RECENT READS

HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff: I'm a little late jumping onto this bandwagon, but I love the voice in this one. Also the love story. It'll break your heart.

WATER STREET by Crystal Wilkinson: These are inter-related short stories, and I loved them. Isn't there always a story behind the story?? This book tells both the surface stories we show our neighbors and the really deep stories we sometimes aren't even quite aware of ourselves. I would love to write a book of short stories in a similar vein (kind of like Paul Fleischman did with SEEDFOLKS).

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan: Zombie apocalyse stories are not usually my thing, but this book held my attention in spite of that particular detail. It really is all about the characters. I was rooting for Mary the whole way down those creepy trails.

SHINE COCONUT MOON by Neesha Meminger: I love a book that introduces me to a new world, and this one sure did. The best part was discovering it WITH the main character. I think we all struggle with this "who am I?" issue at multiple points in life... good stuff.

THE WELL AND THE MINE by Gin Phillips: This one is set in Birmingham 1930's West Jefferson County, Alabama, which, of course, is coal mining country. And with my book LEAVING GEE'S BEND also being set in 1930's Alabama, I was particularly interested in this story. What I found was that the coal mining families in Gin's book weren't nearly as impoverished as the sharecropper families in Gee's Bend. I am really looking forward to July when Gin presents "Making History Come Alive" and delivers the keynote at Alabama Writers Conclave.

IF THE LEGENDS FADE by Tom Hendrix: Now here is a fascinating tale. Young native American girl marched off to the Indian Nations in Oklahoma then escapes and walks for five years to get back to the place where the river sings (Tennessee River in Florence, Alabama).

What's next? Oh, the list is very long. But I think it will be THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett. I've heard good things... I'll let you know.