Books

The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life
By Kathy L. Patrick, Grand Central Publishing, 2008, 334 pp.

In her first book, The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, Kathy L. Patrick shares how books saved her life.

It's a cliché to say that you can judge a book by its cover, and to be honest, when I saw the hot pink cover, featuring women with big hair, tiaras, leopard-print clothes and rather large smiles, I expected humorous essays, catered to the Southern woman, that might make me smile but wouldn't motivate or offer anything new.

However, Patrick's story is unique and intertwined with survival, books and beauty.

Like so many avid readers, she was first enticed to read books by the encouragement of a teacher, who reached out to the shy introvert. Through books, Patrick was able to escape a home dominated by a beautiful, self-absorbed and neglectful mother.

As Patrick matured, she grew out of her shell. The young woman became a beautician, then an owner of a bed and breakfast. However, after marrying and having a child, Patrick decided to pursue a job in a bookstore. She excelled and eventually became a book-publishing representative.

However, she did more than try to sway bookstore owners to sell particular books — this Texas gal went out of her way to help authors she believed in, like helping a relatively unknown regional writer find a publisher.

Thanks to Kathy Patrick's persistence, you now know Rebecca Wells, author of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Sadly, Patrick was the victim of the national bookstore sensation and her job was eliminated.

Going back to her roots, this survivor opened the only beauty store/bookstore in the nation, called Beauty and the Book, and was once featured on Good Morning America.

When she wasn't satisfied with a local book club, she simply started her own, The Pulpwood Queens. She required participants to read books she recommended and come to meetings wearing tiaras, hot pink, and leopard prints.

Patrick's desire to make reading fun seemed to hit a nerve with women because The Pulpwood Queens book club is the largest in the world.

There is so much more about her fascinating life of books, like her friendship to the late Doug Marlette and her enormous attraction to To Kill a Mockingbird, but the best way to soak it in is to read the book yourself. It's an easy read and even offers book recommendations and recipes after each chapter.

The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life will make you smile, but might also encourage you in the way its author takes tragedy and turns it into triumph. Kathy Patrick just might be the Southern writer's, and reader's, best friend.