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The week of April 2, 2025 Language at its most distilled and powerful.  …that is a quote from Rita Dove on the nature and truth of poetry. April may be best known for showers and flowers and chocolate rabbits and colored eggs, but in book world it is also best known for being Poetry Month. A celebration of the most beloved and meaningful genre of literature, that is also the least likely to appear on a bestseller list or be made into a movie. In honor of Poetry Month, the lead review in each issue of SBR in April will be for a poetry book. And because there are not nearly enough weeks in the month to include all the poetry titles booksellers have loved and recommended, here are a few lists for readers to explore:
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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Washing My Mother’s Body by Joy Harjo Adult Nonfiction, Bereavement, Grief, Native American, Poetry A beautifully illustrated edition of one of Joy Harjo’s greatest poems – this book is a celebration of a mother’s life and a wrestling with the grief that comes after loss. Dana Tiger’s watercolors perfectly complement the emotions of the poem, elevating the text to something truly special. Full of emotion and memory, this book is a wonderful ode to a life – now gone but never forgotten. Reviewed by Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett Adult Fiction, Epic, Fantasy, Fiction
An April Read This Next! Title Away from the walls of the Empire is the port city of Yarrowdale, a quasi-Empire outpost responsible for processing the reagents behind powers like Din’s engraving. And here occurred a murder even more vexing than the last, where a Treasury official vanished without a trace. What Ana and Din begin to unfurl are the cascading consequences of a top-secret program, infighting to sustain a dying monarchy, and a murderer at the center of it all who can seemingly predict their every move. A Drop of Corruption probes at the tantalizing false promises of autocracy, the thankless job of justice, and the oft-stifled battle cry of a society worth fighting for. Even with all the dangers within every page, Bennett has crafted a world I’d love to live in, with characters as fascinating as the leviathans themselves. Reviewed by Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Adult Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Indigenous SGJ has once again opened his veins and spilled himself onto the page, giving us a dense, heart-breaking, and revenge-filled vampire novel — one that stabs deep and drinks fully. Reviewed by Adam Fall, Underbrush Books in Rogers, Arkansas |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Tilt by Emma Pattee 
I live in Portland — so very close to Seattle — and like you said, everyone in the Pacific Northwest lives under the shadow of something coming that you can never really prepare for. And as a climate journalist, I was really interested in that. I was interested in the ways that we can’t get prepared. And at the time that I started writing this book, I was also pregnant. Pregnancy and having a kid is another thing that everyone tells you to get prepared for, because of how scary and unknowable it is, but the reality is that it’s completely unknowable. You cannot imagine it until you have lived through it. I think that, thematically, is what brought me to the book. What gave me the idea for the book was definitely that I was terrified of the earthquake. I was pregnant, and I could not stop thinking about the earthquake. ― Emma Pattee, Interview, Bookweb What booksellers are saying about Tilt by Emma Pattee 
Emma Pattee is a climate journalist and fiction writer. Her work has been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and elsewhere. She lives in Oregon. |
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Red Dog Farm by Nathaniel Ian Miller Adult Fiction, Fiction, Literary All the feelings for Red Dog Farm! Mr. Miller tells a beautiful story of family, landscape, and the way you can never truly know either. It’s a tale of fierce love, harsh wind, and a really good dog. It’s one of those books I wish I could experience for the first time again and again. It’s oh so good! Reviewed by Susan Williams, M Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina |
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Dear Writer by Maggie Smith Adult Nonfiction, Creativity, Self-Help So much more than a "how-to," this book is a perfect primer for cultivating creativity within oneself. A cheerleader of a book in the best sense, it gives exercises to expand one’s artistic soul. This is a winner of a book and one to return to over and over and over. Reviewed by Johanna Hynes, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky |
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Run Away With Me by Brian Selznick LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult Fiction Look, whatever Brian Selznick does, I’m here for it–and his first YA novel is no exception! I loved watching Danny and Angelo’s story unfold as they discover the city of Rome, stories hidden across art history, and their love for one another. Reviewed by Lindsay Lynch, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee |
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At Night, They Danced by Victoria Scott-Miller Children, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Parents
A March/April Read This Next! Kids Title I absolutely LOVED when our parents went out on date nights. This book invokes all the memories of these times and highlights the love between parents. Not something you see often in kids’ books. Very positive and completely fun. Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina |
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Soma by Fernando Llor Comics & Graphic Novels, Science Fiction Soma escalates before you know it as you’re thrown into the action! It’s gorgeous from its character design to its use of color. Can this comic book artist, who can’t be bothered, be persuaded to save the world from an alien invasion? Reviewed by Lana Repic, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Banned Books, Biography & Autobiography, Biology, Life Sciences, Science, Science & Technology, Social Science, Women’s Studies I read this book years ago and still think about it all the time. For years, no one in the medical community cared where HeLa cells came from. I find it fascinating that one person (Skloot) being curious enough and determined enough can lead to such a powerful story being uncovered. Henrietta Lacks’s story matters. Reviewed by Krista Roach, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” |
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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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