The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

21st Century

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

I feel very fortunate to have had read this beautiful book. Autism is so hard and not having anyone in my family with it, I only know what I hear. When these 3 characters come together to help build a boat they bond and learn so much about themselves and each other. People are afraid of what they don’t understand and autism is one of those things we just don’t know enough about. It’s hard enough to be a freshman in high school, compound that with being different. This is a love story for the 3 generations involved. I guarantee you will see the world a bit differently after.

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney, (List Price: $17.95, Biblioasis, 9781771965859, November 2023)

Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

So Late in the Day is brilliantly written with Keegan’s beautiful prose. The underlying theme in the stories is the fractured relationships between a man and woman, told with a nuanced tension that grips the reader from beginning until end. A quietly delightful, tense, and gripping read.

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan, (List Price: $20, Grove Press, 9780802160850, November 2023)

Reviewed by Kelley Barnes, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

Absolution by Alice McDermott

There’s so much I could say about this epistolary novel set in 1963 Saigon and confessing to the lives of two American wives in Ho Chí Minh’s Vietnam, but for now, I’ll say: Alice McDermott is (maybe) my favorite living novelist, and Absolution is (maybe) her best novel yet.

Absolution by Alice McDermott, (List Price: $28, Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 9780374610487, 2023-10-31)

Reviewed by Laura Cotten, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

Spotlight on: August Blue by Deborah Levy

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Deborah Levy, photo credit Amanda Benson/BBC/PA

I used to write better early in the morning. If I had it my way I would be up at 4 a.m., and I would write until 2 p.m., and then that would be the end of the writing day. Mornings are so soft, and everything’s still, everything’s quiet, nothing’s really begun early in the morning. They suit me. The perfect life would be to stop at 2 p.m. and for there to be blazing sunshine and to just be able to swim and frolic. Frolic, I think that’s a lovely word, frolic, and I think we should all do more frolicking. ― Deborah Levy, Interview, The White Review

August Blue by Deborah Levy

What booksellers are saying about August Blue

  • This is a truly magical book, one that feels like an ode to all the versions of yourself and a masterclass in subtle suspense.
      ― Emily Tarr from Thank You Books in Birmingham, AL | Buy from Thank You Books

  • After a concert pianist has a breakdown during a performance, she leaves her professional life to try to rediscover herself. Fans of Deborah Levy’s spare and offbeat writing style will not be disappointed in this book, which explores weighty issues through dream-like episodes
      ― Anne Peck from Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA | Buy from Righton Books

  • Deborah Levy’s newest is a slow-burning, David Lynch-esque novel that follows a talented young pianist named Elsa. After a devasting performance leads her to take up smaller tutoring jobs across Europe, she begins spotting an enigmatic woman who bares a resemblance to herself. Country across country, Elsa attempts to come to terms with her work as an artist, her familial relationships, and most importantly, her own self. Written with razor-sharp prose that cuts through the hazy cigar smoke that cloaks this mysterious book, this is Levy at her finest.  
      ― Grace Sullivan from Fountain Books in Richmond, VA | Buy from Fountain Bookstore

  • A dreamy, intentional meditation on identity and how it does and doesn’t form us. In pure Deborah Levy style, the narrative feels as if it’s floating, a shimmering haze of words transcribing into feeling. For fans of Jenny Offill and Clare Pollard..
      ― Aimee Keeble from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About Deborah Levy

Deborah Levy writes fiction, plays, and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, broadcast on the BBC, and widely translated. She is the author of highly praised novels, including The Man Who Saw Everything (long-listed for the Booker Prize), Hot Milk and Swimming Home (both Man Booker Prize finalists), The Unloved, and Billy and Girl; the acclaimed story collection Black Vodka; and two parts of her working autobiography, Things I Don’t Want to Know and The Cost of Living. She lives in London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal

Jessica Moore perfectly encapsulates the thrilling genius of Maylis de Kerangal in this translation. The beauty of Eastbound‘s prose directly contradicts the dire circumstances of Aloicha, a young Russian soldier who quickly deserts, hiding on the very same train as his pursuers. Kerangal’s masterful control of his work and Moore’s faithful translation of the original French novel will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal, (List Price: $18, Archipelago, 9781953861504, February 2023)

Reviewed by Lena Malpeli, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

Offended Sensibilities by Ganieva Alisa

A novel that takes place in a Russian town where officials are dropping dead after a recent law that stifled forms of expression has been passed, following the real-life events of a Pussy Riot church protest. The neo-noir feel that envelopes this political yet humorous novel fits perfectly and makes this a fantastic and original read. Though this deals with conversations on nationalism, religion, and sexuality among others, the light humor and prose kept this novel more digestible and entertaining.

Offended Sensibilities by Ganieva Alisa (List Price: $16.95, Deep Vellum Publishing, 9781646052233, November 2022)

Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

Foster by Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan’s books are little, quietly epic works of art. Foster is the story of a lonely child sent to live with relatives one summer, not knowing whether she would return home. The love and compassion shown to her on the Irish farm starkly contrast with the child’s family. Keegan’s prose is gorgeous.

Foster by Claire Keegan, (List Price: $20, Grove Press, 9780802160140, November 2022)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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