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The week of February 13, 2024 Shop Black.
According to the indie bookstore-supporting website Bookshop.org, there are more than 100 Black-owned bookstores across the United States. The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, the parent organization of The Southern Bookseller Review, lists more than 30 Black-owned independent bookstores in the Southeast: Stores like The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia, which was recently featured in USA Today for their work in promoting literacy in their community. 
Owner Julia Davis says the store motto is "Where love is shared as much as stories," and that customers often see the bookstore as place of refuge, a place where everyone is welcomed. The American Independent Business Alliance notes that when people spend money at Black-owned local businesses it has a tangible positive effect on the local community and local economy. It boosts more local business ownership, encourages local investing, and increases community wealth. Even if there is not a local black-owned bookstore in your town, there may well be one in your county or state. Use the store finder on Bookshop to find a Black-owned business to support. Shop (and click!) Black. Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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Madness by Antonia Hylton Adult Nonfiction, African American & Black, Discrimination, History, Mental Health, Psychology Hylton’s Madness shines a light on the intersection of systemic racism and mental health and the legacy of de-institutionalization. Crownsville in Maryland was once the only asylum that accepted Black patients and also served as an unofficial jail for the same population, where some families would never know that their loved one had lived and died within its walls. Antonia Hylton treats this topic with the care it deserves, weaving in her own family’s hardships with mental illness and the oral histories of the workers and patients of Crownsville. A necessary read for anyone interested in equity and anti-racist medicine. Reviewed by Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan Adult Fiction, Epic, Fantasy Tales is the perfect, sweet wrap-up for the beautiful world Sue Lynn Tan welcomed us into with Daughter of the Moon Goddess. With stunning art, and little tidbits that explain so much of the story we didn’t know before, it’s everything we readers could have asked for and more. A gift to treasure. Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers by Sarah Tomlinson 
I decided when I was 16 that I was going to be a novelist. I sold my first book when I was 46, so I’ve been chasing this dream for a while. My mom was a librarian, and so we had a very book-friendly culture. My mom and I still do this when I go home to visit: One of us will put down a book and the other one will pick it up and start reading it. We’re just constantly reading books and talking about them—and giving each other books. I grew up in rural Maine, which, at that point, was very closed-minded. I got completely ostracized. If I had been a guy, I would’ve been beat up all throughout high school. What booksellers are saying about The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers 
Sarah Tomlinson, a former music journalist, has been a ghostwriter since 2008, penning more than twenty books, including five New York Times bestsellers. In 2015, she published the father-daughter memoir, Good Girl (Gallery Books). She wrote The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, her first novel, in between assignments for a who’s who of celebrity clients. |
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The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard Adult Fiction, Women 
A February Read This Next! Title In a world where one may travel 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past just to take a look at what happened/will happen, which would you choose? This is the world where The Other Valley exists. Would you go back to just see the face of a loved one no longer with you? Would you go forward to see the future? For readers of David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro, this book has you asking yourself "what would I do?". And what would you do if your job was to police the time trips of those who wished to visit the other Valleys? Great choice for book clubs! Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia |
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Birding to Change the World by Trish O’Kane Adult Nonfiction, Animals, Birds, Nature I’m not a birder but have come to have a great appreciation for compelling stories of birders. O’Kane’s memoir of birding intertwined with environmental and social justice taught me so much, piercing my heart and challenging what I thought I knew about ecology. A must-read for anyone who cares about being a better human and neighbor to all beings. Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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The Dark Fable by Katherine Harbour Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction Fans of heist stories with a supernatural twist will adore this new novel by Katherine Harbour! Evie is just getting by, holding down three jobs and squatting in the attic of a boarding house. But when she’s working as a catering waiter at an auction, and the prime item is stolen, she finds herself being recruited by an elite group of thieves known as The Dark Fable. Eager for the family she’s missing, she joins up but soon finds more than she anticipated. This was a great story that kept me turning the pages long after I should have gone to bed! Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
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Love, Escargot by Dashka Slater Children, Holidays & Celebrations, Juvenile Fiction, Valentine’s Day OOOh La La! Escargot, the adorable French gastropod is back for another adventure. Today is Snailentine’s Day, and Escargot is (slowly) on the way to a tres bonne fete with canapés, crudités , dancing and beautiful cards to exchange with the one who makes you feel magnifique! Silly, fun, and just a little French, Escargot is sure to become a giggle inducing read-together favorite. Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina |
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Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang Comics & Graphic Novels, Romance, Young Adult Fiction A rom-com focusing on a young woman who makes a deal with a spirit over her heart, unless she can find true love, and her partner, who is shy and healing after a major loss. Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham use their prose and art to share a fun story, as well as education on Asian-American culture and history. A good romp of a read for those in love or trying to find it. Reviewed by Hilton Airall, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson Alien Contact, Banned Books, Science Fiction, Young Adult Fiction Noa wakes up and he’s in a spacesuit, floating outside a ship. In space. But he has zero idea how he got there. Not only that, but inside the ship are DJ and Jenny and neither of them knows how they got there either. I read this author’s The State of Us and LOVED it, so I knew I’d be up for this one. It’s and entirely different genre, but still has the same humor and heart. Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “When somebody says that six million people died in the Holocaust, there is nobody in the world who can understand that. It’s only through story, reading books by Elie Wiesel or Primo Levi, that you really begin to understand the trauma and how horrible it actually was.” |
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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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