Mary Laura Philpott loves sad books … and happy ones
Mary Laura Philpott’s forthcoming book, Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives, due in April, has been named among the most anticipated releases of 2022, and Parnassus Books will host a launch party for Bomb Shelter at the Hilton Green Hills in Nashville on April 10. Today, Philpott answers our Glorious Pastime questionnaire.
Read more
Kathryn Williams spins the timeless story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia into a YA mystery
In The Storyteller, the new YA novel by Kathryn Williams, 17-year-old Jess pretends to be someone she’s not when she’s around her boyfriend and his friends. But when she uncovers new evidence regarding the mysterious fate of the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia, Jess is forced to delve deeper into the meaning of identity — and the cost of deception.
Read more
Kiese Laymon’s novel Long Division operates at the intersection of language and time
The reissue of Kiese Laymon’s Long Division echoes a familiar Black church precept of doing your first works over. In this new iteration of his 2013 debut novel, Laymon separates the story into two books, or testaments, each centered around 14-year-old Citoyen “City” Coldson.
Read more
It’s not COVID; my throat is sore from singing all day
I come from the country that invented karaoke. I still remember going to my first karaoke when I was in first grade, with my two friends from school and all of our moms. We went to eat ramen afterwards. It was a perfect day.
Read more
Leigh Ann Gardner documents Tennessee’s African American lodges and cemeteries
Leigh Ann Gardner talks with Chapter 16 about her book To Care for the Sick and Bury the Dead, which delves into the history of Tennessee’s African American lodges and offers an illustrated survey of surviving lodge cemeteries across the state.
Read more
Lee Cole’s Groundskeeping considers love, class, and identity
In Lee Cole’s debut novel Groundskeeping, Owen returns to his hometown in Kentucky to work as a groundskeeper at a small college where he enrolls in a creative writing course. Cole will discuss Groundskeeping at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 3.
Read more
