Showing posts with label Alabama Booksmith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alabama Booksmith. Show all posts

Reading the States: Alabama

Friday, January 6, 2012


Welcome to the first post of my Read the States series! Every Friday I will be posting books and authors that are great representations of a different state. If you have any additional suggestions for this week’s state or any other states, leave them in the comments!

Alabama is known for the Talladega Speedway and the Civil Rights movement, but there are some wonderful literary connections as well. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived there while writing Tender is the Night. Harper Lee and Truman Capote grew up side-by-side in the tiny town of Monroeville. A state so rich with famous authors provides some fascinating reading possibilities.

State: ALABAMA 

Fiction:
- To Kill a Mockingbird* by Harper Lee
- Other Rooms, Other Voices by Truman Capote
- Forrest Gump* by Winston Groom
- Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
- Boy's Life by Robert McCammon 
- Gods in Alabama* by Joshilyn Jackson 
- Go Set a Watchman* by Harper Lee 

Nonfiction:
- All Over but the Shoutin’* by Rick Bragg
- The Story of My Life* by Helen Keller
- Scout, Atticus, and Boo* by Mary McDonough Murphy
- The Watsons Go To Birmingham* by Christopher Paul Curtis 
- The Mockingbird Next Door* by Marja Mills
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans 
- Ava's Man* by Rick Bragg

Authors Who Lived Here:
- Harper Lee
- Truman Capote
- Zelda Fitzgerald
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Great Bookstores:
Alabama Booksmith - Known for its first edition club.
Beehive Coffee and Books

Literary Places to Visit:
Fitzgerald's House and Museum
To Kill a Mockingbird Museum
Harper Lee and Truman Capote's Homes

*Books I've Read 
Photo by moi.