This was a weird book. I mean, a lot of so-called Southern literature is weird – that’s why I love it so – but even by those standards, this was a weird book. Jerene Jarivs Johnston is old money Charlotte. Jerene’s brother is the stereotypical boozy washed up novelist, found most afternoons at the bar at the club sipping his bourbon neat, her sister Dillard is a near shut-in, and her husband Duke is a failed politician, his career having been derailed by Jerene herself […]
Sweet Sequel to a Sweet Family Debut
I first fell for the Waverly Family in Allen’s debut novel, “Garden Spells.” Small town living, sisters, baking, luuurv, and a magical apple tree that throws apples at innocent bystanders. What’s not to love? I knew that the sequel would be a good read for the winter time, something light fluffy, and a little warm for the cold days, and it delivered. The Waverly sisters have both made their way home and are living happy lives. The book picks up about 10 years after the […]
Home Is Where the Heart Is…
The library bookstore is my secret addiction. I don’t get to go often (at least, not in my county, what with the powers that be cutting library hours to a ridiculous degree), but when I do go, I load up. And I would say that of the books I pick up, I have about a 50% success rate. I donate the rest back, which results in a vicious circle where I’ve been known to re-buy previous rejects. (Yeah, I know.) Anyway, of that 50% success […]
No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family. They just ask what side they’re on.
When I was little, my mother had an avocado green Tupperware bowl. She also had a red one and a harvest gold one, and I’m pretty sure there was a blue one, too. They were different sizes, but they all had lids that had a translucent sort of flower pattern on top, so they were obviously part of a set. The bowl itself was also translucent, and more often than not, the green Tupperware bowl sat on the second shelf of our fridge with bunches […]