Two words. 'The Help'. I read it twice in a row.

Here's part of that thread, I saved it; I wish the search function was more effective, I tried to find it. The thread was still active in oct/09, not that long ago, but our past pages have disappeared.

-----I'll add Jen's Zadoorian books to my list for future reads.
I'm about to start The Widow of the South for my book club.I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and To Kill a Mockingbird but I started them expecting to enjoy them and was right.
The Leisure Seeker would be a good suggestion for him since he loves to read.
I'm going to check out The widow of the South also, thanks girls.
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Alan Gurganus is a fantastic LONG sprawling work. Narrated by the eponymous widow, it is definitely a southern work to end all southern works.
Cold Sassy Tree is one that I just read this past summer and enjoyed immensely. A coming of age story set in Georgia at the turn of the (20th) century. Very evocative of a culture, time and place plus a lovely unusual love story combined with a family portrait.
The Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross are a joy to read. Nominally they are in the suspense genre but also humorous, and the characters really grow on you. I'd advise starting with the first book (I think there are 10 out) and read sequentially. Set in North Carolina, again the author does a superb job of taking you right into the living rooms, churches and small town ways of the South.
Another southern-based series is the Deborah Knott books by Margaret Maron. First book is Bootlegger's Daughter and I was captivated immediately. There are a ton of books that followed and again, a suspense genre that also features an ongoing unlikely but perfect love story, lots of family interaction and a very winning central character.
My Brother Michael by Janis Owens. AMAZING book. This is the first of a unique and absorbing trilogy set in the panhandle of Florida. The next two books retell and extend the central story from different viewpoints of characters who are all tied together. Hard to describe but the three books are some of the best I've ever read. And guaranteed you will practically taste the Sunday dinners and smell the fresh pine air in these books. Great writing.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I also love books about the South and the civil rights struggle. My book club just finished Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson. It is set in his hometown of Ashville, NC and is both interesting and disturbing.

Yes Bestyears I read Cane River probably close to ten years ago and enjoyed it.

RE: A Book Recommendation : The Help

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Posted by tomorrowisanotherday (My Page) on Thu, Oct 15, 09 at 23:58

If you like Southern Lit, try Family Linen by Lee Smith. I loved that book when I read it--could not put it down.
I started Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams,
 Tomorrow, I feel your pain--I just got The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Here are some of the titles I saved...

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Help
The Heretrics Daughter
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
When Skateboards will be Free-A Memoir of A Political Childhood by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

I also wrote down titles I hadn't read:

A Reliable Wife - Robert Goolrick
The Jungle - Upton SInclair
Saving Grace Hunnicutt - Beth Hoffman
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
19 Minutes - Jodi Picoult
Cane River - Lalita Pademy
Water for Elephants - Susan Green
God Of Animals - Aryn Kyle
Every Last ONe - Anna Quindlen
Thread of Grace - Mary Dora Russell
The Walking People - Mary Beth Kane
The Art of Raving in the Rain - Garth Stein
The Historian
Light on Snow - Anita Shreve
Sanctuary of Outcasts - Neil White

I've finished Cane River regretfully, could have gone on and on with that one, loved the simplicity of Art of Racing in the Rain which I read in a day, Also read 19 Minutes, Loving Frank, and Water for Elephants, and enjoyed them all. So far, so good. I read The Help as soon as it came out, and also loved it.

Oh thank you, thank you! You people are just wonderful. I didn't realize that the search function on this forum is so abysmal. The thread I'm thinking of had so many posts on it and many had written great little reviews about their recommendations.

I still have no clue as to what happened to the list that I had painstakingly copied and pasted. So annoying. This time when I print out my list I'm also going to save it in my email too.

So thank you all again. I really appreciate your help!

Maire

Did you know that there is another part of Gardenweb called Reader's Paradise?

They also have the same abysmal search feature as the rest of Gardenweb unfortunately.

Despite being in a book club (or because of it) I haven't read too many books lately that I'd recommend, but some that I did like were

Water for Elephants
Still Alice
One Day
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime
The Space Between Us

I found out about a great site that lists the top 100 book club books. You might find something good there. It is called bookmovement

Just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. My sister picked it up at a garage sale she read it I read it and my mother read it and we all loved it.

BTW, I heard the movie 'Eat, Pray, Love' doesn't even compare to the book. Now I'm worried about 'Water for Elephants' and 'The Help'... I don't want to ruin my books. I remember 'Angela's Ashes'. I loved the book. The movie sucked. Same thing with 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. Loved the book, not the movie.

Was this the original posting?

Oh Yes! Doing the happy dance now! This time I printed it out and I now have a book list long enough to last all year.

Thank you Pammyfay - how on earth did you find it? The search function didn't help at all. I guess I could have just scrolled back and read every post for the last 2 months. But I didn't think of that then.

So thank you again. Yippee

Maire

So glad you found this, copied and pasted it.

Maire-- glad I found it! I'd actually bookmarked it--in my "Daily Forum Checks" place in my toolbar--but had totally overlooked it!

But as Terriks mentions, Readers Paradise is a nice site to pop into, also. I enjoy it.

I'm almost at the end of Reliable Wife; very dark, tortured and twisted but it's entertaining. Would I recommend it as a "must read", no.

Has anyone read "Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly" by Ron Dolby? I just ordered it for .20 on Amazon, a hardcover. He has three more Piggly Wiggly books and if I like waltzing I will order the rest. Obviously, it doesn't depend on the cost. (lol)

I also ordered "She flew the Coop" and "Consuming Passions" both by Michael Lee West".

I love southern novels and I see you do too Mitchdesj.

For those that love southern novels, 'The Help' is about as Southern as you can get.