Right Book. Right Time.

Obviously I love to read. Reading my blog every now and then lets you know I consume books like some people consume energy drinks. I've been reading since the second grade, and the only trouble I got into in elementary and middle school was for hiding "outside reading" behind my textbooks. Yes, that makes me a goody-goody, but only until high school. I assure you I got into my fair share of trouble then. Just ask my parents.

Lunching with Joshilyn Jackson & What She Didn't Teach Me

So yes, yes. I lunched with Joshilyn Jackson on Friday. [Brush my shoulder, toss my hair, look smug]

Social Media Waiting to Inspire Us

The power of a name can draw a pretty big crowd, especially when it applies to social media.  Take James Franco, for example: He signed up for a Twitter account and within twenty-four hours had more than 700,000 followers (I know -- I was one of 'em).

In the age where celebrities are twitterin' away at any given moment, we're somewhat immune to the 'awe' we first felt when we had such a personal connection.  In fact, I've already severed most of my celebrity tweetin' connections (tired of the same ol' talk) and most Facebook pages seem to be the same as web sites -- translation: managed by someone else.

But there's still room for a little star power on the world wide web, and I've recently experienced two finds that sent my heart a'flutterin.'

A few weeks ago I discovered that one of my favorite authors Joshilyn Jackson (Gods in Alabama, Between, Georgia, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming) not only has her web site, but a blog!  As a wanna-be-published writer I find her stories about choosing the cover design (or lack of input) fascinating.  I'm amazed at her stories of normal life, because she truly seems to have a "My kids and I are sick with the flu"-kind of normal life.  When I hear her talk at a writer's conference next month (one I'm attending simply for that reason) I'll have stars in my eyes.

The second find came Friday night while reading the newest book of poems by Alice Walker.  In the back of the book I found the usual blurb about Walker and her life, etc. etc., but it also mentioned her redesigned web site.  So of course I pick up my Mac, type in the address, and have an oh-my-lord-alice-walker-has-a-blog exhilarated squeal, which made my husband look at me in all sorts of strange ways.

But it's Alice Walker.  Alice Walker!  The woman who wrote The Color Purple and who I studied in high school and college English classes.  A Pulitzer Prize winner who my daughter will study, and her children's children, as well.  This incredible woman -- already an icon -- has a blog that reveals a side of herself that we would never glimpse in her books, no matter how introspective.

If you're not impressed, I don't think we can be friends.

So I guess the moral to my story is this:  With all the crap that's beginning to infiltrate our social media bubble, there are always the oh-my-lord-alice-walker-has-a-blog discoveries waiting to inspire us.

p.s. If you've had one already, I'd love to hear about it!

(Book Review) Between, Georgia

I must start out by saying: I L-O-V-E-D this book.  Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson is a page-turner, from start to finish.

Here is a summary, taken from Jackson's web site:

There's always been bad blood between the Fretts and the Crabtrees. After all, the Fretts practically own the tiny town of Between, Georgia, while the Crabtrees only rent space in its jail cells.

Stacia Frett is a deaf artist with a genetic condition that is causing her to slowly go blind. She's lost the love of her life, and when her vision goes, she'll lose her career as well. She's asking God why He keeps her breathing in and out, until the night fifteen year old Hazel Crabtree shows up on her doorstep brandishing a stomach swollen with a pregnancy she'd hidden for nine months. Stacia thinks Hazel's unwanted baby might be God's answer, and so the Fretts decide to steal it...

Thirty years later, Nonny Frett is a successful interpreter living in Athens, Georgia. She understands the meanings of "rock" and "hard place" better than any woman ever born. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy." She's got two men; Her husband is easing out the back door and her best friend is laying siege to her heart in her front yard. She has a job that holds her in the city, and she's addicted to a little girl who's stuck deep in the country. And she has two families; The Fretts, who stole her and raised her right, and the Crabtrees, who lost her and can't forget that they've been done wrong.

In Between, Georgia, population 90, the feud that began before Nonny was born is escalating, and a random act of violence will set the torch to a thirty-year old stash of highly flammable secrets. This might be just what the town needs, if only Nonny wasn't sitting in the middle of it...

Jackson's characters are complex and genuine.  No one is perfect, and so we relate to each of them in one way or another (even if we don't particularly like them).  She paints the town so perfectly that I could actually see the action taking place -- and the drama is so captivating that I found myself holding my breath in several key moments.

I couldn't read this book fast enough, and finished it within twenty-four hours.  This is the second book of Jackson's that I devoured -- I read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming back in January and loved it, and am anxious to read her latest, Backseat Saints.  I would recommend this to anyone who loves a complex plot  -- this isn't a simple chick-lit-love-story.  This book will make you examine your views on family obligation, nature versus nurture, and the true meaning of "mother."

Rating: 5 stars