50 Books / HT50, Part 6: 2000-2005
The books in this installment of the 50 Books / HT50 series are a varied lot — two novels, one nonfiction book, and two poetry collections, including a Pulitzer Prize winner. All the authors have strong ties to the South, however, and two are Tennessee natives.
Read more
Gerry Wilson’s debut novel explores the insidious nature of generational lies
Gerry Wilson delivers a vibrant debut novel, That Pinson Girl, on the impact of generational trauma, lies, and secrecy. Wilson will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on February 20.
Read more
Karen Outen’s Dixon, Descending brings to life two brothers with a costly ambition
Karen Outen’s debut novel, Dixon, Descending, explores themes of brotherhood, ambition, and the acceptance of one’s own mortality. Outen will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 8.
Read more
Alan Gratz’s new novel for young readers explores the events of December 7, 1941
“I was afraid. Of pretty much everything. There were a hundred ways to die at Pearl Harbor,” admits 13-year-old Frank, the main character and narrator of Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, the latest in Alan Gratz’s series of action-packed historical novels for young readers. Gratz will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on February 25.
Read more
Reflections on Tales of Wakanda and the visionary literature of the African diaspora
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Black authors, along with visual artists, musicians, designers, and activists, have long learned to zip into the cloak of art we now call Afrofuturism to imagine possible futures that embrace truly liberated Black bodies and stories. Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, an anthology edited by Memphis native Jesse J. Holland, joins this tradition through multiple perspectives on the world of Marvel’s T’Challa.
Read more
The ups and downs of 40+ years in a same-sex relationship
In The Way from Me to Us, Mike Coleman recounts his challenges and personal growth as a gay man, both in his early life and through more than 40 years with his husband.
Read more
