The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Literary

Wellness by Nathan Hill

Nathan Hill has done it again! Wellness is so good, I think my heart both broke and grew at the same time, while reading it. Hill’s ability to capture both the beauty and horror of life are astounding. There is so much more I could say about this book, but I don’t want to spoil the magic of it for other readers! "Behind curtains, this, he thinks, is what lovers do-they are alchemists and architects; they invent the world around them." Indeed, this is what lovers do. Thank you for this wonderful book!

Wellness by Nathan Hill, (List Price: 30, Knopf, 9780593536117, September 2023)

Reviewed by Jessica Osborne, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki

Mariko and Jillian Tamaki are back with another slam-dunk of a graphic novel, this time their adult debut. I was captivated! This story of three friends visiting New York for the first time in 2009 after their first year of college was so relatable, especially the way they captured the different pairings between the trio. Zoe and Dani are long-time best friends who are reuniting after a year apart, but Fiona is the Dani’s new friend from college. I loved seeing the way tensions rose and dissipated. And as usual, Jillian Tamaki’s art is gorgeous!

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki, (List Price: 34.95, Drawn and Quarterly, 9781770464339, September 2023)

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

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

A September 2023 Read This Next Book!

Full confession, I adore Lauren Groff, her writing and subject matter are exactly my cup of tea, so it is unlikely that I would not like this book. That said, I was a little skeptical, I kept turning the pages wondering when she was going to be rescued, live happily ever after with her Native husband? This is not that story. What this is, is an amazing meditation on what it means to be alive, to want to stay alive, and the big question, why do we live at all. What if everything you have learned about life in your time on earth is stripped away and you are left with a more beautiful and brutal understanding of God and the world? (I also love that she wrote a draft in iambic pentameter just for fun and to get into the rhythm of the language of the time, it makes my nerdy heart go pitter pat!). Thank you Lauren Groff for writing books for book lovers like me.

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

Reviewed by Jessica Osborne from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, GA

Beloved by Toni Morrison

In 1992, Toni Morrison said “In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” This statement stands true to this day, as demonstrated when Disney executives and Adam Sandler’s Waterboy joined forces to make the film adaption of Beloved a box office bomb. Regardless of how the American public feels about the movie, the novel is a gorgeous, vital, and absolutely timeless work. Beloved is one of the best ghost stories ever written (inspired by reports of a slave mother who killed her child rather than return her to slavery) partly because the Atlantic Slave Trade is teeming with boundless horrors to work with. The guts of American history distend with crimes committed against Black bodies, and Morrison tears them out for all to see. Intergenerational trauma, systemic torture, and fractured families occupy these fearsome pages, and I dare you to look away.

Beloved by Toni Morrison, (List Price: 28.99, Vintage, 9781400033416, June 2004)

Reviewed by Terrance Hudson, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

An August 2023 Read This Next! Book

In Pottstown, PA in 1972 a skeleton is found at the bottom of a old well. McBride takes us back more than four decades to tell the story of a community of Black and Jewish characters in the Chicken Hill neighborhood, along with the white characters who run the town (and march in the annual KKK parades.) It’s hard to think of a more compassionate writer than McBride. This story is captivating, funny, exciting and absolutely wonderful.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, (List Price: $28, Riverhead Books, 9780593422946, August 2023)

Reviewed by Christine Lavigna, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

Everything about Sirens & Muses is unapologetically alluring, designed to catch your eye. Four different voices give us a glimpse into a prestigious New England art school. Along with many spiraling ideas about art, class, attraction, and desire, I found it had so much to say about what truly drives people forward, and about coming home. A moody, wonderful read.

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress, (List Price: 18, Ballantine Books, 9780593496459, July 2023)

Reviewed by Emma Holland, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

A July 2023 Read This Next! Book

A miserable, beautifully written swan song to the happy life- to freedom, to creativity. Our heroine descends into black hole darkness while trying to navigate her increasingly insane amount of responsibilities at her Silicone Valley startup. Be careful, this will refresh your feelings on whether or not you’re prepared to stay at your 9 – 5…

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter, (List Price: $25, Scribner, 9781668011638, July 2023)

Reviewed by Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode

And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a powerful debut that follows the story of Segun and August, two college students in Nigeria who yearn for love and connection. Readers will be deeply moved by this brave and beautiful tale of two men who can’t help but deny their attraction despite the risks to themselves and each other.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode, (List Price: 27, Roxane Gay Books, 9780802160751, June 2023)

Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Spotlight on: August Blue by Deborah Levy

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Deborah Levy, photo credit Amanda Benson/BBC/PA

I used to write better early in the morning. If I had it my way I would be up at 4 a.m., and I would write until 2 p.m., and then that would be the end of the writing day. Mornings are so soft, and everything’s still, everything’s quiet, nothing’s really begun early in the morning. They suit me. The perfect life would be to stop at 2 p.m. and for there to be blazing sunshine and to just be able to swim and frolic. Frolic, I think that’s a lovely word, frolic, and I think we should all do more frolicking. ― Deborah Levy, Interview, The White Review

August Blue by Deborah Levy

What booksellers are saying about August Blue

  • This is a truly magical book, one that feels like an ode to all the versions of yourself and a masterclass in subtle suspense.
      ― Emily Tarr from Thank You Books in Birmingham, AL | Buy from Thank You Books

  • After a concert pianist has a breakdown during a performance, she leaves her professional life to try to rediscover herself. Fans of Deborah Levy’s spare and offbeat writing style will not be disappointed in this book, which explores weighty issues through dream-like episodes
      ― Anne Peck from Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA | Buy from Righton Books

  • Deborah Levy’s newest is a slow-burning, David Lynch-esque novel that follows a talented young pianist named Elsa. After a devasting performance leads her to take up smaller tutoring jobs across Europe, she begins spotting an enigmatic woman who bares a resemblance to herself. Country across country, Elsa attempts to come to terms with her work as an artist, her familial relationships, and most importantly, her own self. Written with razor-sharp prose that cuts through the hazy cigar smoke that cloaks this mysterious book, this is Levy at her finest.  
      ― Grace Sullivan from Fountain Books in Richmond, VA | Buy from Fountain Bookstore

  • A dreamy, intentional meditation on identity and how it does and doesn’t form us. In pure Deborah Levy style, the narrative feels as if it’s floating, a shimmering haze of words transcribing into feeling. For fans of Jenny Offill and Clare Pollard..
      ― Aimee Keeble from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About Deborah Levy

Deborah Levy writes fiction, plays, and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, broadcast on the BBC, and widely translated. She is the author of highly praised novels, including The Man Who Saw Everything (long-listed for the Booker Prize), Hot Milk and Swimming Home (both Man Booker Prize finalists), The Unloved, and Billy and Girl; the acclaimed story collection Black Vodka; and two parts of her working autobiography, Things I Don’t Want to Know and The Cost of Living. She lives in London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich

Out of necessity, Laura has chosen to live a simpler, yet, courageous life in a secluded, rustic cabin in the woods on the outskirts of an Italian village. Necessity turns into a reorganization of priorities, which I wholly admire, as Laura shares her thoughts with the reader on living with nature, interacting with others, and what it means to survive. Beautiful.

At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich, (List Price: 26, Two Dollar Radio, 9781953387318, June 2023)

Reviewed by Jill Naylor, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

The Nature Book by Tom Comitta

A deftly experimental book that seeks to portray a world sans humans, Nature Book borrows from a history of rich, descriptive prose to reconstruct the cycles of days, seasons, and migrations as they continue quiet and unobserved, separate from human society. And yet, human description and literary convention make up the entirety of this story! This beautifully avant garde novel from an organic and unfettered nonbinary perspective is an awe-inducing teleportation into a beautiful cosmos and a rapidly changing climate as captured throughout the history of literature. Great for reading piecemeal or overwhelmingly all at once.

The Nature Book by Tom Comitta, (List Price: $17.95, Coffee House Press, 9781566896634, March 2023)

Reviewed by Amanda Depperschmidt, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

City of Orange by David Yoon

I’ve had a hard time trying to decide what to say about this book. I don’t want to say anything about the plot because I don’t want to give anything away. This is a post-apocalyptic novel unlike any I have read. David’s writing is beautiful and propulsive though the story is kind of a slow burn. Like most of my favorite books, this one left me both heartbroken and hopeful.

City of Orange by David Yoon, (List Price: 18, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 9780593422182, May 2023)

Reviewed by Gaby Iori, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer

I love when queer women make bad choices. Natalie is eighteen, freshly independent, and painfully naive when she starts an all-consuming relationship with Nora, an older woman who is connected to her own life in surprising ways. Fischer perfectly captures that enraptured feeling of first love, especially with someone older and more experienced. There are parts of this book that are also deeply melancholy; bits and pieces that made me exhale and set the book aside for a minute or two. A little bit heart-wrenching, this one will be perfect for Sally Rooney fans and sad gay people alike.

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer, (List Price: 27, Algonquin Books, 9781643752723, May 2023)

Reviewed by Gaby Iori, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong

The Double Life of Benson Yu is a clever novel about art, childhood trauma, and survival. Comic book artist Benson Yu found commercial success with his Iggy Samurai series, but a letter from someone from his past prompts him to start a new project. This project, an autobiographical graphic novel about growing up in 1980s Chinatown, forces him to revisit his pre-teen self (and vice versa). Different versions of characters from his past seem to coexist as Benson writes and rewrites his past to try to deal with traumatic experiences. For fans of complex stories (with a little time travel).

The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong, (List Price: 27, Atria Books, 9781668005491, April 2023)

Reviewed by Elizabeth Hardin, The Snail On the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama

Good Men by Arnon Grunberg

For a book that claims to “chart the downfall” of its protagonist, I knew the ride I was potentially in for. However, the end of the book seems to kick the reader down a notch as well. The trainwreck rubbernecker in me really loved the first 3/4ths of this one: just-a-guy, content with his simple job, generic work friends, paint-by-most-numbers marriage and run-of-the-offbrand-mill child(ren), marking off each on his failure checklist. These tragedies are handled in such off kilter ways, laced with a stealthy wit, to keep the story fresh and engaging without the need to step it up to a fast pace. And though I didn’t NOT like the final quarter, where people are just plain disgusting (the reader just as lackadaisically unobservant as our “hero” to the clues displayed throughout), the final lap just felt like the author rubbing your face in the filth of life. But then again, the book’s a self-proclaimed downfall chart. Please watch your feet as you exit the ride.

Good Men by Arnon Grunberg, (List Price: 18.95, Open Letter, 9781948830652, May 2023)

Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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