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The latest reviews and recommendations directly from your favorite Southern indie booksellers
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Current favorites of Southern indie booksellers. [FULL LIST]
Fiction
Brawler by Lauren Groff
An arresting collection of stories that meditates on different forms of power and how humans wield it against one another. The characters, settings, and time periods are diverse, but every story—and one full length novella—depicts a fundamental struggle between our better natures and the hard realities of life. These stories operate with an incredible economy of words, making the depth and forceful nature of the characters’ emotions all the more impressive. There’s not a single one I didn’t enjoy, and some that I had already read elsewhere, but “To Sunland” stood out to me because it’s based on a real place with a complicated history that’s still standing in my hometown, where the author currently resides. I can already tell that this will be one of my top reads of the year.
Brawler by Lauren Groff, (List Price: $29, Riverhead Books, 9780593418420, February 2026)
Reviewed by Morgan, Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers in Auburn, Alabama
Book Buzz: Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson
“Bad Words didn’t have a single moment of inspiration! It sort of congealed over many years in book publishing, and I shaped it around a lot of elements I find fun to write and think about. I love a frightening critic character, and I love two characters in diametric opposition being forced to reevaluate each other. I also think it’s an underdiscussed and bonkers fact that the quiet agreement of professional criticism is that, someday, you will become the sworn enemy of somebody in your very small artistic industry, because you can’t like every book.”
― Ríoghnach Robinson, Interview, She Reads
What booksellers are saying about Bad Words
- Smart. Well-written. Couldn’t put it down. Well-developed characters who are multi-dimensional. This is a fantastic take on a romance. For readers of romance, books about books, anyone who loves a look inside the publishing industry. Poses so many interesting questions about the book industry and what readers want from it, what writers want too.
― Christina The Snail on the Wall, Hunstsville, Alabama | BUY
- Beautifully written and gut-wrenchingly messy, with so much to say about the art of criticism, the publishing industry, and—of course—love. This is my favorite book I’ve read so far this year, and I can’t wait to share it with other readers!
― Bronte, The Bookshop, Nashville, Tennessee | BUY
- I am so completely floored by this book. It’s the kind of book that, for me, makes me remember why I love reading so much. I would look up from a chapter and see the world in brighter colors.
― Writers Block Bookstore, Columbus, Georgia | BUY
- I can feel it in my bones, this book is going to be big. And it deserves to be. Bad Words is a startling, propulsive look at why we create, why we critique, and the deeply tenuous landscape of publishing, all told through the perspectives of a feuding author and book critic.
― Taylor, Baldwin & Co., New Orleans, Louisiana | BUY
About Ríoghnach Robinson
Ríoghnach (pronounced ree-uh-nock) Robinson is the author of six YA novels published under the pen name Riley Redgate, most recently Come Home to My Heart. Her books have been published on four continents, optioned for film and TV, and named to best-of-the-year lists by ALA, Kirkus Reviews, and the New York Public Library. She is also the writer of the WEBTOON Originals series Angel of Death and has written for The Onion, America’s Finest News Source. Bad Words is her adult debut. You can find her on Instagram at @rileyredgate and @rioghnachrobinson.
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters
A swoony romance with a perfect touch of self acceptance!
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters, (List Price: $19, St. Martin’s Griffin, 9781250326263, January 2026)
Reviewed by Cameron, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC
Nonfiction
The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly
Vignettes on middle age, aging parents, motherhood, grief, and acceptance. A touching and poignant yet breezy read. So obviously crafted with immense care.
The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly, (List Price: $22.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324117407, February 2026)
Reviewed by Hannah, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod
It is a difficult and rare thing for any of us to try to fully know our parents as the entire, whole, often complicated, sometimes messy, humans that they were. Tom Junod elegantly shows us the man who was his father with an impressive honesty and vulnerability, digging through the layers of his legacy and its impact on him and those around him — a beautiful and powerful read.
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)
Reviewed by Nicole, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod
This family memoir was insightful, sensitive, and impossible to put down. Tom Junod’s father was instantly familiar and fascinating to me, with his charm and swagger, his casually devastating secrets. I harbor a long-held affection for men of Lou’s generation, and it’s clear Tom does too. But as a writer, he also explores how his complex legacy shaped the man he is today. I loved it.
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)
Reviewed by Ashley, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
Children/YA
Fancy Dogs by Tini Malina
For the dog lovers in your life, no matter the age. This book will put a smile on your face and make you nod in agreement. The pictures are cute and the rhymes are silly. I loved the book Selma: The Story of a Stellar Spider, and Tini Malina is showing how versatile an artist she is: from a simple story full of meaning and open to multiple interpretations to something that will put a smile on your face. I can’t wait to read more from this author!
Fancy Dogs by Tini Malina, (List Price: $19.95, NorthSouth Books, 9780735846272, October 2026)
Reviewed by Erika, Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA
Feeling Like an ADHD Alien: A Graphic Novel by Pina Varnel
I have read so many books on ADHD, and this sweet graphic novel absolutely made me feel more seen than any of them. This so perfectly depicts what it is like to be INSIDE of the ADHD experience and how alienating it feels to not know why everyone around you seems so much more capable. Capable of things everyone expects to be automated levels of easy. Honestly, every single person who loves a person with ADHD needs to read this. And to my fellow ADHDers, I hope this helps heal your inner child. It’s truly perfect.
Feeling Like an ADHD Alien: A Graphic Novel by Pina Varnel, (List Price: $17.99, Rocky Pond Books, 9780593325568, September 2026)
Reviewed by Jenny, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson
As a Savannah local who loves everything ghost-related and was absolutely obsessed with the paranormal and ghosts tours as a kid (… and now), this book was a total delight from beginning to end! I loved our perceptive, clever, and imaginative narrator, Mony, and how she honored her authentic self with a level of confidence and self-assuredness I wish I saw in more female-led middle grade. It was a joy seeing Savannah through her eyes as a newcomer, a curious mind, and a girl experiencing liminality of all sorts: life and death, grief and celebration, childhood and adolescence, loss and discovery. Jackson, as always, writes a young voice with a sure, surgical hand, both validating the experience of young people and encouraging self-reflection and growth. I also adored Mony’s ghost-hunting pals: her skeptical pseudo-brother, Robby, and the fearless (but potentially untrustworthy) Myah. The three friends played off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses so beautifully, and even weathered a fight and uncovered secrets, while remaining whole individuals. The mystery itself provided historical facts about the city that will intrigue any young history buff, and kept the pace quick and the stakes high. The last few chapters absolutely flew by as tensions rose and the reveal was imminent. On the note of history, I particularly enjoyed the focus on Black and African ancestral history that this city is quite literally built on, and it’s a section of America’s past that is often ignored even now. I’d happily recommend this to any ghost story fan, history enthusiast, mystery devotee, or tween just looking to feel seen, heard, and understood.
Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson, (List Price: $18.99, Scholastic Press, 9798225017477, August 2026)
Reviewed by Abigail, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, GA
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