[.ca] Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love (ISBN 0739320564)

Get it as a book on tape:
I checked out this in the books on tape form and listened to it in the car from Denver, CO to Topeka, KS and laughed the whole way! What a super way to make the drive go faster. Funny, funny stuff!

Start here...:
This is the first installment in "The Sweet Potato Queens" series by Jill Conner Browne. I have not laughed this hard since I first discovered Louis Grizzard. While lolling about, my best friend and I love to read this book aloud to each other!!! True story: I 'lost' my first copy so I purchased another. After being MIA for a year my first copy resurfaced and I still won't let ANYONE borrow it. Instead, if I want someone to enjoy this book I buy them one of their own. It's as if Miss Browne has been inside my head and/or heard some of my conversations! After reading this first installment you will crawl outta your brain to read the next. This author is intelligent and expresses so much logical truth. This book is the "southern" book for all women.

Ladies, the big three:
Ladies, there are three books that you MUST read if you're interested in great storytelling, wonderful plots, Southern themes, and a great time: "The Divine Secrets" is the first, and many of you have already read this great literary achievement. The second is Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood"--a haunting and intricate portrait of Southernisms gone horribly wrong. And the third is this spectacular read--"The Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love." These three, you simply can't do without. All are great, but by all means, buy and read TSPQBOL first! The humor, depth, sadness, insight, and wonderful writing of Browne makes this a great time. Why this book isn't better known is beyond me. Finding something this good, off the beaten path, makes me want to ask, "Where has this writer been?"

It's Not Easy Being Queen:
I couldn't imagine why I would enjoy this book. The idea of being a beauty queen doesn't appeal, I am not from the South, I don't think the only thing men are good for is buying me jewelry. So for several years after The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love came out, I ignored it. Then I heard Jill Conner Browne on the car radio and nearly ran off the road from laughing. The Book of Love is a ridiculously disguised excuse for Browne to dish out heaping servings of advice. It is all good-natured and upbeat, if not always prim and ladylike, if you catch my drift. The Sweet Potato Queens, who receive the ceremonial title of "Tammy" upon reaching Queendom, all know the magic words to get a man to do anything you want him to. They know the Best Advice Ever Given in the History of the Entire World. And they reveal all in this, the first Sweet Potato Queens book. Fortunately, it is not necessary to dress up like a Sweet Potato Queen to benefit from the Book of Love. In fact, the SPQ costumes look rather like drag queen ensembles. In any case, if you get the audio version, just be careful while you're driving.

A Hoot!:
And I'm not talking about owls here. This is one funny book. Written in the tradition of southern storytelling at its best, this "nary a bad line in the thing" book is bound to make the corners of your mouth turn up. Also recommended: Bark of the Dogwood by Jackson McCrae