The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Adult Nonfiction

The Queen of Swords by Jazmina Barrera

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The Queen of Swords by Jazmina Barrera
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An examination of an author’s life like no other, Jazmina Barrera reveals the impossibility of truly understanding the motivations and choices of another. Researching documents on Elena Garro’s life and reading her writing for over two years, Barrera succeeds in bringing Garro’s complexity to light, illustrating her creativity, brilliance, impulsiveness and instability. Barrera also portrays Elena’s humor and imagination as she fights against a society that limits women’s opportunities. Using a completely original form, Barrera has honored Garro’s life and work while still acknowledging the answers she never found. After reading this book, I added titles by Elena Garro to my to-be-read list.

The Queen of Swords by Jazmina Barrera, (List Price: $24, Two Lines Press, 9781949641875, November 2025)

Reviewed by Lera Shawver, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Startlement by Ada Limón

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Startlement by Ada Limón
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Pulled from her previous six collections and spanning her 20-year career as a poet, Startlement will do just that with its precise beauty, lush and generous language, its wisdom about what it is to be living in this world. If you only buy one book of poetry this year, you’ll be glad it’s this!

Startlement by Ada Limón, (List Price: $28, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550517, September 2025)

Reviewed by Johanna Hynes, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky

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Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

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Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
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Mary Roach delves into the world of regenerative medicine, discussing everything from 3D-printed organs to the potential of stem cells. Not only informative, this book raises important questions about identity, mortality, and the future of medicine. Roach’s ability to blend humor with serious topics keeps readers entertained while prompting them to think critically about the implications of these technologies.

Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach, (List Price: $28.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324050629, September 2025)

Reviewed by Mevelyn Romay Fernandez, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

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All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert
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All the Way to the River is a love letter to those struggling and trying to be better. Gilbert’s openness about her addiction and pathway to healing sheds light on a type of addiction many women are ashamed to admit for themselves, even with its commonality. She tells the story of the highs and lows of falling in love with another addict, Rayya, and how her death was an awakening to finding peace in her life. Addiction isn’t beautiful, but there is always beauty to be found in those that love you, even in their worst moments.

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert, (List Price: $35, Riverhead Books, 9780593540985, September 2025)

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

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Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford

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Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford
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A great anthology for readers of the horror genre who are curious about the authors they love and why they write within the genre – and who want to reflect on why they love reading horror. The introductions to each author from Becky were especially great for authors I’ve yet to read from because they provided a good starting point to reading their works. Also, still can’t stop thinking about Grady Hendrix’s essay in particular.

Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford, (List Price: $18, S&S/Saga Press, 9781668205099, September 2025)

Reviewed by Natalie Nichols, Court Street Books in Florence, Alabama

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Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

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Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
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When I moved to the US, I brought only two boxes of books with me, forcing me to choose only the most essential from the many that lined my shelves: my well-thumbed copy Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things was one of the precious few that made the cut. So it’s fair to say that I was predisposed to love Mother Mary Comes to Me. This extraordinary memoir is a portrait not only of Arundhati Roy’s life – from childhood in Kerala, to architecture school in Delhi, and from there to becoming an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction – but also of her formidable mother, who defied convention but whose cruelty shaped her daughter’s life. Vivid, intimate and revelatory, Mother Mary Comes to Me is an absolute masterpiece, one that will stay on my shelves for years to come.

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, (List Price: $30, Scribner, 9781668094716, September 2025)

Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik

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Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik
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“Art, my God, Joan, I’m embarrassed to mention it in front of you, you know, but you mentioned burning babies in locked cars, so I can mention Art.” Eve Babitz to Joan Didion, 1972. In this blazing memoir, one feels like they’re out for drinks discussing ’70s Hollywood sleaze, female chauvinist pigs, and Charles Manson with your wildly messy and entertaining friend. Anolik’s powerful storytelling and adept reporting remind one of Eve Babitz, the “secret genius of L.A.” Oscillating between moments of unbelievable grief, Didion-esque cold distance, and the hot it-girl urge to push it all away, this memoir is a testament to artists, their craft, and the lovers’ spat between two of the greatest Californian writers of our time.

Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik, (List Price: $20, Scribner, 9781668065495, November 2024)

Reviewed by Joshua Lambie, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia

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The Call of the Honeyguide by Rob Dunn

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The Call of the Honeyguide by Rob Dunn
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A challenging new take on responding to climate change. Dunn asks readers to learn about how humans have interacted with other beings (animals, plants, insects) and how we might act in the future to the benefit of all. He offers plenty of examples, differing opinions, and humor to balance the data. Definitely one to put on your climate change shelf.

The Call of the Honeyguide by Rob Dunn, (List Price: $32, Basic Books, 9781541605732, August 2025)

Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews

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A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews
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Toews is an author unlike any other; the personal nature of her writing is global in its appeal. This autobiographical work uses a pastiche — a literary conceit that requires Toews to answer the question “Why do I write?” — to send Toews toward herself and the request her late sister asked of her. If my sister is gone, what does it mean to write to her still? asks the author. At its core — and this book is all core — this book entreats a reader to feel the most difficult emotions. It reminds us not to leave each other alone. Being together may not save us — it did not save Toews’s sister — but Miriam Toews argues that feeling together is still worth doing.

A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews, (List Price: $26.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639734740, August 2025)

Reviewed by Julia Paganelli Marin, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin

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What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin
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Exceptional cultural criticism that convincingly and insightfully mines the seemingly disposable popular commercial ’80s to early ’00s films of Michael Douglas to expose the political, cultural, and sociological currents thrumming beneath the surface (or, at times, on the surface) of the texts and roiling through America. A terrific and fun read, while also being exemplary of the form for cultural criticism written for a general audience.

What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin, (List Price: $27, Pantheon, 9780593317624, June 2025)

Reviewed by Matt Nixon, A Cappella Books in Atlanta, Georgia

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Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

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Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
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Nature writer par excellence Robert Macfarlane’s latest work is a treat for all the senses. In it, he visits three rivers – one in Ecuador, one in India, one in Canada; one protected, one dying, and one under threat – in search of answers to his own question: is a river alive? The result is this beautifully written work that explores the rights of nature movement and the idea that rivers are more than mere matter for human use. Drawing upon both indigenous and Western knowledge, Is a River Alive? is erudite and eloquent, intelligent and passionate, and much needed.

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, (List Price: $31.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393242133, May 2025)

Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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This Happened to Me by Kate Price

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This Happened to Me by Kate Price
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Price is getting comparisons to Jeannette Walls and Tara Westover, and they are so deserved! Her therapy journey is featured in the bestselling book, The Body Keeps the Score, and is an unflinching tale of overcoming repressed childhood trauma and breaking cycles of abuse. It has some tough parts, but Price is honest and open. Her story of growth will inspire you.

This Happened to Me by Kate Price, (List Price: $29.99, Gallery Books, 9781668036228, August 2025)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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The Club by Jennifer Dasal

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The Club by Jennifer Dasal
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Between 1870 and 1914, hundreds of young American women sought artistic training in Paris, and many found a special residence that fostered their training. The building became known as the American Girl’s Club. Dasal provides a breezy account of the club by way of individual women who left accounts of their time. An intriguing addition to the history of women artists in Europe and America.

The Club by Jennifer Dasal, (List Price: $29.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639731305, July 2025)

Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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Gateaux by Mori Yoshida

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Gateaux by Mori Yoshida
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There are different types of cookbooks. Some focus on the science…others on weeknight meals…but this one focuses on beauty, gorgeous pictures make this cookbook an adult picture book that you want to look at over and over. The recipes are not simple but works of art that will take your time and reward you with all things beautiful, beautiful to look at and pop in your mouth.

Gateaux by Mori Yoshida, (List Price: $40, Tra Publishing, 9781962098120, April 2025)

Reviewed by Ashby Rushing, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Boustany by Sami Tamimi

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Boustany by Sami Tamimi
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Boustany has been on my radar for a while now, and I am happy to report it is everything you could want and more! Filled with luscious recipes that are rich in tradition yet infused with new ideas that bring something fresh, the pantry section alone had me feeling like I had ascended into spice and pickled heaven. The history and culture that’s embedded in each dish add something so special and meaningful that it brings this book to a new level, truly something for everyone!

Boustany by Sami Tamimi, (List Price: $37.99, Ten Speed Press, 9781984863188, July 2025)

Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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