March 31, 2016 Brack Pelton, an Afghanistan War vet turned tiki-bar owner, is drawn into a murder investigation in David Burnsworth’s second thriller, Burning Heat. Burnsworth will appear at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Chattanooga on April 8, 2016, at 5 p.m. and at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Knoxville on April 9, 2016, at 2 p.m.
March 8, 2016 The struggle is real for Toby Wilcox, a fourth-grader at the McKegway School for Clever and Gifted Children. In Mrs. Ravenbach’s Way by William M. Akers, spirited and independent Toby clashes with the overbearing and inflexible Mrs. Ravenbach, leading to an end-of-the-year showdown. Akers will read from his debut middle-grade novel at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 12, 2016, at 2 p.m.
February 18, 2016 In Free Men, by Katy Simpson Smith, a runaway slave, a Creek Indian, and a poor white man make their way west toward the Mississippi River as a French tracker attempts to bring them to justice for a brutal crime. Smith will discuss her new novel at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on February 24, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 25, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.
January 14, 2016 The first early-reader chapter book by Nashville-based children’s author Jessica Young, Haggis and Tank Unleashed—All Paws on Deck, is a funny romp and clever introduction to the playful side of language. Parnassus Books in Nashville will host a launch party for the series on January 15, 2016.
October 20, 2015 When Yslea, the narrator of Raymond Barfield’s debut novel, The Book of Colors, wanders past three row houses along the railroad tracks in North Memphis and asks for a glass of water, she begins a difficult but ultimately life-affirming series of relationships.
September 29, 2015 Claire Vaye Watkins’s stunning new novel, Gold Fame Citrus, imagines an utterly drought-ravaged California and the perilous options that remain for escape. Watkins will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015.
