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May, 2022 In honor of the mothers 
This special edition of The Southern Bookseller Review celebrates that complex and mysterious state of being we call "motherhood." “Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at de sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.” -Zora Neale Hurston Read This Now | Read This Next | The Bookseller Directory |
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Read This Now! Honoring the mothers… |
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Child by Judy Goldman Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, History, Personal Memoirs, Race & Ethnic Relations, United States In her lovely memoir, Judy Goldman reflects on what it was like to be a young Jewish girl raised by a Black nanny in the 1940s and 50s south. Mattie Culp became a part of the Kurtz family: sleeping in young Judy’s bedroom, using the family bathroom, celebrating holidays with them—things unheard of in the Jim Crow south. Now in her 80s, Goldman reflects on what Mattie had to give up—including her own child—in order to make the Kurtz family’s life so much easier. Reviewed by Linda Hodges of Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina 
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Essential Labor by Angela Garbes Adult Nonfiction, Social Science, Women’s Studies Essential Labor is incredibly timely, but it opens up a timeless approach to mothering as catalyst for change. Speaking from both her experience as a daughter of Filipino immigrants and as a mother, Garbes explores the small, gentle ways we can nudge the dominant narrative, opening a wider world to our children. The Covid-19 pandemic brought down capitalism’s illusory curtain separating labor and the home, yet little changed in societal terms. Garbes argues that the invisible labor that women, mostly BIPOC women, do in the home is the most essential work there is—and that if we embrace a more communal, interdependent, caring way of living, we can make this work not just pleasurable but revolutionary. This is an essential book—it’s challenging, it’s bold, it’s a call to action. Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp of Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia 
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum
“It’s no longer the time for women to be selfless. Whether you’re a woman who has children, or has aging parents to care for, whatever your situation is, we need to put ourselves first. It’s more than self care….We deserve to let people know, and show them what it looks like when we are cracking. To me, it was like an act of sisterhood, this memoir. The best thing I could possibly hope for is that this encourages people—women, men, people of all genders—to start admitting to people around them, “I’m not okay. Actually, I could use some help. I could use some support.” —Courtney Maum, interview, Electric Lit 
What booksellers are saying about The Year of the Horses
About Courtney Maum Courtney Maum is the author of the novels Costalegre; Touch; and I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You; and a guide for writers, Before and After the Book Deal. Her writing and essays have been widely published in such outlets as The New York Times; O, the Oprah Magazine; Interview Magazine; and Modern Loss. She lives in Litchfield County, Connecticut, where she founded the learning collaborative The Cabins. |
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Ma and Me by Putsata Reang Adult Nonfiction, Asian & Asian American, Biography & Autobiography, Cultural,
Ethnic & Regional Filled with incredible nuance, beautiful writing, and deep sympathy; Putsata Reang’s stunning memoir Ma and Me is sure to be one of the best books I’ll read this year. Tracing her mother’s story – escaping the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and surviving an abusive marriage – to her own experience; growing up as a gay Khmer-American pulled between two cultures – Reang’s deeply personal book and explores the depth of a mother/daughter relationship and the weight of expectation placed upon future generations. Both full of light and sadness, Ma and Me is a wonder, holding life’s beauty and heartbreak in tandem. I cannot recommend this memoir highly enough. Reviewed by Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina 
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Someone Other Than a Mother by Erin S. Lane Adult Nonfiction, Alternative Family, Calling & Vocation, Christian Living,
Family & Relationships, Feminism & Feminist Theory,
Religion, Social Science In a society that puts mothers on a pedestal (no greater love than that of a mother!), even if they’re quick to mommy shame them (she lets those kids have too much screen time!), it can be tough and disheartening to navigate the world as a child-free woman. Erin Lane breaks down the Mother Scripts, tackling the origins of what it means to be a mother from biblical times, to the rise of modern motherhood (thanks, Teddy Roosevelt). She interviews women from all backgrounds- women who don’t want kids, can’t have kids, became step-parents, or are raising kids through the foster system. It’s a fascinating insight into the way society perceives women and an important discussion of moving beyond the boundaries of those expectations. Reviewed by Kate Towery, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia About the Author: |
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Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel Adult Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Horror, Thrillers, Women OMG this book a WILD ride! It is practically a guarantee that I will thoroughly enjoy just about any book that involves cults… but a cult centered out reproduction and motherhood? Holy moly count me in. What really stood out to me about Just Like Mother (and what I believe sets it apart from other reproductive-themed thrillers) was how it features a child-free protagonist and explores the many layers of being a woman who decides to not have children. To a cult of women who deify motherhood as the pinnacle of being, who is a woman that rejects motherhood? A radical, a traitor, and a threat to their entire identity and ethos. The sense of dread and tension that permeates and persists throughout the entire story really is fantastic. Every moment that I was listening to the audiobook, my stomach was turning with the feeling that some horrible, terrible, ever-worsening doom was just around the corner. I definitely recommend this one to fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Joanne Ramos’s The Farm, and to anyone who has been searching for a child-free perspective in the reproductive thriller genre! Reviewed by Caroline Barbee, Friendly City Books in Columbus, Mississippi 
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Parting Thought "To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow." |
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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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