I have been fascinated with American history leading up to the Civil War as well as African American history in the US as a whole. I have never been to the South, but would love to explore different ideas of "Southern" mentality. As far as it's helpful to generalize, what are the roots of the culture and what are the various aspects of its identity?
The Mind of the South by WJ Cash. It's a bit dated but is pretty good. Also Honor and Violence in the Old South by Bertram Wyatt-Brown. Intellectual Life and the American South 1810-1860 by Michael OBrien is another good one. It's an abridgment of Conjectures of Order
I'd recommend Away Down South. It's got a great timeline of how southern culture has evolved and covers a lot of different facets.