The Southern Bookseller Review 7/8/25
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The week of July 8, 2025 Read These Next! Young Readers: Celebrating the Dark 
I Wanna Be Your Girl Vol. 1 by Umi Takase The Little Ghost Quilt’s Winter Surprise by Riel Nason, Byron and Eggenschwiler Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe A Treachery of Swans by A. B. Poranek Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Williams, Sas Milledge (Illus.) Current Read This Next! books and what SIBA booksellers have to say about them can always be found at The Southern Bookseller Review. Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
It may be the height of a bright and sunny summer, but the Read This Next! Kids list for July and August celebrates the dark. From ghosts and ravens to the moonlit garden of everyone’s favorite gardener, Millie Fleur, the books on the July/August list invite us to enjoy the warm and weird summer nights as much as we do the brilliant blue skies of summer days.|
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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What Is Queer Food? by John Birdsall Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, History John Birdsall is the winner of two James Beard awards for food and culture writing and the author of The Many Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard (which I also devoured!!). Focused on the European and American food scenes starting in the late 19th century. Birdsall deftly combines food writing and cultural history in this book he was born to write. Swinging by the tables of Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Alice B. Toklas, and others, we are shown the intersections between fashion, music, art, and food. It’s deliciously dishy, but also deeply substantive. If I could give Michelin stars to a book, I would give this 3 stars! (That’s the most you can give, btw). Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Books in Richmond, Virginia |
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When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén Adult Fiction, Family Life My heart is in pieces after finishing Lisa Ridzen’s beautiful, heartbreaking novel. When the Cranes Fly South is the tender story of Bo, an elderly man navigating the challenges of his 89 years. His frank observations on the betrayals of his body and mind are balanced with heartfelt recollections of his childhood and special times with his wife and son. I don’t think I’ve read a book that so delicately captures the loss of independence and dignity an aging parent feels when they are no longer able to make their own decisions. This is an emotional, important read that highlights the agency and empathy we all need during the last days of life. Reviewed by Anderson McKean, Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama |
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These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean Adult Fiction, Women Sarah MacLean strikes again! Her first contemporary fiction novel gives us her signature sexy romance in the midst of ultra-rich, dysfunctional family dynamics after the death of a billionaire patriarch. I couldn’t put it down, but I also wanted to savor every moment of it. A perfect summer read that I’ll be recommending to everyone. Reviewed by Claire McWhorter, River & Hill Books in Rome, Georgia |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang
― Neon Yang, Interview, OutSFL Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang 
Neon Yang (they/them) is the author of four other novellas (The Red Threads of Fortune, The Black Tides of Heaven, The Descent of Monsters, and The Ascent to Godhood) and one novel (The Genesis of Misery). Born and raised in Singapore, they currently live in the UK where they spend their days avoiding productivity by playing video games. Find them on social media @itsneonyang. |
I don’t know it there’s an inspiration per se other than “I like dragons, and I like lady knights, I want to write a book about those things.” And so I did. “Brighter Than Scale” tells the story of Yeva, a dragon hunter with special abilities who was absorbed into empire against her will as a child and, as an adult, is sent as an ambassador to a nation that worships dragons as part of her emperor’s territorial aggressions. There she meets the girl-king Sookhee, the charismatic leader of the nation. But their growing relationship is threatened when Yeva uncovers secrets that will challenge the way she sees the world, and herself. The book may appear to be a queer love story, and it is indeed a queer love story, but at its core I think it’s about identity, it’s about finding your place and finding yourself in a world which constantly wants to erase you. |
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The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley Fantasy, Fiction, Romance
A July Read This Next! Title I somehow have to figure out a way to live with myself and the desire to read the next book in this duology. The urgency to find out what happens next is already clawing at me. Brigitte Knightley is my newest shero. I love everything that makes The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy, just that- irresistible. It’s so funny and smart. I tried unsuccessfully to smother my laughter while in public waiting rooms, doctor offices, and any place I could read. Knightley credits a number of literary stars for inspiring them, and it showed especially in the word choices. In particular, the language Osric and Aurienne use to skewer each other with every verbal exchange. There were words I had to immediately look up the definition for, making the reading experience richer. Each word was well picked and placed. When I started reading, I had no hope of anything developing between Osric and Aurienne. At the end of this book, I want nothing more than to remove everything keeping them apart. If you’re looking for something that will live in your head rent-free once you’re finished, then this book is for you. It’s a delicious slow burn that will have you falling for the characters, kicking your heels with delight, and turning the pages as fast as you can.Reviewed by Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Georgia |
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Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li Adult Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Collections A transcendent work that I’ll be thinking about forever. A book about living–applying precision to life’s formless mysteries, chiseling them out–much more than a book about grief. An act of generosity and courage, undertaken with breathtaking intelligence. Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama |
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A Mastery of Monsters by Liselle Sambury Contemporary, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction Amazing amazing amazing!! From the first chapter, I was immediately drawn into the story and only put it down when absolutely necessary. If you love Legendborn like I do, this is the book for you. I loved!! the main ensemble, and watching each of their dynamics grow against the backdrop of the story was beyond enjoyable. The budding forbidden, slow-burn romance alongside the steady increasing tension was chef’s kiss. Can’t wait for the second one! Reviewed by Sol Johnson, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina |
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Tyger by SF Said Children, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Portals & Alternate Worlds Tyger is a breathtaking story of courage, creativity, and resistance. SF Said weaves a powerful tale of magic and change, brought to life by Dave McKean’s stunning illustrations. With themes of anticolonialism, anticapitalism, and the power of empathy, this book reminds us that young minds can shape the world, if only we let them. Reviewed by Hezekiah Olorode, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia |
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Espada by Anabel Colazo Comics & Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction There is so much push and pull in this story of a magical Princess who does not believe she alone should have the power she’s been given by her adopted mother, the queen. A beautifully illustrated graphic novel that focuses on the stories that are told. Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer Banned Books, Fiction, Literary A hypnotic onion of a puzzle…peel back one layer and find more questions, fewer answers. All the more triumphant in its building frustration, eventual catharsis. Area X is all of us and none of us, nowhere and everywhere, peering at us with a thousand impossible eyes. Reviewed by Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “Discomfort is always a necessary part of enlightenment.” |
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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 7/8/25 Read More »
Rhys is a former environmental reporter for a local newspaper. I was a newspaper reporter for about seven years, and still think of myself in many ways, almost as a spot-news novelist. So, I’m still drawn to write stories as they’re happening.
There’s a part in the novel when [the protagonist] Corby says he thinks that women are just stronger than men because it’s women who come and visit the prisoners. Whether they are grandmothers who are taking care of the kids and wearing their convalescent home pinafores, girlfriends, or so forth—it’s women who show up. That was my experience when I would go to visit our son. Often, I’d be one of the few men who went into the visiting room; usually, it was another father. And sometimes I would be the only guy in the visiting room. I don’t think it’s because men are necessarily cold. They don’t necessarily detach from loved ones who are male. I think so many of men’s problems come down to fear. It’s not that women don’t live with fear, but that they can more easily voice that fear.
What’s in your book bag?
I wanted to write a controlled, intense, strange, sensual, truthful novel set firmly in a genre I’m increasingly thinking of as wonder. You can watch a romcom where someone is covered with bees and they’re terrified, and you’re laughing, so their experience is not the same as your experience. Likewise, you can be watching a horror film, and they think they’re having a normal Monday, and you know better. That’s where the horror happens.
I like my stories to be immersive. I am a visual person when writing and reading. So to me, it’s all part of the characterization: the way that they wear clothes, what the clothes look like, what they look like. I also want it to be a lived-in world. So let’s talk about getting dirty. Let’s talk about taking baths. Let’s think about chapped lips. When I watch particularly fantasy content, I almost look for these things because it is a layer of grittiness that I like, a texture in a story, that I feel is real. The Knight and the Moth was really fun, like gossamer versus armor. You can look into themes of these things too and apply them to the story, or you can decide to read them very literally.
I guess a lot of the fantasy I read as a kid was very much in the shadow of Tolkien, and in Lord of the Rings there is an objective right and wrong. You either give in to Sauron or you fight him, and the text leaves no doubt which is good and which evil. Not that I ever lost interest in Gandalf and Aragorn but as the years went on I started to find Saruman and Boromir more interesting. People who fall from grace, or rise to it. Characters in flux, in turmoil, weighing greater good against personal good, with mixed motives, with uncertain outcomes. People who surprise the reader. In our world, everyone thinks they’re in the right. Battles aren’t of good against evil, but one man’s good against another’s.
I could spend years in a cookbook shop and never get bored. Where do I begin? I love the weirdness of cookbooks; how they capture the larger culture of a specific time-period and tell the tale through the prism of food. Take, for example, one of my cookbook treasures: The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Cookbook by Robin Leach. It’s a time capsule of the eighties — glass block, Dynasty-style hairdos, Brooke Shields — and the food is as awful as the fashion. Or another favorite: A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent and Mary Price, a collection of all the menus that the famous horror maestro and his wife collected over their world travels in the ‘40s and ‘50s and the meals that they hosted for their friends in their exquisite Hollywood home. If I could jump into the pages of a cookbook, it might be that one.
Food has always been an obsession of mine, but I had never written it really into my fiction, aside from, occasionally describing what somebody was eating, describing a flavor somebody remembered. But this was the first time where, I think years of reading cookbooks, of watching cooking shows, of watching my parents cook, of cooking myself, and experiencing different flavors and different cuisines, and being really tuned into that…I think this was when all of that sort of manifested. This was my first try at writing something that felt like eating. And there were even moments where I would try to eat the foods that I was describing to get the mouth feel right…I completely invented recipes for for several of the dishes in Aftertaste that wind up being these sort of spiritual connections that can bring a spirit back. And in some cases, I would attempt to make the flavors, but in most cases, I just knew in my head what it would taste like from from just experiencing cooking and experiencing flavors. I would use that sort of intuition, also paired with what that character needed at the time. So I think one of the things in Aftertaste that happens is that the food is never just the food. The food is really evocative of a particular flavor of memory. So is it they’re sweet? Is it? Is it something that really disturbs the spirit that’s trying to come back? Is it something warm? Is it something that they’re excited to taste again? Is it a recollection that buoys them, or is it something that crushes them?
