Chapter 16 - Part 415

Where the Plots Are

Acclaimed novelist Maile Meloy talks with Chapter 16 about why she turned to fiction for children

By Susannah Felts | October 2, 2013

October 2, 2013 When Maile Meloy—the author of two novels and two short-story collections for adults—tried her hand at writing for children, the result was The Apothecary. Intelligent, deftly plotted, magical and historical in equal measure, the novel might easily win a kid over to books for a lifetime—that is, if her parents don’t swipe it from her first. Meloy will visit Nashville’s Parnassus Books on October 3, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. to read from The Apprentices, her newly released sequel to The Apothecary.

Tradition on Ice

Memphis writer Steve Stern answers questions about The Frozen Rabbi, his novel about tradition, hedonism, and “quick-fix enlightenment.”

By Paul V. Griffith | October 2, 2013

October 2, 2013 Much of The Frozen Rabbi by award-winning author Steve Stern takes place in the Pinch, a long ignored Memphis neighborhood that was once the city’s Jewish ghetto. The Pinch’s rich and conflicted history provides the ideal locus for the book, which is a tale of shamanistic self-interest and tradition gone wrong. Steve Stern will appear at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 3, 2013, in Buttrick Hall, Room 101, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Because It Makes our Hearts Glad

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian talks of mice and music

By Tina LoTufo | October 2, 2013

October 2, 2013 Janis Ian’s new picture book, The Tiny Mouse, marks the singer-songwriter’s first foray into children’s literature, although the two-time Grammy Award-winner is the author of a well-received 2008 autobiography, Society’s Child. Janis Ian will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.

The Joy of Difficult Love

For Andrew Solomon, the real goal of love is to embrace difference

By Beth Waltemath | October 1, 2013

October 1, 2013 In Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, National Book Award winner Andrew Solomon explores the depths of love as he researches the connection between parents and exceptional children. Today he talks with Chapter 16 about his own journey to parenthood and “the epic narratives of resilience” that shaped his book. Andrew Solomon will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013.

A Flood of Emotion

The Tilted World, a novel by Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin, sets romance and suspense against the great Mississippi flood of 1927

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 30, 2013

September 30, 2013 The Tilted World, by poet Beth Ann Fennelly and novelist Tom Franklin, is a novel set against the great Mississippi flood of 1927. In the book, their first literary collaboration, male and female protagonists speak in alternating chapters to create a story of both brutal action and satisfying romance. Fennelly and Franklin will appear at Burke’s Book Store in Memphis on October 4, 2013, at 5 p.m., and at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013.

Borrow or Buy

Hosted by the Memphis Public Library, the third annual Bookstock festival features forty local authors of books for adults and children

By Sarah Norris | September 27, 2013

September 27, 2013 The third annual Bookstock festival will showcase forty Memphis-area authors representing multiple genres: fiction, poetry, current affairs, children’s books, and more. This free, family-friendly event, which features talks, book signings, live music, cooking demonstrations, and assorted activities for children, will be held at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis on October 5, 2013, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The keynote speech will be delivered by counterterrorism expert Philip Mudd, author of Takedown: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda.

I Gotta Sing!

By Alice Faye Duncan
WaterBrook
40 pages
$14.99

“A whole barnyard makes noise ‘in the Spirit of joy’ throughout this raucous picture book, a sweetly heartwarming sing-along by Duncan. Kellam conveys comfort and happiness as the loved ones reflect sunny enthusiasm in this gladdening rendition of the Black American religious folk song ‘I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing.’”

~Publishers Weekly