The Southern Bookseller Review 9/12/23
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The week of September 12, 2023 We’re with the banned.
Banned Books Week is on the horizon, October 1-7, with the theme of "Let Freedom Read." Always an event that booksellers feel passionately about, in 2023 Banned Books Week has taken on extra significance for Southern indie bookstores. Stores have found their communities, customers, and even their businesses targeted by an upsurge of book bans and book challenges, most of which are directed at stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ persons. Yet, the fact remains that most Americans, about seventy percent, are opposed to banning books. The chances are, your local bookstore will be hosting events, displays, and discussions for Banned Books Week, so now is a good time to check in with them and make your plans for the first week of October. Many stores have also created merchandise for people to wear/pin/drink from/put in their car windows to show support and solidarity for the right to read. Copperfish Books in Tampa, Florida (a state with one of the highest numbers of book challenges in the country for the past school year) has created t-shirts in support of Florida writers whose books have been targeted. If you order yours by the 15th, you should have it in time to wear it to the shop for their Banned Books Week events. Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary, Women
A September 2023 Read This Next Book! Full confession, I adore Lauren Groff, her writing and subject matter are exactly my cup of tea, so it is unlikely that I would not like this book. That said, I was a little skeptical, I kept turning the pages wondering when she was going to be rescued, live happily ever after with her Native husband? This is not that story. What this is, is an amazing meditation on what it means to be alive, to want to stay alive, and the big question, why do we live at all. What if everything you have learned about life in your time on earth is stripped away and you are left with a more beautiful and brutal understanding of God and the world? (I also love that she wrote a draft in iambic pentameter just for fun and to get into the rhythm of the language of the time, it makes my nerdy heart go pitter pat!). Thank you Lauren Groff for writing books for book lovers like me. Reviewed by Jessica Osborne from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, GA |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner 
“I remember being a furious child. Small and blonde, bookish and talkative, I hated how often I was “baby,” how often I was “cute.” I wanted to be loud, strong, and powerful. I wanted to fight my brothers and my cousins, strength to strength, arm to arm, bloody noses and bruises. Worse was when they started getting bigger, taller, stronger. Worse is that being as loud as the lads was ‘annoying’ (them), ‘boisterous and unladylike’ (adults), ‘disruptive’ (teachers). I’m sure I was all of those things, but it was early that I understood that there was one expectation for ‘girls’, one for ‘boys’, and you were expected to fit neatly into one or the other.” ― Hannah Kaner, Interview, Fantasy Book Cafe What booksellers are saying about Godkiller 
About Hannah Kaner Hannah Kaner is the #1 internationally bestselling author of Godkiller. A Northumbian writer living in Scotland, she is inspired by world mythologies, angry women, speculative fiction, and the stories we tell ourselves about being human. |
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Chenneville by Paulette Jiles Adult Fiction, Civil War Era, Fiction, Historical Paulette Jiles has written another amazing book on post civil war Texas. John Chenneville comes home to Missouri after a devastating head injury that left him hospitalized for over a year. Upon returning home he finds that his beloved sister, her husband and new baby have been murdered. Chenneville sets out on a journey to bring the killer to justice. Along the way he encounters all types of people trying to make their way in the world after the devastation of civil war. The author does an outstanding job of bringing these characters to life, the same as she did in News of the World. Reviewed by Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida |
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The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay Adult Nonfiction, African American & Black, Biography & Autobiography, Cultural, Essays, Ethnic & Regional, Literary Collections, Personal Memoirs Ross Gay is an ambassador of pure joy—not the sugar-coated, roll-your-eyes kind of happiness, but the subversive, wink-and-nod kind of delectation. Whether he is comparing clusters of harvested sweet potatoes to snuggled bunnies or finding beauty at his aunt’s funeral, Gay’s eye for the oft-overlooked wonders of life is unrivaled, and his conversational, familiar delivery is perfection. Each tiny essay in this beautiful book digresses again and again, which, no surprise, makes it all the more delightful. Do we need a book of more delights? Yes, yes, yes. This book is a ray of sunshine, a juicy peach, a warm hug, a sunflower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr Coming of Age, Novels in Verse, Sexual Abuse, Young Adult Fiction All the Fighting Parts is a much needed book. The verse format makes it a quick read, but it spares no punches, delving deep into the heart of one sexual assault survivor’s journey through grief, guilt, resistance, and reclamation. Healing is a journey through, not a journey’s end; and while the powers of her local church are stacked against her, her loved ones (whom she withdraws from in the aftermath) learn how to support her through every step. It’s poignant and oh-so relevant. Amina’s story is unlike anything I’ve read before, and I hope with all my might that All the Fighting Parts falls into the hands of those who need it most. Reviewed by Isabel Agajanian, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida |
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There’s Always Room for One More by Robyn McGrath Children, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Multigenerational, New Experience This picture book is so sweet. It would make the perfect book for a child whose family is going through same changes (in this case, making room for a grandfather coming to live with them). I love the message that it is OK to feel a sense of loss for the parts of life that will be different, but that making space for those we love sometimes requires us to give up things we loved in the past and replace them with things we can learn to like even more. Both the story and the pictures are filled with heart!. Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Phoebe’s Diary by Phoebe Wahl Comics & Graphic Novels, Coming of Age, Young Adult Fiction Incredibly earnest, honest account (in graphic novel form!) of a teenage theatre kid navigating the move to public high school from an unschooling/homeschool education in a smallish city in the Pacific NorthWest. I love Phoebe Wahl’s art and children’s books (she illustrates and writes), and I adored her peek into the boy-obsessed, music-loving, art-driven world she creates from her own teenage diaries. I laughed out loud, cringed, cried, and cheered. If you loved Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, you’ll love Phoebe’s Diary. Reviewed by Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki Banned Books, Comics & Graphic Novels, Coming of Age, Friendship, Girls & Women, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction This poignant story paints those subtle shifts from childhood to adulthood for Rose as she spends time at a lake house with her parents, who are going through a rough patch, and her younger friend Windy, who suddenly seems immature. It’s a quiet story, full of melancholy and growing pains, but still so lovely and achingly honest. Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
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Parting Thought “What a blessing it is to love books.” |
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Publisher:
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance /
siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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The Southern Bookseller Review 9/12/23 Read More »
An August 2023 Read This Next! Title
