A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

On Modern Farming

Life moves rapidly in the 21st century, but Arwen Donahue invites readers to slow down and consider the small moments in Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year.

Seeing Through the Fog

In Erica Waters’ The Restless Dark, three young women navigate an insidious landscape, the true-crime podcast-loving people around them, and their own darkest impulses. Erica Waters will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

Secrets and Questions

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Kody, the 16-year-old protagonist of Julia Watts’ Needlework, secretly enjoys dressing up like his idol, Dolly Parton. When he receives a Facebook message from a young woman who claims to be his sister, Kody finds himself forced to keep more and more secrets from those he loves. Julia Watts will appear with Susan Underwood and Marianne Worthington at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 25 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

A Body in Need of a Home

Raised for several years in a religious commune known as The Body, Shawna Kay Rodenberg delves into the complex intersection of religion, femininity, familial expectations, and personal agency in her memoir Kin. Rodenberg will appear with Robert Gipe at the Johnson City Public Library on September 10 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

Less than Total Recall

The Memory Index, the first book in a series by debut author Julian R. Vaca, explores an alternate 1987, where a disease has ravaged human memories and people rely on technology to preserve a sense of self. Vaca will discuss the book at North Wind Manor in Antioch on August 13.

Woven in the Seams

Two young women come together to take part in an all-female Mardi Gras krewe in Diane C. McPhail’s second novel, The Seamstress of New Orleans. McPhail will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on June 9.

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