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The Southern Literary Trail is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in June 2023.

We will consider books with a southern literary theme that have not been read by the group in the last 24 months. Per our recently revised criteria, the two categories are books originally published in or before 1990 or those published after 1990. You may make one nomination in each category. Authors may not nominate their own works. Please post your nominations below and specify which category you are nominating it for.

Nominations will stay open for one week or until we receive six nominations in each category. Voting will take place in the first ten days of next month.

The eligible nominations received will be listed below:

Books originally published in or before 1990
1. Sophie's Choice, by William Styron
2. The Man Who Lived Underground, by Richard Wright
3. Reflections in a Golden Eye, by Carson McCullers
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
5. Save Me the Waltz, by Zelda Fitzgerald
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Books originally published after 1990
1. Memphis, by Tara M. Stringfellow
2. Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby
3. Twilight, by William Gay
4. The Catbird Seat, by Rebecca Hollingsworth
5. If I Had Two Wings, by Randall Kenan
6. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett

I would like to nominate William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice.

Georgia wrote: "I would like to nominate William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice."

An excellent choice. I assume that the nomination is for the Pre-1990 group.

Tom wrote: "Georgia wrote: "I would like to nominate William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice."

An excellent choice. I assume that the nomination is for the Pre-1990 group."

That's right, Tom. It was first published in the 1970s. Been meaning to read forever. Bought a copy and it's waiting on the shelf. Would be nice to read with others.

For post 1990 I nominate
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Sophie's Choice is on sale today on Kindle for $3.99.

How about Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
set in rural Virginia. Post 1990.

Barry wrote: "How about Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
set in rural Virginia. Post 1990."

An excellent choice. I really enjoyed Razorblade Tears.

Pre-1990 The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright (written between 1940 - 1945)

Post-1990 Twilight by William Gay (2006)

Cheryl Carroll wrote: "Pre-1990 The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright (written between 1940 - 1945)

Post-1990 Twilight by William Gay (2006)"

Thank you. Both are good choices.

after 1990 (Published September 27, 2022) The Catbird Seat by Rebecca Hollingsworth

pre 1990 (First published January 1, 1941 - republished in 2000) Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers

�� Sandi �� wrote: "after 1990 (Published September 27, 2022) The Catbird Seat by Rebecca Hollingsworth

pre 1990 (First published January 1, 194..."

Ooh! More excellent choices. The Catbird Seat looks really good!

Gonna be a good month - too bad only two get selected...☹️

I would like to nominate Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston published in 1937 as a Pre-1990 option.

Thank you.

Judi wrote: "I would like to nominate Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston published in 1937 as a Pre-1990 option.

Thank you."

Another good choice. It has been a while since we have read this.

I agree Sandi. Excellent choices so far this month.

We need 2 more noms in each category to get this done. Summertime and the livin' is easy!

I'm not sure 'need' is the right word. I'd be happy to go with the four nominations we have in both categories. Let's wait and see if we get any more good ones by this weekend.

Tom wrote: "I'm not sure 'need' is the right word. I'd be happy to go with the four nominations we have in both categories. Let's wait and see if we get any more good ones by this weekend."

I would agree.

Me too Tom. Hard enough to choose as it is.

I nominate:
Pre 1990: Save Me the Waltz Zelda Fitzgerald

Post 1990: If I Had Two Wings Randall Kenan

Tom wrote: "I'm not sure 'need' is the right word. I'd be happy to go with the four nominations we have in both categories. Let's wait and see if we get any more good ones by this weekend."

Agreed Tom, I think the pre 1990 selections are one of the best I've seen

Toya, if you mean Christine, by Stephen King, that is not an acceptable nomination. Neither the setting or the author has anything to do with southern literature.

I have a question. Are kindle/ebook only allowed. I have a kindle book that sounds really really good and fits all the criteria, but I cannot find it in print. Thanks

�� Sandi �� wrote: "I have a question. Are kindle/ebook only allowed. I have a kindle book that sounds really really good and fits all the criteria, but I cannot find it in print. Thanks"

I'm not keen on that idea, Sandi. I don't do kindle\ebook and I'm sure that I'm not alone here. I think selections should be available in all formats.

I agree. If people can't easily access the book, they won't read it, and there's no discussion.

�� Sandi �� wrote: "I have a question. Are kindle/ebook only allowed. I have a kindle book that sounds really really good and fits all the criteria, but I cannot find it in print. Thanks"

My opinion is that it shouldn't be excluded but that we would need to make it clear that it has limited availability, just as we do with books that are out of print or not available on Kindle. Such advisories tend to dampen the group's enthusiasm for the books.

PRE 1980 nomination: To Kill a Mockingbird (I think it's been quite a while since the group read it ...)

That completes the list for the Pre-1990 category. We ahve room for one more Post 1990 nomination.

Post 1990 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

And with that, we have a full slate. Nominations are now closed.

Thanks for the feedback on Kindle books. I feel like I am behind sometimes by not reading more Kindle or ebooks, as it seems that almost everyone else does. I have just recently starting looking at Libby - which is the online system that will be replacing Overdrive. But I notice that there is a whole world of books that are just written for publishing online, so thought I would ask. I did by the way find a paperback publication of the book I was referencing in my post, however I cannot find it anywhere but Amazon and it is too new for Abe Books or any of those more popular places. Nor does my library have a copy. Only Amazon.

I'm a big user of Libby books. I have library cards from at least seven area libraries primarily so that I can access their digital and audio book collections. Hoopla is another great service that many libraries subscribe to.

How do you manage 7 separate cards Tom? In my area you can only get a library card within your own town. You can buy rights to use things like the computer lab for other libraries, but can't get a real library card from them. Of course on the Illinois side of the river I can take books out from any surrounding library - since they are all in one system. But I would have to live in the town to get an Iowa card. I live in an area that comprises both Iowa and Illinois - Rock Island, Moline, East Moline in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. "Connected by a River" is our motto.

The polls for the June selections are open. Thanks to all of you who nominated and to all of you who participate. As always, there are some excellent nominations on the ballot.

For the Pre-1990 nominations, Vote here!

For the Post-1990 poll, Vote here!

The polls will remain open for ten days and the winners will be announced mid-month.