Books set in the American South

[legolammb]

I'm a big fan of books set in the South - I think it started with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings years ago and studying Mockingbird at school. I loved the Secret Life of Bees, Fried Green Tomatoes... does anyone have any other recommendations?

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is a good book.

12 years a slave is also worth a read.

I second Carl Hiaason, weird and funny.

For more crime; James Lee Bourke's series are good - I loved In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead.

Julie Smith writes a fun series set in New Orleans.

Margaret Maron writes strong and engaging southern crime.

Charlaine Harris' True Bood vampire series is amusing, although I got sick of it after a couple of books.

Michael Malone wrote a series of three crime novels set in the south, published in the 80s. Uncivil Seasons, Times Witness and First Lady. I really enjoyed them and they're in my read again list.

Tami Hoag has set several of her crime novels Louisiana.

John Berendt's (non-fiction) book about Savannah, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".

And if you like Southern Gothic, Nick Cave's And the Ass Saw the Angel is overwrought and overwritten, but actually gripping. And mercifully short, but its strangeness is fascinating.

William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is a classic and I love the writer Ernest Gaines. Their Eyes Were Watching God is gorgeous. I'm reading Hurston's Baracoon now, which was published posthumously--it's her biography of the last surviving person to be taken from Africa to be enslaved in the U.S. It's very moving.

For Morrison, I'd say begin with Song of Solomon or The Bluest Eye before attempting Beloved. That's SUCH a novel; it requires investment.

Ooh, I loved the Michael Malone trilogy!

DancelikeEmmaGoldman loved the James Lee Burke series and think Hiassen amazing, manages to be hilarious, gripping and sound on the environment! Hadn't heard of Michael Malone so quite excited to look those up.

Heartbreak Hotel sounds great too.

Twelve Years a Slave - the book is loads better than the film which was altered. The book is wonderful and told in a very balanced way.

Argh I just love this thread will have to come to it and read through all the replies! My absolute favourite is the third life of grange Copeland by Alice walker x

Invention of wings has been sitting on my shelf, is it worth the read?

I love Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, a great story with a good setting in the American South.

I came on to recommend Kindred too. It is fantastic.

Have you read White Oleander by Janet Fitch or Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck? They are fantastic books.

Or what about John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden? Just beautiful books.

For a long time I followed Oprah Winfrey's book club. People scoff at her as though she's a Jeremy Kyle type of person, but she is fantastic at discerning good literature. (And her best friend is Toni Morrison, ffs!) I've read some amazing books as a result of her book club.

As soon as I read the title, A Time To Kill came to mind. I usually find Grisham's books a fairly easy (relaxed) read, but that one certainly made me think, lots of talking points too. The Runaway Jury by the same author is a favourite of mine too, also set in the South.

Thanks to all the recommendations on here, I've got a nice big list to take to the library next week!

Mudbound Hilary Jordan
Homegoing Yaa Gyasi
The Underground Railway Colson Whitehead
All in my top 10 - in that order!

A Painted House by John Grisham

The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Definitely worth reading obviously not an easy book to read but you do feel you get to know the characters