WYPL Book Talk

Ace Atkins - Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic

Ace Atkins is a former journalist and current writer of fiction. He's published over 20 novels, including the Nick Travers series and the Quinn Colson series. The eighth book of the Colson series is The Sinners, and it will be available mid-July 2018, but today we'll be talking about the seventh Spenser novel he has written for the Robert B. Parker estate, Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic, published by GP Putnam's Sons.

Melissa de la Cruz - Love & War

Melissa de la Cruz is a tremendously successful and prolific writer of fiction for mostly the young adult market, having written over forty novels including the series Blue Bloods, Heart of Dread, and The Descendants which has been made into a series of hit musicals for The Disney Channel. Today we'll be talking about the second title in her series about founding father Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. It's called Love and War, and it's published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.

Rick Bragg - The Best Cook in the World

Rick Bragg is a former reporter and bureau chief for The New York Times. He's written biographies of notable Americans Jessica Lynch and Jerry Lee Lewis. He might be best known for writing about his family's history in best-selling books including, All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. Today we'll be talking about his latest book which looks at the role that food and cooking took in his family going back to before The Great Depression. The book is called The Best Cook in the World: Tales from my Momma's Table which is published by Knopf.

Joseph Rosenbloom - Redemption

Blake McVey talks to former Commercial Appeal and Boston Globe journalist Joseph Rosenbloom about his book, Redemption: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Last 31 Hours. Beginning with Dr. King's arrival in Memphis late in the morning of April 3, 1968 and continuing through his assassination, Redemption humanizes the man who was beset on many fronts as he gave one of America's finest speeches the night before his untimely death the next day.

Michael Kardos - Bluff

(Note: This episode has been corrected with the proper audio file.)
Michael Kardos back to the program today. Michael is the co-director of the creative writing program at Mississippi State University. He has written a text book for creative writing, and has published a collection of short stories and three novels. We've interviewed Michael for The Three Day Affair and for Before He Finds Her. Today, we'll be talking about the newest one, Bluff, which is published by The Mysterious Press.

Leah Stewart - What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw

Leah Stewart is the chair of the English department at the University of Cincinnati and is also a much lauded writer of fiction. Her previous novels include Husband and Wife, The Myth of You and Me, Body of A Girl, and The New Neighbor. Today we'll be talking about her recently released novel, What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw, which is published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Sloan Crosley - Look Alive Out There: Essays

 

Sloane Crosley back to the program. Sloane was last on to talk about her debut novel, The Clasp. She's also landed on many best-seller lists with her collection of personal essays, I Was Told There Would Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number. Today we'll be talking about her latest collection, Look Alive out There, which is published by MCD, an imprint of Farrar Strauss and Giroux.

 

Ariel Lawhon - I Was Anastasia

Ariel Lawhon is a historical novelist based outside of Nashville, TN. Her debut was The Wife, The Maid, The Mistress about a New York Supreme Court Justice who disappeared in 1930. Flight of Dreams about the last voyage of the  Hindenburg came next. And Today we'll be talking about her latest novel, I Was Anastasia, about a woman believed by many to be sole survivor of Tsar Nicholas II's family, Anastasia Romanov.

Eric Barnes - The City Where We Once Lived

Eric Barnes publishes several newspapers throughout Tennessee. He's also an author of literary fiction. He's appeared on Book Talk previously to Talk about his novels, Shimmer and Something Pretty, Something Beautiful. Today we will be discussing his latest novel, The City Where We Once Lived, which is available from Arcade Publishing.

Michael Farris Smith - The Fighter

Michael Farris Smith is the author of four novels, The Hands of Strangers, Rivers, and Desperation Road. Little, Brown has recently published the fourth, The Fighter, a story of a broken-down, bare-knuckle boxer who heads back to the Mississippi delta to answer for his past.

Robert Gordon - Memphis Rent Party

 

Robert Gordon is a documentary film maker and writer. His most  well-known film is Best of Enemies about the series of debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley in the late 60s. His many books include the biography of Muddy Waters, Can't Be Satisfied, and Respect Yourself, a history of Stax Records.Today we'll be talking about his new book, Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock, and Soul in Music's Hometown, a collection of his previous writings about some of the lesser known, but still massively talented musicians who are from or came to Memphis.  A soundtrack album of the same name is available on vinyl and via streaming services from Fat Possum Records.

 

Podcast - Elizabeth Crook - The Which Way Tree

Elizabeth Crook is a novelist from Texas who has published five novels, including her newest one, The Which Way Tree. In a story told through letters,  a teenage boy recounts tale from the Texas frontier during the Civil War about his half-sister's fervent search for the panther that disfigured her and killed her mother.

Donna Everhart - The Road to Bittersweet

Bestselling author Donna Everhart recently returned to Book Talk to discuss her second novel, The Road to Bittersweet, with Linda Lloyd. Set in the 1940s, the musically-inclined Stamper family must fight to service after all they have is washed away in a flood.

Marc Perrusquia - A Spy in Canaan

Blake McVey talks to Memphis Commercial Appeal Reporter Marc Perrusquia about his new book, A Spy in Canaan, about how the FBI used famed Civil Rights photographer Ernest Withers as an informant.

John T. Edge - The Potlikker Papers

Blake McVey talks to John T. Edge, director of The Southern Foodways Alliance, about the paperback release of his book, The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, which pays particular attention to the Civil Rights era and how immigration is adding to the social and culinary makeup of the American South.

Mark Greaney - Agent in Place

Mark Greaney is a New York Best Times bestselling author of international thrillers. He co-authored several Jack Ryan novels with Tom Clancy, and continued the series for several titles after Mr. Clancy's passing. Mark is also the author of the Gray Man series starring for CIA goon Court Gentry. In this episode, we talk about seventh book in that series, Agent in Place.

K.J. Howe - The Freedom Broker

K. J. Howe is the executive director of the annual conference Thrillerfest. She recently joined the ranks of thriller writers with her debut novel, The Freedom Broker, which is now in paperback from Quercus. It's the first book in a series starring Thea Paris, a hostage negotiator who must keep her composure when a kidnapping hits close to home.

Wesley and Alex Orbison - The Authorized Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison was a singular talent with one of the most haunting voices in popular music history. Growing up in Depression-era Texas, along with a series of tragedies that struck him and his family along the way, informed his often heartbreaking songs. Two of his surviving sons, Alex and Wesley, stopped by the WYPL TV studios to talk about The Authorized Roy Orbison, which they wrote with their brother Roy Orbison, Jr. It's a beautiful book with equal parts text and photos commemorating the life of their father and one of America's finest singers.

Susana Lancaster - The Growing Rock

Susanna Lancaster is the author of The Growing Rock published by Harvard Square Editions. It's a coming of age story for 14-year-old Caroline Neal, The Growing Rock is set in Depression-era west Tennessee. Caroline, an author of fairy tales, uses all her imagination to stay positive after her brother, then her father leave the family to seek work in Memphis. With both men gone, Caroline fights to keep the rest of the family from falling apart.

Barry Wolverton - The Sea of the Dead

Barry Wolverton is an author of middle grade novels. His first was Neversink, then he followed it up with The Chronicles of the Black Tulip series. The first installment of the trilogy was The Vanishing Island, followed by The Dragon's Gate, and today we'll talk about the final entry, The Sea of the Dead, which is published by Walden Pod Press.