2021 Southern Book Prize Winner!
Incredible. Stunning. Poetic. Shattering. Frightening. Beautiful. I cannot imagine how painful it must have been for Natasha Trethewey to tell this complicated story.
Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey (List Price: $27.99, Ecco, 9780062248572, July 2020)
Reviewed by Janet Geddis, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Jenny Lawson is a genius. She can make me sob uncontrollably from both laughter and the heartbreakingly honest way she talks about mental illness. She takes the worst things in life and finds a way to laugh through them. Her ability to bring people together in a celebration of human awkwardness is just beautiful. This book provided much needed relief and escape from the divisiveness of the world.
Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson (List Price: $27.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250077035, 4/6/2021)
Reviewed by Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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For those who loved Social Creature and Gone Girl: Florence Darrow, our desperately dark protagonist, has been fired from her editing job and taken on the position of an assistant to the infamously anonymous Maud Dixon. What should be a privileged position turns into something completely the opposite after a horrible work trip to Morocco. Who is Maud Dixon? will keep you guessing ’til the end and even after you’ll still be asking questions (in the absolute best way possible).
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (List Price: $28, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316500319, 3/2/2021)
Reviewed by Olivia Schaffer, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia
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Lila has moved back home and is living with her Filipino family after a bad breakup. She’s also come back to help with the family’s restaurant. But when the local fool critic has never met a dish about which he had something nice to say passes out in his food at the restaurant and later dies, Lila’s the number one suspect. I love cozies and this was a nice, new addition to the genre with some Filipino flair! I loved the characters and look forward to reading more!
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (List Price: $16, Berkley, 9780593201671, 5/4/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Marietta, Georgia
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Small Room, Big Dreams is the story of Joaquin and Julián Castro, identical twin brothers born in San Antonio. Raised from a young age by their grandmother to love books and their mother to understand the importance of participating in their community through politics, Joaquin and Julián have dedicated their lives to service and improving their communities. I hope this book inspires children to become involved in their communities and dream big!
Small Room, Big Dreams: The Journey of Julián and Joaquin Castro by Monica Brown, Mirelle Ortega (List Price: $18.99, Quill Tree Books, 9780062985736, 5/4/2021)
Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Raffy LOVES cosplay. So, he’s been furiously working on an entry for a local convention with his friend May. But he has several obstacles, not the least of which is an unsupportive mother and his ex, Luca, who has entered with one of their other friends. But Raffy is a natural with a sequin and he’s sure he can pull this one off. This delightful romance-meets-cosplay book from Ryan La Sala is perfect timing for those of us with the blues from missing our favorite conventions this year.
Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala (List Price: $17.99, Sourcebooks Fire, 9781492682691, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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Take Pride and Prejudice and set it in the mid 80s at a high school in Texas and you’ve got Pudge and Prejudice. Elyse and Jayne Nebbit have moved to Texas with their parents and three younger sisters. Their new school is obsessed with football and their star quarterback, Billy Fitz. And Elyse finds herself a little obsessed with Billy herself. We’ve all read retellings where the changes are obnoxious and make the story too far in tone and theme from the original. I’m glad to say that one is true to the original, while still updating it for 1980s Texas. This was a sweet, fun story about teens, but which works well for preteens as well.
Pudge and Prejudice by A.K. Pittman (List Price: $15.99, Wander, 9781496442833, 1/12/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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Tessa and her family have just moved 400 miles south from her best friend and all she knows. Her dad got a promotion a d Tessa got a spot at an Arts magnet high school and she’s simultaneously excited and petrified. Tessa has always loved to write. But the only person she’ll show her words to is her best friend. She feels like her romance writing isn’t nearly good enough for her new school. But there are upsides. At her old school, there were only a few black kids, but this new school has a big mix of races and that thing that usually happens where people self-segregate based on race? It’s not happening here. That’s not to say that there aren’t problems though…This sweet story was a fun read. The author included many issues in Tessa’s story and integrated them I a very real way. Tessa makes mistakes, but don’t we all.
Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant (List Price: $17, Balzer + Bray, 9780062982834, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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Henley has a job she loves at an adventure travel company, but between trying to get ahead there and taking classes for a higher degree, she doesn’t have time for family, friends, or even herself. But when she and a coworker are both up for a big promotion, she goes all in. The only trouble is that the coworker is her nemesis. Ever since he took credit for one of her ideas in his first week at the company, they’ve been at war. So, when as a test for the promotion, she and the dreaded coworker are sent on a cruise to the Galapagos, Henley is less than thrilled. I loved this sweet, friends-to-lovers romance! The wacky hijinks of the cruise, coupled with two people who hate each other, up for the same job, a misfit sister, and a large Russian lothario is a recipe for a fun read!
Shipped by Angie Hockman (List Price: $16, Gallery Books, 9781982151591, 1/19/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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Noa wakes up and he’s in a spacesuit, floating outside a ship. In space. But he has zero idea how he got there. Not only that, but inside the ship are DJ and Jenny and neither of them knows how they got there either. I read this author’s The State of Us and LOVED it, so I knew I’d be up for this one. It’s an entirely different genre, but still has the same humor and heart.
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson (List Price: $19.99, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 9781534448537, 1/19/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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The night after Ada’s failed attempt to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, she catches him cheating on her. But their family is soon off for a 9day stay in Hawaii at a yearly medical conference, so she hopes that will take her mind off things. But she’s in a fight with her older sister and then her stepdad drops the bomb that he’s staying home from this trip and Ada just feels worse. This was a sweet story, full of high drama and I am here for it. I loved how flawed and real the characters were and this compulsively readable story kept me entertained from the start.
With You All the Way by Cynthia Hand (List Price: $17.99, HarperTeen, 9780062693198, 3/30/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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Cat is getting married and she wants her two foster sisters and foster brother to be there. But they haven’t really kept up with each other, so she devises a plan to get them all back and connecting again. It might work, it might blow up in her face. But it’s sure to be entertaining!
The Forever Girl by Jill Shalvis (List Price: $16.99, William Morrow Paperbacks, 9780062897855, 1/12/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
Paraic O’Donnell’s The House on Vesper Sands is a whip-smart Victorian murder mystery featuring a remarkable cast of characters. Young girls are going missing and Inspector Cutter’s on the case with the help of a fake police officer (Cambridge drop out Gideon Bliss) and a young female journalist determined to write more than society pages. The disappearances seem to have a spiritual element to them and the first death scene is puzzling and compelling. O’Donnell’s 1893 London is so brilliantly written you’ll find yourself shivering instinctively.
The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell (List Price: $26.95, Tin House Books, 9781951142247, 1/12/2021)
Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
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Zoe has her dream job from when she was a kid. She’s the editor of her favorite music magazine. The only problem is that it’s 2020 and print media is struggling. To save the magazine her plan is to score an interview with the super reclusive Marcie Tyler, who has been off the radar for 10 years. Unfortunately, to do that, she has to give lip service to the latest bit band, which is not on brand for the magazine in the least. And to deal with both, she has to work with the jerk publicist, Nick. But all isn’t bad. Her best friend and crush Simon is back in London and here to stay.
Love Songs for Skeptics by Christina Pishiris (List Price: $16.99, Sourcebooks Landmark, 9781728217604, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Roswell, Georgia
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next Title!
I just finished The Fortunate Ones and am a little breathless with it. Part political intrigue, part A Separate Peace, the novel spans decades across elite boarding schools and the halls of Washington, but what captures the reader is Charlie, the narrator at the book’s heart. I fell in love with Charlie’s voice and story, and it’s him I kept turning the page for. I loved this book.
The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington (List Price: $26.95, Algonquin Books, 9781616206802, 1/5/2021)
Reviewed by Annie Jones, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia
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