Simply Southern Ease
Sep 29, 2006
Simply Southern Ease,
"more humor, insights and fun from a good old Southern gal"
Author: Cappy Hall Rearick
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Published: Summer 2006
http://www.simplysoutherncappy.com/
Cappy is one of our favorites here at the Dew. In fact, she contributes stories to the Dew on a frequent basis. She's a South Carolina/Georgia gal who's 100% Southern in nature, action and strong-willed determination. A true Steel Magnolia. In 2003 she was nominated for Georgia Author of the Year.
She has a wonderful way of sharing stories of her life that leave you gently laughing and just feeling better about the world in general.
Simply Southern Ease is a book of short stories, revolving around her life and surroundings. She talks at length about her relationship with Babe ~ a relationship I grow jealous of at times as I read how they work together in life. She has stories about inconsiderate, very early in the a.m. visitors that rile her up just enough to turn her from Ms. Mellie into Scarlett. Stories of being presented with Possum and gravy at a friends house. And finally, let's not forget the story about lip color tattooing!
The stories are all very Southern in nature, but with such warmth and humor that even a Yankee would enjoy them. Heck, someone from Siberia would enjoy them. Pick this book up and give it a try!
Between, Georgia
Sep 24, 2006
Author: Joshilyn Jackson
Published: July 2006 by Warner Books
Website: www.joshilynjackson.com
Other books: gods in Alabama
Nonny Frett is the heroine in Joshilyn Jackson's latest novel Between, Georgia and she is richly portrayed as a character that any woman raised in the small town South can solidly identify with. Born into the Crabtree family and taken in by the Fretts, Nonny finds herself torn between loyalty to the trio of sisters that "raised her up right" and the gun totin' redneck family that still claims her as one of their own years afterward. Her vocation as an interpreter for the deaf was a natural choice for the daughter of Stacia Frett, who is deaf and nearly blind.
Nonny has a court date in one week to divorce her bad habit of a musician husband when she is called home to Between after Ona Crabtree's vicious dobermans attack Stacia and her nervous sibling Genny and land them injured in the hospital. Bossy sister Bernese gets into the fray after that and the war between the Fretts and Crabtrees is officially on! During the days that follow, Nonny finds herself not only between families but between love interests . Her inability to make firm decisions is put to the test in more ways than one during this action packed gem of Southern literature. Jackson takes the reader through a whirlwind of emotions with her finely crafted action packed adventure of a Southern gal who finally finds out what she's made of.
Foxfire 40th Anniversary Book
Sep 17, 2006
Authors: Angie Cheek, Lacy Hunter Nix and the Foxfire Students
Publisher: Anchor Books
Publication Date: September 2006
I received this very interesting book the other day. It's a compilation of stories, folklore, recipes, natural remedies and interviews told to Foxfire Magazine by old-timers in the rural North Georgia mountain communities of the Appalachians.
The magazine program was founded in 1966 and has been going strong ever since. The main office is located in Mountain City, Georgia.
I read many of the stories and I was awed by the strength, courage and determination of these old-timers. They told stories about lack of food, furnishings, doctors, toys, and many other things we take for granted or consider necessities. Not in one single story or interview did these people feel sorry for themselves or complain about what they lacked.
With humor and integrity they describe how they circumvented these obstacles and continued on. These are/were strong people.
The book is filled with wonderful pictures, many of them being the interviewees in the book. It's also filled with old-timey recipes for cookin' and doctorin'. Some of the doctorin' recipes made my hair stand on end (Tie the left foot of a mole around the baby's neck to make him stop teething.) but they are interesting to read regardless.
It's a nice fat book, ready to fill many an hour with enjoyable reading.
I am quite happy to be able to add this work of Southern History to my bookshelf.
Stop Dressing Your 6 Year Old Like a Skank
Sep 13, 2006
By: Celia Rivenbark
Published: September, 2006
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
www.celiarivenbark.com
I will say right off... I adore Celia Rivenbark. I want to be her best friend.
She is me, but public. The things that come out of her mouth on paper are the same thoughts that are constantly twirling through my head, but I'm too chicken to say. We're alike in that we try our darndest to be polite, civilized Southern ladies and them bamm.... language that might make a trucker blush shoots out our mouths before we can stop it.
So when Celia had a new book coming out, I immediately pre-ordered it. I waited with anticipation to get my hands on "Skank."
Am I glad I did.
My hubby and kids kept asking me why I was snorting so unladylike while reading this book and making those maniac laughing sounds.
Celia's book basically consists of chapters that are longer than her columns, but written in the same way. They are to the point, very witty, extremely observant, humerous stories relating to trying to get by in today's society without killing your children, burning down the house trying to be crafty, acting like one who no one wants to be near, or just flat being put away before you hurt someone.
She talks about little girl fashion, diets, celebrities, Ebay and anything else that pops into her mind. I shudder just thinking about the poor woman in the orange stretchpants at the Bi-Lo. Bless her heart.
So if you want a big dose of humor in your day, grab a copy of this, or any of Celia's books, and sit down for an afternoon of enjoyment. I'll warn you though... don't try to drink a carbonated beverage while reading, it truly does hurt when it shoots out your nose because you start laughing too hard.
Celia's website
Celia's Weekly Column
Dollar Daze
Sep 9, 2006
"The Bottom Dollar Girls in Love"
Karin Gillespie
Published August 2006
Simon and Schuster
Dollar Daze is part of a continuing series involving a group of women, all friends, of varying ages, set in the town of Cayboo Creek, South Carolina.
This is a very pleasant read, dealing with the day to day life and dealings of several women in Cayboo Creek.
Elizabeth, a former career woman having a very difficult time adjusting to being a stay-at-home-mom with a baby; Attalee, an 80+ "wild woman" enjoying sparking with a new beau; and Mavis, Mrs. Tobias and Birdie, all widows looking for love and companionship in their later years.
Mavis and Birdie find themselves mooning over the same man, causing quite a rift in their friendship, and Mrs. Tobias, whose always been oh-so-proper, is finding an attraction to a man who her family finds to be "beneath her".
Bottom Dollar refers to the name of the General Store that Mavis owns and that each of the women in this book either visit on a regular basis or work in.
This is a book filled with possible romance, daily dilemmas, friendships gained and lost and just the reminder that even when we get older, our emotions and wants still continue on as when we were young.
Porch Lies
Sep 1, 2006
"Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and other Wily Characters"
Patricia McKissack
August 2006
Schwartz & Wade Books
Inspired from long summer evenings spent on the porch, watching lightning bugs, drinking lemonade and listening to porch lies - stories of humor and exaggeration.
This is a childrens book rated for ages 8 to 12. But an entire family can enjoy this together.
I received this book for review a week ago and before I barely saw the cover, my 10 year old had snatched it out of my hands and crawled into bed with it.
The stories are short and entertaining, just the right length for kids who can barely focus on the t.v. for more than 10 minutes at a time. They mainly seemed to be based in Southern areas of the country, with a few in other spots. But enough Southern for the Dew to review it!
Filled with swindlers, confidence men, imposters, (all with secret hearts of gold of course), blues players and even Jesse James, this is a book filled with fun stories that all were originally told during summer evenings on the porch swing. Most seemed to be centered around the early 1900s to 1940s, when people knew how to tell good porch tales and keep the kiddies entertained.
Give it a try, it's a fun read.
