A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

Book Reviews

Mountain Mystery

By Liz Garrigan

May 2, 2013 In 1959, a young husband returns to his cabin in the Appalachian hills to find his bride having sex with his best friend, and he kills them both. In the decades after the crime, the cabin becomes a camping destination for adventure-seeking college kids—like the ex-governor’s daughter Lisa Wilson, one of a group of friends who stay overnight at the creepy shack in the woods. When she is found gruesomely slain under a pine tree, the North Carolina town of Hartsville struggles for answers, and attorney Mary Crow finds herself with another unforgettable case on her hands. Music of Ghosts is Sallie Bissell’s fifth Mary Crow mystery. Bissell will read and sign the new book at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville at 6 p.m. on May 13, and at Mysteries & More in Nashville on June 15 at 2 p.m.

On the Origins of Ecology

By Ralph Bowden

April 17, 2013 John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, set out on a walk from Indiana to the Gulf in the fall of 1867. In Restless Fires: Young John Muir’s Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf in 1867-68 historian James B. Hunt traces that walk through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. At the time, Muir was already a serious student of botany with a powerful calling to observe and collect species, especially in regions unfamiliar to him, but his thinking about the relationship of humans to the rest of nature was not yet completely formed. Hunt will discuss Restless Fires at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on April 24 at 6 p.m.

The Persistence of Memory

By Tina LoTufo

April 16, 2013 When Georgy Daniilovich Jachmenev impulsively steps in front of a bullet meant for the Tsar’s cousin, he is rewarded by being whisked from his miserable existence in the squalid village of Kashin to the glorious Winter Palace of Tsar Nicholas II during the last days of the centuries-old Romanov dynasty. John Boyne will discuss The House of Special Purpose—a novel of love, regret, and nearly unbearable loss—at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Wild Whodunit

By Liz Garrigan

April 12, 2013 When Sidney Marsh gets a plum assignment at the travel agency where she works—a long “familiarization” trip to Africa—she thinks she’s in for nothing but spa luxury, open bars, and quality time with her colleague and best friend. Then a leopard dines on a fellow traveler. Moore, a Memphis resident, will discuss Game Drive at 6 p.m. on April 15 at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis.

No Holding Back

By Beth Waltemath

April 9, 2013 Cheryl Strayed’s ability to tell her story while inviting others to ask questions of their own lives has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who made Wild the first pick in Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, and Reese Witherspoon, who will produce and star in the film version of the book. With Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things appearing within months of each other last year—and with both shooting straight to The New York Times bestseller list—Strayed’s success seems nothing less than meteoric. She will appear at the Nashville Public Library on April 18 at 6:15 p.m. as part of the Salon@615 series. The event is free and open to the public.

Hymns to Passion

By Maria Browning

April 8, 2013 Dante, Beatrice, and Baudelaire help Marilyn Kallet explore modern love in her new poetry collection, The Love That Moves Me. In connection with the book’s launch, Kallet will give several readings in Knoxville: on April 10 in the Goins Buidling Auditorium at Pellissippi State Community College, on April 15 at the Hodges Library Auditorium on the University of Tennessee campus, and on April 21 at Union Ave. Books. Kallet will share the PSCC and UT readings with poet Arthur Smith. Click here for event details.

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