WYPL Book Talk

Cathie Pelletier - The One-Way Bridge

 

 
Stephen Usery welcomes Cathie Pelletier to the program. She's written ten novels,  five of which are set in the fictional town of Mattagash,  Maine. In the new book, The One-Way Bridge, mailman Orville Craft and Vietnam vet Harry Plunkett butt heads as almost the entire town begins to feel unhappy with their relationships in this humorous and heartbreaking portrait of a small town on the Canadian border.

William Hustwit - James J Kilpatrick: Salesman for Segregation

Sara Hoover interviews historian William P. Hustwit about his book, James J. Kilpatrick: Salesman for Segregation. Kilpatrick was a controversial newspaper editor and syndicated columnist who attempted to use intellectual arguments for maintaining the unfair and racist Jim Crow laws of the South. He was also a key figure in turning southern conservatives toward the Republican Party in the 1960s and 70s.

Beth Hoffman - Looking for Me

Linda Lloyd interviews New York Times bestselling Author Beth Hoffman about her new novel, Looking For Me. Teddi Overman has left her native Kentucky to get involved with the antiques trade in Charleston, South Carolina. However, she returns home in hopes of finding her estranged and missing brother Josh, while confronting difficult memories in her family's past.

Ace Atkins - The Broken Places

Stephen Usery welcomes Ace Atkins back to the program this week to discuss The Broken Places, the third installment of the Quinn Colson series. Former Army Ranger turned Mississippi county sheriff, Colson is suspicious of his sister's ex-con preacher boyfriend, while some Parchman Prison escapees are lurking in the background.

John Scalzi - The Human Division

Stephen Usery interviews John Scalzi about his new novel, The Human Division, the fifth book in his Old Man's War series. Humankind is in danger because it has angered almost every other species in our corner of the universe. A not-ready-for-prime-time diplomatic squad, known as "The B Team", is thrown into difficult situation after difficult situation and succeeds because of clever thinking instead of shooting first and asking questions later.

Wayne Drash - On These Courts

 
We welcome back Sara Hoover as one of our guest hosts this week as she talks with Wayne B. Drash. Wayne is a veteran journalist and web producer for cnn.com and grew up for a while in Memphis.  His debut book is On These Courts: A Miracle Season That Changed a City, a Once-Future Star, and a Team Forever.  It's the story of Memphian and NBA superstar Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and how he helped his friend Desmond Merriweather coach the Lester Middle School basketball team to a championship and the impact it had on their Binghampton community.

Richard Paul Evans - A Step of Faith

Stephen Usery interviews Richard Paul Evans about the fourth installment of his The Walk series. In A Step of Faith, former advertising executive Alan Christofferson is continuing his walk from Seattle to Key West, which he began after the death of his wife and losing his firm. He starts off in Saint Louis, makes his way to Georgia, including a stop at Graceland, and meets the kind and sometimes bizarre people who make up our country.

Clyde Edgerton - Pappadaddy's Guide for New Fathers

 

Stephen Usery welcomes Clyde Edgerton back to the program. Known for his often humorous novels, Clyde is now branching out into the field of paternal advice with Papadaddy's Book for New Fathers: Advice to Dads of All Ages. Clyde draws on his experience with his four children, three of whom came along in his late fifties. He even sings a little song that he wrote for his kids.

Gail Godwin - Flora

Stephen Usery interviews National Book Award finalist Gail Godwin about her thirteenth novel, Flora. Flora is the story of ten year-old Helen Anstruther and her 22 year-old cousin Flora who spend the summer of 1945 in a run-down grand home on top of a hill in western North Carolina. Helen's father is helping the war effort over in Oak Ridge, TN, while Flora has come up from Alabama to stay with her.

Vince Vawter - Paperboy

Stephen Usery interviews Memphis native Vince Vawter about his semi-autobiographical novel, Paperboy. July 1959 is a pivotal month for a young boy, who has a prominent stutter and takes over a friend's paper route. He gets to know some of the customers on his route and learns lessons that he will carry the rest of his life.

Daniel Wallace - The Kings and Queens of Roam

Stephen Usery welcomes Daniel Wallace to the program to talk about his new novel, The Kings and Queens of Roam. Helen and Rachel McCallister are inseparable adult sisters who cannot outrun the evil done by their great-grandfather Elijah McCallister when setting up his silk-worm empire in the remote, magical town of Roam. Sins of previous generations are compounded by more recent misdeeds and do not bode well for them or their hometown.

Joel Harrington - The Faithful Executioner

Tune into Book Talk this week as Stephen Usery interviews Vanderbilt history professor Joel Harrington about his new book The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century. Frantz Schmidt was the master executioner of Nuremberg in the late 1500s. His father was forced into the execution profession, and Frantz had little choice but follow, yet he worked tirelessly to restore the family's honor. Joel Harrington on this week's Book Talk, Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. on FM89.3 WYPL Memphis.

Jill McCorkle - Life after Life

Stephen Usery interviews Jill McCorkle about her first novel in 17 years, Life After Life. It's the story of the patients, employees, and neighbors of the Pine Haven Retirement Center in Fulton, North Carolina. Each character is at a major transition point in life, and it forces them to reflect on the choices they made in their past and deal with the regrets that plague us all.

Ann B Ross - Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble

Linda Lloyd interviews Ann B. Ross about the 14th book in her hilarious Ms. Julia Series.

In Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble, friend Hazel Marie's maid falls down the stairs, leaving Hazel Marie overwhelmed with all the chores and her two babies. Miss Julia tries to rally support in the community to teach Hazel Marie cooking and other domestic lessons, all while Hazel Marie's good-for-nothing uncle comes back on the scene to stir up some trouble of his own.

Dana Sachs - The Secret of the Nightingale Palace

Stephen Usery Interviews Memphis native Dana Sachs about her second novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace. Anna is a young widow who travels to meet with her demanding grandmother, Goldie, from whom she has been estranged for five years. As we learn more about Anna's brief marriage, the story of Goldie's time in San Francisco prior to WWII reveals why she holds such strong opinions.

Alan Huffman - Here I Am

Stephen Usery interviews Alan Huffman about his new book, Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer. Hetherington was the Oscar-nominated filmmaker and photographer of the Afghan war documentary, Restrepo. Huffman looks at his career's beginnings during the Liberian civil war until his untimely death while covering the Libyan revolution in 2011.

Maureen Johnson - The Madness Underneath

Stephen Usery interviews Maureen Johnson about her new novel The Madness Underneath, the second book in the Shades of London series. Louisiana high-school student Rory Deveau is recovering from a run in with a killer who imitated the crimes of Jack the Ripper, and now she has to make some tough decisions while being pulled in different directions by family, friends, and government while attending boarding school in London.

Jenny Milchman - Cover of Snow

Stephen Usery interviews Jenny Milchman about her debut novel, Cover of Snow.  It's the suspenseful story of Nora Hamilton, a home restoration contractor, who wakes up to find her world turned upside down. Her small town becomes difficult to navigate as the Adirondack Mountains snow piles up, and she doesn't know if she can trust anyone to tell her the truth.

Cory Doctorow - Homeland

 

credit Jonathan Worth

 Stephen Usery interviews author Cory Doctorow about the sequel to his best-selling novel, Little Brother. The new book, Homeland, also a New York Times bestseller, picks up with Marcus Yallow, a teenage hacker who took on the Department of Homeland Security over their illegal tactics, as he tries to get his life straight and work for a congressional candidate. But government operatives want revenge and some members of the hacking community think he isn't doing enough.

Ben Schrank - Love Is a Canoe

Stephen Usery speaks with Ben Schrank about his third novel Love Is a Canoe. It's a story that spans the breadth of the book business from publishers, marketers and readers, and their love for books and the people in their lives.