What I'm Reading: 'The Optimist's Daughter' by Eudora Welty

Summer is over, and I finally managed to slip in one Southern Gothic novel before I inevitably turn to the big depressing books of autumn and winter. As it turns out, this one was also pretty depressing, but I still enjoyed it and I managed to read the whole thing in an afternoon, which is always immensely satisfying. This was also my first experience with Eudora Welty, an author I will definitely be turning back to, as I've already got her collected short stories on my shelf, although I don't think I'll be getting around to it any time soon. In some ways it seems unfair to compare her to Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCullers, just because they are all Southern women, but there are startling similarities to their prose, although of the three I'd say Eudora Welty is the least macabre. 

What I'm Reading: 'The Ballad of the Sad Cafe' by Carson McCullers

Summer is almost here, and for me that means reading really strange, macabre, depressing Southern Gothic literature, and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe really delivers on that premise. Carson McCullers is a very reliable writer in that way-- everyone in this novella is lonely and odd and (spoiler alert, but not really) everyone ends pretty much as sad as they began. In keeping with my reading habits lately, this has been another very satisfying, very short book.

This Week in Books: Upcoming 2014 titles, Southern reads, and a 'Wild' trailer

The Millions has a thorough preview of upcoming book releases for 2014, and the list is ridiculous. What I especially noticed was how many authors were defying their normal genres and expectations-- a children's book re-telling by Lydia Davis, a very straightforward narrative novel by Murakami, and short story collections from Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. There is so much on the list to get excited about. I'll be waist-deep in essay collections from Amy Pohler, Roxane Gay and Lena Dunham

I found this lovely discussion on favorite Southern novels by Southern independent bookstore staffers, and thought it was a nice follow-up to my Flannery O'Connor/ Carson McCullers binges.

It's pretty lucky that the official trailer for 'Wild' (based on the book by Cheryl Strayed), came out this week, a few days  after I posted about how much I loved it. The adaptation looks excellent, and I think Reese Witherspoon is a great choice for the role, but I'm still going to strongly advocate reading the book. Normally I'm not a big stickler about literary adaptations, but the book is so great and very bookish, that I think some of its magic will naturally get lost in the translation. I bought my mom a copy of this book last year, so this might have to be a mother-daughter trip to the movies.