Announcing Read This Next! 2021 Spring Edition

(Asheville, North Carolina) The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is happy to announce the 2021 Spring Read This Next! List: a selection of spring new releases generating extra excitement from Southern independent booksellers. Each of the fifteen titles in the list received multiple high ratings and enthusiastic reviews from southern booksellers, marking them as hand-sell favorites for the forthcoming season.

Read This Next! Spring 2021 titles are chosen from the books publishing between April and June which have received the most positive reviews from Southern indie booksellers, and reflect the wide range of reading tastes of booksellers from across the entire Southeast. These are the answer to the most important question of every avid reader – “What should I read next?”

Edelweiss Collection | All SIBA Bookseller Reviews

 

Read This Next! Spring 2021

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson
William Morrow, April 

"I was not expecting to get sucked into this book so thoroughly, but sure enough I blinked and my Sunday was gone and I had read the entire thing."  --Jamie Southern from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

Malice by Heather Walter
Del Ray, April

"There is so much to love about this feminist, sapphic take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Alyce & Aurora are glorious, nuanced characters and their romance is a darkly glittering thing of beauty." --Cristina Russell from Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Flatiron Books, April

"I picked up Of Women and Salt hoping for a story of family, and what I got was a slim but powerful tale of joy, heartbreak, and love as the interweaving chapters tell the story of immigration, family, and the beliefs we hold about ourselves. I laughed, cried, and immediately called my mother." --Faith Parke-Dodge from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal
Quirk, April

"Oof, ouch, this debut YA yanked me in and I could NOT put it down. Poignant and hilarious, it delves into the mental landscape of chronic illnesses, and brings werewolfism (this should be a word, fyi) into the storyline. I LOVE Brigid's sense of humor and her and Priya's friendship is one we ALL need in our lives." -- Candice Conner from The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, AL

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
Random House, April

"It made me laugh, it made me angry, it made me think, and it made me look up old clips from Soul Train on YouTube. I am grateful that his book made me do all of those things. Hanif Abdurraqib is a writer I feel evangelical about." --Chelsea Bauer from Union Ave Books in Knoxville, TN

 

The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews
St. Martin’s Press, May

"A completely different nail-biter of a novel that will satisfy every reader- whether they prefer mysteries, romance, humor, thriller or beach reads. The Newcomer has it ALL and will be our FIRST pick for this summer's beach bag!" --Jamie Anderson from Downtown Books in Manteo, NC

Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber
Counterpoint, May

"Silber’s craft in linking her characters and her themes—connection, openheartedness, money—is seamless, but it’s her great gift for empathy that is sure to make this one of my favorite reads of this year." --Clara Boza from Malaprop's in Asheville, NC

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Doubleday, May

"Intricate plotting, political insider details, human angles, and chess clue puzzles fit together seamlessly. We can add thriller queen to the list of Abrams’s many talents." --Jan Blodgett from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, May

"Goofy and sweet, full of love and loss, and of course, a deep, nerdy love for movie soundtracks. Better Than the Movies will have you squealing and swooning." --Brittany Bunzey from Read With Me, A Children's Book & Art Shop in Raleigh, NC

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Knopf, May

"I'm so grateful for this book — for how it walks through grief not as a way to leave it behind, but as a way to remember its exact shape. I'm grateful for its funny, self-deprecating and wise observations, and for its difficult beauty." --Steve Haruch from Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Ballantine, June

"How good was this? So good I read it in one night. Reid Jenkins carefully crafts a multi-generational saga drenched in the sun of 20th century Malibu that made me love, empathize with, and occasionally want to shake all of the characters." --Tracie Harris from The Book House in Mableton, GA

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Griffin, June

"This is not only a delightfully paranormal twist on the classic meet cute, but it's also a story of love among friends and found family. This book has so much heart and you'll find it hard to tear yourself away from August and Jane's perfect love story." --Christy Rogers from Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA

The Killing Hills  by Chris Offutt
Grove, June

"This was a blast! Hill country Kentucky noir with characters that both repulse and endear. A tough combo that works well with the plot of familial vengeance that piles up the bodies without understanding the cause that makes the blood boil so hot. Superb." --Pete Mock from McIntyre's Books in Pittsboro, NC

Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin
Pantheon, June

"Reading Morningside Heights gave me the same feeling as reading the late great James Salter. It explores the marriage at its center with the same sense of infinite complexity and shadow, the same taut sensuality beneath pressing everyday everyday-ness. I loved it." --Ashley Warlick from M Judson, booksellers and storytellers in Greenville, SC

House of Sticks by Ly Tran
Scribner, June

"With a delicate simplicity to her poetic prose, Ly Tran has crafted a spellbinding memoir perfect for fans of Tara Westover, Celeste Ng, and Jeanette Walls. Ly Tran's story reached into the depths of my heart and soul, and filled me with overwhelming hope." --Gennifer Eccles from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC

Read more about Read This Next! at The Southern Bookseller Review
https://thesouthernbooksellerreview.org/category/read-this-next/