The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

African American & Black

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon

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The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon
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When Dally steps inside the Secret Library, her life changes. Each book whisks her through time and connects her with her family’s past. From a seafaring pirate adventure to a connection closer to home, new stories open and reveal where she is meant to be. An adventure story with depth.

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon, (List Price: $18.99, Candlewick, 9781536230888, May 2024)

Reviewed by Rae Ann Parker, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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woke up no light by Leila Mottley

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woke up no light by Leila Mottley
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What I hope is the beginning of a Leila Mottley renaissance, woke up no light is a poetry collection that solidifies Mottley’s status as one of our time’s best new young writers. Split into four sections defined as girlhood, neighborhood, falsehood, and womanhood, Mottley’s poetry reads as tender yet raw, her musings especially on womanhood and coming into your own are glittering pieces of writing that any reader can acknowledge are full of both heart, hardships, and truth. A remarkable collection for people looking to get into poetry, or for the established readers of the genre!

woke up no light by Leila Mottley, (List Price: $28, Knopf, 9780593319710, April 2024)

Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell

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by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell
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I love a horror anthology and a final girl story is even better! This book is a mix of powerhouse authors of color that portray strong black women triumphing over baddies – both human and not. Don’t worry, not EVERYONE survives, so you’ll still get lots of heart-pounding terror, thrills, and chills – plus a side of humor in some tales!

The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell, (List Price: $19.99, Flatiron Press, 9781250871657, April 2024)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall

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I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall
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A beautiful punch in the gut like one from the mosh pit on a Saturday night. Mariah Stovall’s full-length debut sweeps her readers into the tender yet vicious embrace of teenage friendship and meditates on putting on your own life jacket before trying to help others. Stovall reveals connections and personal history slowly, moving between past, present, and future, all woven through with the heroes of post-hardcore, punk, and emo. This novel bears a re-read to untangle the ways that music and fiction intertwine.

I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall, (List Price: $28, Soft Skull, 9781593767600, 2024-02-13)

Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
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Yes, this book is 790 pages. Yes, I thought that was more than a little daunting, but I’m so happy that I challenged my attention span and read this novel. Part coming-of-age story, part examination of racial injustice in higher education, part sweeping historical saga, and part family drama, The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois spans centuries yet somehow still feels so focused and pictorial. Apparently, Jeffers is an accomplished poet, and the language here definitely reflects that. I’m going to stop this blurb here because if I talk too much, I won’t be able to stop for 800 pages myself, but if you commit to this book, it won’t disappoint you.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, (List Price: $20, Harper Perennial, 9780062942951, May 2022)

Reviewed by Sam Edge, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton

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Madness by Antonia Hylton
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Hylton’s Madness shines a light on the intersection of systemic racism and mental health, and the legacy of de-institutionalization. Crownsville in Maryland was once the only asylum that accepted Black patients and also served as an unofficial jail for the same population, where some families would never know that their loved one had lived and died within its walls. Antonia Hylton treats this topic with the care it deserves, weaving in her own family’s hardships with mental illness, and the oral histories of the workers and patients of Crownsville. A necessary read for anyone interested in equity and anti-racist medicine.

Madness by Antonia Hylton, (List Price: $30, Legacy Lit, 9781538723692, January 2024)

Reviewed by Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
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I’m not one for short stories, but Friday Black may have changed that. Drop into these stories in media res, and be swept into the dystopia of racism, consumerism, and injustice. Adjei-Brenyah’s fresh voice and twisted creativity has an uncanny ability to build complex worlds with few words and endless ingenuity. Read this, then Chain Gang All-Stars, for Adjei-Brenyah’s brilliance on a novel’s scale.

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, (List Price: $16.99, Mariner Books, 9781328911247, October 2018)

Reviewed by RC Collman, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hell, North Carolina

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Like So by Ruth Forman

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Like So by Ruth Forman
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With gorgeous illustrations, this is a sweet story about the love between a grandmother and child. This one will tug at your heart strings!

Like So by Ruth Forman, (List Price: $18.99, Little Simon, 9781665917544, January 2024)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump

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The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump
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The US has been a breeding ground for utopian societies since its earliest days. The seekers we meet in The New Naturals are brought together by grief, anger, marginalization and mental illness, dreaming of a better place and acceptance. A sad but ultimately hopeful tale.

The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump, (List Price: $27, Algonquin Books, 9781616208806, November 2023)

Reviewed by Maggie Robe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
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Yaa Gyasi reinvents the notion of historical fiction in this haunting, sweeping tale of enslavement, colonialism, power, greed, despair, determination, and hope. I was captivated from page one! She brings to life the human cost of surviving the larger, often brutal, forces driving history through the gripping, visceral story of one extended family. Three hundred years of history come to life: from Ghana to Harlem and more as we follow their fates across continents and through time. A very moving book.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, (List Price: $16.95, Vintage, 9781101971062, May 2017)

Reviewed by Liz Feeney, E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Above Ground by Clint Smith

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Above Ground by Clint Smith
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Clint Smith’s latest collection of poems is so good. I love how he intersperses poems about his first child with poems about the state of America as a whole. His voice is soft and sharp at the same time, and works so well in both settings.

Above Ground by Clint Smith, (List Price: 27, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316543033, March 2023)

Reviewed by Daniel Jordan, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

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Chaos Theory by Nic Stone
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Shelbi has resisted making friends at her new school since she’s had bad experiences in the past. But when she witnesses Andy at a low point, she can’t help but reach out to let him know she knows what it’s like. And like that, despite Shelbi’s best efforts, a friendship is born. But both Shelbi and Andy have demons, Shelbi’s in the form of bipolar disorder that has impacted relationships in her past, and Andy’s in the form of alcoholism that started after his sister died. This is a moving story of two teens, both together and individually, as Shelbi learns the maybe she can rely on other people, and Andy learns to prioritize himself and his mental health.

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone, (List Price: 18.99, Crown Books for Young Readers, 9780593307700, February 2023)

Reviewed by Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

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All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
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All The Sinners Bleed is crime fiction at its best. Cosby has created a genre all his own with this and his first two novels that I’d call “Virginia noir.” And I’m totally here for it. This one follows a small-town sheriff (with an FBI background) that’s chasing a serial killer that has an obsession with religious iconography and targeting very specific victims. This police procedural that sets a new standard for thrillers and it also highlights the overt/covert social tensions that are prevalent in rural communities.

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, (List Price: 27.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250831910, June 2023)

Reviewed by Stuart McCommon, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee

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Okra Stew by Natalie Daise

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Okra Stew by Natalie Daise
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You can almost smell the salt marsh in this stunning homage to Gullah culture, father-son love, and Okra. With art reminiscent of Lois Ehlert or Faith Ringold this one is a must for all young southern foodies.

Okra Stew by Natalie Daise, (List Price: 19.99, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 9781250849663, October 2023)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

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How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

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How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
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What a good book! Beautifully written and so forcefully told this is a story of the power of corporations over people and governments. And the setting! So alien from what we’re used too but at the same time recognizable from our own small town battles with corporate malfeasance. A very thought provoking book that will be great for book clubs and one that reminded me of how I reacted to Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, (List Price: $28, Random House, 9780593132425, March 2021)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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