Fall in Georgia--Look What's Coming

Thank goodness. Fall is around the corner. School starts back soon. College enrollments are way up and budgets are way down. Cooler weather. Fly fishing? And, of course, college football.

Fall is also prime book season. Here is a smattering of what's happening in Georgia. Note: this is the Cliffnotes version. If you want more details, please check the appropriate link at right.

Happy reading all.

From A Capella Books in Atlanta's Little Five Points District:

August 19 at 7 pm
Pat Conroy South of Broad
At the Carter Center

September 24 at 7 pm
Gary Pomerantz The Devil's Tickets: A Night of Bridge, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age
At the Carter Center

From the Georgia Center for the Book:

August 6 at 6:30 pm
Judson Mitcham A Little Salvation
Cherokee Regional Library, LaFayette, GA

August 10 at 7 pm
James Cobb Georgia Odyssey
Hart County Library, Hartwell, GA

August 11 at 7:15 pm
Amanda Gable The Confederate General Rides North
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

August 25 at 7:15 pm
Jonathan Tropper This Is Where I Leave You
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

September 4 thru September 6
The Decatur Book Festival
150 Authors

September 14 at 7:15 pm
Tom Edwards Blue Jesus and Samg Pak Wait Until Twilight
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

September 15
Judy Shepard The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder In Laramie and a World Transformed
Time and Location TBA

September 17 at 7:15 pm
Sal Cilella Upton's Regulars
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

September 17 at 7 pm
David Bottoms Waltzing Through the Endtime
Lake Blackshear Regional Library, Americus, GA

September 19 from 11 am to 3 pm
Celebrate Curious George and his creator H. A. Ray
Georgia Center for the Book

September 21
Philippa Gregory The White Queen
Time and Place TBA

September 28 at 7 pm
Garrison Keillor Pilgrims: A Wobegon Novel
Presser Hall, Agnes Scott College, Decatur

September 29 at 7:15 pm
Poetry Night Atlanta
Robin Kemp This Pagan Heaven and Karen Head Goizia Notebook
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

September 29 at 7 pm
Terry Kay collected works and stories
Catoosa County Library, Ringgold, GA

October 6 at 7:15 pm
Carmen Deedy 14 Cows in America
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

October 12 at 7:15 pm
Carol Berkins Civil War Wives
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

October 13
Byron Pitts Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Overcome Life's Obstacles
Time and Place TBA

October 17 from 9 am to 6 pm
The Georgia Literary Festival
Rome, GA

October 19 at 7:15 pm
R. A. Salvatore The Ghost King: Transitions, Book III
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

October 20 at 7 pm
Terry Kay Collected Works and Stories
Mountain Regional Library, Young Harris, GA

October 25 at 3 pm
Hank Klibanoff The Race Beat
Athens Regional Library, Athens

October 26 at 7:15 pm
Robert Hicks A Seperate Country
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

October 28 at 7:15 pm
Wil Haygood Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

October 29 at 7 pm
Wil Haygood Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson
Ohoopee Regional Library, Vidalia, GA

November 10 at 7:15 pm
Jill McCorkle Going Away Shoes
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

November 14 from 10 am to 4 pm
Savannah Children's Book Festival
Savannah

November 17 at 7:15 pm
Mary Kay Andrews The Fixer Upper
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

November 19 at 7:15 pm
Debbie Macomber One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity
Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur

Presented by the Margarett Mitchell House:

August 8
George Dawes Green Ravens

August 20
Nancy Grace The Eleventh Victim

August 28
Jack Riggs The Fireman's Wife

September 16
Anita Diamant Day After Night

September 30
Richard Russo That Old Cape Magic

October 27
Rita Mae Brown Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small

October 29
Richard Paul Evans The Christmas List

November 9
David Wroblewski The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

November 16
Jeff Shaara No Less Than Victory

November 18
Jennifer Burns Goddess of the Market

Other Events and Happenings:

August 16
Nancy Grace The Eleventh Victim
Borders at Peachtree Road, Atlanta

August 30 at 2 pm
Donny Seagraves Gone From These Woods
Borders Books, Athens, GA

September 2 at 7 pm
Rev Run Take Your Family Back
Barnes & Noble at Peachtree Road, Atlanta

September 19 at 7 pm
Jamie and Bobby Deen The Deen Boys Take it Easy
Barnes & Noble, Savannah

October 15 at 7:15 pm
Andy Williams Moon River and Me
Margaret Mitchell House, Atlanta

Upcoming Releases of Note:

September 1: Phillip Lee Williams The Campfire Boys

September 15: Marion Montgomery With Walker Percy at the Tupperware Party: in Company with Flannery O'Conner, T.S. Eliot, and Others

Events can change. Better check the websites. More to come. Happy Reading.

RMR

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Author and native Atlanta, Georgian Pat Conroy has a new book, South of Broad. It is being published by Nan A. Talese, and arrives in bookstores on August 19. I managed to snag an advanced reader's copy some weeks ago, and read the book over a few days.


Pat Conroy's men are Southern to the core. They just don't wear it on their sleeve as a simple-minded caricature (unless intended to irritate someone who's predisposed to see those same caricatures). Conroy's protagonists are damaged, bruised and roughed up, but still full of dignity and grace. They are prone to be bookish, non-judgemental, empathetic, a bit too sensitive, and can even cook well. They also love football, can handle themselves on a basketball court, appreciate the discipline and tradition of military service, and can use a rod, reel, and firearm with ease. They are right at home in the library, in the woods, on the water, or on a ball field. Conroy's men are a little embarrassed about themselves, pretty quick to turn the other cheek, and wicked pranksters who recognize that even a thinking man will sometimes encounter some S.O.B. in life who is so sorry that only whipping his ass will get the message across.



Mr. Conroy's readers figured out a long time ago that he has a love (hate) relationship with the city of Charleston, South Carolina, the Carolina low country, and the South in general. Reviewers are already calling this book a love letter to Charleston. No doubt, Charleston is the star of this novel. But this book is also full of the character types that won Mr. Conroy millions of fans over the years. There are also guest appearances by Hollywood and Mother Nature. I remember being in Savannah that September night in 1989, on the telephone with a co-worker over in Charleston, and wondering what that must have been like for him. Now I have a pretty good picture. Mr. Conroy's language is just tremendous.



If this book is a love letter to Charleston, it is also a beautifully written tribute to friendship. Mr. Conroy writes of "essential men". He might well have referred to essential women, or essential people. That's the real story. That, and a gallant, bookish nerd who suffers the nickname, 'The Toad'.



Pat Conroy is the author of eight previous books. Though the folks of the Carolina Low Country claim him, he is a native of Atlanta, Georgia.



Pat Conroy will be discussing his new book at the Day Chapel of the Carter Center at Emory University in Atlanta on Wednesday, August 19th. The event is at 7 pm, and doors open at 6 pm. Admission to the event is $30 ($25 for Friends of the Carter Center) and will include an autographed 1st edition of South of Broad.

RMR

Georgia Authors Discuss Iran, Espionage and National Security Issues

Attention all espionage and national security aficionados:

On Thursday evening, beginning at 7 pm at the Buckhead (Atlanta) Barnes & Noble, Emory University professor of political science and history, Dr. Harvey Klehr will discuss his new co-authored book, Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America. The book examines the journals of former KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev, and details the heretofore unknown extent of the KGB's operations in the United States. The book, and the discussion, will likely prove far more interesting than even the best Cold War fiction.

What: Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America by Harvey Klehr

Where: Barnes & Noble Buckhead (Atlanta)

When: 7 pm, Thursday, June 25

Other Georgia authors you may wish to check out:

If you have an interest in intelligence and intelligence agencies, University of Georgia professor of political science Loch Johnson is one of the leading intelligence scholars in the country. In January of 2001, at a book signing for his then new book, Bombs, Bugs, Drugs and Thugs: Intelligence and America's Quest for Security, Dr. Johnson discussed his fear of a possible "non-conventional attack against the US by a terrorist group or other non-state actor" as one of the gravest threats facing America. Nine months later, Dr. Johnson was in great demand by media organizations seeking expert analysis concerning that very tragic reality.

Loch Johnson is the author or co-author of nearly a dozen books on intelligence and national security topics, including the Handbook for Intelligence Studies (June 09) and Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council (with Ambassador Karl Inderfurth; Nov 03).

If you have been following events in Iran, you may wish to examine the books of Georgia author and Middle East expert Sandra Mackey. In particular, her book The Iranians: Persia, Islam, and the Soul of a Nation (Apl 98) is certainly relevant to current events. Her other books include Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein (first published in May 02, then revised in March 03) and Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict (Feb 08).

If you have been following the Swine Flu pandemic, Georgia author and former Atlanta Journal Constitution health reporter Maryn McKenna's 2004 book, Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service is a darkly fascinating and disturbing look at the work of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) headquartered in Atlanta. McKenna was given unprecedented access to the elite units of the CDC who serve as America's (and often, the world's) front-line warriors against Ebola, SARS, bio-terrorism and flu pandemics.

The recent and horrific shooting at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. brings to mind Georgia author Daniel Levitas' 2002 (revised in 2004) book, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. Levitas regularly consults with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, on issues relating to domestic terrorism.

For good, solid WWII-Cold War fiction, try University of Georgia faculty member, screen writer, and former CIA officer Howard Berk's novel, Nikolai's War (08). Some of Berk's other writing credits include many of the scripts for the original 'Mission Impossible' and 'Columbo' TV series.

On a related, though non-literary, side note, I was recently pleased to discover that the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education is continuing a program that I started there back in 2005. This year's Secret Agent Summer Camp (formerly, Spy Camp) sounds pretty cool. Below is a link to an Athens Banner Herald article about the program when we were first getting it off the ground.

http://onlineathens.com/stories/100305/fea_20051003007.shtml

RMR

The Immigrant Experience--Judy and Takis Iakovou Book Signing

After years of meticulous research, Judy and Takis Iakovou's historical mystery novel, Bitter Tide, finally hit the shelves this week. The Athens' area couple are perhaps best known for their previous Nick and Julia Lambros mystery series, which includes So Dear to Wicked Men and There Lies a Hidden Scorpion. They are also known for Taki's Greek cooking, and are the former owners of the Silver Screen restaurant in Crawford, Georgia.

A nice crowd turned out this past week for their reading and signing over in Athens, GA. The new novel revolves largely around Ellis Island, and early 1900s New York City. The Library Journal has already given the book a hearty thumbs up.

For a bit more detail about the book, see the article that appeared in this week's Athens Banner Herald at the link below:

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/060909/liv_448892860.shtml

The photo is from this week's signing. That's author Terry Kay in the one shot. He is a tremendous supporter of Georgia authors and their work.

Congratulations Judy and Takis!

Also suggested, if you are interested in immigrant stories (& Georgia):

Outcasts United by Warren St. John. This new title features the story of a group of immigrant/refugee kids in metro Atlanta who form a very successful soccer team. The book has been receiving a great deal of press lately, and a movie deal is in the works.

RMR

The Siege by Ismail Kadare

First published in Albania in 1970, then in France in 1994, The Siege by Albanian author Ismail Kadare has finally made it to bookstores in the U.S. It is just out from Cannongate Press. It is extraordinary.

The book won the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005, and Kadare has repeatedly been seen as a candidate for a Nobel Prize in literature. And he is from Albania.

Set in medieval Albania during Ottoman rule, The Siege tells the story of an Ottoman army trying to take an Albanian citadel. If historical fiction, fine writing, epic battles, and universal themes interest you, this book is worth a look.

This book is brutal, sensual in places, and rich.

The photos at top are of Rozafa Citadel in Shkoder, Albania. They show the castle at a distance, then looking over the ramparts toward the city of Shkoder, then the interior of the fortress. The photos were shot back in 1994.

Recommended:

The General of the Dead Army and Broken April, both by Ismail Kadare.

Andersonville by McKinley Kantor

Broken April was the last book that I ever purchased from Oxford Bookstore in Atlanta. On my way to Albania to teach.

RMM

A Harem of 50-Year-Old Hotties

My dad (Pop, we call him) is getting remarried tomorrow. The harem of 50-year-old hotties living at his house had to move out to make room for his new bride.

Pop is marrying a wonderful lady. It's quite a story, too. Both he and my late mother, as well as his new wife-to-be and her late husband, all new each other as teenagers. They grew up together. My mom passed away over three years ago, now. Miss Nancy, Pop's fiance, lost her husband five years ago.

Friendship led to companionship and, well, what can one say? Senior Citizens these days!

So, tomorrow, with two whole lives already under their collective belt, Pop and Nancy are getting married. A month ago, my father (age 69) more or less asked me for my permission to get married. In a round about way, so did Miss Nancy. Pop's very old school, and Nancy is the picture of grace.

We never quite know what to expect next, do we? I'm already trying to absorb my own child's finishing kindergarten this week (she is a READER!).

Unbeknown to my spouse (and soon to be first grader daughter), Gone With the Wind Barbie and her sisters are about to move in with us. Pop has been making room at home for his new bride. One of the items moving out has been my late mother's rather substantial collection of heirloom Barbie dolls. Barbie just turned 50 years old, you may recall from the media coverage. This collection was one of my mom's quirky passions. The collecting really took off after the birth of my daughter. Call it her legacy.

Quirky as it was, it was still heartfelt. And that's what matters. And I've never curated a Barbie museum. It ought to be interesting.

Best of Luck to Pop and Nancy.

Recommended reading:

Anything about family.

RMR

On the Road

It is certainly nice to be home after being on the road for work for nearly a month. Two weeks in Chicago, then two weeks commuting daily between metro Atlanta and Milledgeville, Georgia.

While in Chicago, I had the opportunity to meet author Neil Shubin at a discussion and signing for his book Your Inner Fish. I'm hoping the book will give me some insights on the matter of my own inner fish, as well as to some of those less evolved.

Chicago is a tremendous city, especially for eating. I also had the chance to see the famous Loyola University basketball court, and Soldier Field. The Field Museum is simply not to be missed. Indiana Jones would melt in that place.

Recommended reading:

From Lucy to Language by Donald Johanson (with photography by Georgia photographer, for National Geographic staff photography, Hominid expert, and former dairyman David Brill)

Summer for the Gods by Georgia author and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Larson

Comets by David Levy (the Mr. Rogers of astronomy)

After Chicago, it was back to Atlanta, then on the road each day to Milledgeville (home to Georgia's antebellum capitol, the State mental health facility, and Flannery O'Conner). Oddly enough, I got the email from work that I'd be going to Milledgeville on O'Conner's birthday. Several days later, friends from my former bookstore in Athens, GA let me know that they had just hosted Brad Gooch for a reading and signing of his new book, Flannery-A Life of Flannery O'Conner. The book was, I believe, well reviewed in the New York Times. I recommend it, too.

Recommended:

Gooch's book and any works by O'Conner.

Glad to be home. Hope to have time to read a little.

Oh, also, I finished Ray Bergman's Freshwater Bass while in Chicago (while not working or eating). If you like old fishing books, I highly recommend it.

I'm finally up on Facebook (another distraction from reading). Our daughter, age six, just lost her first tooth, and was invited to read at new kindergartner orientation at her elementary school. And our four year-old Star Wars nerd is kicking my butt at Star Wars Legos Wii.

Good luck everybody.

RMR