November 2023 Give Books with all the buzz 
This special edition of The Southern Bookseller Review is in honor of the holiday season: a time people associate with the rush of shopping but is really, at its heart, a time of giving. And as fun as it is to receive gifts from the people we love in our lives, it is one hundred times better to give the perfect gift to them. This is an all-book-buzz newsletter. Every book has multiple fans among Southern indie booksellers, which is multiple reasons why they would be a great gifts for almost any holiday list. 
If finding gifts is on your to-do list, skip the crush of "Black Friday." Put on something plaid, and Shop Small this weekend at your local bookstore. Or, if you prefer, do your shopping online: Bookshop.org benefits independent bookstores, and your local shop may be an affiliate. There is also an indie option for audiobooks, Libro.fm. Both Bookshop and Libro.fm will let you search for bookstores in your area to choose for your armchair shopping. Then, mull some cider for "Cider Monday," and have fun wrapping all that love. “For so many centuries, the exchange of gifts has held us together. It has made it possible to bridge the abyss where language struggles." —Barry Lopez, About This Life |
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Read This Now: All Book Buzz Recommended over and over again by Southern indies… |
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Spotlight on: A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
I am writing romance; all of my characters end up happily in love. I am writing fantasy with intrigue; frankly, the characters don’t have time for too much agonizing. They have conspiracies to unravel, and— to veer abruptly sideways into musical theatre (I am queer, after all) and quote Pippin—magic to do.
I made the very conscious decision to scrap crises of faith, uncertainty of one’s sexuality, and self-hatred entirely. I used the need for secrecy to add to the ‘us against the world’ situation that serves a romance plot so well, and also to emphasize the exquisite surprise and delight when a kindred spirit is recognized. What booksellers are saying about A Power Unbound 
About Freya Marske Freya Marske is the author of A Power Unbound, A Restless Truth, and A Marvellous Light, which was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. Her work has appeared in Analog and has been shortlisted for three Aurealis Awards. She is also a Hugo-nominated podcaster and won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. She lives in Australia. |
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Spotlight on: African Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction
Writing and editing is a very cultural thing. Identity plays a huge role in how we process stories, how we tell stories, and how we receive them. It puts us at very different places. It requires a lot of trust and respect….that is also the beauty and the strength of the anthology. This anthology has everything. What booksellers are saying about African Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction 
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Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is an award-winning speculative fiction writer, editor and publisher from Nigeria. He edited the first ever Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction anthology, the Bridging Worlds anthology and co-edited the Dominion anthology
Zelda Knight is an award-winning author, editor and bookseller. She co-edited the Dominion anthology, and has written numerous short stories and science fiction/romance series and books.
Sheree Renée Thomas is an award-winning author, editor and poet. Her works include the Dark Matter anthology, Nine Bar Blues, the Marvel novel Black Panther: Panther’s Rage, the story "Timebox Altar(ed)" in Janelle Monáe’s collection The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer and much more. |
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Spotlight on: Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey
This is the challenge going into a modern romantic comedy. Readers expect there to be high stakes on the road to happily ever after. We don’t need the path to be easy, simply because the book has humorous situations or a humorous tone. A lot of us deal with the heavier aspects of life by laughing or creating levity. So that is my balancing act—making sure there is depth to the characters and their struggles, while also making sure the champagne bubble, fizzy feeling of romance is on the page. What booksellers are saying about Wreck the Halls 
About Tessa Bailey #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue-collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books. |
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Spotlight on: Juniper’s Christmas by Eoin Colfer
I was aware that although my own Christmas situation is currently very happy with my wife and boys, a lot of people are not so lucky. I would be willing to bet that most people have had really low Christmases due to grief, illness or that curse of loneliness, so I wanted to portray main characters who are suffering through sadness or desperation or the feeling that their lives have drifted off course and show that maybe things will change or there could be a way back. What booksellers are saying about Juniper’s Christmas 
About Eoin Colfer Eoin Colfer is the best-selling author of the children’s fantasy series Artemis Fowl. His other notable works include The Dog Who Lost His Bark, illustrated by P.J. Lynch, and the novels Half Moon Investigations, Airman, and The Supernaturalist. The recipient of many awards, he lives in Ireland. |
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Spotlight on: All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! by Peter H. Reynolds
I’m writing my own story, I make a movie in my head. That’s kind of how I start. I come up with the idea and then suddenly I just imagine that idea, you know, cast with characters and settings, and it becomes a little movie in my head. And I write it down, and I jot down the images that I have in my head, but I think the same thing happens… You know, when I read somebody else’s work, I immediately turn it into a movie, and I could see it in my head as I’m reading. I’m turning your words into characters. What booksellers are saying about All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! 
About Peter H. Reynolds Peter H. Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many books for children, including Happy Dreamer, The Word Collector, Say Something!, Be You!, and Our Table. He is also the illustrator of When Thing Aren’t Going Right, Go Left by Marc Colagiovanni. His books have been translated into over 25 languages around the globe and are celebrated worldwide. In 1996, he founded FableVision with his brother, Paul, as a social change agency to help create "stories that matter, stories that move." He lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, with his family. |
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Spotlight on: Elves are the Worst by Alex Willan
I constantly have various characters chatting away inside my head. For me, most of my time “writing” doesn’t involve writing down anything at all. By the time I’m able to sit down and type out a manuscript, or even just a few lines of text, those characters have existed in my mind for a good long while. Especially when it’s a character from a series. It’s really kind of bizarre to put into words, but I have spent so much time with Gilbert, in my head, that it’s less about me deciding what Gilbert will say or do, and more about imagining him in any given situation and “seeing” how he reacts. I guess there was some point, when I first thought of these stories, where I created his character, but at this point I feel like he’s steering his own ship. What booksellers are saying about Elves are the Worst 
About Alex Willan If it was Alex Willan, and not Gilbert the Goblin, who was in charge of writing the stories, he’d make a book called Anchovies Are the Worst!. Alex is the author-illustrator of Unicorns Are the Worst!, Dragons Are the Worst!, Yetis Are the Worst!, and the Jasper & Ollie series, as well as the illustrator of Got Your Nose, written by Alan Katz. Alex lives in Chicago with his dog, Harley, who is the absolute best. Visit him online at AlexWillan.com. |
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Parting Thought “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!” |
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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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