Book Reviews

In Mary Adkins’ third novel, Palm Beach, a journalist and an actor from New York learn about the eccentricities of the ultra-wealthy when they start working for billionaires in South Florida.

In So We Meet Again, Suzanne Park’s second novel for adults, investment banker Jessie Kim is fired suddenly from her Wall Street job and returns home to Nashville to live with her parents and reconnect with childhood friends. Park’s lively rom-com addresses the sexism and racism of the workplace while also delivering sweet and savory dishes with a Korean-American family twist.

In On Barbecue, John Shelton Reed considers the history of barbecue, regional differences in recipes, and the importance of traditional cooking methods, with a sharp sense of humor and a strong belief in the sanctity of this delicious American institution. Most of all, it’s a love song to his favorite food. Reed will appear at the SouthWord Literary Festival, hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on November 5-6.

Cigar-smoking Sheriff Quinn Colson tracks Tibbehah County teens wanted for murder through Memphis, Hot Springs, and New Orleans in The Heathens, the 11th novel in the Mississippi crime series by Ace Atkins.

The essays in As We Were Saying: Sewanee Writers on Writing illustrate a multigenerational love for the art of storytelling. Editors Wyatt Prunty, Megan Roberts, and Adam Latham gather a diverse group of Sewanee Writers’ Conference speakers and workshop leaders to share their wisdom on the power of language.

In Jeff Zentner’s In the Wild Light, best friends face a dilemma: Will they stay in their hometown forever, hanging on to the semblance of stability they’ve found? Or will they risk it all for a different life? Zentner will discuss In the Wild Light at Parnassus Books in Nashville on August 10.