Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Finding Identity Amid Anonymity

The characters in John Brandon’s Further Joy live in Florida’s nowhere towns

By Sean Kinch | June 4, 2014

June 4, 2014 The stories in John Brandon’s new collection, Further Joy, pack a novel’s worth of engaging conflict and intriguing personalities into small packages. Stuck in small Florida towns that have no tourist attractions or natural beauty, Brandon’s characters make a game of their lives just to withstand them. John Brandon will read from Further Joy at Crosstown Arts in Memphis on June 9, 2014, at 6 p.m.

Unrivaled Devotion

Emily Giffin’s new novel explores one woman’s love of football—and her best friend’s father

By Sarah Norris | June 3, 2014

June 3, 2014 The One & Only, the seventh novel by bestselling author Emily Giffin, focuses on Shea Rigsby, a thirty-something living in fictional Walker, Texas, where life revolves around the local college football team. Shea’s world is turned upside down when she must choose between her best friend and her romantic feelings for her best friend’s father. Giffin will discuss The One & Only at the Nashville Public Library on June 9, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

Perishable, Pleasurable Relics

Barbara Herman surveys the complex delights of vintage perfume in Scent & Subversion

By Maria Browning | June 2, 2014

June 2, 2014 Barbara Herman calls vintage perfume a “liquid language” that reveals something about the tastes and dreams of a bygone era, even as it offers us a portal to our own deep desires. In Scent & Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume, Herman describes hundreds of classic twentieth-century perfumes and considers their rich, sensual appeal. She will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 5, 2014, at 6:30 p.m.

Remastering Memory

Can the protagonist of Amber McRee Turner’s new middle-grade novel, Circa Now, alter the past with a computer program?

By Tracy Barrett | May 29, 2014

May 29, 2014 When eleven-year-old Circa Monroe begins to notice that the images she inserts into photographs seem to be becoming real, she’s convinced that she is capable of altering the world with her computer and a bank of images—and possibly bring her beloved father back to life. Memphis native Amber McRee Turner will discuss her new middle-grade novel, Circa Now, at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on June 7, 2014, at 1 p.m.

Balladeer in Black and White

American Ballads, Marty Stuart’s book of backstage photographs, captures a musical age

By Randy Fox | May 28, 2014

May 28, 2014 Marty Stuart has spent his career both making musical history and capturing it on film. American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart is a new collection of Stuart’s photography that accompanies the exhibit currently showing at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. Marty Stuart and his mother, Hilda Stuart, will discuss the exhibit and their shared passion for photography at the Frist on June 4, 2014, at noon. Admission is free.

Only Time and Light Will Do the Job

Thunderstruck, Elizabeth McCracken’s first story collection in two decades, elegantly illuminates the interstices of love and loss

By Ed Tarkington | May 27, 2014

May 27, 2014 “The soul is liquid, and slow to evaporate,” writes Elizabeth McCracken. “The body’s a bucket and liable to slosh. Grieving, haunted, heartbroken, obsessed: your friends will tell you to cheer up. What they really mean is dry up. But it isn’t a matter of will. Only time and light will do the job.” The metaphor is typical of the stories that make up Thunderstruck, a collection of achingly honest, haunting, and often darkly comic tales. McCracken will discuss the book on June 3, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker