book: the crowning glory of calla lily ponder

it's no big secret around here i have a thing for vampire stories. i will admit that i get sucked into them, however horribly written they may be, and forget i live in a reality where the only real vampires are those people who are so miserable in life that they SUCK the life out of you.

them and the occasional confused individual who feels the need to cap their teeth & clothe themselves from head to toe in black patent leather.

but you can't bet your life i'm not out bragging about reading vampire smut. i already feel like i'm one step away from being one of those housewives who fawn all over those cheesy romance novels in the grocery store... not there is anything wrong with that... but i can not imagine myself picking up a harlequin romance novel, or any novel for that matter, where there is a half naked man on the cover with his hair blowing back in the wind.

i like my men sans billowy white shirt please.

SO. back to the book i just finished. it's more my genre, my preferred reading outside classics. 

'the crowning glory of calla lily ponder' by rebecca wells. she's the author of 'divine secrets of the ya ya sisterhood' which i read after seeing the movie. (ps. the book, as usual, was SO much better) i picked it up on a whim & could not have loved it more.



i'm a sucker for stories about real people. small people from small towns. people who are great if for nothing else than their frailty & flaws. i don't think i have sobbed while reading. ever. it was ALMOST the ugly cry. almost. but it was SOO good.

it's written loosely as a diary.. it just sorta flows along from the time she is 5 until she is in her early 30s. you will cry, you will laugh, you will scratch your head. but you will connect with her.. or at least i did. it's one of those stories that will remind you that the human race is capable of such good, and how important it is to connect with those we love.

it was a perfect read for me right now. perfect.

xo-k

ps. if you are interested in more stories like this, or 'divine secrets..', check out these books by fannie flagg; 'fried green tomatoes', 'daisy fay and the miracle man'. or adriana trigiani's big stone gap novels.