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32 | M A C O N M A G A Z I N E J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 7 Southern Summer Reads By Traci Burns L ooking for a beach book to pack for your sun-and-sand-filled getaway? Here are a few suggestions with a little Southern flavor. "THE POTLIKKER PAPERS: A FOOD HISTORY OF THE MODERN SOUTH" John T. Edge Penguin Press, $28 Every Southerner knows that our regional cuisine is much more than just food on a plate – history, struggle and cultural context resonate in every butter-soaked, deep-fried bite. Macon native John T. Edge has dedicated his career to exploring this; he's a co- founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a University of Mississippi- based organization created to study and document Southern food culture. He's a frequent contributor to magazines such as Gourmet and Garden & Gun. In this book, Edge explicates modern Southern cuisine, from 1955 to the present. It will make you think, and it will make you hungry – an intoxicating combination, really. As Edge himself said in a recent Atlanta magazine interview, "It's my job to complicate your barbeque sandwich." "FLIGHT PATH: A SEARCH FOR ROOTS BENEATH THE WORLD'S BUSIEST AIRPORT" Hannah Palmer Hub City Press, $16.95 Pregnant and nesting, Hannah Palmer is returning to her hometown of Atlanta after years in Brooklyn, hoping to create some semblance of 'home' for her newly growing family. She's stunned to discover that all three of the houses where she lived as a child are gone, victims of the expansion of Atlanta's sprawling Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. This book is her quest to find out how and why this happened – using memoir to dive into more complex issues of urban history. Palmer has crafted something beautiful, fascinating, and ultimately enlightening. "THEFT BY FINDING: DIARIES 1977-2002" David Sedaris Little, Brown and Company, $28 David Sedaris, the wildly popular humorist and author once referred to by Publishers Weekly as "Garrison Keillor's evil twin," owes a lot to his diaries. NPR host Ira Glass had his interest piqued when he saw Sedaris reading from his diaries onstage in a Chicago bar; the two connected, Glass facilitated Sedaris' 1992 appearance on NPR to read his iconic, hilarious essay "The SantaLand Diaries," and the rest has been history. Although Sedaris' books are largely autobiographical, there's something thrillingly voyeuristic about catching glimpses of the raw material. Whether it's twisted family stories or travel misunderstandings writ large, in its original unpolished form – and there's also something aspirational about Sedaris' brain. It seems preternaturally attuned to find the bizarre in the ordinary – and the humor in the bizarre. Read this and be inspired to step up your own diary game. "NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE US" Stephanie Powell Watts Ecco Press, $26.99 This debut novel from Stephanie Powell Watts focuses on a working-class African American family in a depressed small town in North Carolina. Watts' short stories have twice appeared in The Best New Stories from the South anthology. She's also been honored with a Pushcart Prize and a Whiting Award for her masterful short fiction. Touted as a modern retelling of "The Great Gatsby," this book is much more than that. It stands on its own as an honest, unflinching portrayal of family life, survival and the dogged, confusing pursuit of the American dream. "THE BUNNY IN THE BUSH: AN EASTER STORY AND TRADITION" Written & illustrated by Kathy Wright TheBunnyInTheBush.com & Amazon, $29.99, boxed with a corresponding plush bunny designed by Wright Kathy Wright may be most famous for her sculptural contributions to Macon's visual landscape. She's the designer of Circles in the Park, the Knight Neighborhood Challenge- funded public art installation that's been adding whimsical kinetic energy to Coleman Hill since 2014. "The Bunny in the Bush" explains the Easter story in a little more depth – not the religious story, the one involving bunnies bringing candy and treats to good little boys and girls. Told in compulsively readable rhymes, it adds story to the Easter Bunny, and it also introduces an Elf on the Shelf-esque Easter time companion known as a Bunny Scout, whose impish presence should compel children to be on their best behavior. The illustrations are simple, lush and vivid, and the story will entertain curious children. Just don't be surprised when you wake on Easter morning to find your little ones have left a homemade nest for the Easter Bunny to leave his treats in.