Georgia Bookstores

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

, ,
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Who doesn’t love Christmas spirit, Christmas decorations and books that transport us to that magical season? The Christmas Bookshop deposits us into the middle of the life of Carmen who is suddenly without a job or place to live. She moves in with her perfect sister Sofia in Edinburgh—into a perfect house with Sofia’s many children. Carmen begins working with a seemingly impossible-to-save failing bookstore. Can she help the bookstore? Can she cope with her sister’s family? Can she ever find love? All these questions are answered surrounded by the promise of the festive season. Jenny Colten has given us a fun holiday journey that you won’t want to leave when the last page is read.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, (List Price: 16.99, William Morrow Paperbacks, 9780063141674, October 2021)

Reviewed by Nancy Pierce, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia


Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

, , , ,
Bombshell
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Bombshell picks up a new series where MacLean’s Scandals & Scoundrels series left off. Here, we have Secily, the most scandalous of her five sisters and the only one left un-wed. She’s been pining after Caleb, the business partner of one of her sisters for years. But right now, along with three other amazing woman, she’s taking down the men of the ton, one at a time. But when Caleb comes back from America and finds Secily at work, she isn’t sure what her next move should be. Bombshell has a kick-ass feminist heroine who does what she wants and helps others along the way. We should all be so amazing.

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean, (List Price: $8.99, Avon, 9780063056152, August 2021)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia

All Fires the Fire by Julio Cortázar

, , ,
All Fires the Fire
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

I just spent a guilt-free rainy day with these high calorific, double-stuffed short stories. Located within: A traffic jam turned tribal via survival, some playful narrator juggling, an escapist daydream that turns O. Henry into an R. Serling nightmare, and fiery relationships that literally burn to literal litter. Looking forward to more rain.

All Fires the Fire by Julio Cortázar, (List Price: 15.95, New Directions, 9780811229456, April 2020)

Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Dear William by David Magee

, ,
Dear William
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

David Magee’s profoundly personal memoir grabbed my attention from the first page and wouldn’t let go. Dear William is part Southern story, part family story, and it opened my eyes to a crisis I didn’t know enough about. My heart broke into a million pieces while reading it, but I’m so glad I did.

Dear William by David Magee, (List Price: $28.00, Matt Holt, 9781953295682, November 2021)

Reviewed by Annie Jones, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia

O Beautiful by Jung Yun

, , ,
O Beautiful by Jung Yun
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

This beautiful character-driven book set in the American Midwest covers many contemporary topics like racism, fracking, sexual harassment, and the immigrant experience. I loved the messy protagonist Elinor Hanson, a Korean American who grew up in South Dakota. A former model with a new career later in life as a journalist, Elinor has baggage that needs unpacking so badly her clothes are spilling out of her metaphorical suitcase at a rapid pace. Korean American author Jung Yun has written a fantastic novel in O Beautiful that surprised me over and over, especially by book’s end.

O Beautiful by Jung Yun, (List Price: 27.99, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250274328, November 2021)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia


Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates by Cheryl Klein

, , , ,
Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

This should be required reading for any and all roommates (from siblings to college freshmen)! Featuring an odd diametrically opposed hamster duo, this vibrantly illustrated, darkly funny tale will leave even the crankiest readers holding in giggles as they learn all about the art of compromise.

Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates by Cheryl Klein, (List Price: 17.99, Dial Books, 9780593324233, November 2021)

Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Olga by Bernhard Schlink

,
Olga
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Olga is a brilliant meditation on living through the great moments of history. We now know what it is to live through a moment in history having (hopefully) rounded the corner with this global pandemic. Olga is one of the few characters in WWII fiction that is aware of the moment as she lives it. But she is also caught in the reality of living day-to-day life in that moment of history. I fell into this book on a rainy day with a warm cup of tea and that’s exactly how this beautifully melancholy book should be enjoyed.

Olga by Bernhard Schlink, (List Price: 27.99, HarperVia, 9780063112926, September, 2021)

Reviewed by Annie Childress, E. Shaver bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

, ,
This Poison Heart
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Briseis is out of the school for the summer. Her moms want her to have fun, but all she wants to do is work with the plants at their family flower shop in Brooklyn. See, Briseis has the ability to make things grow rapidly and from the smallest of plant parts. But when they get word that her biological aunt has died (Briseis is adopted) and has left her a vast estate, they head up to check it out. But not everything is as it seems. This quirky story has a little bit of everything: a secret garden, magic, immortality, Greek mythology… And that’s barely scratching the surface!

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron, (List Price: 18.99, Bloomsbury YA, 9781547603909, 2021-06-29)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

,
The Island of Missing Trees
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

The Island of Missing Trees is a beautiful, sweeping tale of enduring love, grief, and the ways in which we move forward from intergenerational traumas. Split between a cold London winter and the midst of the Cypriot civil war of 1974 and narrated by a fig tree, the story aches with a love for the natural world, giving voice to the voiceless. Its quiet profundity opens a world beyond borders and human conflicts, a world where truths are uncovered and healing is possible.

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, (List Price: $27.00, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781635578591, October 2021)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards

, ,
Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

This is a great, tight little YA mystery! information is revealed slowly but not too slowly, so you’re drawn into the plot and want the characters to solve the puzzles. The “ticking clock” mechanic is never exactly explained, but it gives the story a sense of urgency that makes it feel more intense than your average scavenger hunt. It touches on sensitive topics (such as domestic violence and parental abuse) but I think the author does a good job of pulling the question of “what would you do for your brother?” all the way through the story. Totally unexpected twist ending, which wasn’t really set up but was entertaining nonetheless!


Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards, (List Price: $10.99, Sourcebooks Fire, 9781728215785, November 2021)

Kate Wilder, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia


The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

, , ,
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Wow. I loved this book. This is my first time reading something by Mitch Albom, though I’ve shelved him more times than I can count over the years. I initially picked up this because I loved the size. But within three sentences I was fully hooked. What was intended to be a 2 hour beach visit turned into a 5 hour beach stay and I didn’t pack enough sun screen so I got a little burnt. Thanks Mitch. This book is an interesting mixture of lite religious philosophy and thriller novel? Thriller is the wrong word but you cannot put the book down because you have to understand. For anyone who grew up religious and has moved away this will be a compelling book that speaks to longing that many humans have for a god. It will also leave you thinking about the nature of that god for many many weeks after you read it… Ugh. What a great book. I can’t wait to make people read it!


The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom, (List Price: 23.99, Harper, 9780062888341, November 2021)

Reviewed by Annie Childress, E. Shaver bookseller in Savannah, Georgia


The Interim by Wolfgang Hilbig

,
The Interim by Wolfgang Hilbig
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Our “hero” takes us on many liquor-fueled Mobius Teacup Rides between East and West Germany, keeping the limbo bench warm on the sidelines of love and lust, looking for someone, something, or some country to blame for his writer’s block, impotence, and irresponsibility. Told in such a comedic, controlled scatter to keep the reader comfortably teetered on a seat’s edge, if sitting’s a thing said reader’s into.

The Interim by Wolfgang Hilbig, (List Price: 22.95, Two Lines Press, 9781949641233, November 2021)


Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia


Amos McGee Misses the Bus by Philip C. Stead

, ,
Amos McGee Misses the Bus by Philip C. Stead
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

I loved the first Amos McGee so much, and admired his clockwork schedule. In this return to Amos’s animal-filled world, though, the schedule goes awry when he stays up late planning a surprise outing and misses his morning bus to work. In the Steads’ gentle, compassionate (and lightly humorous) trademark style, Amos’s friends help him rest and reset, creating a day full of nice surprises. This lovable, heartwarming sequel is just as pitch-perfect as the first.

Amos McGee Misses the Bus by Philip C. Stead, (List Price: $18.99, Roaring Brook Press, 9781250213228, November 2021)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia


Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson

,
Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

I love retellings of classic stories, and Tink and Wendy fits the bill to a “T”. A modern tale that completely reinvents the characters, “Tink and Wendy” is both beautiful and heartbreaking all in one. Love is never easy, especially when magic and immortality are at play, and the implied brutality throughout the book makes that clear. Nothing is ever terribly graphic, but it might be enough to make you shiver or cringe anyway. The writing style, split between time periods and perspectives, adds context without confusion. The additional of queerness into any story automatically makes it better (in my opinion), and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would recommend it!


Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson, (List Price: $14, Three Rooms Press, 9781953103130, October 2021)

Reviewed by Kate Wilder, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia


The Shadow Prince by David Anthony Durham

, , , , ,
The Shadow Prince by David Anthony Durham
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading every chapter of this book! All the Egyptian gods were fun to read about, and their personalities were unique! And the characters were fun and engaging! It was also brilliant to keep all the villains alive, meaning a hopeful sequel? I will be one of the first in line when the author makes the 2nd book!

The Shadow Prince by David Anthony Durham, (List Price: $21.95, Tu Books, 9781643794280, October 2021)

Reviewed by Mandolin Moore, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia


Scroll to Top