Having really enjoyed my first experience with reading challenges (Carl’s Once Upon a Time challenge), I ‘ve been tempted by the idea of choosing another one, but wasn’t sure I had the time to make another commitment yet. However, I can’t resist Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge. I’ve hesitated until the very last moment here, but I finally decided to do it. Here’s what keeps drawing me back to Maggie’s blog, and what she says that has enticed me to join:

I believe one of the major reasons we have a whole genre named after our region is because “sense of place” or the setting becomes a character in most Southern books.

“Sense of place” is something that means a lot to me. I grew up in the “intermountain west” and even though that’s not where I am living now, the landscapes of that place, and my understanding of the people there, are part of who I am. It’s a pleasure to read books in which you can really “picture,” as well as deeply understand, the nuances of the setting and the background of the characters. Reading books by authors with a very strong sense of place, different from my own, will be very interesting this summer!

There are so many good books and authors to choose from, but at this point my choices are:

Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace (because I loved the movie and because Nymeth says the book is really good, and I haven’t been disappointed by any of her recommendations.)

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (I haven’t read it since high school, and I want to listen to the audiobook version with Sissie Spacek as narrator.)

Losing Battles, by Eudora Welty (because I just finished reading her book, One Writer’s Beginnings, and I want to read more..more!)

This challenge begins on June 1st and continues through August. I can’t wait to get started!