Tennessee Bookstores

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

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A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles
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A September 2023 Read This Next Book!

This review is just me screaming to anyone who will listen what an absolute joy it is to read KJ Charles. The newest Doomsday book has us returning once again to Romney Marsh and cheering like crazy for Luke and Rufus to get their well deserved HEA. Hijinks, hilarity and heart stopping charm, Charles is a must read for historical romance lovers.

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255880, September 2023)

Reviewed by Katie Garaby, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai

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To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai
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To Have and to Heist is a wild-ride from start to finish. Think Oceans 11 with serious screwball romantic comedy energy. The plot is complex, but Desai is no novice. A seasoned romance author whose previous works have charmed us for the last few years (The Single’s Game, The Wedding Planner & The Dating Project), Desai is known for loveable, awkward leads caught in the cross hairs of cultural expectations and hijinks. Simi, her floundering heroine with zero filter, is instantly loveable. Jack is Simi’s perfect foil; secretive and gruff but also floundering in his own way. Their chemistry is instant. While Simi and Jack’s relationship takes the lead, sizzling with sexual tension, their heist crew provides the perfect goof-ball comedic relief. Would I trust an Uber driver, a hit-man, a nerdy man-child, and an animal loving HIMBO to have my back in a heist? In these circumstances… you bet. Sara Desai brings us the experiences of many young, second generation Indian Americans- pressure to live up to familial expectations, be successful, and, of course, get married. Expertly weaving these experiences into laugh out loud romances. To Have and To Heist is the fun, heart-racing, summer romance adventure that we all deserve.

To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai, (List Price: $17, Berkley, 9780593548509, July 2023)

Reviewed by Katie Garaby, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung

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The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung
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I picked up this book based purely on the gorgeous cover. The lyrical story told by the mother to the child at bedtime is just so sweet, and each page is full of beautiful detail. I really loved how the differences between the two dragons are celebrated, but their similarities are also highlighted. An enriching celebration of multicultural identity.

The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung, (List Price: 18.99, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 9781250820587, August 2023)

Reviewed by Chelsea Stringfield, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
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Through On The Come Up, Angie Thomas proves she is FAR from a one-hit-wonder. This remarkable story is told through the protagonist Bri Jackson, an aspiring rapper who has the talent to be one of the greats but whose passion is often mislabeled as “aggression” by the white authority figures in her life. It seems like every move she makes; someone is there to knock her down. At home, things are not much better, as the oppressive systems in place seem to ensure that Bri’s mother can’t fully get back on her feet financially after recovering from drug use. Bri wants to make it big as a rapper because it’s her dream, but she is fueled even more by the desire to lift her family out of poverty, forcing her to choose between what is authentic and what will make money. Through this and other sub-plots in the book, Thomas brilliantly demonstrates the ways in which poverty stands as indivisible from other aspects of a person’s life. It dictates choices (sometimes to leave college or start selling drugs), weighs on the brain, fills the stomach with uncooked food, and follows Bri around as closely as possible, down to the soles of her worn-down fake Timberlands. She bears the weight of her family’s financial circumstances alongside trying to negotiate racial discrimination at her school, budding romances, and taking the freakin’ ACT. Despite and because of it all, Bri is lyrical, brilliant, confident, and exactly the kind of role model we need in American literature today.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas, (List Price: $18.99, Balzer + Bray, 9780062498564, February 2019)

Reviewed by Olivia Gacka, Novel in Memphis, Tennessee

The Apartment by Ana Menéndez

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The Apartment by Ana Menéndez
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I feel now as if I live in apartment 2B. Having lived in it through the decades that Menendez’ book covers, I feel that its bumpy floors and cast iron pan are a part of me now, too. The writing here was lovely and the pace meditative. Menendez fleshed out each life that touched this apartment so effectively that I felt I had visited them when a new chapter begun. The characters were vivid and real, and the place work was so strong that Miami Beach was a character in itself. Highly recommend this one.

The Apartment by Ana Menéndez, (List Price: 27, Counterpoint, 9781640095830, June 2023)

Reviewed by Becca Sloan, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard

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The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard
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“I loved these interconnected stories. They are fiercely intelligent, warm in their own way, and absolutely absorbing. Hubbard has a deft sense of character and community and I really enjoyed piecing together the connections between the collection’s characters. Excellent excellent excellent.” -Roxane Gay

The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard, (List Price: $24.99, Amistad, 9780062979094, March 2022)

You Don’t Know Us Negroes by Zora Neale Hurston

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You Don't Know Us Negroes by Zora Neale Hurston
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The gift of Zora Neale Hurston and her multifaceted works shine beyond decades. You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays covers the timelessness of her work. Zora Neale Hurston’s work holds an essential space in piecing the histories of America and the visibility of the lives of Black Folk. Hurston honors the language, spirit, and progressive movements that are exhibited in our history and heritage. This book gives us a deeper understanding of Hurston and her legacy.

You Don’t Know Us Negroes by Zora Neale Hurston, (List Price: $29.99, Amistad, 9780063043855, January 2022)

Reviewed by Jasmine from Cafe Noir, in Memphis, Tennessee



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