Well, with a title like “What Southern Women Know About Faith,” I was nervous and on guard for what was to come after I got past the pretty cover. But this book came recommended to me by a sister Southerner, so I figured if it was along the lines of “Suck your Stomach in and Put on Some Color,” I’d be okay. You may have noticed–particularly in Southern bookstores–there’s a new crop of sassy books written by women who may have had one too many mint juleps and/or overdosed on Aunt Chelsea’s cheese straws. But the truth is, Southern women have come to the season where its okay to embrace our inner (and regional) quirkiness. I owe this freedom to Delta Burke and those Designing Women of the late ’80’s. So. . .bring on the chicken salad and a jello mold, I was ready for some funny reading. Though there were moment of chuckle, as one is wont to do when stories about “mama standing her ground” start to emerge, overall I found the book to be  . . .just plain sweet. The author, Ronda Rich, writes like she talks (or so I can assume from the folksy manner of her delivery—and the fact she mentions her many speaking engagements.) Her round table of friends, from celebrities to cousins, was a delight to see spark up here and there. This book is more back porch charm than spiritual treatise , but it was full of truth. And even if a reader isn’t from the South, they’ll still identify with dark times, uncertainties, and the hope that gets us through. So pull up a rocking chair, grab a cheese straw and settle in.