Reading about Florida

Here are some suggestions made for Florida:

Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. A good young adult read.

My favorite childhood book is set in Florida. I can't remember how good a read it is, it is just that my dad reading it to me is one of the good memories I have of him.

The Lion's Paw by Robb White

I remember liking Strawberry Girl when I was a kid.

Bright Orange for the Shroud, The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper, and The Dreadful Lemon Sky by John D. MacDonald. (That last title is the first Travis McGee book I ever read.)

The first story of his I remember encountering was a film adaptation of The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything, which is also set in Florida now that I think about it. That one is much more lighthearted than most of McGee's stories.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow takes place in a fictionalized future Disney World.

I'm reading up a bit of Florida History. Here are some classics that have popped:

sort-of non-fiction
Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings -- You already mentioned this above. It's is considered autobiographical (and lead to a defamation lawsuit by one of the real life characters)

non-fiction
The Everglades: River of Grass by Majory Stoneman Douglas -- The book on the Everglades, from 1947

Fiction
The Yearling / Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings -- 1938 Pulitzer Prize

Recent non-fiction
The Swamp : the Everglades, Florida, and the politics of paradise by Michael Grunwald -- This came out last year. I just started reading it. I post some feedback after I finish.

I'm not editing my grammar ("classics that have popped:" or "I post some feedback")... because it will wipe out my hard-earned touchstones

Their Eyes Were Watching God was set in Florida, amd Marjorie Rawlings South Moon Under is out of print but not hard to find and very evocative of backwoods Florida life.

Ok, I just finished The Swamp : the Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise. If you have a connection to central and south Florida, I encourage you to read this book. It's very well written, really begins at the beginning with the geology, and then covers the whole known human history with lots of color. The author has done his research. For clueless me, it was a huge eye opener. It gives a real sense of where the Everglades are now (still alive), how they got there (development, Corps, and sugar) and where they are headed (future's dim). The only criticism is that it's a touch long, especially as it gets closer to the present. The color and narration are forced to degrade as the crummy political details get denser and more complex.

#9 roalcarlson: Grunwald includes a wonderful lengthy excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. This seems to be a major work, and an important FL classic that I missed in message 7.

The last train to Paradise is about Flagler's railroad to the Keys.

I thought Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman really captured the essence of Florida - not one of my favorite states. But maybe that's just because my in-laws live there. ;)

(touchstone for book title won't load - sorry.)

Dan suggested I post my Florida literature tags on this site, so here's the URL for them: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=janeajones&tag=Florida+Literatu... . I've also put together a Florida Bibliography: http://faculty.mccfl.edu/jonesj/Flbib/FLbibindex.html for anyone who might be somewhat obsessive as I am -- the latest section is on Florida Hurricane Novels.
I've read most of the FL books in my own library, but the Bibliography just keeps growing as I hear or read about FL books. Enjoy -- Jane

One of my favorite Florida books is Killing Mister Watson by Peter Matthiessen, set in the wild frontier of the Everglades around the turn of the last century -- it's the first in the trilogy that also includes Lost Man's River and Bone by Bone -- Jane

I just got this message in my email -- there's a new online Florida Book Review for all of you interested in Florida Literature:

Florida is bound to make headlines with another active hurricane season, but if you really want to be swept off your feet, check out The Florida Book Review at www.floridabookreview.com

There are so many great ones for Florida! Here's a bunch I found...

http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2012/03/reading-states-florida.html