The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Southern Book Prize Finalist

Kin by Tayari Jones

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Kin by Tayari Jones
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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

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Kin by Tayari Jones

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Kin by Tayari Jones
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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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Hellions by Julia Elliott

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Hellions by Julia Elliott
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Swampy Southern Gothic at its finest. These stories are lush, each driven by magical, wicked, wholly-alive characters so deeply rooted in their surroundings—or their desires—its difficult to see where person begins and wild ends. Discerning and empathetic, Elliott’s eye for the strange wonders that bring folklore and fairytale to life is unmatched.

Hellions by Julia Elliott, (List Price: $17.95, Tin House Books, 9781963108064, April 2025)

Reviewed by Miranda Sanchez, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Sharks Don’t Sink by Jasmin Graham

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Sharks Don't Sink by Jasmin Graham
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Such an entertaining and important memoir. Not only does Jasmin pack the book with super interesting shark facts, she also talks about important issues – racism, sexism, workplace and educational abuse, marine conservation, and mental health. The ways in which she describes her experiences (good and bad) and how they sometimes relate to sharks, is so poetic.

Sharks Don’t Sink by Jasmin Graham, (List Price: $28, Pantheon, 9780593685259, July 2024)

Reviewed by Stephanie St. John, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark

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Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark
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In Happily, Mark spins magically surreal sketches of motherhood, art, and life. Woven from fairy tales refracted into reality, each essay shimmers with wit, candor, and whimsy. As sharp as a spindle, as ethereal as an eggshell—this gemlike collection of memoir-fables will leave you enchanted.

Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark, (List Price: $27, Random House, 9780593242476, March 2023)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

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How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
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Mark and Louise hate each other, but when their parents flee their home in the middle of the night and die in a car crash the siblings are forced to re-unite. What happens when you walk into your family home and see the attic door bolted up? Or your mom’s massive puppet collection whose eyes seem to follow you wherever you go? Well, I’m afraid you may have some trouble selling the house. Filled with family secrets, twists, and an uneasy tone that had me on the edge of my seat, this book was WILD and FUN. It had me second guessing everything around me. Did I turn on the TV? Okay, that milk was not there 5 minutes ago.Is someone messing with me?I loved this. It was creepy. It was weird. It was emotional. It was absolutely bonkers in the best way possible!

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, (List Price: 28, Berkley, 9780593201268, January 2023)

Reviewed by Janisie Rodriguez, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida

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Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

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Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
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This book is no mere pick of the month. This is the kind of book that comes along once in a generation. The kind of book that makes us want to open bookstores. The kind of book that will be required reading for our children and grandchildren as they go through school. The kind of book that will be filmed page by page and line by line because there is not one thing about it that needs to be changed. I can only hope that we are ready to let this book change us. This is a story that needed to be told, but couldn’t be told without a great deal of pain. For Jesmyn Ward to explore this territory and tell this story amid her own personal grief is an act of bravery. It is an act of service to American society to tell this story no matter how hard it got, and to withhold shortcuts and saviors and swooping gestures, to force us to look at the honest truth of the human toll of our history. And it is an act of love to each and every individual who we will never know but whose story this could be.

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $28, Scribner, 9781982104498, March 2023)

Reviewed by Emily Liner, Friendly City Books in Columbus, Mississippi

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The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

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The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
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n immersive trip through Southern Gothic Early America. The narrative follows a lone girl down the Potomac River, from Jamestown and into the unknown. Nameless or many-named like a barn-cat drifter, Girl wields caution, imagination and a blade to survive the crystalline forests of Virginia and Maryland. She drafts off a peloton of memories–as the British orphan, the mistress’s servant, Bess’s friend, the glassblower’s lover—that pull her forward to eat dirt and vibe with a bear in the present. It’s all about the stories that keep us alive. Groff’s easy and percussive writing, along with her use of time, space and inner dialogue, create an immediacy that had me trying to locate Girl’s coordinates on a map so I wouldn’t lose her. Captivating. Awesome. Great.

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

Reviewed by Jackie Carlson, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida

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Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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Starling Houseby Alix E. Harrow
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As someone who has always been a little too soft for the world, nothing delights me more than living vicariously through fierce and hard as nail protagonists like Opal. Opal is fighting every day to make sure her brother doesn’t go without in the town of Eden. Despite barely having time to think, Opal begins to dream of Starling House, the Secret that no one talks about, and even though she knows better, she finds herself at the front door. Arthur is going to be the last warden of the Starling House, taking its legacy of monsters and magic down with him. He’s determined to be so until Opal breaks down the walls around his heart with her knock at Starling House’s door. This is a story of two people who are less than beautiful that smile with crooked teeth and black eyes, and I didn’t want it to end.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, (List Price: $28.99, Tor Books, 9781250799050, October 2023)

Reviewed by Katlin Kerrison, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia

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Above Ground by Clint Smith

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Above Ground by Clint Smith
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Clint Smith’s latest collection of poems is so good. I love how he intersperses poems about his first child with poems about the state of America as a whole. His voice is soft and sharp at the same time, and works so well in both settings.

Above Ground by Clint Smith, (List Price: 27, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316543033, March 2023)

Reviewed by Daniel Jordan, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard

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We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard
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We Are Too Many is a memoir of the end (and beginning) of a marriage. Told hilariously over three parts, Hannah Pittard invites readers to follow her through ten years of time-jumped remembered conversations. Her story is written with a refreshing amount of honesty as she leads the reader through her discovery that her husband and best friend have had sex, along with what came before and after. Unfinchingly honest and hilarious, Pittard seamlessly blends fact with fiction to make an unforgettable memoir. I finished this in one afternoon. I could not put it down — nor did I want to. A gem for anyone who loves memoir, language play, a book that reads like a documentary, or a delightful and entertaining read.

We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard, (List Price: 26.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250869043, May 2023)

Reviewed by Deva, The Snail On the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama

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The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

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The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
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An October Read This Next! Book!

Margaret Renkl’s writing is the literary equivalent to being wrapped in a soft blanket in your favorite chair with a cup of tea on a crisp day. The Comfort of Crows continues her beautiful way with words (after her stellar Late Migrations) with 52 essays of her observations that take the reader through the seasons of the year…from the beauty of nature and all it encompasses to the varying human emotions and stages of life. You will want to plant something, feed something, preserve something, and protect something all at the same time. You don’t have to be a nature lover to read this book, but you will be by the time you finish it.

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl, (List Price: 32, Spiegel & Grau, 9781954118461, October 2023)

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

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Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

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Chaos Theory by Nic Stone
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Shelbi has resisted making friends at her new school since she’s had bad experiences in the past. But when she witnesses Andy at a low point, she can’t help but reach out to let him know she knows what it’s like. And like that, despite Shelbi’s best efforts, a friendship is born. But both Shelbi and Andy have demons, Shelbi’s in the form of bipolar disorder that has impacted relationships in her past, and Andy’s in the form of alcoholism that started after his sister died. This is a moving story of two teens, both together and individually, as Shelbi learns the maybe she can rely on other people, and Andy learns to prioritize himself and his mental health.

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone, (List Price: 18.99, Crown Books for Young Readers, 9780593307700, February 2023)

Reviewed by Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

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All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
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All The Sinners Bleed is crime fiction at its best. Cosby has created a genre all his own with this and his first two novels that I’d call “Virginia noir.” And I’m totally here for it. This one follows a small-town sheriff (with an FBI background) that’s chasing a serial killer that has an obsession with religious iconography and targeting very specific victims. This police procedural that sets a new standard for thrillers and it also highlights the overt/covert social tensions that are prevalent in rural communities.

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, (List Price: 27.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250831910, June 2023)

Reviewed by Stuart McCommon, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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