books that make us laugh out loud--Mama Makes Up Her Mind

For this month's staff picks list, we were asked about books that make us laugh out loud. I know there have been many books over the years that have made me laugh, but one that sticks out in my mind is Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living by Bailey White. In this nonfiction collection of Southern stories, White, a commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered, delightfully explores the eccentricities of life in the South. Rambling between hilarious tales of her relatives and the world outside her sleepy town in southern Georgia, White gives a humor-filled sneak peek to how the deep South lives. White captures each moment so perfectly, the reader feels they are sitting on the sun porch with her, sipping a mint julep, as she regales with her tales. White left her job as an elementary school teacher—“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach”—to write full time. Besides being entertaining, this book’s stories are often just a few pages long, making it an easy read for those on the go.

I picked up this book when it was new in 1993 (when I was in middle school). Having some Southern roots myself, I was intrigued by this collection of true tales of the South. The first couple of stories grabbed me, and I was hooked. This book is hilarious because it is true. In those days before I could drive myself around, I often read in the car. I remember reading the line, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach," at a gas station and thinking it was so funny.

While I tried reading White's other books, they weren't nearly as good as Mama Makes Up Her Mind. But this book did get me reading short stories, a genre I had always ignored in the past. As a direct result of reading this collection, I picked up Amy Bloom's Come to Me: Stories (which I lost for awhile under our sofa, but that's another story).