Lee Clay Johnson’s desolate debut novel, Nitro Mountain, exerts a powerful magnetic pull
May 17, 2016 Nitro Mountain, the debut novel from Nashville native Lee Clay Johnson, reveals a strikingly evoked world of depravity, degradation, and bad romance in a remote crevice of Appalachia. Johnson will read from the book at Brown’s Diner in Nashville on May 20, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.
With his fifth novel, John Hart proves once again that “literary thriller” is not an oxymoron
May 12, 2016 Redemption Road proves once again that John Hart is a master of the literary thriller. His flawed and haunted characters must work in the shadows of modern-day North Carolina to find their way to salvation. Hart will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 19, 2016, at 6:30 pm.
Anton DiSclafani’s The After Party follows the tangled friendship of two women among Houston’s social elite
May 11, 2016 Set among Houston’s glamorous oil-industry elites during the 1950s, Anton DiSclafani’s The After Party follows two young women—one conventional, one rebellious—who are locked in a complex lifelong friendship. DiSclafani will discuss The After Party at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 17, at 6:30 p.m.
With Prayers the Devil Answers Sharyn McCrumb offers another compelling Appalachian novel
May 10, 2016 In Prayers the Devil Answers Sharyn McCrumb once again recreates the time, place, and people of her Appalachian homeland. McCrumb will discuss her new novel at free public events in Johnson City, Knoxville, and Nashville.
In Jennifer Haigh’s new novel, Heat and Light, energy companies choose profits over safety
May 9, 2016 With Heat and Light, Jennifer Haigh joins the grand American tradition of the social-protest novel. Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Upton Sinclair, and John Steinbeck before her, she wields a quixotic sword against corporate corruption and malfeasance—in this case, fracking. Haigh will read from Heat and Light at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 12, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.
A life with pets forms the scaffolding of a new memoir by columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson
May 6, 2016 Syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson will talk about The Dogs Buried Over the Bridge: A Memoir in Dog Years, at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on May 10, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. and at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on May 15, 2016, at 2 p.m. The book chronicles Johnson’s loves, losses, and Mississippi home life by way of the dogs who shared the journey.
