Tennessee Curiosities

Tennessee Curiosities by Kristin Luna
Review by Shana Lusk 

As anyone familiar with our beautiful state knows, Tennessee is full of hidden treasures and pleasant surprises.  Fortunately for travelers and natives alike, Kristin Luna makes the path to finding those well-kept secrets an effortless one in her new book “Tennessee Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff.”  The book is carefully organized by the three grand divisions of the state, making it a must have for sightseers in any or all parts of Tennessee.  

What We're Reading

The Aqua Net Diaries:
Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town
By: Jennifer Niven
Simon and Schuster




What were you like in high school? Did you have dreams of becoming famous? Were you boy crazy? Did you have big 1980s hair? If you were Jennifer McJunkin (author Jennifer Niven’s real last name) the answer to these questions is “Yes, yes and definitely yes!” Jennifer recounts her hilarious and crazy life as a teenager in Richmond, Indiana, where she attended high school, in her memoir The Aqua Net Diaries.


In the book, Jennifer introduces readers to her best friend Joey, the “king and queen” of her high school class and her many crushes and boyfriends. Through her real high school notes to and from friends, discussions she recorded (Jennifer kept everything from high school to help her someday biographer, since she was sure she would be famous) and with pictures and stories she wrote, the author recounts the life of a teenager who wants to get out of her too-small town, but also wants nothing more than to feel she fits in.


No matter where you went to high school, there is some element in this memoir to which you can relate. Whether it is the memory of the big hair, the feeling that you didn’t belong or just the crazy antics of high school, Jennifer’s memories will take you back to your own experience, and make you realize, as Jennifer says, “...high school is really much the same everywhere.”


For an interview with author Jennifer Niven, pick up a copy of our May issue, out now!

What I'm reading

In our April issue, Lindsey reviewed 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home by designer Tisha Morris. Here is an excerpt from her review:

Did you know that adding rose quartz (or even a piece of pink construction paper) to a specific corner of your home can enhance your romantic relationships? Or that a purple throw pillow placed in the Wealth and Prosperity area of home will help bring just that into your life?
These are just some of Nashville author Tisha Morris’ suggestions in her new book 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, a guide to space clearing, clutter clearing and promoting positive energy in the home in general. “Like the oxygen flowing through your body, it is important to have a positive energy flow throughout your entire home,” Morris writes in the book’s introduction. “...People around the world have been using these same techniques for centuries because of their steadfast results.”
Based on an ancient Chinese proverb stating “If you want to change your life, move 27 things in your home,” Morris’ book combines traditional Feng Shui elements (such as incorporating mirrors to promote energy flow in the home) with modernized versions of the ancient Eastern tradition. Each of the chapters focuses on one of the 27 Things, with every topic chosen carefully based on Morris’ experience as a Feng Shui consultant and with space clearing.


For the complete book review and an author Q & A with Tisha, pick up the April issue of AHT, on stands now!!

What We're Reading

This book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, has been going around our office for quite some time. Our publisher and editorial director Margaret, as well as managing editor Lindsey, both read it in record time. The New York Times-bestseller is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s and follows main characters Skeeter (a wealthy Ole Miss alum questioning race relations in the South) and African American maids Minny (who is outspoken to a fault) and Abileen (an introspective mother who loses her only son). The three women embark on a journey that could change everything--or it could end in jail time, beatings or worse. Take it from Lindsey and Margaret--it's a great read!

What I'm reading

We did a book review for our March issue on The Cracker Queen by Lauretta Hannon, and today I (Nikki) gave Ginger a copy. So that is what Ginger is reading now. I'm so happy someone (in my office) is reading what I tell them to read. But, really, everyone should run out and buy a copy of the Cracker Queen right now. It is hilarious. I really couldn't put it down.

Here is a peak at my book review on The Cracker Queen.

“Live out loud, laugh hard and love life to death.” This is the motto of the Cracker Queen, and Lauretta Hannon is a Cracker Queen through and through. Lauretta’s memoir is hilarious but also filled with touching moments and words of wisdom. There are certain characteristics that a Cracker Queen must have—“...without them we’re just mean ol’ white trash—the unhappiest and most havoc-wreaking creatures in the whole trailer park,” the author writes. Lauretta’s book will prove that you’ve probably got some Cracker Queen in you, even if you don’t know it. Whether you have a crazy aunt Carrie or throw packs of cigarettes to chain gangs working by the roads, you will find something to identify with in The Cracker Queen.
If you aren’t a Cracker Queen before you pick up the book, you will want to be one by the time you finish it!

For the complete book review and an interview with author Lauretta Hannon, pick up a copy of our March issue.

What I'm reading

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Most of us at AHT are avid readers, and we just don't get to write about all the books we love in the magazine. I wanted to share with everyone what I am reading now... "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris. The author is going to be in Memphis speaking at the Germantown Performing Arts Center in April and I am going, so I wanted to do some reading before I went. I picked this one up in the Atlanta airport over the weekend and haven't been able to put it down since! (I read almost half of it on the plane, but we were stuck on the runway for 3 hours because of snow). It is hilarious and a little off beat- it is my kind of read! It is a collection of essays about his life and his family (who are definitely a bunch of characters). I'm almost done with it, so I'll be on the hunt for my next book soon.

Go pick up a copy of "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" today!

-Nikki Aviotti

Check back soon for more about what we are reading!