My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Whatever you think this book is about-- and with such a title the possibilities are many—it’s not. Yes, Sister does bump off a few boyfriends, and the novel includes elements of the traditional thriller-- Who will Sister attempt to kill next? ... [Continue Reading]
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Transcription by Kate Atkinson The shady and shadowy world of WWII espionage is the subject of the latest Atkinson novel. Like many of her novels, the plot does not unfold chronologically but rather skips back and forth between three pivotal years (1940, 1950, 1981) in the life of Juliet ... [Continue Reading]
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
I loved this sprawling saga about a Korean family living in Japan. If you are looking for an engrossing read, this is it. Living a simple life in a Korean seaside village in the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja falls for wealthy stranger, who unbeknownst to her is married. (This is not a big surprise ... [Continue Reading]
A Visit from the Goon Squadby Jennifer Egan
A word of advice before you read Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad--- it’s not a novel. It is a series of engaging, but only very loosely connected, short stories about a group of musicians. In the Random House Reader’s Guide, Egan offers the following ... [Continue Reading]
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated, a Memoir by Tara Westover Despite the title of the book, “educated” is not a word that describes the young Tara Westover. Of public schools, her father declares, “I may as well surrender my kids to the devil himself.” An extreme Mormon and a passionate, paranoid survivalist, Dad isn’t ... [Continue Reading]
540 Belle Meade Blvd For Sale
This neoclassical home, designed by architects Christian A. Asmus and Richard R. Clark, was built in 1929 for F.J. McCarthy and his wife Mary Byrd McCarthy. The original plans for the residence drawn on linen cloth reside in the Tennessee State Archives. Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Wilson Craig acquired ... [Continue Reading]
The Woman’s Hour by Elaine Weiss
The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss It’s not often that we get to brag about Tennessee’s progressive history, but in 1920 the state cast the deciding vote for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granting all women the right to ... [Continue Reading]
New Novels from Robinson, Kellerman, Francis
In the new Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson, Sleeping in the Ground, a wedding goes bloody wrong, literally. Although the perpetrator is caught, Banks thinks there’s more to it. And of course, there is! If you aren’t familiar with Inspector Banks and his colleagues in Yorkshire, get thee to a ... [Continue Reading]
Timing IS Everything!
How many times in response to a decision, competition, or conversation have you said, “Timing is everything?” A zillion, right? But good timing always seemed more serendipity than science. Not so says Daniel H. Pink, author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. Based on research in ... [Continue Reading]
I am a Fitbit Failure!
I am a Fitbit Failure! I’ve always suspected that I was a sedentary slug, but thanks to my newly purchased Fitbit, I know precisely how derelict I am! A late comer to the Fitbit craze, I constantly check the damn thing, and then dash out for a quick walk around the block to meet my 10,000 step ... [Continue Reading]