I know, I know… this book is not a true “Southern” book, but we wanted to mix it up for our Book Club, and Bigfoot, well…Bigfoot is sort of awesome! But, at some point while reading The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, it becomes clear that the book is…
Tag: Books
Southern Reads: Demon Copperhead
Some books entertain you. Some books educate you. And some books grab you by the collar and refuse to let you look away. Demon Copperhead is that third kind. Barbara Kingsolver’s 2022 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel drops the reader into Lee County, Virginia — deep in southern Appalachia — and tells the story of Damon Fields,…
Southern Reads: On Trails
For our January 2026 Book Club selection, we read On Trails, a book that quietly reshapes how you understand movement, land, and the invisible systems that guide both. Robert Moor’s On Trails is not a hiking memoir in the traditional sense, nor is it a straight work of natural history. Instead, it is a slow,…
Southern Reads: All Sinners Bleed
Some Southern novels announce themselves with gothic excess — creaking houses, Spanish moss, and ghosts that refuse to stay buried. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby does something quieter and far more unsettling. It opens in the daylight, in a modern Southern town that looks familiar enough to pass without comment. That familiarity is…
Southern Reads: Southern Stock
There’s a certain kind of book that doesn’t just land in your hands — it lands in your life at precisely the right moment. That’s what happened when I picked up Southern Stock by Gena Elliott this month for our Hidden Pine Lodge Book Club. What I thought would be a good Southern racing novel…
Southern Reads: The Lion and the Fox
Espionage, Ironclads, and the Quiet War That Decided a Nation History has a funny way of spotlighting the generals and forgetting the shadows behind them. But if you want to understand how wars are really won—or lost—you’ve got to look where the cannons weren’t firing. That’s where Alexander Rose takes us in The Lion and…
Introducing the Hidden Pine Lodge: A New Chapter of the Southern Blueprint
Since launching The Southern Blueprint, my goal has always been the same: to tell stories that matter, explore Southern culture and history in new ways, and build something meaningful—something that lasts. Now, I’m taking the next step. Why I’m Doing This What started as a creative outlet has grown into something much more meaningful. I’ve…
Southern Reads: Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told
Some stories sound like whiskey-soaked tall tales told over a backroom poker table. This one just happens to be true. The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told by Mark Paul is not your typical memoir. It’s a red-blooded, high-octane, sun-bleached nail-biter. Part underdog sports story, part cartel thriller, and part ode to the gambler’s gut instinct,…
SBP Podcast Episode 6: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Savannah, Georgia—a city where history, crime, and the supernatural collide. In this episode of The Southern Blueprint Podcast, we delve deep into the real-life murder that inspired Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt’s bestselling book that captured the eerie charm and scandalous secrets of the Hostess City of the South. We…
Southern Reads: Heaven, My Home
Sequels are a tricky thing. They carry the weight of expectation, the shadow of their predecessor looming large over every page. Heaven, My Home, the follow-up to Attica Locke’s Bluebird, Bluebird, is a strong novel in its own right, but does it quite match the power and punch of its predecessor? That’s where opinions start…