Here and Now
"We have an appointment with life that takes place in the present moment." — Thich Nhat Nanh
The Southern Way of Death
"When the rich wage war, it is the poor who die." — Sartre
Living Out Loud
I love color. I don't always wear a lot of it—I learned in New York City that black (and chocolate brown) makes you look skinnier, more chic and shows less dirt.
Swagger and Swing
I began reading Preston Lauterbach's book with a background in rock music, somewhat aware of the history and legends of the blues and the birth of rock 'n' roll. I was surprised, as I think even major music historians would be, by an array of stories I had never heard before.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
Adam Ross' "Ladies and Gentlemen" (Knopf, 2011, $26) is a collection of short stories that tell of an indifferent universe and untrustworthy companions who carelessly toss around the nervous men of Ross' stories.
Don't Be a Victim
Everyone needs a reminder to review safety rules. But every now and again those rules need to be updated.
Hell in Jackson
Madison Spencer is 13 years old and is in hell. She claims that her death had something to do with marijuana and has a lot to say while sitting in her hell cell. "Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison," she says at the beginning of each chapter of Chuck Palahniuk's newest book, "Damned" (Doubleday, 2011, $24.95).
Reinventing Charles Frazier
Any discussion of Charles Frazier or his books is inevitably prefaced with a comment such as "You know—the guy who wrote ‘Cold Mountain.'" And while the novel has certainly garnered much acclaim, "Cold Mountain" has also doomed Frazier's future work to a lifetime of disappointed comparisons, sounding something like, "Well, it wasn't as good as ‘Cold Mountain.'"
Many Kinds of Magic
It's not every day that I pick up a novel that surprises me on every level and sets all my senses on fire. But this happened with "The Night Circus", the first novel by Erin Morgenstern, a quirky and inventive writer who lives in Salem, Mass. (yes, of witch fame), who studied theater and studio art at Smith College.
The No-Name Problem
When feminist leader Betty Friedan passed away in February 2006, traditional and online media were flooded with stories from women who were affected in some way by her 1963 book, "The Feminine Mystique." Scholarly eulogies attempted to explain or contextualize the book's significance to the American feminist movement. My favorite assessment came from the feminist blogger Echidne of the Snakes, who emphasized Friedan's role as "name-giver."
Mississippi's Storm
Ask any Mississippian, and they'll tell you where they were the week of Aug. 29, 2005, the week Hurricane Katrina hit. They'll tell stories of the eerie silence waiting for the storm. For those who stayed on the Gulf Coast, they'll tell of the snarling and groaning as Katrina choked trees and reduced homes to cement foundations, and of devastation massive and humbling.
Cracking a Marriage
Any marriage, good or bad, looks easier from the outside than it ever does when you're inside it. They're like fragile statues, marriages. The slightest crack can cause shattering, even if it takes years for the crack to spread and multiply.
Chase Meets Otis
Author and illustrator Loren Long created a book with a farm setting and a tractor as a super hero in "Otis and the Tornado" (Philomel, 2011, $17.99), the follow-up to his 2009 book, "Otis."
The Football Fanatics Book Shelf
From Friday nights at small-town high schools to Monday evenings in NFL stadiums, fans around the country are ready for some football.
Untangling Knots
On Sept. 22, Lemuria Books (4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202) will hold a book signing for Diana Abu-Jaber, author of the new novel, "Birds of Paradise." Abu-Jaber is an Iraqi-American author who has already published three novels "Origin," "Crescent" and "Arabian Jazz," and the memoir, "The Language of Baklava."