Letts Get Together

I first connected with Billie Letts when I read "Where the Heart is." I even had dreams about being stranded in Wal-Mart long after I read that book. Then the movie came out the year after I read it. I liked it the first time and then fell in love with it the second time. I felt it totally surpassed the excellence of the book. It's still my number one favorite movie.

After WTHI, she came out with "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon." I thought the title sounded strange so I overlooked it. However, I went right for "Shoot the Moon" when it came out a few years later. I really liked it and shared it with friends afterward. In 2008, I read "Made in the U.S.A.," which was impossible to put down. It was a dark story, but so well written that I knew it would leave me smiling somehow. Then my mom told me that I'd love "The Honk and Holler..." so I finally gave it a chance and was not disappointed at all. It was such a good and moving story that I was sorry I didn't read it sooner.

While her stories are more about people who have had a rough go at life, they still feel like chick lit in some ways. There's still the aspect of romance in most of them. They're also page turners that are impossible to put down. I consider the movie of WTHI to be a chick flick, so that makes sense with the genre of chick lit books becoming movies. I just hope Billie Letts will continue to write more winners as wonderful as these past four have been.