To start, The Hammerhead Chronicles by Scott Gould isn’t about sharks and based on the number of social media posts coming from Gould reiterating this statement, some others went there too. Also, the world is divided into two groups—cyclists and non-cyclists. Cyclists even have their own secret language which includes hammerheads…that are not sharks. Apologies […]
“Return to Hardscrabble Road” by George Weinstein
January 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Return to Hardscrabble Road by George Weinstein takes the reader back to the rural South Georgia world inhabited by the characters of Hardscrabble Road. Shortly after World War II, the MacLeod brothers have returned to their homeplace as the result of a new crisis: the shooting death of their father Mance. Readers who eschew violence […]
January Read of the Month: “Jar of Pennies” by John Yearwood
January 4, 2023 by Leave a Comment
John Yearwood’s Jar of Pennies (John & Stephenie Yearwood Management Trust, 2022) is an impeccably written cultural and historical crime fiction novel. The author knows how to spin a tale, capture a character, set a scene, portray a community, and write in stellar prose. However, as established in its opening chapter, it is not a […]
“A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens: Journeying Together Through Dementia” by Felicia Mitchell
January 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment
A profound and poignant collection of poems, A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens: Journeying Together Through Dementia (2022) by Felicia Mitchell can be read as a daughter’s memoir in verse or as a mother’s partial biography. Their merging stories are captivating and heartfelt, moving, and above all else, genuine. Anyone who has cared for a […]
Literary Books in Brief
January 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment
This month Southern Literary Review takes a look at three recent publications from the University of Mississippi Press that focus on an aspect of Southern literature. “William Faulkner Day by Day” by Carl Rollyson I winced when I first saw the chronological, diary-like entries of William Faulkner Day by Day. I thought that format couldn’t […]
2022 Book of the Year: “Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans” by Janisse Ray
December 27, 2022 by Leave a Comment
The editors of Southern Literary Review select one book each year to receive special recognition. It recognizes books published between October of the previous year to October of the current year. The Book of the Year should Be written by a Southern author or have a Southern setting. Have lasting value as part of the […]