The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Literary

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti

, ,
Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Defying the traditional framework the novel, Sheila Heti proves once again she is one the wisest and most imaginative active writers. The story begins innocently enough and then wonderfully morphs, with ruminations on loss, companionship, religion, and the physical form. Ever since reading the book, it has echoed in my brain continuously.


Pure Colour by Sheila Heti, (List Price: $26.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux,, 9780374603946, February 2022)

Reviewed by James Harrod, Malaprop’s in Ashevills, North Carolina


Pure Colour by Sheila Heti Read More »

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

,
The School for Good Mothers
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Frida Liu is a single mother who, exhausted and alone, has a lapse in judgment one day parenting her child. That decision leads to a child welfare trial, where the state sentences her to a year at school for mothers, where government educators will retrain Frida and other mothers they deem unworthy how to be good mothers in the eyes of the state. Best described to me as “1984 for mothers,” The School for Good Mothers is a terrifying look at an overreaching government that feels all too real today and the lengths that parents will go to in order to be with their children. It will both disturb you and make you think!

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, (List Price: $27.00, Simon & Schuster, 9781982156121, January 2022)

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

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan Read More »

Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin

, ,
Beauty Salon
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

A strange and elegiac little novel, steeped in sadness and decay. A book that’s obtusely about disease and isolation that ties accidentally and snugly into our current world.

Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin, (List Price: $14.95, Deep Vellum Publishing, 9781646050734, September 2021)

Reviewed by Justin Souther, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina

Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin Read More »

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

,
Crossroads
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

LOVE! It’s no small feat to write a 60- page book so immersive that you can read it in a weekend and still feel extremely depressed when you come to the end, like, “That’s all?” C’mon, book two!!

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen, (List Price: $30.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374181178, October 2021)

Reviewed by Kat Leache, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen Read More »

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

, , , ,
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

A Fall Read This Next! Selection

This tiny gem is destined to be a Christmas classic. Think in terms O’Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. Alice Munro and Raymond Carver also come to mind. Based on actual events in Irish history only recently brought to light, the story follows Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, husband, and father to five daughters, and his discovery of a coverup by the church. The town is largely controlled by the church in this 1985 setting, but he still risks his livelihood, reputation, and marriage to right a wrong. Readers who enjoy stories of characters confronting their pasts, embracing hope, and being quiet heroes will find much to love here. When I first read it I thought: “good story”. But I have picked it up over and over again, read and reread it, marveling at its depth charge emotional impact.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, (List Price: $20, Grove Press, 9780802158741, November 2021)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice from Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA


Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Read More »

Edge Case by YZ Chin

, , ,
Edge Case
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

A thoughtful, incisive, sometimes upsetting look into marriage, immigration, and layered trauma. As Edwina faces the sudden absence of her husband, she also carries the fears of her years-long immigration process, not to mention sexual harassment at work, a mother whose obsession with Edwina’s weight has marked E permanently, and the question of her cultural identity. Chin weaves the complexities of these realities together seamlessly. Edwina moves from meditating on her husband’s strangeness before his departure, to the past-life stories her mom tells, to the mole on her cheek within paragraphs, but it all feels natural. It feels as though we are truly processing, grieving, seeking to understand with Edwina. A unique voice, clear-eyed and honest, while remaining soft to human pain, Chin has written a book somehow chilling and heart-warming at once.

Edge Case by YZ Chin, (List Price: 26.99, Ecco, 9780063030688, August 2021)

Reviewed by Becca Sloan, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

Edge Case by YZ Chin Read More »

All’s Well by Mona Awad

, , ,
All's Well
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Miranda Fitch is in agony following a fall that ended her illustrious acting career. When a trio of strange men offers her a method of ridding herself of her pain, she discovers that accepting Faustian bargains come at a brutal and bloody price. Miranda is both deeply relatable and monstrous; her transformation from victim, to villain, to something in between was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. As with Mona Awad’s first book, Bunny, All’s Well is a quirky, original work that relies heavily on internal monologues and deep characterization – sometimes tilting away from the plot slightly, as the ending of the novel falters somewhat under the weight of Miranda’s unreliable narration. Nonetheless, All’s Well is a treat for anyone seeking an unusual protagonist who enjoys both the drama department and the dramatic.

All’s Well by Mona Awad, (List Price: 27, Simon & Schuster, 9781982169664, August 2021)

Reviewed by Lady Smith, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama

All’s Well by Mona Awad Read More »

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam

, ,
The Start Up Wife
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Finally the book you have been waiting for. This last year has been tough and we have needed this light hilarious book that needs to be shared with all your friends. Full of stellar observations of life and how people function you will finish and open to the beginning to visit with old friends.

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam, (List Price: 26, Scribner, 9781982156183, July 2021)

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

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam Read More »

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

,
A Passage North
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Award-winning Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam’s second novel is a profound meditation on love, desire, war, mortality, and the human condition. Krishan, an NGO worker based in the capital Colombo, receives an email out of the blue from a former girlfriend, on the same day he learns that his grandmother’s former carer has died. The journey that follows – through the heart of a country still recovering from a decades-long civil war – is as much through the mind as it is physical. Highly recommended.

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam, (List Price: 27, Hogarth, 9780593230701, July 2021)

Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam Read More »

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

, , ,
Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

I started off laughing out loud at Gilda’s inner monologue. The clever writing matches her state of mind and drew me in right away. It took me maybe a third of the book to realize that she was going to get a lot worse. She might lose her mind entirely. I was a little ticked off that this sweet, funny girl was going to be sacrificed to the literary fiction gods for the sake of seriousness. But, then, she wasn’t. I loved this book, then worried for it, then loved it all over again. It’s such a great illustration of what happens to members of a family where all hurts are stuffed, all bad things swept under the rug. Austin weaves the larger narrative into Gilda’s particular story so well that I wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. When that damn cat shows up under the steps, I nearly cheered. Bravo! This may not be an easy hand-sell, but I’m going to give my best shot.

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin, (List Price: 26, Atria Books, 9781982167356, July 2021)

Reviewed by Angela Schroeder, Sunrise Books in High Point, North Carolina

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin Read More »

Matrix by Lauren Groff

,
Matrix
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Lauren Groff shows us women’s desires in an entirely new way and in a place where desire, especially women’s desire is considered sin. The strength of Matrix lies in its voice and perspective. Groff builds a world where the men are periphery, yet the patriarchal structures and subservience to men’s wills rooted in the women who drive this novel are still palpable. It is a fine line to walk for any woman who dares to go against the grain, and Groff walks that line beautifully through Marie. Pick up this book at the first chance you get! It is sure to be one everyone will be talking about!.

Matrix by Lauren Groff, (List Price: 28, Riverhead Books, 9781594634499, September 2021)

Reviewed by Kelsey Jagneaux, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida

Matrix by Lauren Groff Read More »

Scroll to Top