Countdown to Southern Festival of Books: 10 Weeks -- New Authors Announced

Next week, I am looking forward to being back in the classroom teaching language arts after a three-year hiatus. During my break from the education world, I've been working in the community mental health field as a child case manager. I still spent my time helping kids, but in a different way from teaching. Because for the past couple of weeks I've been working both in my current job and attending school in-service days & getting my classroom ready, my reading time has been cut a little short. However, I've still had time to browse the Southern Festival of Books website and see that they've added a few authors to their list for the Festival. Here are the newest additions to get excited about:

• J.T. Ellison is a Tennessee crime writer who brings female homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson to life in her police thriller series of novels set in Nashville. Ellison will publish the fifth novel in the Taylor Jackson series this fall. I've read and enjoyed the first two books, All the Pretty Girls and 14. Judas Kiss in 2009 was followed by The Cold Room this past February. The Immortals will be released September 28, 2010.

• Michael Knight is a professor at the University of Tennessee, where he teaches creative writing. I've never read anything by Knight, but his second novel The Typist is generating a fair amount of buzz in the book world. Rebecca Joines Schinsky of The Book Lady's Blog has been hyping the book prior to its release tomorrow. The Typist is a World War II era novel, which I don't usually get into. However, I'm absolutely loving the historical novel The Postmistress (also set during WWII) right now, so The Typist may be on my next-in-line list -- especially for weekend trip I have planned. A girl must always have plenty of travel reading options!

• Audrey Niffenegger is the author of the widely acclaimed The Time Traveler's Wife, which was made into a major motion picture starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. I read the book long before it was popular, soon after it was published. I loved it, but thought it horribly sad. Then my brother, sister-in-law, and I watched the movie last spring just before my nephew was born. I won't give away any plot for those of you who haven't read the novel or seen the film, but I will warn the heavily-pregnant-and-ready-for-labor away from both. My sister-in-law cried until we thought she might go into labor as a result of watching the movie. The book, as in most cases, is better than the film -- although I enjoyed the movie. Niffenegger followed that immensely popular debut with Her Fearful Symmetry, a ghostly novel which follows twin American girls to London, where they attempt to find themselves and learn about their recently-deceased and largely-unknown-to-them aunt.

The Southern Festival of Books will take place October 8-10, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. Continue to check their author list and, closer to the Festival dates, the event schedule. SFB is also sponsoring a Twitter contest, so log on to follow them @SoFestofBooks and enter for chances to win every week until the Festival.