The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Adult Nonfiction

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
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A May 2022 Read This Next! Selection

A eulogy of sorts to things we are always going to lose, and to the things that are taken from us, this is a beautiful body of work that trembles with hurt, but asks also for its due attention- a wounded thing not yet surrendering. Poems of movement, of worry, of a recognized grief and the subsequent small joys that can bloom out of dirt like small flower heads…Limón never, ever disappoints when it comes to understanding the great and terrible spectrum of emotions that is our cross to bear. It’s as if this newest collection is a honed and finely tuned string of metal hewn from her previous work, singing its own loud and new sound, ever reminding us that she belongs alongside Sontag, Lorde, James Welch, Oliver- the heralds of the Word that have come before and whose worlds will remain long after.

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón, (List Price: $22, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550494, May 2022)

Reviewed by Aimee Keeble from Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo

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The Book of Difficult Fruit
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Lovers of early Diane Ackerman, Michael Pollan, and possibly Ruth Reichl will enjoy this collection of alphabetically saluted fruits! Essayist, poet, and pie lady Kate Lebo expertly blends the culinary, medical, and personal in a book of essays, accompanied by recipes that you will probably never use but are fascinating to read! Lebo’s chops both literary and gustatory are fully exercised in this fascinating collection. It’s full of surprises! One page you’ll be drooling and the next will make you nauseous, even fearful for our intrepid explorer of all things fruit. Much of the book is personal and shares some common ground with Cheryl Strayed. Great gift for a young chef, plant lover, or poet!

The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo (List Price: $18, Picador, 9780374110321, 4/12/2022)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Unmasked by Paul Holes

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Unmasked by Paul Holes
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I don’t read a lot of “true crime,” and I honestly struggled with this one until I realized that it had completely captured my attention and I was unable to put it down. Paul Holes has lived a life unimaginable to most of us; facing the depths of depravity and the lengths of evil that exist in this world over the course of his lifetime. Clearly it has affected him…he paints himself as a rather unlikable character, single-mindedly focused on his work at the expense of his relationships, his marriage and his family. Imagine obsessing over one single thing (in his case capturing the Golden State Killer) every day of your life for over two decades. It is no wonder his personal life suffered as a result, but so deep was his obsession with this particular cold case, even his professional life was negatively impacted. I almost wonder if he isn’t affected by Autism or some other syndrome that drove his compulsion to pursue this predator for most of his career. This is a fascinating read not just in the steps it takes to catch a killer, but in how it can affect the lives of so many different people in so many different ways. It is disturbing, but compelling and even if it isn’t something you would normally pick up, it was an amazing read.

Unmasked by Paul Holes, (List Price: $28.99, Celadon Books, 9781250622792,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Brent Bunnell from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

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When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen
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This collection is like a candy bag of sweets that will delight you with bright colors, textures, flavors, and then wash over you with strange childhood nostalgia and pucker the sore parts of your cheeks. Swinging from trivialities like ad jingles and jumping on trampolines to deep observations about love, family, and identity, these poems are able to sweep the highs and lows, silly and serious into folded notes you can keep in your pockets like confetti for all occasions.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen, (List Price: $16, BOA Editions Ltd., 9781942683339,  April 2017)

Reviewed by Julie Jarema from Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück

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Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück
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I don’t even know where to start with this one. Louise Gluck is just a master, and I kind of feel like that’s all there is to say about it. The technical precision and emotional brilliance she has in this collection is astounding. A poet truly deserving of the Nobel Prize in Literature. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to put in the work required to appreciate it.

Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück, (List Price: $16, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374535773,  September 2015)

Reviewed by Juliet Rosner from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Felicity by Mary Oliver

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Felicity by Mary Oliver
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I think this collection would make a great introduction to poetry for anybody. The work is simple and very readable but Mary Oliver does not sacrifice intellectual depth or technique for the sake of accessibility.

Felicity by Mary Oliver, (List Price: $17.95, Penguin Books, 9780143128762,  October 2017)

Reviewed by Juliet Rosner from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi

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Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi
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If Akwaeke Emezi is a “silly little god” then I’m about to become their most zealous devotee. Their debut poetry collection, Content Warning: Everything, lives up to its title, fair warning. This is a HEAVY book. Emezi doesn’t shy away from topics like sexual abuse, suicide, vengeance, and long-term trauma. And they’re absolutely gorgeous. They seem to draw divinity from the baseness of the earth, singing of rivers, eyeteeth, and fucking in fresh graves. Content Warning: Everything rallies against boundaries at every turn, shattering expectation like the trumpets did Jericho’s walls. It careens between heart-smashing and “are you allowed to say that about Jesus?” and yet this collection feels as polished and purposeful as any novel! It’s confusing, frequently concerning, and utterly entrancing. Confessional poet Sylvia Plath once wrote “The Moon is not my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.” Content Warning: Everything goes further, making the Virgin Mary a beloved auntie who “moves in with my mother / they are not so lonely now” Not content to stop at confessing, Akwaeke Emezi has sculpted a book of poems that christen, excommunicate, and heal.

Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi, (List Price: $16, Copper Canyon Press, 9781556596292,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Terrance Hudson from Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
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Reading this collection made me feel like I was standing outside with my bare feet in the grass, scrunching my toes in the soil, feeling the breeze on my face, and pondering the oneness of everything.

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón, (List Price: $22, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550494,  May 2022)

Reviewed by LeeAnna Callon, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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The Modern Proper by Holly Erickson

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The Modern Proper by Holly Erickson
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A chapter devoted to dips, spreads, and dressings… and a chapter on meatballs? We were instantly smitten! And we continued to return to this collection of unfussy, from-scratch recipes designed for family meals or entertaining (but definitely scalable down: I’m talking about you, Saucy Grilled Cheese with Asparagus.) The Modern Proper will bring fun, imaginative food into your world.

The Modern Proper by Holly Erickson, (List Price: $32, S&S/Simon Element, 9781982177669,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Anne Peck, Righton Books in St Simons Island, Georgia

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Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott

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Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott
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An April Read This Next! Book

It’s more tempting than ever to want to build a bomb shelter and retreat from the upheavals of life. But with this memoir, Mary Laura Philpott convinces us that, like Frank the turtle, we have to poke our heads out from time to time, confront the challenges, and keep going. Thank you, MLP, for making all of us worriers feel seen, and for helping us put into words the emotions (so very many emotions) that go along with being not just a parent but a person.

Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott, (List Price: $27, Atria Books, 9781982160784,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Lady Smith, Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama

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Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

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Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
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An April Read This Next! Book

Nothing short of beautiful. Fresh feeling poems populated with violence, the roadside, love, and what endures. Where war and tragedy and trauma persists, so do the bold spirit in each of these poems, unafraid to look back be tender. What I found most compelling in Time Is a Mother was the rhythm, dilating and breathing one moment, rapid and pulsing the next, capturing the flow of relative time the way only a voice like Vuong’s can.

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong, (List Price: $24, Penguin Press, 9780593300237,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Goldenrod by Maggie Smith

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Goldenrod by Maggie Smith
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Poignant, raw, and fresh, Smith’s new collection of poems explores motherhood, grief, divorce, and the many complexities of weathering a pandemic. Her clear voice and effortless creation of images makes this collection a delight to read.

Goldenrod by Maggie Smith, (List Price: $20, Atria/One Signal Publishers, 9781982185060,  July 2021)

Reviewed by Hannah Kerbs, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Clock Star Rose Spine by Fran Wilde

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Clock Star Rose Spine by Fran Wilde
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I loved the interplay between real life and mythology in this book of poetry. The fountain pen illustrations are charming and help bring the poetry to life.

Clock Star Rose Spine by Fran Wilde, (List Price: $18, Lanternfish Press, 9781941360576,  August 2021)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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After Beowulf by Nicole Markotic

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After Beowulf by Nicole Markotic
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Beowulf has been translated time and time again, whether by scholars just trying to be as accurate as possible, or people thinking outside of the box, or people who literally are just here for a good time like Nicole. After Beowulf is the tale of Beowulf, but it does address why the Geats were so terrified of his death. Nicole just happens to tell it all in the funkiest, funniest way possible. It even had me reading it out loud at one point, trying to do funny voices and keep up with the flow.

After Beowulf by Nicole Markotic, (List Price: $17.95, Coach House Books, 9781552454428,  April 2022)

Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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DEAR GOD. DEAR BONES. DEAR YELLOW. by Noor Hindi

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Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi
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This little book of poems is going to haunt me until the end of my days. I don’t know how to describe how important every word in this book is, every beat, every heart wrenching sentence. Dear God is meant to be delivered directly to your face, the speaker’s voice barely a hiss. A question that can’t be answered- just heard.

Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi, (List Price: $17, Haymarket Books, 9781642596960,  May 2022)

Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

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