Now I can forgive Reese most things so I guess I’m just overlooking the spelling of Whisky, it is an American book after all!
I am a big Reese fan, so much so that I pre-ordered this book the minute I saw her speaking about it, months ago. Thus when my husband challenged my self-imposed book-buying ban for the month of September I was able to tell him I had ordered it months ago. Phew! I admire Reese so much. It goes without saying that Legally Blonde is one of my favourite films because she plays such a great, kick ass but pink character. But her recent work, commissioning drama from great fiction written by women and featuring female characters is just what I have been waiting for. For so many years I have been left deflated by too many films which are all about men, where women play minor roles. It’s so tedious. Whilst I appreciate that the work Reese is doing is on the small screen, it’s a start. And the start is that she is making it a thing that shows are being produced by women for women and about women. She’s saying there is a gap. And given the critical and commercial success of her shows I think the industry will be listening. And it might start showing through at the cinema. Let’s hope so.
To the book review. This is a glorious book filled with photos, recipes and tips, there’s a whole chapter on Dolly Parton. The premise of the book is about introducing and documenting the Southern lifestyle, Reese was born in the South and values her manners and accent. She also values monograms on her pillow cases and stationery, ice tea and country music. Obviously!
I loved the eclectic mix of the chapters and I was inspired by many. I immediately ordered some personalised stationery because why on earth do I not already have that? Her chapter on the holidays got me all excited about Halloween and Christmas and her great chapter on “Hot Rollers, Red Lipstick” has been beautifully copied on Instagram by Jennifer Garner.
The over-riding joy of this book is Reese of course. Her love of her family and friends, her intelligence but also her total love of all things pretty. Pretty wallpaper, pretty plates and lipstick.
Added to this there is a smattering of southern recipes from her Grandma’s kitchen, a lovely list of great Southern books like To Kill a Mockingbird and a great road trip play list.
Now I am a great Reese fan so I was always gonna love this but I have to say that it really did exceed my expectations and I am pretty sure that the personalised stationery makers of Etsy are very happy!!!!
Lovely review! I love how she’s doing so much to promote women writers as well, so admirable. I was really curious about the recipes in this one, are they any good?
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I haven’t tried any but can list them…
Sun tea, tea punch, pecan crusted chicken skewers, veg plate in a jar, frozen fruit salad, cheddar biscuits, shrimp & grits, sautéed baby kale, mud pie trifle, cowboy cookies, brother john’s ribs, bbq sauce, corn bread & chili pie, smoked pecans, crab puffs, devilled eggs, Kentucky hot brown bites, pecan pie, Annie’s pie crust, pulled pork sliders, corn salad, fried chicken, gravy, squash casserole, fried okra, baked Brie, applesauce cake, Easter rolls, baked ham, meringue pie, ham hock broth, various drinks and a few other bits I haven’t listed. They look interesting and flicking through them reminded me what a beautiful book it is.
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Oh my goodness, thank you so much for sharing them with me!! I’m familiar with a few but curious about the rest and really excited about it now, I think I need to check this one out. I’ve (mostly) banned myself from buying hard copy books while living abroad temporarily but this sounds like one that’s visually important too so better in a physical copy. Dilemmas!!
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It’s a lovely book, I’m glad I have it. There’s style but I like the content to. I don’t think she’d put her name to anything other than a good quality thing.
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