A Touch of Southern Grace

 I can hardly believe that summer is almost over and that it is already August! Despite the change in weather and seasonal changes the years has just really seemed to clump together since March… Some times I seriously feel like we haven’t even left the month of March; it is has been a crazy year, without a doubt. 

I remember the summers when I was in middle and high school I would always put off doing the ‘dreaded’ summer reading, and now I honestly can’t read enough. What is it about “having” to do certain things, that honestly aren’t that bad, and some of which you would do in your free time anyways, that makes you feel like it is all the sudden a chore? Ironically, now in the summer if I have a lot of free time I could read three books in a couple months. However, when you’re in school 3 months to read 3 books seems like no time at all. It’s funny how a change in perspective can put a new spin on things. 

Feels Like Falling, by Kristy Woodson Harvey

I love Kristy Woodson Harvey’s books for the spring and summer season. She writes the most perfect books to read while sitting on your back porch or to tuck away in your beach tote to late pull out and read by the water. Her style of writing unfailingly transports you to a new town and a set of characters that you will undeniably love. 

Harvey intertwines the lives of two women whose lives are in turmoil and their future unknown. This book just goes to show you that you never know exactly what is around the corner and people seem to come into our lives at just the right moment in time. To read a more in-depth review click here! Feels Like Falling will have you laughing, crying, and cheering for each character with each turn of a page.

Where The Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

This book has been on my ‘books to read’ list for at least a year and a half! I actually had the audio on loan from a friend {for 6 months} last year, but things were so crazy I couldn’t even find time to listen to them… fingers crossed that 2021 doesn’t get any crazier than 2020… Before I start I have to say I am amazed that this is Owens first book; she wove every aspect together so well to create such an enticing narrative.

As beautifully as it is written it is also somewhat of a painfully sad storyline at times. The story is set in a small, rural, 1950s North Carolina town and revolves around the childhood, and later adulthood of Kya Clark. As the youngest member of the Clark family she is slowly abandoned by every member of her family, starting with her mother, than her four older siblings, and lastly her father who is the reason why the others left and why they landed in the isolated marsh lands of North Carolina.

Kya is drawn to the land and at times views nature as the only thing that has not left her. She soon becomes known as the ‘Marsh Girl” by the towns people leading to a feeling of further isolation and not belonging. Despite everything she manages to survive on her own starting at a very young age, turns her love of the marshlands into being a central point of her life, is found at the center of a town crime, and even manages to find love in more ways than one. 

This murder-mystery, coming-of-age, southern fiction novel is just stunning. Although heart-wrenching at times, Where the Crawdads Sing is an amazing novel that will no doubt join the ranks of such book as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sound and the Fury; an instant classic. 

The Southern Side of Paradise, by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Didn’t I tell you that Kristy Woodson Harvey writes the perfect books for the spring and summer season?! 

The Southern Side of Paradise is the third {and sadly, last book} in The Peachtree Bluff Series. Over the year I have absolutely fallen in love with the Murphy family with their family drama, the different personalities of the mother, Ansley, and that of her three daughters that are intermingled throughout the family, and their lifestyle in Peachtree, North Carolina. Each book in the series centers around a sister – the first book starting with the oldest sister and the last book ending with the youngest sister, Emerson. 

Emerson is recently engaged to her old high school boyfriend, has been casted in the role of a lifetime, has everything right at her feet, yet something seems off…

This book is full of southern charm, page-turning drama, and heart-felt emotions in every corner. {A more in-depth review is soon to come!}. A summer must read, especially for those who have sisters in their family!