The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Women Authors

A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith

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A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith
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This beautiful poetry collection looks at the connection between mind and body and the ways our sense of self shifts over time. Moving through questions of memory, meaning, and connection, it asks how time shapes who we are and how we are seen. A quiet, powerful read that stays with you.

A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith, (List Price: $25, Washington Square Press, 9781668090053, March 2026)

Reviewed by Sandra, Hills and Hamlets Bookshop in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia

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Startlement by Ada Limón

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Startlement by Ada Limón
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Pulled from her previous six collections and spanning her 20-year career as a poet, Startlement will do just that with its precise beauty, lush and generous language, its wisdom about what it is to be living in this world. If you only buy one book of poetry this year, you’ll be glad it’s this!

Startlement by Ada Limón, (List Price: $28, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550517, September 2025)

Reviewed by Johanna Hynes, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky

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The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas

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The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas
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In this slim volume, Savas beautifully explores the “wilderness” of postpartum and the mythologies that surround the first forty days after birth. Each short entry dives deep into the chaos of new motherhood—the newborn days full of paradox and pain, the deep wells of care and emotion that emerge, the mystery and lore of the mother-child bond. Savas argues that we mothers emerge from that beginning inexorably changed; we enter the wilderness and cannot help but emerge a bit wild ourselves. A perfect companion for reading in snippets during nursing sessions or wakeful nights—this is a book for anyone who enjoyed Jazmina Barrera’s Linea Nigra or Rivka Galchen’s Little Labors.

The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas, (List Price: $17.95, Transit Books, 9798893389098, October 2024)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

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Milk and Honeyby Rupi Kaur
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In Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, you can truly feel what she felt as she wrote these poems. It is about the ups and downs of a breakup and learning to love yourself by yourself. It is a beautiful collection of poems.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, (List Price: $19.99, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 9781449496364, September 2018)

Reviewed by Alex Reno, The Blytheville Book Company in Blytheville, Arkansas

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Closer Baby Closer by Savannah Brown

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Closer Baby Closer by Savannah Brown
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Those who spent a lot of time on the spoken word poetry side of Youtube in the 2010s will recognize Savannah Brown, who’s been bearing her soul for the internet for almost a decade. I was happy to find with this collection, that Brown’s poems have matured while maintaining the same vulnerability, humor, and unabashed desire for attention. Written in free verse and unconventional format, Brown delivers intimacy for the digital age, capturing the feelings of (among other things) being loved and in-love, jealousy and guilt. Skillfully, sensually written and easily digestible!

Closer Baby Closer by Savannah Brown, (List Price: 18.95, Not a Cult, 9781739618100, February 2023)

Reviewed by Julia Lewis, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros

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Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros
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Woman Without Shame reminds me of Nikki Giovanni’s most recent collection, in that I had a similar feeling while reading each book that these are two poets that get better and better with age. Every bit of Woman Without Shame is saturated in maturity and confidence, right down to the title. When I grow up, I want to be Sandra Cisneros.

Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros, (List Price: $27, Knopf, 9780593534823, September 2022)

Reviewed by Jordan Pulaski, Small Friend Records & Books in Richmond, Virginia

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Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

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Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
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A September 2022 Read This Next! Title

Trista Mateer punched me directly in the chest with this poetry collection. Carved my heart out and served it back to me with a sprig of parsley on top. Every page of this book is chock full of beautiful, enchanting words that dig in deep and tear up the soil to reveal things you might not have thought about in years. Even if a poem doesn’t directly connect with you, it will in fact, ruin you.

Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer, (List Price: $16.99, Central Avenuel Publishing, 9781771682725, September 2022)

Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
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A May 2022 Read This Next! Selection

A eulogy of sorts to things we are always going to lose, and to the things that are taken from us, this is a beautiful body of work that trembles with hurt, but asks also for its due attention- a wounded thing not yet surrendering. Poems of movement, of worry, of a recognized grief and the subsequent small joys that can bloom out of dirt like small flower heads…Limón never, ever disappoints when it comes to understanding the great and terrible spectrum of emotions that is our cross to bear. It’s as if this newest collection is a honed and finely tuned string of metal hewn from her previous work, singing its own loud and new sound, ever reminding us that she belongs alongside Sontag, Lorde, James Welch, Oliver- the heralds of the Word that have come before and whose worlds will remain long after.

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón, (List Price: $22, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550494, May 2022)

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

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

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The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
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Reading this collection made me feel like I was standing outside with my bare feet in the grass, scrunching my toes in the soil, feeling the breeze on my face, and pondering the oneness of everything.

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón, (List Price: $22, Milkweed Editions, 9781639550494,  May 2022)

Reviewed by LeeAnna Callon, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Goldenrod by Maggie Smith

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Goldenrod by Maggie Smith
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Poignant, raw, and fresh, Smith’s new collection of poems explores motherhood, grief, divorce, and the many complexities of weathering a pandemic. Her clear voice and effortless creation of images makes this collection a delight to read.

Goldenrod by Maggie Smith, (List Price: $20, Atria/One Signal Publishers, 9781982185060,  July 2021)

Reviewed by Hannah Kerbs, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

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Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
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I cant put into words how much this poetry collection affected me, and how I am completely infatuated with every word on every page. Shire truly left me speechless with her prose and poems centering around being a refugee, maternal relationships, and what it means to be a woman. It’s poetry that’s so full of emotion you feel every word she says, and it’s impeccable.

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire, (List Price: $17, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 9780593134351,  March 2022)

Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long

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My Darling from the Lions
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These poems were enchanting and brilliant, forcing you to think and interact with the stories being told. Once you sit down with this book, you won’t be able to get back up until you’ve closed it and long after, too consumed with every single word. Carefully crafted, and perfectly balanced, this book of poetry is perfect for newcomers to poetry, or those well versed in it.

My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long, (List Price: 16.95, Tin House Books, 9781951142711, September 2021)

Reviewed by Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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