|
|
|
|
The week of February 11, 2025 Storytelling in the Aisles: Meet Plenty Books
The Plenty approach is organic and holistic. Uhrik says they think about "the big story" they want to tell, and then let it inform everything else. "We think about connected, individual power stories that spring from our own lives and from book inspirations. The art of a connected story is our aim that encompasses everything we do.
The goal is to create a kind of labyrinth, an experience that draws people in and asks them to explore, rather than just making a beeline for the mystery or romance section for a quick stop to pick up something to read. Uhrik says, "We hope to be like a visit to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood where new "neighbors" in the forms of real people and characters in books become new friends." Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
Plenty
“I think we may have an unusual level of interest in storytelling through display," says Lisa Uhrik. "In our connected media and content, our front windows, and our displays (which means in every shelf in the bookshop) we are trying to practice the art of good writing."
Our shelves are like sentences, our cases are like paragraphs and our special displays pull from something genuine and real — an honest statement from one of our book staff designed to speak to one person. It’s about the way the books are arranged with book adjacent things. For some, it may be a different way of thinking about how we help our shelves talk and be true curated extensions of our hearts and minds."Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
|
|
Black in Blues by Imani Perry Adult Nonfiction, African American & Black, History A stunning, kaleidoscopic work of intense research and imagination, spanning centuries, disciplines, and profoundly moving possibilities, from one of our most innovative thinkers. Perry’s writing deserves its own rich shade of blue. I was totally transported by this book, and the depth of love and feeling that created it. Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama |
|
|
Inverno by Cynthia Zarin Adult Fiction, Literary Elegant and beautiful prose. This books reads like memory, floating from thought to thought and back again. Looping ideas and theories, childhood revelries and desires. A slender and stunning example of literary experimental fiction where love and life coincide. Reviewed by Rachel Brewer, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky |
|
|
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Romance Vampires that are kings, a mortal who is becoming his queen who he worships at her feet even though she doesn’t trust him. Everything you could want and expect from Scarlett St. Clair when it comes to spice, romance, and an easy to follow fantasy. I was hooked and ready to fall down at King Adrian’s feet from the start, and my love was solidified as the book went on. Isolde is a princess who was raised to be a queen and she is no docile pet either, she has an attitude and is a warrior first before you is a queen. She keeps getting these visions that feel like she was there before, of her and King Adrian, but she most definitely wasn’t there, or was she? As she comes to terms with what King Adrian is and her place as a queen she also has to face a deadly mist of magic that is taking over their lands and killing people by the hundreds. Will these two come to trust each other in every way and overcome what is set out to tear them apart? Reviewed by Kelli Dynia, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bookseller Buzz |
 |
|
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad 
Last year I started writing about what it feels like to live in this part of the world and essentially watch my tax dollars pay to finance wholesale slaughter. And for basically the next year it was all I could write about, it was the only thing I was able to put down on paper, and the result is this book. I think of it as sort of part memoir, part of it is about my life my experiences from a very early age and why I sound like this, why I speak this language, the sense that I’ve been attuned to the west from a very early age as this place where there are these underlying foundational principles of fairness and equal justice and so on. And to be in this moment, this culmination of so many previous moments, where I’m questioning all of that. The other part of the book is essentially an accounting of the last year of waking up every morning and seeing evidence of the worst things that human beings can do to one another, and trying to exist in that framework. It’s the kind of book that’s going to barge in through the door pretending to be an argument. In truth I’m not trying to argue with anyone, I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind. Ishiguro once said that ‘all literature essentially boils down to someone saying this is what it feels like for me, can you hear me? Does it also feel that way for you?’ And I think that’s essentially what this book is. ― Omar El Akkad, Interview, The Lighthouse Bookshop What booksellers are saying about One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This 
Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager, and now lives in the United States. He is a two-time winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and the Oregon Book Award for fiction. His books have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, American War, was named by the BBC as one of one hundred novels that shaped our world. |
 |
|
|
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito Dark Humor, Fiction, Horror, Humorous, Satire, Suspense, Thrillers
A February Read This Next! Title I’ve been trying to think of words to describe Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho, and I’ve come up with: propulsive, visceral, disorienting, and riveting. The writing barrels you toward an ending that I was prepared to find shocking, but still managed to surprise me. I was amazed at how funny Feito is in the midst of the absolute chaos on the page and how big of a punch she managed to pack into a novella. You know exactly what you are getting into from page one: Virginia Feito grabs you by the neck (with her teeth) and does not relent until long after you’ve finished the book. Winifred Notty will haunt you, and since she can’t kill you, she will have to settle for that. Reviewed by Chelsea Bauer, union ave books in Knoxville, Tennessee |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alligator Tears: A Memoir in Essays by Edgar Gomez Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Hispanic & Latino, LGBTQ+, Memoirs Edgar Gomez’s memoir in essays is spectacular. He writes with clarity and ease when discussing his life as a queer Latinx person trying to navigate the difficulties inherent in those identities growing up in Florida. I’ll always remember his recounting of the Pulse shooting and the impact that had on him. Reviewed by Daniel Jordan, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas |
|
|
Where Shadows Bloom by Catherin Bakewell Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult Fiction Bakewell writes fantasies that leave me feeling charmed, comforted, and optimistic. Where Shadows Bloom is as much a love letter to the power of storytelling as it is a fantastical romance between its two lovelorn leads. Compassion and sensitivity leaps off the page. A marvelous read for younger YA readers. Reviewed by Isabel Agajanian, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida |
|
|
Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan Cars & Trucks, Children, Juvenile Fiction, Transportation Full of bright colors and illustrations that move right off the page, Every Monday Mabel is what I’d call an "everyday picture book" — something that is good for reading at any time. What I loved the most about this book is that the reader is held in a bit of suspense — what is Mabel doing that everyone is commenting on? When you find out, it turns a stereotype on its head in a pleasantly unexpected way. I love the connection the author creates on the last spreads as we see Mabel as a part of a much larger community. Reviewed by Jamie Southern, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
|
|
The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Romance, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
A January/February Read This Next! Kids Title You’ll want to get your little ink-stained hands on this one as soon as possible! Maeve is getting by in her world by never staying in one place for long and changing her name with every move. See, her father was a known murderer and everyone thinks Maeve is dead. But when she received a letter from seven years ago from an anonymous "friend" claiming that her father is innocent, she must find out the truth. To do this, she’ll have to take on a new identity and apprentice with the Otherwhere Post: the only people who can cross words now (supposedly thanks to her father) to deliver messages. But can she find out the truth before she’s found out herself? Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
|
Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
|
|
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas Banned Books, Young Adult Fiction. Coming Of Age Through On The Come Up, Angie Thomas proves she is FAR from a one-hit-wonder. This remarkable story is told through the protagonist Bri Jackson, an aspiring rapper who has the talent to be one of the greats but whose passion is often mislabeled as "aggression" by the white authority figures in her life. It seems like every move she makes; someone is there to knock her down. At home, things are not much better, as the oppressive systems in place seem to ensure that Bri’s mother can’t fully get back on her feet financially after recovering from drug use. Bri wants to make it big as a rapper because it’s her dream, but she is fueled even more by the desire to lift her family out of poverty, forcing her to choose between what is authentic and what will make money. Through this and other sub-plots in the book, Thomas brilliantly demonstrates the ways in which poverty stands as indivisible from other aspects of a person’s life. It dictates choices (sometimes to leave college or start selling drugs), weighs on the brain, fills the stomach with uncooked food, and follows Bri around as closely as possible, down to the soles of her worn-down fake Timberlands. She bears the weight of her family’s financial circumstances alongside trying to negotiate racial discrimination at her school, budding romances, and taking the freakin’ ACT. Despite and because of it all, Bri is lyrical, brilliant, confident, and exactly the kind of role model we need in American literature today. Reviewed by Olivia Gacka, Novel in Memphis, Tennessee |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” |
|
Publisher:
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance /
siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
You have received this email because you are currently subscribed to receive The Southern Bookseller Review.
Please click @@unsubscribe_url@@ if you no longer wish to receive these communications.