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The week of April 2, 2024 Poetry is language at its most powerful.
Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. ―Rita Dove In honor of National Poetry Month, SBR is featuring the poetry books indie booksellers have especially loved. Of course, being booksellers and therefore people who love beautiful language, that is a long, long list of books. Poetry month would have to last several years to feature them all! 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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Devotions by Oliver, Mary Adult Nonfiction, Poetry Mary Oliver writes poetry for the soul. I have never felt so seen that when I read the words she has so lovingly crafted. Her poetry is simple and uncomplicated but will strum your heartstrings in perfect rhythm. Oliver understands the human need for unconditional forgiveness. Reviewed by Faith Skowronnek, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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Wedding Issues by Elle Evans Adult Fiction, Family Life, Fiction, Friendship, Marriage & Divorce, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Southern, Women Laugh out-loud funny book just in time for wedding season. This book engages family, friends, the wedding industry, and a fast-paced plot perfect for the beach. I gave this to my future daughter-in-law, hoping she can find the fun in the planning. A must-read for any bride. Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez 
When I lost sight in one eye, I felt heartbroken that all my unrealized characters and their unfinished stories might not find the light of day. So, very slowly, with great frustration at first as I learned to work in new ways with compromised vision, I created a place where they could finally be finished. This is not my last book, or so I hope. I’m not yet ready to join my characters in the cemetery of untold stories. ― Julia Alvarez, Interview, Publishers Weekly What booksellers are saying about The Cemetery of Untold Stories 
Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer in residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.” In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling. |
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The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty Action & Adventure, Adult Fiction, Fantasy This book is beautiful. An epic tale of everything good in fantasy. Magic, pirates, bombs and demons. This book has it all. But the best part of this book is the way the main character handles her own identity as a woman, mother and badass. ,Reviewed by Mekhala Villegas-Rogers, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida |
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All Things Are Too Small by Becca Rothfeld Adult Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Collections Rothfeld begins with the promise of un-containment. If all things are in fact too small, then this book cannot contain all that it hopes to include and isn’t there something beautiful about that? Truly, what Rothfeld deftly handles is the ways that excessiveness bleeds into all aspects of lived experience – minds, bodies, and things. At times this collection hits a wall, particularly as Rothfeld realizes the limits of her own experience. So, while I don’t wholeheartedly agree with everything Rothfeld says here, her nuanced thinking on particularly the move towards owning less, thinking less, and doing less of the last decade reveals my own thoughts in the process. Perhaps what ties these lightly disparate essays together is the promise that wanting and longing are active and pressing parts of our lives. Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa LGBTQ+, Young Adult Fiction As someone who adores Pride and Prejudice, I am very protective of its main characters, and I am happy to report that Gabe Cole Novoa gave them brilliant new lives in this retelling. My little queer heart was bursting at the seams! Reviewed by Rachel Randolph, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee |
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No Cats in the Library by Lauren Emmons Books & Libraries, Children, Juvenile Fiction Easily one of the most precious picture books I’ve ever seen!!!! Clarisse is a sweet little stray who loves books, and the library calls to her. The only problem – she isn’t allowed in! Lovingly illustrated, the happy ending to this book made me tear up for sure. Reviewed by Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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The Swords of Glass Vol. 1 (Oversized) by Sylvaine Corgiat Comics & Graphic Novels, Fantasy This world’s people will perish by burning up in a solar flare unless the four swords that rained down from the heavens are united to open a portal to an alternate universe. Unfortunately, the owner of the sword demands to use it for revenge first and doesn’t give a rat’s behind about suns dying or oceans evaporating. A compelling read and I’m interested to see how they expand on the lore of the swords. 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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November 9 by Colleen Hoover Adult Fiction, Banned Books, Contemporary, Romance Colleen Hoover writes another fantastic story. I read this book in two days. I could not put it down. I couldn’t wait until the end to know what was going to happen. I highly recommend this book. Reviewed by Amy McNabb, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by singularity, it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a remembrance.” |
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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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