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The week of May 9, 2023 Booksellers on The Pulitzers
This week the winners of the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes were announced, including, unusually, two winners for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Both books should be familiar to SBR readers. They have regularly appeared on the Southern indie bestseller list. And they both have frequently been reviewed and recommended by Southern indie booksellers:
Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead is a brilliant retelling of the David Copperfield story from the perspective of the poor son of a teenage mother living in rural Appalachia. From the first sentence, Demon’s voice grabs us and takes us on an unforgettable journey through his early life. This novel about a resilient boy develops empathy for families and children so frequently dismissed in the national discourse. It is a masterful American story. A novel drenched in sorrow, survival, and possibly sobriety. The later never to be a foregone conclusion as anyone with the fresh wounds or long-healed scars of addiction can attest to. What I am certain of is Barbara Kingsolver has written a masterpiece of 21st Century Appalachia.
Reading Trust feels like seeing a flower bloom: as it opens more and more, it grows in captivating brilliance, and, at its core, reveals a powerful mediation about power and the very nature of truth. The elegance of the style is transportive. With his second novel Diaz proves to be a master of subversion and humanism and one of my favorite writers. 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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Summer on Sag Harbor by Sunny Hostin Adult Fiction, African American & Black, Fiction, Women I’ve been impatiently waiting for the second book in Sunny Hostin’s Oak Bluff series! Summer on the Bluffs left me wanting more of the drama, secrets, and jealousy from the three goddaughters of the iconic Ama and Omar. This is Olivia’s story, set once again in an exclusive Black beach community in the North East, this time it’s The Hamptons. I’m sure it won’t disappoint! Reviewed by Andrea Jasmin, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Good Men by Arnon Grunberg Adult Fiction, Black Humor, Fiction, Humorous, Literary, Netherlands, World Literature For a book that claims to “chart the downfall” of its protagonist, I knew the ride I was potentially in for. However, the end of the book seems to kick the reader down a notch as well. The trainwreck rubbernecker in me really loved the first 3/4ths of this one: just-a-guy, content with his simple job, generic work friends, paint-by-most-numbers marriage and run-of-the-offbrand-mill child(ren), marking off each on his failure checklist. These tragedies are handled in such off kilter ways, laced with a stealthy wit, to keep the story fresh and engaging without the need to step it up to a fast pace. And though I didn’t NOT like the final quarter, where people are just plain disgusting (the reader just as lackadaisically unobservant as our “hero” to the clues displayed throughout), the final lap just felt like the author rubbing your face in the filth of life. But then again, the book’s a self-proclaimed downfall chart. Please watch your feet as you exit the ride. Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
I went from believing I was an undisciplined person to writing every single morning before work for an hour and eventually finishing a manuscript. I had to start telling a different story about myself because it took some level of consistency and commitment to be able to achieve that. It was also incredibly vulnerable. There was no magazine to hide behind that people already loved and trusted. It was just me and my words. ―Tembe Denton-Hurst, Interview, Morning Person What booksellers are saying about Homebodies 
About Tembe Denton-Hurst Tembe Denton-Hurst is a staff writer at New York magazine’s The Strategist and has written for Nylon magazine, them, and Elle. When she’s not writing, Tembe can be found on her couch in Queens, New York, where she lives with her partner and their two cats, Stella and Dakota. |
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Pieces of Blue by Holly Goldberg Sloan Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Family Life, Fiction, Romance, Siblings, Women Holly Goldberg Sloan has written the PERFECT beach book. With a little family drama, a handsome stranger who can rewire a crumbling hotel, a recent widow trying to help her three children find their place in the world, resident chickens, a beach ( of course) and a wicked twist that strikes out of the blue, Pieces of Blue begs to be in every beach bag this summer. Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina |
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Abortion by Pauline Harmange Abortion & Birth Control, Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Civil Rights, Essays, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Gender Studies, Personal Memoirs, Political Science, Social Science This is exactly what we need more of in the ongoing discussion around abortion; nuanced personal accounts of abortions. While Harmange makes no apologies for her decision to terminate her pregnancy, she does describe in clear detail the grief that accompanied her decision and the shame she experienced. The decision to end a pregnancy is never made lightly even when it is absolutely the right choice and it should not be an experience filled with shame that goes untalked about. Reviewed by Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia |
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No Perfect Places by Steven Salvatore Bereavement, Death, Family, Grief, LGBTQ+, Siblings, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction Another new book by Salvatore and another five-star read. They’re three for three with this reader! Twins Alex and Olly lost a lot when their father went to prison. Their mom works all the time at three jobs, and most of their friends abandoned them. But they’re keeping together. At least, until their dad dies. Suddenly Alex is spiraling and Olly doesn’t know how to help her. Add in the complication of a half-brother they knew nothing about and it’s a recipe for disaster. Can they pull themselves out of this mess before one or all of them self-destruct? Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
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Simon and the Better Bone by Corey R. Tabor Animals, Children, Dogs, Juvenile Fiction Just like Tabor’s wonderful Mel Fell, his newest picture book Simon and the Better Bone is a delight that plays with the very format of a book itself. A whimsical retelling of an Aesop fable, Simon gets into an argument with his reflection and soon learns where jealousy can lead. Vibrantly illustrated and simply told, Simon and the Better Bone is a perfect read-a-loud book! Reviewed by Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree, Vol. 1 by Nikiichi Tobita Comics & Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Humorous, Manga, Media Tie-In I knew that someone was writing a comedy manga around the world of Elden Ring, but I didn’t know it was going to hit this level of scale! Following the journey that everyone who played the game also had, except this tale takes the world and twists the situations into joking situations. Very clever idea. I hope this is able to be continued until the conclusion. Reviewed by Ethan Davis, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida |
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Read This Next! Books on the horizon: Forthcoming favorites from Southern indies… |
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Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Adult Fiction, African American & Black, Fiction, Literary, Literary Fiction A May 2023 Read This Next! Title Crushing like a hammer and sharp as a scythe, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a master class of brutality drenched in grace. From the first page, Adjei-Brenyah exposes our inherent complicity and demands a good, long look inward, and asks what we’re gonna do about it. It’s powerful, exciting, horrifying, and an utterly outstanding feat of contemporary literature. It’s speculative fiction that feels so close to reality that it’s shockingly unsurprising and brilliantly difficult to endure. Damn. Reviewed by Carly Crawford, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee |
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Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
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Parting Thought “If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads..” |
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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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