Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Michael Ray Taylor

Parting Shot

Ace Atkins pens his tenth installment in an iconic detective series

Spenser, a hard-punching, Shakespeare-quoting private eye created over 50 years ago by Robert B. Parker, is hired to safeguard a congresswoman chased by homegrown terrorists in Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby, the tenth installment in the iconic series from the pen of Ace Atkins.

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Forgotten Flora

Georgann Eubanks celebrates endangered native plants in Saving the Wild South

In Saving the Wild South, Georgann Eubanks and photographer Donna Campbell visit seven Southern states to seek out rare native plants. Eubanks creates compelling narratives of the natural history of 10 endangered species, along with the personal histories of dedicated individuals fighting to save these plants from extinction.

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Shades of Humanity

Ruta Sepetys’ young adult masterpiece becomes a graphic novel

Between Shades of Gray, an award-winning 2011 YA novel by Nashville writer Ruta Sepetys, has been adapted as a stunning graphic novel illustrated by Dave Kopka and a talented support team. The story explores the horrors of Stalin’s gulags as experienced by a young Lithuanian artist deported to Siberia in 1941 with her mother and brother.

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Murder Songs and Mountain Secrets

A story of women bound by blood and music

The Ballad of Laurel Springs, the new novel from East Tennessee native Janet Beard, follows nine generations of women in a fictional town at the base of the Smoky Mountains, weaving murder, tragedy, and heartbreak into a singular tale bound together by the power of music.

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Bad Influencers

Ace Atkins’ Mississippi sheriff chases a teenage TikTok sensation across the South

Cigar-smoking Sheriff Quinn Colson tracks Tibbehah County teens wanted for murder through Memphis, Hot Springs, and New Orleans in The Heathens, the 11th novel in the Mississippi crime series by Ace Atkins.

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Still Running

The team behind John Lewis’ March launches a new series

When Rep. John Lewis passed away in July 2020, a sequel to his bestselling graphic memoir trilogy, March, was well underway. Run: Book One picks up where the trilogy left off, reuniting the team of Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, who are joined by artist L. Fury.

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