Fiction by Kristy Woodson Harvey
It was an okay story but not great.
Fiction by Joshilyn Jackson
This book was published in 2005 and I have read it before, but I didn't remember exactly what had happened. Some characters in it were mentioned in the book Backseat Saints (see below), and I decided to go back and read this one again. The only thing I remembered was that the title had seemed problematic; anything referencing "gods" plural is not a great concept for Southern religious girls like me. But I also remembered that the title didn't refer to actual paganism...
Arlene Fleet begins her story by saying that there are gods in Alabama other than the God worshipped in Alabama churches, and football heroes are an example of that. But Arlene had killed one of those little-g gods, and made a deal with the big-g God in hopes of getting away with it. She promised God that she would never again lie, fornicate, or set foot in her hometown of Posset, Alabama. But then Posset, Alabama, came to her in form of her old schoolmate Rose Mae Lolley.
This was a great story with believable characters. I still think the title could use a tweak for the Southern audience though...
Fiction by Ashley Elston
Evie Porter is a little nervous to be meeting her new boyfriend Ryan's friends for the first time. After all, she's a new girl in Lake Fortbing, Louisiana, and all of these people have grown up with Ryan.
Plus, everything Evie has told Ryan about herself is a lie, starting with her name. Her real name is Lucca Marino. But then another new girl shows up in Lake Fortbing who says that SHE is Lucca Marino. Evie can't figure out what's going on...
This was an exciting thriller with several surprises.
Fiction by Joshilyn Jackson
Ro Grandee has decided to kill her abusive husband Thom, sure that if she doesn't, then he will kill her. She saw a gypsy woman who told her, "It's him or you." But will she be able to actually do it?
This was an interesting story with several surprises.
I also read recently by this author: Between, Georgia
Fiction by Joshilyn Jackson
Fiction by Sadequa Johnson
Pheby Delores Brown is born a slave on a Virginia plantation, but her mother Ruth dreams of launching her to freedom. Ruth keeps carefully on Master Jacob's good side, because he has promised that he'll give Pheby her freedom papers when she's eighteen. But a slave master's promises are not always kept.
Master Jacob's wife is jealous of Ruth and resents Pheby greatly. While he is on an extended trip, the Missus takes the opportunity and sells seventeen-year-old Pheby, sending her to the worst place a young woman can go: the slave market in Richmond.
This story was very good; it was both exciting and moving.
I also read by this author: House of Eve
Fiction by Laila Ibrahim.
Fiction by Alyssa Cole.
Marlie is the daughter of a freed slave, born in the Deep South before the civil war. She stays with her mother and learns the art of medicinal herbs until she is suddenly sent to live at the home of her real father, who was her mother’s former owner.
This story is about how Marlie tries to become her own person (and find love!) as mixed-race woman in this strange environment. It was a decent romance story but not great.
Fiction By Jeneva Rose
In Buckhead, the richest area of Atlanta, everyone who is anyone gets their hair done at Jenny’s salon, Glow. Olivia, Shannon, Crystal, and Karen certainly do. So Jenny is just the person to explain to the police just why one of these rich ladies got murdered!
This story is told from the perspectives of each of the women, and it’s a long way into the book before you discover which one is dead.
This was a good mystery/thriller but not a great one. The ending was definitely a surprise but I didn’t love the characters.
Fiction by Lisa Patton
This was an interesting story about sorority rush at University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). I liked the characters and the setting, and it explored some ideas about race and class well.
It was a good book with a happy ending.
Fiction by Grady Hendrix
As you might guess from the title, this was a strange book.
In the early nineties, Patricia Campbell is a nice Southern lady in a book club with other nice Southern ladies. But when the children of her town are threatened, it might be time to not be so nice....
Even though I'd never read anything by this author before, I got it on audiobook because there was a narrator I love, Bahni Turpin (see Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for Ultra-Human Protection.) But it was a little to descriptive and slow-moving to be a good listen; I think I would have liked it better in print. Also, it gave me a bad case of "Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome"** in the middle. Still, it was an interesting book with some surprises.
** Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome
(See The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine)Fiction by Kelly Mustian
It's 1923, and Ada Morgan comes back home to the Mississippi swamp in disgrace. Although she hates to go back to her mean-spirited father, she was abandoned by the boy she left home for and she's got no other choice. She arrives to find the stilt house on the swamp a mess, but uninhabited. Is her daddy on a long trip, trapping and trading? And who is it she feels watching her from the swamp?
Although the title gives the reader some clues about what's coming up for Ada, the story still holds a few surprises. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. I didn't really like the narrator in the audiobook version.
Fiction by Joshilyn Jackson
Leia Birch Briggs is an artist and author on the verge of some big success; she's just gotten a contract to write a prequel to her self-published graphic novel that had become a surprise hit. But she's experiencing some writer's block, she's unexpectedly pregnant, and Birchie, her beloved grandmother in Alabama, is losing her marbles.
First things first, she's got to head to Alabama to try to force Birchie into assisted living, but of course the pregnancy and the writer's block go with her. In addition to that, Leia's stepsister Rachel is going through an unexpected crisis of her own.
This was a great story with an exciting plot and great characters; also it really gives you something to think about.
Fiction by John Hart.
This is the sequel to The Last Child, which I read several years ago and have mostly forgotten the plot of. (I mention that to let you know that reading the first book is not necessarily required in order to enjoy this one.)
In this book, Johnny Merriman is a young man living woodsman-hermit-style on a large plot of land his family owns called the Hush. The Hush is a mixture of Carolina swamp and forest, and it is rumored to be haunted by the spirits of hanged slaves from before the Civil War. For Johnny, the Hush is a magical place whose beauty only he understands.
But now there is a billionaire hunting nut who wants the Hush for himself. How far will Johnny go to keep his beloved land? And what secrets does the Hush really hold?
This was a really good story!
Fiction by Ernest J. Gaines
This is a fictional account of an interview with a 110-year-old former slave conducted in the late sixties. Miss Jane is quite a character, and her life story is very interesting! I didn’t care for the ending as much.
Apparently this is a classic of sorts; it was originally published in 1971. This audiobook version is newer; I’m not sure about the narrator but I did enjoy the book.
By the way, there is rather extensive use of the N-word in this book, which I understand is consistent with the history of the story, but can be jarring. Don't listen to the audiobook where anyone can hear it out of context!
Fiction by Britt Bennet
In 1968, Desiree comes back with a dark-skinned daughter and no husband, and we discover that Stella vanished years before. Speculation is that Stella has "crossed over," taking advantage of her light skin in order to "pass" as white.
This story really made me think about the characters and their choices; both girls are trying to escape from their past and only partially succeeding. It's a very good story.
