Page 82 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2025

LEISURE
READS
TO REMEMBER
story by Lynn Lofton
With a plethora of entertainment options available, many South Mississippi residents are still reading books. Book stores are thriving, public libraries are busy, and numerous book clubs exist where readers get together and discuss the month’s selection. The start of a new year is a great time to pick up a book
that can introduce you to unforgettable characters, adventures and places around the world.
If you need some suggestions, a few local residents are sharing their favorite books of 2024.
Lynn Hoyt of Gulfport chose North Woods by Daniel Mason. “I would never have picked this book for myself, but my book club selected it one month,” she says. “The entire book revolves around a cabin in the woods of New England and all its inhabitants, human and non-human, throughout several centuries. Naturally, there is a great deal of American history told through the cabin’s story, but also included are elements of nature, societal pressures and changes, horror, secrets, murder, and even a ghost or two. It is one of the best written and most inventive books I have ever read. Because it is quite unusual, it may
not be for everyone, but it is on my list of all-time favorites.”
Hoyt, a member of two book clubs, Trinity Bookworms and Bubbles & Books,
added, “I think my love of this book also speaks to the power of book clubs to open your mind and challenge you to experience new and exciting authors and books.”
Retired commercial insurance agent Chuck McKinley says the best book he read last year was Table for Two by Amor Towles. “That’s because I love the way he writes, his style and subject matter.” McKinley has read other popular hits by Towles including Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, and The Lincoln Highway. “All of
these books are good, different, and they’re not chick novels,” he noted.
For Ocean Springs resident Nancy Wilson, the favorite book of 2024 was How to Read a Book, the fiction version, by Monica Wood. “There’s also a non-fiction book by that title,” she said. “Some of our Peace Book Club members were confused and read the wrong book, but we still had a lively discussion.”
Wilson added that another big favorite for her was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, a charming, quirky book that features a dog named 6:30 as a main character.
Long time book club member Clare Riviere of Gulfport likes everything
written by multi-prize winner Elizabeth Strout. “The best thing I read in 2024 was Tell Me Everything by Strout,” she said.
This writer must chime in and say the best book I read last year was James by Percival Everett, also a prize winner. It’s a retelling of the classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who goes down the Mississippi River
with Huck. It gives pause for reflection and a different look at a stereotype.
82 | January 2025