The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Adult Nonfiction

After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal by Merlin Holland

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After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal by Merlin Holland
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An extraordinary achievement from Wilde’s only grandson! Collected in this expansive work is the legacy of Oscar Wilde. In some ways, more interesting than Matthew Sturgis’s masterful Oscar Wilde: A Life, After Oscar instead focuses on the effect the man has had on us rather than the man himself. Starting while Wilde is still alive and scandalized, Holland takes us on a journey of his grandfather’s posthumous reputation. Homophobia, hypocrisy, hubris abound here. The crackling, droll prose (inherited, perhaps) makes reading this book an utter joy. Even while my emotions rode a roller coaster of surprise, rage, and amusement.

After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal by Merlin Holland, (List Price: $34, Europa Editions, 9798889661764, April 2026)

Reviewed by Kelly, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

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Book Buzz: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Patrick Radden Keefe, photo credit Patrick Radden Keefei“One of the things that really interested me was the parents investigating their son’s death. He goes off the balcony of this luxury building into the Thames. It’s unclear, is this a suicide? Is it murder? Is it something more exotic? The parents trust Scotland Yard to get to the bottom of it, but then there’s this gradual awareness that the police aren’t actually going to come and help. So they have to try and work it out themselves. That was really interesting to me as a dynamic. They’re incredibly invested, but they also get pulled into this underworld in London inside the city they hadn’t known.”
  ― Patrick Radden Keefe, Interview Magazine

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

What booksellers are saying about London Falling

  • The depth and care that Patrick Radden Keefe puts into researching a story is evident in this new must-read for any parent, history buff, or true crime fan.
      ― Kelley, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC | BUY

  • A chance connection led Keefe to this story, and his reporting is impeccably researched, brilliantly plotted and eye-opening: a compelling exposé of the dark underbelly of the UK’s glittering capital city, and a teenager in its thrall.
      ― Jude, Square Books in Oxford, MS | BUY

  • This book captured my attention very quickly, and I powered through the first six or so hours of audio.
    ― Marinna, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, AR | BUY

  • Keefe peeled back the layers of this convoluted story with meticulous attention to detail and a hearty helping of contextualizing history. I did not expect to learn about the construction of the Ugandan Railway and the fall of the USSR, but I’m glad I did. This was a sad yet fascinating exploration into the London underworld, and I am glad that Keefe was able to tell Zac’s story.
    ― Savannah Woodall, The Book Loft in Fernandina Beach, Florida | BUY

About Patrick Radden Keefe

Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize), and Say Nothing, which received a National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the Twenty Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times Book Review. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award, and the Orwell Prize. He served as an executive producer on the award-winning FX series Say Nothing. He is also the creator and host of the podcast Wind of Change, which The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly named the #1 podcast of 2020.

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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Jesmyn Ward presents us with a series of essays which give us a peek into the skeletons upon which her stunning fiction is built, the sweet and sour life and experiences and family which leads her to lament in the opening piece: “Sometimes, I wish I could write easier stories…” The language is vivid, florid, precise, and beautiful all at once, as she covers topics such as family, Katrina, Faulkner, representation, book banning, book reviews, movie reviews, justice, leaving home, and returning home again – common themes treated with absolute tenderness and honesty.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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Saving Time by Jenny Odell

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Saving Time by Jenny Odell
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“This book is my panoramic assault on nihilism. I wrote it in an effort to be helpful, but toward the end, I felt I was writing it to save my life…the largest gesture of hope I could muster.” In a world of mounting time pressure–one in which we dutifully recite “rest is productive” so that we don’t feel guilty for taking a break–it’s become clear that a paradigm reset is in order. Saving Time is an evisceration and a balm: a thorough, necessary breakdown of our current state of affairs, and a primer for how to begin thinking differently if we hope to save ourselves from the ticking capitalist clock.

Saving Time by Jenny Odell, (List Price: $20, Random House, 9780593242728, January 2024)

Reviewed by Talia, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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As I was reading this, I felt like I needed to get the word “respair” tattooed on my body. That’s how deeply this collection affected me. The essays all felt different from one another, yet connected through themes of grief, resilience, survival, and healing. What stayed with me most was how each essay gave me something different to sit with — some left me heartbroken, some reflective, and some unexpectedly hopeful.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Jess, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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It’s always a gift to read Jesmyn Ward’s wise and powerful work. “Respair” is an obsolete word, a noun, meaning “fresh hope after despair” and this collection delivers it. Jesmyn Ward explores a lot of territory here, including her upbringing, love of her home of rural Mississippi, the vibrant stories passed down to her by family, cultural influences and representation, and art as a means of survival. She also explores the transformative power of loss and grief – through the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the loss of her beloved brother, and the death of her partner. She addresses the difficulty of raising a Black son in this country as well as long-term and rampant injustices. Her prose, as always, is beautiful and authentically hers. The illustrations that her words conjure are powerful and fully human. A resounding part of this collection is Ward’s love letter to libraries, authors, and books. She writes of her early years as a Black student in rural Mississippi, and the search for her own experience within books. She came up short time and time again until she found Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Richard Wright, James Baldwin. She finally discovers mirrors within these words, and heeds the call to write down her own, drawing upon the treasured stories passed to her by her grandparents and parents. These essays shed light on the history of this country and the experience of Black Americans. It puts things into perspective for many who believe current despair and fear is new. These essays illustrate that this has long been happening in America. For so many, there has always been a fear of the arbitrary and unjust nature of authority. It’s not new. Yet somehow resilience and hope can be found in the dark. That is respair – and it’s inspiring. I think Jesmyn Ward is one of our very best American writers.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Sarah, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
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London Falling was completely unexpected. I had never read any of Keefe’s work, so I was skeptical of his ability to tell an interesting story when the conclusion (the untimely death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler) was already revealed in the book’s description. My skepticism was unfounded. Keefe peeled back the layers of this convoluted story with meticulous attention to detail and a hearty helping of contextualizing history. I did not expect to learn about the construction of the Ugandan Railway and the fall of the USSR, but I’m glad I did. This was a sad yet fascinating exploration into the London underworld, and I am glad that Keefe was able to tell Zac’s story.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, (List Price: $35, Doubleday, 9780385548533, April 2026)

Reviewed by Savannah Woodall, The Book Loft in Fernandina Beach, Florida

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
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This book captured my attention very quickly, and I powered through the first six or so hours of audio. It tells the story of a young man who pretends to be a Russian oligarch, which somehow leads to his demise. While it was intriguing at first, the story began to move in circles, so I was not as invested as time went on. Still, it was an overall good read of true crime – a wild story one would not imagine could be true.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, (List Price: $35, Doubleday, 9780385548533, April 2026)

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

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
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Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

The depth and care that Patrick Radden Keefe puts into researching a story is evident in this new must-read for any parent, history buff, or true crime fan. London Falling is a touching look at a family’s heartbreak where not much is as it seems.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, (List Price: $35, Doubleday, 9780385548533, April 2026)

Reviewed by Kelley, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
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Get the audiobook

A teenager’s death is the impetus for a revelatory investigation into London’s underworld and the Russian oligarchy in Patrick Radden Keefe’s masterful new work, London Falling. Until he plummeted from a fifth-floor balcony into the River Thames, 19-year-old Zac Brettler’s parents were oblivious to his secret double life: obsessed with wealth and power, the privileged young man had been masquerading as the son of a Russian billionaire and had fallen in with two corrupt businessmen, one a notorious gangster. As the investigation into Zac’s death dragged on, they were no closer to finding answers as to how their son died – or if he was murdered. A chance connection led Keefe to their story, and his reporting is impeccably researched, brilliantly plotted and eye-opening: a compelling exposé of the dark underbelly of the UK’s glittering capital city, and a teenager in its thrall.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, (List Price: $35, Doubleday, 9780385548533, April 2026)

Reviewed by Jude, Square Books in Oxford, MS

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How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

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How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis
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This is an affirming book about compassion. It is the antithesis of keeping a house clean at all costs. She offers hope and concrete language shifts and perspective shifts for the many individuals who struggle with more complex lives for a myriad of reasons. This book offers you permission to reject the notion of completing tasks as moral standards. By reframing language, she arms you with ways to shut down the ever-present ugly trolls: negative self-talk, shame, and embarrassment. Her reframing of language and alternate approach to processing allows for a shift that provides benevolence to ourselves, which we often reserve for others. As a 42-year-old woman with ADHD diagnosed just a year ago, this book spoke to my soul!

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis, (List Price: $22, S&S/Simon Element, 9781668002841, April 2022)

Reviewed by Andrea, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

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Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson

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Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson
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Meg Josephson writes a game-changing book for people pleasers that is easy to digest and with thinking action items that are game changers. Meg talks about the fawn response that is pervasive in many adults today and simplifies the evolution towards a content adult hold by explaining to the people pleasers that they are brilliant for creating this safety mechanism because it allowed the child to succeed in unstable emotional environments. Dr. Josephson explains that as adults, we just need to evolve into thinking differently. Beautiful book that is well designed, this will be a game-changer for so many people.

Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson, (List Price: $30, Gallery Books, 9781668082461, August 2025)

Reviewed by Kimberley, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC

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Communion by bell hooks

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Communion by bell hooks
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hooks asks her audience, what does it mean to love and what does it mean to be free? What preconceived notions about love do we bring into our friendships, relationships, and families? How has feminism changed women’s lives, and in what ways have we been left behind? This book is revolutionary!

Communion by bell hooks, (List Price: $17.99, William Morrow, 9780060938291, December 2002)

Reviewed by Meredith, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, KY

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The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad

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The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad
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Jaouad has an endearing, welcoming voice that rings clearly from the first page of this book. As a lifelong journal keeper, I found myself writing these prompts down for future creative explorations! I will be giving this to every person I know who wishes to slow down and embrace depth of thought.

The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad, (List Price: $30, Random House, 9780593734636, April 2025)

Reviewed by Mandy, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Jesmyn Ward presents us with a series of essays which give us a peek into the skeletons upon which her stunning fiction is built, the sweet and sour life and experiences and family, which lead her to lament in the opening piece: “Sometimes, I wish I could write easier stories…” The language is vivid, florid, precise, and beautiful all at once, as she covers topics such as family, Katrina, Faulkner, representation, book banning, book reviews, movie reviews, justice, leaving home, and returning home again – common themes treated with absolute tenderness and honesty.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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