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The week of March 26, 2024 Love Stories, Second Chances, and Women! In! Peril! What to read in April.
Women! In! Peril! by Jessie Ren Marshall Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner A Really Strange and Wonderful Time : The Chapel Hill Music Scene: 1989-1999 by Tom Maxwell How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang The Husbands by Holly Gramazio Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
The April 2024 Adult Read This Next! List will be released on April 1st. But here is a sneak peak of what books Southern booksellers are especially looking forward to next month. It is a list full of both story and song, and of seizing second chances: |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López Adult Fiction, Short Stories (single author) These beautiful stories fill my heart with hope and longing. Annell Lopez weaves powerful portraits of women just trying to be. Be happy, be important, be heard. Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Rabbit Heart by Kristine S. Ervin 
Some stories I’ve told again and again. Like how the detectives stood in our kitchen, the table piled high with tackle boxes and plastic bags. I was eight then, and they pulled strands of hair from our scalps and held our fingers in their gloved hands. How tiny the arcs of my fingerprints must have been, each one placed in a square on the card, their lines like cresting waves. I remember holding it up to the light above our kitchen table, as if it were a map of some kind, but I never thought to look for letters or for symbols.
But other stories are unsayable. I’ve tried to write about Nina Athanassiades again and again, but the language fails me each time. I tell myself to write around it. To cluster those pieces. But they are simply too beautiful to touch. What booksellers are saying about Like Happiness 
Kristine S. Ervin grew up in a small suburb of Oklahoma City and now teaches creative writing at West Chester University, outside Philadelphia. She holds an MFA in poetry from New York University and a PhD in creative writing and literature, with a focus in nonfiction, from the University of Houston. |
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The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn Adult Fiction, Family Life, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Siblings, Women This is a poignant about family and all the ways those closest to you can do the most harm. Jess knows her mother for who she is, a woman who deserted her family for a con artist she had recently met. One so infamous he is the subject of a popular podcast. Jess has first-hand experience with her mother’s priorities and knows her daughters’ are low on the list. What Jess doesn’t know is that her sister Tegan, whom she has raised, is determined to find their mother. So much so that she has been communicating with a podcast host who wants to tell their story. By the way, Tegan has been communicating as Jess, an adult. The pressure to keep Tegan safe and not destroy their relationship is a desperate struggle for a "surrogate mother" who is really just a sister. An obnoxious and pushy podcast host is not a benefit to Jess, nor the host’s handsome and kind assistant. This is a sweet story of finding family through love. Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina |
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A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke Action & Adventure, Adult Fiction, Fiction A mind-bending, adventure-filled debut novel with an unusual premise: Nine-year-old Aubry contracts a strange illness that threatens to bleed her to death unless she keeps moving. So she spends her life on the run – constantly running – from one end of the earth to the other, below the earth and above, forever finding new places to go, for she cannot return to places she has been. It’s a fantastical journey that made me ask so many questions: Will she be cured? How does she endure? Why not give up? What a wild ride of a novel! Reviewed by Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida |
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Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon Adult Nonfiction, Asian & Asian American, Biography & Autobiography, Cultural, Ethnic & Regional Slow Noodles is the gripping memoir of a child navigating the devastating impact of Pol Pot’s genocide in the 1970s. Nguon recounts the heartbreaking separation from family, escape to another country, and the enduring grip of memories centered around recipes from her mother’s kitchen. This book is a powerful blend of sorrow and hope, terror and optimism, all interwoven with the significance of food and the potency of memories, making it an ideal choice for book clubs looking to delve into history alongside discussions on family dynamics, the role of food, and the complexities of immigration. Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer Action & Adventure, Young Adult Fiction This is a fun YA book that has an interesting take on zombies. I love the idea of science being able to reverse the effects of zombification and what ramifications would come with that. What if your loved one had killed your family when they weren’t themselves? Could you forgive them? It’s a fascinating take. The love story is well done. Only reason I didn’t rate it higher was that it didn’t have me on the edge of my seat like some of my favorite apocalyptic novels, but it’s still a solid read that I believe teens will especially enjoy. Reviewed by Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina |
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Rewild the World at Bedtime by Emily Hawkins Children, Environmental Conservation & Protection, Juvenile Nonfiction, Science & Nature With gorgeous illustrations, Rewild the World at Bedtime takes the reader on a global tour of rewilding animals. Educational and hopeful, this is the perfect bedtime read for curious and engaged little minds. Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen Banned Books, Comics & Graphic Novels, Coming of Age, Fairy Tales, Folklore, Folklore & Mythology, Legends, Young Adult Fiction This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel deftly weaves traditional fairy tales into the life of a young, gay teen just trying to figure everything out. Reviewed by Shauna Sinyard, Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” |
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Publisher:
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance /
siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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