Chapter 16 - Part 22

Cultivating Enchantment

The Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden in Nashville offers a picturesque setting for a reading series

By Emily Choate | June 9, 2014

June 9, 2014 Each summer Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art offers a colorful addition to Nashville’s literary landscape with a reading series called Annotations. Local authors discuss their work surrounded by the stunning atmosphere of the Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden. Beginning on June 13, 2014, with novelist Victoria Schwab, the events will take place at 6:30 p.m. on the second Friday of each month during the summer.

Good Girl, Bad Girl

Writers grapple with their most memorable foibles in the new essay collection, Southern Sin

By Emily Choate | May 12, 2014

May 12, 2014 Southern Sin: True Stories of the Sultry South and Women Behaving Badly, an essay collection edited by Lee Gutkind and Beth Ann Fennelly, is about blowing it, betraying loved ones, sleeping with the wrong people, breaking the law, and, most importantly, having the nerve to fess up. In the South, this is not as easy as it may seem.

This Is Not an Anthropology Lesson

Tupelo Honey Cafe pays delicious tribute to food—and life—in the Mountain South

By Emily Choate | May 8, 2014

May 8, 2014 Tupelo Honey Cafe made a name for itself in Asheville, North Carolina, by bringing a spirit of adventure to a range of traditional Appalachian recipes. Now that Tupelo Honey has expanded throughout the Mountain South—including several Tennessee locations—head chef Brian Sonoskus has partnered with writer Elizabeth Sims to create a collection of recipes and stories that highlight regional dishes. Sonoskus will sign copies of Tupelo Honey Cafe at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on May 16, 2014, at 5 p.m.

Vista to Somewhere Else

In Tova Mirvis’s Visible City, entangled neighbors catch startling glimpses into each other’s lives

By Emily Choate | March 28, 2014

March 28, 2013 The characters in Tova Mirvis’s novel Visible City dwell in the glittering flux of New York, constantly exposed to moments of potential clash and change. They play their official roles—stay-at-home mother, lawyer, therapist, art historian—as seamlessly as they can manage, but inside they seek routes of escape. Mirvis, a Memphis native, will discuss Visible City at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on April 2, 2014, at 6 p.m.

Ain’t Hell Meat Yet

In Charles McNair’s Pickett’s Charge, a century of Southern history unfolds as the last Confederate soldier sets out on a fantastical quest

By Emily Choate | January 28, 2014

January 28, 2014 Threadgill Pickett, the 114-year-old protagonist of Charles McNair’s novel Pickett’s Charge, is the last surviving Confederate soldier. Roused from his Alabama rest home by a mysterious visitation from his long-dead brother, Threadgill sets out on a long trek to Bangor, Maine, where he plans to kill the last surviving Union solider. Absurdity and tragedy follow Threadgill wherever he goes, and revenge begins to seem a tougher, stranger business than he’d anticipated. McNair will appear at Howlin’ Books in Nashville on January 30, 2014, at 6 p.m.

The Risky Business of Fairy Tales

In Elizabeth Gentry’s Housebound, dark riddles and magical discoveries fuel a gothic novel

By Emily Choate | November 27, 2013

November 27, 2013 Housebound, the debut novel by Knoxville author Elizabeth Gentry, is an adventure in genre, immersed in the strange, dark world of fairy tales and gothic novels. The story centers around Maggie, the eldest of nine children in a family held together by a mysterious collection of unspoken yet airtight rules. When she breaks house rules by announcing her intention to leave home, Maggie embarks on an adventure that will change her life. Elizabeth Gentry will discuss Housebound at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville at 6 p.m. on December 6, 2013.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker