What do you think?
Rate this book
Mostly True: Stories with a Southern Sensibility
"Remembrances of a time when life was sweeter and the okra was cooked to perfection,
Mostly True
is filled with tales of old Ford trucks, friendships with those society tends to overlook, and a host of horses whose lives fill our hearts. Highly recommend!"
—Renea Winchester, Award-winning author of The Mountains Remember
Award-winning author Janie Dempsey Watts shares her creative “ mostly true” stories of growing up in the South, moving away to California, and finally returning home to live near her family farm in Northwest Georgia. Filled with historical vignettes, these nostalgic or humorous stories explore friends, family, farm life, her beloved okra, and travels to France and Sicily that inspire her writing.
“Watts’ writing style is effortlessly engaging—like catching up with an old friend who happens to be a gifted storyteller. Whether she’s chronicling the adventures of tending horses, the wisdom and love found in her grandmother's kitchen, or the unexpected joys of country living, Watts finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.” —Amber Lanier Nagle, author of Seeing is Believing
“Janie Watts Dempsey collects stories and memories, and instead of housing them on display, writes them down in a compelling way. No dust needs to be blown off of Janie's possessions of fresh narratives and insightful reflections. She has collected these stories as a chronicle of her life as a woman of Northwest Georgia roots, wife, mother, journalist, horsewoman, and lover of nature.” —Barbara Tucker, Award-winning author of Lying In
"Reading Janie Dempsey Watts’ new book, “Mostly Stories with a Southern Sensibility,” is a delightful treat ... Watts writes with such a low-key, chatty and fun voice you start feeling like you’re enjoying a letter from a dear old friend. Read a chapter and you’ll likely find something that reminds you of one of your own experiences — probably something you haven’t thought of for decades." —Anne L. Holmes, National Association of Baby Boomer Women (NABBW)
Award-winning author Janie Dempsey Watts shares her creative “ mostly true” stories of growing up in the South, moving away to California, and finally returning home to live near her family farm in Northwest Georgia. Filled with historical vignettes, these nostalgic or humorous stories explore friends, family, farm life, her beloved okra, and travels to France and Sicily that inspire her writing.
“Watts’ writing style is effortlessly engaging—like catching up with an old friend who happens to be a gifted storyteller. Whether she’s chronicling the adventures of tending horses, the wisdom and love found in her grandmother's kitchen, or the unexpected joys of country living, Watts finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.” —Amber Lanier Nagle, author of Seeing is Believing
“Janie Watts Dempsey collects stories and memories, and instead of housing them on display, writes them down in a compelling way. No dust needs to be blown off of Janie's possessions of fresh narratives and insightful reflections. She has collected these stories as a chronicle of her life as a woman of Northwest Georgia roots, wife, mother, journalist, horsewoman, and lover of nature.” —Barbara Tucker, Award-winning author of Lying In
"Reading Janie Dempsey Watts’ new book, “Mostly Stories with a Southern Sensibility,” is a delightful treat ... Watts writes with such a low-key, chatty and fun voice you start feeling like you’re enjoying a letter from a dear old friend. Read a chapter and you’ll likely find something that reminds you of one of your own experiences — probably something you haven’t thought of for decades." —Anne L. Holmes, National Association of Baby Boomer Women (NABBW)
342 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2025
73 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 30, 2026
Mostly True: Stories with a Southern Sensibility feels like sitting on a front porch at dusk, listening to someone who knows how to tell a story the right way. Janie Watts writes with a voice that’s gentle, funny, and quietly observant, turning everyday moments into memories that linger long after you finish reading.
These essays are rich with Southern texture—old trucks, family kitchens, farm life, horses, and yes, perfectly cooked okra—but what makes them special is the humanity woven through every page. Watts has a gift for noticing people others might overlook and honoring them with warmth and respect. Her reflections on growing up in the South, leaving for California, and ultimately finding her way home feel honest and earned, never sugary or forced.
I especially loved how the stories balance nostalgia with insight. There’s humor, tenderness, and a steady sense of gratitude for place, family, and the small experiences that shape a life. Even the travel pieces—to France and Sicily—feel grounded, tied back to her roots and the writer she’s become.
This is the kind of book you read slowly, savoring each story. It’s comforting without being sentimental, reflective without being heavy. If you enjoy Southern storytelling, memoir-style essays, or books that find beauty in ordinary life, Mostly True is a true delight and absolutely worth your time.
These essays are rich with Southern texture—old trucks, family kitchens, farm life, horses, and yes, perfectly cooked okra—but what makes them special is the humanity woven through every page. Watts has a gift for noticing people others might overlook and honoring them with warmth and respect. Her reflections on growing up in the South, leaving for California, and ultimately finding her way home feel honest and earned, never sugary or forced.
I especially loved how the stories balance nostalgia with insight. There’s humor, tenderness, and a steady sense of gratitude for place, family, and the small experiences that shape a life. Even the travel pieces—to France and Sicily—feel grounded, tied back to her roots and the writer she’s become.
This is the kind of book you read slowly, savoring each story. It’s comforting without being sentimental, reflective without being heavy. If you enjoy Southern storytelling, memoir-style essays, or books that find beauty in ordinary life, Mostly True is a true delight and absolutely worth your time.
March 18, 2026
Mostly True
A good book about southern sensibility memories of a person that lived in Georgia and Tennessee also California and love of animals
A good book about southern sensibility memories of a person that lived in Georgia and Tennessee also California and love of animals
March 31, 2026
Excellent southern story telling
Author reflection of her growing up in the south and her eventually returning is told with wit and love, plus a little sadness
Author reflection of her growing up in the south and her eventually returning is told with wit and love, plus a little sadness
March 12, 2026
True short stories from a Southern born girl. You can't take the South out of a girl.
November 3, 2025
Southern, Smart, Thoughtful.
There are so many memoirs out there, of varying interest and quality, that “Mostly True” might struggle to stand out. It doesn’t. In a collection of previously published and newer stories, the author has created a warm, funny, and poignant look at what we think of as an “ordinary” life. From the relationships with siblings to her love of horses, each story carries a message about the world and how people live in it. From a storytelling father and a free-spirited mother who encouraged artistic play, Watts is endowed with the ability to draw a circle the reader is already in. A little girl longing for a pony, a youngster refusing to give up her horse to war, a joint effort to recapture an escaped gelding - in each, the reader is set down in the middle of a timeless story and invited to witness what it would be like.
But Watts tells the stories that deal with every part of her life, and that of others, from rural life and her grandparents to her sojourn on the West Coast starting in the 1970s. A journalist by education and training, she knows how to weave details into a vivid picture. Her stories, from childhood, marriage, and motherhood all evoke the rhythms and values of her roots, which she eventually recaptured. Perhaps her “Carmichael House - Mama’s Family” is the seminal story about why, as Watts recalls her mother’s favorite spot in the house was the pantry. One can see the glassed-in porch where Watts remembers standing with her infant son. Remembering a blue taffeta dress and a chicken dinner is one way Watts supplies the path for all of us to revisit the stories of our lives and find the common threads in hers.
I have read many memoirs of “famous” people but enjoyed none more than this warm and welcoming picture of an extraordinary life - extraordinary in the kinds of experiences and riches that will make you wish for a long afternoon in a farmhouse with the people and animals you have loved best.
This is my favorite book for a Christmas gift this year. I think it’s just what we need to remember who we really are. I suggest you read everything she has written, Janie Dempsey Watts
There are so many memoirs out there, of varying interest and quality, that “Mostly True” might struggle to stand out. It doesn’t. In a collection of previously published and newer stories, the author has created a warm, funny, and poignant look at what we think of as an “ordinary” life. From the relationships with siblings to her love of horses, each story carries a message about the world and how people live in it. From a storytelling father and a free-spirited mother who encouraged artistic play, Watts is endowed with the ability to draw a circle the reader is already in. A little girl longing for a pony, a youngster refusing to give up her horse to war, a joint effort to recapture an escaped gelding - in each, the reader is set down in the middle of a timeless story and invited to witness what it would be like.
But Watts tells the stories that deal with every part of her life, and that of others, from rural life and her grandparents to her sojourn on the West Coast starting in the 1970s. A journalist by education and training, she knows how to weave details into a vivid picture. Her stories, from childhood, marriage, and motherhood all evoke the rhythms and values of her roots, which she eventually recaptured. Perhaps her “Carmichael House - Mama’s Family” is the seminal story about why, as Watts recalls her mother’s favorite spot in the house was the pantry. One can see the glassed-in porch where Watts remembers standing with her infant son. Remembering a blue taffeta dress and a chicken dinner is one way Watts supplies the path for all of us to revisit the stories of our lives and find the common threads in hers.
I have read many memoirs of “famous” people but enjoyed none more than this warm and welcoming picture of an extraordinary life - extraordinary in the kinds of experiences and riches that will make you wish for a long afternoon in a farmhouse with the people and animals you have loved best.
This is my favorite book for a Christmas gift this year. I think it’s just what we need to remember who we really are. I suggest you read everything she has written, Janie Dempsey Watts
March 23, 2026
OK, lost interest
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews