Every morning my mother would repeat the mantra of mom’s everywhere: “Drink your milk! The calcium is good for your bones.” But drinking milk, and even taking calcium supplements, isn’t enough to prevent osteoporosis. Each year 1.5 million people suffer a bone fracture related to osteoporosis.

In her book, Strong Women, Strong Bones, Dr. Miriam Nelson outlines a plan for not only osteoporosis prevention, but also for gaining back bone density. (The front cover declares “you’re never too young or too old to start” taking care of your bones.)

The book weaves exercise and diet plans together in an easy-to-read format. I was impressed by how easily the modifications Dr. Nelson recommends fit into my current lifestyle—no lingering guilt about what I am or am not doing. Strong Women, Strong Bones, gave me the peace of mind that good bone health is achievable.

This review of Strong Women, Strong Bones was featured on The Book Shelf of Mississippi’s very own magazine Well-Being. We are proud to contribute to Well-Being and always enjoy working with the Well-Being team. Mississippi is lucky to have such a great magazine and Lemuria has copies to pick-up for free at the Fiction Desk! Well-Being magazine is great way to keep up with local healthy events and fitness activities. You can also follow Well-Being on Facebook.

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In case you missed the Nightline interview with J. K. Rowling, you might like to hear Rowling’s thoughts on writing after Harry Potter and her reflections on the fame of Michael Jackson. There’s certainly lots of hype and reviews out there about The Casual Vacancy. We think you just have to pick it up and give the book a chance if you’re curious. We certainly are.

Jerry Mitchell, investigative reporter for the Clarion Ledger, published a blog piece on fiction set in Jackson, Mississippi. (See full article here.) No discussion would be complete without the mention of Eudora Welty’s story “Where Is This Voice Coming From? based on the assassination of NAACP leader Medgar Evers. Mitchell had the opportunity to talk to Miss Welty about the story. Here are his recollections.

Before it was published in the July 6, 1963, New Yorker, Welty changed the name of the town from Jackson to Thermopylae.

Welty later discussed the story: “That hot … night when Medgar Evers, the local civil rights leader, was shot down from behind in Jackson, I thought, with overwhelming directness: Whoever the murderer is, I know him: not his identity, but his coming about, in this time and place. That is, I ought to have learned by now, from here, what such a man, intent on such a deed, had going on in his mind. I wrote his story — my fiction — in the first person: about that character’s point of view, I felt, through my shock and revolt, I could make no mistake.”

A few months after a jury in 1994 convicted Byron De La Beckwith of murdering Medgar Evers, I ran into Miss Welty at a reunion of her old school in Jackson, Davis Elementary.

I asked her about her short story, and she replied, “It was the only thing I ever wrote in anger.”

-Jerry Mitchell

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Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger. He is also writing a memoir on his experiences in pursuing these cases for the publisher Simon & Schuster. The book is titled Race Against Time.

If you have story about Miss Welty that you would like to share on our blog, please e-mail them to lisa[at]lemuriabooks[dot]com.

Click here to learn about Carolyn Brown’s A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty

Click here to see all blogs in our Miss Welty series

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I love being a kids’ bookseller in Oz. I love writing for kids. I have been taking care of, teaching, camp counseling and after school coordinating kids for over 17 years, so I have read a lot of books for kids. As we kick off our four-day Once Upon A Fall Children’s Book Festival (be sure to join us for the Storybook Ball!), I want to share some children’s books I particularly enjoy, in addition to the books we will be promoting by our wonderful visiting authors.

Books like Bink and Gollie. I love, love, LOVE Bink and Gollie. These books, written by Newbery medalist Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, are the first things that come to mind when asked about great first chapter books for 5-7 year olds. But honestly, I’ve seen kids as young as three and old as twelve laughing uproariously at Bink and Gollie’s perfect, sparse slapstick dialogue and friendship dynamics.

Two best friends who are total opposites, practical, sardonic Gollie contrasts hilariously with impetuous, enthusiastic Bink. In the first book, Bink and Gollie have differences of opinion over goldfish ownership, Andes mountain climbing and, in my favorite episode, which socks to wear. As a girl who loves my rainbow collection of tights (see photo of my tights drawer below!), I sympathize with Bink’s love of rainbow socks.

“Bink, said Gollie. “The brightness of those socks pains me. I beg you not to purchase them.”

“I can’t wait to put them on,” said Bink. […]

“I love socks,” said Bink.

“Some socks are more lovable than others,” said Gollie.

And so it continues throughout their adventures. In the newest installment, Two for One, Bink and Gollie spend a day at the state fair with their share of mishaps and bad luck. But a trip to see the fortune teller at day’s end reminds them of what they’ve always known–bad luck comes and goes, but true friends are forever.

Though they aren’t the first odd couple of chapter books to be written, in my opinion, they are the most perfect. The stories have just the right touch of silliness and whimsy, originality and excellent writing, that will make kids pick them up again and again. Complete with artwork whimsically created by the talented Tony Fucile, Bink and Gollie are the perfect books for the new reader in your life.

by Mandy

When the winners for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters announced the fiction category, I admit I asked, “Who is Michael Kardos?” I soon learned that Michael had written a fantastic short story collection, One Last Good Time that many Lemuria employees have since been raving about.  I looked him up to see where he is from and saw that he grew up on the Jersey Shore but is now a assistant professor of English and co-director of the creative writing program at Mississippi State.  Michael received a degree in music from Princeton and played drums professionally before earning a MFA  in fiction from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from University of Missouri.  The more I investigated I became aware that his stories have appeared in a number of literary journals including The Southern Review and have been named notable stories in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 edition of Best American Short Stories. When I met Michael at the MIAL event I also found him to be a really nice guy.

As soon as I found out that Michael was to be published by the relaunched Mysterious Press, I immediately got my hands on an advance copy of The Three-Day Affair. Y’all this is a novel that everyone is going to love.  Nine years after graduating from Princeton, Will, a musician, Jeffrey, a dot com success, and Nolan, a state senator, are getting together for a fun and relaxing weekend of drinking and golf.  After having dinner, they stop at a convenience store and Jeffery runs in to grab something.  All of a sudden, he is back dragging a young woman with him.  He shoves her into Will’s car and yells “DRIVE!” which Will does.  This is the beginning of a weekend  that will change all of their lives forever.  Knowing that they are already guilty of kidnapping they have three days to fully understand what else they may be capable of.

After finishing The Three- Day Affair I did wonder what parts of Michael Kardos’ background influenced the story line of this book.  My question was answered in the July 30, 2012 issue of Publishers Weekly.  Lenny Picker in a PW Talks Q&A with Michael asks the following:

Picker: How did you go from a career as a musician to being a writer?

Kardos:  After graduating from college, I played in rock bands for eight years before concluding that the best way for me to keep enjoying music was to stop doing it professionally.  By then, I was reading a great deal of fiction and beginning to write regularly.  I loved that all I needed to create a story was a pen and paper, or a computer rather than tons of gear and other guys and a beatup van, a belligerent bar owner, and an aloof soundman.

Picker:  Did you musical background influence your fiction?

Kardos:  A fundamental connection between music and fiction-for me, anyway-has to do with shape and structure.  A story or novel has recurring motifs, shifts in dynamics and tempo, staccato and legato passages, introductions, codas, just as a Bach fugue or Beethoven symphony has a narrative quality.  The languages are different, but compositionally there are similarities.

We have chosen Michael Kardos’ debut novel, The Three-Day Affair, as Lemuria’s October First Edition Club selection.  FEC members you are in for a thrill ride!  In fact, I couldn’t agree more with Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and will just let him tell you:

I dare you to pick up The Three Day Affair and read a page or two and then put it down.  It can’t be done.  With a combination of dread and glee I tore through this book and was sorry when it was over.  Michael Kardos has written a taut thriller that goes least where you expect it to, but goes there beautifully.