Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

My One and Only Now and Forever

In Mary Miller’s Biloxi, a border collie leads a man in crisis out of ennui to enlightenment

With Biloxi, Mary Miller delivers a whimsical Southern tragicomedy that evokes both Eudora Welty and Joy Williams. Miller will appear at Novel in Memphis on May 29

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Melding Voices

Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin talk with Chapter 16 about writing a novel of romance and suspense—and raising a family—together

In a starred review, Booklist called The Tilted World, a historical novel by poet Beth Ann Fennelly and novelist Tom Franklin, a “full-bodied shot of bluesy Americana.” Fennelly and Franklin will discuss The Tilted World at Chattanooga State Community College April 8-9. Fennelly will also discuss her most recent essay collection, Heating & Cooling, at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on April 10.

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The Shocking Fulfillment of Beauty

Erin McGraw pulls no punches in her new collection of microstories

Don’t be fooled by the title or the sunny yellow cover of Erin McGraw’s new collection, Joy: And 52 Other Very Short Stories. In these snapshots of lives under extreme pressure, each narrator claims the spotlight to tell a powerful, often dark story. McGraw, who lives in Sewanee, will appear at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on March 6.

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Armed and Dangerous

An American assassin hunts terrorists in Mark Greaney’s Mission Critical

Court Gentry, the hero of Mark Greaney’s Mission Critical, pursues bad guys all over the world in a bare-knuckled, uniquely American style. Greaney will discuss Mission Critical at Novel in Memphis on February 23, and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 28.

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Strikes and Gutters

Elizabeth McCracken’s Bowlaway is a genealogy set in a bowling alley

Elizabeth McCracken’s Bowlaway is an epic tale of love, grief, and candlepin bowling. McCracken will discuss her third novel with Ann Patchett at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 22.

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Marsh Girl

Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens’s first foray into fiction, is a bestseller

In Where the Crawdads Sing, the debut novel by veteran nature writer Delia Owens, a young girl is abandoned in the coastal marshlands of North Carolina. Owens will discuss the novel, a 2018 selection of Reese Witherspoon’s book club, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 18.

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