The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Fiction

Wedding Issues by Elle Evans

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Wedding Issues by Elle Evans
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Laugh out-loud funny book just in time for wedding season. This book engages family, friends, the wedding industry, and a fast-paced plot perfect for the beach. I gave this to my future daughter-in-law, hoping she can find the fun in the planning. A must-read for any bride.

Wedding Issues by Elle Evans, (List Price: $17.99, Zibby Books, 9781958506745, April 2024)

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

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I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López

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I'll Give You a Reason by Annell López
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These beautiful stories fill my heart with hope and longing. Annell Lopez weaves powerful portraits of women just trying to be. Be happy, be important, be heard.

I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López, (List Price: $16.95, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 9781558613126, April 2024)

Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

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A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Westerbeke, Douglas
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A mind-bending, adventure-filled debut novel with an unusual premise: Nine-year-old Aubry contracts a strange illness that threatens to bleed her to death unless she keeps moving. So she spends her life on the run – constantly running – from one end of the earth to the other, below the earth and above, forever finding new places to go, for she cannot return to places she has been. It’s a fantastical journey that made me ask so many questions: Will she be cured? How does she endure? Why not give up? What a wild ride of a novel!

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke, (List Price: $28.99, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668026069, April 2024)

Reviewed by Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida

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James by Percival Everett

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James by Percival Everett
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Before reading this novel, I went back and re-read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Since it had been close to forty years since I read the book, I was glad that I did because not only had I forgotten much of the story, but after reading the synopsis of James, I read it with a different viewpoint. James starts out closely following the story in Huck but about halfway through, veers off. I thought this was a powerful and thought-provoking story and I expect it to be one of the most critically acclaimed books of the year.

James by Percival Everett, (List Price: $28, Doubleday, 9780385550369, March 2024)

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

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James by Percival Everett

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James by Percival Everett
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A young boy and an enslaved man escape together and travel the river together on a raft. Sound familiar? This book lovingly reimagines Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the view of Jim, who in this version becomes James as he and Huck get a second chance at life. Thought-provoking, full of adventure, and thoroughly original!

James by Percival Everett, (List Price: $28, Doubleday, 9780385550369, March 2024)

Reviewed by Patience Allan-Glick, Hills & Hamlets Bookshop in Carrollton, Georgia

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Clear by Carys Davies

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Clear by Davies, Carys
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Clear is a quiet, short novel, with bite-sized chapters that lend themselves to quick reading, but the writing! Oh, the writing. Caryn Davies has written a beautiful story of survival and loneliness and resilience; set in the 1800s on a remote island between Scotland and Norway, John Ferguson — a Presbyterian minister — has been sent on a mission to clear the island of its last inhabitant. Davies took her sparse cast of characters in directions I wasn’t expecting, and I feel I’ll be thinking of them for years to come. (For fans of The Vaster Wilds.)

Clear by Carys Davies, (List Price: $24, Scribner, 9781668030660, April 2024)

Reviewed by Annie Jones, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia

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She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica

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She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubica
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Mary Kubica is probably one of the nicest and sweetest people you will meet. How she can write page-turning thrillers so well is beyond me. She doesn’t disappoint in this new one at all. Meghan is a divorced mom of a teenage daughter who works long shifts as an ICU nurse. That job alone can weigh you down with stress. Add raising a daughter in a tiny apartment and worrying about her and finances in this world, and you can understand Meghan’s anxiety. Now, though, a woman comes under her care after a bad accident. The girl’s life was in disarray, and her grief-stricken parents hadn’t spoken to her in a long time. Will she wake up? Will she remember the minutes leading up to when she may have been pushed? What is the backstory between the two? I had no idea what was going to happen and gasped out loud when I found out. This book will be huge!

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica, (List Price: $30, Park Row, 9780778308065, April 2024)

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

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The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey

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The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey
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Born in 1873, Lizzie Craig is raised by her grandparents at Belhaven Farm in Scotland. Lizzie discovers that she can see small pieces of the future but doesn’t always understand when and how these events will take place. Lizzie falls in love with a young man helping with the harvest and her devotion to him causes her to make some disastrous personal choices. This compelling story of choices, regrets and second chances is wonderfully written and hard to put down.

The Road from BelhavenThe Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey, (List Price: $29, Knopf, 9780593537046, February 2024)

Reviewed by Mary Patterson, The Little Bookshop in Midlothian, Virginia

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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
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I LOVED this book. It begins as a loose retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”, but you’re constantly faced with the differences between the tale as old as time and “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. Feyre is a strong, wild character. She’s willing to risk it all to save the people she loves. The ending had me on the edge of my seat!

A Court of Thorns and RosesA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, (List Price: $18, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781635575569, June 2020)

Reviewed by Melissa Gray, The Blytheville Book Company in Blytheville, Arkansas

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Memory Piece by Lisa Ko

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Memory Piece by Lisa Ko
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Get ready Memory Piece starts out slow and personal and then takes a whirlwind turn into the intense. Centered around three childhood friends spanning 40 years, Ko weaves together a connection through art, technology advancement, and what society considers valuable. For fans of stories that center around the near distant future, coming-of-age, and female friendships.

Memory PieceMemory Piece by Lisa Ko, (List Price: $28, Riverhead Books, 9780593542101, March 2024)

Reviewed by Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

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The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
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I knew I would like this book, having loved The Woman in the Library. However, it is hard to review because I feel like so much I have to say would be a spoiler. This book has one or two twists that I anticipated, but the big twist left me shocked. I was invested from the first page. I liked that all my original questions were answered while still being open-ended. I believe that leaves room for dialogue if you were to have a book club surrounding this book.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill, (List Price: $16.99, Poisoned Pen Press, 9781728285184, March 2024)

Reviewed by Missy Kelly, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr

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Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr
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I wish I had this book when I had children. I was scared, I was alone and had no idea where or who I was supposed to be. Imagine being first married in another continent, having a distant husband, and then twins. Isabel has a lot on her mind, and we follow her as she begins to transform as she reckons with the fact she cheated on her husband before she had the twins. Is her husband the father of these beautiful but vastly different-looking girls? Can she fall in love with her husband again? Is the sculpture of the Dancing Woman calling her to be the best version of herself? This book is so provocative, realistic, and poignant. I can’t wait to recommend it to book clubs. So beautifully written.

Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr, (List Price: $28.95, Blair, 9781958888339, January 2025)

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

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The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn

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The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
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This is a poignant about family and all the ways those closest to you can do the most harm. Jess knows her mother for who she is, a woman who deserted her family for a con artist recently met. One so infamous he is the subject of a popular podcast. Jess has first-hand experience with her Mother’s priorities and knows her daughters are low on the list. What Jess doesn’t know is that her sister Tegan, whom she has raised, is determined to find their Mother. So much so that she has been communicating with a podcast host who wants to tell the story. By the ways Tegan has been communicating as Jess, an adult. The pressure to keep Tegan safe and not destroy their relationship is a desperate struggle for a “surrogate Mother” who is really just a sister. An obnoxious and pushy podcast host is not a benefit to Jess, nor the host’s handsome and kind assistant. This is a sweet story of finding family through love.

The Other Side of DisappearingThe Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn, (List Price: $17.95, Kensington, 9781496737311, March 2024)

Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

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Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura
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A searing debut that deftly explores the effects of an unhealthy relationship between a predatory male writer and a young woman on the cusp of adulthood – I couldn’t stop reading it! The characters in this story are all too real, and post #MeToo we see Tatum grappling to understand her story and the abuse she suffered from the toxic man she viewed as her superior for far too long.

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura, (List Price: $28, Celadon Books, 9781250882837, March 2024)

Reviewed by Maggie Robe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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James by Percival Everett

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James by Percival Everett
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A necessary look into the life of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn‘s Jim, or James, told with Percival Everett’s unflinching, poetic, and entertaining prose. The story gives insight into the titular character’s perspective while also serving as a damning look at the deep-seated racial injustices of slavery and the way marginalized characters are portrayed in American fiction. The pages fly by, leading to a triumphant finale that is as impactful as anything I’ve read in years.

James James by Percival Everett, (List Price: $28, Doubleday, 9780385550369, March 2024)

Reviewed by James Harrod, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina

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