Welcome to Litsy!

Didn‘t realize this was a collection of her essays. She‘s a terrific writer and I enjoy them in the Times, but not so interested in a book of previously published work.

📖5-11-22 || Essays | American South | Heartfelt
I enjoyed this collection of essays that appeared in the New York Times over the course of the last several years. It‘s especially interesting to read those that were written prior to and during the height of the pandemic. I did enjoy her previous collection, Late Migrations, a bit more.

My first introduction to Margaret Renkl. I was born in the South but have spent most of my life in the Midwest. I have always struggled to understand the many disparate sides of the South and my loved ones that live there. The author reminded me of the complexity and beauty in people and a place. She writes, “Maybe being a Southern writer is only a matter of loving a damaged and damaging place, of loving its flawed and beautiful people…” 4⭐️s

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A perfectly organized collection of Renkl‘s New York Times op-ed columns documenting life, nature, and culture from a southern perspective, but for a broad audience. Seamless, smart, and concise writing. I savored this collection, dipping in and out for several weeks. I had the pleasure of meeting her a few years ago at the Southern Festival of Books and she‘s just lovely. Reading/supporting my local (Nashville) authors is such a joy.

Cracking up because Renkl just mentioned this sign (near Prattville, AL) in an essay on weird roadside “attractions” on I-65. I always take a photo on our way home from the beach because it‘s so dramatically ominous and entertaining AF. 😂 That scythe, though. What happened to a pitchfork?

I‘m cold, it‘s snowing (again), and the first wild card 🏈 game is a bust, so think it‘s time for some peaceful tub reading. 🛁

Re: Conservation — “The lowly Tennessee coneflower tells us there is something to be done. It will not be easy, and it will cost money…But it can be done….A flower that for decades was believed to be gone forever now grows in great profusion on what appears to be pure rock. If ever there was a Lazarus flower, this would surely be it—brought back from the dead, thriving in stone.”

A book to savor. So many beautiful, thoughtful essays. Organized by category, but I flipped around after the first 3 essays, and I think that was the way to go to keep things fresh.

I open these emails and my TBR explodes! 🤣🤣🤣

I took my time with this just reading an essay a day. I came to relish them! Renkl is at her best when writing about nature and there is much here to enjoy though I did not love any of the other subjects quite as much.