Book Reviews

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Nashville author Andrea Williams formerly worked in marketing and development for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Her wide knowledge of the subject is evident in her first book for young readers, Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues, an account of the only woman in the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Dr. Yasmine S. Ali’s Walk Through Fire: The Train Disaster That Changed America creates a gripping drama about dark days in her hometown’s history. Ali will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 27, the Humphreys County Public Library in Waverly on March 3, the Dickson County Public Library on March 9, and the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville on April 8.

In his latest collection, Blue If Only I Could Tell You, distinguished poet Richard Tillinghast explores his sharp connection to places past and present. Tillinghast will appear at Burke’s Book Store in Memphis on February 23.

In Richard Bausch’s latest novel, Playhouse, a Memphis theater company stages a performance of King Lear to celebrate a high-profile relaunch. As rehearsals begin, celebrities sign on, and the characters struggle to find harmony, let alone pull off the play.