Fiction

Cousins Liv and Nora have booked their families on a joint holiday cruise to Central America. But even before their children go missing, the characters seem primed for disaster. Maile Meloy will discuss Do Not Become Alarmed at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 13 at 6:30 p.m.

When eleven-year-old Marcus—the narrator of Gail Godwin’s latest novel—arrives at his new home on an island off the South Carolina coast, the secrets crowding his young life show no signs of letting up. Godwin will discuss Grief Cottage at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 12 at 6:30 p.m.

The plot of Touch unfolds in a near future that might actually arrive next week—the perfect backdrop for Courtney Maum’s protagonist, a trend forecaster whose livelihood depends on predicting exactly what consumers will want to buy next. Maum will discuss the novel at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on June 9 at 6 p.m.

Best known for his debut novel, Big Fish, Daniel Wallace is a master of wit and whimsy, gleaning both wonder and absurdity from the commonplace. In Extraordinary Adventures, Wallace delivers a modern variation on the picaresque, replete with madcap hijinks. He will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 7 at 6:30 p.m.

A young scientist navigates the big questions of career, family, and self in the luminous debut novel, Chemistry, by Weike Wang. On June 1 at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Wang will join Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers, in a conversation moderated by Ann Patchett.