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Friday, August 31, 2007

Murder on a Bad Hair Day

by Anne George

Last night I finished the second in the Southern Sisters Mystery series. I love reading about these bubbly sisters who are just a few years older than me and who get themselves involved in things over their heads. Even though I figured out the mystery before the end, there were certain things that kept me wondering if I was right.

Choose this series for the light-hearted fun, the southern insights into Birmingham talk, sights, and food. Be prepared to laugh out loud at Mouse and Sister's relationship. You may even find yourself reaching for some tissue once or twice. I love these books and will be looking for the 3rd in the series.

Here's a bit about southern culture:
"Grandmother Alice, who lived in Montgomery, and from whom Mary Alice inherited her size, was a formidable disciplinarian. We were taught very early that there were three things the women in our family never were. First was tacky. Wearing patent leather shoes after five was an example of this. Then there was common. This included smoking on the street and not writing thank-you notes within a week. Finally, there was common as pig tracks. God forbid. Grandmother caught Mary Alice cutting her toenails on the front porch, a common as pig tracks offense."
Here's a statement that I've read in both books in one form or another. It must be a southern saying.
"I cut my eyes around at her."
I remember as a 7-th grader in Lincoln, NE learning about the pencil test. In this book Mary
Alice slams on the brake and Patricia Anne gets a tight squeeze from the seat belt.
"Did you hurt yourself ?" Mary Alice asked. "Let's just say I'll never pass the pencil test again." I was referring to the pencil-stuck-beneath-the-breast test. If the breast is firm and perky, the pencil will fall. Needless to say, only the very young or flat-chested will try it.
(I wonder why they had us do that silly test?!)


Good news: Finishing this book completes my Southern Reading Challenge. Just in the nick of time, since tomorrow is the deadline. I'm going to run over to Maggie's and let her know. YiPPeE!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've heard so many good things about this series of books. I'm checking the library to see if they have all of them. I need a good laugh now.

Cath said...

I might have to check this series out. Judging by the 'tacky, common and common as pigs' comments southern people are just like those where I come from, which is the county of Cornwall in England. My grandma would have been in complete agreement with all of that.

Myke Weber said...

You make these books sound fun, but I wonder if a guy would like them. Of course visualizing the pencil test interests me.

maggie moran said...

Great! I'm thrilled you finished the challenge! Cutting your eyes at someone is a swift move. We also have a "cow eyes" manuver. One merely looks at a person sideways, showing lots of white, in a sort of bulgy, scared look. 8)

Framed said...

I think I will pass on that test. I don't want to lose a perfectly good pencil.

Booklogged said...

Lynne, they are fun. I enjoyed the 2nd one even better than the 1st.

Cath, isn't that 'tacky as a pig' funny?

Candleman, I should ask this, but does the pencil drop or not in your wicked imagination?

Maggie, thank-you for explaining that to me. I can now picture it. Also, thank-you for introducing me to the southern sisters. Really fun stuff.

Framed, LOL!

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Aren't these books just the greatest? I had heard good things about them from a fellow book-loving blogger. I picked up one in the library, and later found out it was in the MIDDLE of the series. ACK! I was so lucky, because there was a library sale a couple of weeks later and I snagged each and every one of them. For 50 cents each! Now, I'm enjoying them at my leisure, and look forward to loaning them to many friends and family. Being from the South, there's so much that I relate to in these books. We've been to B'ham many times, but now I want to go back - just to get a photo of Vulcan's buns, LOL! :)

Congrats on finishing the Southern Challenge!

Happy Reading!

Bookfool said...

Congrats on finishing the challenge! I think this may be the one book I read by Anne George.

Gentle Reader said...

Congratulations on finishing the challenge. Also, these books sound like a lot of fun, I'll have to check them out!

Robin said...

This series sounds like so much fun! I'm going to have to try it out. Thanks! And congratulations on finishing Maggie's challenge!

Stephanie said...

I think I will have to check this out!! I love a good cozy!!

Tristi Pinkston said...

I enjoyed these books quite a bit as well.

Eva said...

That pencil test sounds sooo weird. I mean, what the heck is the point? I've never heard of this before!

Well, I guess you learn something new every day. :)

Anonymous said...

Whoa... nice new look!