Bacon on the Bookshelf

Savory picks for the free range reader

Nonfiction

September 4, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

Back to School Special: Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)

Book Title: The Order of Time

Today’s post is a back-to-school special. It’s for the lifelong learners among us. It’s for the lifelong fretters among us. It’s for the metalheads and the ladies with silver hair and the fake blondes (me) – for anyone who ever thinks about the passage of time. Guest writer Matt Osborne takes us on a genial and informative guided tour of Carlo Rovelli’s new book, The …

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September 1, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

Sunday Bacon: Top Ten for Fall 2019

Book Titles: Say, Say, Say, Olive Again, Fight No More: Stories, The Dutch House, Late Migrations, Inland, Revolution Song, Exhalation, The Testaments, Conviction

I love a list. I especially love a to-do list and the ecstatic feeling of crossing things off. Making a Top 10 list of recommended reading, on the other hand, gets harder each time I do it. What you should read right now is intensely personal… what are you dealing with in your life? What has your best friend just read? Which book has been …

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August 25, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

Maria Browning: On Life and Lit

Book Title: Any Other Place

“My favorite words about the meaning of life come from a commencement speech Tim Minchin gave a few years back – ‘Don’t go looking for it. Searching for meaning is like searching for a rhyme scheme in a cookbook: you won’t find it and you’ll bugger up your soufflé,’” said Maria Browning, new Editor of Chapter16.org, Tennessee’s online literary journal. One would hate to bugger …

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August 11, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

The Woman’s Hour: Interview with Elaine Weiss

Book Title: The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote

The Nashville Public Library chose The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote as our citywide read this summer. I’m late to this party, but many friends and acquaintances have told me that it’s important, compelling, and DELICIOUS reading! Author Elaine Weiss will speak at the library on August 18th, which not so coincidentally is the 99th anniversary of the ratification of the …

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August 4, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

Things That Happen – at the Plaza

Book Title: The Plaza: The Secret Life of America's Favorite Hotel

I appreciate my home, truly I do, but few things make me happier than staying in a hotel. You’ve maybe heard me rave about the Hampton Inn in Middletown, Delaware. I’m also excited to stay at a storied hotel in London to celebrate a milestone anniversary in a few weeks. Author Don Winston (Our Family Trouble, The Gristmill Playhouse, The Union Club, S’wanee) stops in …

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July 4, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

4th of July Special: Music, a Poem, an Eagle, Jon Meacham, and Tim McGraw

Book Titles: Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation, Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation, The Best American Poetry 2018

Perhaps you are up early, dear friend, as I am. Perhaps you have a moment to call your own before the day begins. I’d love to share some music and poetry and a book with you. Plus the bald eagle at Nashville International Airport which is – you know – surprising.

June 30, 2019
by jenniferpuryear

Love, Loss, and Margaret Renkl

Book Titles: Late Migrations, Nothing to See Here, At Briarwood School for Girls, Mozart's Starling

I am overwhelmed – and awed – by the beauty of Margaret Renkl’s new book, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss. There is nothing new under the sun, we are told by a reliable source. That being said, each person brings her own eyes and personal history to the world. Margaret’s vision is dark – radiant – peaceful – mournful – and …

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