On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Nominations Thread
Now accepting nominations for September 2022 Group Reads

The Southern Literary Trail is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in September 2022.

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. Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South, by Anne Moody
2. Giant, by Edna Ferber
3. All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren
4. A Virtuous Woman, by Kaye Gibbons
5. The Chaneysville Incident, by David Bradley
6. In This Our Life, by Ellen Glasgow
Books originally published after 1990
1. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
2. Where Trouble Sleeps, by Clyde Edgerton
3. Southernmost, by Silas House
4. The Ballad of Tom Dooley, by Sharyn McCrumb
5. A Mercy, by Toni Morrison
6. Refuge: A Novel, by Dot Jackson

Im going to jump right in and nominate Horse by Geraldine Brooks. The author is not southern, not even American, she was born in Australia. Parts of this book take place in Washington, DC and New York City, but the majority of the novel takes place in the antebellum south, with a champion racehorse from Kentucky and his enslaved handler. I feel like it fits our parameters, and I am dying to read it myself. For post-1990, since it has just been published.

Diane wrote: "Im going to jump right in and nominate Horse by Geraldine Brooks. The author is not southern, not even American, she was born in Australia. Parts of this book take place in Washingt..."

I'm dying to read Horse too!

Diane wrote: "Im going to jump right in and nominate Horse by Geraldine Brooks. The author is not southern, not even American, she was born in Australia. Parts of this book take place in Washingt..."

I just added Horse to my list of "to read". Great suggestion as a nomination!

Diane wrote: "Im going to jump right in and nominate Horse by Geraldine Brooks. The author is not southern, not even American, she was born in Australia. Parts of this book take place in Washingt..."

I just finished it and it is amazing, as are all of her books.

For post 1990 I submit Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton - Thanks

I believe that this book applies to the pre 1990 category. (Published October 2020 by Dell Publishing Company (first published 1968)

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

♥ Sandi ❣ wrote: "I believe that this book applies to the pre 1990 category. (Published October 2020 by Dell Publishing Company (first published 1968)

Coming of Age in Mississippi [bookcover:Coming..."

I believe you are correct.

For Pre1990

Giant by Edna Ferber

Has the Group read All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren? If not, I will nominate it for pre-1990.

Wonderful nominations.. I read both Giant and All the King's Men ages ago, and would love to read either one of them again.

Terry wrote: "Has the Group read All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren? If not, I will nominate it for pre-1990."

I've been wanting to read this for several months now. I'll second the nomination (if that's a thing) instead of nominating something else.

We did read All the Kings Men, but it was back in April of 2017, so a fair nomination.

I also really would like to read Giant!

For the post-1990 selection, I would like to nominate A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons.

John, I believe that your choice was first published in April, 1989.

Okay, can we make it pre-1990? Just curious, if a book is published in 1990, which category would it fall? 😀

John wrote: "Okay, can we make it pre-1990? Just curious, if a book is published in 1990, which category would it fall? 😀"

Such a scenario is exactly why I began wording the category as "Books originally published in or before 1990". Back when the dividing line was 1980 we would get nominations for A Confederacy of Dunces in both categories so I had to make an executive decision.

For post 1990, I will nominate (a second time) Southernmost by Silas House.

We need 2 more nominations for pre-1990, and 3 more for post before we can wrap this up.

Post let’s go with JLB’s newest. I know it’s out of order in the series but it comes across that it can most definitely be read as a stand alone.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Isn't that a Montana setting Laura. I want to read it too, but it's not really a southern book.

But isn’t he a southern author, Texas? Is that incorrect?

He is a southern author, Texas and Louisiana.

Wait, he’s Louisiana. McMurtry was Texas. No big deal. I usually don’t nominate post, but seemed a little slower this month. I honestly didn’t read the blurb.

Kind of like sedaris, not necessarily southern in plot but from the south. Or Sophie’s choice, not southern but author is southern.

True. My own nomination is southern setting but not southern author. It's fine with me.

Pre 1990 The Chaneysville Incident

Post 1990 The Ballad of Tom Dooley

Pre 1990 In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow

Post 1990 Refuge: A Novel by Dot Jackson

For post 1990: A Mercy by Toni Morrison

For pre 1990: She Walks these Hills by Sharyn McCrumb

Diane wrote: "For post 1990: [A Mercy] by [[Toni Morrisson]]

For pre 1990: [She Walks these Hills] by [[Sharyn McCrumb]]"

I'm going to allow your nominations although we are technically above the limit because your choices are both really good.

That said, The nominations are now officially closed.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe published 2021

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the beloved cult classic about family, friendship and first love, from award-winning author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This lyrical novel will enrapture readers of John Green, Love, Simon and Call Me by Your Name.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TX8NNXV/...

I’ve just noticed that She Walks these hills is post 1990…oops! I’ll stick with A Mercy.

Tom - I must have been posting at the same time you were. I'll save this nomination for the future!

Diane wrote: "I’ve just noticed that She Walks these hills is post 1990…oops! I’ll stick with A Mercy."

That is a shame. She Walks These Hills was the first Sharyn McCrumb book that I read and possibly still my favorite. I am a sucker for folklore and McCrumb dishes out healthy doses of it.

In order to make room for A Mercy, I have decided to cut Sara's Post-1990 nomination. She already has the Moderator's Choice selection for September so she should be understanding. Unfortunately, the selection I cut was also a Sharyn McCrumb book. Hopefully, people will remember this and nominate her books again in the future. We have been ignoring her work, which is a shame.

Tom take my post 1990 away to make room. I don’t usually add any to post but it was slower for some reason. If you so choose.

CHERYL wrote: "Tom - I must have been posting at the same time you were. I'll save this nomination for the future!"

Thank you for your understanding. In answer to your question, we do allow non-fiction works. Just Mercy may be my favorite of the books I've read with this group. I also believe that Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South is nonfiction.

I'm a bit concerned about the geography of your books. While both the authors and the settings appear to be in Texas, they seem to focus more on the El Paso area which most people would call west Texas. Having grown up in Colorado, I'm a little reluctant to let the South claim something that, by rights, belongs to my neck of the woods. 😉 That said, they appear to be excellent books. Thank you for bringing them to our attention.

Laura wrote: "Tom take my post 1990 away to make room. I don’t usually add any to post but it was slower for some reason. If you so choose."

Alrighty then.

Then that will give us a Sharyn McCrumb. Yay!!!!

Tom wrote: Having grown up in Colorado, I'm a little reluctant to let the South claim something that, by rights, belongs to my neck of the woods. 😉."

Hahaha! I hate when, western Maryland and southern Virginia get grouped into the urban metropolis of the DMV (D.C., MD, and VA). Our culture outside of the DMV is slow, traditional, and definitely southern. It's like two worlds...

Tom wrote: "Diane wrote: "I’ve just noticed that She Walks these hills is post 1990…oops! I’ll stick with A Mercy."

That is a shame. She Walks These Hills was the first [author:Sharyn McCrumb|31..."

I think I’ve read all her Nora Bonesteel novels, and “She Walks these Hills” is my favorite, too. I believe there may be a new edition of it out now, so I’ll probably be looking for that to restock my shelves.

CHERYL wrote: "Hahaha! I hate when, western Maryland and southern Virginia get grouped into the urban metropolis of the DMV (D.C., MD, and VA). Our culture outside of the DMV is slow, traditional, and definitely southern. It's like two worlds......"

I hear you. I was born in DC and lived for five years in Bethesda but my favorite part of Maryland is the Fredericksburg/Sharpsburg area.

That's fine, Tom. We were short nominations and I was really just trying to fill the gap. Much better to go with the others you have.