The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Family Life

Spotlight on: What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

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Claire Jiménez, photo credit Damion Meyer

“This novel was originally a short story that I began writing ten years ago. So, it is difficult to pinpoint its exact beginnings, but I know that I was thinking a lot about loss, family, the violence of migration, and identity. I watched a lot of reality tv in my twenties and the short story began with the premise: what if you recognized somebody from your past on tv, somebody who you lost? I’m interested too in the way that women disappear every day in real life and how representations of Black and Brown women are often missing or distorted in pop culture.” ―Claire Jiménez, Interview, She Reads

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

What booksellers are saying about What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • For fans of Angie Cruz, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is at times laugh out loud hilarious while also delivering an poignant account of a young woman searching for herself as she searches for her sister. The first page left me breathless! Jimenez delivers a sophisticated, plainspoken account of a Latina teen grappling with the urge and opportunity to escape her Staten Island family while also recognizing the value of the intense, turbulent bond she has with her mother and sister.
      ―Adah Fitzgerald from Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina | Buy from Main Street Books

  • What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is the story of a missing Puerto Rican teenage girl living in New York, and the heartbreak that has amplified over the years since her discovery. When her sisters think they spotted their sister as an adult on a reality show, they begin a hopeful plan to find and bring Ruthy home. Jimenez is a talented storyteller, weaving in humor and letting each character shine while exploring a very real, very heartbreaking story. Highly recommended for book clubs and readers who enjoy books like Olga Dies Dreaming.
      ―Beth Seufer Buss from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina | Buy from Bookmarks

  • Two things are true about the Ramirez family: 1. Family is important 2. Family sticks together (right?) For over a decade, the Ramirez family has been struggling with the disappearance of Ruthy (oldest daughter, big sister). With no new information in years, the search feels over, that is until her sister’s see someone who looks remarkably like her on a reality TV show. Hijinks ensue as they attempt to get in contact with “Ruby” aka Ruthy without their mother finding out. But hey, sometimes family is you, your older sister, her baby, your mother, and your mother’s best friend who still dresses in powersuits. Funny, moving, and fast-paced, this is one book I’d recommend for literally anyone.
      ―Jamie Kovacs from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Buy from Flyleaf Books

About Claire Jiménez

Claire Jiménez is a Puerto Rican writer who grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island. She is the author of the short story collection Staten Island Stories, which received the 2019 Hornblower Award for a first book from the New York Society Library and was named a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, a New York Public Library Favorite Book about New York, and Best Latino Book of 2019 by NBC News. She received her MFA from Vanderbilt University and her PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2020, she cofounded the Puerto Rican Literature Project, a digital archive. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. Her fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in Remezcla, AfroHispanic Review, PANK, The Rumpus, and Eater, among other publications. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is her debut novel.

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Dreaming Home by Lucian Childs

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Dreaming Home by Lucian Childs
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An absorbing tale that begins with a single, terrible act of violence a father unleashes upon his son before tracing the ripple of that act as it courses over many lives across decades. Structurally, the novel is quite unique; nearly every named character in the novel, all of them affected in some way by this act of violence, have their perspectives shared with us. Childs’s precise writing makes their anguish and their frustration feel so real despite the short time we spend viewing the story through each character’s eyes. A queer coming-of-age story for the ages.

Dreaming Home by Lucian Childs, (List Price: 16.95, Biblioasis, 9781771965491, June 2023)

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

Spotlight on: Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

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Jenny Jackson, photo credit Sarah Shatz

“In March 2020, when COVID-19 shut down New York City, my husband and I packed up our apartment on Pineapple Street, buckled our kids into their car seats, and drove to northwest Connecticut, where my in-laws live deep in the woods. We stayed with them for six months—six months that were scary, strange, and, at times, very, very funny.

Living in someone else’s house turns you into a bit of an amateur anthropologist, deriving meaning from the closets full of ski jackets, tennis rackets, and twenty years’ worth of Sky & Telescope magazines. I found a letter, sent home from summer camp, that read “Camp is good. They made me write you so I could get ice cream.”” ―Jenny Jackson, Letter to booksellers

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

What booksellers are saying about Pineapple Street

  • Pineapple Street is family drama at its finest – and its most decadent. Told through the eyes of three women in an elite Brooklyn family, the novel is witty and insightful and a thoughtful commentary on class, wealth, and society. These characters equally shocked me and endeared themselves to me; you can’t help but root for happy endings all around. This story will be a best of 2023 for me; I can’t wait to see what Jenny Jackson writes next!
      ―Beth Seufer Buss from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

  • I loved this juicy, complicated family drama! Pineapple Street tells the story of the Stockton family, part of the uber-rich one percenters living in New York City, through the perspectives of two of their daughters and one daughter-law. You won’t be able to help falling in love with each of these characters in spite of their first world problems. Touching and zany, Pineapple Street is perfect for fans of Amy Poeppel and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney.
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

  • I couldn’t put down this novel that explores loyalty, class, family and love. It was zippy and readable while also not shying away from important conversations on privilege.
      ―Lillian Kay from Novel in Memphis, TN | Buy from Novel.
  • Welcome to Pineapple Street, where the Stockton family reigns with old money and even older traditions. The three Stockton siblings, Darley, Cord and Georgiana, all face their monied background with varying degrees of guilt. Sasha, Cord’s wife, is the bohemian artist to the wealthy clan and always finds herself on the outside looking in. Jenny Jackson has created a funny and sharp behind the scenes look at New York’s elite. These characters remind us that what we see on the outside is never quite the same as what is happening on the inside.
      ―Mary Jane Michels from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC | Buy from Fiction Addiction

About Jenny Jackson

Jenny Jackson is a vice president and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. A graduate of Williams College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family. Pineapple Street is her first novel.

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Love at Six Thousand Degrees by Maki Kashimada

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Love at Six Thousand Degrees by Maki Kashimada
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If there’s one thing you should know about me – it’s that I adore a book about an unhappy housewife, not because I like seeing women unhappy, but because I love to support women fighting wrongs. Seeing how a woman reclaims her space, life, and situation – even if she goes about it in questionable ways, is a ride I want to be on. Kashimada’s novel is a prime example of all these elements, with the perfect blend of sparse, deeply impactful prose that explore themes of religion, tragedy, identity, and isolation.

Love at Six Thousand Degrees by Maki Kashimada, (List Price: $17, Europa, 9781609458195, March 2023)

Reviewed by Elizabeth Findley, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
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A March 2023 Read This Next! Title

Hello Beautiful is perfect for readers who enjoy emotionally tender stories about complicated families. Quiet and solitary William Waters is an only child raised by emotionally unavailable parents who finds solace in basketball. He meets bright, headstrong Julia Padavano in college where she decides he is the man to help put her on the path towards her diligently planned life. Along with Julia are her three sisters, with whom she is incredibly close. Tragedy strikes, creating a rift that reverberates within the Padavano family for generations. With themes of grief, mental illness, forgiveness, and loyalty, Hello Beautiful is about the cost of being true to oneself regardless of the consequences, and the gift of those who love us for who we truly are. If you enjoyed Ask Again Yes, you will love this one. I cannot wait to recommend this to my customers.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, (List Price: $28, The Dial Press, 9780593243732, March 2023)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

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On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
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I honestly can’t think of another novel that had quite the emotional impact on me that reading On The Savage Side did. Searing, brutal and unflinching in its portrayal of addiction and the devastation that it wreaks, the novel ripped my heart out and stomped all over it. In telling the story of identical twins Daffy and Arc, McDaniels gives voice to countless marginalized women, and her beautiful, lyrical prose reveals the humanity among the wreckage of lives, hopes and dreams lost to drugs.

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel, (List Price: $29, Knopf, 9780593320709, February 2023)

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

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

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The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
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Brilliant, sublime and surprising. On my forever favorite shelf. Julie Otsuka has the mystical gift of telling just as much of a story with what she doesn’t say. Reader, treat yourself with care if you have or have had a loved one with dementia…but I think The Swimmers is more than worthy of the heart ache.

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka, (List Price: $16, Anchor, 9780593466629, January 2023)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

Spotlight on: Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

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Monica Heisey, photo credit Harry Livingstone Photography

“I went through a divorce at a young age myself, and it was quite isolating — most of my peer group wasn’t even married yet, so I didn’t have anyone around me who could relate to what I was going through, and I became desperate to read or watch something about the experience. While there’s no paucity of divorce art in the world, I couldn’t find anything that summed up how specifically ridiculous going through it all at 28 in the late 2010s felt. I also wanted something that didn’t take the whole thing too seriously — a lot of heartbreak art is quite heavy, when it really is one of life’s funnier circumstances. I also knew that I didn’t want to write a memoir — partly because every divorce is two stories, and it didn’t feel fair to commit only mine to print, and mostly because I didn’t think I could be funny about my real-life situation. So I invented Maggie and Jon, and tore up their life plans instead.” ―Monica Heisey, Interview, Entertainment Weekly

 

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

What booksellers are saying about Really Good, Actually

  • This book feels like it was written exactly to my sense of humor, age group, pop culture knowledge, etc., so I, of course, loved it! Maggie didn’t expect to be getting a divorce at the age of twenty-nine–now she’s left feeling alone and adrift when she expected to have at least one aspect of her life set forever. This book chronicles the lonely, messy, embarrassing year that follows Maggie’s decision to split with her husband as well as the difficult journey to self-improvement in a self-obsessed, social media, millennial ennui-focused era.
      ―Julia Lewis from Fountain Books in Richmond, VA | Buy from Fountain Bookstore

  • Funny and cringingly relatable, Monica Heisey is the Canadian answer to Dolly Alderton and Stephanie Danler. “Messy” is the only word for the 29-year-old protagonist reeling from the end of her marriage, but you can’t help but root for her to make it through her difficult first year post-separation
      ―Kate Storhoff from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

  • This gritty original take on The Breakup Novel is a combination of the age-old human pastime of watching a train wreck happen in front of your eyes (you just can’t stop watching/reading!), and a Jane Austen-level take on relationships and the need for women to have value and identity outside of their romantic relationships. The friendships are hardcore. The slowly emerging self knowledge of the main character is empowering. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing means you’ll want to read it all in one long gulp. Loved it.
      ―Elisa Forshey from Givens Books Little Dickens in Lynchburg, VA | Buy from Givens Boks Little Dickens

  • Agreed, Really Good, Actually is perfect for fans of Schitt’s Creek ( author Monica Heisy wrote for the show!) and the recent novels, Ghosts by Dolly Alderton and How to Fall Out of Love Madly by Jana Casale. Funny, tender and so very relatable
      ―Jessica Nockfrom Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About Monica Heisey

Monica Heisey is a writer and comedian from Toronto. She has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, The Guardian, Glamour, New York magazine, and VICE, among others. She has written for television shows like Schitt’s Creek, Workin’ Moms, Baroness von Sketch Show, and more. She currently lives in London. This is her first novel.

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The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

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The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
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It is an accomplishment when a novel can take on heartbreaking situations and also contain so much humor as well. Geeta’s husband left without a trace five years ago. All the villagers think she has murdered him. So when her women’s business loan group members start having problems with their drinking, abusive husbands, they naturally go to her to enlist her help in murdering them. A fun story about the ability of women friends to stick together and the joys of motherhood (not really). I will highly recommend this one.

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (List Price: $28.00, Ballantine Books, 9780593498958, January 2023)

Reviewed by Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

Spotlight on: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

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“I do not deliberately drag my identity to the desk every day, but it turns up. I grew up a Catholic in a small, mostly Protestant town on the shores of Belfast Lough in the seventies. My childhood had a lot in common with that of children in the UK and, in a different sense – the rest of Ireland. But it was stressful in a way I did not understand until later; my generation were reared by nervous wrecks. ” ―Louise Kennedy, Interview, Wasafiri

 

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

What booksellers are saying about Trespasses

  • I am in awe of everything about this incredible debut. Set in Belfast during the 70s, Trespasses explores the roles of violence and chance through the life of Cushla, a Catholic woman in her 20s who finds herself swept up in a love affair with an older, married Protestant lawyer. The narrative grows with a quiet sense of discomfort until it rushes to a startling conclusion that left me breathless.
      ―Chelsea Stringfield from Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN | Buy from Parnassus Books

  • I am fascinated by the Troubles and all the heartache it caused. Cushla Lavery’s struggles to reconcile her loyalties to community and her love for a man forbidden by that community. The daily drama of living for people caught up in this terrible time seems very real in the characters Kennedy develops. I was mesmerized by this story and couldn’t put it down! A must read!
      ―Stephanie Crowe from Page & Palette in Fairhope, AL | Buy from Page & Palette

  • I am fascinated by the Troubles; it continually boggles my mind that armed occupation of and paramilitary presence in Northern Ireland went on for so long, so recently. So I deeply appreciated the insight into the Troubles that this novel provides, following Cushla, a Catholic schoolteacher living in a small town near Belfast, enamored with an older Protestant barrister who is wrong for her in every way. Louise Kennedy’s story of sectarian violence and tragedy is totally compelling and humanizes this fascinating period of time by focusing on the stories of ordinary people.
      ―Kate Storhoff from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Louise Kennedy

Louise Kennedy grew up near Belfast. Trespasses is her first novel. She is also the author of a collection of short stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. She has written for the Guardian, the Irish Times, and BBC Radio 4. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a chef for almost thirty years. She lives in Sligo, Ireland.

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Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

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Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander
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Meredith is a completely lovable and complex character that has faced and survived some unspeakable things. Claire Alexander beautifully creates characters that exude resilience in their own ways. I found myself cheering on Meredith, Fee, Celeste, and Tom…and hoping for their happiness. Meredith, Alone is a quick read that explores the hardships of life and the value of community, family and friendships. While some of the topics are quite heavy, there is also joy and hope and laughter and triumph. I thoroughlyloved this book and have already started recommending it to folks who loved Eleanor Oliphant and Where’d You go Bernadette!

Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander, (List Price: $28, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538709948, November 2022)

Reviewed by Lynne Phillips, Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, Arkansas

Foster by Claire Keegan

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Foster by Claire Keegan
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Claire Keegan’s books are little, quietly epic works of art. Foster is the story of a lonely child sent to live with relatives one summer, not knowing whether she would return home. The love and compassion shown to her on the Irish farm starkly contrast with the child’s family. Keegan’s prose is gorgeous.

Foster by Claire Keegan, (List Price: $20, Grove Press, 9780802160140, November 2022)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

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Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
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The story of family and how lives intersect over time, Signal Fires is a quiet portrait of neighbors who lived near a 500-year-old oak tree during a large chunk of their lives. How those in the two families live and people chose to intersect or not to, choose to acknowledge weakness or tragedy- or do not- as they move through lives stages and across the country are central to this novel.

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro, (List Price: $28, Knopf, 9780593534724, October 2022)

Reviewed by Kimberly Daniels, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

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Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
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An October 2022 Read This Next! Title

Oh, I hope and pray this is the runaway blockbuster of the year, as it deserves to be. Dystopian, centered around concept the US government can re-home children on the basis of anonymous reports of seditious parental behavior. One woman uses poetry to combat this, and the rampant anti-Asian hate that is taking over society. With hero librarians behind the scenes attempting to keep fractured family ties documented – SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS. ALL OF THIS. I AM SO HERE FOR IT. Celeste Ng is now officially a literary force. I’m calling Our Missing Hearts my one and only official book recommendation of 2022 – no others will come close.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, (List Price: $29, Penguin Press, 9780593492543, October 2022)

Reviewed by Alissa Redmond, South Main Book Company in Salisbury, North Carolina

The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela

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The Town of Babylon: Stories by Alejandro Varela
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A full-hearted homecoming story of reckoning with the past as it hits you hard and fast all while trying to carve a way forward–when for so long it looked like the only way was straight. Bounces around the lives of late 30s queer Latino and his former classmates and family to map out the landscape of the suburbs and the inner lives America so often pushes aside. Astute, enraged, and charming as hell.

The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela, (List Price: $27, Astra House, 9781662601033, March 2022)

Reviewed by Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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