Bookseller reviews of books on the bestseller list this week
I couldn’t put this book down! Set against the backdrop of Atlanta and the Jim Crow South, Jones’s beautiful prose transported me into the world of Annie and Niecey, two motherless, “cradle friends,” searching for their place in the world. The novel confronts race, class, and womanhood with honesty and nuance, while never losing sight of the tenderness and complexity of its characters. Equal parts devastating, hopeful, and unexpectedly funny, this coming-of-age story explores the lengths we go to discover who we are, and the sacrifices we make to become who we think we should be.
Kin by Tayari Jones, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780525659181, February 2026)
Reviewed by Tyler, Wild Aster Books in Chamblee, Georgia
Another great read by Amanda Peters! The Birthing Tree is a wonderful story of love, family, friends, and traditions. Aliet Paul was raised by her grandmother, Kiju, a Mi’kmaw women, after her own mother died in childbirth. She never knew who her father was, and no one would tell her. The “Birthing Tree,” where Kiju helped bring many children into the world, is its own character. A dual timeline book where the world has evolved and most women are choosing more traditional hospital births, both Kiju and Aliet fight to hold onto traditions and protect “the birthing tree.
The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters, (List Price: $28, Catapult, 9781646223695, September 2026)
Reviewed by Barbara, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC
What a fascinating story! Ariel Lawhon does not disappoint.
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780385550345, September 2026)
Reviewed by Carrie, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, AL
The Southern Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by IndieBound and SIBA, for the week ending Sunday, November 1, 2026. Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.
The Southern Independent Booksellers Association Bestsellers List, as brought to you by IndieBound and SIBA, for the week ended Sunday, November 1, 2026. Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Southern Independent Booksellers Association.
For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.
HARDCOVER FICTION
1. A Court of Splintered Harmony: The Valkyrie Cycle, Movement I (A Court of Thorns and Roses #6)
Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $32.00, 9781639739134
2. The Calamity Club
Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35.00, 9781954118812
3. Miss Wolcott’s Ghost (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #21)
Louise Penny, Minotaur Books, $30.00, 9781250412607
4. The French Illusion (The French Illusion Series)
John Grisham, Doubleday, $35.00, 9780385550543
5. The Pirate Queen
Ariel Lawhon, Doubleday, $32.00, 9780385550345
6. Peck & Peck
Bonnie Garmus, Scribner, $30.00, 9781668251065
7. Partita
Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.00, 9780063577541
8. Whistler
Ann Patchett, Harper, $30.00, 9780063511637
9. Public Access Afterworld
Jane Schoenbrun, Hogarth, $33.00, 9780593978382
10. The Hollow: A Harry Bosch Novel
Michael Connelly, Little, Brown and Company, $32.00, 9780316563857
11. Mad Mabel
Sally Hepworth, St. Martin’s Press, $29.00, 9781250284549
12. Hollow Bones
Jodi Picoult, Ballantine Books, $34.00, 9780593726259
13. The Witch (Deluxe Edition)
Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press, $29.99, 9781464249648
14. The Correspondent
Virginia Evans, Crown, $28.00, 9780593798430
15. Threshing Day (Wing and Claw Collection) (The Empyrean)
Rebecca Yarros, Entangled: Red Tower Books, $24.99, 9781682818084
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. Simply Ina: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter, $40.00, 9780593234174
2. The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic
Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company, $34.00, 9780316603782
3. Dispatches from Rural America: Sixteen Essays
Wendell Berry, Counterpoint, $27.00, 9781640098572
4. Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State
Michael Lewis, W. W. Norton & Company, $29.99, 9781324131656
5. The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World
Nathaniel Philbrick, Viking, $38.00, 9780525562238
6. In My Own Time: A Memoir
Christopher Lloyd, Grand Central Publishing, $32.50, 9781538776544
7. Abandoning a Cat: A Personal Story
Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Transl.), Knopf, $26.00, 9798217208692
8. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
Belle Burden, The Dial Press, $30.00, 9780593733318
9. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth
Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35.00, 9780385548533
10. The Land and Its People: Essays
David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30.00, 9780316264839
11. Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World
Adam Grant, Viking, $33.00, 9798217059706
12. Swan Song: Diana, my sister
Charles Spencer, Penguin Press, $35.00, 9798217379743
13. Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up
David Byrne, Penguin Press, $36.00, 9780593655276
14. Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country
Andy Beshear, St. Martin’s Press, $30.00, 9781250452719
15. End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World
Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $32.00, 9780374621384
PAPERBACK FICTION
1. Theo of Golden
Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20.00, 9781668236512
2. Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20.00, 9780593820254
3. Fruit Fly
Josh Silver, Crooked Lane Books, $19.99, 9798892426374
4. East of Eden
John Steinbeck, Penguin, $25.00, 9780142004234
5. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2)
Matt Dinniman, Ace, $21.00, 9780593820278
6. Wild Dark Shore
Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $18.99, 9781250828019
7. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Stephen Graham Jones, S&S/Saga Press, $20.00, 9781668075098
8. The Road to Tender Hearts
Annie Hartnett, Ballantine Books, $20.00, 9780593873465
9. I Who Have Never Known Men
Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95, 9781945492600
10. The Wedding People
Alison Espach, Holt Paperbacks, $18.99, 9781250899552
11. A Court of Wings and Ruin
Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19.00, 9781635575606
12. Piranesi
Susanna Clarke, Bloomsbury Publishing, $17.99, 9781635577808
13. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19.00, 9781635575569
14. The Frozen River
Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18.00, 9780593312070
15. Golden Son (Red Rising Series #2)
Pierce Brown, Del Rey, $21.00, 9780345539830
PAPERBACK NONFICTION
1. The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
John U. Bacon, Liveright, $21.99, 9781324147435
2. Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Christine Kuehn, Celadon Books, $18.99, 9781250344489
3. A Marriage at Sea (Indies Introduce)
Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $20.00, 9780593854297
4. The Best American Essays 2026
Masha Gessen, Kim Dana Kupperman, Mariner Books, $18.99, 9780063454446
5. Living in the Present with John Prine
Tom Piazza, W. W. Norton & Company, $18.99, 9781324134305
6. Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
Cory Doctorow, Picador, $20.00, 9781250448194
7. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18.00, 9781984898456
8. Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature
Emily Wilson, Liveright, $19.99, 9781324099406
9. Eros the Bittersweet
Anne Carson, Dalkey Archive Press, $15.95, 9781628973860
10. The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces
Seth Harp, Penguin Books, $20.00, 9780593655108
11. Bread of Angels: A Memoir
Patti Smith, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20.00, 9781101910177
12. Mother Mary Comes to Me
Arundhati Roy, Scribner, $20.00, 9781668094723
13. Bad Blood
John Carreyrou, Vintage, $21.00, 9780525431992
14. Focused & Fearless Leadership: Preventing the Crisis Before It Starts
Melissa Godwin Overton, Overton Experience, $19.95, 9798995277101
15. Raising Hare: A Memoir
Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21.00, 9780593689004
MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
1. 1984
George Orwell, Signet, $12.00, 9780451524935
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams, Del Rey, $9.99, 9780345391803
3. Hyperion
Dan Simmons, Spectra, $11.00, 9780553283686
4. Merriam-Webster’s Spanish-English Dictionary
Merriam-Webster (Ed.), Merriam-Webster, $8.50, 9780877792987
5. Dune
Frank Herbert, Ace, $10.99, 9780593640340
6. Animal Farm
George Orwell, Signet, $12.00, 9780451526342
7. Words of Radiance
Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $12.99, 9780765365286
8. Lord of the Flies
William Golding, Penguin, $13.00, 9780399501487
9. The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger, Little, Brown, $9.99, 9780316769488
10. Othello (Folger Shakespeare Library)
William Shakespeare, Simon & Schuster, $6.99, 9780743477550
CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED
1. Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial Books, $9.99, 9780593110409
2. Gruffalo Granny
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial Books, $19.99, 9798217238736
3. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $10.99, 9780694003617
4. I Heart Pickles
Suzy Ultman, Suzy Ultman (Illus.), Rise x Penguin Workshop, $8.99, 9798217248391
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99, 9780399226908
6. The Bakery Dragon and the Giant Cookie
Devin Elle Kurtz, Knopf Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9798217118748
7. The Skeleton and the Cat
Brandon James Scott, HarperCollins, $19.99, 9780063455887
8. The Secret Dragon
Briony May Smith, Anne Schwartz Books, $18.99, 9780593650509
9. The Duck Can’t Sleep
E.B. White, Melissa Sweet (Illus.), Quill Tree Books, $19.99, 9780063304291
10. The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial, $8.99, 9780803730472
CHILDREN’S TITLES
1. Fight or Flight (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #21)
Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $15.99, 9781419782701
2. Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial Books, $9.99, 9780593110409
3. Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, $17.99, 9781546171607
4. You’re No Better (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Andrew Joseph White, Peachtree Teen, $21.99, 9781682638224
5. Wildwood (The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I)
Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (Illus.), Balzer + Bray, $11.99, 9780062024701
6. Gruffalo Granny
Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial Books, $19.99, 9798217238736
7. I Heart Pickles
Suzy Ultman, Suzy Ultman (Illus.), Rise x Penguin Workshop, $8.99, 9798217248391
8. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2: From the Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid (The Awesome Friendly Kid Series)
Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $15.99, 9781419788109
9. Building 903
Lois Lowry, Clarion Books, $19.99, 9780063515109
10. The Sixth Faction Deluxe Limited Edition (A New Divergent Series #1)
Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $25.99, 9780063462540
11. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $10.99, 9780694003617
12. Trust Fall
Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $21.99, 9798347100217
13. The Secret Dragon
Briony May Smith, Anne Schwartz Books, $18.99, 9780593650509
14. The Duck Can’t Sleep
E.B. White, Melissa Sweet (Illus.), Quill Tree Books, $19.99, 9780063304291
15. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99, 9780399226908
EARLY AND MIDDLE GRADE
1. Building 903
Lois Lowry, Clarion Books, $19.99, 9780063515109
2. Hatchet
Gary Paulsen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $9.99, 9781481486293
3. Camp Half-Blood: From the World of Percy Jackson: The Wild Zone
Rick Riordan, Annabelle Oh, Random House Books for Young Readers, $20.99, 9798217445981
4. Charlotte’s Web
E.B. White, HarperCollins, $10.99, 9780064400558
5. Popcorn
Rob Harrell, Dial Books, $18.99, 9780593697924
6. The Dark and Other Scary Stories
Max Brallier, Letizia Rubegni (Illus.), Scholastic, $14.99, 9798225049621
7. The One and Only Bob
Katherine Applegate, Patricia Castelao (Illus.), Storytide, $10.99, 9780062991324
8. Frog and Toad Are Friends
Arnold Lobel, Harper, $5.99, 9780064440202
9. This Is a Door
Daniel Nayeri, Stonefruit Studio, $19.99, 9781464246029
10. Super Duper Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook (Pokemon)
Scholastic, Scholastic, $16.99, 9781339028019
YOUNG ADULT
1. You’re No Better (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Andrew Joseph White, Peachtree Teen, $21.99, 9781682638224
2. Trust Fall
Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $21.99, 9798347100217
3. The Sixth Faction Deluxe Limited Edition (A New Divergent Series #1)
Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $25.99, 9780063462540
4. Scorpion Deep
CG Drews, Feiwel & Friends, $20.99, 9781250376312
5. Once Upon a Broken Heart Collector’s Edition
Stephanie Garber, Flatiron Books, $37.00, 9781250289773
6. The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton, Viking Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 9780142407332
7. Nothing Like the Movies
Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $13.99, 9781665947145
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Special Edition)
Stephen Chbosky, Simon Pulse, $15.99, 9781665982412
9. Hell Followed with Us
Andrew Joseph White, Peachtree Teen, $12.99, 9781682635636
10. Feeling Like an ADHD Alien: A Graphic Novel
Pina Varnel, Pina Varnel (Illus.), Rocky Pond Books, $17.99, 9780593325568
CHILDREN’S SERIES TITLES
1. Fight or Flight (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #21)
Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $15.99, 9781419782701
2. Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, $17.99, 9781546171607
3. Wildwood (The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I)
Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (Illus.), Balzer + Bray, $11.99, 9780062024701
4. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2: From the Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid (The Awesome Friendly Kid Series)
Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $15.99, 9781419788109
5. Warriors Graphic Novel: The New Prophecy, Part One of Three
Erin Hunter, Gibson Twist, Sammy Savos (Illus.), HarperAlley, $15.99, 9780063450882
6. The Mirror of Infinite Endings: A Once Upon a Broken Heart Companion
Stephanie Garber, Lotusbubble (Illus.), Flatiron Books, $21.99, 9781250462039
7. Dog Man
Dav Pilkey, Graphix, $12.99, 9781338741032
8. The Neverfear (Impossible Creatures #3)
Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie (Illus.), Knopf Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593809945
9. Spy School Goes East
Stuart Gibbs, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9781665986717
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney, Abrams, $14.99, 9781419741852
CHILDREN’S SERIES
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney, Harry N. Abrams
2. Magic Tree House
Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illus.), Random House Books for Young Readers
3. Dog Man
Dav Pilkey, Graphix
4. The Hunger Games (hardcover and paperback)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press
5. Wings of Fire
Tui T. Sutherland, Mike Holmes (Illus.), Scholastic
6. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? (Who Was/Is…?)
Bonnie Bader, Penguin Workshop
7. I Survived
Lauren Tarshis, Alvaro Sarraseca (Illus.), Scholastic
8. Impossible Creatures
Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie (Illus.), Yearling
9. The Wildwood Chronicles
Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (Illus.), Balzer + Bray
10. Little Golden Book
Mary Man-Kong, Hollie Mengert (Illus.), Golden/Disney
CHILDREN’S INTEREST
1. You’re No Better (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Andrew Joseph White, Peachtree Teen, $21.99, 9781682638224
2. Building 903
Lois Lowry, Clarion Books, $19.99, 9780063515109
3. Trust Fall
Lynn Painter, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $21.99, 9798347100217
4. The Sixth Faction Deluxe Limited Edition (A New Divergent Series #1)
Veronica Roth, HarperCollins, $25.99, 9780063462540
5. Hatchet
Gary Paulsen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $9.99, 9781481486293
6. Scorpion Deep
CG Drews, Feiwel & Friends, $20.99, 9781250376312
7. Once Upon a Broken Heart Collector’s Edition
Stephanie Garber, Flatiron Books, $37.00, 9781250289773
8. Camp Half-Blood: From the World of Percy Jackson: The Wild Zone
Rick Riordan, Annabelle Oh, Random House Books for Young Readers, $20.99, 9798217445981
9. Charlotte’s Web
E.B. White, HarperCollins, $10.99, 9780064400558
10. Popcorn
Rob Harrell, Dial Books, $18.99, 9780593697924