February Read of the Month: “Gradle Bird,” by J.C. Sasser

Reviewed by Kathleen M. Rodgers  Can a savior come in the form of a sixteen-year-old girl in a green prom dress and cat-eyed glasses? A phenomenal debut novel by gifted storyteller J. C. Sasser, Gradle Bird flips southern gothic fiction on its head and turns ghosts stories inside out. Forget everything you thought you knew […]

“The Timekeeper’s Son,” by Sara Baker

Reviewed by Molly Hurley Moran Set in the fictional Southern town of Milledge, Georgia, Sara Baker’s luminous novel The Timekeeper’s Son moves beyond the issues and conflicts usually associated with such settings to embrace more universal themes concerning human connection, forgiveness, and grace.  The plot revolves around two families who are unknown to each other […]

“South of the Etowah,” by Raymond L. Atkins

Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl The “Etowah” in the title to Raymond L. Atkins’s recently published book refers to a 164-mile-long waterway rising in northwest Georgia to begin flowing south and then west through Rome, Georgia. If one had the interest, one might build a raft and, Huckleberry-like, float along through Alabama down to Mobile […]

“Reckoning and Ruin,” by Tina Whittle

Reviewed by Philip K. Jason I have finally caught up with Tina Whittle’s Tai Randolph Mystery series, now in its fifth installment. Set in Atlanta and Savannah, this tale of crime, family, retribution, and Old South/New South contrasts and continuities has plenty of energy and strong characters. It’s main center of interest, however, is not […]

Janice Daugharty

Janice Daugharty is Artist-in-Residence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, in Tifton, Georgia. She is the author of one story collection and five novels: Dark of the Moon, Necessary Lies, Pawpaw Patch, Earl in the Yellow Shirt, and Whistle.

Katie DePoppe

Katie DePoppe is an award-winning freelance writer, developmental editor, and former book publicist. She was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2009, she became the founding editor at large for Azalea Media, a media company that produces three regional lifestyle and cultural publications throughout South Carolina and Georgia. This endeavor led to the […]