Chapter 16 - Part 14

Terror in Tuscaloosa

In What Stands in a Storm, Kim Cross recounts the deadly tornado outbreak of 2011

By Michael Ray Taylor | March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015 With all the drama and heroism of a Hollywood action thriller, journalist Kim Cross follows the unrelenting march of a line of killer tornados that crossed the American South on April 27, 2011, killing 324 people. Cross will discuss What Stands in a Storm at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 13, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. and at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on March 14, 2015, at 3 p.m.

Hidden Treasure

In We Are Pirates, Daniel Handler offers the same mixture of weirdness, social satire, and bad behavior that delighted children in A Series of Unfortunate Events

By Michael Ray Taylor | February 9, 2015

February 9, 2015 As Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler is the bestselling author of A Series of Unfortunate Events. His latest novel for adults, We Are Pirates, adapts his trademark social satire to a nuanced story of unhappy urban life and piracy along the California coast. Handler will discuss We Are Pirates at the Nashville Public Library on February 14, 2015, at 2 p.m. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

Legal Literature

In an interview with Chapter 16, Scott Turow discusses Jeff Bezos, Monica Lewinsky, Warren Zevon, and his latest legal thriller, Identical

By Michael Ray Taylor | November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014 With nine bestselling novels and two books of nonfiction, Scott Turow, recipient of the 2014 Nashville Public Library Literary Award, has proven himself a master of the legal thriller. His latest novel, Identical, explores questions of betrayal, family, and identity set against the sweeping political backdrop for which his books are famous. In connection with his acceptance of the NPL award, Turow will appear at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on November 8, 2014, at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

No Surrender

Carl Hiaasen talks about his wacky style of Florida thriller, teen edition

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 30, 2014

September 30, 2014 In twenty-three novels, two books of nonfiction, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning column for the Miami Herald, Carl Hiaasen has captured the weird side of Florida life—and crime—like no other writer. In Skink—No Surrender, his first YA novel, Hiassen pairs a beloved character from his adult books with a teen narrator. Hiassen will appear at the Nashville Public Library on October 6, 2014, at 6:15 p.m. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

The Story That Takes Hold

Ishmael Beah writes lyrically in Radiance of Tomorrow about a village recovering from the horrors of war

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 18, 2014

September 18, 2014 In 2007, Ishmael Beah received widespread praise for his memoir, A Long Way Gone, a troubling account of his life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. In his first novel, Radiance of Tomorrow, Beah lyrically explores a village much like his own as it struggles toward normal life after a wartime massacre. Beah will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12. All festival events are free and open to the public.

A Troubled King

Tavis Smiley talks with Chapter 16 about the final year of MLK’s life

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 9, 2014

September 9, 2014 Tavis Smiley, host of eponymous talk shows on both PBS and public radio, has collaborated with biographer David Ritz to create a human, novelistic portrait of Martin Luther King in his final year: Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year. Prior to his appearance at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on September 19, Smiley spoke with Chapter 16 about King’s “darkest hours,” the way the civil-rights leader influenced Smiley’s own life, and what he thinks King would make of the present American landscape.

The Rise and Fall of Treason in English History

By Allen Boyer and Mark Nicholls
Routledge
340 pages
$180

The book “explores the reasons why treason coalesced around specific offences agreed by both the monarch and the wider political nation, why it became an essential instrument of enforcement in high politics, and why, over the past three hundred years, it has gradually fallen into disuse while remaining on the statute book.”

~the publisher