"United We Read"

I jokingly told a friend that I was going to make up bumper stickers with a slogan along the lines of, "United We Read: Support Nashville's Authors". (It's a play on words -- albeit an inelegant one -- on the one used by the local restaurant guild Nashville Originals.) After looking over this week's Bestsellers List for Nashville, I'm thinking it's not going to be necessary. Seriously, 60% of the list is made up of books written by local authors (see below for titles listed in bold). How cool is that? It also makes me pause. What forces are coming into play to make this possible?

Generally, there are one or two authors represented on the list on any given week (very unscientific guesstimate based on my recollections having read the list for over a year). To begin with, we need to credit Davis-Kidd as the list mirrors its sales for the week. The store and its staff are great supporters of local authors. This support comes many forms: it hosts book signings/readings by local authors; gives prominent display to books written by local authors as well as hand-sells them to customers looking for a good book; sponsors the Southern Festival of Books; and hosts the Women's National Book Association's (WNBA) monthly meetings, many of whose members are authors. We also need to credit the local media for its support of local authors. A few people in particular who come to mind are Jonathan Marx at The Tennessean, Margaret Renkl at Nashville Scene and Twanda Coleman & Meryll Rose at Newschannel 5. We also need to give credit to the authors who have not only written interesting books but also made the effort to connect with the local audience by doing multiple readings in the area. Lastly, we need to credit the readers who purchased the books written by local authors. Can any single factor claim credit? I think not. All of them together created buzz around the books which translated into book sales.

I am proud to live in a community that loves books and supports the local talent who produces them. Perhaps I will have those bumper stickers made up after all....

Davis-Kidd Booksellers*
Fiction
1. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
2. Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden
3. Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
4. Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin
5. A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander

Non Fiction
1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
2. Life is a Gift by Bob and Judy Fisher
3. A Guitar & a Pen by Robert Hicks
4. Audition by Barbara Walters
5. What Now? by Ann Patchett

Source: The Tennessean, Arts & Entertainment Section, p. 25 (6/8/08)

Lit Magic Pick of the Week (June 9th-13th)

(Photo: Rick Bragg, Lit Magic Pick of the Week)

Wow. Double wow. Rick Bragg has this speaking thing down. (He is easily one of the best speakers I have heard all year). Apparently, it is a well-known fact, as it was a standing-room only crowd at B&N Cool Springs. There were approximately 70-80 people packed in, many of us tucked in the aisles craning our necks to catch a glimpse of the silver-tongued author. He indicated that he recognized 3/4 of the audience and that the next time everyone should bring someone new. If that's the case, the powers that be should have him at War Memorial like Ira Glass and charge for the tickets. His adoring fans/groupees, and I count myself among them, would appreciate a chair --smile. If you missed him last night, I would recommend picking up the audio book of his newest, The Prince of Frogtown, which he narrates. His storytelling is rife with nuance and contradiction, both of which are accentuated when read aloud.

Lit Magic Pick of the Week (June 9th-13th) is The Row and the Boulevard by Daniel Killman on Thursday, June 12th at Davis-Kidd at 7pm. It's described as "Nashville music industry figures cross paths with the city's socially elite in a tale of addiction, scandal, betrayal, broken dreams and possibly ... hope." This 90+ degree heat just begs for some light summer reading. Hope to see you there.

Literary Center: Book Clubs

At Breakfast Club of Nashville this morning, I spoke to the group about the blog and what Lacey G. and I are trying to accomplish. I explained how this blog was my personal antidote for combating superficiality by slowing down and giving some serious thought to issues that I am passionate about, most notably books and the importance of Nashville embracing its place as a national literary center. At the end of my remarks, Marsha came up to me. She noted that the prevalence of book clubs in Nashville seems to indicate our individual and collective interest in books and discussion. Today's entry is dedicated to Marsha, thank you for sharing the insight. I could not agree with you more.

If you ask anyone, especially a woman, about her interests outside of work and family, you are likely to hear about her book club. Her eyes light up as she tells you about the most recent book they have read and how the group discussion broadened her perspective. A book club serves multiple functions. It is a great reason for a group to get together on a regular basis, generally once a month, to discuss issues and socialize. It is generally considered a "safe" place to explore ideas and the learn more about yourself and your fellow members. There are not that many venues in today's busy world that encourage us to slow down and think about a single issue for 60+ minutes. We are all too busy rushing around crossing items off our to-do lists. While we are out in the world, many of us remain isolated and unconnected.

Now, imagine how powerful it would be if every book club in Nashville read the same book during a single month. The issue in the book would be considered by the individual, the individual book clubs and by the community as a whole. Knowing that others had also read the book would open up a new sort of dialogue; it grant permission to take discussion to a deeper level. Isn't that want we all yearn for? The ability to know ourselves and be known by others? Perhaps this is a way we could do that. I believe that this sort of dialogue would also help us as a community; it would build community. Ideas would be exchanged between individuals and groups at a viral speed. We would be better suited to identify the issues that are most important to us, like education and economic growth, and the means to address these issues as the initial bonds will have have been forged.

There was an interesting article in The Tennessean in April about how colleges -- Sewanee, Belmont and Middle TN State University -- are requiring that all incoming freshman read the same book. This is very similar to what I am suggesting for us as a community and what The Tennessean organized in 2003. "Common books have emerged in this age of social fragmentation as powerful platforms for those seeking community — just look at the proliferation of "one city, one book" programs (The Tennessean organized the Big, Big Book Club for Nashville in 2003) and even Oprah's influence. Books prompt us to examine the important questions in life, unlike, say, what might come up in your softball league."

Simply put, book clubs and the discussion they generate have an opportunity to radically alter our community. I invite you all to join in the discussion. Together, we can transform Nashville into a nationally recognized literary center.

Summer Book Series

Have you been wanting to join a book club? Is your book club on summer break? Are you a closet foodie, like me, who loves reading about subject? Have you been hankering to get back into the classroom but have limited time and money to devote to the pursuit? Well, I may just have the perfect solution for you....

The Women's National Book Association (WNBA), Nashville Chapter and the Beaman Library at Lipscomb University have partnered again this year to present the Summer Book Series. The programs are free and open to the public and run from 7:00-8:30pm at the Ezell Center, Room 136, at Lipscomb University. See the WNBA website for more information.

Food For Thought: Reading and Writing about Food

June 9th: Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen
June 16th: The Omnivore's Dilemma
June 23rd: Like Water for Chocolate
July 7th: My Life in France
July 14th: The Measure of Her Powers: an M.F.K. Fisher Reader
July 21st: A Debt to Pleasure

Special thanks to fellow WNBA board member and director of Beaman Library Carolyn Wilson for putting together this delectable sampling of food writing. We hope you will be able to join us for one of all of the programs.

Storytelling: To Kindle or no?

In an article this past Sunday in The New York Times, journalist Edward Wyatt asked, "Is the electronic book approaching the tipping point?" Writing from Book Expo, he describes Amazon's Jeff Bezos as "evangelizing" about the Kindle, his company's top-selling electronic reader, and publishers and book sellers as worried and increasingly uneasy as a result.

For me, when it comes to electronic readers, I haven't taken a Chicken Little approach (books are over, publishing's dead, pencils are obsolete) so much as the If I don't look at it, it's not really there view. I like the look of books, the feel of the paper and the binding. Reading becomes tactile with a book in hand. And besides, electronic readers don't look good stacked on a shelf.

But I'm going to have to confront them; computers--and electronic readers--aren't going anywhere. That's an obvious statement for sure. I may even end up buying one someday. Electronic books are cheaper and then there's the convenience factor: how many times have I gone on vacation with a suitcase of clothes and a second bag of books. (Having 2-3 books of differing genres means there's no risk of running out of reading material or of becoming stuck with a book that bores you. Just switch to the next one.)

As far as the Kindle goes, what's interesting is Bezo's claim that readers of electronic books are still buying hard copies (perhaps even more so) and that the Kindle does not, in any way, signal the death of physical books. In my favorite quote of the article he says, "Anything that lasts 500 years is not easily improved upon...Books are so good you can't out-book the book."

He's right. But I'm still wary, maybe even a little scared of what the rising popularity of electronic books could mean. A big change is going on, and book publishing as we know it today will not be the same ten, twenty years from now. Maybe not even five. This change, though, doesn't have to signal the end of publishing. It could, even, be the equalizing force between the small presses and the big NYC publishing houses.

Literary Center: Cultural Impact

This post is part of a series on the importance of Nashville being recognized as one of the leading literary centers in the US. The first two posts focused on education and the economic impact. We will now spend some time on the cultural impact.

As a born and bred New Yorker and recent transplant to Nashville, I can attest that the city's rich cultural scene was a key factor in my decision to move here. There are plenty of places that matched the other criteria on my list -- medium sized city, attractive city & surrounding area, affordable cost of living, nice weather and have at least one major university -- but very few that possess that special something which can be described as the "cool factor". Now don't get me wrong, I am no 30-something hipster. A "cool place" in my book means that there is a wide variety of interesting things to do and see (galleries, music venues, lectures, historic houses/gardens etc..). It's a place that values creativity, diversity and discussion. I am happy to report that Nashville has met and exceeded my expectations, in large part because of its people (so warm & welcoming & interesting) and it possesses a dynamic literary scene. This scene was not apparent day 1 but reveled itself over the course of 6-8 months. Given its potential impact from an education, economic and cultural point of view, we should work towards heightening its visibility and the links between the individuals and organizations comprising it. We will all benefit and Nashville will be a better place for it. Do you have suggestions of how we can accomplish this goal? Add a comment or drop me an email.

For more evidence on Nashville's "cool factor" see below:
I am far from alone in recognizing the strength of Nashville's cultural scene. In fact, Nashville is ranked 3rd in the nation for cultural amenities according to a study published by Bizjournal.com. See this link for the Nashville Business Journal's article on the subject. And in 2006 Kiplinger ranked Nashville as the #1 Smart Place to Live (criteria: ideal city is fun, vibrant and affordable). See this link for more details.

Dictionary Lit Magic

Lit Magic's list of TN Authors just keeps growing and growing. That's exciting. I've been saying for a while now that something is going on here in Middle Tennessee. Ginna has too. That's why we started Lit Magic.

But this author list, wow, it really keeps on growing and growing. So, hard as it's been, we've set some criteria. An author--as regards Lit Magic--is anyone who has published a book.

Because, see, a writer, now, that can be anyone from a newspaper columnist to a book reviewer (ahem) to the person who crafts those really great emails their friends can't help but share as forwards. A list of writers could--and would--go on forever.

As far as publishing goes, there's no hierarchy, no value assignments. Lit Magic is judgement-free. Small independent publishing houses are treated just as royally as the behemoths in NYC. That's the Lit Magic way.

Conclusion? If you're a writer and you haven't yet written that novel. Start to it. Written your magnum opus? Let's publish that baby. We want you on the list.

(And if there's an author we should know about that isn't on our list, please tell us and we'll add him/her.)