Vignettes on middle age, aging parents, motherhood, grief, and acceptance. A touching and poignant yet breezy read. So obviously crafted with immense care.
The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly, (List Price: $22.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324117407, February 2026)
Reviewed by Hannah, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
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It is a difficult and rare thing for any of us to try to fully know our parents as the entire, whole, often complicated, sometimes messy, humans that they were. Tom Junod elegantly shows us the man who was his father with an impressive honesty and vulnerability, digging through the layers of his legacy and its impact on him and those around him — a beautiful and powerful read.
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)
Reviewed by Nicole, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee
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This family memoir was insightful, sensitive, and impossible to put down. Tom Junod’s father was instantly familiar and fascinating to me, with his charm and swagger, his casually devastating secrets. I harbor a long-held affection for men of Lou’s generation, and it’s clear Tom does too. But as a writer, he also explores how his complex legacy shaped the man he is today. I loved it.
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)
Reviewed by Ashley, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
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A perfect example of when less is more. Sparse, but oh so evocative, prose makes scenes vibrant and visual. Expect twists, pensive moments, vulnerability, and humor. It’s subtitled a mini-memoir but it’s so much more.
The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly, (List Price: $22.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324117407, 2026-02-24)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
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If you think it would be fun to own a bookshop, this book is for you. If you also think books are good for your health and the right book can clear up a case of boredom, this book is for you. Katie Clapham has recorded a month by month view of the weather outside her bookshop and all the people who entered or didn’t enter her store. She owns the bookstore with her mother who stops by often as well as he grandmother, her husband and her daughter who she has called The Bookwormlet. Selling enough books is always a concern and the author is delighted when she can make the perfect recommendation and make a sale. She obviously loves reading and enjoys seeing and talking with the customers. Receipts from the Bookshop will call to all readers to visit and buy many beloved books and long to visit the one that Katie Clapham owns.
Receipts from the Bookshop by Katie Clapham, (List Price: $28, William Morrow, 9780063516625, September 2026)
Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA
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Imagine sitting in an Irish pub being regaled with the story of how a lost Irish tradition was revived. The flow of this memoir is very much like such a conversation. Keohan’s enthusiasm shines through as he shares his journey discovering lost lifting stones and encourages towns to embrace their history and a new generation to test their mettle lifting stones at least high enough for wind to blow under. The result is an engaging tale of discovery, camaraderie, and a singular passion.
The Wind Beneath the Stone by David Keohan, (List Price: $28, Chelsea Green, 9781645024897, September 20261)
Reviewed by Jan, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC
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I absolutely loved this memoir. Hackney digs into the real grit of her upbringing with a loving thoughtfulness no outsider could ever hope to capture. As someone with a similar background, I think this kind of honest reckoning is necessary for us to ever move forward.
All That’s Unseen by Emilee Hackney, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593831403, July 2026)
Reviewed by Brooke, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC
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I absolutely loved this memoir. Hackney digs into the real grit of her upbringing with a loving thoughtfulness no outsider could ever hope to capture. As someone with a similar background, I think this kind of honest reckoning is necessary for us to ever move forward.
All That’s Unseen by Emilee Hackney, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593831403, July 2026)
Reviewed by Brooke, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC
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Emilee Hackney’s Appalachian memoir begins as a primer on the Pentecostal religion she is raised within in Tazewell, VA, a small mining town in the heart of coal country USA. Soon though, she begins to question everything she knows when her (older) fiancé Sam, a self-proclaimed man of god, turns out to be a groomer and pedophile. Emilee looks for answers from church and community, but her search turns into something bigger when she applies and is accepted to Harvard after two years of community college. Once ensconced in its Ivy League halls, she realizes just how isolating an upbringing she had and how current politics have used her beloved Appalachia to their advantage. Very well written, timely, and compelling, All That’s Unseen helps explain why America’s most rural areas have been hurt again and again by a government they support unceasingly.
All That’s Unseen by Emilee Hackney, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593831403, July 2026)
Reviewed by Jamie, Duck’s Cottage Coffee & Books in Duck, NC
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Nephi Craig’s memoir takes the reader deep into his life, exploring substance abuse, the passion for cooking, and the power of food. Craig’s dedication to sharing the history of Indigenous food with restaurants around the world and his choice to return home to serve the community on his reservation make this such a compelling read. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy food memoirs but also stories of decolonization and healing.
Our Knives Will Save Us by Nephi Craig, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593831908, July 2026)
Reviewed by Beth, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
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It turns out everything Matthew Quick has written up to this point- all nine best-selling novels- have been prequels to this memoir; a book that should be considered his masterpiece, defining much of his work thus far. Powerful, painful, heart-wrenching, and heart-lifting, Matthew bravely lays bare his heart, soul, and most of all his relationship with his difficult father. Throughout this ‘letter’ to his Dad, the reader watches over and over the inexplicable trauma one man inflicts upon his son and sees the many ways in which it would mold him. Sobriety and analysis team up to help him break the cycle and as Alzheimer’s strips his father of so much, Matthew returns to walk this last journey by his side with love and dignity. If we could all forgive as Matthew has forgiven his father, Michael, the world would be an entirely different place.
Dad, Love, Me by Matthew Quick, (List Price: $30, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668091753, July 2026)
Reviewed by Jamie, Duck’s Cottage Coffee & Books in Duck, NC
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Reading Stranded in the Future is like being dropped into a casual conversation with the long-time rocker, surrealist, and memoirist Robyn Hitchcock. With shades of Monty Python, but also the Marx Brothers and especially Fry & Laurie’s love of wordplay, this is an exquisitely English self-referential memoir. Hitchcock sure has a way with words (“His singing voice was light blue”), and while it took me a minute to get used to the sardonic, whimsical style, I was soon luxuriating in evocative, descriptive gems such as: “We are greeted by the classic Smoke Age pub gig odours: stale beer, stale tobacco, stale urine, and fresh disinfectant…” or that punk: “galvanizes what, until last year, has been a fairly cosy generation of kids, grazing peacefully in the mid-1970s, sitting cross-legged on the floor at concerts. But not any more: now they have to stand and spit…” A slice of 60s/70s rock and roll life, especially enjoyable with a Soft Boys playlist playing in the background.
Stranded in the Future by Robyn Hitchcock, (List Price: $24.95, Akashic Books, Ltd., 9781636142999, July 2026)
Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA
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“What was your childhood like? You never talk about it.” Brad asked his grandmother to tell him about her life….how many of us wish we had someone to listen to us or that we had asked questions before loved ones died? With the astonishing beauty of the sixty-three national parks containing all the flowers and plants and wild creatures, readers will sit in the back seat and hear all the joys and tumult of this family’s life. The author and grandson Brad Ryan is a veterinarian who lives with the agony of his solitary life and the pain he carries from his childhood. Grandma Joy is not a woman who shares feelings and loves, but in her 90 years has experienced many of life’s tragedies. Reading this book forces readers to see all the resplendence and majesty of the parks while trodding up countless steps for viewing and sleeping and snoring on an air mattress in a tent. All will long remember the journeys of Brad and Grandma Joy and think about completing them with a 90-year-old relative. It is quite the adventure.
Grandma Joy and Me by Brad Ryan, (List Price: $29, Simon & Schuster, 9781668099261, June 2026)
Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA
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I don’t know anything really about surfing, but I super loved this memoir by former Obama speechwriter David Litt. In the throes of pandemic-lockdown-induced doomscrolling, Litt found himself desperately in need of something to pull him out of his slump, and that something was surfing. Join him on his journey from foamy-riding newbie to surviving Hawaii’s infamous North Shore. Along for the ride – perhaps begrudgingly at first – is his brother-in-law, with whom Litt has next to nothing in common, except the hunt for the perfect break. The joy and mental growth that comes from learning a hard new thing – and finding common ground with someone at polar opposites – is inspiring and so very funny.
It’s Only Drowning by David Litt, (List Price: $19, Gallery Books, 9781668035368, June 2026)
Reviewed by Amanda, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, FL
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In spare but inspiring prose, Haagland recounts her life from childhood through her entry into politics and her time as the first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior. She explores the generational trauma stemming from relatives torn from their families and sent to governmental schools and what drives her to seek representation and justice for all people.
A Voice Like Mine by Deb Haaland, (List Price: $28.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250434227, June 2026)
Reviewed by Jan, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC
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