Literary News 

A slideshow of 10 New Orleans literary landmarks from Frommer’s.

Book Pregnant blogger Lydia Netzer’s first novel, “Shine, Shine, Shine,” is out. Netzer lives in Virginia, and her audiobook is read by Joshilyn Jackson, who called the book “a perfectly structured gem that held me spellbound as I unraveled the twisted histories of this unconventional family.” We know what we’re reading next!

“A Confederacy of Dunces” and “The Great Gatsby” make The Huffington Post‘s slideshow of “9 Books That Make You Undateable.” We can’t help but think Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” should be on there too.

Mississippi-born author Richard Ford’s “Canada” made The Guardian‘s list of “Big Novels of 2012.”

James Lee Burke’s new novel, “Creole Belle,” included in our Summer Reading List, is out!

HBO’s “Hemingway & Gellhorn,” based on the writer’s relationship with Martha Gellhorn during the Spanish Civil War and while he was living in Key West, has been nominated for an Emmy.

From the Blog 

Summer Booksignings: photos of our Summer Reading List authors and one dedicated reader at recent booksignings. Also, upcoming Mississippi signings not to be missed!

Southern Festival of Books Twitter Contest: Tweet to win front-of-the-line signing privileges at this year’s event.

(Non)required Reading

The Literary Gift Company’s USA Literary Map, printed with authors names from coast to coast. Click here to find out who made the cut for the South and order the map for your own wall for just $14.

Also in posters this week is Etsy shop Obvious State’s literature-inspired illustrations, printed with quotes like “Civilization begins with distillation.” by William Faulkner and “Writer drunk. Edit sober.” by Ernest Hemingway. At $24, these are a steal too.

The Oxford American‘s review of Cory MacLauchlin’s biography on John Kennedy Toole, “Butterfly in the Typewriter.” (To read our review and interview with MacLauchlin by Hunter Murphy, click here.)

The Huffington Post Book Club is reading Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” this month. Get in on the discussion here.

Also in the HuffPo, Mary Kay Andrews has a piece called “Reinventing Myself” about how she started telling herself a different story and lost 55 pounds.

The Southern Lit Lovers book club on Goodreads is reading “The Peach Keeper,” set in Walls of Water, North Carolina, for their next book.

Giveaways 

For our own Summer Reading List Giveaway, Jesmyn Ward’s “Salvage the Bones” arrived this week and goes to Jessica McCann. And from last week’s giveaway, “Bastard Out of Carolina” is going to Angela Newsom. We’ve still got more books on the way, and deadline to enter is August 1!

What would Gatsby text? Be entered to win a “Great Gatsby” phone case from Book Riot by leaving a comment on their post with your version of a text from a character in the novel.

Wiley Cash’s “A Land More Kind Than Home,” one of our summer reads, is being given away on Goodreads. Enter before July 23.

Literary Events 

This is the last day to see Birmingham Public Library’s exhibit, “Eudora Welty – Exposures and Reflections,” which includes 40 photographs and excerpts from the Mississippi author’s short stories and novels, on display on the fourth floor.

The Tennessee Antiquarian Book Fair is the place to be for book collectors July 21-22 at Monterey Station in Cowan.

See “River Witch” author Kimberly Brock and get your book signed July 21 at Hub City Bookshop in Spartenburg, South Carolina, along with Anna Kline and the Grits & Soul Band.

Also on July 21, Mary Kay Andrews will be signing books in St. Petersburg, Florida, at Haslam’s Book Store.

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is offering a “Summer Ticket Special” of $395, which includes a VIP all-access pass to next year’s event March 20-24. A $500 value, the pass includes access to literary panels, master classes, theater events, musical performances, culinary presentations and private parties. Offer ends August 31.

New in Southern Voice 

“Tattle-tale,” a story about the complex relationship between childhood friends, by Oxford, Mississippi’s Susan Muensterman.

See the Literary Friday Pinterest board here!