Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Sepetys's Golden Kite

Nashvillian Ruta Sepetys has won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction, another prestigious honor for her acclaimed debut young-adult novel, Between Shades of Gray

March 9, 2012 Nashvillian Ruta Sepetys has won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Ilustrators (SCBWI), another prestigious honor for her acclaimed debut young-adult novel Between Shades of Gray. Sepetys will be given the award, along with a $2,500 cash prize, at the organization’s annual meeting in August.

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The Constancy of Goodness

Robert Goolrick, author of the bestseller A Reliable Wife, talks with Chapter 16 about writing as the path to something resembling peace

March 8, 2012 Robert Goolrick’s forthcoming second novel, Heading Out to Wonderful, begins with the arrival of a mysterious stranger, Charlie Beale, in a quiet Virginia town during the summer of 1948. Beale brings with him two suitcases—the first filled with knives and the second with money—and a powerful desire that “things would finally turn out better, and that this would be the place he could feel at home.” The book isn’t due in stores until June, but Goolrick will read from it on March 15 at 6 p.m. as part of Algonquin Book Club Night at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

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Deciding Who Gets to Be God

In When the Killing’s Done, T.C. Boyle asks if humans can, or should, control nature

March 7, 2012 In his novel When the Killing’s Done, T.C. Boyle sets conservationists against animal-rights activists in a battle royal over the ecosystem of the Channel Islands off the coast of California. It’s a fight both philosophical and physical, and it leaves no one unscathed. Boyle will discuss and sign When the Killing’s Done on March 16 at the Nashville Public Library as part of the Salon@615 series. A free public reception begins at 6:15 p.m. and will be followed by a reading at 7. Click here for details.

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Sad Song

Cyril E. Vetter riffs on the troubled times of Louisiana bluesman Charles “Butch” Hornsby

March 6, 2012 In an experimental “novel” combining fictionalized biography, recorded music, and artwork, Cyril E. Vetter, a writer and occasional record producer, recounts the life of Louisiana musician Butch Hornsby amid the frantic music scene of the late sixties and early seventies. Vetter will discuss Dirtdobber Blues on March 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

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Closing the Book

In a new essay for The New York Times, biographer Robert K. Massie admits that breaking up is hard to do

March 5, 2012 Critically acclaimed biographer Robert K. Massie, who grew up in Nashville, has logged a lot of library hours in the course of writing four bestselling biographies. And somewhere, deep in the stacks, he always falls in love. In a new essay for The New York Times, he explains:

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Ecstasy in the Knowing

Mycophilia, Eugenia Bone’s exploration of the funky world of fungi, reveals the beauty and interconnectedness of all life

March 5, 2012 Eugenia Bone’s Mycophilia is the perfect “did-you-know” book. For instance, did you know that the largest single living organism on the planet is a fungus? Located in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, this particular specimen of the wood-decaying fungus Armillaria gallica is the size of 1,666 football fields and is more than two thousand years old. It’s been nicknamed “the humongous fungus.” Bone’s delightful book is full of such fascinating facts, as well as vivid portraits of the unique mycophiles (or “fungus-lovers”) who inhabit the tremendously diverse and often surprising world of mushrooms and their fungal relatives. Readers will enjoy the science but stay for the story of the author’s growing awareness of and appreciation for the world around her—and us. Bone will discuss the book at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on March 7 at 6 p.m.

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