I’m a member of the Deep South group on LibraryThing. Since I’m not exactly a native southerner (though I claim to southern every chance I get) I thought it’d be a fun way to get to know some of the southern writiers. So far this group hasn’t disappointed. It’s an odd mesh of people who love to read. And so far no one has nominated any of the heavy hitters (Faulkner, etc.) just good honest southern lit.
If you’re interested, join us! Right now, the group is reading Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. It’s pretty good so far. I can see why it was nominated. If you’ve spent any time driving around the southern US then you’ll be able to picture the settings of this book.
Here’s a neat list maintained by a small lending library in Maine. It lists famous people and their favorite book(s). Some of the people are even quoted and expound as to why they picked what they did.
I’ve always wondered what you could learn about somebody if you could study their TBR pile, but this is pretty fun too. Some folks picked some heavy stuff, but I was surprised by a few such as General Colin Powell’s first pick.
It’s a shame. Looks like the rash of plagerism by professionals over the past couple of years will keep eveyone under the microscope. I mean even if Schott didn’t copy, the burden of proof will always be on him to prove otherwise and regardless of the truth, his name has a smudge on it now.
