Fiction | Chapter 16

Inventing Ways to be Honest

Karen Russell talks with Chapter 16 about why she broke up with Amazon, how it feels to be on the shortlist for a Pulitzer Prize that was not awarded, and the distinction between fantasy and fiction

By Stephen Usery | April 15, 2013

April 15, 2013Stephen Usery first spoke with Karen Russell in 2011 after the release of her debut novel, Swamplandia!. In 2012, the book was named as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. That year no prize was given, a decision which created quite a stir in the literary world. Today Usery talks with Russell about the controversy, as well as about her new story collection,Vampires in the Lemon Grove. To hear a podcast of the interview, click here.

Wild Whodunit

The second Sidney Marsh novel by Marie Moore is set on safari in Africa

By Liz Garrigan | April 12, 2013

April 12, 2013 When Sidney Marsh gets a plum assignment at the travel agency where she works—a long “familiarization” trip to Africa—she thinks she’s in for nothing but spa luxury, open bars, and quality time with her colleague and best friend. Then a leopard dines on a fellow traveler. Moore, a Memphis resident, will discuss Game Drive at 6 p.m. on April 15 at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis.

Decadence

By Eric Jerome Dickey

April 9, 2013

“Gideon, a hired gun, trusts no one. But when his former lover resurfaces in need of his skills, Gideon accepts. The assignment leads to Argentina and a team of international mercenaries who will maim, kill, and torture to achieve victory. One of them has a connection to Gideon that neither assassin is aware of, a secret link that reaches into Gideon’s past and plunges him into a double-cross so explosive no one will make it out unscarred.”

—From the Publisher

Inferno: Chronicles of Nick

By Sherrilyn Kenyon

April 9, 2013

“Nick has his driver’s license and he’s not afraid to use it. But turning sixteen isn’t what he thought it would be. While other boys his age are worried about prom dates and applying for college, Nick is neck deep in enemies out to stop him from living another day.”

—From the Publisher

Throat of the Night

By Karyn Henley

April 9, 2013

“Lies, Deceit, Kidnapping, Treason. When friends can’t be trusted, and courage becomes costly, can Malai and Trevin trust their love to hold?

—From the Publisher

The Nigger Factory

By Gil Scott-Heron

April 3, 2013

“One of the great pioneers of late-20th-century music.”

—Independent

I Gotta Sing!

By Alice Faye Duncan
WaterBrook
40 pages
$14.99

“A whole barnyard makes noise ‘in the Spirit of joy’ throughout this raucous picture book, a sweetly heartwarming sing-along by Duncan. Kellam conveys comfort and happiness as the loved ones reflect sunny enthusiasm in this gladdening rendition of the Black American religious folk song ‘I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing.’”

~Publishers Weekly