The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Life Sciences

Planta Sapiens by Paco Calvo

In Planta Sapiens, author Paco Calvo invites readers to challenge the notion of plants as static, reactionary organisms devoid of any agency or cognition. Through a mix of historical context, narrative, and research, Paco investigates the microscopic chemical reactions that drive plant biology and behavior – processes that he and a small contingent of his fellows believe may actually point to plant sentience.While the research findings are thought-provoking, I found myself more interested in the personal journey taken by Calvo to shift his own perspective on plant biology, as well as the significant pushback his thinking has received from the greater scientific community. Overall, I found this book entertaining, though I suspect that it may only find an audience with those who are already interested in the subject matter.

Planta Sapiens by Paco Calvo, (List Price: 28.95, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393881080, March 2023)

Reviewed by Elliot Ambrose, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

Womb by Leah Hazard

This book is FASCINATING — I kept reading things out loud to my husband and saying "DID YOU KNOW THAT??" Despite being packed with information and descriptions of scientific studies, this book is such an easy read. I think part of this is that the author is a podcaster, so she knows how to explain things in a conversational manner. I am continually flabbergasted by how little work we’ve done to study uteruses. What a magical organ!

Womb by Leah Hazard, (List Price: 29.99, Ecco, 9780063157620, March 2023)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler

Last year, I read a sweet little debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt called Remarkably Bright Creatures. You might remember it because I talked about it here and sang the praises of our octopus narrator, Marcellus. Still one of the best characters in fiction I read last year. That book led me to My Octopus Teacher, a documentary on Netflix, and several other sea creature ventures. It eventually led me to Sabrine Imbler’s memoir, How Far the Light Reaches, a memoir I didn’t know I needed.

I consider myself fairly progressive. I love a good gay rom-com and work hard to promote voices that are often found in the margins. Imbler’s book was not only a thoughtful and well written tapestry, weaving together personal experience with life under water, but it very gently allowed me inside the mind of a trans person. They are graciously and carefully sharing experiences with the reader that are so personal but at the same time so universal. Imbler covers every highlight of growing up and learning about her own body, from childhood through those terrible teenage years and into adulthood, and it was such an eye opening experience – for both of us!

The book chronicles the life of a queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field. Imbler is a science and conservation journalist who has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea. Each essay weaves together a sea creature and Imbler’s own life experiences. These stories show us seemingly radical models of family, community, and care, but upon deeper reflection, these stories are a lot like our own stories. Stories of finding comfort with our own bodies, cultivating relationships that are important to our own survival, and adapting to severe life changes. In this book, Imbler shows us the ways in which our world – even the parts of it that we know little about or don’t quite understand, is full of miracles.

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, (List Price: $27, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316540537, December 2022)

Reviewed by Sara Putman from Bookish: An Indie Shop For Folks Who Read in Fort Smith, Arkansas

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler

A 2022 December Read This Next! Title

Wholly original, astonishingly informative, and powerfully written. Imbler describes marine life with reverence and compelling detail, and deftly intertwines the lives of the sea creatures with stories of their own experiences with gender, queerness, and identity.

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler (List Price: $27, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316540537, December 2022)

Reviewed by Sarah Arnold, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

Breathless by David Quammen

David Quammen can make the most complex scientific subjects perfectly understandable and fascinating. We’ve lived through the beginnings of Covid-19, but so much was going on behind the scenes. It’s astounding that vaccines were developed as quickly as they were, and we find out the backstory here. Quammen makes our last two years read like a thriller.

Breathless by David Quammen, (List Price: $29.99, Simon & Schuster, 9781982164362, October 2022)

Reviewed by Rosemary Pugliese, Malaprops in Asheville, North Carolina

Stiff by Mary Roach

I absolutely love Mary Roach – the way she breaks down complex topics is second to none. I borrowed a copy from a friend and was done with it in two days. I love the way she can take a really complex and delicate topic, and break it down from a variety of perspectives to come to a wonderfully fascinating conclusion.

Stiff by Mary Roach, (List Price: 16.95, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393324822, May 2004)

Reviewed by Kate Wilder, Story On the Square in McDonough, Georgia

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