The Debut Novel that Packs Love, Loss, and Heart-stopping Drama into Just 260 Pages
How’s this for an endorsement: When Michiko Kakutani, the famed and feared book critic at The New York Times, decided to step down from her post after 38 years, she chose Stay With Me, the debut novel by Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo, for her final review. She called it “stunning” and “entirely fresh.” Read the rest of this entry »
Notes from Ann: LESS is More
Excuse me for interrupting, but I found the book I’ve been looking for, and it seems quite possible it’s the book you’re looking for too. It’s called Less by Andrew Sean Greer. I read it because the glowing front page review in the New York Times Book Review promised I would laugh out loud. The review also said it was well-written and big-hearted, but it was the promise of a good laugh that made me get in my car and drive straight to Parnassus. I need a laugh right about now. Read the rest of this entry »
All the Light We Cannot See (And Other Books That Aren’t Really About the Eclipse, Plus a Few That Are)
Raise your hand if you’ve gone a little eclipse-crazy. (Everyone in this bookstore just raised both hands.) Things have been especially exciting around Nashville lately, as hotels are filling up with visitors wanting to view the sky along the “path of totality.” As usual, we’re processing this moment by gathering books about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Ann Powers Spins the Sexy Soundtrack of Our Nation’s History
This week’s contender for Best New Book Title is . . . drumroll, please . . . Good Booty. (It’s fun to say, isn’t it?) To understand what it’s about, you should probably know that the author, NPR music critic Ann Powers, gave it subtitle, too: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music. Read the rest of this entry »
Required Reading, Part Two: Must-Reads for Tots, Kids, and Teens
For kids, August means it’s time to hurry up and finish all that mandatory summer reading. (Everybody did the reading, right?) While reminiscing over back-to-school memories, our specialists in books for young readers started talking about their old favorites, their new favorites, and what they’d assign on a must-read list if they could. Read the rest of this entry »
Required Reading, Part One: Must-Reads for Adults
Remember mandatory summer reading? The list from school, the inevitable back-to-school book report . . . Ah, memories. We got to talking about it in the back room of the bookstore the other day (cue Lord of the Flies flashbacks), and our booksellers had some ideas for what books they’d put on a must-read list for adults. Read the rest of this entry »
What Tom Perrotta Watches, Listens To, and Thinks About When He’s Not Writing Bestselling Fiction
Tom Perrotta caught the attention of readers everywhere with his novels Little Children and Election, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films. He was already a household/bookstore name by the time he wrote The Leftovers, which was adapted into a Peabody Award-winning HBO series. Some Perrotta readers swear their favorite of his novels is Bad Haircut, The Wishbones, Joe College, The Abstinence Teacher, or Nine Inches. The point is: lots of people have been eagerly awaiting today’s publication of his latest novel, Mrs. Fletcher, and for good reason. Read the rest of this entry »
