Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Life After Life After Life

Nora McInerny rebuilds her life after deep loss in No Happy Endings

In No Happy Endings, Nora McInerny recounts her struggle to embrace a new season of life even as she grieves the brutal constellation of losses she has endured—her father’s death, a miscarriage, and the death of her first husband—all in six weeks. McInerny will discuss No Happy Endings at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 9.

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Self-Inflicted Wounds

Jonathan Metzl’s Dying of Whiteness details the dangers of racial resentment

In Dying of Whiteness, Nashville psychiatrist Jonathan M. Metzl examines the roots of political self-sabotage in struggling and middle-class white voters.

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The Shadow City

W.M. Akers’s debut novel, Westside, depicts an alternate New York where evil lurks

Westside, the debut mystery by Nashville native W.M Akers, takes place in an alternate version of New York City in 1921. Gilda Carr, a private investigator, gets dragged into mysteries involving her dead father and a colorful cast of villains.

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It’s OK to Roar

Courage and persistence win the day in Natalie Lloyd’s delightful new fable for children

In Over the Moon, the latest middle-grade novel from Chattanooga writer Natalie Lloyd, Mallie Ramble lives in a mountainous land blanketed by Dust, a mysterious substance that has completely blotted out the stars. In this charming allegory, Lloyd highlights themes of family love, friendship, loyalty, courage, and persistence.

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In Pursuit of the Common Good

In a new nonfiction book, Basil Hero considers the character traits of the Apollo astronauts

Basil Hero looks into the hearts of the “farmboy nerds” of NASA’s race to the moon and finds modest men with the ability to sequester their fears and focus on a task. Hero will discuss The Mission of a Lifetime at Novel in Memphis on April 28.

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Say It with Fondue

Helen Ellis’s Southern Lady Code is a gimlet-eyed, laugh-out-loud collection of linked essays

Southern Lady Code, writes Helen Ellis, is “a technique by which, if you don’t have something nice to say, you say something not-so-nice in a nice way.” Ellis will discuss her new essay collection at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 30.

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