I vividly remember reading this book during my god-awful typing class freshman year of high school. I was surrounded by a lot of freaks, but when I started giggling at the scene where Daisy Fay is galloping past a army convoy on an out-of-control horse after she lost her bikini top, they looked at me like I was the freak.
By far my favorite of Flagg's books, and probably one of my favorite laugh-out-loud books.

A beautiful, complex story of people thrown together who become friends though they shouldn't be. The writing is amazing, and it's truly a book that transports and transforms.

A classic--one of those books that you keep hearing about if you've ever done anything with African American history. Of course, the interesting thing about reading a classic decades after it was published is that the "new" ideas are no longer new. I had to keep reminding myself that this was groundbreaking stuff in context, rather than telling me things I already knew. But I felt like I should read it and now I have.

The last in the Thursday Next series. I still enjoy the clever world Fforde has created--travelling between the book world and real world is cool! But by book 4, the clever was fading and the plot was just a bit too out there. Stick with The Eyre Affair (first in the series) and don't bother with the rest.

I actually listened to this on tape during a road trip and finished it at home. It is a beautiful book, and one that I will need to read. It makes one think much about time and fate and love. Haunting is a good word to describe it as well--it could be difficult to mentally move from the book world back to the real world. Definitely worth checking out.

Beecher is famous for a few reasons: she wrote a book called "The American Woman's Home Companion" which revolutionized the way the 19th century thought about women and their place in society. (ever heard of separate spheres? Or domestic goddesses? Thank Beecher). She's also part of the crazy Beecher family, who was involved in just about every major 19th century intellectual movement. And yes, she is the sister of Harriet. A pretty good read, and Sklar did a good job of setting her in a broader context.

The best way to think of Powell is as a lesser known Dorothy Parker. Witty and funny, writing in the post-war era. Her books are great social commentaries, but I am annoyed as the recent editions have not been edited well. Lots of annoying typos. I was hoping to add her books to my collection, but I think I'll wait until better editions come out.

A dissertation turned into a book, which sometimes leads to less than stellar writing, but a fabulous topic! Hales explores three generations of a Texas family--the white plantation owner, his mulatto son who became the leader of the Republican party in Texas (back when Texas was a one-party Democrat state--those were the days!), and the granddaughter who became a concert soprano and leading scholar of African American music. Great stuff, and I now want to find out more about Maud Cuney Hare.