Nonfiction

“The once-thriving houseboat communities along Arkansas’ White River are long gone, and few remember the sensational murder story that set local darling Helen Spence on a tragic path. In 1931, Spence shocked Arkansas when she avenged her father’s murder in a DeWitt courtroom. The state soon discovered that no prison could hold her. For the first time, prison records are unveiled to provide an essential portrait. Join author Denise Parkinson for an intimate look at a Depression-era tragedy. The legend of Helen Spence refuses to be forgotten–despite her unmarked grave.”

“Since the Reformation, mystery has always been difficult for Protestants. Paul Lim’s erudite book demonstrates just how challenging it was when, during the English seventeenth century, Christianity’s central mystery of the Trinity moved to the center of political, cultural, and religious controversies. With enormous theological and scriptural learning, Lim lets us see these controversies from the inside. In doing so, he decisively shows the threat that anti-Trinitarianism and (more surprisingly) the defense of Christian orthodoxy together posed to both throne and altar.”

“Buford Pusser’s daughter presents the story of her father’s life and legacy from the family’s perspective. In this intimate and devoted biography, Dwana Pusser examines her father’s life from his childhood in Adamsville, Tennessee, through his incredible tenure as sheriff, his sudden stardom in the 1970s, and his controversial death by automobile accident in 1974. With feeling and fondness, Dwana shares her private childhood memories alongside the stories of the thrilling feats that made her father famous. More than a history of his life, this volume is a study of Buford Pusser’s presence in today’s popular culture, for Dwana traces her family story to the present day and reveals never-before-seen documentation regarding the death of her father. Filled with respect and love, laughter and fear, and intrigue and reflection, the chapters in this volume unfold with the momentum of a heroic epic as Dwana embraces all of the complexities of her own family legacy.”

“Our field needs passionate, on-the-ground, firsthand descriptions of the challenges of constructively engaging settings of deep and painful conflict. McRay’s book provides just such a window.”

“.. For three decades Sam Pickering has written essays, his words rolling in a fine frenzy over ordinary life discovering the marvelous and the absurd. His curiosity ranges, but it also rumpuses and rollicks. He wanders the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, rural Connecticut, farmland in Nova Scotia, and islands in the sun. Strangers tell him their life stories—tales that are almost as odd as the fictional characters he meets. … Add smiles and laughter, a smidgen of melancholy, and a pinch or two of happy lies, and you have Pickering the essayist.”

“Ronstadt’s memoir is remarkable but not for reasons that readers might think; it is remarkable because of its very ordinariness. There are no tales of parental cruelty or substance abuse. She is lucky that her life has been exceedingly normal, or as normal as it can be for someone as talented and famous as she is, having sold more than a million records. … She writes about her work with the folk-rock band the Stone Poneys, becoming a solo act, exploring the Great American Songbook, recording traditional Mexican folk songs with Rubén Fuentes, and her famous musical friendships, including those with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt’s fans will love this refreshingly nice and gracious musical memoir.”