I’m busy at work today cleaning and sorting and trying not to lose any ground with my anti-clutter campaign, which I began at the first of the year.  I’ve just gone through the house dusting and tossing and putting things in their proper place. I’m referring here to areas I’ve already purged several times. I still have not cleaned off the top of the refrigerator or the upright freezer. I’m short. The tops of those appliances don’t bother me–if I don’t think about them or don’t need something that’s artfully stacked on top of them.  After writing this post I’ll enter into the Twilght Zone, a.k.a my office, and see what’s hiding in there.

Sorting and purging can uncover things you love that you’ve forgotten about—out of sight, out of mind. The act of sorting and purging can also inspire. Ideas may begin to germinate as you find notes and articles you’ve forgotten about, books covered with dust. Maybe you made notes on a good idea and they are buried in the hurry and rush of everyday living and stacking, or maybe notes were tucked into the pages of a book you were reading at the time. Sometimes our best future emerges out of our rediscovered past.

My recent sorting and planning synergy has pointed me back to books I’ve loved. I’ve been rereading some classic novels from Appalachian literature, and I’m now finding my way toward new novels in that tradition that I have yet to read. James Still’s novel River of Earth got me started on this path.  His novel is a masterpiece of literature, I don’t care what category you place it in.  Character and language rendered with a loving, yet ethnographic eye and ear make this novel an inspiration and a treasure, as well as a window into the life of a particular time and place. The story of the Bladridge family is a forceful wave of cause and effect, the story voice a siren song, drawing the reader into the world of hard work, empty bellies, and tested and resilient hearts.

Next on my list to reread is Salt, a wonderful novel by Winston-Salem author Isabel Zuber, who was born and raised in Western North Carolina. Isabel is also an accomplished poet, and her command of language and image comes through in every sentence of  Salt.

Then, in preparation for The Moutain Heritage Literary Festival at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN on June 11-13, I’m going to read the novel Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake. I’ve heard so many good things about this book; I can’t believe I haven’t already read it! For more information on this festival, visit: http://www.lmunet.edu/mhlf/

You’ve heard me mention the strange things that sometimes happen around a set of ideas floating on the surface of my mind. Yesterday, I walked through the early letters of the alphabet in Nashville Public Library’s general fiction section, and there, propped on a bookstand on top of a bookcase was Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker, another classic of Appalachian literature. I took that as a sign I’m reading down the right path for now.

My list of 5 recommended novels by authors connected to Appalachian are:

River of Earth, James Still

Fair and Tender Ladies, Lee Smith

Salt, Isabel Zuber

The Dollmaker, Harriette Arnow

Child of God, Cormac McCarthy

Of course I have many more favorites, and I could easily have chosen five other books to make up my list. There are a host of other wonderful Appalachian novels. You’ve read about other good novels from the region in the pages of Dancing with the Gorilla.  These are just five of my favorites. I’d love for you to let me know some of the novels you love from this rich landscape and from authors whose voice originated in the high lonesome.

Today’s Scene Storm Word List comes from Isabel Zuber’s novel Salt:

chill

greasing

pump

chaps

faint

stock

shale

field

dents

towel