~North Carolina Fiction~

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am a huge southern fiction fan. It's funny...when my husband and I are at a used book sale, or just browsing books in Goodwill, I will automatically pick up a book that either the author is from North Carolina, or the story takes place in North Carolina...or both. This has happened many many times. Sometimes, all I will do is read a synopsis of a book, not knowing where it takes place, or anything about the author, and when I order it and it arrives at my house, come to find out....It is North Carolina Fiction! (or South Carolina, I enjoy those, too). What brought up this subject is, I ordered a book from PaperbackSwap last week, only knowing this much about the book:

"When her daddy is sent off to fight Hitler, Ann Fay Honeycutt puts on the blue overalls he has given her. Now, at thirteen, she's The Man Of The House, in charge of tending the large vegetable garden and watching out for her younger sisters and brother. It's hard work, but Ann Fay is managing-- until a polio epidemic strikes. At first, she relies on the newspaper for information about the disease, but all too soon she knows its devastating effects firsthand. As the challenges grow, Ann Fay's resourcefulness and toughness grow as well."

When the book arrived in my mailbox yesterday evening, I flipped open to the back flap for the author information, which is as follows:

Title: Blue
Joyce Moyer Hostetter lives with her husband near Hickory, North Carolina.

Calkins Creek Books
ISBN: 0-59078-389-1

Wow, am I good or what? The story also takes place in Hickory, NC, and I can't wait to read it!
Here is are a few other books that I had picked out at random, not knowing where they took place or where the author was from. They are all great books, 5 stars:

Every Good and Perfect Gift by Brenda Jernigan
Velocity by Kristin McCloy
Roxanna Slade by Reynolds Price

Does this ever happen to you? Do you pick up a book, just because you like its cover? Or you read a snippet of the synopsis, not knowing much more, then get home and find out that it is a story that takes place in one of your favorite places?