Columnist and bibliophile Saralee Terry Woods names former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s memoir as a must-read from the last year. (Photo: Holly McCall)
If there is a brainworm for me during the holiday season it is the song,“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” even as the holidays lead to gray Januaries.
I confess to eating too much dark chocolate, followed by Cheez-its and escaping into the drama of the college football playoffs. It is also the time of the year that my husband, Larry, and I share a list with our children of our favorite books read in the prior year so I will share our book recommendations for you as you start a new year — with an emphasis on Tennessee writers and topics including civil rights and gender.
First, you’ll want to grab your copies of these books from Tennessee authors soon because the way things are going in the legislature they could be banned any day: “Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control,” by Nashville Scene columnist Betsy Phillips and “It’s What You Do Next: The Fall and Rise of Nashville’s First Female Mayor,” by former Megan Barry, who served as mayor of Nashville 2015 to 2018.
“James,” by Percival Everett is one of the best books I have read in a long time. This award-winning author retells “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, this time through the eyes of the enslaved man Jim. This is a powerful book and the graphic description of slavery will stay with the reader. “James,” is worthy of every book award and if you own a copy that is a first edition, hang on to it since its financial value will soar.
I dove right into “The Excitements” by C.J. Wray because it featured two British sisters in their late 90’s who are to be honored in present time in France for their courage during World War II.
“The Frozen River,” by Ariel Lawhon was a Good Morning America Book Club pick in 2023 but I just recently read it. Lawhon, who lives in Tennessee, has written several historical fiction books based on real people and this time her story focuses on Martha Ballard — a midwife in Maine during the late 1700s.
Women did — and still do — take their lives in their hands when they give birth but imagine doing so without telephones or modern transportation. In Lawhon’s telling, Ballard must respond to a strange death and determine whether or not it is a murder. Everything is connected in this harsh story about how unfairly women can be treated. It made me wonder if things have really changed for women about how we are treated under the law. There I go, wearing my #AngryGrandmother hat.
“The Cliffs,” a novel by J. Courtney Sullivan, is also set in Maine. Protagonist Jane Flanagan develops as a teenager a fascination with an old historic house, perched on a cliff. Jane leaves home, goes to college, and becomes a successful archivist at the Harvard Schlesinger Library, which illuminates the lives of women. When her life falls apart, both professionally and personally, she and her child are forced to move back home and end up living in the house on the cliff.
Unexplainable things seem to occur in the old house that involve past residents and the treatment of indigenous Abenaki people of Maine. “The Cliffs,” is a page-turner and its emphasis on indigenous populations comes as the City of Nashville has renamed downtown’s Cumberland Park to “Wasioto Park” — the original Shawnee name for the river — at the request of the Indigenous Peoples Coalition.
Who doesn’t like a good shoot ‘em up? I agreed that Larry could have a final word about his top three book picks and when not having to read serious stuff for a living, he is always ready for a hot crime novel where bad things eventually happen to people who deserve it.
We have many great choices and the best books this year are, “This Is Why We Lied: A Will Trent Thriller” by Karin Slaughter, who writes the most hardboiled crime tales of all (move over Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Sue Grafton.)
But the very best mean streets and sharp knives novel of the year, according to Larry, is “The Waiting,” by Michael Connelly. I agree Connelly’s 39th book about California degradation and Los Angeles corruption is one of his best.
John Connolly with his old world gift for evil and violence must also be on this list. His “The Instruments of Darkness” exposes the role of a disgraced psychic where a mother is accused of killing her child and her spouse joins in the accusations.
Happy New Year and happy reading.
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