WYPL Book Talk

Sonja Livingston - Queen of the Fall

Sonja Livingston was last on Book Talk to talk about her memoir, Ghostbread, which won the AWP award for non-fiction. Today we'll be discussing her new collection of essays entitled, Queen of the Fall.

Mary Laura Philpott - Penguins with People Problems

 

Humorist Mary Laura Philpott handles social media duties for Ann Patchett's Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and USA Today. Perigee Books recently published a collection of her cartoons, Penguins with People Problems.

 

 

William Boyle - Death Don't Have No Mercy

William Boyle is originally from New York but now calls Oxford, Mississippi home. His first novel, Gravesend, was published in 2013, and his collection of short stories, Death Don't Have No Mercy, was recently released by Broken River Books.

Lyndsay Faye - The Fatal Flame

Actor and novelist Lyndsay Faye's first novel was a continuation of the Sherlock Homes and John Watson universe called Dust and Shadow. She then moved her efforts to New York in the 1840s with The Gods of Gotham, Seven for a Secret, and the newest one featuring copper star policeman Timothy Wilde, The Fatal Flame.

Chantel Acevedo - The Distant Marvels

Chantel Acevedo's first novel Love and Ghost Letters won the Latino International Book Award. Her third novel A Falling Star won the Doris Bakwin Award. And today we'll be talking about her new novel, The Distant Marvels, which is published by Europa Editions.

Richard Lange - Sweet nothing

Richard Lange is a former magazine editor and currently a writer of literary crime fiction. His novels are This Wicked World and Angel Baby, which won the Hammett Prize, and he's published two collections of short stories Dead Boys, and the book we'll talk about today, Sweet Nothing, which is available from Mullholland Books.

Kimberly Willis Holt - Dear Hank Williams

Kimberly Willis Holt won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1999 for her novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Henry Holt and Company recently released her novel, Dear Hank Williams, which set in Louisiana in the late 1940s.

Preston Lauterbach - Beale Street Dynasty

Preston Lauterbach was last on to talk about his debut, The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'n'Roll. This time we discuss his newest non-fiction title,Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis, which is published by W.W. Norton.

Jacob Rubin - The Poser

 

Jacob Rubin's writing has appeared in Best New American Voices, The New Republic, and Slate. Viking recently published his debut novel, and it is entitled The Poser.

Jason Miller - Down Don't Bother Me

Jason Miller has written for graphic novels, Rifftrax, the spin off of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and was recently named one of the funniest people on Twitter.This debut novel was recent published, and it's entitled Down Don't Bother Me. It's the story of a coal miner in southern Illinois who gets dragged into investigating a missing person case which threatens to bring the ceiling down on everyone.

David joy - Where All Light Tends to Go

David Joy is the author of the memoir, Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman's Journey, and Putnam has recently published his debut novel, Were All Light Tends to Go, which paints a vivid picture of a meth dealing family in the Appalachians in western North Carolina.

Jamie Konegay - Soil

Jamie Kornegay owns Turnrow Books down in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, but his debut novel is set in the hill country of Northern Mississippi. It's entitled Soil and is published by Simon and Schuster.

Michael Kardos - Before He Finds Her

Michael Kardos was last on to talk about his debut novel, The Three Day Affair, which was named an Esquire Best Book of The Year. The Mysterious Press has just published his second novel, and it's called Before He Finds Her.

Bill Loehfelm - Doing the Devil's Work

Bill Loehfelm made a splash with two stand-alone crime novels, Blood Root and Fresh Kills. 2011 saw character Maureen Coughlin debut in The Devil She Knows, 2013 brought us The Devil in Her Way, and Sarah Chrichton books has just published the third installment of the series, Doing the Devil's Work.

Alan Lightman - Screening Room

Dr. Alan Lightman has taught astrophysics at Harvard and MIT and writing at MIT. Best known to literary audiences for his novel Einstein's Dreams, Lightman's new book is Screening Room, a memoir about growing up in in a family known for running one of the largest movie theater chains in the South.

Moriah McStay - Everything That Makes You

Moriah McStay recently stopped by the Book Talk studio to chat about her debut young adult novel, Everything That Makes You, which is available from Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins. It's two stories about Fiona Doyle and the very different paths her life could have taken based on if an accident had scarred her face when she was young or not.

M O Walsh - My Sunshine Away

M.O. Walsh is the director of the creative writing program at the University of New Orleans, and his pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Southern Review, and The Best New American Voices. Putnam has recently published his debut novel, My Sunshine Away, which has already appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Ravi Howard - Driving the King

Ravi Howard was an Emmy Award-winning television producer and is now a respected writer of fiction. His first novel, Like Trees, Walking was a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. His new novel, Driving the King, is now available from Harper. It's the story of Nathaniel Weary, a childhood friend of Nat King Cole's who is sent to prison for defending Cole from a racist assault and the opportunities Weary has after his release.

Frank Portman - King Dork Approximately

Frank Portman is known to fans of punk rock as Doktor Frank, the lead singer of The Mr. T Experience. He's also made a name for himself as an author of hilarious, no-holds-barred young adult fiction. He made a splash in 2004 with King Dork, the story of a high schooler by the name of Tom Henderson, called ChiMo by his classmates. Delacorte/Random House has recently released the sequel, and it's entitled, King Dork Approximately.

Natalie Baszile - Queen Sugar

Natalie Baszile's debut novel Queen Sugar was much acclaimed when it was first released in 2014, and it's now available in paperback from Penguin. And just a couple of days after our chat with Natalie, Oprah Winfrey announced that she and Ava DuVernay, the director of Selma, will be developing Queen Sugar into a television series.