Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Digging Montana

Homer Hickam’s first mystery uncovers murder—and dinosaurs—in Big Sky Country

By Chris Scott | November 8, 2010

November 8, 2010 Homer Hickam, of Rocket Boys fame, has changed literary course. In his new novel, The Dinosaur Hunter, he presents a mystery set in remote east-central Montana, a land full of cattle, cowboys, ranchers, and paleontologists. It’s a mix sure to cause trouble. On the Square C Ranch, a season of bone digging, romantic entanglements, and dreams of fame and fortune is followed closely by murder and mayhem, putting an ex-cop turned cowboy back into the business of gunfights and catching bad guys. Homer Hickam signs The Dinosaur Hunter at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville November 11 at 7 p.m.

Riffing on the River

In Lee Sandlin’s eclectic new history, it’s a treat to beat your feet in the Mississippi mud

By Michael Ray Taylor | November 5, 2010

November 5, 2010 Lee Sandlin’s Wicked River is a wickedly funny new history of the great Mississippi, whose violent, profane, drunken, calamitous, hypocritical character is perhaps an archetype of the American character itself. Sandlin will discuss Wicked River at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis on November 9 at 6 p.m.

Beyond Halloween

With The Immortals J.T. Ellison takes her detective on a thrill ride into the world of teenage witchcraft

By Lyda Phillips | November 3, 2010

November 3, 2010 J.T. Ellison delivers her trademark blend of police procedural doused in the macabre with The Immortals, the fifth in her Nashville-based Taylor Jackson series. When the ritualistic murder of eight teenagers on Halloween shocks an upper-middle-class neighborhood that prides itself on its normality, homicide lieutenant Jackson and her team are plunged into a dark world of teenage Goths and black magic. Ellison will discuss The Immortals at Sherlock’s Books in Nashville on November 6 at 7 p.m.

Family Pride

Condoleezza Rice owes it all—her determination, her success, her quiet dignity—to her parents

By Anne Delana Reeves | November 2, 2010

November 2, 2010 John and Angelina Rice groomed their only child for an exceptional life. Condoleezza Rice’s new memoir, Extraordinary, Ordinary People, lovingly dedicated to her parents and her grandparents, is the former secretary of state’s testament to their strong values, “hard work, perfectly spoken English,” and, most importantly, their unrelenting focus on education. Her college-educated parents, Rice asserts, “were convinced that education was a kind of armor shielding me against everything—even the deep racism in Birmingham and across America.” Rice will discussExtraordinary, Ordinary People at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis on November 3 at 6 p.m.

Bard of the Burdened South

Ron Rash chronicles the many troubles of the Appalachian poor

By Ed Tarkington | October 27, 2010

October 27, 2010 With his new collection of short fiction, Burning Bright, Ron Rash offers a scaled-down version of the same concerns on display in his bestselling novel, Serena, employing a sweeping cast of characters and historical milieus, ranging from the Civil War era to the present day. Ron Rash opens the 2010-11 Lipscomb University Landiss Lecture Series on October 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Doris Swang Chapel of the Ezell Center on the Lipscomb University campus. A reception follows the program with a book signing. Admission is free.

Victorian Madness and Murder

In Dangerous to Know, Tasha Alexander channels her inner Gothic

By Faye Jones | October 22, 2010

October 22, 2010 Lady Emily has not had the most auspicious beginnings to married life. Her first husband, essentially a stranger, died as a newlywed. On her second honeymoon, she was shot while helping her husband Colin, a British intelligence agent, on one of his investigations and suffered a subsequent miscarriage. In Dangerous to Know, Tasha Alexander’s fifth Lady Emily novel, the protagonists have returned to Colin’s mother’s house in France to recuperate. Naturally, this recovery is hampered.

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