Tina Chambers

Matthew Vollmer’s All of Us Together in the End contemplates the certainties of life and its mysteries – whether natural or supernatural. Vollmer will discuss the book at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on May 23 and The Bookshop in Nashville on May 24.

Justin Warren, the protagonist of Lauren Thoman’s debut novel, I’ll Stop the World, finds himself in a bit of a pickle. It seems he’s suddenly time-traveled to the 1985 version of his hometown, where he has a week to solve a mystery and save his grandparents’ lives. Lauren Thoman will discuss her work at a “Birthing the Book” event hosted by The Porch in Nashville on May 11.

Memphis native Elizabeth Passarella’s second collection of essays, It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway, covers a lot of ground, both personally and existentially. Earthy, articulate, and uninhibited, Passarella is an engaging storyteller with a wicked sense of humor. She’ll discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on May 2.

Lee Smith’s ability to spin tragedy into comedy is challenged as never before in her new novel, Silver Alert, as a motley cast of characters navigates a world filled with pain and loss, while at least one stubbornly clings to her hope for a better future.

Light to the Hills contains many of the traditional elements of Appalachian life — tales of moonshine and cock fighting, feuds and floods, coal mining and snake handling — but in Bonnie Blaylock’s lyrical prose, they come alive in a new way to tell a powerful story of family ties, mountain ways, and mountain justice. Blaylock will sign her book at Linebaugh Public Library in Murfreesboro on April 5.

A Word on Words: The Best of John Seigenthaler’s Interviews celebrates the significant contribution to the American literary landscape made by Nashville’s John Seigenthaler, a legendary journalist and First Amendment advocate.