End of Watch: Stephen King wraps up his latest series

I'll confess that I'm not one of those readers who gobbles up everything Stephen King writes. In fact, the first novel of his I read was Misery, back during the Iran Contra hearings on television while I was home with a new baby. I liked his writing, but there were so many books on my list, I didn't get hooked.

Then I read his excellent book on writing. It was one of those most borrowed (or stolen) from my classroom book shelf. After November 22, 1963, I had to admit that King was as varied as he was prolific.

Then I started Mr. Mercedes. I don't know what led me to choose this one--in audio at the library, but I immediately loved Hodges, the retired detective at the center of the story and Jerome and Holly, the unlikely sidekicks he picks up along the way to solving the horrific City Center event when a driver plowed into a huge crowd of people camping out at an employment fair. When Finders, Keepers, the sequel came out, I was on the waiting list again. I loved the technologically challenged, aging detective, his partner, the socially inept but computer savvy Holly and Jerome, originally the teenager who does Hodges' yard work, but eventually tackles his computer issues.

With the publication of the final book in the trilogy, King made an appearance in Nashville. The event tickets were snapped up in four minutes. I didn't get any. But I happened into the library when the book was on the "Lucky Day" shelf--new releases available for 14 days only.

In this book, the Mr. Mercedes killer is still in the brain damage ward of the local hospital, but Hodges' partners have stages in intervention, convincing him to quit visiting Brady Hartsfield, whom he suspects is faking to avoid prosecution. When one of the seriously injured City Center victims and her mother are found dead of apparent suicide, Hodges' former partner, about to retire himself, calls him in for his opinion.

The novel that results balances 95% realism with that 5% creepy supernatural King does so well. Using retro handheld game devices, someone (Hodges suspects Hartsfield) is setting off a rash of successful and attempted suicides.

I was glad I kept reading through the epilogue and acknowledgments, where King points out to readers that while the story is fiction, suicide is real and serious. He provides the suicide hotline number and encouragement for anyone considering suicide to give things time to get better because, as he points out, they eventually do.

While I felt the ticking of the clock as I power read the book, trying to finish it in time to return it to the library for the next lucky reader, I lost myself in a well-told story. I'm missing Hodges and his friends already.

End of Watch: Stephen King wraps up his latest series

My List of 12 Southern Writers

As I mentioned in my last post, I was motivated by Dannye Romine Powell's column to come up with my own suggestion of a dozen works by Southern writers I would recommend to book clubs (or anyone interested in a good Southern read.) The biggest challenge was deciding which book to select, once I'd chosen my author. For some I chose the most familiar, as a kind of sampler platter to encourage reading deeper in their list:

1. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird  This is one book I can read and re-read. It makes me laugh and

     cry. I love Scout and Jem and Atticus. For anyone who loves the book, rather than sending you on 

     to Go Set the Watchman, I'd suggest Truman Capote's wonderful short story "Christmas Memory"

 2.  Flannery O’Connor, Revelation” (short story) I loved teaching all of O'Connor's short stories, but 

     this one in particular does what she does best: shock us with the absurd behavior of her characters

     a split second before we recognize a bit of ourselves in them.

 3.  Eudora Welty, “Why I Live at the P.O.” (short story)  The only thing better than reading this story 

     is to listen to a recording of the author reading it! 

 4. Ernest Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying One of my teacher friends told her students this is one book

     everyone needs to read to be fully human. I can't say I disagree.

 5. Clyde Edgerton, Walking Across Egypt After I read this book (and laughed until I hurt when        

      Mattie Riggsby gets stuck in the chair), I read everything else he wrote. I still do.

 6. Ron Rash, “Hard Times” (short story)  I love everything Ron Rash writes--his novels, his poetry,

     but his short stories are pitch perfect. This one is the first story in his collection Burning Bright.      

     It's a good introduction to his writing. Then start at the beginning of his novels, One Foot in Eden

      and then the poetry.

 7.  Clyde Gurganus, The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All  This sprawling novel took me a 

     while to read. Then it stuck in my head. Forever.  

 8. Donald Davis, “A Different Drummer” (short story) Davis is known for his storytelling and, 

     indeed, the best way to experience his stories is to hear him deliver them. This one from Listening

     for the Crack of Dawn is, hands down, my favorite.

 9. Tony Earley, Jim, the  Boy  This book with a young protagonist was just a perfect novel to me.

      When I read it, I had just read another book with a similar setting and young main character,

      written by a much more famous writer. This book blew that one out of the water. In my favorite

      scene, the boys uncles get him to sneak out of the house with them to watch the first electric lights 

      come on in their town.  I also LOVE the Jack Tale at the end of Mr. Tall, and I want to talk to 

      someone else who has read it.

10. Charles Frasier, Cold Mountain This is my all-time favorite book to teach in class. I read it first as 

      a reader, just for the story. Then I read it again to see the craft he used to put the story together. I

      re-read it along with my students year after year and never tired of it.

11.  Rick Bragg, All Over but the Shoutin'  I keep giving this one away to friends to read. I read Ava's

      Man first and loved it. I'm glad I got to this one too. 

12. Pat Conroy, Prince of Tides   I love all of Conroy's big, wordy novels, but this one I read first.

      I went on to read them all--Beach Music, The Great Santini, Lords of Discipline, The Water Is

      Wide. I'm sad there won't be any more.

I could start right now thinking of other Southern writers and books I should have included. I should tell you the ones to watch for:  Shari Smith', Susan Yergler-Bradburn, Wiley Cash, Ann Patchet, and lots more appearing soon at a bookstore near you!

My List of 12 Southern Writers

Southern Literature Challenge

I just saw a post "My Assignment: Pick 12 Southern Writers" from Dannye Romine Powell, poet and long-time columnist for the Charlotte Observer, announcing that she had been asked by a by a local book club to recommend works by Southern writers. She shares her list, which includes some works I've read (such as Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" which came up in a conversation I had today) some works I haven't read by authors I have (Josephine Humphreys, for example), and others with which I was unfamiliar.

She finishes with a mention of a short list of writers she'd omitted--in this particular list at least: William Faulkner, Walker Percy, Pat Conroy.

Anyone knows--Powell knows--such list a highly debatable. Isn't that what makes them fun? I'm going to take a day or two for my own list I would have assigned to the same request, but I'd love to hear yours.

Southern Literature Challenge

Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children: It's All about Timing

Readers may be as tired of hearing about my move as I am of the process itself, but the ongoing experience of unpacking and the discovery that results has provided opportunity to muse on certain life concepts. The biggest challenge centers first on what to keep, what to give or throw away; now, though, I am making decisions about what to leave stored in boxes and what to place within reach. I came across a Pampered Chef ice shaver I've had for years and used just once--just in time to entertain my grandsons who are visiting for the week.

Now that I have a few sets of book shelves installed in what can still be called "the box room," I have made the hard decisions about which books earn a spot. Do I shelve the ones I have read and loved, the ones to which I return as references, or the ones I hope to read next? I did a little of all three.

As I finished one book and selected another, in this case for a trip to the beach, I came across Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a book that I've owned since its publication. I came across it at the NCTE annual convention, where I often discovered good books. I'll confess, I judged the book by its cover. I was drawn to the old black and white photograph of the little girl who, on close observation, appears to be levitating.

The book starts far from the home mentioned in the title, as Jacob, sixteen-year-old boy, responds to a frantic call from his grandfather and finds him in the woods behind his house the victim of a deadly attack. In the aftermath, Jacob suffers from nightmares and spends time with a counselor.  Going through his grandfather's collection of letters and photographs, he is drawn to visit the English island where the man had been sent as a boy escaping the Nazis.

Once he and his father reach the isolated island, he finds himself moving back and forth in time, meeting all the "peculiar" children who lived in the home with his grandfather before the man chose to leave to fight against the German forces in WWII. At this point, author Ransom Riggs moves back and forth between realism and fantasy as Jacob is drawn into the challenge facing the children who have been living and reliving the same day the island was bombed by Nazi forces.

The conclusion begs for a sequel, and since I waited to read the book, I don't have to wait for the sequel to be written. I particularly look forward to the photographs, which I learned at the end of the book, are real photographs from several collections. My first instinct is to start looking for this kind of photos at antique stores. But then I'd have to find somewhere to store them.

Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children: It's All about Timing

LaRose: Louise Erdrich's New Tale of Families Entwined.

Since it's already June, I plan to play catch up posting about my summer reading so far. I'm going in reverse (or random) order though because I can't wait to discuss Louise Erdrich's latest novel, LaRose.

I've read lots of Erdrich's writing--novels and short stories--over the years. Several of her stories were in literature anthologies I taught. She writes the kind of Native American literature, like Sherman Alexie, that remains true to the culture while touching such universal cords.

One of the benefits of living in Nashville is the frequency of author readings. The Nashville Public Library presents Salon@615 regularly, with special thanks to Parnassus Books, the wonderful store author Ann Patchett owns with partner Karen Hayes. In May Erdrich appeared with author Jane Hamilton, another favorite of mine. Their tag-team reading, discussion, and Q&A were such fun.

I had already started reading LaRose, and her reading from a later chapter made me eager to get back to the book. The book opens with a tragic hunting accident by Landreaux Iron, killing the five-year-old son of his neighbor Peter Ravich and his wife, sister to Landreaux's wife Emmaline. Following "the old ways," the Irons bring their own five-year-old son LaRose to the Raviches, a trade that separates the two couples but brings their children closer.

This book demands a slow thoughtful read, particularly by anyone interested in writing, because of the deft way Erdrich handles the chronology of the tale. She moves back and forth, bringing in the story of the first LaRose in the family, one of a long line of family members with special gifts. She also weaves in the many secondary characters--Romeo, a ne'er-do-well with a grudge against Landreaux from their childhood; Maggie, the surviving child of the Raviches, full of anger toward her parents mingled with a need to watch and protect; the children in the Iron household; the reservation's elderly, many cared for by Landreaux.

Throughout the novel, Erdrich gives an unblinking look at the best and worst of life on and around the Ojibwa reservation and even a shocking piece by Frank Baum (of Ox fame) calling for the annihilation of Native American tribes.

As Jane Hamilton noted, Erdrich can deal with such serious topics while using such lovely humor in her works. Even the story's antagonists had a redeeming side. Like the old Shakespearean comedies, I hoped they achieved repentance rather than destruction. (Hamilton also noted Erdrich's skillful sex scenes.)

Without over distilling, I have to say this is a story of redemption and family. Each character was so carefully drawn and revealed, their back stories making clear their present characters. What results is a haunting story worth reading--and reading again.

LaRose: Louise Erdrich's New Tale of Families Entwined.

Bookshelf Quandary

After two and a half months at our new home, I have bookshelves. I spent yesterday unpacking boxes and trying to decide which ones earned a space, since I have a limit. I feel as if I were being reunited with old friends. Best of all, I am reaping a small reward for the time I spent packing the books.

I went about the packing process methodically: Books I Want to Read Next, Good Books I Want to Keep, Shakespeare (2 boxes), music books, Southern authors, humor, art, photography, scrapbooking, books on the Holocaust and the Vietnam war, books of poetry (I won't say how many boxes).  I have several boxes of my signed first editions, some of which I'd love to sell, some with which I'd never part. Packed in their own boxes, I have so many paperbacks, especially classroom classics.

I was surprised at the number of duplications (in part because people who know me tend to buy me books for gifts). Most of them I have put aside for other book lovers to whom I will pass them along. I have several books from my high school days, with "Nancy Coats" written on the inside front cover.

Since I also have small bookshelves in the rooms I have outfitted for the grandkids, I move books in there for them too--The Borrowers, the Little House books, Where the Red Fern Grows, the Narnia series, many of them books I read with my own children when they were small.

The decision-making gets tough when I have the shelves filled but I don't have the boxes empty.  I had at least one full box of Shakespeare left over, for example. Do I put away the books I have already read (at least once) and keep the "To Read" stack? Already I find myself opening up old favorites. With Mother's Day a day or so away, I found John McPhee's lovely essay "Silk Parachutes." I first read it in the New Yorker, prompting me to write him (and to get a letter in return.) I also found a copy of Christian Hymns No. 2 (the one with "Trust and Obey" on page 1.)

I know so many people who read exclusively on eReaders now or depend completely on the public library. I do both, but I have an ongoing relationship with my books. It's nice to give them a little fresh air.

Bookshelf Quandary

Still Bookin' It!

I realize I've been missing in action here for several weeks. If you've wondered where I've been lately, I have a simple alibi: I moved mid-February.  I haven't quit reading. Of course not. But I've spent far too much time unpacking boxes, along with a great deal of pleasant time exploring all there is to do in Nashville.

Through my college roommate Susan, we were invited to join a supper club, and one of the members asked if I wanted to join her book club. (Picture me smiling.) During the time I was in Hickory, my book club was composed of people who had known me before joining the group. Some knew each other, but they all knew me. We made up our own rules (and very few of those) as we went along, so we were low on structure.

On my first meeting with my new group, I arrived at the hostess's home in Franklin in a beautiful area of this charming town. I knew only Gail, and I had met her only twice, but I liked her already.  The rest of the group was diverse. One former book club member returned after a long absence, so I didn't feel like the only newbie. A couple were from South Africa and have arranged a trip for some of the group to go there this summer.

The book they had chosen for March was When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi. The story begins in Kabul, Afghanistan, told from the perspective of Fereiba, who loses her mother at  birth and is raised by her rather disconnected father and a self-centered  stepmother, who attempts to arrange a marriage for Fereiba that will be in the stepmother's own best interest.  Nevertheless, Fereiba ends up in a happy marriage where she blossoms until the Taliban brings about changes that eventually shatter her happy home, leaving her no choice but to take her three children and to flee her home country.

From this point, Hashimi moves back and forth from the perspective of Fereiba and her son Salem, forced to grow up quickly in order to help the family slip across borders into Turkey then Greece, until they are separated and have to make their way separately to England, where they hope to rejoin family who left while the Taliban's threat level was still low.

This beautifully told story is a stark reminder of the dangers and challenges that so many refugees face while fleeing war-torn countries. As the daily news presents the current wave of Syrian refugees in terms of massive numbers, Hashimi reminds readers of their humanity.

Just a couple of evenings before the book club met, I attended a concert by Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei at a local coffee shop. The show was free, but donations to Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE) were encouraged.  This group helps refugees in the resettlement process, finding work and educations, as well as addressing health concerns. I was once again reminded of the power of literature to encourage empathy through individuals' stories.

Still Bookin' It!