A seasonal list of the favorite books of Southern indie booksellers, for your reading pleasure!
[PREVIOUS READ THIS NEXT! TITLES]
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
A May 2023 Read This Next! Title
A dark, satirical mindfuck of discourse and cancellation. Yellowface is cutting and incisive, and Kuang did an excellent job of establishing a contemptible main character (in first person POV, no less) who you still hoped, sickeningly, would find her way out of the situation she put herself in. The last 15% or so bordered on psychological horror, and I found myself genuinely freaked by some of Kuang’s imagery. A doomed, twisted ride.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, (List Price: 30, William Morrow, 9780063250833, May 2023)
Reviewed by Gaby Iori, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson
A May 2023 Read This Next! Title
Ziggy is just a regular kid. Well, a regular kid who encounters talking coyotes, singing frogs, prophesying snakes, truth-telling horses, a very interesting Grandma, and Nunnehi- spirits who protect those of Cherokee descent. Funny, sad, wise, and jam-packed with adventure, Ziggy’s story, The Storyteller, may be the very best book you’ll read in 2023.
The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson, (List Price: 17.99, Scholastic Press, 9781338797268, May 2023)
Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
A May 2023 Read This Next! Title
Crushing like a hammer and sharp as a scythe, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a master class of brutality drenched in grace. From the first page, Adjei-Brenyah exposes our inherent complicity and demands a good, long look inward, and asks what we’re gonna do about it. It’s powerful, exciting, horrifying, and an utterly outstanding feat of contemporary literature. It’s speculative fiction that feels so close to reality that it’s shockingly unsurprising and brilliantly difficult to endure. Damn.
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, (List Price: $27.00, Pantheon, 9780593317334, May 2023)
Reviewed by Carly Crawford, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
A May 2023 Read This Next! Title
What if a book, written from an imagined childhood story, could unlock mysteries of the past and reunite lost loved ones? That’s precisely what happens in The Secret Book of Flora Lea, and Henry lets it all unfold with expert storytelling. This is a beautiful tale of the powers of stories and love. I loved how this book highlights the use of stories to provide comfort in chaos and create bonds that transcend distance and time. I fell deeply in love with Whisperwood and the characters of this lovely novel. This book is one that, upon finishing it, you close it gently, hold it close to your heart, wipe your tears, and smile before you set it down.
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry, (List Price: 28.99, Atria Books, 9781668011836, May 2023)
Reviewed by Jess Depew, The Snail On the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama
We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard
A May 2023 Read This Next! Title
A unique take on a memoir (kind of) that immediately hurls you into Hannah Pittard’s crumbling world. Her husband has just cheated on her with her best friend. Recounting conversations over a decade, Pittard brings a mix of fact and fiction at times as well when recalling memories with friends, families, and others. The first part’s structure is phenomenal: Told in a play-like format that jumps throughout the years and touches on conversations of eating disorders, infidelity, grief, and just the tender human experience. A book that truly bares its soul to the world, and it pays off in the best way possible.
We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard, (List Price: 26.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250869043, May 2023)
Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia