Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Sean Kinch

What’s Wrong with Me?

Young men stumble on the path to adulthood in J.M. Holmes’s How Are You Going To Save Yourself

J.M. Holmes’s debut story collection, How Are You Going To Save Yourself, tracks four friends who form a posse in their teens but drift apart in their twenties. The book addresses twenty-first-century issues, particularly those facing young African-Americans, without sugar-coating. Holmes will appear at the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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My Work is Done

In Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels, a dying patriarch gathers his family

Big Angel de la Cruz, protagonist of Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels, is dying and hopes to make peace with his family before he dies. Urrea will appear at the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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Right Ho, Penelope

In Penelope Lemon: Game On!, Inman Majors summons the comic spirit of P.G. Wodehouse

The hero of Inman Majors’s new comic novel, Penelope Lemon: Game On!, is at a crossroads. Divorced and broke, she must use all her cunning and fortitude to start over—and maybe have some fun along the way. Majors will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on August 13, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on August 14, at Novel in Memphis on August 16, and at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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The Little Devil’s Advocate

In Emily Giffin’s All We Ever Wanted, Nashville parents navigate the perils of social media

The action of Emily Giffin’s new novel begins with a scandal that forces two sets of parents to find out how far they’ll go to protect their teenagers. Giffin will discuss All We Ever Wanted at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville on June 23 at 4 p.m.

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The Wrong Side of History

In Varina, Charles Frazier portrays the first lady of the Confederacy as a reluctant witness

Charles Frazier’s Varina returns to the era of Cold Mountain but focuses on the Southern elite who bear the historical burden of instigating the Civil War. Frazier will discuss Varina, in conversation with novelists Paula McLain and Ann Patchett, at the Nashville Public Library on May 14.

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Raise More Hell

In Make Trouble, Cecile Richards recounts a life of agitating for justice

In Make Trouble, Cecile Richards shares the lessons she’s learned in a lifetime on the front lines of battles for social change. Richards will appear in conversation with Ann Patchett at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music in Nashville on May 9.

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