The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Self-Help

Start, Stay, or Leave by Trey Gowdy

It’s always fun to get behind-the-scenes insight into famous people and Trey uses his great storytelling ability to not only captivate but to educate — to get the reader to think about the power of decisions and what makes a great life. This book is a great read for the new year or for anytime you are entering a new chapter of your life — whether as a grad, switching careers, becoming a parent, or once your kids leave the nest.

Start, Stay, or Leave by Trey Gowdy, (List Price: $28.99, Forum Books, 9780593240977, January 2023)

Reviewed by Jill Hendrix, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Spotlight on: Drinking Games by Sarah Levy

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Sarah Levy, photo credit Sarah Levy

You know, I think that my lies were always designed to make everyone think that I was okay, and to make it seem like I had it all figured out, and that everything was perfect. The meat of the book — the story that I really set out to tell — was the truth. It was that I wasn’t okay, I was not perfect, and that I was struggling. I think that my friends and family, even now, if I say, “I’m fine. Everything is good,” that’s usually when I’m not telling the truth, because I’m a human being, and there’s usually something going on.” ―Sarah Levy, Interview, Shondaland

 

Drinking Games by Sarah Levy

What booksellers are saying about Drinking Games

  • Drinking Games is an unflinchingly honest look at how alcohol influenced almost every part of Sarah Levy’s life as a twenty-something living big in New York City. Levy shares her experiences like sharing with a friend, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always with insight and grace. A must read for anyone who’s questioned not only choices about alcohol but about anything that makes their life feel out of control.
      ―Beth Seufer Buss from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

  • I loved Sarah’s very frank and honest recount of her relationship with alcohol. Her self aware and candid writing will be a much needed voice for many who are re-considering the way we look at drinking as a culture. It is also a fantastic memoir about making hard changes for a better life.
      ―Laura Taylor from Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL | Buy from Oxford Exchange

  • Sarah Levy brings you on her journey of why she got sober, how she found help, and celebrating her new sober life. It felt like chatting with a close friend as she shared her fears about dating while sober and how is she going to celebrate life milestones without a glass of champagne. It was relatable and honest! I would recommend this memoir to anyone that was sober curious and wanted to discuss drinking culture in your 20s.
      ―Juliana Reyes from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Sarah Levy

Sarah Levy is a writer based in Los Angeles by way of New York. Her work examines the intersection of sobriety, relationships, and identity and has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine/The Cut, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Vogue, Elle, and other publications. She holds a B.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University and pursued a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The New School. Drinking Games is her first book.

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The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

The Creative Act: A Way of Being is a thoughtful exploration of life, how we live, how we think, how we are influence and obviously, how we create. Organized in very readable small chunks- this book is something to appeal to people wanting to shop in the religious section, personal growth as well as arts and music. Profound insights into how we exist are revealed throughout the book wordsmith into attractively consumable bites. By the end of the book, the reader will be inspired and possibly changed forever. This is a book for all ages but also is a book that will be the absolute best graduation gift of 2023.

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593652886, January 2023)

Reviewed by Kimberly Daniels, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

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Drinking Games by Sarah Levy

A January 2023 Read This Next! Title

I loved Sarah’s very frank and honest recounting of her relationship with alcohol. Her self-aware and candid writing will be a much-needed voice for many who are re-considering the way we look at drinking as a culture. It is also a fantastic memoir about making hard changes for a better life.

Drinking Games by Sarah Levy (List Price: $28.99, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250280589, January 2023)

Reviewed by Laura Taylor, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

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Yes, You Can Wear That by Abby Hoy

I am forever in search of great body-positive reads and Abby Hoy nails it. This book is a perfect combination of pictures and her memoir. It is inspiring and confidence-building and I immediately followed her on social media to get more gorgeous outfit ideas and self love. Every body is a good body and yes, you CAN wear that!

Yes, You Can Wear That by Abby Hoy, (List Price: $24.99, Tiller Press, 9781982155582, November 2021)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

An absolutely incredible, insightful, and clear-eyed look at our limited time on this earth and the ways we use it. I’m not much one for self-help books but Burkeman weaves seamlessly weaves together wisdom from philosophy, spirituality, and science to make the argument that you’ll never have time to do “everything you want or need to” and life is more about choosing what to spend your four thousand weeks on Funny and brilliantly wise, Burkeman has fundamentally shifted the way I think about my to-do list, my aspirations, my “busyness”, my guilt for not doing the things I should have done, and my brief, brief time on this planet. I cannot recommend Four Thousand Weeks highly enough.

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, (List Price: 27, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374159122, August 2021)

Reviewed by Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg, Kristen Meinzer

How to Be Fine is self-help book guide to reading self-help books. But also just a self-help book for the modern world. Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer have done the heavy lifting of reading and living by popular self-help books and then distilled them down into what worked, what didn’t, and what they wished would be addressed more. Readers can use this as a stand alone self-help or a guide to finding more, but anyone with a desire to better themselves will be served by giving this a read. The authors frequently emphasize that “Only you are an expert in you,” and that is a message we can all stand to hear more often.

How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg, Kristen Meinzer (List price: $25.99, William Morrow), recommended by Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC.

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