Fall into a great book!
Announcing Read This Next! 2021 Fall Edition

(Asheville, North Carolina) Southern indie booksellers have selected the 2021 Fall Read This Next! List: their favorite picks for new summer books. Titles are chosen from books publishing from October through December, representing the full range of reader interests. Each of the fifteen has the enthusiastic support of southern booksellers, marking them as hand-sell favorites for the fall. Read This Next! is the "You've got to read this!" list of the season.

Edelweiss Collection 

Read This Next! Fall 2021

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Tordotcom, October

If you like a fast-paced, unapologetically feminist, unabashedly nerdy, deliciously inventive read that sucks you into a fever dream of fun, then you must pick up this book. Christen Thompson from Itinerant Literate Books, LLC in North Charleston, SC

Fight Night by Miriam Toews             
Bloomsbury, October

Fight Night brings it. Every corner of human emotion is nudged, awakened, revealed. This novel is a reminder of the full potential of a book to connect us to our humanity and to inspire us to fight another day. Candice Anderson from TOMBOLO BOOKS in St. Petersburg, FL

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Catapult, October

A master storyteller, Onuzo's third novel is an epic story of belonging and identity. Rachel Watkins from Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA

Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman
Aladdin, October

New York Times bestselling author Gayle Foreman makes her middle grade debut with the story of Frankie and Bug and the challenges and difficulties they face during the summer the world opens up for them. Angie Tally from The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC

The Boys by Ron Howard William
William Morrow, October

The Boys felt like you were listening in at an extended family reunion of the Howards as Ron and Clint held court, retelling some of their favorite family anecdotes from years gone by. Lisa Yee Swope from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw  
Tor Nightfire, October

Well. That was nuts. Khaw threw together a fast-paced ghost story, the bitter lyricism of her writing conveying the complexity of feelings when you have History with someone, as well as the surreal when an offended ghost decides it's making an example out of you. Alex Mcleod from The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, AL

Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter
Balzer + Bray, October

An engaging story with lyrical language and wonderful sounds to mimic, we will want to live in the red brick building. We won't get much sleep, but we will have a whole lot of fun! A joy to read for the whole family, Kathy Neff from Square Books in Oxford, MS

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
Viking, October

Whether you are deeply interested in Orwell and his milieu or just a fan of Solnit's incisive writing, you will find this biography/essay collection bears flowers scented with hope, resistance, and pleasure.  Hannah DeCamp from Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA

The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathaniel Ian Miller
Little, Brown and Company, October

I don’t know that I’ve ever come across a book more satisfying to my inner-misanthrope. Anyone who constantly longs for quiet, feels prickly in an overcrowded space, loves the idea of unfettered alone time: this book is for you. Lindsay Lynch from Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda Morris
William Morrow, November

This fast-paced legal thriller hooked me from page one. Definitely a book for fans of Stacey Abrams and Laura Lippman. Lia Lent from Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, AR

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King
Grove Press, November

Original, literary, human and peppered with heart wrenching, high stakes moments that jolt the reader’s emotions in the best way possible. A wonderful collection. Melissa Summers from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

Tidesong by Wendy Xu
Quill Tree Books, November

Xu's beautiful artwork in combination with such strong storytelling makes for an enchanting graphic novel. I can see this story so clearly in my mind's eye as a Studio Ghibli film. Grace Quinn from Foggy Pine Books in Boone, NC

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Grove Press, November

This is the book that you will reread every year. Heartwarming and eloquent, it epitomizes the holiday season in all its form and beauty. Easty Lambert-Brown from Ernest & Hadley Booksellers in Tuscaloosa, AL

Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood
Doubleday, December

I was already a fan of the series at the first book but this second really sold me on it. Great character development and originality make for a fun read.  Jamie Fiocco from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
Kensington, December

A great plot that incorporates family, lifelong friendship, betrayal and the specter of 9/11. Jackie Willey from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC

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