A family learns about grace from a death row prisoner
He Called Me Sister: A True Story of Finding Humanity on Death Row, by Suzanne Craig Robertson, chronicles the relationship between her family and death row prisoner Cecil Johnson. Robertson will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 21.
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A new illustrated history covers 70 years of Sun Records
The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll combines the talents of writers Peter Guralnick and Colin Escott, along with a trove of striking photos, to survey the 70-year history and musical legacy of Sun Records.
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Richard Manning explores the mysterious allure of song
In If It Sounds Good, It Is Good, Richard Manning makes a case for learning music by ear and explains why it’s a shame music-making is left more and more to professionals. Manning will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.
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Margaret Renkl discusses her new essay collection, Graceland, at Last
Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South collects 60 of Margaret Renkl’s essays for The New York Times. Her fascinating explanations of the natural world are the standouts, but she also weighs in with authority on politics and culture. Renkl will discuss the book at a free ticketed event held in Harpeth Hall’s Frances Bond Davis Theater in Nashville on September 14, at a virtual event hosted by Novel in Memphis on September 16, and at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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Former governor Bill Haslam discusses the role of faith in government
Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam does a deep dive into the two subjects not fit for polite conversation in Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square. Haslam, also the former mayor of Knoxville, outlines a way of approaching the role of religious faith in the hardball arena of politics. He will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
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Ross King details the book industry of the Italian Renaissance
Vespasiano da Bisticci, called “king of the world’s booksellers” and “prince of Florentine booksellers” by contemporaries in the 15th century, makes for a compelling central figure in Ross King’s The Bookseller of Florence. King will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 19.
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