renew her interest in drawing. Sally soon takes up with a small circle of friends at the school, but rather than bringing her closer to her mother, it seems to have the opposite affect. She requests a move into a free spot in the dorms with her friends, and Meg feels unable to deny her this opportunity to fit in.

Soon after the Rosenthals move to Arcadia, Meg begins to sense something sinister shrouding the school grounds. Goodman employs descriptive writing to effectively create an atmosphere that is rich with foreboding. As the novel progresses, the reader has an increasingly heightened sense of suspense. While the novel illustrates many traits of an old-fashioned thriller/ mystery, Goodman includes a great deal of art- and literature-related references that push Arcadia Falls to a higher level than most books in the mystery genre. What results is an intelligently written, sufficiently creepy novel with plot twists and turns that keep the reader guessing how things will be resolved.

Another effective method Goodman uses in Arcadia Falls is the novel-within-a-novel technique. She includes within the text a private journal of Lily Eberhardt's in its entirety, as well as one of the fairy tales Lily and Vera Beecher published. Both the journal entries and the story "The Changeling" provide subplots, but also add to the larger story. Meg's research requires her to find any and all resources of information about the two artists, but their story becomes intertwined with the current residents of Arcadia Falls, as well. "The Changeling" not only provides clues about the school and founders' history, but is also presented within the novel as a beloved family fairy tale for Meg as a young girl, and later for Sally.

Other trusted reviews of the novel:

• A Life in Books
• S. Krishna's Books
• Linus's Blanket
  

Sima's Undergarments for Women Paints a Moving Portrait of a Woman Who Discovers the Meaning of Love After 40 Years of Marriage

Reading Ilana Stanger-Ross's debut novel Sima's Undergarments for Women is an exercise in anxiety, primarily because the reader is so thoroughly immersed in main character Sima Goldner's uncertain, self-conscious thoughts. Sima is one of the most skillfully developed characters to enter the world of fiction in a long time. Stanger-Ross writes in third-person narrative, but the novel's voice is so completely Sima's that it seems as though she narrates herself. The marginal distance third-person point of view gives the author allows the reader to see Sima both as she sees herself and as others see her.

Sima is timid is many ways, but she has found her place in her own shop -- Sima's Undergarments for Women -- located in the basement of the Brooklyn home where she and husband Lev reside. She floats along, slightly dissatisfied but unwilling to change, for many years -- until a young Israeli woman enters her store and flips Sima's world upside down. For childless Sima, the energetic Timna is a breath of fresh air. The beautiful girl offers Sima a chance to care for and enjoy a young person. However, Timna is an independent spirit with dreams and a life of her own, as well as a mother back in Israel. The lessons Sima learns through their friendship cross over into Sima's relationship with her husband, and ultimately her ability to love -- even to love herself.

Stanger-Ross delves deep into Sima's psyche, as well as the history of her marriage, in this novel. It is not an action-packed or plot-driven book, but rather a character study expertly executed. Some reviewers have expressed dismay at the lack of any one climatic moment in the novel, but in my view it proceeded exactly as it should have -- with the primary focus on Sima, rather than on any revelations surrounding Timna. While Timna provides the perfect foil to Sima's character, actions on her part are purely secondary to the interior thoughts and decisions made by Sima.

Ilana Stanger-Ross writes her own blog discussing all things Sima, as well as her recent completion of midwifery school.

In this video, Ilana Stanger-Ross shows readers around Brooklyn and discusses her inspiration for the novel:

For further opinions about the novel, see reviews from these book blogs & websites:

• Book a Week with Jen
• Bibliophile By the Sea
• Entertainment Weekly
• Book Addiction

Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 12 Weeks

I've spent my time during the last week doing exactly what I said I would do -- researching the author list from the Southern Festival of Books for this fall. Each Monday, I'll be writing a Festival-related post: authors who will be attending the Festival, books by those authors, or general Festival information posts. To follow my post last week introducing the Festival and pretty much gushing over how excited I am by it each year, this week I'm giving you a sampling of the authors who will be at the Festival.

My "definitely-want-to-see" list:

• Jefferson Bass -- The writing duo of journalist Jon Jefferson and forensic anthropologist Dr. William Bass has written the Body Farm series of mystery novels, but they have also written two non-fiction books. The first, Death's Acre, relates the Body Farm's beginnings. Their second, Beyond the Body Farm, takes a look at real cases Dr. Bass investigated during his tenure at the University of Tennessee and examines current police procedures as they relate to science. I've seen Dr. Bass speak (at a previous SFB held in Memphis), and while his slides are disturbing -- think bodies in various states of decay -- his information is captivating.
• Sonny Brewer: The writer and anthologist returns with a new anthology of southern writing, titled The Railroad as Art. Brewer states that it will focus on writers and their (previous) day jobs. Included in the not-yet-released book are pieces from southern geniuses such as: John Grisham, Pat Conroy, Cassandra King, Rick Bragg, Silas House, Connie May Fowler, Daniel Wallace, Joshilyn Jackson, Lee Smith, and more.
• Tom Franklin: There's nothing I love more than southern literary fiction and mysteries. Put the two together, and you almost always have a winner. Franklin's newest novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter combines the two genres in what sounds like an exceptional way. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.
• Susan Gregg Gilmore: I saw Gilmore speak a few years ago at the SFB when her first novel Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was released. She was hilarious, and I bought the book purely on the premise that such a strong personality had to produce a similarly-wondrous book. I wasn't disappointed, and I'm excited about reading Gilmore's latest novel, The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove. Hopefully, Gilmore's session at SFB will include a Sip 'n See, a southern tradition that she recently described on The Book Lady's Blog.
• Amy Greene: Her debut novel Bloodroot tells the story of an Appalachian family through four generations. The novel was chosen as an Amazon Best Books of the Month selection in January 2010.
• Holly LeCraw: Her debut novel The Swimming Pool sounds like beach reading at its best. The setting is Cape Cod, although LeCraw's own family vacationed at the South Carolina coast. In the novel, LeCraw takes her experiences as an adult summering on the Cape and juxtaposes a southerner's view of "the beach" as a tropical paradise versus the chilly, windy place that is the Northeast coast. The premise -- a family saga full of extramarital affairs and death -- is right up my alley. Not only that, but all the reviews I've read have been glowing.
  
• Jill McCorkle: Her latest story collection is titled Going Away Shoes. I'm currently reading it in a cabin in the woods in the Cherokee National Forest. Fitting, if you ask me, considering McCorkle's knack for making literature out of the ordinary Southern life.
• Lee Smith: The great author of one of my favorite novels, Fair and Tender Ladies, will undoubtedly be the focus of one of my later Countdown to SFB posts. She has written many novels and short stories set in the South. Her latest release is a short story collection titled Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger.

Also excited about:

• Bryan Batt: The actor from the award-winning A&E show Mad Men has written a memoir about his childhood in New Orleans, titled She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother. Reviews are good, and I'm always in for anything relating to my favorite city.
• Melanie Benjamin: I haven't read her novel Alice I Have Been, but with all the hype over Tim Burton's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, it's not surprising it has done well. Benjamin researched Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and the real-life Alice Liddell, who served as his inspiration for the Alice stories. Benjamin reportedly does an excellent job of blending fact with fiction in this novel (which I plan to read prior to the SFB in October).
• Marshall Chapman: The songwriter turned book author returns to the world of non-fiction with the music-inspired They Came to Nashville. Chapman includes stories from various Nashville music artists written as she pursued a career in music journalism. Included are stories from Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Miranda Lambert, and Willie Nelson, among others.
  
• Adam Ross: His writing debut Mr. Peanut is a southern mystery that's been praised by Stephen King. Ross is a former Nashville Scene employee who teaches at Harpeth Hall in Nashville, a pre-literary-world life which he discussed in an interview in the Scene in June 2010.
  

The Southern Festival of Books will take place October 8-10 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Celebrating To Kill a Mockingbird

I would be remiss in my mission to discuss great southern literature if I did not mention Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird this week, as the novel celebrates its 50th anniversary. In my header I state that it is my goal to "devour books and information in order to find 'such a thing in the world' that will last 'the whole enduring time'" -- phrases borrowed from Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" and my blog's namesake. Lee's masterpiece exemplifies that phrase; it has been translated into 40 languages and has never been out of print since its first publication on July 11, 1960.

Although her novel has been a bestseller for 50 years, it remains Lee's solitary publication. She spent the years immediately following its release granting interviews and traveling for events relating to the book. The book and Lee herself received much critical acclaim and many honors, perhaps the most prestigious of which was the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. In 1964, Lee removed herself from the spotlight and became somewhat of a recluse, at least in terms of speaking about Mockingbird.

My beautiful friend Nicole Worzek had the exceptional experience of having dinner with the great author during a trip to New York City several years ago. She had gone to the city for the summer to fulfill a lifelong dream to spend time there, seeing sights and experiencing New York City at its best. She rented a room in a New York brownstone, from a wonderful family who welcomed her into their home with open arms. One evening near the end of her stay, one of the children asked the mother if she thought their guest would like meeting "Nelle." The mother agreed, and soon after, my friend was getting ready to go to dinner with the family. "Nelle," actually the author's first name, turned out to be none other than the exceptional Harper Lee of Mockingbird fame.

I asked Nicole for every detail in countless re-tellings of the dinner recounted in the weeks and months after her return. She was remarkably low-key about her experience, perhaps in acknowledgment of Lee's wish to remain a private person. Nevertheless, that dinner was doubtlessly a high point not only of her time in New York, but also in her life. What book lover would not relish the idea of an evening spent with this beloved author?

Harper Lee was born in 1926 in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, and lived next door to In Cold Blood writer Truman Capote. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the United States in 2007 for her contributions in literature. She has written an unfinished novel, reportedly titled The Long Goodbye, and also began but did not complete a non-fiction book centered around a serial killer. To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated onto the silver screen in the 1962 movie of the same name, as well as in a play performed in Lee's hometown since 1990.

Southern Festival of Books Countdown Begins

The Southern Festival of Books is by far one of my favorite weekends of the year. For one thing, it usually falls on my birthday weekend. For another, it is a book lover's dream. Years past have brought southern literary masters such as Clyde Edgerton, Kaye Gibbons, Lee Smith, Rick Bragg, Kathryn Stockett, and Silas House. I've gone every year since high school with only a couple of exceptions.

Each summer I wait with excitement for Humanities Tennessee's first publishing of the author list for that October's festival. The author list was posted today, and includes many authors I'm excited about. Last year festival organizers held a Twitter contest in the weeks leading up to the event. They've already been busy on the social network this year sharing recent stories in the media and listing food vendors confirmed for the event.

Between now and then I will spend hours researching the authors, reading their books, and whittling down my list of must-attend events. Each Monday between now and the event I've decided to share a Southern Festival of Books post reviewing a book by a SFB author, spotlighting a particular author's career, or focusing on an aspect of the festival. I can't wait to attend SFB 2010, and I hope you'll consider visiting Nashville for this bookish event, whose purpose is to "celebrate the written word."

The Stormchasers Likens Extreme Weather to Bipolar Disorder

Jenna Blum's newest novel The Stormchasers relates the story of fraternal twins Karena and Charles Hallingdahl. Estranged for twenty years, Karena receives a phone call one day from a hospital that is treating her brother for anxiety attacks. Karena leaves her life in the Twin Cities to travel to Kansas to see her brother, so long missing from their family. However, by the time she arrives Charles has been discharged from the hospital and is gone once again. Karena explains to the doctor who treated Charles that anxiety is not her twin's primary diagnosis. Rather, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder decades ago and refused treatment prior to his disappearance.

Karena's only knowledge of her brother's interests -- at least twenty years ago -- lies in the dangerous hobby of storm chasing. Desperate to see him and terrified of the affect the anti-anxiety medications Charles has been prescribed might have on his manic symptoms, Karena decides to join a storm chasing tour group under the guise of writing an article for the Minneapolis newspaper where she works. Karena falls for a guide on the tour, who has a long history in the storm chasing world, and who has met Karena's brother. Will Karena find her brother, and what will happen if she does?

Blum sections the novel into three distinct parts -- the adventurous and suspense-filled storm chasing tour, then a mid-book flashback to 1988 when the twins turned 18 and faced adulthood, and finally a return to the present with the novel's denouement. The flashback threw me for a loop initially. I so enjoyed Blum's introductory pages, that I was stunned by the switch to, not just scenes from, but an entire section devoted to the twins' teenage selves. However, upon reflection I feel that the flashback and background story were an absolute necessity. Blum's transition was a bit too abrupt, but after a few pages I was once again entranced by her writing and deeply involved in the twins' 18-year-old issues.

Bipolar disorder is an oft-discussed but highly misunderstood mental health diagnosis. Many people still think of and refer to bipolar disorder by its former name: manic depression. Having worked for several years in the mental health field, I was initially skeptical about an author's ability to translate the disorder realistically onto the page. Movies depict bipolar disorder as many things it is not, and a fictional book struck me as one more way the illness could be skewed for the public. However, as Blum states in the video interview below, she has personal experience with the disorder -- people in her life who have been diagnosed with this illness. Blum's words carry with them a truthfulness when she describes Charles's symptoms: days at a time without sleep, psychosis with auditory and visual hallucinations, grandiose thoughts and ideas. Each person diagnosed with bipolar disorder's experience is different, but Blum does an excellent job of describing at least some of the symptoms individuals with the disorder face.

The novel is an extended metaphor of sorts -- Blum uses big storms as a way of discussing bipolar disorder. As she states in the interview below, bipolar disorder is sometimes described as an "electrical storm" within the brain, occurring when there is an abnormality in brain circuit structures and/or functions. The lightning of storms is similar to the misfiring of neurons that researchers hypothesize happens in the brains of those diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The disorder also is known for its cyclic patterns, both long and short. These cycles are mimicked by the tornadoes in the book. Blum describes Charles's initial diagnosis as cyclothymia, a slightly milder version of bipolar. The word obviously has links to the root word for cyclone, an alternate word for circular storms like tornadoes.

Blum conducted years of research while writing The Stormchasers, including going on several storm chasing tours with the Tempest Tours group based in Texas. Storm chasing is not an invented hobby, but rather a serious method of research that scientists and meteorologists employ in the study of storms. The National Association of Storm Chasers and Spotters, headed by famous chaser Warren Faidley, partners with The Weather Channel and other media outlets to help alert the public during dangerous weather outbreaks. Discovery Channel also has a reality show which depicts the lives of chasers as they follow storms that pop up on the Great Plains, called Storm Chasers.

Watch an interview with the Jenna Blum on the path that led her to write The Stormchasers:

I had the opportunity to read this novel after winning it in a book giveaway on Mari Partyka's book blog Bookworm with a View. Check out her review of the novel and a Q&A with the author.

By a Spider's Thread Describes a Wounded Tess and the World of Orthodox Judaism

An Orthodox Jewish woman goes missing, her three children in tow. Soon, Tess Monaghan is on the case, hired by the woman's furrier husband. Very conscious about both his business image and his religious beliefs, Mark Ruben refuses to pursue divorce -- the only option which would allow him to fight for custody of his children and spur law enforcement into action. Despite evidence to the contrary, he refuses to believe his wife left him willingly. Rather, he maintains the belief that she has fled under duress. The police see no signs of foul play, and no charges are filed. Enter Tess, whose online network of female private investigators across the country proves handy in the search for the missing Natalie, son Isaac, and the couple's twins.

I've read several of Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan novels. By a Spider's Thread is another winning entry in this Baltimore-area series. Lippman provides readers with details of Tess's life, especially regarding her relationship with the now-absent Crow, but also manages to create an almost-stand-alone novel, as well. Large sections of the prose are dedicated to Isaac, the Rubens' older son. He longs for his father and despises his mother's partner-in-crime, Zeke. Through narration focused on him, the reader is a spectator not only for Tess's investigation, but also for the missing family's actions. As Mark Ruben describes his wife to Tess, the reader has already been introduced to Natalie and is therefore privy to some of her less-than-savory characteristics.

Lippman handles the world of Orthodox Judaism with great skill, describing holidays and practices which might be foreign to some readers. She also delves into the prison system, looking at both the positive influence of outside charitable groups, as well as the dark criminal breeding grounds prisons often become.

The audiobook version of this novel was read by a female narrator with a pleasant voice filled with (appropriate, not over-the-top) emotion. It was a pleasure both to listen to her and to return momentarily to Tess's world.

Lippman is the author of ten Tess Monaghan novels, of which By a Spider's Thread is the eighth. She has also written several stand-alone novels which have earned much acclaim. While a wonderful writer, she is a bit of an odd bird, as you might discover by trying to read her biography on her own website. Her husband David Simon is the creator and executive producer of the award-winning Baltimore-area HBO series The Wire. Many consider it one of the best shows in the history of television. I'm not sure about that, but it definitely makes sense to me that Lippman and the show's creator are husband and wife.

Free to a Good Home Shows That Coming-of-Age Can Happen at Any Stage of Life

Eve Marie Mont's debut novel Free to a Good Home introduces veterinary tech Noelle Ryan, a woman whose life has been flipped upside down. Noelle's marriage began as the stuff dreams are made of, but it began to crumble when she had difficulty getting pregnant. Then her husband Jay left her -- for a man. Now Noelle is stuck in an in-between kind of place, still enamored with her unattainable former husband, living in a rental house, and working harder each day for no increase in salary. Her primary companion is Zeke, her Great Dane rescue dog -- always there for her, but lacking in the conversation department. And her favorite pastime -- browsing the House For Sale ads -- only reminds her of everything she doesn't have.

Jay is the worst kind of ex a woman can have -- just kind enough to keep Noelle hanging on, taking her to dinner for her birthday, finding little ways to stay in her life and not sever the tie between them. But as the book goes on, Jay shows his true nature, his self-centeredness that is evident to everyone but Noelle. First, he asks Noelle to help care for his mother who has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Later, he refuses to travel from his new Atlanta bachelor pad back to Rhode Island when his mother is hospitalized. Finally, he asks Noelle to make a sacrifice for him that will change her life -- and prevent her from ever moving on.

Meanwhile, Noelle's life is pushing her to change at every turn, much to her chagrin. She meets a gorgeous, younger musician named Jasper who is as determined to get to know her as she is to keep her distance from him. And her relationship with Jay's mother, Margaret, grows into a friendship neither of them expected. In addition to her personal life, Noelle also begins to make changes at the animal shelter where she works, and to breathe new life into the programs there.

Arcing throughout the novel are several themes which Mont examines with grace: the timeless coming-of-age tale, no matter how old you might be; the difficulties of procreation and the pain of infertility; and the complicated dynamics that exist in every family. Mont forces Noelle into making difficult but realistic choices, capturing the reader's attention along the way.

The form the novel takes makes for an interesting and easy progression; rather than dividing the book into chapters, Mont chose to section it by months, from December of one year to December of the next. This allows readers to view Noelle from season to season, and as she herself progresses throughout that year. In the year-long span, Mont also describes secondary characters and their maturing during those twelve months. One of the most endearing minor characters is Noelle's brother Nick, whose year would make for an interesting story on its own -- he goes from unemployed and living with their parents to responsible adulthood during the novel's time frame.

According to an interview with Mont on the Free Book Friday blog, she is currently working on a Young Adult novel. With years of experience as a high school English teacher, I'm sure she has plenty of teenage inspiration to help her devise an excellent YA novel!

Win your own copy of Free to a Good Home on the book giveaway website Free Book Friday this Friday, July 9th; there are three copies up for grabs, so your chances are pretty good! Peeking Between the Pages also has a guest post and giveaway. For a sneak peek of the novel, visit Mont's own website, where the author is also hosting a Book Club giveaway in honor of the novel's release and National Pet Adoption month.