On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

The Southern Literary Trail is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in July 2023.

We will consider books with a southern literary theme that have not been read by the group in the last 24 months. Per our recently revised criteria, the two categories are books originally published in or before 1990 or those published after 1990. 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:

Books originally published in or before 1990
1. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
2. South Moon Under, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
3. The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
4. Barren Ground, by Ellen Glasgow
5. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs
6. The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
Books originally published after 1990
1. The Coyotes of Carthage, by Steven Wright
2. Memphis, by Tara M. Stringfellow
3. The Tradition, by Jericho Brown
4. The Catbird Seat, by Rebecca Hollingsworth
5. Serena, by Ron Rash
6. A House with Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher

Published AFTER 1990
The Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright

Pre-1990 July 2023 nomination.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Post-1990 July 2023 nomination
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

South Moon Under by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for pre 1990

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, pre 1990.

Pre-1990. Barren Ground Ellen Glasgow
Post-1990. The Tradition Jericho Brown

Let's try this again - Post 1990 The Catbird Seat by Rebecca Hollingsworth published Sept 2022 can be found in hardcover and kindle

Pre 1990 - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs with over 2700 editions I think this one should be easy to find - First published February 24, 1861 and many more times thru 2018 176 pages in Paperback

Serena

Steve wrote: "Serena"

Serena, by Ron Rash, hasn't been read by the group for several years. It would be a Post-1990 nomination.

I'm going to go against my self-imposed rule and will nominate the latest book by T. Kingfisher. I was taken by the description of "A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House with Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family." Sounds like something Faulkner could have written.

Post-1990

That wraps up the nominations for Post-1990. We still have one slot for the Pre-1990 poll.

Hey Tom and Everyone! Long time since I have chimed in! There are many new books out by our favorite authors that I have been visiting with down here lately at Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi at the Thacker Mountain Radio Show!!! I think we need to vote some of these new reads in and support some of our old favorite authors ! We could read a new release by someone like Charles Frazier! His new book Trackers sounds great! Then read a much older book to compare it to in the next group! I would love to reread Cold Mountain! It was always my favorite! I have some video and photos I can share with the group of the show I attended! Charles Frazier was awesome and I even taped some great blues music to go along with the historical period of the book the Trackers which takes place in the jazz and blues depression era.

Hi Dawn! Great to hear from you. You're welcome to nominate a book for the Pre-1990 category.

I normally nominate when the voting bogs down, but I'm voting for South Moon Under since I love Rawlings, so I'll hold off this time. They all sound fabulous though. Come on guys, one more pre-1990 to wrap it up!

Gosh, I thought we were done. I have an idea but I've had a selection already.

I’ll nominate The Stories of Breece D'j Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake

Lori wrote: "I’ll nominate The Stories of Breece D'j Pancake by Breece D'J Pancake"

Good call, Lori. A great book.

Yes, good call Lori. Thank you. And that's a wrap!

That'll finish it off. The nominations are now complete.