Words....

I am fond of words.  I like conversation, I love how words can help you "know" someone. I love books, articles, even a well versed text.  I especially love written words and that is generally why I write (or have written in the past.) I read recently that a writer writes because of unsaid words.  I am in a season of unsaid words and a season where the desire to write is strong; the time to write, not so much.

 

Words help me to know people and people seem to like to share their words with me. Sometimes, are these words  just an illusion they want me to see?  Yes, I have lived long enough to know some souls are gifted with just such a way with words.  Even as I see actions, I have often given more chances that I probably should have because of their words. I want to believe the words people use. It is a fault that I listen to words probably as much as I watch actions.  But....still, I want to believe in the words because I want to know people, understand them. 

Being Southern, I believe, gives me a particular love of the world that can be woven by words.  In the South we revere our story-tellers.  We value someone who can entertain us with their words as much as a good drink at a party, if not more. Why do you think there are so many amazing writers who hailed from Southern Roots?  Even those annoying relatives are tolerated, if not regaled, if they have the ability to leave us spell bound with stories of our past, present, and possibly our future.  Culturally, we are a region that loves words, and I am a product of that love.

The Guests on South Battery (Book 5 from the Tradd Street Series) by Karen White - My Thoughst

I told you I have been reading again and completely understanding why I used to love it so very much.  It is the BEST escape from the world.  I can't watch a movie or television show and get the same escape.  Give me a good book and some time and I am truly in heaven.

This past week I dove back into the Tradd Street Series with the only book in the series I hadn't read.  Several years ago, when I was part of a book club, we read through this series up to the point there were no more books to read. So, imagine my excitement when I saw there was an addition to the series.

First, I should say I really like Karen White, as a writer, but I have liked some of the Tradd Series books more than others.  I liked ALL of them because they are set in the one city I have never lived in but have a great homesickness for....Charleston, South Carolina.  Normally I also don't read much that involves ghosts and spirits but these books have been an exception because I really like the history that is usually sprinkled in to spice the story lines up.  The Guest on South of Battery did not disappoint and actually finally, after four other books, began to warm my heart to the protagonist, Melanie Trenholm.

Though, Melanie is the main character of the series she was pretty much my least liked character and her peripheral characters, often in the form of ghosts or spirits who had lost their way, endeared the series to me. With this book Melanie was finally developed a with a bit more dimension and I think maybe I misjudged her.  IF you love the Low Country, beautiful, historic homes and, of course, Charleston and a ghost story or two...this just might be the series for you!

The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe - My Thoughts

There was a time when I regularly did (and got paid) to do book reviews, but then a season arrived where I kind of stopped reading.  Yep, literally quit reading - at least for pleasure.  I think being back in school didn't help that as I spent a lot of time reading for school and not entertainment.  Last weekend, though, I picked up a book I had for along while but not read.  The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe just happened to be laying on my desk and calling my name.  Well, I now remember why I used to read so much...it is the best escape.  I will not forget that anytime soon. So here is my first (free) offering on a book....

I have always like Mary Alice Monroe and this book had enough information interwoven into the story about Monarch Butterflies that I now have a new interest in butterflies, much like I gained an interest in bee keeping after reading  Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees!  Weird?  Probably, but hey I love odd facts especially if you can weave some mystery and good story telling around them. 

Although The Butterfly's Daughter does weave lovely stories about butterflies in this story, it doesn't come close to the emotional pull of many of Monroe's other works .  The main character, Luz, just isn't developed enough to get invested in fully nor are any of the other characters, except possibly one who actually dies early on in the story.  It was an enjoyable read, because I like reading, but over all it wasn't Mary Alice Monroe's best offering by far.  Honestly, each turn in the book just left me hanging.  It was as if I needed more of the multiple story lines before the author was off dragging the shallow main character into another. In the end....I was just left feeling like I was read a book that wasn't finished. It was disappointing,  as I kept feeling like at any moment I was going to find the page that wouldn't let me put the book down, but it never came.  That being said, I know I will continue to follow Monroe as an author and look forward to reading another of her books where her characters have more depth and puts her talent as a writer more fully on display.

Southern Lit., Pick of the Week: Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West

My read for this week was Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West. West is a writer who lives in Tennessee and I had to appreciate that in addition to writing award winning novels, she also blogs at: Designs By Gollum. I love that she blogs about her life, her farmabilities (hey, it is my post and I can make up words if I like!) and her love of dishes and a beautiful home!


I happened upon Mermaids in the Basement last week while browsing around looking for something new to read. I wasn’t on the lookout for anything overly heavy but wanted my Chick-Lit-Fix and I really wanted a new author and West was just the ticket. How could I not like the leading character, Renata? She struggles with her career, weight, a seemingly horrible love life, and bad hair days and has Daddy issues! Oh, and not to mention her mother recently died and there are layers of secrets to be discovered concerning all the important and overlapping issues in her life and family. She has a Sassy Southern Grandmother on the coast of Alabama with a host of those lovely Southern women friends to keep things lively and her Daddy is engaged to marry someone we all know we would hate on sight!

Although, I got off to a slow start with this book, I warmed to it as Renata explored her Mother’s old trunk and opened herself up to the stories of her Grandmother, her Grandmother’s best friend and her lifelong Nanny. She learns who her parents are from more than one perspective and is able to view them from that of an adult, rather than the child who was limited in her vantage point. Sometimes healing comes only after further pain and that is exactly what had to happen to our leading lady in Mermaids in the Basement. But even with some painful themes, it was a fun book, full of Southern eccentricities. I loved how it closed out sharing recipes for some of the foods that were mentioned because we Southern girls know how important the food is in getting through the tough times! So now I am going to be watching for Michael Lee West’s upcoming trilogy. She is currently working on the first book in the series which is called, Gone with a Handsomer Man, which will revolve around a Charleston “cake lady”. I pretty much love anything set in Charleston so this should be fun!

This post was written as a member of the Southern Mommas Writers

Please come check out the Southern Sisterhood @

Southern Mommas