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The week of March 21, 2023 Celebrating the Right to Read 
It is a hard thing for people who love reading and literature to bear the rising tide of book bans and legislation in this country attempting to dictate what kinds of books can be on a library’s shelves, or discussed in a school classroom. Most of these challenges target either books on "critical race theory" or on LGBTQ+ and gender studies. In fact, there are currently 428 anti-LGBTQ bills being tracked by the ACLU across the nation. Independent bookstores fight book bans and challenges in their communities in many ways, not the least of which is to simply stock the books that are being pulled from library shelves. They are acutely aware that they are among a shrinking number of places where readers can find books in which they see themselves. This week, in response to the swell of anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans legislation, many indie bookstores are participating in the Trans Rights Readathon from March 20-27. The Readathon was started by the author Sim Kern (Seeds for the Swarm) to encourage people to read books by trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary authors, and to donate to organizations supporting trans people. The Readathon has been taken up by many, many bookstores. Readers can check the social media posts of their local bookstores to see if they are participating, which trans advocacy groups the stores are donating to, and what books they are reading: Underground Books in Carrollton, GA Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA One More Page Books in Arlington, VA Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Bookshop in New Orleans, LA Charis Books and More in Decatur, GA Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC …and naturally, there is an eternally growing reading list at The Southern Bookseller Review. |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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Sundial by Catriona Ward Adult Fiction, Horror An interesting read with many twist and turns. Characters and setting were very unique, and I could never guess what would happen next.(Spoilers inbound) This was a weird book, but not in a bad way. The writing was spiritic, with odd inclusions and details, but it all felt intentional. Rob was flawed and different individual, and the writing portrayed that perfectly. Cassie’s chapters felt like reading the mind of a child who sees thing she shouldn’t. All of this felt very intentional, it felt like the book was trying to pack a lot within as few pages as possible, and yet some of the twists and events of the book felt forgotten too easily. Yet, the last couple chapters of the climax had me enraptured and glued to the page. And the book as a whole had a unique premise and storyline, even if there was whole lot in it. A definite need to read for sure. Reviewed by Mandolin Moore, WordsWorth Books in Little Rock, Arkansas |
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Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal 21st Century, Adult Fiction, France, World Literature Jessica Moore perfectly encapsulates the thrilling genius of Maylis de Kerangal in this translation. The beauty of Eastbound‘s prose directly contradicts the dire circumstances of Aloicha, a young Russian soldier who quickly deserts, hiding on the very same train as his pursuers. Kerangal’s masterful control of his work and Moore’s faithful translation of the original French novel will leave you on the edge of your seat. Reviewed by Lena Malpeli, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
"In March 2020, when COVID-19 shut down New York City, my husband and I packed up our apartment on Pineapple Street, buckled our kids into their car seats, and drove to northwest Connecticut, where my in-laws live deep in the woods. We stayed with them for six months—six months that were scary, strange, and, at times, very, very funny. Living in someone else’s house turns you into a bit of an amateur anthropologist, deriving meaning from the closets full of ski jackets, tennis rackets, and twenty years’ worth of Sky & Telescope magazines. I found a letter, sent home from summer camp, that read “Camp is good. They made me write you so I could get ice cream.”" ―Jenny Jackson, Letter to booksellers What booksellers are saying about Pineapple Street 
About Jenny Jackson Jenny Jackson is a vice president and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. A graduate of Williams College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family. Pineapple Street is her first novel. |
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The Angel Maker by Alex North Adult Fiction, Suspense, Thrillers I am not a reader of thrillers, but I could not put this down. Following the two octogenarian sons of a future-seeing serial killer, this story weaves between past and present, between investigators and the investigated, and intertwines a horrific legacy with a more recent brutal attack and the siblings that survived. Alex North kept me guessing, and though I had to draw a character map to track all the Englishmen the story follows, I was deeply invested by the end and questioning for myself the roles of family, both blood and chosen. Reviewed by Sarah Catherine, The Snail On the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama |
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Always the Almost by Edward Underhill LGBTQ, Romance, Young Adult Fiction I wish I could put this book in a time machine and send it back to my high school youth orchestra friends in the 2000s! I’m so glad that books like this exist for teens to read now. Edward Underhill’s passion for the piano and classical music shines on every page of this book and his trans protagonist Miles who is figuring out who he is and what he stands for as he prepares to enter a big competition will capture your heart. I also loved that this book is set in Wisconsin, a state I don’t know very much about! Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Women Subtitled "A Person History –with Fairy Tales," this collection of essays refracts Mark’s fears, losses, family, and more through the prism of fairy tales. There are plenty of jagged edges and tales torn into for new meanings and few happily ever afters. Incisive, probing, Mark gives herself to the stories and leave readers a wealth of questions. Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Ancient Night by David Alvarez Caribbean & Latin America, Children, Juvenile Nonfiction, People & Places Álvarez’s illustrations alone are enough to make this stunning picture book a winner—the dreamy feel of the milky moonlight against the deep-dark night and the crisp simplicity of the animals and their world is masterful. When paired with interwoven traditional Mesoamerican tales of the magic and power of our lunar companion, the story sings, enchanting readers with its mystery and beauty. Don’t miss this one! Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia |
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Akim Aliu: Dreamer by Akim Aliul Biography, Comics & Graphic Novels, Young Adult Nonfiction The gripping story of a boy who fell in love with a sport to only experience systemic racism while succeeding on the ice, this graphic novel is a must-read. Told in a conversational tone with rich illustrations, Aliu’s story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Reviewed by Chelsea Stringfield, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee |
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Read This Next! Books on the horizon: Forthcoming favorites from Southern indies… |
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The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera A March 2023 Read This Next! Title The Wild West meets Mars in this science fiction page-turner! 14-year-old Annabelle Crisp is one of a group of settlers from Earth who’ve formed a colony called New Galveston. The tough, lawless residents are presumably abandoned on Mars, as nobody has heard from Earth in years. The Silence, as they call it, has cut off supplies, news from Earth and, sadly for Annabelle, her mother. Then Silas Bundt and his gang show up to her father’s diner and steal the cylinder with her mother’s voice- her last remaining object of remembrance. Annabell is a feisty protagonist who is on a quest of revenge, travelling across Mars to reclaim the cylinder. She is accompanied by a sketchy group of partners, and an Engine named Watson. Dangers abound in the form of War Engines, ghosts and other settlers who have been taken over by “The Strange.” I enjoyed this page-turner in a genre that I only occasionally read! Reviewed by Lisa Uotinen, Book No Further in Roanoke, Virginia |
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Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
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Parting Thought “A story can always break into pieces while it sits inside a book on a shelf; and, decades after we have read it even twenty times, it can open us up, by cut or caress, to a new truth.” |
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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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