Mattie Rigsbee, the main character in the book featured in this year's Tar River Reads, declares early in the book, in reference to a stray that has shown up at her doorstep, "I got as much business keeping a dog as I got walking across Egypt." For rest of the story, Mattie treks across her own personal Egypt - doing what she says she has no business doing -- taking care of the dog, and the dog catcher, and the dog catcher's nephew, and assorted other friends and family members. Manna does not rain down to feed them all, as it did for the children of Israel in the wilderness, but Mattie's home cooking does: biscuits, fried chicken, potato salad, fresh tomatoes, string beans, chow chow, turnip salet, cornbread, apple pie, pound cake, iced tea. All preceded by saying the blessing, of course.

Walking Across Egypt is Clyde Edgerton's second novel. Edgerton is a North Carolina native and it shows, from his characters' use of "won't" for "wasn't" to Mattie's bred-in-the-bone Christianity. While Edgerton may be poking fun at the less-than sophisticated ways of many of the inhabitants of this small Southern community, he pokes equally at Mattie's more sophisticated grown children, who want their tea unsweetened and don't attend church regularly. In the end, you have to admire Mattie Rigsbee for having the courage of her convictions, even when it means harboring an escaped criminal (to the dismay of her fellow church members and unchurched family alike).

Walking Across Egypt is the featured book for the second annual Tar River Reads, a "community read" set of events designed to engage as many people as possible from the Twin counties in reading and discussing the same book at the same time. Individuals, book clubs, school classes - anyone who can and will - are all encouraged to read the book before or during the month of September. Folks who read the book will have a chance to enter their name in a drawing to win one of several e-readers and possibly some other prizes - keep your eyes on the library website and the Tar River Reads Facebook page for details.

The library has multiple copies of the book to borrow, as well as a copy of the movie and two books on CD. Two book discussions led by Dr. Vivienne Anderson of North Carolina Wesleyan College will be presented at the library as well, on the 6th and 25th of September.