The booksellers who picked these books lapse into a literany of words in their enthusiasm: "Grotesque, wildly funny, and utterly weird," "propulsive, visceral, disorienting," "intimate, gut wrenching, and inspiring." It seems fitting that the books on the February Read This Next! list explore the many ways we connect with each other. Friends and fake romances, grief and lost partners, strange love that seems monstrous, love that is a disguise for hate.

RTNX Bookseller Resources:
Edelweiss Collection | Flyer | Flyer Graphic

What SIBA Booksellers have to say:

The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
This book has the fun romance trope of fake relationships, while also showing the struggle of an undocumented person in America. You'll laugh and you'll cry, and hope for their happily ever after.
– Gabriela Warner, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

We Do Not Part by Han Kang, e. yaewon (trans.), Paige Aniyah Morris (trans.)
Devastating, gorgeously written. I will be thinking about Kyungha and Inseon, the snow and the trees, the birds Ama and Ami, and the generations of spirits brought to life in these painful, breathtaking pages.
– Emily Tarr, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo
Where to even begin with this book other than wowza. I was not expecting to be given the most thrilling sapphic monster romance in the entire world. But Not Too Bold gave me goosebumps and I fear that's all you really need to know about how incredible it was.
– Caitlyn Vanorder, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Geraldine Brooks's memoir of her life with writer Tony Horwitz and the aftermath of his sudden death in 2019 is an intimate, gut wrenching, funny and inspiring tribute to their life together and to his writing.
– Sarah Goddin, McIntyre's Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
I've been trying to think of words to describe Virginia Feito's Victorian Psycho, and I've come up with: propulsive, visceral, disorienting, and riveting. The writing barrels you toward an ending that I was prepared to find shocking, but still managed to surprise me. I was amazed at how funny Feito is in the midst of the absolute chaos on the page and how big of a punch she managed to pack into a novella.
– Chelsea Bauer, Union Ave Books in Knoxville, Tennessee

Current Read This Next! books and what SIBA booksellers have to say about them can always be found at The Southern Bookseller Review.

About Read This Next!

Based on our booksellers' conviction that you can never have too many good books, Read This Next! is a list of books coming out next month that booksellers are especially excited about. Read This Next! Kids is a bimonthly list of forthcoming Children's and Young Adult Books receiving Southern indie bookseller love. Each list includes resources for booksellers, including an Edelweiss collection, downloadable flyer, and sharable graphic. All the included books are featured in The Southern Bookseller Review newsletter, and promoted as "Weekend Reads" on SIBA's social media channels, along with the bookstore which wrote the review.