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The week of January 16, 2024 Reading in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are." –Martin Luther King, Jr.  Books about the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr., recommended by Southern indie booksellers. The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein, Jerry Pinkney (Illus.) His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham, John Lewis (Afterword) And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. Ricks Read This Now | Read This Next | Book Buzz | The Bookseller Directory |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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Come and Get It by Kiley Reid Adult Fiction, Literary 
A January Read This Next! Title I didn’t think Reid could top SUCH A FUN AGE, but am THRILLED to be wrong. COME AND GET IT has everything I loved about her debut (her ear for dialog is unparalleled, and she does realistic social cringe so. well.) with an added layer of tenderness towards her characters — most of which are a whole entire aggravating MESS — that blew me out of the water. I did NOT expect to be sobbing at the end, but sobbing I was. Her characters are ALIVE. The public university setting is priceless and allows Reid room to exercise her WICKED sense of humor as well as explore the transition pains most of us go through in our late teens and early twenties. Some — like Agatha and Robin — are experiencing growing pains well into their thirties. COME AND GET IT is so very funny and so very generous. Reviewed by Kat Leache, Novel in Memphis, Tennessee |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler 
One of the simplistic popular misunderstandings [the science fiction] bad label has engendered is that “science fiction” authors are trying to predict the future. We fundamentally are not. We are predicating, not predicting, and that one little letter makes all the difference. We are asking detailed “what-if” questions and building the results of those questions out into narrative. Some of these “what-if” questions might have to do with science and/or technology—but others largely do not. One Philip K. Dick story I love, “Roog”, has a simple predication: garbage men are really aliens, and only dogs know this, which is why they bark at them all the time: they are trying to warn us. The story is hilarious, and horrifying. But it isn’t about science and really, neither is anything else Dick wrote. Yet somehow people call Philip K. Dick a science fiction writer, and don’t think twice about it. What booksellers are saying about Tusks of Extinction 
Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, which won the Locus Award for “Best First Novel,” and was a finalist for the Nebula Award and the Los Angeles Times “Ray Bradbury Prize.” Called “one of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction” by Locus, Nayler’s stories have been published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice, and Nightmare, as well as in many “Best Of” anthologies. His stories have won the Clarkesworld Readers’ Poll and the Asimov’s Readers’ Award, and his novelette “Sarcophagus” was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award. |
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Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward Adult Fiction, Literary 
2024 Southern Book Prize Finalist This book is no mere pick of the month. This is the kind of book that comes along once in a generation. The kind of book that makes us want to open bookstores. The kind of book that will be required reading for our children and grandchildren as they go through school. The kind of book that will be filmed page by page and line by line because there is not one thing about it that needs to be changed. I can only hope that we are ready to let this book change us. This is a story that needed to be told, but couldn’t be told without a great deal of pain. For Jesmyn Ward to explore this territory and tell this story amid her own personal grief is an act of bravery. It is an act of service to American society to tell this story no matter how hard it got, and to withhold shortcuts and saviors and swooping gestures, to force us to look at the honest truth of the human toll of our history. And it is an act of love to each and every individual who we will never know but whose story this could be. Reviewed by Emily Liner, Friendly City Books in Columbus, Mississippi |
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Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge by Helen Ellis Adult Nonfiction, Essays, Family & Relationships, Humor, Marriage & Family, Marriage & Long-Term Relationships, Southern Book Prize Finalist
2024 Southern Book Prize Finalist Helen Ellis is back with a collection of essays about my marriage…sorry about her marriage. These hit so close to home on so many levels: snoring…yep my husband does that and I have threatened his life, grudges…yeah I will cut people out of my life for being slightly rude to my husband or my friends, ridiculous letter to the person caring for my pets…check. Hilarious and touching, this is a great portrait of a marriage. Reviewed by Melissa Taylor,Bookseller, E. Shaver bookseller in Savannah, Georgia |
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How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr. Biography & Autobiography, LGBTQ+, Young Adult Nonfiction A Jan/Feb Kids Read This Next! Title A truer than most story written in verse like it should be. Tony relates how he became the first person in his family to become openly gay and a university graduate. It is a moving story of his trials and tribulations. Reviewed by Judith Lafitte, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera Children, Dystopian, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Juvenile Fiction, Science Fiction I always like to see more middle grade science fiction coming out on bookshelves! This one felt like it was slow to start out with and really ramped up when Leandro started uncovering all the secrets the Pocatelan leaders have been hiding. Then it was like hold on to your drone beaks. With an unputdownable blend of heart, bravery, Old-World fusion technology, and Mexican folklore, these Cascabeles will slither in and have you wringing out every drop of hope in this harsh landscape. Want to point out that this is upper middle grade for 10 Undoubtedly for a certain scene that I was for sure not expecting, and don’t want to spoil. But definitely caused me to eek. Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama |
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Alterations by Ray X Comics & Graphic Novels, Humorous, Juvenile Fiction Ray Xu delights in this graphic memoir about immigration, family, and fitting in in middle school. The art and the story are both top-notch and it’s so easy to identify with the characters as they navigate the ins and outs of their new-to-them country. This will bring joy to readers of all ages. Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia |
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Decide for Yourself Books that appear on PEN America’s list of challenged books. |
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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Adult Fiction, Banned Books, Fiction, Gay, LGBTQ+, Romance Alex is the son of the first woman POTUS. Henry is a prince of England. Alex has considered Henry to be his archenemy pretty much since they met, and he’s convinced that Henry feels the same. Until one night at a party when Henry kisses Alex, and Alex has to reconsider all of his feelings. But as the children of powerful world leaders, they have to consider their image and decide what damage they could cause and whether it’s worth it to them to pursue a relationship. This is such a fun book, and I found myself laughing out loud in so many places. The world can be hurtful to people who are "other", but this book is the hope that counters that. Reviewed by Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina |
Southern Bestsellers What’s popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
Parting Thought “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” |
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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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