The Southern Bookseller Review 11/23/25
The week of November 23, 2025
Southern bookstores feed their communities.
When the government shut down and SNAP benefits were revoked for millions of Americans, Southern indie bookstores were among the many small businesses that stepped up for their communities. And even though SNAP benefits have been reinstated, many vulnerable households are still set to potentially permanently lose them. A Congressional Budget Office report published in August estimated that more than 3 million Americans could lose assistance over the next few years. Here are just some of the things Southern bookstores are doing to help:
Baldwin & Co., New Orleans, LA is holding a “Friendsgiving Brunch” on November 22 to give away free food and toys and gifts for children to help families prepare for the holidays.
Bigfoot Books & Brews, Marion, NC: For every drink sold, they donate $1 to Foothills Food Hub for families in need.
Book Exchange, Marietta, GA: Running a food donation drive for Must Ministries Donation Center.
The Book Tavern, Augusta, GA: Through November 26, running a non-perishable food donation drive for Golden Harvest Food Bank, and donating 10% of profits to the food bank.
The Book Worm Bookstore, Powder Springs, GA has established a “free shelf” inside the store filled with canned goods and personal care items to offer support to neighbors. Customers who donate receive 10% off one book as a thank you.
Bookish, Atlanta, GA has launched the “Bookish Mutual Aid Pantry” in East Atlanta for toiletries and basic household items.
Brave + Kind Books, Decatur, GA is collecting non-perishable food items for local food pantries.
Charis Books & More, Decatur, GA donated a percentage of sales during their birthday weekend (November 8-9) to New Disabled South’s food assistance program for disabled people in the South.
Dickson Street Bookshop, Fayetteville, AR ran a food donation drive for the NWA Food Bank from November 3-17.
Ernest & Hadley Books, Tuscaloosa, AL is using their “Brick House” event space to collect shelf stable food to donate to Grace Presbyterian Church’s Table of Grace food pantry.
Hub City Bookshop, Spartanburg, SC is running a donation drive for Total Ministries, who have provided food and financial support to the Spartanburg community since 1982. Customers who donate receive 10% off a store purchase.
Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA is running a donation drive of non-perishable food items and toiletries for the Decatur-area Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM) through the end of the month.
M. Judson Booksellers, Greenville, SC: During the month of November, running a food drive for Harvest Hope, a local nonprofit serving more than 20 counties in South Carolina. Customers who donate five or more food items receive a coupon for a free drip coffee, cookie, or tea.
My Sisters Books, Pawleys Island, SC is collecting food items for the Baskervill Food Pantry. Folks who donate receive an MSB&G scratcher filled with surprise savings.
Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC is collecting non-perishable items for the local food bank.
Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN is collecting donations for Second Harvest at Ann Patchett’s holiday office hours (Mondays in November).
Queer Haven Books, Columbia, SC is partnering with other local businesses to hold a canned food drive during the month of November.
Storybook Shoppe, Bluffton, SC is running their 9th annual Pajama Drive for Child Abuse Prevention Associates (CAPA). Each pair of pajamas donated is matched with a book so children receive both as a holiday gift.
Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, FL is running a community donation drive through the end of the year for non-perishable food items, hygiene products, and infant supplies, to be donated to the St. Pete Free Clinic.
Underbrush Books, Rogers, AR ran a food donation drive for local food pantries. Customers who donated received 10% off a store purchase.
There is so much good will in the bookselling community! Check in with your local bookstore to see how you can help.
by Candice Huber, Membership Coordinator The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
Happy reading!
Featuring reviews of:
- The Definitions by Matt Greene, reviewed by Gabriela Warner, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- The Living and the Dead by Christoffer Carlsson, reviewed by Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
- The Uncool by Cameron Crowe, reviewed by Sarah Goldstein, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia
- Anzuelo by Emma Rios, reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
- The Coziest Place on the Moon by Maria Popova, reviewed by Julia Lewis, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
- The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, reviewed by Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
- The Mad Wife by Meagan Church, reviewed by Morgan Gayles, The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia
- Bookseller Buzz: Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts, reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina, Michelle Cavalier, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana, Thais Perkins, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas
The Southern Bookseller Review 11/23/25 Read More »
The Southern Book Prize chooses six finalists in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers. Each finalist has been put forward by Southern independent booksellers as the "best of the year" in their category. 
There are books whose urgency barely needs to be articulated because it’s so evident within the work itself, and Hunchback seemed to me like one of those: it burns itself right into the mind of the reader. It’s a cinematic work, that conjures up a dense and vivid world with very little, so the language needed a lot of honing, to make sure that it was hitting all of those imagistic notes in the way that they needed to. I’d say the principal narrative voice came to me quite quickly and intuitively, but there are lots of shifts of register within the span of the book, which took quite a lot of time and attention to capture. ”
What I really enjoy about writing love stories is the little moments that feel just as important as the big love declarations. I think it’s the acts of service, the little thoughtful things that each character will do for the other. In each of my books, there’s a moment that I can narrow down to, of consideration and thoughtfulness in a physical, tangible way. The way that Bo [Out on a Limb] goes about splitting their expenses. It’s not a grand declaration of love, but it’s respect, and it’s an understanding and communication, and it’s showing somebody who is really capable of having awkward conversations when wanting to take care of somebody. And wanting to look after someone with respect in mind. Or like Caleb in Out of the Woods, when Sarah is upset because they’re going camping and they don’t have any electricity. She doesn’t bring her Kindle, but he brings it, and he buys her a solar charger. It’s this little way of like letting someone know that they’re seen and their past influences matter
I’ve always been a writer who puts character first, and when I embarked on writing this novel, I was prepared for some deep character dives. But Buckeye is larger in scope and size than anything I’d ever attempted, and I had no idea of the depths that awaited me… What I learned–what I keep learning, as a writer–is that when you bring a lot of characters together, a story emerges, and it’s not always the story you thought you were going to write.
When it comes to emotionality in the book, I wanted to portray how — this goes along with the ambiguity — multiple contradictory feelings can exist simultaneously within one person, and how our feelings may change over the day, over an hour, and over a year and a lifetime. Even the simplest things can be the hardest to say. For example, Bo really wants to tell Hans how proud he is. He tries to say it throughout the whole book. It was super frustrating to write. “Come on, Bo! You can do it!” It’s a simple and good emotion, right? You think that it should be easy, but a lifetime of normative training combined with the recurring conflicting aspects of the relationship get in the way. And in this sense, I was very inspired by my own father and grandfather. My grandfather told me how proud he was of my father and how well he’d done in life and so on, but he couldn’t tell my father that. But of course I did, and it made my dad happy. But there’s something that makes certain feelings really hard to express.
