Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Alabama studying a curriculum full of Twain and Faulkner. I’ll never forget opening To Kill a Mockingbird and reading about a girl from Alabama written by a woman from Alabama. I wanted to be Scout Finch and write like Harper Lee. That’s the power of a good story – creating relatable characters that let readers imagine a different version of their lives. The books listed here feature strong, southern female characters written by talented, female writers. I feel inspired by their journeys and heartbroken by their struggles. I only wish they were real people so that we could share a pitcher of sweet tea and chat like old friends.  


I wrote

The River Runs South

By Audrey Ingram,

Book cover of The River Runs South

What is my book about?

This transporting and illuminating debut novel will resonate with readers who have ever felt a little bit lost. When Camille…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of To Kill a Mockingbird

Audrey Ingram Why did I love this book?

In this classic Southern tale, six-year-old narrator Scout Finch steals the show. 

This book tackles the good and bad in human nature, delivering astute commentary through gentle conversations between a smart, curious daughter and her wise father. Despite being written over sixty years ago, the relevance of this story persists. 

From mysterious Boo Radley to dependable Calpurnia to humble Atticus Finch, Scout’s story is full of characters that will touch your heart.  

By Harper Lee,

Why should I read it?

40 authors picked To Kill a Mockingbird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this classic novel - a black man charged with attacking a white girl. Through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Lee explores the issues of race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s with compassion and humour. She also creates one of the great heroes of literature in their father, whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped…


Book cover of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Audrey Ingram Why did I love this book?

There’s so much to love in this story about female friendship. 

Romance, murder, small towns, racism, ageism, and bar-b-que. I flew through the pages wanting more and more of the story, while also feeling my heart break at the journey these women experience. Flagg is masterful at tackling serious topics with addictive storytelling.

By Fannie Flagg,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a now-classic novel about two women: Evelyn, who’s in the sad slump of middle age, and gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode, who’s telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women—the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth—who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good coffee, southern barbecue, and all kinds of love and laughter—even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present will never be quite the same again.
 
Praise for Fried Green Tomatoes at…


Book cover of The Vanishing Half

Audrey Ingram Why did I love this book?

I loved this contemporary southern novel about twin sisters from small-town Louisiana. 

Beautifully written and tightly plotted, Bennett explores identity and family bonds through the unraveling mystery of one sister’s disappearance and the new life she assumed. In addition to racial and sexual identity, Bennett tackles the strong pull of the South. Despite characters leaving home and moving thousands of miles away, they can never escape their Southern origin stories.  

By Brit Bennett,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked The Vanishing Half as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP BESTSELLER
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE

'An utterly mesmerising novel..I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize 2019

'Epic' Kiley Reid, O, The Oprah Magazine

'Favourite book [of the] year' Issa Rae

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years…


Book cover of Losing the Moon

Audrey Ingram Why did I love this book?

A contemporary romance written with lush prose and a transportive southern setting, this untraditional love story sticks in my mind. 

A wife and mother is stunned to learn that her first love is the father of her son’s new girlfriend. Their secret, unresolved past unravels as she assesses her present life and the choices she’s made. The temptation of the one that got away lurks in her mind as she navigates a precarious balance between family, obligation, and desire.  

By Patti Callahan Henry,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Losing the Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Where the Crawdads Sing

Audrey Ingram Why did I love this book?

I cried, gasped, and stayed up entirely too late reading Kya’s journey in this international bestseller. 

Owens does a remarkable job describing the marsh where Kya lives, making it almost feel like a character in this book. It’s a rare combination to have a murder mystery, love story, and deep character exploration wrapped up in such a compelling package.   

By Delia Owens,

Why should I read it?

53 authors picked Where the Crawdads Sing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be…


Explore my book 😀

The River Runs South

By Audrey Ingram,

Book cover of The River Runs South

What is my book about?

This transporting and illuminating debut novel will resonate with readers who have ever felt a little bit lost. When Camille Taylor’s husband dies unexpectedly, the carefully constructed life she worked so hard to build in Washington, DC, shatters. After struggling for almost a year, she reaches a breaking point, packs up her daughter, and heads for the Alabama coast where she grew up.

The salt air and slow rhythms of the coast soothe Camille’s spirit, but when she meets local fisherman Mack Phillips, she learns that things have changed in her hometown. With timely commentary on Alabama's fragile ecosystem and exploring themes of love, loss, and the courage of starting over, The River Runs South will appeal to southern fiction readers on the hunt for the nostalgia of Sweet Home Alabama.

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Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

Book cover of Sor Juana, My Beloved

MaryAnn Shank Author Of Sor Juana, My Beloved

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.

MaryAnn's book list on the mystical Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

What is my book about?

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, this brilliant 17th century nun flew through Mexico City on the breeze of poetry and philosophy. She met with princes of the Church, and with the royalty of Spain and Mexico. Then she met a stunning, powerful woman with lavender eyes, la Vicereine Maria Louisa, and her life changed forever. As her fame grew, she dared to challenge the diabolical Archbishop once too often, and he threw her in front of the Inquisition, where she stood, alone.

Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…

Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

What is this book about?

This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.

One day a woman with violet eyes, eyes the color of passion flowers, entered her life. It was the new Vicereine, Maria Luisa. As the two most powerful women in Mexico City, the bond between them crossed politics and wound them in…


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