The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

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Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong

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Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong
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This book was full of twist and turns and had a bit of a science-fiction vibe, which is a refreshing take on a thriller. It reminded me of Catriona Ward’s Sundial and Delilah S. Dawson’s The Violence where you have children being brainwashed in the literal sense where they no longer remember their past and are raised to be completely different people and when those repressed memories eventually start to come through, violence happens.

When I started this audiobook, I was immediately hooked when Gabby flipped out and smashed a faculty member’s head in at school. I also loved that all of the kids were able to grow as characters because they were able to confront their past lives and accept that they are who they were and are now.

I also enjoyed the mystery. I was guessing and guessing who the person was that was sending the threatening emails. I can typically guess correctly, but this book threw me for a loop!

Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong, (List Price: 18.99, Tundra Books, 9780735270923, April 2023)

Reviewed by Kait Layton, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

Monster Camp by Sarah Henning

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Monster Camp by Sarah Henning
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Ghost stories around the fire are almost requisite activities at most summer camps, but what if you realized that the monsters at your camp were actually your fellow campers? That’s just what happens to Sylvie in this hilarious slightly spooky summer sleepaway tale that’s the perfect read for a long summer night.

Monster Camp by Sarah Henning, (List Price: 17.99, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 9781665930055, May 2023)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

My Special One, Vol. 2 by Momoko Koda

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My Special One, Vol. 2 by Momoko Koda
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How heartwarming!! I love how this manga doesn’t use melodrama and shallow angst to delay the characters from finally dating. These two are people with their own quirks and problems that slowly come to understand what they want and how they feel for one another, and it is so so cute.

My Special One, Vol. 2 by Momoko Koda, (List Price: 9.99, VIZ Media LLC, 9781974736911, May 2023)

Reviewed by Lana Repic, E. Shaver, bookseller in Savanna, Georgia

Reproduction by Louisa Hall

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Reproduction by Louisa Hall
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A quiet yet fierce meditation on birth and creation. Hall pulls us into her own private darkness- the losses of children and fear of death, the loss of the self, the unknowable countries upon which women set off for once they become mothers. All compared artfully to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; another story of God-power and chaos, love and despair. Freedom and choice.

Reproduction by Louisa Hall, (List Price: 30, Ecco, 9780063283626, June 2023)

Reviewed by Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

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Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
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Remixes of Greek mythology abound, but Kika Hatzopoulou brings a fresh entry into the trend with a murder mystery focused on the Fates. Io, a descendent of the Fates, is able to see the life threads of people around her and uses this ability in her job as a private investigator. When a surge of wraiths– individuals with maimed life threads– occurs in the city, Io must locate the culprit before the destruction spirals out of control. Threads that Bind is the next must-read for fans of Lore by Alexandra Bracken and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou, (List Price: 19.99, Razorbill, 9780593528716, May 2023)

Reviewed by Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper

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Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper
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Better Living Through Birding is a memoir that is very much about birds… but it’s also about so much more. Cooper was thrust into the media spotlight via a viral video in which he was subject to racial threats in Central Park from a dog walker… and he discusses this incident in detail. However, he also discusses growing up gay & black in NYC in the 70’s & 80’s, how comic books and nature saved his life, and how activism against social injustice runs in the family. From Harvard to writing for Marvel Comics & Star Trek to following elusive birds in the most remote places in the world, this memoir is honest, emotionally stirring, and heartfelt. It made me want to go for a nature walk immediately after I finished it.

Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper, (List Price: $28, Random House, 9780593242384, June 2023)

Reviewed by Stuart McCommon, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

Hailstone by Rafael Scavone

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Hailstone by Rafael Scavone
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I thought I had it all figured out in the start. There are countless stories out there that start out in a similar way. However, this novel really does it’s own thing. I thought it was going to be a werewolf or wendigo type creature. Boy was I wrong. Never expected the climax that actually came!

Hailstone by Rafael Scavone, (List Price: 22.99, Dark Horse Books, 9781506730943, June 2023)

Reviewed by Ethan Davis, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams

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Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams
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Stacey Abrams does it again with another scintillating page-turner. Rogue Justice picks up right where While Justice Sleeps left off, and this time Avery is thrown into a plot involving hacking, cryptocurrency, and energy grids. I definitely learn something every time I read a book by Stacey Abrams!

Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams, (List Price: 29, Doubleday, 9780385548328, May 2023)

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

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy

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Soil : The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille T. Dungy
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Observed with a poet’s eye, deeply concerned with social justice, history, community, and the natural world, Camille Dungy’s Soil recounts the process of creating a pollinator garden in her Colorado yard, circling around her history and the history of the plants, animals and politics of the West. “I dig up a lot of awful history when I kneel in my garden,” she writes. “But, my god, a lot of beauty grows out of this soil as well.”

This is a smart, beautiful, wide-ranging book that will draw you in and change how you look at the world around you.

Soil : The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy, (List Price: 28.99, Simon & Schuster, 9781982195304, May 2023)

Reviewed by Robin Wood, Books & Books @ The Studios in Key West, Florida

Slow Down and Be Here Now by Laura Brand

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Slow Down and Be Here Now by Laura Brand
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Frog tongues, dandelion puffs, snowflakes, All wonders of the world. This charming giftable nature guide/storybook encourages readers to slow down and enjoy all the amazing things in the natural world.

Slow Down and Be Here Now by Laura Brand, (List Price: 22.99, Magic Cat, 9781419765971, March 2023)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

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Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny
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What kind of scientist risks the little known rapids of a raging river to document plant life? The first scientists to boat down the Grand Canyon were no daredevils but two intrepid and determined women. Still their tale is full enough of drama and a motley crew of characters to make a great read. More than just a quirky bit of environmental history, their work still resonates today. Sevigny brilliantly captures their experiences as well as the political and social history of the Colorado River. A great read for anyone interested in women in science, natural history, or the American West

Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny, (List Price: $30.00, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393868234, May 2023)

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

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

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The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
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This is the story of Johannes, a wild dog who lives in the park. He runs his round because he is the Eyes for the keeper of the Equilibrium. He decides one day to gain a greater purpose and free his friends the bison. Though for children, I think this story would be enjoyed by anyone who has ever run and felt faster than the sun. Johannes is absolutely endearing, arrogant, feral, and free. Above all else, he’s free and wonderful. I found myself elated with every triumph and breathless with every close call. I loved it and was in tears by the beauty of the writing at the end. I absolutely cannot wait to recommend this to everyone I know. "To be alive is to go forth. So we go forth." Don’t let Johannes slip by you! He’s faster than light, so it might be hard.

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, (List Price: $18.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9781524764203, May 2023)

Reviewed by Katlin Kerrison, Story On the Square in McDonough, Georgia

At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich

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At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich
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Out of necessity, Laura has chosen to live a simpler, yet, courageous life in a secluded, rustic cabin in the woods on the outskirts of an Italian village. Necessity turns into a reorganization of priorities, which I wholly admire, as Laura shares her thoughts with the reader on living with nature, interacting with others, and what it means to survive. Beautiful.

At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich, (List Price: 26, Two Dollar Radio, 9781953387318, June 2023)

Reviewed by Jill Naylor, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

The Nature Book by Tom Comitta

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The Nature Book by Tom Comitta
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A deftly experimental book that seeks to portray a world sans humans, Nature Book borrows from a history of rich, descriptive prose to reconstruct the cycles of days, seasons, and migrations as they continue quiet and unobserved, separate from human society. And yet, human description and literary convention make up the entirety of this story! This beautifully avant garde novel from an organic and unfettered nonbinary perspective is an awe-inducing teleportation into a beautiful cosmos and a rapidly changing climate as captured throughout the history of literature. Great for reading piecemeal or overwhelmingly all at once.

The Nature Book by Tom Comitta, (List Price: $17.95, Coffee House Press, 9781566896634, March 2023)

Reviewed by Amanda Depperschmidt, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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