The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Fiction

The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman

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The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman
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The rare book that will make you laugh out loud, gasp with disbelief, cringe, and ultimately, cheer. A book that reminds us to have fun, that restores “fun” to its rightful place as a virtue of reading. Anna’s descent into a Randian abyss is spiked with so much humor and insight, you’ll almost forget whose side you’re on. Freiman is a writer of breathtaking talent, and fans of her first book will adore this one.

The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman, (List Price: $27, Catapult, 9781646221929, November 2023)

Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander

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Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander
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A December Read This Next! Title

Second Chances in New Port Stephen is the perfect mix of heartwarming holiday charm and queer romance. The author does a wonderful job of acknowledging and addressing so many important topics (like being trans in Florida) while remaining hopeful and lighthearted. I loved that the characters are more mature and older – this is not a YA story. And I loved that we get a second chance story, which fits for the age group and for the holiday themes. The tension and slow-burn is great and readers are rewarded at the end! I won’t give any spoilers, but I loved the ending. The characters made my heart ache, they made me laugh, and they gave me the warm fuzzies that come from knowing there are wonderful, genuine, and kind people in the world. Second Chances in New Port Stephen is full of joy and hope and inclusivity with just a dash of holiday cheer. It’s the perfect queer romance for December!

Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander, (List Price: $17.99, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 9781668021965, December 2023)

Reviewed by Emily Lessig, The Violet Fox Bookshop in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

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Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura
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A December Read This Next! Title

This is the romance I’ve been yearning for, one that fills all my needs for a romance novel version of Romancing the Stone, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Indiana Jones. The story features a whip-smart and capable female archeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía who ends up on a dig that could be the find of a lifetime and ends up being forced to finally deal with the one man she hates the most- Dr. Ford Matthews. What could’ve been haunts her, and him too. Unrequited lust/love definitely builds the tension between them to dizzying heights, and makes when they finally give in to their feelings so satisfying.I was surprised by and enjoyed the suspense subplot. Made for a very unexpected and surprising plot twists. The ending itself was ambiguous, but the epilogue more than made up for it! Jo Segura’s debut novel is exciting and a wonderful new addition. I am eager to see what she writes next!

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura, (List Price: $17, Berkley, 9780593547465, December 2023)

Reviewed by Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Georgia

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

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How to Build a Boatby Elaine Feeney
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I feel very fortunate to have had read this beautiful book. Autism is so hard and not having anyone in my family with it, I only know what I hear. When these 3 characters come together to help build a boat they bond and learn so much about themselves and each other. People are afraid of what they don’t understand and autism is one of those things we just don’t know enough about. It’s hard enough to be a freshman in high school, compound that with being different. This is a love story for the 3 generations involved. I guarantee you will see the world a bit differently after.

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney, (List Price: $17.95, Biblioasis, 9781771965859, November 2023)

Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan

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The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan
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MacMillan has crafted a twisting, well-plotted, multiview point mystery that sweeps between timelines without ever disorienting the reader as to where they are in the story. It’s an utterly readable tale of greed, avarice, and revenge. It reminded me in all the best ways of And Then There None, and MacMillan is fearless in revealing who each of her characters really are. Also? The ongoing subplot of the unreliability of smart home technology feels so current, relatable, and also informs the plot in surprising ways. Loved this book, can’t wait to sell it.

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan, (List Price: $30, William Morrow, 9780063074385, November 2023)

Reviewed by Tracie Harris, The Book House in Smyrna, Georgia

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

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The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
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The Berry Pickers is the debut novel from indigenous author Amanda Peters. When four-year-old Ruthie goes missing, the youngest of five in a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia, her older brother Joe is despondent and the loss of Ruthie haunts the family for fifty years. Meanwhile, a white family in Maine is raising a child named Norma with overbearing and almost suffocating familial love. Norma’s faint memories and dreams of her missing life are confusing until they almost vanish. The Berry Pickers considers lost lives, second chances, and the power of forgiveness.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, (List Price: $27.99, Catapult, 9781646221950, October 2023)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

November Shelf: A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

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A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles
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Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping LGBTQIA+ Regency romance from celebrated author KJ Charles

When Major Rufus d’Aumesty unexpectedly becomes the Earl of Oxney, he finds himself living in a remote Norman manor on the edge of Romney Marsh with his noble, hostile, and decidedly odd family. His position is contested both by his greedy uncle and by unexpected claimant Luke Doomsday, a dashing member of the local smuggling clan. They should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a secretary by trade, and quickly becomes an unexpected ally, the partner Rufus needs…and soon the lover he can’t live without.

Unfortunately, Luke’s not telling anything like the truth. He came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he’s hiding even from the lord he can’t resist. And as family secrets unspool on both sides, master and man soon find their positions and their partnership in danger of falling apart…

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255880, September 2023)

System Collapse by Martha Wells

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System Collapseby Martha Wells
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If you already love Murderbot, you’ll continue to love it. This newest installation still has the wonderful mix of snark, action, and Murderbot struggling with being a construct of free will. This book in particular, Murderbot is processing the trauma and learning to deal with its own extreme emotional responses. My only criticism of the book is that I wish I would have reread Network Effect before I read this one, because this book takes places immediately after and heavily leans on events that happened in that book. Overall, though, I loved it!

System Collapse by Martha Wells, (List Price: $21.99, Tordotcom, 9781250826978, November 2023)

Reviewed by Kelly McLeod, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama

Absolution by Alice McDermott

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Absolutionby Alice McDermott
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There’s so much I could say about this epistolary novel set in 1963 Saigon and confessing to the lives of two American wives in Ho Chí Minh’s Vietnam, but for now, I’ll say: Alice McDermott is (maybe) my favorite living novelist, and Absolution is (maybe) her best novel yet.

Absolution by Alice McDermott, (List Price: $28, Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 9780374610487, 2023-10-31)

Reviewed by Laura Cotten, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

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How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
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Mark and Louise hate each other, but when their parents flee their home in the middle of the night and die in a car crash the siblings are forced to re-unite. What happens when you walk into your family home and see the attic door bolted up? Or your mom’s massive puppet collection whose eyes seem to follow you wherever you go? Well, I’m afraid you may have some trouble selling the house. Filled with family secrets, twists, and an uneasy tone that had me on the edge of my seat, this book was WILD and FUN. It had me second guessing everything around me. Did I turn on the TV? Okay, that milk was not there 5 minutes ago.Is someone messing with me?I loved this. It was creepy. It was weird. It was emotional. It was absolutely bonkers in the best way possible!

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, (List Price: 28, Berkley, 9780593201268, January 2023)

Reviewed by Janisie Rodriguez, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

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Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
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This book is no mere pick of the month. This is the kind of book that comes along once in a generation. The kind of book that makes us want to open bookstores. The kind of book that will be required reading for our children and grandchildren as they go through school. The kind of book that will be filmed page by page and line by line because there is not one thing about it that needs to be changed. I can only hope that we are ready to let this book change us. This is a story that needed to be told, but couldn’t be told without a great deal of pain. For Jesmyn Ward to explore this territory and tell this story amid her own personal grief is an act of bravery. It is an act of service to American society to tell this story no matter how hard it got, and to withhold shortcuts and saviors and swooping gestures, to force us to look at the honest truth of the human toll of our history. And it is an act of love to each and every individual who we will never know but whose story this could be.

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $28, Scribner, 9781982104498, March 2023)

Reviewed by Emily Liner, Friendly City Books in Columbus, Mississippi

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

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The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
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n immersive trip through Southern Gothic Early America. The narrative follows a lone girl down the Potomac River, from Jamestown and into the unknown. Nameless or many-named like a barn-cat drifter, Girl wields caution, imagination and a blade to survive the crystalline forests of Virginia and Maryland. She drafts off a peloton of memories–as the British orphan, the mistress’s servant, Bess’s friend, the glassblower’s lover—that pull her forward to eat dirt and vibe with a bear in the present. It’s all about the stories that keep us alive. Groff’s easy and percussive writing, along with her use of time, space and inner dialogue, create an immediacy that had me trying to locate Girl’s coordinates on a map so I wouldn’t lose her. Captivating. Awesome. Great.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, (List Price: $28, Riverhead Books, 9780593418390, September 2023)

Reviewed by Jackie Carlson, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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Starling Houseby Alix E. Harrow
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As someone who has always been a little too soft for the world, nothing delights me more than living vicariously through fierce and hard as nail protagonists like Opal. Opal is fighting every day to make sure her brother doesn’t go without in the town of Eden. Despite barely having time to think, Opal begins to dream of Starling House, the Secret that no one talks about, and even though she knows better, she finds herself at the front door. Arthur is going to be the last warden of the Starling House, taking its legacy of monsters and magic down with him. He’s determined to be so until Opal breaks down the walls around his heart with her knock at Starling House’s door. This is a story of two people who are less than beautiful that smile with crooked teeth and black eyes, and I didn’t want it to end.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, (List Price: $28.99, Tor Books, 9781250799050, October 2023)

Reviewed by Katlin Kerrison, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia

Julia by Sandra Newman

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Julia by Sandra Newman
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I have read 1984 more than any other book in my life…maybe 12-15 times. Being overly familiar with the inspiration for this retelling, I was skeptical. From Julia’s perspective, Orwell’s classic is reframed from a feminist perspective. While Winston Smith is undoubtedly sympathetic in the original as are the other male victims of the Oceania regime, they still possessed the freedoms and advantages of their gender in the classic. Imagining the same world through largely female characters was even more shocking and heartbreaking. Julia is a survivor. She does what is necessary whether it is fitting into or subverting the system. It’s is hard to like her, but even harder not to deeply admire her and hang on her every move. This powerful, uncomfortable book left me feeling much the same. Recommended!

Julia by Sandra Newman, (List Price: $30, Mariner Books, 9780063265332, October 2022)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

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All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
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All The Sinners Bleed is crime fiction at its best. Cosby has created a genre all his own with this and his first two novels that I’d call “Virginia noir.” And I’m totally here for it. This one follows a small-town sheriff (with an FBI background) that’s chasing a serial killer that has an obsession with religious iconography and targeting very specific victims. This police procedural that sets a new standard for thrillers and it also highlights the overt/covert social tensions that are prevalent in rural communities.

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, (List Price: 27.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250831910, June 2023)

Reviewed by Stuart McCommon, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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