A seasonal list of the favorite books of Southern indie booksellers, for your reading pleasure!
[PREVIOUS READ THIS NEXT! TITLES]
Rouge by Mona Awad
A September 2023 Read This Next Book!
Reading this book felt a lot like moving through a dream. The surreal horror and red-soaked imagery stuck with me long after finishing the book. Mona Awad does an excellent job making commentary on beauty standards and the beauty industry in a very unique way. Plus, Tom Cruise!
Rouge by Mona Awad, (List Price: 28, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, 9781982169695, September 2023)
Reviewed by Hallee Israel, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
The Six by Loren Grush
A September 2023 Read This Next Book!
I dressed up as Sally Ride in the fourth grade after visiting the Johnson Space Center, and I’ve been a fan ever since! I have spent hours reading books and watching documentaries about all things NASA for years of my life, but I still learned so many new things reading this book. The new insight that Grush brings to this era of NASA history is fascinating; by telling the story though the perspectives of the first six women astronauts she situates the space shuttle in a way I have not seen before. She also has a knack for explaining complicated engineering or scientific concepts in very clear, short paragraphs, which I really appreciated! This will be a great addition to any space fan’s library.
The Six by Loren Grush, (List Price: $32.5, Scribner, 9781982172800, September 2023)
Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
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.
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, (List Price: 28, Riverhead Books, 9780593418390, September 2023)
Reviewed by Jessica Osborne from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, GA
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
A September 2023 Read This Next Book!
Andrew Joseph White’s phenomenal debut, Hell Followed With Us, would seem like a tough act to follow but White’s fans won’t be disappointed: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is just as incredible. White tackles the overlapping ways in which misogyny, transphobia, and ableism manifest in society through a ghost-infested finishing school where protagonist Silas Bell must work with the spirits of deceased students to expose the school’s medical and psychiatric abuses and break free of the system’s tyrannical rule. Gut-wrenching yet gorgeous, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a necessary and impressive addition to both LGBTQ and horror lit.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White, (List Price: 19.99, Peachtree Books, 9781682636114, September 2023)
Reviewed by Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles
A September 2023 Read This Next Book!
This review is just me screaming to anyone who will listen what an absolute joy it is to read KJ Charles. The newest Doomsday book has us returning once again to Romney Marsh and cheering like crazy for Luke and Rufus to get their well deserved HEA. Hijinks, hilarity and heart stopping charm, Charles is a must read for historical romance lovers.
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255880, September 2023)
Reviewed by Katie Garaby, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee