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The week of April 8, 2025 Happy National Stress Awareness Month?  It is not exactly something to celebrate but let’s be honest, we live in turbulent times. Stress is something we all deal with (or ignore), every day. But not only do we deal with it ourselves; our friends, family, coworkers, and other people close to us also have to deal with the stress we carry, in the way it impacts our interactions with those who are close to us. Here is some recommended reading on stress and anxiety from Southern booksellers: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear This Is What Anxiety Looks Like by David A. Clark Worried Whippet: A Book of Bravery (For Adults and Kids Struggling with Anxiety) by Jess Bolton No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks by Matt Gutman Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose by Martha Beck My Mess Is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety by Georgia Pritchett Feel Calm: An Invisible Things Book by Andy J. Pizza, Sophie Miller 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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Wrong Norma by Anne Carson Adult Nonfiction, Ancient & Classical, Poetry Anne Carson’s finest book yet, in a genre all its own. These pieces have Carson’s iconic flair for classical motifs and absurdity, mingling with several heart-wrenching stories. If you’ve never read Anne Carson, I feel that of all her books, this is the place to start. If you’re a verifiable Carson-iac, you’ll be astounded, moved, and deeply in love with these stunningly original and brilliant stories & poems. Reviewed by Emily Tarr, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama |
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Audition by Katie Kitamura Adult Fiction, Psychological 
An April Read This Next! Title A middle-aged actress, preparing for a challenging part, meets a younger man who asks her a question that changes the nature of roles they each play, on-stage and off. Halfway through, this book changes its own rules, morphing into a bewildering and beautiful sleight of hand. Katie Kitamura’s sparse, intricate, and always confident prose pushes this from a simple story into something way more beguiling. Audition explores performance, expectation, and how hard choices can shape the story of a life. This is my favorite kind of book – one that leaves me eager to talk to other readers about its many layers. Reviewed by Rachel Knox, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida |
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Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou Adult Fiction, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology, Literary, Magical Realism Told via a fairytale pitch-perfect unreliable narrator (who continues to shift the story in acquiescence to the ghost chorus), Sour Cherry brings the reader along to witness the hauntings and the haunted, complicit women trapped in violent cycles, and the rot and decay that are apparent when the stories are stripped away. If Angela Carter and Carmen Maria Machado were trapped in House of Leaves, you’d be holding this book in your hands. Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo 
I’ve always thought that the legend of the fox is so fascinating. In Chinese literature and also Japanese and Korean legends, the fox is a shapeshifter, as you mentioned, who can turn itself into a very attractive person. And folklore is full of these stories – many of them odd figments of stories – of foxes who interact with people, often tricking them, sometimes killing them or making off with their property. The classic fox tale is that there’s a scholar who’s studying for the imperial exams late one evening when there’s a knock at the door, and a beautiful woman appears. Later on, of course, he discovers she’s not human, which raises all sorts of questions about, what is the story really about? But when I was a child, I read lots of these stories, and I was always fascinated by the fox, by this creature. Why do they come at night? Why do they always interrupt people’s exams? (Laughter). And what lies on the other side of the door? You know, the sort of wildness and otherness – that’s really interesting. ― Yangsze Choo, Interview, NPR What booksellers are saying about The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo 
Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix Original series) and The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club Pick, and a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). The Fox Wife and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate. |
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Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Adult Fiction, African American & Black, Fiction, Historical, Literary, Women It is late on a Thursday evening, and I just finished this absolutely exquisite book. If I could give the author a hug right now, I would. I loved the highly detailed history. I was gripped by the family drama. I was seduced by Luella and William and Robert! I embraced the poetry of the cry-inducing ending. This book is truly exquisite storytelling. In a case of purely delightful coincidence that made this book feel so personal and special, there is a post-Civil War community near my hometown called The Promised Land that had been settled by formerly enslaved people. As I read this book, I kept imagining the story taking place there. If anyone reading this would like to know more about these communities, check out the nonfiction book titled The Black Utopians by Aaron Robertson! Reviewed by Thomas Wallace, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee |
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A Grain, a Green, a Bean by Gena Hamshaw Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, Vegan This cookbook is stunning and would look beautiful on any home cook’s shelf. Gena Hamshaw’s simple formula of grain+green+bean = mouthwatering, healthy meals that I cannot wait to try. Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Pride or Die by CL Montblanc LGBTQ+, Young Adult Fiction If you want the Scooby gang, but queer and a little dark, then boy do I have a treat for you. A couple of chapters into this book, I found myself laughing out loud. The characters are funny, the mystery is intriguing, and the representation is fantastic. I’m sure you’ll find yourself rooting for this group just like I did. Reviewed by Brianna Lloyd, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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Please Pay Attention by Jamie Sumner Children, Juvenile Fiction, Social Themes, Violence 8th grader Bea survives a shooting at her school, carrying the aftermath with her. Therapeutic horseback riding and her community help her grow toward healing as she raises her voice for change in this powerful verse novel. Reviewed by Rae Ann Parker, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee |
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Tongues, Volume 1 by Anders Nilsen Comics & Graphic Novels, Literary Tongues is a masterpiece, and with it Anders Nilsen fulfills the most ambitious possibilities of the graphic novel as a medium. Rarely have images and words, form and function, been married so beautifully; his pages and panels bursting with innovative, jewel-like complexity and cascading, organic beauty. The story marries the erudite and the bawdy, political and mythical, violent and meditative, in ways that you find only in literature’s greatest: Utopia, Candide, Gulliver’s Travels, The Plague, The Castle, Cosmicomics, The Master and Margarita, White Noise. This book belongs in the pantheon. Reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, 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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Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson Banned Books, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction Monday’s Not Coming is a heartbreaking story of a missing teenager, a community that seems not to notice, and a best friend who will go to whatever lengths it takes to find her missing friend. Tiffany D. Jackson weaves the reader through multiple timelines with increasing tension and emotion until you reach an ending that will haunt you long after you finish the book. This is a difficult but important and timely story, highly recommended for teen and adult readers. Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
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Parting Thought “Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.” |
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