Welcome to Litsy!

#LMPBC #groupS13 What makes a book ‘Southern‘? Is it fiction or nonfiction, does it take place in certain areas or have certain characters? I have a range of ideas but I want to make sure I am not barking up the wrong tree. I‘m so looking forward to this round!

I can‘t function with how wonderful this book has been. It‘s illuminating and heart wrenching and stomach turning and even though it is 23 years old it could have been written yesterday. Like I said, stomach churning.

I‘m currently reading # 11 and there‘s a slim chance I could get a bingo this month. #bookspinbingo

A insightful and often humorous exploration of a subculture and what motivates our collective desire to keep the Civil War alive. Horwitz began his journey to find the motivations of re-enactors that quickly devolves an in depth exploration of the neo-confederate movement. Fascinating if scary look at the south's long obsession with the Confederacy.

#7Days7Books Day 6

For the next 7 days, I will post a book a day that has left a lasting impact, a book that has changed my life. No further comments!

I‘m very conflicted about this book. Part of me is frustrated by the screeds and deliberate falsehoods of the neo-Confederates that Horowitz interviews. Another part of me thinks this book is prescient in the perspectives it presents, many of which resemble the politics of today. Part thinks this book should have been shorter. Another part thinks it should have included more African-American voices. It‘s just turtles all the way down for me.

“Northerners say, ‘Forget the war, it‘s over.‘ But they don‘t have the family Bibles we do, filled with all these kinfolk who went off to war and died. We‘ve lost so much.” - Chp 2, Cats of the Confederacy🐱

Tony Horwitz explored the southern US in the 90s and wrote this (so-far) excellent book about today‘s southerners who are still living the Civil War. Tensions have obviously heightened between the 90s and now, but this is still relevant.

I saw Tony Horwitz on book tour a week before he died, and I'm so grateful I was able to hear someone so fascinating speak before he was gone. I decided then that this masterpiece had been on my shelf unread for too long. It's astounding that it was written 20 years ago, since literally everything is the same.

#pop19 #bookaboutahobby #readharder #bookbyajournalistoraboutjournalism @bookriot

Though published 20 years ago, this book is still timely and relevant to today‘s struggles. So well written...Horwitz was amazing. A must read!

This is still one of my favorite books. I think I gravitate to this, growing up near and now working in a Civil War town that has seen commercial development in the last 20-25 years. Most people in town are sick of the war, and yet the legacy still lingers.

Thanks to my fellow #Horwitz readers!

“‘I am who I am, geographically and politically, because of what happened here.‘”

In this passage, Horwitz visits Shiloh, one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War, on its anniversary and walks the sacred ground. Along the way, he meets others who come back every year to trace their ancestors‘ footsteps. This quote from one of his interviewees is so profound to me. #horwitz

Finishing up the #horwitz buddy read on the last day of the month. Review to come later, but I have absolutely loved every second of this book. A new favorite. @Librarybelle @Hoopiefoot @CareBear @cathysaid

I probably won‘t finish this tomorrow but I‘m amazed how timely this is 20 years after publication. I‘m really enjoying it so far! #horwitz

I completely forgot that Tony Horwitz almost got into a fight at a bar! So scary...

I‘m enjoying my reread of this book. I‘m reading little bits at a time, but still hope to finish it by Sunday. #Horwitz

True story. Those were the longest 18 months of my life. So yeah...many in the South still commemorate the dates.

#Horwitz

@Librarybelle @CareBear @ferskner

Please feel free to join @CareBear , @ferskner and I as we read this book during the month of June. We‘ll post our thoughts throughout the month, so it‘s completely read at your own pace. I‘m going to use #horwitz in my posts, in memory of the author, who recently passed away.

I can remember reading this book for the first time - I was in college, and I was sick. I had to read this for one of my Civil War classes, and due to my illness, I was home, curled up on a rocking chair. What a powerful story! At times scary, this book really spoke to me and the passions people feel about history. It‘s one of my favorite books. I was so sad to hear the news (and even worse when colleagues had no idea who I was chattering about).

Utterly devastated to hear that the brilliant writer Tony Horwitz has died. I loved his work, beginning with CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC, and I loved those moments when our paths crossed. He was such a fine man and had such a precise and inspiring moral compass. I mourn with his readers and his remarkable wife, the wise and generous and immensely talented novelist, Geraldine Brooks.

I am terribly sorry to hear that Tony Horwitz has died. BLUE LATITUDES was the first book we read for the RiverRun nonfiction book club, and the two books pictured were among the first books I read when I became interested in the Civil War, and remain among my favorites. His new book, SPYING ON THE SOUTH, came out two weeks ago and is also excellent.

Day two of maternity leave: I‘ve slept for a solid 6 hours today. Food is hard. I feel like I‘m getting the flu, but getting lots of reading in tonight! I hope I get a nesting surge sometime soon because I‘m nervous I won‘t. Almost 39 weeks and feeling like a baby beluga. #pleasegetout

Last day before Maternity leave, getting to do lists done and everything in order.... yes I am one of those crazy planner people (thanks for the addiction, work husband). Time to drink some tea, relax and read! I have a book list lined up for my first week of leave and I am SO excited to share it with you! Hint: it involves finishing what I start! Here‘s to being one day closer to a glass of wine with my book! 13 days until I‘m due! 🍷👶🏼🍾🎉

2019 is my year of intentions: I wanted to share my 3 intentions for this year. The most important of these? Finish what I start, and that starts with the books I‘ve half read and abandoned for no good reason.

My other intentions are below...but I should‘ve added enjoy a MASSIVE glass of red wine when this kid arrives in the next few weeks 🍾🍷❤️
http://booknerdwilltravel.com/2019/01/08/lookingtowards2019/

Last night I dumped a glass of wine INTO my book. None on the floor or carpet.... just IN my book. How does this happen?!

Work from home lunch vibes 🤓🤓🤓
So glad to be able to focus on big projects and myself today! Always try to read for 20 minutes at lunch when I work from home..... What do you do if you work from home for lunch?

Getting ready for this weekend too- finally getting the chance to unpack our boxes from the house reno and get my TBR shelf back together!

#workingfortheweekend #winterreads #TBRshelvesexist #TBRpile

They don't tell us this in history class!

#WomenInHistory #CivilWar #History

Oh, but I thought you said it wasn't that bad? So why don't you want to be in that situation if it isn't so terrible?

Oh. Wait. It's because it is terrible and you know it.

There are some really funny and moving sections that I've read about people and their tie to the past, but there are also these absolutely terrible people who fit into the national narrative that is going on today.

#ConfederatesInTheAttic #CivilWar #History

I am D E A D

#ConfederatesInTheAttic #CivilWar #History #Humor

I busted out laughing and scared my dog. This is so deadpan, I love it.

#ConfederatesInTheAttic #History #MaybeHistory #CivilWar #AConfederateTourOfTheSouth

Started this today for my Public History class. Not a big fan of the author himself. He refers to his rural home in Virginia as a village and his wife picked the spot because it is what she thought the American back country looks like. He also reinforces heteronormativity and sexism by referring to the Civil War reenactors as a "gay subculture" because of their attention to authentic detail.

#HistoryIGuess #CivilWarHistory #PopCulture

Starting Saturday with my 30 page Habitica task! This seemed fitting, considering the current climate.

Drinking a homemade matcha latte in my Slytherin cup!

This is the book that started my fascination with the American Civil War and it's a favourite of mine to recommend to others.
#5555giveaway

A favorite of mine, this really gets to the core of passion and why it's so important to remember the past. Horwitz follows a group who authentically reenact a CSA regiment. While some still "fight the war," it's the lasting perceptions and the need to understand past actions that propel people to their beliefs. At times scary, I was so riveted. Anyone with an interest in the US Civil War should try this. It really makes you think. #35bookparty

Like so much in Atlanta, Stone Mountain had become a bland and inoffensive consumable: the Confederacy as hood ornament. Not for the first time, though more deeply than ever before, I felt a twinge of affinity for the neo-Confederates I'd met in my travels. Better to remember Dixie and debate its philosophy than to have its largest shrine hijacked for Coca-Cola ads and MTV songs.

The scale of Monument Avenue also amplified the weirdness of the whole enterprise. After all, Davis, Lee, Jackson and Stuart weren't national heroes. In the view of many Americans, they were precisely the opposite; leaders of a rebellion against the nation...None of those honored were native Richmonders. And their mission failed...I couldn't think of another city in the world that lined its streets with stone leviathans honoring failed rebels

Everywhere, it seemed, I had to explore two pasts and two presents; one white, one black, separate and unreconcilable. The past had poisoned the present and the present, in turn, now poisoned remembrance of things past.

You asked how I'd define prejudice. That's it. Making assumptions about people you've never met.

When Union litter-bearers climbed out of their trenches, four days after the assault, they found only two men still alive amongst the piles of stinking corpses. One burial party discovered a dead Yankee with a diary in his pocket, the last entry of which read: “June 3. Cold Harbor. I was killed."

This book deals with a lot of strong feeling about the South, Race, and equality. It was written in 1998 and I can still see the images that are portrayed in this book alive today, sad to say. Some of this book sickened my stomach through no fault of the author. By the end of it, I had to push through it, but still highly recommend this book.

Thought I would listen to this while at work. I'm trying to have an open mind but the hateful opinions and praying for the confederacy to come back..leaves a bad taste in my mouth; thinking these people truly believe in that 😣

A little light reading, Civil War/Travel book to go in between all the biographies and memoirs 😃

still a bit of space . . . .

How is THIS for a bizarre mix of titles?#augustofpages #bookphotochallenge @TheSpinecrackersBookClub #FolioSociety

And all together now - pink AND green 💖💚💥

#augustphotochallenge #pinkandgreenbooks #augustofpages #shelvingbycolorisfun