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The week of September 17, 2024 Celebrating Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month  September 15 to October 15 is Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month, honoring the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latine Americans. To celebrate, The Southern Bookseller Review will lead off each week with recent reviews from southern bookseller of books by Latine authors. Some new, others not so much, but just waiting to be discovered. 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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Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez Adult Fiction, Fiction, Hispanic & Latino A deeply moving book of art, race, feminism, and power in relationships. Raquel is a Latina woman at Brown. When she decides to base her senior thesis on famous minimalist artist Jack Martin, she uncovers his artist wife, Anita De Monte. Martin was accused of murdering Anita and successfully erased both her and her art from history after he was acquitted. A gripping story told from the multiple perspectives of Anita, Jack, and Raquel. Reviewed by Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida |
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Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai Adult Fiction, Fiction, Hungary, World Literature Herscht opens as Gentle Giant in a Harsh World fable, then morphs into a checklist killfest revenge tale a la Death Rides a Horse, in a transition so sleek you’re tricked into feeling at peace in the heart of its violent outcome. Krasznahorkai books read like laminar flow, daunting and seemingly unreal until you set eye to sentence and the world explodes in all directions. But all in all, it’s just gravity and friction doing their thang. All the Krasznahorkai ingredients are here: heroes are comical despicables, villains risible despisables, a has-been town rundown and endbound, unnurtured nature in retaliature, and a long long sentence to rule them all. Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado Adult Fiction, Horror This story kept me on the edge of my seat throughout reading it. I grew up in a rougher area and I have always thought about moving to some white picket fence area as a dream, so it was refreshing seeing someone who thought the same way as me be proved wrong. I loved the cultural inclusion with the Spanish language and nicknames! Amazing, amazing story! Reviewed by Anna Trevathan, The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors 
Certain themes really choose writers. Addiction is a theme I never really chose to write about, but I cannot escape it. I’ve been sober for eight years and I come from a family of addicts and alcoholics, almost all of whom are sober as well, so I was interested in writing about addiction in families. I’m also interested in sobriety in families and how that can get passed down through generations. What does it look like to be long-term sober but still self-destructive? What does it look like to be newly sober and starting to heal? What does it look like to have never drunk or done drugs, but still have the impulse to escape yourself, which I think Bonnie has. What booksellers are saying about Blue Sisters 
Coco Mellors grew up in London and New York, where she received her MFA in fiction from New York University. Her debut novel, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, was a Sunday Times bestseller, has been translated into over fifteen languages, and is currently being adapted for television. She lives with her husband and son in New York. |
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The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy 
A September Read This Next! Title Pick this one up and start reading. You won’t want to stop until you have turned the last page, and then you just might want to turn to page one and start reading it all over again. Sanaka Hiiragi has created a magical photo studio that is sure to warm your heart and make you ponder the pivotal moments in your own life. Reviewed by Angela Redden, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee |
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The Barn by Wright Thompson Adult Nonfiction, History, South, State & Local, United States
A September Read This Next! Title This incredible book connects hundreds of dots, centering the murder of Emmett Till in a stream of events, characters and circumstances going all the way back into prehistory. Wright Thompson grew up in the same Mississippi township as Till’s relatives and Till’s murderers, and he is quick to point out how all the local families, white and black alike, have been connected throughout history. Thompson approaches his topic with the eye of an insider while bringing in all the research one would expect of a journalist. One of his central themes is that the tragedy didn’t have to go down like it did—there were inflection points throughout history that could have sent events in a different direction altogether. Thompson does a masterful job of showing how, one social and economic event at a time, the Mississippi Delta came to be ruled by an insular bunch of poor, desperate, white terrorists, who by their actions destroyed the very place and way of life that they were trying so hard to cling to. The tragedy and the irony that are the hallmarks of the Delta’s history drip from every page. Till’s murder, in Thompson’s you-are-there retelling, wasn’t the result of an incident in a store, but rather a product of a cascade of events and circumstances that left Mississippi with a powerless but violence-prone white population who were desperate to subjugate their Black neighbors as a means of making sure they themselves weren’t at the bottom of the social order. I’m in awe of this book. Vivid storytelling, thorough research and interviews, beautiful prose, insights and turns of phrase that I wanted to share with whoever was nearby—a must-read. Reviewed by Amanda Grell, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas |
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The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction Craig’s newest novel is about a young girl, claimed by a god and forced into the role of a healer. She grows to love most of the job, as well as her GODfather. However, when she’s brought to the Kong to cure a strange, new disease, she finds herself embroiled in a strange plot where she’ll be lucky to escape with her life. Craig’s retelling of the Grimm Brother’s story Godfather Death is a page-turner that kept me up long after my bedtime! Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
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The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd Children, Fantasy & Magic, Juvenile Fiction Natalie Lloyd’s books are the literary equivalent of your grandmama’s blueberry crunch cobbler fresh out of the oven. They’re warm, a little bit magic and a whole lotta heart. Roxie and Grayson will tug at your heartstrings with their inner strength and innate kindness even when the world is throwing hard things at them. And that pilfering Witching Wind will definitely steal your heart and fill it up with hope, though not before sending you on a whirlwind first. Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama |
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Taxi Ghost by Sophie Escabasse Children, Comics & Graphic Novels, Juvenile Fiction
A September/October Read This Next! Kids Title Puberty has brought about the wildest change for Adèle, she can now see ghosts! Adèle now finds herself stuck between her desire to help and her Grandma’s absolute HATRED of ghosts. Armed with new ghost friends, medium powers, and some unexpected assistance, Adèle finds herself in the middle of a fight to save her city from predatory real estate developers. Sounds a bit wacky, but I promise you, you’re gonna love this one. Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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Islandborn by Junot Díaz Caribbean & Latin America, Children, Family, Hispanic & Latino, Juvenile Fiction, Multigenerational It means the world that stories like this exist throughout children’s literature these days, and Islandborn is a book that tells the tale so wonderfully. This is the story of an immigrant who moved here as a baby, or maybe even a child born in the States, who is surrounded by talk of "home" and of the "old days" all their life. This is the story of how that can be alienating and painful and how learning more about where and who you’re made of can bring you strength and joy untold. The illustrations are vibrant and lovely, each page full of story and tiny, beautiful details. Reviewed by Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “I have never thought of my life as divided between poetry and politics … I have always felt that my vocation and my duty was to serve the Chilean people in my actions and with my poetry. I have lived singing and defending them.” |
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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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