Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Making Good Trouble

Rhonda Rucker discusses her new picture book, Make a Change, about a slice of Knoxville history

In her new picture book, written with help from her husband, Sparky, Maryville children’s author Rhonda Rucker tells a story of peaceful protest in segregation-era Knoxville.

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Creatures of the Night

Kerri Maniscalco delivers monstrous thrills in her latest Victorian-era YA novel

Knoxville YA novelist Kerri Maniscalco has crafted another taut tale of an independent heroine and her partner, this time in nineteenth-century Romania. Hunting Prince Dracula is filled with unexpected twists and turns, playful romantic banter, red herrings, and monstrous surprises.

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Love Is Not Enough

In Joan Silber’s Improvement, women cope with the aftermath of self-made catastrophes

Joan Silber’s Improvement follows a dozen characters over four decades on three continents, but all the stories revolve around a single question: how to keep living after your plans have crumbled to dust. Silber will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on November 30 at 6:30 p.m.

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Honey and a Ham Sandwich

Remembering the comforts of a grandmother’s love

If I’m ever in the unfortunate position of having to choose my last meal, I will choose a ham sandwich on lightly-toasted Pepperidge Farm bread and a cup of tea with milk and sugar. This is what I ate for lunch with my grandmother most afternoons when I was in grammar school.

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The Mind Is Its Own Place

Lee Conell’s debut story collection, Subcortical, explores the brain’s strange connections

In her debut story collection, Subcortical, Lee Conell depicts smart characters who are mysteries to themselves. The book’s title provides an accurate index for the wit and sophistication to be found in this volume. Conell will appear on November 29 at Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt at 6 p.m.

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Lifting the Long Black Veil

Michael Bishop’s A Murder in Music City tells a tale of murder, corruption, and a search for justice

Nashvillian Michael Bishop spins a web of murder, corruption, unforgiven sins, and a search for the truth in his debut true-crime book, A Murder in Music City.

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