Current Newsletter: Genre Spotlight: Mystery

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Hannah Coburn, M Judson, Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
• Sydney Bozeman, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
• Stuart McCommon, Novel in Memphis, Tennessee
• Kate Snyder, Plaid Elephant Books in Danville, Kentucky
• Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Alyssa Stewart, Fable Hollow in Knoxville, Tennessee
• Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
• Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
• Stephanie Crowe, Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama
• Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Charlie Monroe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
• Kelli Dynia, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
• Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Stacey Riggins, Book No Further in Roanoke, Virginia
• Olivia Stacey, E. Shaver bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

Book Buzz Feature: Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring
At the risk of sounding hokey, I’ve always felt destined to write about Dalton, which is inspired by the tiny town where I grew up in Aroostook County, Maine — as far north as you can go in the state before hitting Canada. While all the characters and events in the books are fictional, the beautiful yet isolated setting is borrowed from real life.

From the time I started writing stories when I was a kid, much of my fiction has revolved around this place and my complicated feelings toward it: As much as I have always held a deep adoration of the land, I have also often felt somehow separate from it. Writing about Aroostook allowed me to discover my familiar world through different perspectives and to explore the ways such a secluded landscape can shape, inspire, unite, and limit the people who call it home. --Shannon Bowring, Interview, The Washington Independent Review

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
“Angels can look like many things… and so can monsters.” This book has a simple premise that is used to discuss more complex meanings very successfully. It has a pretty straightforward plot, and older audiences will probably guess where it’s going, but I enjoyed it for letting how the characters reckon with this society and the choices they make be the focus. True monsters can hide in plain sight and we must be vigilant to the warning signs we might not want to see.
― Olivia Stacey, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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