The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Small Town & Rural

Spotlight on: Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

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De'Shawn Charles Winslow, photo credit Julie R. Keresztes

“So many of the characters in Decent People are on a quest for respectability–– their own and/or that of their children. I wanted to show what lengths people would go to just to conceal truths: a child’s queerness, an addiction, hypocrisy. I don’t know that I was going for nuance, exactly. I think I was just portraying people the way I’ve often encountered them. ” ―De’Shawn Charles Winslow, interview, PEN America

Decent People by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

What booksellers are saying about Decent People

  • A complex, engaging story of a small Southern town grappling with racial justice, human rights, religion and murder in the mid 1970’s. Family ties and long-buried secrets are tested as a woman fights to clear the name of her beloved. An absolute page-turner filled with colorful characters in a rich setting.
      ―Jamie Fiocco from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

  • Decent People is a compelling mystery that also deftly contends with racism, homophobia, classism and corruption. Charles De’Shawn Winslow’s fluid writing and pacing combine with wonderfully drawn characters–including the glorious busybody Josephine Wright–to make a truly marvelous novel.
      ―Stephanie Jones-Byrne from Malaprop’s in Asheville, NC | Buy from Malaprops

  • The shooting deaths of two sisters and their brother, prominent members of the African-American community, set tongues wagging in West Mills, NC. Except for those holding their voice over secrets. Told from alternating perspectives, the mystery unfolds amid lives threatened by the racism and homophobia of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a great read on so many levels, can’t wait to hand sell this one.
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About De’Shawn Charles Winslow

De’Shawn Charles Winslow is the author of In West Mills, a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, and Publishing Triangle Awards finalist. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now lives in New York.

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Spotlight on: Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

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ad

De'Shawn Charles Winslow, photo credit Julie R. Keresztes

“So many of the characters in Decent People are on a quest for respectability–– their own and/or that of their children. I wanted to show what lengths people would go to just to conceal truths: a child’s queerness, an addiction, hypocrisy. I don’t know that I was going for nuance, exactly. I think I was just portraying people the way I’ve often encountered them. ” ―De’Shawn Charles Winslow, interview, PEN America

Decent People by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

What booksellers are saying about Decent People

  • A complex, engaging story of a small Southern town grappling with racial justice, human rights, religion and murder in the mid 1970’s. Family ties and long-buried secrets are tested as a woman fights to clear the name of her beloved. An absolute page-turner filled with colorful characters in a rich setting.
      ―Jamie Fiocco from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

  • Decent People is a compelling mystery that also deftly contends with racism, homophobia, classism and corruption. Charles De’Shawn Winslow’s fluid writing and pacing combine with wonderfully drawn characters–including the glorious busybody Josephine Wright–to make a truly marvelous novel.
      ―Stephanie Jones-Byrne from Malaprop’s in Asheville, NC | Buy from Malaprops

  • The shooting deaths of two sisters and their brother, prominent members of the African-American community, set tongues wagging in West Mills, NC. Except for those holding their voice over secrets. Told from alternating perspectives, the mystery unfolds amid lives threatened by the racism and homophobia of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a great read on so many levels, can’t wait to hand sell this one.
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About De’Shawn Charles Winslow

De’Shawn Charles Winslow is the author of In West Mills, a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, and Publishing Triangle Awards finalist. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now lives in New York.

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Things We Hide from the Light by Lucy Score

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Things We Hide from the Light by Lucy Score
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After loving the first book in the series (and being quite charmed by Nash), I was eagerly awaiting the second installment in Score’s knock-out Knockemout series. Luckily for all of us, this book definitely lived up to the first. (I think I liked it more!) This is a delicious slow burn with all the suspense elements you come to expect with a Lucy Score novel. Lina & Nash made for great characters, and overall, these ~600 pages flew by.

Things We Hide from the Light by Lucy Score, (List Price: $18.99, Bloom Books, 9781728276113, February 2023)

Reviewed by Hannah Kerbs, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

Spotlight on: Go As a River by Shelley Read

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Shelley Read, photo credit the author

“The deeper in the wilderness I am, the higher in elevation I am, the happier I am. It is an unforgiving landscape and so deeply humbling. There’s a quote from the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss that I come back to over and over, and it’s the entire reason I climb big mountains. He says, ‘The smaller we come to feel ourselves compared with the mountain, the nearer we come to participating in its greatness.'” ―Shelley Read, interview, Alta

Go As a River by Shelley Read

What booksellers are saying about Go As a River

  • This book is beautifully written and will stay with you for a very long time. This is the book that you pass on to your mother, your daughter, your best friend and make them promise to read it. I think we will be talking about this book for all of 2023 and after.
      ―Mary Patterson from The Little Bookshop in Midlothian, VA | Buy from The Little Bookshop

  • Phenomenal. As perfect as a homegrown, juicy, sweet peach. I will carry this story with me for many, many, many days to come.
      ―Jill Naylor from Novel in Memphis, TN | Buy from Novel.

  • With lush, atmospheric prose, Go As a River is about seventeen year old Victoria Nash who lives on a peach orchard in 1940’s rural Colorado. The only female at home, she is the one who keeps the household running with daily chores and working her family’s land. Her life changes when she meets the mysterious and gentle Wilson Moon, an indigenous boy passing through town. A love story that starts in innocence is shattered by bigotry. Go As a River is about surviving after loss, our connection to the natural world around us, quiet and enduring friendships, and lasting love. This is my kind of historical fiction, and I can’t wait to share this with readers at Main Street Books!
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About Shelley Read

Shelley Read is a fifth generation Coloradoan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of the Western Slope. She was a Senior Lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades, where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and Honors, and was a founder of the Environment & Sustainability major and a support program for first-generation and at-risk students. Shelley holds degrees in writing and literary studies from the University of Denver and Temple University’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing. She is a regular contributor to Crested Butte Magazine and Gunnison Valley Journal, and has written for the Denver Post and a variety of publications.

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The Only Game in Town by Lacie Waldon

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The Only Game in Town by Lacie Waldon
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A March 2023 Read This Next! Title

Waldon’s best yet! Only Game takes us to the small town of Redford, GA where book editor Jess lives happily with her father in the town where she grew up. She spends her days avoiding the mean girls that tortured her in high school until the death of the town’s eccentric millionaire sends the entire population into a scavenger hunt for his fortune. Everyone is set up in very unlikely pairs and the results of the silly contest go much deeper than winning the money. This book is a delight and I loved every friendship and relationship in it. Waldon creates worlds I want to live in and people I want to hang out with.

The Only Game in Town by Lacie Waldon, (List Price: $17, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 9780593540800, March 2023)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby

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My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby
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A 2022 December Read This Next! Title

In this novel, readers are introduced to a story where religion, region, karma, and race intersect. Nathan, (former marine and ex-cop) has experienced loss of his own, and he’s dealt his own hand of karma to others. So, when the local sheriff’s office doubles down on corruption, he takes the case of a local minister’s death into his own hands in an attempt to bring peace to the congregation. This novel is full of twists and turns that will leave your jaw on the floor. This novel dissects the weight of loss on a person’s moral compass. In this small Virginia community is where the darkest secrets are revealed–where the darkest prayers are heard. S.A. Cosby is a force to be reckoned with.

My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby (List Price: $16.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250867636, December 2022)

Reviewed by Leo Coffey, Union Ave. Books in Knoxville, Tennessee

Foster by Claire Keegan

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Foster by Claire Keegan
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Claire Keegan’s books are little, quietly epic works of art. Foster is the story of a lonely child sent to live with relatives one summer, not knowing whether she would return home. The love and compassion shown to her on the Irish farm starkly contrast with the child’s family. Keegan’s prose is gorgeous.

Foster by Claire Keegan, (List Price: $20, Grove Press, 9780802160140, November 2022)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Project Namahana by John Teschner

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Project Namahana by John Teschner
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This is the best mystery/thriller I’ve read yet set in Hawaii. Instead of concentrating on Honolulu and all the other touristy places Mr. Teschner takes us into the out of the way places, the homesteads and small towns, where the locals live and depend on jobs offered by big corporations who put profit before people everyday. He introduces us to the people, their patois and, most of all, their closeness as they rely on each other, in this case after three boys die swimming in a supposedly clean stream, to do what the authorities won’t.

Project Namahana by John Teschner, (List Price: $27.99, Forge Books, 9781250827197, June 2022)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

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The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson
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A May 2022 Read This Next! Selection

Kim Michele Richardson has given us another wonderful story about the packhorse librarians of Kentucky. In this book, we move forward sixteen years to the early 1950’s and are introduced to Honey Lovett, daughter of Cussy Mary, who must pick up her mother’s library route when her parents are jailed due to the laws prohibiting their mixed-race marriage. Through Honey’s story, we meet new characters and revisit old friends that help her as she delivers books in and out of the hollers, fights for her independence as a young working woman, and struggles to bring attention to the plight of her parents. Kim Michele Richardson writes beautifully about a landscape and a people that has deep and personal meaning to her and that is one of the reasons she is so successful and so loved by her readers. This book is highly recommended!

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson, (List Price: $16.99, Sourcebooks Landmark, 9781728242590, May 2022)

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

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

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The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson
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Whether as a stand-alone read or for already die-hard fans of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, The Book Woman’s Daughter delivers! Honey, the original book woman’s daughter, must struggle to stay free against what seem often insurmountable odds against her: from being a “blue” to being fifteen, and unfortunately perhaps most, for being female in a time and place where women were considered property. Amidst loss and persecution, she must forge a path for hersef through the dense woods of Kentucky’s Appalachia Kentucky. Beautiful, evocative, and full of adventure, this book also shines a light on the gifts of friendship, no matter the appearance of the package. I loved this book every bit as much as Troublesome Creek, and look forward to sharing it with eager readers, just as Honey shares her love of books with her reading community… another fine work by Kim Michele Richardson!

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson, (List Price: $26.99, Sourcebooks Landmark, 9781728252995,  May 2022)

Reviewed by Shari Stauch, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina

All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss

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All the Little Hopes
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Everyone should have a little magic in their lives. This is a story of friendship between Bert and Lucy (and Lucy’s hero from her favorite book Nancy Drew). There’s a OUIJA board (the “spirit” board), a woman who sees into the future, and a missing body, all contributing to the lively imagination of these two best friends. Times are hard in 1943 North Carolina, but Bert and Lucy only see an opportunity to solve a great mystery. You will not want to stop reading once you begin this beautifully written story.

All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss, (List Price: $16.99, Sourcebooks Landmark, 9781728232744, 2021-07-27)

Reviewed by Karen Solar, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida.

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

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The Killing Hills
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A Spring 2021 Read This Next! Title

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt
Grove, June

This was a blast! Hill country Kentucky noir with characters that both repulse and endear. A tough combo that works well with the plot of familial vengeance that piles up the bodies without understanding the cause that makes the blood boil so hot. Superb.

–Pete Mock from McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, NC

The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather Frese

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the Baddest Girl on the Planet
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From the publisher: “Until now, Outer Banks native Evie Austin has been the baddest girl on the planet. What comes next?”

I really enjoyed this novel–the pacing is good, the characters’ stories are compelling, and the small beach town setting is so well-described I can picture it clearly.

The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather Frese (List Price: $25.95, Blair, 9781949467161, 3/2/2021)

Reviewed by Janet Geddis, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather Frese

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the Baddest Girl on the Planet
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Whenever my family vacationed in the Outer Banks, I always wondered what living at the beach was like for the locals. I imagined a nice small town with endless trips to the beach. As a kid, though, I never imagined how suffocating it could be. Growing up on Hatteras Island, Evie Austin has the world’s greatest imagination. Though she makes the most of her childhood, she falls into the small town traps of adulthood, yet without a real desire to leave the island. Her life becomes as tumultuous as the waves, relatable to any young adult, and readers get a front row seat to her misadventures as she finds ways to repair herself. Vivid, funny, and heartwarming, Heather Frese has written the baddest coming-of-age story on the planet!

The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather Frese (List Price: $25.95, Blair, 9781949467161, 3/2/2021)

Reviewed by Karyn Cumming, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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