When "Diary Of A Mad Fat Girl' by Stephanie McAfee arrived in our mailbox, we thought it looked like a fun, summer read, but also suspected it might contain some overdone Southern cliches. We were wrong. McAfee, who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, but now lives in Florida, has written a fresh novel with a cast of lovable characters that anyone who grew up in or lives in a small town can relate to.
An interview with Lisa Pulitzer and Cole Thompson about their new book chronicling the life of Joran Van der Sloot, his recent crime in Peru and the ongoing mystery of Alabama native Natalee Holloway. by Erin Z. Bass I've always been interested in missing persons cases, so when news of Birmingham, Alabama, teenager Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba broke in 2005, I wondered along with the rest of America what had happened to her. Since then, I've followed news reports related to the case. I thought when Joran Van der Sloot confessed to reporter Peter de Vries in the car that time, he would finally be convicted. But it seems like Joran's lies always manage to save him, kind of like more recent criminal Casey Anthony. I can see how after six years, some people may be tired of hearing about the Holloway case, but I wonder how many of them realize Joran went on to kill another young girl in Peru named Stephany Flores (yes, I'm assuming he was responsible for Natalee's death here) and even though he's currently in jail, he hasn't been convicted of that crime yet either. So, for the naysayers who think they wouldn't be interested in
Karen Russell's Southern Gothic novel set in the Florida Everglades borders on cinematic.
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Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley Jr. have created a sort of biography of the "Gone With the Wind" phenomenon that reads like an intriguing international mystery.
In the style of Jill Conner Browne's "Sweet Potato Queens," Anna Fields goes inside the debutante culture of the South.
A true "coming of age" story about growing up in rural Alabama, "South Wind Rising" details the adventures and heartaches of schoolboy Barsh Roberts.
Shome Dasgupta’s debut chapbook evokes memories of days spent in the schoolyard, that first crush and the trials of growing up.
With more expertise than most first-time novelists, Bailey spins a tale that makes you want to keep turning the pages.