Whiskey in a Teacup

Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits by Reese Witherspoon                 Audio Book: 2 hours, 50 mins        Hardback Book: 304 pages

Sweet book by Reese Witherspoon in which she talks about growing up in the South, how many ways a Southern woman can say, “Bless Your Heart” and the meaning of each,  how macaroni and cheese and cornbread are considered vegetables on restaurant menus in the south – carbohydrates are a food group – get used to it and how her grandmother told her to never wear sweat pants on an airplane – because it a privilege to get to ride in one so dress appropriately.   So many great Southernisms, Bettyisms (Reese’s mother) and Dortheaisms (her Grandmother).   She gives the reader tips on everything from shortcuts to entertaining, recipes and even how to hot roller your hair.   You will be like Pavlov’s dog salivating over the recipes she shares.  Omgosh!    Good eatin’!    She tells her stories in that bright and cheerful Reese Witherspoon way and you just know she is smiling that beautiful smile of hers because you are just thinking about and picturing what she is saying.   Fun read.   I totally recommend this book to everyone and get her Grandma’s recipes!   

 - Shirley J

Southern Lady Code

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis    224 pages 

"Helen Ellis has a mantra: "If you don't have something nice to say, say something not-so-nice in a nice way." Say "weathered" instead of "she looks like a cake left out in the rain." Say "early-developed" instead of "brace face and B cups." And for the love of Coke Salad, always say "Sorry you saw something that offended you" instead of "Get that stick out of your butt, Miss Prissy Pants." In these twenty-three raucous essays Ellis transforms herself into a dominatrix Donna Reed to save her marriage, inadvertently steals a $795 Burberry trench coat, witnesses a man fake his own death at a party, avoids a neck lift, and finds a black-tie gown that gives her the confidence of a drag queen."  (courtesy of Goodreads)

I had read Ellis' book of short stories, American Housewife -- which I really enjoyed and also really enjoyed as an audiobook. So, I had been eagerly anticipating this book of essays by Ellis.  And, I was not disappointed --- I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

From the Goodreads summary, you might get the impression that all of the essays are humorous, but that's not true --- there's one, in particular, about Ellis' decision to be child-free (which you can read here, as well), which I found very thoughtful and serious.  However, I also laughed out loud a few times when reading this book.  In fact, at one point, I laughed so hard that I just sat with the book on my lap and snorted with laughter --- which made my husband come up from downstairs, where he heard me over the noise of the hockey game he was watching, to ask me what was so funny.  

I know you want to know what was so funny ---- it was Ellis' description of how she came home to a remodeling project and discovered one of the workers masturbating in a room, behind an open door. Ellis wrote that at first, she thought the guy was doing something connected to "Die Hard," the Bruce Willis movie, and she was tempted to jump into the room, screaming, "Yippee Ki-Yay, Mother.....r!!"  And then realized there was a sound "like an otter trapped in a pickle jar," coming from the room.... so she did not do anything but silently walked away (and then notified the worker's boss).  Just the idea of her popping into the room screaming that line from Die Hard made me laugh --- but the sentence about "an otter trapped in a pickle jar" put me over the edge.

Against the Country

Against the Country by Ben Metcalf
328 Pages

"Against the Country is a gift for fans of Southern Gothic and metafiction alike. Set in the Virginia pines, and overrun with failed parents, racist sex offenders, cast-off priests, and suicidal chickens, this novel challenges literary convention even as it attacks our national myth--that the rural naturally engenders good, while the urban breeds an inevitable sin.

In a voice both perfectly American and utterly new, Ben Metcalf introduces the reader to Goochland County, Virginia--a land of stubborn soil, voracious insects, lackluster farms, and horrifying trees--and details one family's pitiful struggle to survive there. Eventually it becomes clear that Goochland is not merely the author's setting; it is a growing, throbbing menace that warps and scars every one of his characters' lives.

Equal parts fiery criticism and icy farce, Against the Country is the most hilarious sermon one is likely to hear on the subject of our native soil, and the starkest celebration of the language our land produced. The result is a literary tour de force that raises the question: Was there ever a narrator, in all our literature, so precise, so far-reaching, so eloquently misanthropic, as the one encountered here?"

The style of the writing is very hard to get into but once you read for awhile you discover the snarkiness of the author in his relating of childhood in the country.  However, the language is so stilted and dated readers will tire of struggling to understand the point of each chapter or essay, especially when there isn't any point.