On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Greetings all!
The Southern Literary Trail Reading Collective is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in April, 2021.

We will consider books with a southern literary theme that have not been read by the group in the last 24 months. As always, there are two categories, books originally published before 1980 or those published in or after 1980. You may make one nomination in each category. Authors may not nominate their own works. Please post your nominations below and specify which category you are nominating it for.

Nominations will stay open for one week or until we receive six nominations in each category. Voting will take place in the first ten days of next month.

The eligible nominations received will be listed below:

Pre-1980 nominations
1) Some Other Place. The Right Place., by Donald Harington
2) The Year the Lights Came on, by Terry Kay
3) Roughing It, Mark Twain
4) The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers
5) The Great Santini, by Pat Conroy
6) Cross Creek, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Post-1980 nominations
1) The Good Brother, by Chris Offutt
2) Work Like Any Other, by Virginia Reeves
3) Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
4) Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin
5) The Blood of Heaven, by Kent Wascom
6) The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy

For post 1980 I nominate (my first ever nomination) The Good Brother by Chris Offutt. I read this a few months ago and really enjoyed it.

Virgil Caudill has never gone looking for trouble, but this time he's got no choice -- his hell-raising brother Boyd has been murdered. Everyone knows who did it, and in the hills of Kentucky, tradition won't let a murder go unavenged. No matter which way he chooses, Virgil will lose.

The Good Brother, Chris Offutt's finely crafted first novel, is the story of Virgil's struggle to find his real self in the wake of an impossible choice. Traversing the American landscape from the hollows of Eastern Kentucky to the plains of Montana, Offutt explores the hunger for belonging that drives our most passionate beliefs, and in the process shows himself to be one of our most powerful storytellers.

Vicki wrote: "For post 1980 I nominate (my first ever nomination) The Good Brother by Chris Offutt. I read this a few months ago and really enjoyed it.

Virgil Caudill has never gone looking for trouble, but th..."

Congratulations. Your first ever nomination has been accepted.

For post 1980, I recommend Work Like No Other by Virginia Reeves (set in Alabama).

For pre1980 I recommend Three O'Clock Dinner by Josephine Pinckney

Pre1980
This book can be found both Amazon and Abe books, it does run from $7.50-$22. This is Terry Kays first novel.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

For Pre 1980 April read I nominate "Roughing It" by Mark Twain.
(In this book Twain describes the time he actually spent living in the West. Autobiographical. Very cool.)

For Post 1980 April Read I nominate "Salvage the Bones" by Jesmyn Ward.

Thank you.

For Post 1980 I'll nominate Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

For pre 1980 The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

Lori....oh my word, I thought 2 days ago that Franklin needed to be revisited. Sheesh, some tough choices in the polls.

Very tough choices. I already want to vote for 3 or 4 of them.

Jill wrote: "For post 1980, I recommend Work Like No Other by Virginia Reeves (set in Alabama).

For pre1980 I recommend Three O'Clock Dinner by Josephine Pinckney"

Three O'Clock Dinner, by Josephine Pinckney has been added. I'm guessing that your post-1980 nomination is Work Like Any Other so I have added that. Let me know if I am mistaken.

Upon checking around, I find that Three O'Clock Dinner is going to be difficult to find. It's out of print, not available as an ebook, therefore not on Kindle or Hoopla. It takes place in Charleston, SC, where I live, and even our local library doesn't have it. I have a copy of this that I bought in an antique store many years ago. To create a good discussion, books have to be readily available and easily accessed.

Too bad about Three O”Clock Dinner. Ii read it years ago in my Charleston book club. In that case, I vote for Carson McCullers ((whose bday is today).

For pre-1980, Some Other Place. The Right Place., by Donald Harington. 1.49 on Kindle, or read for free on Kindle Unlimited. We have read this author before on the Trail, and he is a treasure.

For post-1980, The Blood of Heaven, by Kent Wascom. This is the first of a quartet of books. Available on Kindle for 10.99, but free on Hoopla. This should be readily available at libraries.

Oh my this is going to be tough!!!!!!!!!!!

I deserve to be taken to the wood shed since I've never read anything by Pat Conroy. to correct this oversight I will nominate The Great Santini for the Pre-1980.

If this is not eligible, I also have The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline my shelf, just waiting.

Bob wrote: "I deserve to be taken to the wood shed since I've never read anything by Pat Conroy. to correct this oversight I will nominate The Great Santini for the Pre-1980.."

That's an error that seriously needs to be corrected. The Lords of Discipline is ineligible as it was read in 2019. The Great Santini was last read in 2017 so it qualifies. The Prince of Tides hasn't been read since I joined the group about five years ago so it is definitely eligible. If you want, you can nominate Santini for Pre1980 and Prince for Post-1980.

I like having a pre and post from Conroy. Tough month to choose

Tom, as long as there is no objection I will take your suggestion and nominate Santini for Pre-1980 and Prince for Post -1980. Fingers crossed.

Good enough. If I don't get another Pre-1980 nomination by tonight I will close the nominations and set up the polls to begin on Monday.

Wasn't there a pre-1980 mentioned on another post?

Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Laura wrote: "Wasn't there a pre-1980 mentioned on another post?

Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings"

I suppose I could make that nomination.

Interesting month. I see at least 3 on each list I want to vote for.

It should be wild. I may reconsider my Mod choice selection.

The nominations are now closed. I will set up the polls shortly and voting will begin tomorrow.

The polls are ready to go for the April selections. Thanks to all of you who nominated and to all of you who participate. There are some incredible nominations on the ballot.
For the Pre-1980 nominations, Vote here!

For the Post-1980 poll, Vote here!

The polls will open on March 1st and remain open until the 10th.

In addition, the discussion boards are up and ready for your thoughts on the March selections. They can be found here:


For Edisto, by Padgett Powell, (Moderator’s Choice):
Initial Impressions: Edisto, by Padgett Powell - March 2021
Final Impressions: Edisto, by Padgett Powell - March 2021

For A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole,
(Pre-1980):
Initial Impressions: A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole - March 2021
Final Impressions: A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole - March 2021

For Lowcountry Boil, by Susan M. Boyer, (Post-1980):
Initial Impressions: Lowcountry Boil, by Susan M. Boyer - March 2021
Final Impressions: Lowcountry Boil, by Susan M. Boyer - March 2021


Stay safe.

Happy reading!