Bookseller reviews of books on the bestseller list this week
I loved this book. It is set in Ireland in 1865 after the Great Famine and is chock full of the rich history and mystery and tragedy and beauty that this country lends to many of its novels. It is the multigenerational story of a cartographer and his wife and children who live a rural existence near a mystical, magical copse. The book is beautifully written, and I highly recommend it.
Land by Maggie O’Farrell, (List Price: $32, Knopf, 9780593320648, June 2026)
Reviewed by Burch, Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA
Can a book be cozy, loving, encouraging, compassionate, AND a threat to the brutal and cutthroat consumer capitalism of our era? I present to you Robin Wall Kimmerer’s first book since her surprise mega-bestselling sleeper hit Braiding Sweetgrass. The serviceberry is a bushy, underappreciated fruit tree native to Eastern North America that Kimmerer uses as inspiration to muse broadly on “abundance and reciprocity in the natural world.” The tree embodies the values of gratitude, interconnectedness, and mutual aid. Strikingly, the serviceberry’s broad and generous distribution of its wealth ensures its own flourishing! Let’s all read this small, beautiful, and powerful little book and talk about how we can reimagine modern economic life to be a little more sane and humane!
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, (List Price: $20, Scribner, 9781668072240, November 2024)
Reviewed by Josh, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia
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
The Southern Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by IndieBound and SIBA, for the week ending Sunday, June 28. Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.
HARDCOVER FICTION
1. Whistler
Ann Patchett, Harper, $30.00, 9780063511637
2. Yesteryear (Indies Introduce)
Caro Claire Burke, Knopf, $30.00, 9780593804216
3. The Correspondent
Virginia Evans, Crown, $28.00, 9780593798430
4. The Calamity Club
Kathryn Stockett, Spiegel & Grau, $35.00, 9781954118812
5. Land
Maggie O'Farrell, Knopf, $32.00, 9780593320648
6. Villa Coco
Andrew Sean Greer, Doubleday, $30.00, 9780385551977
7. The Midnight Train
Matt Haig, Viking, $30.00, 9780593833377
8. The Things We Never Say
Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $29.00, 9798217154746
9. Road Trip
Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press, $30.00, 9781250372888
10. Daughters of the Sun and Moon
Lisa See, Scribner, $29.00, 9781982117054
11. Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Matt Dinniman, Ace, $30.00, 9780593820261
12. Our Perfect Storm
Carley Fortune, Berkley, $30.00, 9780593953242
13. Kin
Tayari Jones, Knopf, $32.00, 9780525659181
14. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Matt Dinniman, Ace, $30.00, 9780593820285
15. John of John
Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $28.00, 9780802167194
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump
Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, $34.00, 9781668067246
2. The Land and Its People: Essays
David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company, $30.00, 9780316264839
3. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
Belle Burden, The Dial Press, $30.00, 9780593733318
4. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth
Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $35.00, 9780385548533
5. The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss
Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris, W. W. Norton & Company, $35.00, 9781324006848
6. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
John Green, Crash Course Books, $28.00, 9780525556572
7. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28.00, 9780593804148
8. Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution
Denise Kiernan, Dutton, $32.00, 9780593183434
9. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne (Illus.), Scribner, $20.00, 9781668072240
10. Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About: A Memoir
Isabel Klee, William Morrow, $28.00, 9780063451070
11. Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children
Mac Barnett, Little, Brown and Company, $20.00, 9780316601122
12. This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
Craig Fehrman, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $35.00, 9781982174248
13. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, $20.00, 9781982181314
14. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness
Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $32.00, 9781984881991
15. Famesick: A Memoir
Lena Dunham, Random House, $32.00, 9780593129326
TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
1. Theo of Golden
Allen Levi, Atria Books, $20.00, 9781668236512
2. Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman, Ace, $20.00, 9780593820254
3. Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir, Ballantine Books, $22.00, 9798217299461
4. Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99, 9780063204164
5. Atmosphere
Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $20.00, 9780593158739
6. Dolly All the Time
Annabel Monaghan, G.P. Putnam's Sons, $20.00, 9780593853979
7. Angel Down
Daniel Kraus, Atria Books, $18.00, 9781668068519
8. The Road to Tender Hearts
Annie Hartnett, Ballantine Books, $20.00, 9780593873465
9. The God of the Woods
Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19.00, 9780593418925
10. The Someday Garden
Ashley Poston, Berkley, $20.00, 9780593952757
11. The Deal
Elle Kennedy, Bloom Books, $18.99, 9781775293934
12. Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry, Berkley, $20.00, 9780593441237
13. The Mistake (Off-Campus)
Elle Kennedy, Bloom Books, $18.99, 9781775293941
14. James
Percival Everett, Vintage, $20.00, 9780593686867
15. I Who Have Never Known Men
Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95 9781945492600
TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
1. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel, Vintage, $18.00, 9781984898456
2. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
Erik Larson, Crown, $22.00, 9780385348768
3. The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces
Seth Harp, Penguin Books, $20.00, 9780593655108
4. Raising Hare: A Memoir
Chloe Dalton, Vintage, $21.00, 9780593689004
5. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann, Vintage, $21.00, 9780307742490
6. Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
Caroline Fraser, Penguin Books, $21.00, 9780593657249
7. Is a River Alive?
Robert Macfarlane, W. W. Norton & Company, $19.99, 9781324130734
8. Communion: The Female Search for Love
bell hooks, William Morrow Paperbacks, $17.99, 9780060938291
9. A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, $23.99, 9780062397348
10. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin Books, $19.00, 9780143127741
11. A Resistance History of the United States
Tad Stoermer, Steerforth, $19.95, 9781586424367
12. The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It's Too Late
Cory Doctorow, MCD, $18.00, 9780374621568
13. Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir
Ina Garten, Crown, $22.00, 9780593800027
14. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Erik Larson, Vintage, $18.00, 9780375725609
15. Me Talk Pretty One Day
David Sedaris, Little, Brown Paperbacks, $19.99, 9780316776967
MASS MARKET
1. 1984
George Orwell, Signet, $12.00, 9780451524935
2. Lord of the Flies
William Golding, Penguin, $12.00, 9780399501487
3. Mistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $10.99, 9781250318541
4. The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $12.99, 9780765365279
5. Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton, Ballantine, $10.99, 9780345538987
6. The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank, Bantam, $9.99, 9780553577129
7. The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger, Little, Brown, $9.99, 9780316769488
8. Animal Farm
George Orwell, Signet, $12.00, 9780451526342
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams, Del Rey, $9.99, 9780345391803
10. Hyperion
Dan Simmons, Spectra, $11.00, 9780553283686
CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED
1. Sing the 50 United States!
Dr. Seuss, Random House Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9798217228560
2. Good Night Outer Banks
Adam Gamble, Mark Jasper, Joe Veno (Illus.), Good Night Books, $9.95, 9781602196049
3. The Greatest Bedtime Story Ever
Jessie Sima, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781665974523
4. It's My Bird-Day!
Mo Willems, Union Square Kids, $18.99, 9781454999621
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99, 9780399226908
6. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $10.99, 9780694003617
7. The Giving Tree
Shel Silverstein, Harper, $19.99, 9780060256654
8. Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak, Harper, $21.99, 9780060254926
9. Blueberries for Sal
Robert McCloskey, Puffin, $9.99, 9780140501698
10. Across the USA with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $7.99, 9798217144938
CHILDREN'S INTEREST
1. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga
Dav Pilkey, Motojiro (Illus.), Graphix, $14.99, 9781546151210
2. The New Girl: First Crush: A Graphic Novel
Cassandra Calin, Graphix, $14.99, 9781338762488
3. The Lions' Run
Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen (Illus.), Balzer + Bray, $18.99, 9781250392817
4. The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton, Viking Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 9780142407332
5. Midsummer Sisters (A Graphic Novel)
Niki Smith, Graphix, $14.99, 9781546128946
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Special Edition)
Stephen Chbosky, Simon Pulse, $15.99, 9781665982412
7. Spy School Secret Service the Graphic Novel
Stuart Gibbs, Anjan Sarkar (Illus.), Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 9781665956635
8. Odder: The Novel
Katherine Applegate, Charles Santoso (Illus.), Square Fish, $8.99, 9781250423429
9. Trucks on Trucks
Sorche Fairbank, Nik Henderson (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $9.99, 9780062842107
10. The Poisoned King (Impossible Creatures #2)
Katherine Rundell, Ashley Mackenzie (Illus.), Knopf Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593809907
CHILDREN'S SERIES TITLES
1. InvestiGators: Weather or Not
John Patrick Green, First Second, $12.99, 9781250357915
2. Our Flag: A History of the Stars and Stripes (My Little Golden Book About...)
Carl Memling, Golden Books, $5.99, 9798217226672
3. Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, $27.99, 9781546171461
4. Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin, #1
Erin Hunter, Natalie Riess (Illus.), Sara Goetter (Illus.), HarperAlley, $15.99, 9780063203877
5. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Holly Jackson, Delacorte Press, $14.99, 9781984896391
6. Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1)
Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illus.), Random House Books for Young Readers, $5.99, 9780679824114
7. Weird But True! USA: Expanded Edition: 350 Fascinating Facts About the Fifty States
National Geographic Kids, National Geographic Kids, $11.99, 9798217226733
8. The Hybrid Prince (Wings of Fire, Book 16)
Tui T. Sutherland, Scholastic Press, $19.99, 9781546129547
9. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, #1)
Rick Riordan, Disney Hyperion, $10.99, 9781368051477
10. The Inheritance Games
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $10.99, 9780759555402
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