The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Adult Fiction

In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto

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In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto
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A super swoony and sexy romance between two rival meteorologists, plus best friend’s brother? Say less! Quincy and Sebastian have antagonized each other for years, but when Sebastian is back in town for the summer and hurricane season, sparks really fly! If you love banter and rivals to lovers, In In Stormy Weather is the perfect summer romance for you!

In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto, (List Price: $19, Atria Books, 9781668217436, July 2026)

Reviewed by Claire, River & Hill Books in Rome, GA

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Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst

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Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst
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MY HEARRRRRT!! Oh my stars, Sarah Beth Durst is a treasure, and her writing is always fresh and captivating. The Crescent Islands are a true retreat from the chaos of the world, and the world she’s made is one of my favorites of all time.

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst, (List Price: $29.99, Bramble, 9781250400673, July 2026)

Reviewed by Liz, Columbus Bound Book Shop in Columbus, Georgia

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The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager

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The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager
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Meandering and claustrophobic, you will be lost in more ways than one along with Professor Beck and his crew. Caro’s dark past hangs over her head as horribly as it hollows her out– and yet the others on the expedition allude to some less than savory backgrounds themselves. Do we deserve retribution for our sins? Or are the divine’s motives just as sordid as our own?

The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager, (List Price: $19.99, Run For It, 9780316588010, July 2026)

Reviewed by Lana, E. Shaver, Booksellers in Savannah, Georgia

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Book Buzz: Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw

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Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw“Sometimes a story blows through your heart like a strong wind. That’s how it felt writing Habits of the Sea. It haunted my sleep and prodded at me when I was awake. I had no other choice but to write it. It’s not my story. It belongs to someone else. Someone from long ago. Another timeline. Another life. One, I suspect, I’ll never fully understand.”
  ― Shea Ernshaw, Instagram

Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw

What booksellers are saying about Habits of the Sea

  • Love, loss, magic, and connection. This is a moving story of who we think we are and who we can become.
      ― Susan Williams, M Judson, Booksellers, Greenville, South Carolina | BUY

  • After a brief visit as a child, Ellie is forever impacted by her time on a mythical island. When it resurfaces, she finds herself called back — then stranded with its mysterious caretaker. For fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Ernshaw’s novel is both achingly romantic and environmentally prescient.
      ― Matilda McNeely, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia | BUY

  • John Donne said "No man is an island," and Clay Lockhart said "Hold my beer." This story is a feast for the imagination! Shea Ernshaw’s writing and description of setting are so remarkably visceral I always felt like I was there on the island watching Clay and Ellie live this extraordinary life. It’s one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read. 
    ― Savannah, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, North Carolina | BUY

  • Sometimes you encounter a book that is hard to review. You turn the last page and it is like stepping out of a different reality, and you are left with feelings that don’t quite translate into thoughts. This is Habits of the Sea, a magical story that stays with you, sitting quietly in a corner of your mind.
    ― Erika Patoni, Righton Books, St. Simons Island, Georgia | BUY

About Shea Ernshaw

Shea Ernshaw is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Wicked Deep, Winterwood, A Wilderness of Stairs, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, and A History of Wild Places. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and repeatedly chosen as Indie Next Picks. She lives in a small mountain town in Oregon and is happiest when lost in a good book, lost in the woods, or writing her next novel. Visit her online at SheaErnshaw.com.

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Cloudthief by Nathaniel Rich

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Cloudthief by Nathaniel Rich
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Rebecca Solnit argues that the climate crisis is, in part, a “storytelling crisis,” with a lack of compelling fiction to present paths for action in the face of the looming crisis. Rich, author of one of the best nonfiction books on the history of climate change and the political reaction to it (Losing Earth), has delivered the fictional follow-up we need – subtle yet moving, bizarre yet brilliant. Set in the near future, a rudderless journalist discovers Virginia, an off-grid idealist living in a storage facility. This meeting is the launchpad for an odd-couple heist that presents the evils of Big Data folded into a truly bizarre caper, which gets darker and darker as the tale unfolds.

Cloudthief by Nathaniel Rich, (List Price: $28, MCD, 9780374619794, July 2026)

Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie

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The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie
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I’ll tell you a secret: some of the best slasher films and stories are whodunits. Think Scream, The Prowler, Psycho , etc. Craig Dilouie understands it and works it from a new angle. “What,” he asks, “if the slasher story was told from the perspective of the skeptical cop who arrives too late to save the day?” And that’s how we get The Summer Fun Massacre. This is a fun one, a guaranteed darker beach read. I read it all in one sitting, and you’re sure to do it, too.

The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie, (List Price: $19.99, Run For It, 9780316578240, June 2026)

Reviewed by Rowan Rodriguez, Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL

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Air by Christian Kracht

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Air by Christian Kracht
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Christian Kracht’s Air unfolds through two storylines that gradually echo one another. The novel doesn’t rush to explain how Paul and Ilder connect. Instead, it lingers within the tension of their possible relationship. Air is a story and also a puzzle. It artfully combines sci-fi with a historical tale, in which Kracht creates a novel that is hard to pin down. I had very little idea what was actually going on, but that never felt like a problem. Part of the enjoyment of Air is its unpredictability while moving through the story alongside the characters, who often seem just as unsure of the world around them. That shared confusion turns the reading experience into a journey, where atmosphere and relationship matter more than explanations. I just wish I had the opportunity to read this book on a snow day.

Air by Christian Kracht, (List Price: $24.99, Liveright, 9781324094586, July 2026)

Reviewed by Chloe, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich

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At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich
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I found this book to be fascinating. It’s told in three parts, and in all of them, our main character is a vastly different person. We get to see the world and everyone else through her eyes, and wow, do they change an alter, even on a minute-to-minute basis. She stays consistent in her love of nature, but that’s about it. Thrilling, chilling, confusing? And so so fun. I loved this book.

At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich, (List Price: $17.95, Two Dollar Radio, 9781953387615, June 2026)

Reviewed by Creed, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina

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We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman

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We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman
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A new perspective into Harpman’s beautiful mind! If you loved I Who Have Never Known Men, this collection will give you deeper insight into that novel, as well as into Harpman’s thought processes and experiences as a young girl that clearly inspired her future work. Wouldn’t recommend as an intro to the author, however – more for those familiar with her work and wanting more.

We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman, (List Price: $18.95, Transit Books, 9798893380583, July 2026)

Reviewed by Mackenzie, Thank You Books in Birmingham, AL

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Book Buzz: Agnes Lives! by Hallie Elizabeth Newton

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“Agnes Lives! is a 24 hour novel. I had all of these feelings in 2018, 2020, that I was trying to find an outlet for. So I started creating this character in snatches of daily life. What would it be like for this character to go shopping, or try to buy a gun in Chinatown, and so on. And as I started to write this, I discovered more and more of her, and I thought the 24 hour time period would add a propulsive clock to the piece.”
  ― Hallie Elizabeth Newton, InterviewBooks Are Magic with David Lipsky

Agnes Lives! by Hallie Elizabeth Newton

What booksellers are saying about Agnes Lives!

  • Agnes Lives! explores themes of self-worth and self-indulgence in a pitiless world that demands women be everything to everyone at all times, highlighting the push and pull of embracing or rejecting those demands. Said demands push Agnes to the absolute extremes. This is a literary thriller that all strange book lovers are going to devour. I loved it!
      ― Jenny, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, North Carolina | BUY

  • Funny, delirious, shocking, and a wild, wild goose chase of a time. You’ll root for Agnes in her search for a potential killer and cheer every time she gets closer to reaching her goal.
      ― Joshua, The Underground Bookshop, Carrollton, Georgia | BUY

  • A blistering manifesto of a book that crams so much into its pages; a kind of reverse American Psycho telling the story of one woman down-trodden by mid-2010’s rat race existence in New York. As wild, unexpected, and original as a hypnotic Instagram spiral, it’s hard to believe this is a debut novel.
    ― Doron, Octavia Books, New Orleans, Louisiana | BUY

  • Agnes is like a piece of glass that our patriarchal, image-obsessed society has trampled all over…a smart commentary on toxic femininity, on being an aging woman, on the ways women feel pressured to sacrifice their bodies at the altars of men, on all the toxic little crimes men commit against women and women commit against themselves. It’s full of killer lines and insights about our culture and the characterization is precise and blazing. This novel is as enraging as it is insightful. So if you like chaotic, weird girl Lit. Fic. with an unhinged woman on an equally unhinged mission then take a big bite, this one’s worth the calories.
    ― Savannah, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, North Carolina | BUY

About Hallie Elizabeth Newton

Hallie Elizabeth Newton was born in Mississippi. A recipient of NYU’s Goldwater Fellowship, she won first prize for fiction in Columbia Journal’s 2020 Winter Contest. Agnes Lives! is her debut novel. She lives in New York.

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The Missed Connection by Tia Williams

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The Missed Connection by Tia Williams
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Man, Tia Williams knows how to write a stellar romance! After a chance encounter on a flight, guarded — but delightful — Sasha enlists the help of former detective turned BBQ-ist Wes to help her find her missed connection. I loved the banter between the two main characters and found their predicaments so entertaining and unique. Truly, I’ve never read anything like this before! If you’re feeling burnt out on romance, you can always turn to Tia Williams, who will never disappoint.

The Missed Connection by Tia Williams, (List Price: $29, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538770269, June 2026)

Reviewed by Hallee, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, AR

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Skin Contact by Elisa Faison

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Skin Contact by Elisa Faison
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Really loved this book! I couldn’t get enough of it. Elisa Faison has such a good eye for meaningful details that deepen the understanding of her characters. It’s a story about a couple navigating non-monogamy, but it covers so much of the human experience: love, loss, sensual pleasure, pandemic loneliness, etc. This is literary fiction at its best. The characters don’t take themselves too seriously (healthy doses of humor throughout), yet there is always another level to explore beyond the surface.

Skin Contact by Elisa Faison, (List Price: $29, Cardinal, 9781538776018, June 2026)

Reviewed by Daniel, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, AR

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Father Material by Alexis Hall

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Father Material by Alexis Hall
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Hall’s hilarious dialogue is front and center in his newest addition to the London Calling series and you won’t be able to put this one down! Luc and Oliver have been through it in Boyfriend Material and the Husband Material. But you know, “first comes love, then comes marriage” so you know what’s next! That’s right, an adorable rescue dog that looks like a big potato! And maybe if they can get dog parenting down, they might be ready for more?

Father Material by Alexis Hall, (List Price: $18.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728264295, June 2026)

Reviewed by Jennifer, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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On the Other Side Is March by Sólrún Michelsen

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On the Other Side Is March by Sólrún Michelsen
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The first female Faroese writer to publish in English has written truth about women caretakers the world over. The main character is a woman in her 60’s who is caring for her grandchildren and mothering her own aging mother. She is waiting for a nursing home for her mother, but her name doesn’t come up. As she is caring for others, she remembers scenes of her youth and caring for her own children when they were small. Even though this story is told from the Faroe Islands, it is the same story played over and over. She honestly even thinks of feeling angry at her ancient mother for growing old and feeble. Love and caring are displayed with the work and worry of caretaking.

On the Other Side Is March by Sólrún Michelsen, (List Price: $18.95, Transit Books, 9798893380491, June 2026)

Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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Take Me With You by Steven Rowley

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Take Me with You by Steven Rowley
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Take a deep, slow breath and prepare for Rowley’s unique combination of tenderness, longing, sorrow, and humor. The biggest mystery isn’t how a man disappears into a beam of light; it’s the human vulnerability of moving on, facing mistakes, and naming losses. Every character has hidden stories. Getting a ringside seat to their journeys is the best gift any reader could want.

Take Me with You by Steven Rowley, (List Price: $30, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 9780593851494, May 2026)

Reviewed by Jan, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

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