The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Inspiration & Personal Growth

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

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All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert
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All the Way to the River is a love letter to those struggling and trying to be better. Gilbert’s openness about her addiction and pathway to healing sheds light on a type of addiction many women are ashamed to admit for themselves, even with its commonality. She tells the story of the highs and lows of falling in love with another addict, Rayya, and how her death was an awakening to finding peace in her life. Addiction isn’t beautiful, but there is always beauty to be found in those that love you, even in their worst moments.

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert, (List Price: $35, Riverhead Books, 9780593540985, September 2025)

Reviewed by Gabriela Warner, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

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You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
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Maggie Smith shares with readers an intimate reflection as she goes through a personal heartbreak, or rather a thousand tiny heartbreaks, over the course of her thirteen-year relationship. Not only centered around love and loss, her memoir looks at the complex issues of modern womanhood and patriarchy. Though I have not personally experienced the pain she details in her memoir, I felt as if I have because of the power of her words. You will find someone you know in her story and it will help you understand their pain a little better. Maggie Smith has the ability to take the human feelings and emotions we all have, but sometimes lack the words to describe, and present them through a beautiful metaphor that can make you feel seen and understood. She does not stay in the pain; she evolves, changes, makes herself new, and always finds a way to make life beautiful.

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith, (List Price: 28, Atria/One Signal Publishers, 9781982185855, April 2023)

Reviewed by Abby, The Snail On the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama

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Enchantment by Katherine May

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Enchantment by Katherine May
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British author Katherine May knows exactly what I need when I need it. I read her book, Wintering, during the hardest days of the pandemic. She wrote of a time in her life, pre-pandemic, when she felt hopeless, but her words resonated with my feelings of despair during the isolation of 2020. Her newest book, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, is just as timely. Though very personal, she addresses the universality of our shock at the fallout from the pandemic and how we can recover some of our contentment and joy. The book is beautifully written, and there are many lines that will linger with me.

Enchantment by Katherine May, (List Price: $26, Riverhead Books, 9780593329993, February 2023)

Reviewed by Mamie Potter, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina

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