This week I finished listening to the audiobook Miss Julia Strikes Back, by Ann B. Ross, as the last part of Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge. I had already read 3 books, to officially complete the challenge, but I recently picked this one up in the library knowing it would be a fun ending for this very nice Challenge.
I get a kick out of the stories in the Miss Julia series, which are full of fun, humor, and kindness. Miss Julia is a southern Lady, a prominent member of her community, and a widow whose husband left her with not only a great deal of money, but also with a son that she knew nothing about. The little boy and his mother appeared on her doorstep in the first book and brought major changes to her life. Miss Julia always manages to get involved in problems and mysteries that need solving, and she somehow manages to bring everything to its rightful conclusion by sheer determination and strength of character.
Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge was all about sense of place. “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.” This was certainly true in each of the books I read and enjoyed for this challenge: Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace; To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston; and Miss Julia Strikes Back, by Ann B. Ross.
A special THANK YOU to Maggie for hosting this challenge. It really did open up a whole new genre for me.
A Fondness For Reading 
I’m just thrilled you enjoyed it! I’ll be placing a mister linky on soon to give-away another autographed book to one lucky completer. Hope it’s you! 😀
LikeLike
Congrats Robin! I’m really regretting that I didn’t participate in this one, but if it happens again next year, I’m definitely in!
LikeLike
Thanks again, Maggie. The give-aways are fun!Thanks, Chris. It’s one I’d sign up for again because there’s so much wonderful Southern literature!
LikeLike
Way to go! I still have one and a half books to read by the end of next week. I’m determined to finish, though.
LikeLike
Congrats on finishing the challenge! I save my Southern books for the winter, when I need to think warm, but it’s been loads of fun reading the reviews.
LikeLike
Booklogged, Good luck finishing up your challenge. I really enjoyed this one. I hope Maggie will host it again next year.
Thanks, Bookfool,
That’s a great idea…reading those southern books in the winter! It would certainly brighten up these dark northwest days.
LikeLike
I’ve made a resolution to re-visit Their Eyes Were Watching God, which I read in hurry for a class in high school. I hardly remember anything except three marriages.
LikeLike
Hi Matt, it really is worth revisiting. I listened to Ruby Dee read it on audiobook, and she was phenomenal!
LikeLike
When it comes to southern writers, I would highly suggest the complete short stories of Flannery O’Connor or her novel Wise Blood. If you have never read an O’Connor story before, you are in for a treat. Once you have read a couple of her short stories, such as “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” or “The River,” then go read about her life. I am sure you will find it interesting.
LikeLike