Are you looking to diversify your reading list? Look no further. Anthony Grooms is an author and creative writing professor at Kennesaw State University . He gave "On Second Thought" his recommendations for our "Southern Reading List" series on books that define and reflect the south. Grooms' recommendations include Patrick Phillips' "Blood at the Root" ; Gray Stewart's "Haylow"; and Ernest Gaines' "A Lesson Before Dying." Grooms' latest novel, "The Vain Conversation" focuses on the question of