{You catch more flies with honey (and a bottle of Jack)}

In This Issue

• Southern Indie Bestsellers
• Lady Banks' Commonplace Book
• Book Gossip
• Author Gossip/ Stars Authors
• Bookstore Gossip
• The {book} trailer park
• Read This!/Okra Picks
• Special to the Southern List
• Authors Round the South

Special to the Southern List

(Books that appear on the Southern list, but not the national list)  Click on a book to purchase from a great indie bookstore!

Author Readings

Hope Hines, author of In Hines' Sight: The Ups, Downs, and Rebounds of 40 Years in Sports Broadcasting, will be appearing at Parnassus Books, 07/26/2012

Jennifer Arnold, author of Through A Dog's Eyes, will be appearing at Yawn's Books & More, 07/26/2012

Country Bookshop Inc is hosting the event Kathy McGougan and Buddy the Therapy Dog on 07/26/2012

Daniel Silva, author of The Fallen Angel, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 07/26/2012

Iris and Roy Johansen, author of Close Your Eyes, will be appearing at Inkwood Books, 07/26/2012

Quail Ridge Books & Music is hosting the event The Kickin' Grass Band on 07/26/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event Pre-School Story Time on 07/26/2012

Beth Hermes, author of Lightbearers: AWAKE, will be appearing at FoxTale Book Shoppe, 07/26/2012

Parnassus Books is hosting the event Summer story time with Nancy Van Camp on 07/26/2012

Rachel Reynolds, author of Four Seasons for Charlotte: A Parent's Year with Pediatric Cancer , will be appearing at Fountain Bookstore, 07/27/2012

Liza Klaussman, author of Tigers in Red Weather, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 07/27/2012

Margaret King, author of Y'all Twins?, will be appearing at Lorelei Books, 07/28/2012

Amy Kurland, author of The Bluebrid Cafe, will be appearing at Parnassus Books, 07/28/2012

Parnassus Books is hosting the event Jazz by the Book on 07/28/2012

City Lights Bookstore is hosting the event Special Children?s Story Time on 07/28/2012

Melinda Long, author of The Twelve Days of Christmas in South Carolina, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 07/28/2012

Musiq Soulchild, author of 143:Love According to Musiq, will be appearing at Eagle Eye Book Shop, 07/28/2012

Ashley Memory , author of Naked and Hungry, will be appearing at Union Avenue Books, 07/28/2012

Tami Lynne, author of Running the Moon, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 07/28/2012

Ronda Giangreco, author of The Gathering Table, will be appearing at Parnassus Books, 07/29/2012

Julie Williams, author of A Rare Titanic Family, will be appearing at Country Bookshop Inc, 07/29/2012

Philip Gerard, author of The Patron Saint of Dreams, will be appearing at Quail Ridge Books & Music, 07/29/2012

Philip and Judith Joy, author of Murder as a Call to Love, will be appearing at Park Road Books, 07/29/2012

Jose Baez, author of Presumed Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story , will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 07/30/2012

Jan-Philipp Sendker, author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, will be appearing at Page & Palette, 07/31/2012

Ryan Holiday, author of TRUST ME, I'M LYING: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, will be appearing at Octavia Books, 07/31/2012

Benjamin Busch, author of Dust To Dust: A Memoir, will be appearing at Fountain Bookstore, 07/31/2012

Lynn Garson, author of Southern Vapors, will be appearing at Charis Books & More, 07/31/2012

Tom A. Breslin, author of The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 07/31/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event Sacrificial Poets Touchstone Open Mic on 08/01/2012

Scott Fuller, author of Bogey Tees Off!, will be appearing at Island Bookstore, 08/01/2012

Sheila Turnage, author of Three Times Lucky, will be appearing at Island Bookstore, 08/01/2012

Quail Ridge Books & Music is hosting the event Waldo Celebration! on 08/01/2012

Kay Hooper, author of Haven, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/01/2012

Sandra Carrington Smith, author of Killer In Sight, will be appearing at Flyleaf Books, 08/02/2012

Amor Towles, author of Rules of Civility, will be appearing at Park Road Books, 08/02/2012

Fiction Addiction is hosting the event Children's Story Time on 08/02/2012

Stephanie Powell Watts, author of We Are Taking Only What We Need, will be appearing at City Lights Bookstore, 08/02/2012

Zoe Fishman, author of Saving Ruth, will be appearing at Page & Palette, 08/02/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event Coral Gables Gallery Night: Barbara O. Davis on 08/03/2012

Steve Benson, author of Collision of Destinies, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 08/03/2012

Lauren Clark, author of Dancing Naked in Dixie, will be appearing at Page & Palette, 08/03/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event Saturday Morning Story Time with Tatyana Feeney & her book Small Bunny's Blue Blanket on 08/04/2012

Juli-ette Robin Goldstonwill be appearing at Avid Bookshop, 08/04/2012

Millie West , author of The Cast Net, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/04/2012

Marcia Moston, author of Call of a Coward, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/04/2012

Kay Hooper, author of Haven, will be appearing at City Lights Bookstore, 08/04/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Screening on 08/05/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event 2nd Annual Bull Spec Magazine?s Summer Literary Speculative Fiction Festival on 08/05/2012

Joe Crawford, author of When the Chickens Come Home to Roost, will be appearing at Park Road Books, 08/05/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event The Nation Discussion Group on 08/06/2012

Charis Books & More is hosting the event T&F Transitionz: a Project of the Feminist Outlawz on 08/06/2012

Pam Stone, author of I Love Me a Turkey Butt Samwich, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/06/2012

David Twigg, author of Politics of Disaster, will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 08/07/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event The Kitchen Table Series: End of Life Planning on 08/07/2012

Jody Rathgeb, author of Fish-Eye Lens, will be appearing at Island Bookstore, 08/07/2012

James Tuck, author of Blood and Silver, will be appearing at FoxTale Book Shoppe, 08/07/2012

Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat, will be appearing at The Bookstore in the Grove, 08/07/2012

Cavalier House Books is hosting the event Book Club Meeting - Turn of Mind on 08/07/2012

Quail Ridge Books & Music is hosting the event GAVRIEL LIPKIND and the LIPKIND QUARTET on 08/07/2012

Mary Flinn, author of The One, will be appearing at Island Bookstore, 08/08/2012

Kay Hooper, author of Haven, will be appearing at Country Bookshop Inc, 08/08/2012

Tim Hollis, author of Loveman's: Meet Me Under the Clock, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 08/08/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event Julia Child Dinner on 08/09/2012

Kay Hooper, author of Haven, will be appearing at Flyleaf Books, 08/09/2012

Kathryn Kirkpatrick, author of Unaccountable Weather, will be appearing at Flyleaf Books, 08/09/2012

Alice Wisler, author of Still Life in Shadows, will be appearing at Regulator Bookshop, 08/09/2012

Tracy Crow, author of Eyes Right: Confessions of a Woman Marine, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/09/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event YA Event Insider Information on 08/10/2012

Cecilia Gonzales-Andrieu, author of Bridge to Wonder , will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 08/10/2012

Kay Hooper, author of Haven, will be appearing at Park Road Books, 08/10/2012

City Lights Bookstore is hosting the event Andrea Ford Returns with an Enneagram Seminar on 08/10/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event Family Day on Aragaon -- Star Wars Origami on 08/11/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event Prompt Writing Class with Nancy Peacock on 08/11/2012

Pamela Binnings Ewen, author of Chasing The Wind, will be appearing at Garden District Book Shop, 08/11/2012

Deshawn Snow, author of Lil Shawnee, will be appearing at Bound To Be Read Books, 08/11/2012

Mark de Castrique, author of The 13th Target, will be appearing at The Fountainhead Bookstore, 08/11/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event PJ Library Story Time on 08/12/2012

Books & Books Inc is hosting the event PJ Library Story Time on 08/12/2012

Undercover Books & Gifts is hosting the event International Festival of Food Benefiting Bethlehem House Shelter on 08/12/2012

Howard Owen, author of Oregon Hill, will be appearing at Quail Ridge Books & Music, 08/12/2012

Flyleaf Books is hosting the event Dr. Dan Ariely talks about The Honest Truth about Dishonesty on 08/13/2012

Anna North, author of America Pacifica, will be appearing at Regulator Bookshop, 08/13/2012

Quail Ridge Books & Music is hosting the event Town meeting: Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission: An Appraisal on 08/13/2012

Joel Mintz, author of Enforcement at the EPA , will be appearing at Books & Books Inc, 08/14/2012

Dan Ariely, author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - especially Ourselves, will be appearing at Quail Ridge Books & Music, 08/14/2012

Blue Ridge Books & News is hosting the event Mountain Writers Group on 08/14/2012

Harvey H. Jackson, author of The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera: An Insider's History of the Florida-Alabama Coast, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 08/14/2012

Benjamin W. Farley, author of Three Thousand Days and Nights, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/16/2012

Daniel Wolff, author of Fight For Home: How (Parts of) New Orleans Came Back, will be appearing at Garden District Book Shop, 08/16/2012

Joseph Scott Morgan , author of Blood Beneath My Feet: The Journey of a Southern Death Investigator, will be appearing at Eagle Eye Book Shop, 08/18/2012

Margaret Dunbar Cutright, author of A Case For Solomon, will be appearing at Country Bookshop Inc, 08/18/2012

Philip Gerard, author of The Patron Saint of Dreams, will be appearing at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, 08/18/2012

Marybeth Whalen, author of The Guest Book, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/20/2012

Emily Colin , author of The Memory Thief, will be appearing at Country Bookshop Inc, 08/22/2012

Karen White , author of Sea Change, will be appearing at Yawn's Books & More, 08/23/2012

Fiction Addiction is hosting the event Children's Story Time on 08/23/2012

Courtney Miller Santo, author of The Roots of the Olive Tree, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/24/2012

Lee Patterson, author of The Assassination of the President of Iran, will be appearing at Fiction Addiction, 08/24/2012

Mike Bunn, author of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812, will be appearing at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, 08/25/2012

Julie Cannon, author of Twang, will be appearing at FoxTale Book Shoppe, 08/25/2012

Gregory E. Pence, author of How to Build a Better Human, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 08/27/2012

Courtney Miller Santo, author of Roots Of The Olive Tree, will be appearing at That Bookstore in Blytheville, 08/27/2012

Fiction Addiction is hosting the event Children's Story Time on 08/30/2012

Cavalier House Books is hosting the event Book Club Meeting - Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic on 09/04/2012

Louise Penny, author of The Beautiful Mystery, will be appearing at FoxTale Book Shoppe, 09/05/2012

Ruth Hawkins, author of Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow: The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Marriage, will be appearing at That Bookstore in Blytheville, 09/09/2012

Michael Morris, author of Man in the Blue Moon, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 09/13/2012

Jane Hankins, author of Madge's Mobile Home Park, will be appearing at That Bookstore in Blytheville, 09/14/2012

Tasia Malakasis, author of Tasia's Table: Cooking With the Artisan Cheesemaker at Belle Chevre, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 09/18/2012

Carolyn Guinzio, author of Spoke & Dark, will be appearing at Nightbird Books, 09/21/2012

Fred Thompson, author of Fred Thompson's Southern Sides: 250 Dishes That Really Make the Plate, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 10/12/2012

Kim O' Donnel, author of The Meat Lover's Meatless Celebrations, will be appearing at Nightbird Books, 10/21/2012

Kevin Gillespie, author of Fire in My Belly, will be appearing at Alabama Booksmith, 11/06/2012

Sheila Ingle , author of COURAGEOUS KATE, A DAUGHTER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION and FEARLESS MARTHA, will be appearing at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, 11/10/2012

Authors Round the South
www.authorsroundthesouth.com

Dearest readers,

You must have heard the clickety-clacking of a thousand outraged knitting needles last month when the US Olympic Committee sent a stern “cease and desist” notice to the popular social networking site for knitters, Ravelry.com. Their offense? Their biennial “Ravelympics” -- an event that features such riveting competitions as “the afghan marathon” and “scarf hockey.” (Here her ladyship pauses so that her audience may contemplate just what “scarf hockey” might look like to the spectator.)  The event has been going on since 2008, basically as the knitters’ equivalent of NaNoWriMo -- the month when writers all promise to finish their novel and post daily (and sometimes hourly) word counts updating the world at large on their progress.

The USOC, belatedly protective of their copyright of the term “Olympics,” called Ravelry’s somewhat tongue-and-cheek version of the competition “disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes” and said it “fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.” This naturally put the members of Ravelry up in criss-crossed cable-stitched arms. The rest of the world looked on bemused as Ravelry’s two million-plus users all waved their knitting needles in solidarity.

The USOC eventually apologized for the tone of their letter, and Ravelry renamed its competition. (It is now the Ravellenic Games). Her ladyship can’t help but think that things would have gone much more smoothly if there had just been a southerner present for the original exchange. Consider what happened when the folks at Jack Daniel’s discovered that the book cover of Broken Piano for President by Louisville, KY author Patrick Wensink looked remarkably like the label on their bottles.  A letter from the company lawyer announced themselves flattered, but asked that the cover design be changed.

“Because you are both a Louisville “neighbor” and a fan of the brand, we simply request that you change the cover design when the book is reprinted. If you would be willing to change the design sooner than that (including on the digital version), we would be willing to contribute a reasonable amount toward the costs of doing so.”

Now that is the response of true southern gentlemen.  You catch more flies with honey, as her ladyship’s and every other person’s mother would say. And perhaps, also, with a bottle of Jack.

Happy Reading!

her ladyship, the editor

Southern Indie Bestsellers

For the week ending July 22, 2012

Columbia, SC -July 25, 2012 - The Southern Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by IndieBound.org and SIBA, for the week ended Sunday, July 22, 2012. Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound.org.

- A STARS Author | - A SIBA Okra Pick 
Titles in red are SIBA Book Award winners and finalists!
Printable versions: Hardcover | Paperback | Children.

Hardcover Fiction

12. Shine Shine Shine
Lydia Netzer, St. Martin's, $24.99, 9781250007070

15. The Cove
Ron Rash, Ecco, $26.99, 9780061804199

Hardcover Nonfiction

Trade Paperback Fiction

6. Sea Change
Karen White, NAL, $15, 9780451236760

Trade Paperback Nonfiction

Mass Market

Children's Illustrated

3. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Eric Litwin, James Dean (Illus.), Harper, $16.99, 9780062110589

Children's Interest

6. Three Times Lucky
Sheila Turnage, Dial, $16.99, 9780803736702

Children's Fiction Series Titles

Lady Banks' Commonplace Book

Noteworthy poetry and prose from her ladyship's bedside reading stack.

Leaving the dead is sacrilege.

Mattie plucked a handkerchief from her apron pocket and wiped her eyes. “You see, leaving our dead ain’t like leaving a barn, or even the house where we was raised, hard though that is. Either one is abandoning a part of yourself, same as if you left a leg or an arm. But deserting your dead? That’s sacrilege. They children of Israel toted Joseph’s bones all over creation until they came to the promised land. Is that what we’ll have to do? Dig them up and bury them somewhere else?” Mattie put away the handkerchief. “Our parents gave of life. Along with kinfolk and neighbors they raised us to fear God and help our fellow man. They are our blood and flesh and bone--and when we die, we want to lay beside them so at the last trumpet we can rise together and meet our Jesus.” She got more amens than Brother Noland normally received during an hour’s sermon.

Book Gossip

Literary News & Gossip passed along from the readers, the writers, the reviewers, the resellers, the riff raff, and dutifully repeated here by her ladyship (who falls into the last category).

I remember being so excited that this kind of chaotic event was happening with grown-ups,” Robert said. “When it was over, I was still going around the breakfast room and pushing over orange juice glasses, and my dad was like, Kid, kid, kid. We’re done. We’re done. You missed it.” This is a pretty romantic incorporation of chaos into a childhood, made all the more so by its specificity. It happened for a brief, beautiful moment. And then it ended. In Kevin Wilson’s new novel, The Family Fang, the madness does not end. The Family Fang

Line up for the 2012 Southern Festival of Books is announced

When I told my friend that I had begun to ponder my motives for putting on literary events, she replied brusquely: “You do it for the same reason anyone works for free, because you’re trying to shape the world into what you’d like it to be.”  Room 220

For the fifth consecutive year, Fall for the Book will host a poetry reading at the Old Firestation #3 — this year with a special focus on poets of distinction throughout the immediate region. Elizabeth Arnold, David Keplinger, Christopher Nealon, Mel Nichols, Tim Seibles, and Rod Smith will be sampling their works on Saturday, September 29, at 8 p.m. at 3988 University Drive in downtown Fairfax, VA. Celebrating contemporary poets

Author Gossip

Featured: Ashley Memory
Author of Success: Stories

Ashley Thomas Memory is a professional communicator with over twenty years of experience in writing, editing, media relations, and strategic communications. For the last six years, she has served as Communications Director for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a native of Asheboro, N.C. and currently lives in Pittsboro.

Her first novel, Naked and Hungry, was named a finalist in the  2009 James Jones First Novel Fellowship competition sponsored by Wilkes University and was published in 2011 by Ingalls Publishing Group. It’s the story of a man who turns his back on the material world and retreats to what he thinks will be a peaceful life in the country. Circumstances soon dictate otherwise and he finds himself the target of a murder-for-hire plot when he uncovers a hazardous waste dumping scheme that threatens his pristine existence and the lives of the people he cares about. The book is set in the small southern town of Yatesville, N.C., which is struggling to survive in the wake of the economic downturn and the loss of its key industries.

Request Ashley for a book club or school

More gossip:

"the poetry of a country should be a faithful expression of its physical and moral characteristics" and using imagery "drawn from the indigenous objects of the region." After all, he said, "the Scenery infuses itself into the Song." The Rose of Alabama

John Sobol said his father would frequently test out story ideas on his four children. "We would talk about it sitting around dinner," he said, adding, "My mom also helped inject humor into the stories." Donald J. Sobol dies at 87

Cedar Hollow was inspired by my mother’s place of birth, Big Ugly Holler, West Virginia.  Big Ugly was little more than a few houses scattered along the side of a mountain somewhere outside of Charleston, which is where my mother grew up.  Big Ugly no longer exists, but we did hike to see the remains of the foundations and fireplaces when I was very young.  Interview with Melinda Clayton

Most people also know that the South is the land of churches on every corner, and I’ve always thought that the reason goes back to our roots as a people. Extremely poor, we turned to religion not only for hope, but also for consolation and for acknowledgement that we had worth in spite of our poverty. Life was bitterly tough, so we could only hope for a better afterlife. Interview with RC White

STARS Authors on tour:

What are "STARS" authors? These are authors listing in the Southern Traveling Authors Registration Service--a directory of authors who live in, or are traveling in the South and are interested in meeting with book clubs, civic groups, classrooms, and readers of all kinds. The STARS directory is brought to you by Southern Indie Booksellers, who want to connect readers with their favorite writers.

see the full list online here and find the authors touring in your area here

Kimberly Brock  ,
Dalton, GA 08/09/2012 - 08/09/2012
Jackson, MS 08/13/2012
Greenwood, MS 08/14/2012 - 08/15/2012
Tupelo, MS 08/16/2012 - 08/16/2012
Dahlonega, GA 11/09/2012 - 11/11/2012

Susan Gregg Gilmore  ,
Marietta, GA 8/22/2012 - 8/22/2012

Pamela Bauer Mueller  ,
Jekyll Island, GA 11/9/2012 - 11/11/2012

Nancy Naigle  ,
Nashville, TN 8/23/2012 - 8/26/2012
Naples, FL 9/7/2012 - 9/9/2012

David Taylor  ,
Baton Rouge, LA 10/26/2012 - 10/27/2012

Lori Verni-Fogarsi  ,
Elizabeth City, NC 7/21/2012 - 7/22/2012

Bookstore Gossip

Literary News & Gossip passed along from the readers, the writers, the reviewers, the resellers, the riff raff, and dutifully repeated here by her ladyship (who falls into the last category).

Island Bookstore in Duck, Corollas and Kitty Hawk, NC

On a framed poster in their Duck store, there is this great quote from historian Barbara Tuchman: Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change, windows on the world, and "lighthouses erected in the sea of time." They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print!
Island Bookstore has three locations on the Outer Banks: Duck, Corolla, and Kitty Hawk

Duck: The Duck store was the first, and still is, the largest. There are more books per square foot housed in this two-story locale than in the other two stores. Located at the back of the Scarborough Faire Shoppes
1177 Duck Road |Duck, NC 27949 | 252.261.8981

Corolla: This little gem of a store is located behind the Currituck Lighthouse next to the Historic Chapel. In keeping with the spirit of the Historic Village, this store was built to replicate the style of a previous building located on the site. Within easy walking distance of the Post Office, Whalehead Club, Corolla Light Town Center and the Corolla Light vacation resort.
1130 Corolla Village Road | Corolla, NC 27949 |252.453.2292

Kitty Hawk: The newest location, at 3712 N. Croatan Hwy. Essentially, Milepost 4.5 Soundside on the By-Pass. Although the smallest of the three locations, Kitty Hawk is a proud store with lots of books and, unlike the other locations, a broad selection of magazines.

Twenty years ago, the Independent Weekly ran a cover story celebrating the rise of indie bookstores. The story's author calculated that there were about 80 booksellers in the Triangle, and his account lists a number of stores that are now only a fond memory among area bibliophiles. Indie bookstores keep the spirit and practive of literature alive

Lady Banks' {Book} Trailer Park

Read This! Indie Next List for August!

City of Women: A Novel, by David R. Gillham
“In this powerful debut, Gillham gives voice to the remarkable women left to defend the home front in war-torn Berlin. He masterfully juxtaposes their courage and determination in the face of opposition with fear, loneliness, and despair. Impeccably told, City of Women is a sensual, suspenseful read filled with extraordinary characters and exceptional moments of resilience, humanity, and grace.” —Anderson McKean, Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns: A Novel, by Margaret Dilloway
“Galilee Garner needs a kidney transplant. At 31, single, and teaching science in a private school, she breeds roses for pleasure. Dialysis every other day and her roses keep her life busy and organized. Then her 15-year-old niece shows up at school needing a place to live, and turns Galilee’s life upside down. No longer able to think only of herself, she must come to terms with her responsibilities, and eventually realizes that change is inevitable, and could even be for the better!” —Beth Carpenter, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, NC
Widow’s Might: A Liv Bergen Mystery, by Sandra Brannan
“Sandra Brannan keeps improving with each Liv Bergen novel. While not as gruesome as the first two in the series, this installment is a true mystery. Brannan’s characters are becoming richer in each new installment. Wonderfully drawn, Liv holds you in thrall, and you can’t wait to see what happens to her next. Just see if you can figure out the killer in this ‘more than a whodunit.’” —Jo Gilley, Blue Ridge Booksellers and Cafe, Waynesville, NC

Wiley Cash's Summer Reading List

Here we are, halfway through the summer, and I'm just now getting around to choosing books for my summer reading list. So far, I've already read Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose, Richard Ford's new novel Canada, which I really enjoyed, and Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--From 9/11 to Abbottabad, which I found a little tedious. If you've read them, let me know what you thought. If you've read any of the books below, feel free to share your thoughts, but please don't give anything away!

1. The Sisters Brothers
This novel was first recommended to me by Erin Haire, manager of Hub City Book Shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was recommended again when I asked folks on Twitter and Facebook to suggest novels narrated by villains. I'm not finished with the book yet, so I don't know whether or not Eli Sisters is 100% villain, but I do know that he's a fascinating narrator and that Erin Haire, Twitter, and Facebook are good places to ask for recommendations.

2. The Bridge
This debut novel came highly recommended by Tom and Vickey, owners of Litchfield Books in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. They recommended it over dinner, and unfortunately I had to leave town before their store opened in the morning. I finally tracked down a copy of the late Doug Marlette's book at the wonderful Octavia Books in Jackson, Mississippi. The novel is set in North Carolina, and I look for any chance I can find to go back home.

3. The Financial Lives of the Poets
Jess Walter's novel Beautiful Ruins is making the case for being the literary novel of the summer, and I understand why: it's a great read and has everything anyone could want from a book. I met Jess earlier this year when HarperCollins sent the two of us and Ben Fountain out on the road for several dinners with book sellers across the country. We had a wonderful time. It's a nice thing to meet great writers who are also good people. I've heard Poets is a hilarious read, and I'm looking forward to it.

4. Arcadia
Lauren Groff's novel was everywhere this spring, and I understand why. I've picked it up off my bookshelf and flipped through it several times to marvel at the beauty of its prose. The writing is dreamlike and delicate, and it invites you to sit down and spend some time in the world it creates. I'm really looking to devoting that kind of time to this book.

5. My Cross to Bear
Nothing says hot, sweaty Southern summer like a hot, sweaty Southern memoir about hot, sweaty Southern rock and roll.

6. Tess of the D'Ubervilles
I recently read an interview with Ron Rash where he said that writers who write about landscapes would do well to read this classic novel. I like to take the advice of smart people who are also good writers.

7. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
I was living in Lafayette, Louisiana, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and it's hard to believe it's been seven years since that tragedy occured. I'm a little afraid of opening this book and being reminded of all the pain and horror that was visited upon that great city, but I'm hopeful it will remind me of both how far New Orleans has come and how much there is still to do.

8. The Plague of Doves
Last semester I taught a class in postcolonial world literature, and we read Erdrich's Love Medicine. I'd read the book before, years earlier, and I was reminded of how powerful her language is. This story about the murder of a farm family and the ways the past haunts us in the present seems to combine Erdrich's strong characters with the kind of plot that makes for ideal summer reading.

9. Swamplandia!
This debut novel was one of the biggest books of last year, and I'm actually ashamed to admit that I haven't read it, especially because I've given it as a gift! I gave it to my sister for Christmas; she read it, loved it, and I wanted to talk about it. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, we can.

10. The Lay of Land
As I mentioned earlier, I really loved Canada, so I thought I'd go back and read this Frank Bascombe novel; perhaps I'll read all three.

I'd love to know what you're reading, and I'm open to suggestions for further reading by these authors or any others whose books you've recently enjoyed. Have a great summer!

--Wiley Cash, via