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The week of June 24, 2025 Meet You at The Stacks (Bookstore)! The Stacks, located in the vibrant heart of midtown Savannah, GA, is an author-owned and disability-owned bookstore that opened in November 2023. The owner is Cindy L. Otis, author of the YA thriller At the Speed of Lies (Scholastic, 2023) and the nonfiction title True or False (Macmillan, 2020). The Stacks focuses on books by authors from underrepresented communities, and their mission is to provide access to compelling reads, author events, and community for the store’s diverse local population, along with a space for writers to create. The Stacks holds an important place in the community as the only wheelchair accessible indie bookstore in town. Accessibility is important to them, and they prioritize local readers and writers. Instead of displaying Staff picks, they have a “Community Picks” section, which is a rotating display of book reviews submitted by neighbors and regular customers.  Manager Juliet Rosner said the best thing about being a bookseller is the friends you make along the way. Rosner met most of her closest friends by chatting with people at the shop and at their events. She even met her girlfriend at The Stacks’s Dyke Book Club! Rosner said her favorite part of being a member of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is The Southern Bookseller Review. “It’s so cool to see what my colleagues are reading across the South and to have my thoughts out there as well.” You can follow The Stacks at @thestacks_bookstore to keep up with their journey and visit their website at www.thestacksbookstore.com. -Candice Huber, Membership Coordinator 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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The Dry Season by Melissa Febos Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, LGBTQ+ Truly, everyone should read this book. I’m happy that it found me in this moment of my life. As Melissa Febos travels back through an inventory of her past relationships, each section imparted so much on me as I considered my own relationship to sex and love. There is a delicious sort of ache in each chapter as she reflects on personal desire and the things we deny ourselves for the sake of those we love. In the same way that you shouldn’t scarf down a decadent meal, I could not push myself to read this book quickly. I savored and reflected on each chapter. She teaches the reader so much, using her own story as a guide to pull me in and point me towards histories of powerful women (beguines, mystics, writers) I hadn’t yet considered. I am left satisfied and inspired. Reviewed by Alyssa Sotelo, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida |
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The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley Adult Fiction, Coming of Age, Family Life, Fiction, Women The Girls Who Grew Big had me gripped from the very first page and never let me go. Set in a small coastal town in the Florida panhandle, it follows the fortunes of three young women, Adela, Emory and Simone – part of a group of teenage mothers known as The Girls – as they navigate desire, friendship, poverty, motherhood, their own ambitions and the community’s disdain for them. Told in lyrical prose, and filled with characters who positively leap off the page, The Girls Who Grew Big is shot through with the ferocity of a mother’s love, proving that Mottley’s much-feted debut Nightcrawling was no fluke. Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi |
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It’s Only Drowning by David Litt Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Humor, Memoirs, Sports & Recreation, Surfing, Water Sports This is about so much more than surfing! It’s about family and friendship and how we move through this world together, despite our differences! Love it! Reviewed by Laura Taylor, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
― Wally Lamb, Interview, Oprah Daily The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb 
Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I’ll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone. Lamb also edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he was a volunteer facilitator for twenty years. Lamb lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine, and they have three sons.. |
There’s a part in the novel when [the protagonist] Corby says he thinks that women are just stronger than men because it’s women who come and visit the prisoners. Whether they are grandmothers who are taking care of the kids and wearing their convalescent home pinafores, girlfriends, or so forth—it’s women who show up. That was my experience when I would go to visit our son. Often, I’d be one of the few men who went into the visiting room; usually, it was another father. And sometimes I would be the only guy in the visiting room. I don’t think it’s because men are necessarily cold. They don’t necessarily detach from loved ones who are male. I think so many of men’s problems come down to fear. It’s not that women don’t live with fear, but that they can more easily voice that fear. |
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King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby Adult Fiction, Crime, Thrillers
A June Read This Next! Title What can’t S.A. Cosby write? When it comes to crime fiction loaded with action, Cosby is the man! Once again, Cosby takes the reader on a journey that one is not fully prepared for. The underlying storyline of the missing mother, along with the main storyline of the "no good" son, played in such a parallel that is easily missed if not paying close attention. King of Ashes begs the question of how far are you willing to go for the family you love? One thing that is different about this Cosby novel from the others is that we actually get a female character’s perspective. Cosby handles this point of view very well. I am sad that I have already finished this book, but I cannot wait to start putting it into customers’ hands!Reviewed by Kayla Saxon, M Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina |
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The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King Adult Fiction, Literary As a retired archivist, the questions at the heart of this story: whose stories get told, privacy rights, the always incompleteness of memories–along with skilled writing made this a fascinating and thought-provoking read. There is magic in the story and in the reading of it. Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult Fiction Forbidden romance? Multi-class relationship? AND it’s Sapphic?! I knew from the get-go that I would LOVE this book. While I obviously found the relationship between Danni and Rose endearing, Nobody in Particular also offered an unexpectedly heartwarming exploration of grief and the pressures of expectation. Reviewed by Eden Haymon, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana |
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This Year, a Witch! by Zoey Abbott Childrens, Halloween, Holidays & Celebrations, Juvenile Fiction Choosing a Halloween Costume is a big deal, especially to the little ones. Sometimes this is the biggest decision of their young lives. I loved learning about the why’s. Sparks creativity and decision-making skills. Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina |
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Brielle and Bear: Volume 1 by Salomey Doku Comics & Graphic Novels, Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends & Mythology, Young Adult Fiction A-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!!!!The illustration and the color palette immediately drew me in. Cheesy was done in the best way possible. Cute little love story with loads of diverse characters. Representations mentioned: dyslexia, color blindness, stutter, and vitiligo. So happy to see at the end that the story will be continuing. Will definitely be following along with this series! Reviewed by , 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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A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas Adult Fiction, Banned Books, Epic, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance I adore Sarah J. Maas’s writing and her characters. Throughout the ACOTAR series, I didn’t care for Nesta. This book completely changed my mind. Nesta is a complex and beautiful character, and I can not wait to see her in future books. Reviewed by Melissa Gray, Blytheville Book Company in Blytheville, Arkansas |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
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Parting Thought “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” |
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Publisher:
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