The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Fiction

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang

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The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang
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This story of a giant jellyfish wreaking havoc on the residents of a small island in Maine grabbed my attention immediately and didn’t let go. Jo Ness, a jellyfish researcher, is summoned to the island by an old friend to study it. But when Jo arrives, her friend is gone, and strange appearances begin to haunt Jo as she struggles to understand how and why the jellyfish can have such control over the residents. The story is haunting and suspenseful, but not fast-paced action. Spooky, but not scary. I found myself thinking of it all day and couldn’t wait to get back to it!

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang, (List Price: $30, Berkley, 9780593955826, June 2026)

Reviewed by Amy, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, AL

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
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A bodyguard takes a chance: running with her young niece into a disaster area to prevent the girl from being raised by her mother. After the earthquake and flood, a disease strikes Haewon Village, and Mu-young helps enforce strict quarantine measures. She loses her niece to the plague. When an irritating bureaucrat from Seoul visits the quarantined community, he brings even greater danger. H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, reimagined through the lens of COVID and a government’s abandonment of its citizens, has a fishy chill as deep as the bottom of an ocean.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, (List Price: $24.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250380753, August 2026)

Reviewed by Kelly, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

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Plant Lady by Kang Minyoung

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Plant Lady by Kang Minyoung
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This is a MUST MUST MUST read if you like plants and a woman who kills terrible men! The plant lady is tense, bloody, and surprisingly heartfelt. Yoohee may blend into the background and be unassuming to the people around her, but to the reader, she is unforgettable.

Plant Lady by Kang Minyoung, (List Price: $28, Berkley, 9798217187577, August 2026)

Reviewed by Sarah, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, LA

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Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez

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Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez
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Though labeled a paranormal romance, I think this story is best enjoyed as steamy gothic fiction with a slow-burn cat-and-mouse romance intertwined. Speculative fiction writers gather in Key West for a conference, staying in a haunted hotel that has everyone on edge. July, a hard-shelled, enigmatic fantasy author, is reluctantly pulled to the ghostly presence on the property as well as the attention of fellow author Leo, who’s been drawn to her for a decade. Stellar writing that gives slightly more suspense than swoon— romance skeptics will appreciate this exploration of self-discovery, love, and real and metaphorical ghosts!

Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez, (List Price: $18.99, MIRA, 9781335001214, August 2026)

Reviewed by Julia, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

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Last Day of a Prior Life by Andrés Barba

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Last Day of a Prior Life by Andrés Barba
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This is indeed a ghost story, but truly a very eerie tale even for a spooky ghost story. The haunting begins with a realtor showing an empty house that includes an apparition of a young boy who lived in the house. The next time she enters the house, which seems to have a hold on her, the realtor also sees herself as a ghost. The haunting gets even stranger…..hold on….with suspended time and eternal recurrences with the boy and his family. Dear reader, you have not happened upon a more bizarre and lonely tale than Last Day of a Prior Life.

Last Day of a Prior Life by Andrés Barba, (List Price: $26, HarperVia, 9780063352056, August 2026)

Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young

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A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young
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If you’ve enjoyed contemporary Lovecraftian stories like The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, N.K. Jemesin’s The City We Became, Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark, or Hiron Ennes’ Leech, then Kim Bo-Young’s A Plagued Sea should tickle your cosmic horror fancy with its Korean cultural take on oceanic terrors, and smart twists on classic tropes of the subgenre.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, (List Price: $24.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250380753, August 2026)

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

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Etna by Paul Yoon

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Etna by Paul Yoon
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Etna is a story about continuing on when everything you have known and loved is lost and gone forever. We follow Etna as he strives towards the coast where he was a puppy before enduring the harsh realities of being a working dog in a devastating war that ravaged his country. The land is forever changed, and other animals are now a rare sight. Most notably, there is an absence of birds in the country. The missing birds bring into sharp focus the lack of peace and the total disruption to a way of life. Nothing will ever be the same. All Etna has left is a memory of that coastal place where he once had a mother and siblings, and he clings to the possibility of a future in the last place he knew safety and happiness in the past. The novel ends with the hopeful message that we can endure terrible things and yet, in the ruins, there is always new life waiting for us if we are strong enough to accept what has occurred and move forward with a sense of hope for the future, even if that new life is a different life, a stranger to us. With time, a strange life, like a stranger, can become as familiar to us and as much our home as that echo of the past.

Etna by Paul Yoon, (List Price: $28, Scribner, 9781668020821, August 2026)

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

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Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun

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Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun
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I am still buzzing as I write this. This book is tapped so hard into my subconscious that it feels magical. Bethany Peters is a hero our times need and are still waiting for.

Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun, (List Price: $33, Hogarth, 9780593978382, October 2026)

Reviewed by Zack, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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Etna by Paul Yoon

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Etna by Paul Yoon
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Etna is one of those rare books that quietly sneaks into your heart and stays there. Told through the eyes of a war dog searching for home after unimaginable loss, this novel is both devastating and deeply hopeful. Paul Yoon’s writing is spare, lyrical, and so beautifully observant that every page feels like poetry. I laughed, I cried, and more than once I had to stop reading just to sit with a particularly stunning line. Etna’s journey is ultimately about belonging, resilience, and finding light after darkness. If you’re drawn to character-driven stories that leave a lasting mark, keep tissues nearby and make room on your shelf for this unforgettable novel.

Etna by Paul Yoon, (List Price: $28, Scribner, 9781668020821, August 2026)

Reviewed by Stephanie, Story Hollow in Madisonville, Tennessee

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The Salt King by Natasha Pulley

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The Salt King by Natasha Pulley
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With each new story, Natasha Pulley outdoes herself with her imaginative storylines, unique characters, and her ability to immerse the reader in all of it. Avelyn Brocken, a Jesuit priest, has been sent home to Hreodwater to investigate a strange occurrence on behalf of the Vatican. Hreodwater is known for its salt mine and also the abbey in the salt mine that attracts dozens of pilgrims each year. Home is at once familiar and strange for Avelyn, and now with the added complication of the doctor at the abbey lodge, Jericho. As Avelyn struggles with his conflicting feelings about Jericho and being back in Hreodwater there are strange things happening at salt mines around the world. Faith, belief, desire, salt mines, humor, wit, and a fascinating matriarchal community. A less capable author would not have been able to weave together such seemingly disparate elements into a coherent story. I loved every page and can’t wait to convince more people to read this incredible book.

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley, (List Price: $29.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639737291, August 2026)

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

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Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves

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Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves
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A bittersweet twist on the Death taking human form trope. This Death takes in the world in all its glory and ugliness, observing with a gentle, benign eye. Nothing hurts until he lets down his guard and comes to care deeply for a mother and daughter. This is a read to savor with graceful writing and carefully crafted characters.

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves, (List Price: $18, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668216361, July 2026)

Reviewed by Jan, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

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Etna by Paul Yoon

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Etna by Paul Yoon
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Oh, Etna! I didn’t know what to expect going into this book but fell in love almost instantly. What an odyssey! From the horrors of war to the horrors of its aftermath to the persistent, stubborn, damning hopefulness of both dog and human spirit, I felt as if I walked with Etna step-for-four-legged-step across this unnamed, war-shattered land in an attempt to find home. Each character stole my heart – Hong, Soojin, Semeru, the old dog – and proved that home is not so much a place as it is the pack that follows you and fights for you, even into and against the unknown. This is one that will stick with me for quite some time.

Etna by Paul Yoon, (List Price: $28, Scribner, 9781668020821, August 2026)

Reviewed by Mackenzie, Thank You Books in Birmingham, AL

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Behind the Gate by Amparo Davila

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Behind the Gate by Amparo Davila
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As the world grows more and more deranged, I find myself seeking the most bizarre, oppressive, incomprehensible horror available. But there’s something strangely comforting about horror like Amparo Dávila’s. Stories that seem mostly normal, albeit odd, until something twists at the last moment and you’re left wondering. Seeing things in the corner of your vision, shadows on the walls, yawning eye sockets. Dávila’s writing makes the terrifying feel quiet, almost intimate.

Behind the Gate by Amparo Davila, (List Price: $16.95, New Directions, 9780811240581, October 2026)

Reviewed by Charlie, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

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Superstars by Ann Scott

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Superstars by Ann Scott
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Happy Women in Translation Month! This long-awaited cult classic novel is finally available in English, thanks to the incredible Jonathan Woollen. Superstars is an intimate portrait of a life in the 90s Parisian techno subculture. In three words: French, lesbian, DJs.

Superstars by Ann Scott, (List Price: $22, Astra House, 9781662603471, April 2026)

Reviewed by Abigail, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

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Under the Falls by Richard Russo

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Under the Falls by Richard Russo
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Richard Russo has written many memorable novels, and Under the Falls is again a study into the minds of characters as they exist with the people they know best. Tyler Sinclair, at 36, is a successful frontman for the band Stone Mountain, and he is returning to his hometown after leaving abruptly eighteen years earlier. The band is coming to Stone Mountain for a benefit for Doc, who is in a wheelchair because of an accident that Tyler may have caused. Tyler also sees his childhood best friend Curt, who is married to Tyler’s former lover Freddi. The concert is interrupted by jeering audience members, and the night ends with a tragic incident causing deaths. Many questions are raised… why did Curt leave Stone Mountain at age 18? What caused the deaths on the mountain after the concert? And what is happening with drug running under the nose of the Chief of Police? The secrets and betrayals will keep the pages turning as readers get a glimpse into life in this small town.

Under the Falls by Richard Russo, (List Price: $30, Knopf, 9780593805107, August 2026)

Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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