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Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

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Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura
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Like Happiness is an incisive and blistering coming of age novel that emanates a quiet and methodical rage. Through Tatum, Ursula Villarreal-Moura explores power imbalance, hero worship, and emotional exploitation in a way that keeps the pages turning, while also grappling deftly with sexuality and race. A searing portrait of a young woman trying to understand herself and the older man who irrefutably tangles her identity with his.

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura, (List Price: 28, Celadon Books, 9781250882837, March 2024)

Reviewed by Gaby Iori, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

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Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
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Tommy Orange delivers another masterpiece. His prose is striking and his characters are compassionately rendered. People are going to compare it to his debut, but Wandering Stars stands on its own as propulsive, unforgettable fiction. I remain in awe of Orange’s scope of vision and storytelling.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange, (List Price: $29, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 9780593318256, 2024-02-27)

Reviewed by James Harrod, Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina

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Grief Is for People by Sloane

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Grief Is for People by Sloane
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Crosley moves through multiple griefs in this memoir. The theft of heirloom jewelry, the loss of her dearest friend, and ultimately the loss of life as we knew it with the swift coming of the Covid-19 pandemic. Always insightful and frequently funny, this memoir was a joy to read even as the subject matter stung. One turn of phrase had me gobsmacked: \’Ego, as it turns out, is depression\’s comorbidity.\’ How could you not want to spend a couple hundred pages with an author that can deliver a line so clever, cutting, and deep in self awareness.

Grief Is for People by Sloane, (List Price: $27, MCD, 9780374609849, February 2024)

Reviewed by Michelle Cavalier, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana

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The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

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The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
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In a world where one may travel 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past just to take a look at what happened/will happen, which would you choose? This is the world where The Other Valley exists. Would you go back to just see the face of a loved one no longer with you? Would you go forward to see the future? For readers of David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro, this book has you asking yourself “what would I do?”. And what would you do if your job was to police the time trips of those who wished to visit the other Valleys? Great choice for book clubs!

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard, (List Price: $27.99, Atria Books, 9781668015476, February 2024)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum

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Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum
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A tender and wise exploration of the interior lives of a Korean bookshop staff and their customers. Each person’s story unfolds quietly. As each one’s past comes to meet their present, the community they form opens the way for change and hope. Lovely, in turns melancholy and gently humorous. a must read for all booklovers.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, (List Price: $28.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639732425, February 2024)

Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood
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The “couldn’t put down”-ness with this book was unreal. A new vampire, werewolf romance that had me enthralled from page one. The relationship dynamic between the two main characters had a wonderful progression of tense unknown to familiar like. This book will be for all the “romantasy” readers who have been missing vampires and werewolves in their reading piles. But don’t worry we only have one team to root for and it is the RIGHT team.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood, (List Price: $19, Penguin Publishing Group, 9780593550403, February 2024)

Reviewed by Mekhala Villegas-Rogers, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida

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Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

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Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
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I didn’t think Reid could top Such a Fun Age, but am THRILLED to be wrong. Come and Get It has everything I loved about her debut (her ear for dialog is unparalleled, and she does realistic social cringe so. well.) with an added layer of tenderness towards her characters — most of which are a whole entire aggravating MESS — that blew me out of the water. I did NOT expect to be sobbing at the end, but sobbing I was. Her characters are ALIVE. The public university setting is priceless and allows Reid room to exercise her WICKED sense of humor as well as explore the transition pains most of us go through in our late teens and early twenties. Some — like Agatha and Robin — are experiencing growing pains well into their thirties. Come and Get It is so very funny and so very generous.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid, (List Price: $29, Penguin Publishing Group, 9780593328200, 2024-01-30)

Reviewed by Kat Leache, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

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The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
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The Tusks of Extinction hurt me, inspired me, and taught me in less than 100 pages. Through the lenses of an elephant-expert turned mammoth matriarch, a boy on a hunt with his father, and a man who can’t rise above his wealth, Nayler’s conservationist novella reaches into depths of human empathy and bares it all for examination. Nothing so short has ever made me cry so much.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler, (List Price: $26.99, Tordotcom, 9781250855527, January 2024)

Reviewed by Isabel Agajanian, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

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Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham

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Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham
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This is an action-packed book, no one page can be skipped without missing an important tidbit. The angst of teenage life can be a sad reality, exacerbated by social media. This book manages to convey that without letting it become the focus of the book. That is clearly the twisted relationship between Margot, Lucy, Nicole, and Sloane. All very different and under the influence in some fashion by the mercurial Lucy. Even Margot’s deceased high school friend Eliza is not spared from the manipulation. The book paints a tale where you can believe that given the right circumstances, anyone can resort to the most extreme actions of self-preservation. This is not a heart-lifting book of survival, more a spine-chilling book of survival.I truly was captured by this book and had no idea how it would end. I can’t imagine any reader of mystery, suspense, or psychology not appreciating this book.

Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham, (List Price: $29, Minotaur Books, 9781250887931, January 2024)

Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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1000 Words by Jami Attenberg

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1000 Words by Jami Attenberg
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1000 Words is a guide for writers, but I think anyone interested in reading would truly enjoy this one. I loved the features from some of my favorite authors, and was especially touched by the tender exchange of letters between Jami Attenberg and Keise Laymon. This slim book packs a punch with thought-provoking questions that inspire creativity in writers and readers alike. Loved it!

1000 Words by Jami Attenberg, (List Price: $24.99, S&S/Simon Element, 9781668023600, January 2024)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

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Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
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An enthralling, and wonderful story about two people who have issues of their own working through them and still living life on a daily basis. It also takes place in Ireland, what’s not to love about that? This book was awesome. The way that OCD and ADHD was portrayed through the main characters was done so well and it added icing to the cake that it was stressed multiple times that it is normal. I have a husband that has OCPD and two boys that have ADHD. I felt like I was reading their stories through this book.

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz, (List Price: $17, Penguin Publishing Group, 9780593549063, January 2024)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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Like So by Ruth Forman

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Like So by Ruth Forman
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With gorgeous illustrations, this is a sweet story about the love between a grandmother and child. This one will tug at your heart strings!

Like So by Ruth Forman, (List Price: $18.99, Little Simon, 9781665917544, January 2024)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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José Feeds the World by David Unger

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José Feeds the World by David Unger
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This picture book tells the inspiring story of Jose Andres and his World Central Kitchen, and the many people around the world he has helped in the aftermath of disasters. This book highlights the power of one person’s idea and the way one can mobilize and inspire many. This would be a great book to share with a young reader who has questions about why disasters happen and what we can do to help those affected.

José Feeds the World by David Unger, (List Price: $18.99, duopress, 9781728279527, January 2024)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Today by Gabi Snyder

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Today by Gabi Snyder
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Beautiful illustrations reminding kids (and their families) to appreciate the fleeting moments of perfection life allows in an imperfect world. Pause and make memories – what a gorgeous book for magical read-a-longs.

Today by Gabi Snyder, (List Price: $18.99, Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 9781665924856, January 2024)

Reviewed by Alissa Redmond, South Main Book Company in Salisbury, North Carolina

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How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr.

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How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr.
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A truer than most story written in verse like it should be. Tony relates how he became the first person in his family to become openly gay and a university graduate. It is a moving story of his trials and tribulations.

How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr., (List Price: $19.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780063296008, February 2024)

Reviewed by Judith Lafitte, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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