WHAT TO READ
COMPILED BY NAN GRAVES GOODMAN
Tried and true Jackson books, past and present!

››An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned But Probably Didn’t
by Judy Jones and William Wilson (Ballantine Books)

In this revised edition of An Incomplete Education the editors have compiled even more timely information, not only with facts and theories involved in a classical education, but also with a comprehensive view of economic and political world issues. For those with a liberal arts education, whether achieved one decade ago or many, or those involved in a technical field, this incredible reference volume will guide a life long learner to information perhaps never known, or perhaps forgotten over the years. Arranged into chapters covering American studies, art history, economics, film, literature, music, philosophy, political science, psychology ,religion, science, and world history, this comprehensive book will guide anyone of any age through a vast amount of knowledge in a concise, interesting way complete with photos of important people, places, and things which every “Renaissance” man or woman wants to know. All home libraries will benefit from having this thorough collection of facts and figures.

››The Well-Trained Mind: A Classical Education at Home
by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise (W.W. Norton)

If the goal is to create in every child a curiosity about learning, then this invaluable guide will give parents and instructors alike the capacity to train the child from preschool through high school in an academically rigorous way. The authors of this large comprehensive book outline a classical pattern of education, one which they call “the trivium” aimed at an organizational pattern which follows the child’s maturation rate. Three stages of the child’s learning arena comprise the pattern devised by the authors: the elementary stage where the building blocks of learning take place; the logic stage, where the beginning levels of analytical thinking occur; and the rhetoric stage where original thinking produces excellence in speaking and writing. For the parents who home school their children, and for parents of students enrolled in a traditional school system, The Well Trained Mind will be beneficial. Adults will also refresh their memories!

››How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers
by Adren Bucklin-Sporer and Rachael Kathleen Pringle of the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance (Timber Press)

This timely guide to the ever-evolving emphasis on school gardens nationwide will help parents and teachers answer the important questions, “Where does my food come from and why is nature important?” With a guide to planning the project and raising the funds, the authors give helpful tips on how to work with school staff and the community, design and prepare the space, plant and harvest and use the garden as a year long classroom. A chapter on cooking from the garden adds much needed information. Clever, colorful photographs of children at work and play in the garden provide food for thought to those who question whether the school garden will be both educational, practical, and fun. The final chapter records a decade long school garden project in an alternative school in California.

››Ape House
by Sara Gruen (Random House)

Following on the heels of her first novel, Water for Elephants, a popular novel in 2006, author Sara Gruen will surely rise to the top of the charts again with this extraordinary look into the intellectual capacity of bonobos, the slender, deft apes capable of learning sign language to communicate with each other and adults. Character and plot development keep the reader turning the pages quickly, becoming amazed at the research used in a fictional way. When several of the main characters realize that the “apes” have been stolen from the compassionate research oasis and taken to an ape house for monetary gain at a “reality t.v.” hidden location, then the action surges. While the reader is annoyed and saddened by this exploitation, he is also amazed at the bonobos ability to use computers to order out everything from pizza to kids toys. Every reader, especially animal lovers, will enjoy this fast paced clever novel.

››The Invisible Bridge
BY JULIE ORRINGER (Random House)
During WWII, a young Jewish architecture student falls madly in love with a beautiful and slightly older Jewish ballet teacher who fled from Hungary many years before. On the outset of the war, when all Jewish resident Parisians had to leave the city, the two lovers return home to Hungary only to find their families already suffering from the ravages of the war. The most devastating event occurs when Andras is deployed to join the Hungarian work crew, run by the Nazis. Beautiful, descriptive language jolts the reader into the midst of 1940s Europe and propels the reader’s imagination to conjure up the fear, hunger, and devastation caused by the war. A remarkable novel by the author of How to Breathe Underwater, this book is not so much about war, but about love and relationships which endure no matter the circumstances.

››Questions and Answers for Deep South Gardeners
BY NELLIE NEAL (B.B. Mackey Books)
In her second edition of questions asked by Southern gardeners, Nellie Neal, known as the “Garden Mama,” once again answers common inquires. The cover of the book alone, a beautiful photo of lavender petunias, whets the gardener’s appetite! Practical answers to a variety of questions asked of Nellie, often from her Saturday morning radio talk show, as well as an inclusion of her favorite plant lists, comprises this helpful garden guide, which also includes a “must do” pruning calendar, and as a helpful hint, Nellie’s never fail potting mix recipe. A popular writer for state and national magazines, Nellie Neal also writes for The Clarion-Ledger, the new website www.msdigitadaily.com and gives numerous garden programs around the South. This second edition of Questions and Answers… includes more and different questions from the first edition, published in 2002.

››Morkan’s Quarry: A Novel
BY STEVE YATES (Moon City Press)
Local author Steve Yates, originally from Missouri, has penned quite an extraordinary novel based on limestone quarries active during the Civil War in his native state. The novel explores the character Morkan and his quarry, and centers on the heroes as seen in preachers, tailors, nurses and miners. According to Yates, “A great number of people in the Ozarks didn’t want to have anything to do with the war, wanted to be left alone to their work. They dreaded what was coming. I wanted to portray that risky ground, those real people, business owners, hard working people caught in a maelstrom.” As the assistant director/marketing director of University Press of Mississippi, Yates’ first novel follows on the heels of much success with short fiction in such publications as “Texas Review,” “Turnstile,” “Western Humanities Review,” among others. This captivating father/son story gives a new dimension to the Civil War body.

››The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern:
Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor
BY MATT LEE AND TED LEE (Clarkson Potter Publishers)
Charleston native brothers, Matt and Ted Lee, offer easy, healthy and uniquely Southern dishes in their second cookbook. In this new release, beautifully photographed dishes, such as oyster soup, pork tenderloin with Madeira and fig gravy, braised carrots with tarragon and lime, and watermelon margaritas, give the advanced chef or novice cook something new to prepare for dinner or a party! Arranged into chapters: cocktails and coolers, snacks and appetizers, soups, salads and cold sides, hot sides, main dishes and desserts, this cookbook created by the famous Lee brothers offers a one-of-a-kind compilation of brand new ideas for serving, entertaining or simply cooking a delicious meal or snack for one or more.
 

Southern Bouquets by Melissa Bigner with Heather Barrie (Gibbs Smith)

Southern women who long to adorn their homes with bouquets of flowers picked from their own back yards are shown how in this exceptionally beautiful coffee table book.  The Charleston, South Carolina, author gardeners—with the help of an expert photographer—suggest easy flowers that can be grown in the South and will be perfect for any formal or casual bouquet or arrangement in one’s home. Divided into sections of camellias, daffodils, azaleas, roses, hydrangeas, zinnias, sunflowers and greens, this clever combination arranging/gardening book fits the bill for growers and flower arrangers. Additional chapters on arranging and resources give hands-on information for the flower lover. Never a photograph nor flower from a florist location appears in this unique book for those who want to grow flowers suitable for arranging for one’s home.

 Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin (Harper Perennial)

 Tupelo native Minrose Gwin has penned an unforgettable tale set in 1963, in a fictitious Mississippi town and mixed with poignant human emotions rampant in the tumultuous Civil Rights era. Florence the preteen awkward girl, with her winsome and questioning ways, will remind readers of the precocious Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tossed among three homes: one with her cake-baking deranged mother and Ku Klux Klan abusive father; another with her socially and professionally successful grandparents, and the third with the surrogate-mother-type maid named Zenie who works for Florence’s grandparents. The neglected child looks for love and understanding while often not receiving even the basic human needs. When Eva, the housekeeper’s wayward niece, returns to Millwood and challenges the old ways, Florence receives special attention in the beauty and hair department that her own mother neglects to give her. Southerners who identified with scenes in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help will be reminded again of some nostalgic times, this time mixed with more violence and more tragedy, but also more redemption and retribution.

 Off the Beaten Path :Mississippi, A Guide to Unique Places
by Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick (Globe Pequot Press)

Now in its sixth edition, this valuable, useful paperback guide gives a comprehensive map to travel the Magnolia State over summer vacation. Divided into five sections: the Northeastern Hills, the Eastern Plains, the Mississippi Delta, the Heartland, Southern Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, this little guide is filled with information on places to visit and things to do in Mississippi. Also included are lists for each section which include bed and breakfast inns, chambers of commerce and tourism centers for individual towns, favorite attractions, pilgrimage and art festival listings, and museums. Special trivia boxes, as well as additional highlighted sections give often unknown facts and figures of interest. For a guide to exploring close to home, for fun day trips, or exciting overnight excursions, this is an up close examination of our beautiful state. 

Dreaming in Clay on the Coast of Mississippi by Christopher Maurer with Maria Estrella Iglesias and illustrated by Walter I. Anderson (University Press of Mississippi)

Now, for the first time in paperback, this new edition with some additional drawings, examines the history of Shearwater Pottery and its inhabitants, not only the famous painter Walter, but also his brothers and many of their talented children. In the introductory note, editor Christopher Maurer describes the severe damage unleashed by Hurricane Katrina to the entire Anderson compound. Though studios and cottages were partially or totally destroyed, the multi-talented family sought their inspiration from Walter Anderson, and in the words of his daughter, Mary, who stated, “He had an intense admiration for the power of storms. He was awed by them and wanted to be in them.” Numerous chapters illumine the journey, the influences of weather, glazes, mud and paint, as well as tender miracles and blueprints. This book, which includes sketchings, poetry, and photos of the Anderson pottery, is truly “the story of Shearwater Pottery and the Anderson Family’s Artful Enterprise.”  

The Optimist’s Daughter
BY EUDORA WELTY (Random House)
Published in 1969, this Pulitzer Prize winning novel, set in New Orleans and Mississippi, explores the relationship that the protagonist daughter Laurel has with her father and with his new young wife from a different social background. Having lived in Chicago for numerous years, Laurel finds it difficult to return to her childhood town, to her old friends, and to the home in which her parents reared her. Dealing with the past, Laurel painfully learns and grows from the experience. Internationally acclaimed novelist and short story writer, Eudora Welty, a native of Jackson’s historic neighborhood “Belhaven,” shows her superb talent in understanding human nature at its worst, and at its best in this famous novel.

The Mississippi Story: Mississippi Museum of Art
BY PATTI CARR BLACK (Mississippi Museum of Art)
Situated in downtown Jackson, the highly respected, newly designed Mississippi Museum of Art showcases Mississippi artists; this beautiful book features the holdings in the permanent “Mississippi Story” exhibit. The reproduced artwork contained within the book is all produced by artists who are native to the state or who have lived in Mississippi. The four sections explore the influence of the land on the art, the people of the state depicted in the art, the life of Mississippians observed by the artists, and Mississippi culture as seen through the eyes of the native artists. In addition, biographies of the artists give details from their eclectic pasts. As a helpful guide to the exhibit, this book also stands as a historical comment on Mississippi’s vast array of visual artists, past and present.

Come On In!: Recipes from the Junior League
of Jackson, Mississippi (Junior League of Jackson)
Known by Mississippi cooks for over almost two decades as a premiere cookbook known for its superior and widely respected recipes, Come On In! is widely acclaimed as one of the best cookbooks ever to be published in Jackson, Mississippi. Created to support and promote voluntarism and to help the community at large, this cookbook has provided a means for the Junior League of Jackson to take effective charitable action through the training of a multitude of volunteers. Divided into sections offering recipes of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, side dishes, breads, desserts, fun food, and condiments, with an additional wine guide, Come on In! also includes a delightful multitude of photographs focusing on doors and front porches which always offer a spirit of hospitality long cherished by Jacksonians.

Tough Plants for Southern Gardens: Low Care,
No Care, Tried and True Winners
BY FELDER RUSHING (Cool Springs Press)
Jacksonian garden guru Felder Rushing, known nationally and internationally, offers a no-nonsense, but fun, deep South guide listing those plants which will survive hot, humid summers in his ever popular Tough Plants for Southern Gardens. Divided into sections such as annuals, bulbs, grasses, lawns, perennials, and more, this ever popular book gives the “plants to plant” and keep alive in Jackson and surrounding areas. Most serious gardeners in the area adhere so strongly to the contents of this guide that they would not think of purchasing a plant unless it is in the friendly red book. A glorious multitude of colorful photographs accompany the descriptions which give advice on when and where to plant. Additionally, this garden guide gives direction on soil requirements, propagation, and light requirements of each plant, flower, shrub, and tree to be grown in the Jackson area.
 

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow (Algonquin Press of Chapel Hill)
When 10-year-old Rachael goes to live with her African American grandmother, after having been raised in a “white” world in Europe, her whole existence changes, due partially to the fact that she is a beautiful, intelligent bi-racial girl with gorgeous blue eyes. As the only survivor of a horrific accident on a Chicago rooftop, this precocious protagonist grieves for her white mother while wondering why her black father will not return from overseas to rescue her from a world where she has to learn how to live in a different kind of society. Powerful relationships, emotional entanglements and experiences with addiction all work together to make this novel one which cannot be put down. Biographical material from the author’s own life and experiences make this a rich work of fiction.

Southern Living: Farmer’s Market Cookbook: A Fresh Look at Local Flavor
(Oxmoor House, Inc.)
The people at Southern Living make mouths water with this farmer’s market cookbook! Using farmer’s market offerings, the recipes which are organized into “Spring recipes,” “Summer’s Bounty,” “Autumn Harvest,” and “Winter Storehouse” plus a chapter entitled “Fresh Produce and Herb Primer,” capture the very best ways to use homegrown, or locally grown, produce. The first chapter gives tips on why and how to shop at a farmer’s market and includes tips on choosing the best fresh vegetables and fruits. Then, the recipes such as: orange, radish, and cucumber salad; strawberry-turkey-brie panini; blueberry soup; crowder pea succotash; rustic Vidalia onion tart; sweet potato stew with red beans; clementine-gingersnap trifles; or sautéed brown sugar pears, as well as numerous other mouth watering delights, will whet every cook or reader’s appetite. Scattered throughout, assorted tips help the novice cook or the experienced chef to learn new tricks of the trade when preparing fresh produce.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
by Kelly O’Connor McNees (Amy Einhorn Books by Penguin Group)

For those grown-up children who loved Little Women, this historically accurate novel cleverly and delightfully depicts a brief period of time in the life of Louisa May Alcott when she, her three sisters, and parents lived in a New England cottage rented to them without charge by Ralph Waldo Emerson. While at age 22, the young novelist, who yearned for the day when she could forego washing and cleaning and cooking with her sisters to be a full time writer, was seriously tempted by an intelligent young man, who appreciated her wit, talent, and spunk and wanted to marry her. A tumultuous affair, filled with passion, jealousy, and anger ensued and lasted for several years. The customs and mores of the mid 1800s reflected in the dress, attitudes, and conversations encompass the entire gamut of experience of young women of the time period. Added interest exists in the references to Emerson and Walt Whitman, especially in his newly released publication of the shocking “Leaves of Grass.” Published under the same insignia (Amy Einhorn) as The Help, the novel is sure to take off in the literary fiction and historical fiction arena.



Rain Gardening in the South: Ecologically Designed Gardens for Drought, Deluge, and Everything in Between
by Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford (Eno Publishers)

Plagued with periods of rain mixed with periods of drought, frustrated Mississippi gardeners will certainly benefit from this timely gardening book which gives advice on designing a bog garden, or a dry garden, laying the groundwork, picking special plants, and trouble shooting various problems and challenges. An informative chapter on how to remove pollutants, such as copper, lead, zinc, and phosphorus, from the home garden gives the gardener much needed information. The author gardeners also provide copious lists of plants for a shade garden or a sun garden, or one in between. Included in the lists are shrubs, perennials, vines ground covers, and trees, which like either full sun, full shade, or a mixture. Other helpful information, such as how to make a rain barrel or how to create a swale or a berm, rounds out this specialized gardening book.


Give My Poor Heart Ease: Recollections: Voices of the Mississippi Blues
by William Ferris (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill)

Former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, co-editor of Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and author of Blues from the Delta, native Mississippian Bill Ferris, has penned a superb collection of essays about blues artists who have shaped the culture of the South. More than 20 interviews give an accurate history of the blues, combined with classic photographs taken by the author himself as he roamed the birthplace of the Mississippi blues in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, this book includes a CD of original field recordings as well as a DVD of original film. The stories, including those by such famous artists as B.B. King and Willie Dixon, give an up close and personal view of towns and cities where the blues originated, such as Clarksdale and Leland, while at the same time giving a look at the broad range of African American history and experience.


Music in the Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from Austin City Limits Performers
by Glenda Pierce Facemire (University of Texas Press)

Recipes submitted from numerous recording artists who have appeared on the television show Austin City Limits for over 20 years have been compiled in this cookbook made for people who love to cook and eat while listening to some rockin’ music. For instance, Willie Nelson, who appeared 12 times on the show, sent in his delicious Tequila-Mango Salsa recipe which he says is great on either chicken or fish, and Joan Baez’s sweet potato dip goes well while listening to her folk, pop, rock, gospel or country music. Other artists, including some Southern favorites such as Mary Chapin Carpenter and Vince Gill offer their recipes for margaritas and black bean-corn salsa. Recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, breads, sauces, and spreads, start off the offerings followed by recipes for poultry, meats, and seafood, and in addition, special vegetable and legume dishes whet the appetite while the dessert section is the “icing on the cake.” This unique, fun, and delectable cookbook gives music fans and all others who love an original recipe something new on the horizon.



Safe from the Neighbors
by Steve Yarbrough (Random House)

Former Mississippian Steve Yarbrough knows how to weave a tale, especially if that tale is set in his native Delta. He adds one more successful novel in Safe from the Neighbors which chronicles some of his own life experiences in the 1960s. On the surface, the story involves a local high school history teacher, his poet wife who teaches writing at Delta State, their twin Ole Miss co-eds, and a secondary host of characters from past and present. Throw in a former childhood friend, now a widowed striking seductress who starts teaching at the high school, and the plot pops. Add an up close look of Mississippi poverty and racial strife, which is predominantly set in Meredith’s entrance into Ole Miss, and the novel explodes. This may be Yarbrough’s best read yet!


Right Roses Right Place
by Peter Schneider (Storey Publishing)

From the first chapter “Everyone Can Grow Roses” through the last chapter, “Preparation for Winter,” rose expert Peter Schneider, who personally grows over 1200 rose varieties, covers everything the gardener ever wanted to know about this long cherished flower with multitudes of sizes, colors, and fragrances. His expertise shows in other chapters of this very usable guide to rose growing, from suggestions on how to choose roses which stand alone versus those which grow in harmony. Bedding and cutting roses, miniature roses, climbing roses, tree roses, and roses in containers round out this most versatile of gardening books. Basics of rose care, as well as dealing with insect and animal problems, plus the “how tos” of pruning, give a comprehensive view of each and every angle of growing Shakespeare’s or Burns’ most favorite of flowers.
 

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (Dutton)

Set in the small English coastal town of Regis Lyme, Remarkable Creatures is based on the life of Mary Anning, a “before her time” fossil explorer and rare prehistoric creature discoverer. It offers an unusual read creatively depicting the early 1800s in England. Insights into the church’s documented opinion about extinct sea creatures made by God but no longer in existence comprise a large part of the novel’s premise. A tumultuous relationship between the protagonist Mary and her friend Elizabeth Philpot, a middle aged spinster and London native who is also captivated by fish fossils, grows throughout their lives. Also, a shared interest in an illusive, handsome man adds jealousy and envy to the emotional mix between the socially and educationally diverse women. Readers will remember Chevalier’s success with Girl with the Pearl Earring as this new historical fiction delight makes its mark as well.

Flying Lessons by Gilbert (Bret) Ford (Hyperion)

Flying Lessons by Bret Ford—a Jackson native author and illustrator—offers everything a child could want in a book: captivating and humorous drawings of singing fanciful birds with cunning personalities to match, brilliant colors for showmanship, and a tale true to a child’s whimsy and delight with a little parable for the parents or grandparents to share alike. Picture some self-confident multi-colored doves preparing to migrate, who encounter unforeseen obstacles, and are then saved by a new, different bird, better known as an airplane. This didactic tale is set in motion and penned perfectly by the ultra talented Ford for little eyes and ears to learn that the big unusual and different bird can carry the stranded doves to safety in a warmer environment. Once a child in St. Andrew’s Lower School in the 1980s, the young artist Ford sat and listened to story book hour in the library, probably dreaming then that some day he might be able to pen and draw a story which just might take flight as well. A graduate of Pratt Institute and a current resident of Brooklyn, Ford has won numerous awards for his illustrations. He is currently a freelance illustrator whose work can often be seen in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Atlantic Monthly among others.

Gardening with Native Plants of the South by Sally Wasowski with Andy Wasowski (Taylor Trade Publishing)

As a professional landscape designer and a leader in the field of landscaping with native plants, Sally Wasowski, along with freelance photographer Andy Wasowski, have produced a gardening catalogue of native plants to be utilized in the South. With chapters on evergreen and deciduous trees of all heights, evergreen and deciduous shrubs also of varying heights, as well as vines, shady groundcovers and sun loving or shade loving native flowers, this reference book filled with colorful photos and a multitude of gardening facts, will be a needed addition to a gardener’s library. In addition, the authors have suggestions of planting specialized gardens, such as “the wedding garden” with only

white blooming flowers for June, and the “three season sunny flower garden” among many others. Of particular interest is the first chapter which illustrates, with architectural line drawings, the creation of numerous specific habitats for one’s backyard pleasure.

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell …..Photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell (Boyds Mills Press)

Early in this beautifully photographed children’s book depicting the miracle of the mysterious number sequencing seen in flower petals, the author Sarah Campbell states, “People first wrote about these special numbers in ancient India. But today the numbers are named after an Italian mathematician. He was called Fibonacci. Over the years, people have noticed that Fibonacci numbers are everywhere in nature.” As Campbell introduces the seed, the peace lily, a crown of thorns, a spiderwort, and a flowering quince, the child, as an impressionable reader, can easily see that the petals are growing in a special pattern where the total number of pedals is acquired by adding the two numbers before it. As the theoretical explanation continues, with simple but eloquent colorful photographs, Campbell introduces the pinecone, sunflower, and pineapple with even more Fibonacci numbers. A short informative glossary at the back gives definitions of basic terms used in this unique little book for children and adults who love to keep on learning new ideas from nature.