With so many people now staying at home, good books are more essential than ever. Southern independent booksellers have selected thirteen titles for their 2020 Spring Okra Picks, their seasonal list of great forthcoming Southern books. The Spring Okra Picks publish in April, May, and June and feature southern voices, southern stories, and southern writers. Each and every one of them also has a cadre of southern bookseller champions, eager to share their enthusiasm with other readers.  Visit https://authorsroundthesouth.com/okra to read more, and see a sneak peak of the first chapters of some of the forthcoming books.

Southern independent bookstores: we grow good books!

The 2020 Spring Okra Picks

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Quirk Books, April, 2020

"I flew through this book! It was a great depiction of Southern housewives in the 90's. The mixture of quirkiness, horror, and Hendrix's unique take on vampires made it hard to put down."
~ Amanda Bradley, Blytheville Book Company, Blytheville, AR

Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
William Morrow, April, 2020

"Like her splendid earlier novel, News of the World, Paulette Jiles' Simon the Fiddler is set in a post-Civil War Texas. I was instantly charmed by this beguiling tale, equal parts adventure yarn, love story, and candid chronicle of life after great conflict."
~ Clara Boza, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville, NC

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
Hub City Press, April, 2020

"Told with empathy and heart, as well as a pitch-perfect sense of time and place, The Prettiest Star is a deeply affecting story about what it means to understand each other and where we come from, even when our lives have taken us light years away."
~ Ashley Warlick, M. Judson Booksellers and Storytellers, Greenville, SC

The Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright
Ecco, April, 2020

"Dark humor and dark money make for a compelling combination and Dre Ross may be the most sympathetic villain around. A cautionary tale for our times full of heart and dire warnings of how politics can go wrong."
~ Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books, Davidson, NC

Blue Marlin by Lee Smith
Blair, April, 2020

"Lee Smith is a remarkable voice and someone you hope to spend an afternoon with. Her sense of humor and attention to detail make this quick read a delight. How would you feel when your parents try to take you away on a 'we have to patch up the family' trip? You can sense the tension and laugh out loud at the lens of Jenny's point of view."
~ Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC

Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Gallery Books, April, 2020

"Diana is one of my top five favorite book characters of all time: she's witty, she's got a spine of steel, and she's from a social class that tends to be glossed over in women's fiction. I loved how heartwarming this book was. I say this about all of Kristy's books, but it genuinely made me laugh out loud and tear up, too!"
~ Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books, Punta Gorda, FL

Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
Poisoned Pen Press, May, 2020

"If you read Caroline B. Cooney back in the day like I did, you will love this new one. No one is who they seem to be. Cooney keeps you on the edge of your seat as the narrative flashes between the main character and her past, describing how she evades an old stalker to reclaim her life. Cooney reminds the fans why she's been a huge name in thriller fiction for decades."
~ Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA

Lobizona by Romina Garber
Wednesday Books, May, 2020

"This is not your typical werewolf book. Think more Harry Potter meets Argentinian folklore meets the hope/terror of people coming to the US to start a better life. The world-building in this book is amazing because it's familiar yet so new at the same time."
~ Candace Conner, The Haunted Book Shop, Mobile, AL

Boys of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson
Liveright, May, 2020

"Genevieve Hudson brings to life a brutal yet spellbinding exploration of teenage masculinity, and the horrors that it is capable of setting loose. In her haunting debut novel - part coming-of-age, part Southern gothic, part queer lit - she highlights the fear and excitement, the love and the loss, that inevitably accompanies being a new face in a new place."
~ Gage Tarlton, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Philomel Books, May, 2020

"I still don't know if I have fully recovered from reading this novel, but I know that I needed to read it. It is both devastating yet compulsively readable; difficult to get through yet necessary. One in the ranks of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and should be put into every American's hands."
~ Olivia Schaffer, The Bookshelf, Thomasville, GA

A Taste of Sage by Yaffa S. Santos
Harper Paperbacks, May, 2020

"When you mix delicious food and hate to love romance in a book, you instantly have me hooked. Julien is a celebrated chef who is known for his good looks but bad attitude. Lumi can't stand Julien, but tastes his cooking because it looks so irresistible and she's overcome with intense emotions and has her wondering if she wants more. If you are looking for something fun, tasty, and will test your senses, you will enjoy this book."
~ Deanna Bailey, Story on the Square, McDonough, GA

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Riverhead Books, June, 2020

"This beautifully paced and thought-provoking novel is one to enjoy slowly, savoring as you consider the big questions this book poses: who are we when we shed the markers that once defined us, how do our pasts inform our choices and desires, and what does it mean to be a family.
~ Megan Bell, Underground Books, Carrollton, GA

The Unwilling by John Hart
St. Martin's Press, June, 2020

"With his signature beautiful writing style, Hart leads readers on a mystery that ends up not being the one you might not have thought it would be, and each twist and reveal brings up new questions to keep the reader engaged in a big way."
~ Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC