Our friends at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance have created a new newsletter, The Southern Bookseller Review, which will keep you up to date on the books booksellers across the south are raving about! We're excited to highlight reviews from our bookselling friends like this one from Rachel with Avid Bookshop:
Paraic O’Donnell’s The House on Vesper Sands is a whip-smart Victorian murder mystery featuring a remarkable cast of characters. Young girls are going missing and Inspector Cutter’s on the case with the help of a fake police officer (Cambridge drop out Gideon Bliss) and a young female journalist determined to write more than society pages. The disappearances seem to have a spiritual element to them and the first death scene is puzzling and compelling. O’Donnell’s 1893 London is so brilliantly written you’ll find yourself shivering instinctively.
Check out thesouthernbooksellerreview.org for more recommendations! Their Read This Now list will let you know about all the best books currently on bookshelves and Read This Next will keep you ahead of the curve (and the envy of your book club with all that new book knowledge!) Check out all of the books on the Read This Next Winter 2021 list below!
Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
“Compulsively readable...a gothic thriller laced with arsenic.” ––EW
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
An instant New York Times bestseller!
“Taut, chilling….Audrain has a gift for capturing the seemingly small moments that speak volumes about relationships.”
—New York Times Book Review
Instant New York Times Bestseller
"May this book cast its spell on all of us, restore to us some memory of our most warrior and softest selves." —The New York Times Book Review
“The Fortunate Ones feels like a fresh and remarkably sure-footed take on The Great Gatsby, examining the complex costs of attempting to transcend or exchange your given class for a more gilded one. Tarkington’s understanding of the human heart and mind is deep, wise, and uncommonly empathetic. As a novelist, he is the real deal.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK
"A masterpiece." - R.O. Kwon
The Crucible meets True Grit in this riveting adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West.
Jane the Virgin meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this charming debut romantic comedy filled with Black Girl Magic. Perfect for fans of Mary H. K. Choi and Nicola Yoon, with crossover appeal for readers of Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert romances.
Named Most Anticipated Book by Time, Newsweek, and O, The Oprah Magazine
"Funny, eerie, tender, haunting and unsettling, smokily atmospheric, and fantastically enjoyable." —Helen MacDonald, author of Vesper Flights
An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death's adopted daughter in Remote Control, a thrilling sci-fi tale of community and female empowerment from Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Nnedi Okorafor
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
Jon Sealy's The Merciful is a scathing morality play that explores a cast of small-town characters surrounding a deadly hit and run in coastal South Carolina.
"In this compelling and absorbing YA novel, two sisters make the most painful of choices based on their love for one another."—Shelf Awareness
In USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert’s newest rom-com, the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.
Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Hello magazine, Oprah.com, Bustle, Popsugar, Betches, Sweet July, and GoodReads
March 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick
From National Book Award–nominated writer Andrea Lee comes a gorgeously evocative epic about love, clashing cultures, and identity, set in the tropical African island nation of Madagascar.
“People do mysterious things when they think they’ve found paradise,” reflects Shay, the heroine of Red Island House.
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Unforgettable" --Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author
Inspired by true events, the riveting story of a young Jewish woman trapped on the occupied island of Jersey during World War II.
“A rousing adventure yarn full of danger and heart and humor.” —Richard Russo