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June 29, 2021 Inspiration on the hard hat tour. 
Last week's Reader Meet Writer event with Terry Roberts was rather special because it featured Heather Bell Adams (The Good Luck Stone) as guest interviewer and, it was immediately clear, very good friend of the author. Roberts' new novel, My Mistress' Eyes Are Raven Black is a noir thriller set in the 1920s on Ellis Island. The discussion ranged far and wide from matters of craft to the haunting feeling of the abandoned buildings not many people see when they visit. "We took the hard hat tour," Roberts tells Adams. "It takes you to the parts of the island that are completely unreconstructed, the primary general hospital and the isolation hospital. They are haunting, haunted places." It was during that tour that Roberts, already planning his novel, found his setting. Watch the interview. Read This Now | Read This Next | The Bookseller Directory Coming up on the Reader Meet Writer Author Series:
Cheryl Diamond is now a citizen of Luxembourg and lives between there and Rome. Her behind-the-scenes account of life as a teenage model, Model: A Memoir, was published in 2008. Diamond´s second book, Naked Rome, reveals the Eternal City through the eyes of its most fascinating people.
Shannon Dingle is a disability activist, freelance writer, sex trafficking survivor, and recovering perfectionist. While she knows the societal rules about which topics to avoid in public settings, she breaks them regularly and teaches her six children to get into "good trouble, necessary trouble," in the words of civil rights icon John Lewis. She has written for USA Today, the Washington Post,and Teen Vogue, and her story has been featured on TODAY.com, NPR, and Good Morning America and in The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Christianity Today, and Slate. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. |
Nowhere Girl with Cheryl Diamond
Living Brave with Shannon Dingle|
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies... |
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Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder Adult Fiction, Women Rachel Yoder’s bark is just as good as her bite with her wholly unique voice and razor-sharp sense of humor. At once weird, darkly funny, moving, relatable and deliciously f*cked up, Nightbitch is a rallying howl to women, and especially mothers, everywhere. Reviewed by Danielle Raub, Itinerant Literate Books in North Charleston, South Carolina |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Hola Papi! by John Paul Brammer
Hola Papi was originally the name of an advice column Brammer wrote for Grindr, the gay dating app. He meant for it to be a satire, a la "Dear Abbey." But many of the letters he received--from all over the world-- were heartfelt and sincere, from people who were struggling: Homosexuality is illegal where I live, should I talk to someone I have a crush on? Is there such a thing as being too gay? How do I accept myself? "Identity," says Brammer, "is defined as much by what you have as it is by what you've lost." His book, a memoir told as a series of advice columns, chronicles Brammer's own journey through some of these questions as a queer, mixed-race Chicano kid from Oklahoma. "We can't change the events of our lives," he writes, "but the lines we draw to connect those events, the shapes we make and the conclusions we reach, those come from us.” (via PEN America) 
What booksellers are saying about Hola Papi
About John Paul Brammer John Paul Brammer is an author, illustrator, and columnist from rural Oklahoma currently living in Brooklyn. He runs the popular advice column “¡Hola Papi!” on Substack. His work, including essays, short fiction, and illustrations, has appeared in The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Catapult, Business Insider, and many more. This is his first book. He runs a print shop where he puts his artwork and designs at HolaPapiShop.com. You can keep up with him on Twitter or Instagram @JPBrammer. |
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Willie Nelson’s Letters to America by Willie Nelson Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Music I didn’t want these letters to end so I read only a few pages every day. Willie Nelson shares stories of his life and his music but oh, so much more. The world would be a kinder and more loving and sensible place if we could all follow Willie’s advice on how to get through difficult times and take care of each other. Jokes and laughter fill every page and you will find yourself laughing any crying at his sage advice and hilarious life observations. Reviewed by Nancy Pierce, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia |
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These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Young Adult For fans of love triangles and fierce heroines that kick butt, These Hollow Vows is a dark fantasy full of twists and betrayals. I found it a delightful story that I couldn’t help but tear through. The author’s writing is engaging as much as it is enchanting and I have a feeling that Brie is going to charm many readers. I can’t wait for the next installment! Reviewed by Katlin Kerrison, Story On the Square in McDonough, Georgia |
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The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig Adult Fiction, Supernatural, Thrillers This is one freaky book, scary as all get out, and really, really, hard to put down! I was reading late the night (3pm) and the story was cresting on one of the many waves that keep the plot roiling when out of the corner of my eye I saw my bedroom door slowly begin to creak mournfully open. Needless to say I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Turns out it was just my cat stretching out but that incident just shows how immersed I got into this creepy good book. Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Fine Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina |
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If the World Were 100 People by Jackie McCann
Really large numbers are difficult for us (including adults!) to understand, so I loved the way this book broke down statistics about the world as if it only had 100 people. The global village concept is really neat. Not only is this easier to visualize the differences and inequalities in our world, but it also makes the world seem a little less large, and a little bit more like a village. Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Read This Next! Books on the horizon: Forthcoming favorites from Southern indies... |
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Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin
Adult Fiction, City & Town Life, Jewish A Spring 2021 Read This Next! Title Joshua Henkin has issued an invitation to view the timeline of an American marriage. Columbia University professor, Spence Robin, was a young hotshot Shakespearean expert, capable of filling lecture halls with enraptured students. Pru Steiner was one of them. The attraction and love was immediate, the marriage secure and long-lasting. However, while only in his fifties, Spence receives the horrifying diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Their daughter is grown and gone and his son from a previous marriage has always been sporadically estranged; leaving Pru alone as Spence declines and she navigates the changes and loss of a great man. Morningside Heights is poignant, honest, thoughtfully observant, and skillfully wrought. Reviewed by Damita Nocton from The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC |
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Southern Bestsellers What's popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
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Parting Thought “Read a lot. Expect something big, something exalting or deepening from a book. No book is worth reading that isn’t worth re-reading.” – Susan Sontag |
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Publisher: The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance / siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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