The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Southern Book Prize Finalist 2026

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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Jesmyn Ward presents us with a series of essays which give us a peek into the skeletons upon which her stunning fiction is built, the sweet and sour life and experiences and family which leads her to lament in the opening piece: “Sometimes, I wish I could write easier stories…” The language is vivid, florid, precise, and beautiful all at once, as she covers topics such as family, Katrina, Faulkner, representation, book banning, book reviews, movie reviews, justice, leaving home, and returning home again – common themes treated with absolute tenderness and honesty.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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As I was reading this, I felt like I needed to get the word “respair” tattooed on my body. That’s how deeply this collection affected me. The essays all felt different from one another, yet connected through themes of grief, resilience, survival, and healing. What stayed with me most was how each essay gave me something different to sit with — some left me heartbroken, some reflective, and some unexpectedly hopeful.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Jess, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward

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On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
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It’s always a gift to read Jesmyn Ward’s wise and powerful work. “Respair” is an obsolete word, a noun, meaning “fresh hope after despair” and this collection delivers it. Jesmyn Ward explores a lot of territory here, including her upbringing, love of her home of rural Mississippi, the vibrant stories passed down to her by family, cultural influences and representation, and art as a means of survival. She also explores the transformative power of loss and grief – through the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the loss of her beloved brother, and the death of her partner. She addresses the difficulty of raising a Black son in this country as well as long-term and rampant injustices. Her prose, as always, is beautiful and authentically hers. The illustrations that her words conjure are powerful and fully human. A resounding part of this collection is Ward’s love letter to libraries, authors, and books. She writes of her early years as a Black student in rural Mississippi, and the search for her own experience within books. She came up short time and time again until she found Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Richard Wright, James Baldwin. She finally discovers mirrors within these words, and heeds the call to write down her own, drawing upon the treasured stories passed to her by her grandparents and parents. These essays shed light on the history of this country and the experience of Black Americans. It puts things into perspective for many who believe current despair and fear is new. These essays illustrate that this has long been happening in America. For so many, there has always been a fear of the arbitrary and unjust nature of authority. It’s not new. Yet somehow resilience and hope can be found in the dark. That is respair – and it’s inspiring. I think Jesmyn Ward is one of our very best American writers.

On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)

Reviewed by Sarah, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia

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Salt, Sweat & Steam by Brigid Washington

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Salt, Sweat & Steam by Brigid Washington
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An insider’s view of the culinary world tempered through a very personal lens. Attending the Culinary Arts Institute is a grueling experience, more so for students of color, and more so if you are trying to mend a broken heart. Filled with personal and culinary ups and downs, this is both a cautionary tale and a romantic journey. Not just for foodies.

Salt, Sweat & Steam by Brigid Washington, (List Price: $30, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250333377, April 2026)

Reviewed by Jan, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

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The Weedy Garden by Margaret Renkl, Billy Renkl (illus)

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The Weedy Garden by Margaret Renkl, Billy Renkl (illus)
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This book is a delightful visit to the weedy garden, from birds, butterflies, and bumblebees flying about to animals hopping, scurrying, and slithering through. The playful text paired with the gorgeous collage illustrations will make the reader hope for a visit.

The Weedy Garden by Margaret Renkl, Billy Renkl (illus), (List Price: $19.99, Greenwillow Books, 9780063432819, February 2026)

Reviewed by Rae Ann Parker, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

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Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
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In a time where influencers are more prominent now than ever, you will love this novel that goes behind the scenes of a tradwife named Natalie who finds herself thrust from her Instagramable life into an alternate timeline (pun intended) where she does not fully recognize her family or any aspect of her farmlife. Her carefully curated life is uprooted very suddenly, and you will #lol at Natalie’s plight. This debut novel has a lot of heart, humor, and social commentary, and I expect it to be big. Don’t miss out!

Yesteryear by Caro, (List Price: $30, Knopf, 9780593804216, April 2026)

Reviewed by Annastasia Williams, The Bottom in Knoxville, TN

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Brawler by Lauren Groff

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Brawler by Lauren Groff
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JFC. If we can’t add a new subgenre JUST for Lauren Groff’s signature style — lushly grim and invigoratingly desolate — maybe I’d best acknowledge the teeny new chamber in my book lovin’ heart that Matrix, The Vaster Wilds and now Brawler have come to inhabit. I didn’t think I could handle bleak, but in her capable hands? “Under the Wave” is the best short story I’ve ever read. Within two paragraphs of beginning “The Wind” (and hence the collection), I was *there* and terrified. I haven’t even read the last two stories yet. Stay tuned.

Brawler by Lauren Groff, (List Price: $29, Riverhead Books, 9780593418420, February 2026)

Reviewed by Kat, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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Kin by Tayari Jones

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Kin by Tayari Jones
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In Kin, Tayari Jones has written an absolute glory of a novel: one that explores friendship, family, the ties that bind and so much more through the lens of two friends – both motherless girls in the small town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana – and the different paths their lives follow. Niecy, orphaned as a baby and raised by her convention-defying aunt, has her sights set upwards – towards Spelman College and the upper echelons of Black society in 1950s Atlanta. In contrast, her “cradle friend” Annie lights out to the bars and clubs of Memphis in search of the mother who abandoned her as a newborn. Told with joy, wit, and pathos, and wearing its erudition lightly, Kin is a novel to savor and enjoy.

Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)

Reviewed by Jude, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod

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In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod
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In the days before caustic masculinity was recognized as such, when men could be men, and women could be, well, dismissed, abused, and ignored, along with so many other choice words. Thankfully, though, the public-school systems and Universities taught us to think for ourselves, and, with the help of our mothers, sisters, and friends, we were able to see past that dark tunnel of masculinity. But our fathers were still our fathers, and we loved them regardless of their foibles as this elegant and elegiac memoir shows. Tom Junod took me back to my childhood, and I saw my father, and with an honesty I don’t have, shares with us his father warts and all.

In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)

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

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Kin by Tayari Jones

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Kin by Tayari Jones
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Vernice and Annie, best friends and loyal companions since infancy, leave their hometown of Honeysuckle, Louisiana, on very different life trajectories. Jones vividly describes their journeys, allowing the reader to feel deeply each of the bumps along the road as Vernice attends Spelman College in Atlanta and Annie desperately seeks to establish a relationship with her birth mother in Memphis. The powerful bond these friends maintain across the miles and the years reminds us that we don’t have to be biologically related in order to be “kin.”

Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)

Reviewed by Burch, Righton Books in St Simons Island, Georgia

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Book Buzz: Kin by Tayari Jones

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Tayari Jones, photo courtesy the author“There are only so many stories out there—people say seven—but for me, the question is always: what is the question I want to ask?…In Kin, the question I was interested in interrogating is the idea of searching for one’s mother. The classic story tells us, of course you search for your mother. If someone says, I don’t know where my mother is, we frame it as a brave quest to find her. But I wanted to question that impulse. Is it always better to know? Is it okay not to know? Can we learn to be satisfied with not knowing? In real life, people can be satisfied with what they have. In real life, you can marry someone who isn’t the person you once dreamed of and still have a good life. In a story, that’s often treated as an unpardonable compromise. I’m trying to bring into story life the wisdom we already know from real life.”
  ― Tayari Jones, Interview, She Reads

Kin by Tayari Jones

What booksellers are saying about Kin

  • Vernice and Annie, best friends and loyal companions since infancy, leave their hometown of Honeysuckle, Louisiana on very different life trajectories. Jones vividly describes their journeys, allowing the reader to feel deeply each of the bumps along the road as Vernice attends Spelman College in Atlanta and Annie desperately seeks to establish a relationship with her birth mother in Memphis. The powerful bond that these friends maintain across the miles and the years reminds us that we don’t have to be biologically related in order to be “kin.”
      ― Burch, Righton Books, St Simons Island, Georgia | BUY

  • What a fantastic novel! I finished this book last week and I am STILL thinking about it. This is such an important story about daughters without mothers. Tayari’s writing pulls you in the moment you begin the story. My heart and soul went out to Vernice and Annie. Seeing them attempt to conquer life and find love while searching for a mother’s love captures you from beginning to end. A story about the complexities of female relationships, especially among Black women. I cannot wait to put this book into as many hands as possible.
      ― Kala, M. Judson, Booksellers, Greenville, South Carolina | BUY

  • I’ve been waiting a long time for a new Tayari Jones novel and this one was worth the wait. I was mesmerized by the stories of Niecy and Annie and a bond that is closer than blood. The novel made me examine who my own “kin” are and how I can honor that bond. As always with Jones, I also loved the Atlanta setting. Atlanta feels like a character of its own and I love it!
      ― Kandi, Wordsworth Books, Little Rock, Arkansas | BUY

  • In Kin, Tayari Jones has written an absolute glory of a novel: one that explores friendship, family, the ties that bind and so much more through the lens of two friends – both motherless girls in the small town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana – and the different paths their lives follow. Niecy, orphaned as a baby and raised by her convention-defying aunt, has her sights set upwards – towards Spelman College and the upper echelons of Black society in 1950s Atlanta. In contrast, her “cradle friend” Annie lights out to the bars and clubs of Memphis in search of the mother who abandoned her as a newborn. Told with joy, wit, and pathos, and wearing its erudition lightly, Kin is a novel to savor and enjoy.
      ― Jude, Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi | BUY

About Tayari Jones

Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list and his year-end roundup. It won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and an NAACP Image Award and has been published in two dozen countries. Jones is the C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and lives in Atlanta.

 

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Kin by Tayari Jones

, , , , , ,
Kin by Tayari Jones
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

What a fantastic novel! I finished this book last week, and I am STILL thinking about it. This is such an important story about daughters without mothers. Tayari’s writing pulls you in the moment you begin the story. My heart and soul went out to Vernice and Annie. Seeing them attempt to conquer life and find love while searching for a mother’s love captures you from beginning to end. A story about the complexities of female relationships, especially among Black women. I cannot wait to put this book into as many hands as possible.

Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)

Reviewed by Kala Saxon, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina

Kin by Tayari Jones Read More »

Kin by Tayari Jones

, , , , ,
Kin by Tayari Jones
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

I’ve been waiting a long time for a new Tayari Jones novel, and this one was worth the wait. I was mesmerized by the stories of Niecy and Annie and a bond that is closer than blood. The novel made me examine who my own “kin” are and how I can honor that bond. As always with Jones, I also loved the Atlanta setting. Atlanta feels like a character of its own, and I love it!

Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)

Reviewed by Kandi, WordsWorth Books in Little Rock, Arkansas

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Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris

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Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris
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This book is about overcoming generational trauma, but also is a romance story. The protagonist in the story is a strong woman determined to survive and make a new life for herself. If you liked Black Cake, which I did, you will love this book!

Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris, (List Price: $29.99, Sourcebooks Landmark, 9781464229220, February 2026)

Reviewed by Cheryl, 44th & 3rd Bookseller in Peachtree Corners, Georgia

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Book Buzz: The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram

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Audrey Ingram, photo credit Joyly Hannahs“I worked on a gubernatorial campaign in high school and fell hard for the drama and passion that surround elections. Nostalgic for shows like The West Wing and Scandal, I began weaving together an unlikely love story between opposing candidates forced to confront their past…This novel is about the experiences that bind us together and the differences that tear us apart as two people navigate the tension between love and ambition…To be loved is to be seen but for Tess and Grant, the person they love sees the world very differently.

I believe that stories are bridges, a way to find humanity, connection, and even love with the people with whom we disagree. Our backgrounds, families, experiences, fears, and dreams all swirl together to shape who we become.”
  ― Audrey Ingram, Interview, Deborah Kalb Books

The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram

What booksellers are saying about The Summer We Ran

  • Audrey Ingram’s The Summer We Ran has set the bar high! It’s 1996. We’re all jamming out to Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” or the entirety of Mariah Carey’s Daydream (or both). Working-class Tess and affluent Grant, two kids from opposite sides of the proverbial tracks, meet that summer and share a quick-ish but life-altering romance. 25 years later, while both are running for Governor of Virginia, secrets and truths from that summer rear their ugly heads, threatening both their private and political lives. And I. Was. CAPTIVATED! The whole time! The falling for your first love. The tragedy and tumult that ensues. The secrets buried so deep, even the ones who buried them forgot the impact. The having to come to terms with your past so you can be your best present and future. And to end so powerfully. This book packs a beautiful punch!
      ― Thomas Wallace, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee | BUY

  • The Summer We Ran reveals the powerful secrets and choices of first loves that we forever carry with us. Filled with family secrets, unexpected losses, and the hope of what could have been, you’ll be hard pressed to put this down until all the lies of been uncovered. Ingram balances the nostalgia of the 90s plus the timely political stage to remind us that the secrets we keep can’t stay hidden forever.
      ― Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia | BUY
  • In the summer of 1996, 17 year old Tess and her mom move onto a Virginia estate as the help. When a neighbor asks Tess to help with her flowers, Tess meets her son, Grant Alexander. They spend the next few months falling in love and talking about the future. However, Grant’s perfect family is only that way on the outside. His father is controlling and does not want him to waste his life on a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, even if she does have high ambitions. Now, it’s 25 years later and Tess and Grant are running for governor against each other. Secrets of that summer threaten to ruin them both, and there are unresolved feelings to sort out. I was in from page one. I loved the dual timelines and multiple POVs. It’s coming of age and rich boy/poor girl with twists. I honestly chose it for my Book of the Month because I usually love the publisher Zibby Books, and it has a gorgeous cover. I loved Tess. I can’t decide if I love Grant.
      ― Karmen Somers, Court Street Books in Florence, Alabama | BUY

About Audrey Ingram

Audrey Ingram is the author of The River Runs South and The Group Trip. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and Georgetown University Law Center, and she practiced law in Washington, D.C., for fifteen years. When not writing, she can be found diffing in her garden or hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains. An Alabama native, she currently lives in Virgina with her husband and three children.

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