“The books were the closest things he had to furniture, and he lived in them the way other men live in easy chairs.” -Laura Hillenbrand of Red Pollard in Seabiscuit
I have always loved to read. Mama bought me a set of American Girl books when I was little and I’ve been reading ever since. A few years ago I was invited to join a book club, and it quickly became one of my favorite nights of the month! I’m always looking for my next great read so I thought I’d start sharing a few of my favorites in case you’re looking!
Oh and send me your favorites, too!
Yes, that’s my husband!
“In A Place We All Know, Kevin Winter has compiled seven of his most vivid and engaging short stories, each firmly rooted in the culture and character of north Mississippi. Become immediately plunged into the immersive environment of the town of Millwood Branch and Hickahala County in his most expansive exploration of that world to date in Me and Miss Rosie. Commercial airline pilot Eric Johnston is a man searching for a home, a place in which he can attempt to piece back together his fractured life. In Millwood Branch, he not only finds a forever home, but also a very unlikely friend that helps him navigate a course of healing, self-forgiveness, and redemption. This charming and indelible novella has never before been made available and is exclusive to this lovely collection of short fiction. And there’s more… Come meet the tragic and resilient Lana Jones Carmichael in Goodnight Young Miss Lana Jones, a story that brings to life the idea of undying love. In From the Backs of Four Shop-Rite Bags, meet the hilarious, incomparable Maude McBeene as she leads a backwoods attempt to avoid a catastrophe of worldwide proportions. Come drive on the gravel surface of Bullfrog Road and hike up on Muddy Pine Ridge. Come meet old friends for the first time. Come to a place we all know. Come home.”
“Muscle and a Shovel is a raw, gritty, true story about young newly-weds, Michael and Jonetta Shank, who move to the city to pursue the American Dream. In the middle of their pursuit they’re befriended by a man who turns their beliefs about God, their church and their faith upside-down! Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Community Churches – no one is spared when Truth is at stake and their new friend doesn’t care about political correctness or religious tolerance.
Prepare to have your intellect, emotions and existing beliefs set on fire!”
“On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.” -from Amazon.com
“Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes:
Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.” -from Amazon.com
a mississippi mama 