The first one may not look like much, but I had a chance to hear Sylvia Allen speak at a Main Street conference last year. She's fierce and successful. Her New Jersey PR firm has been in business more than 30 years. I bought her book immediately.
Greg Isles is a Mississippi author who has written 10 NYT Best Sellers since 1993. I love reading Mississippi authors who incorporate their local setting. Greg is a master at that. Not only does he capture the geography of the city of Natchez but its social and political climate, to which any Mississippian can relate.

I've always believed there's something in this Southern state--the water, the ungodly heat maybe--that produces more talent per capita than any other. It's a low-lying oppression that starts at birth and never quite leaves your system, forcing you to strive constantly to rise above your situation. Some of us just go crazy here, others live in denial. A tiny handful of folks become artists and even fewer succeed.

I haven't decided yet what category I'll fall in, but I'm leaning toward crazy.