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October 19, 2021 Ghost stories. Reader Meet Writer returns in November with three spectacular events: Beth Gilstrap (Deadheading & Other Stories), Gayle Forman (Frankie & Bug), and Jerard W. Alexander (Volunteers:Growing Up in the Forever War). There are more details about each event below. If you missed the September series, recordings are now all available to watch: 
Wiley Cash had a fascinating discussion with JD Jackson, the actor who did the narration for the audio version of When Ghosts Come Home. Fun fact: did you know if you do a search on Jackson in the Libro.fm catalog, you come up with over 1500 results? Including the new translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley! Constance Lombardo's talk with writer/illustrator Torben Kuhlmann was almost magical. Not only do you get to hear how a mouse explains relativity and time travel, you also get to see Kuhlmann create some of his beautifully intricate drawings. Margaret Renkl is a known and beloved voice in the South, both passionate and compassionate. RMW host Wiley Cash talks to her about her latest essay collection, Graceland at Last, although the conversation ranges farther and wider than the Sewanee campus (which comes up as a topic more than once). Lisa Jewell provides fascinating insight into how she finds and constructs a story and where the seed of the idea for her bestselling novel The Night She Disappeared was first planted. Read This Now | Read This Next | The Bookseller Directory Coming up on Reader Meet Writer
Beth Gilstrap is the author of I Am Barbarella (2015) from Twelve Winters Press. Her work has been selected as Longform.org's "Fiction Pick of the Week" and chosen by Dan Chaon for inclusion in the Best Microfiction Anthology 2019. She holds an MFA from Chatham University. Her stories, essays, and hybrids have appeared in Ninth Letter, the Minnesota Review, Denver Quarterly, Gulf Stream Lit, and Wigleaf, among others. Born and raised in the Charlotte area, she has recently relocated to Louisville.
Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Elle in the US. Gayle Forman’s novel, If I Stay, was released as a blockbuster movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz in 2014. Her most recent YA novel is We Are Inevitable. Gayle lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.
Jerad W. Alexander has written for Esquire, Rolling Stone, The Nation, Narratively, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA in Literary Reportage from the New York University Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism. From 1998 to 2006, he served as a U.S. Marine, deploying to the Mediterranean, East Africa, and Iraq. He grew up on military bases, from the east coast of the United States to Japan. He currently lives in New York City, but calls Atlanta home. |
Deadheading and Other Stories with Beth Gilstrap
Frankie & Bug with Gayle Forman
Volunteers: Growing Up in the Forever War with Jerad W. Alexander|
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies... |
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Shelf Life by Nadia Wassef Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Cultural, Ethnic & Regional Blame it on naivete or my newbie bookseller status, but I did not realize that, culturally, bookselling can vary drastically from country to country, but it can and it does, and thanks to Nadia Wassef, we get to hear first hand how three women got a wildly successful independent bookstore off the ground in Cairo, Egypt, when societal norms suggested that women weren’t meant to open small businesses. A remarkable story! Reviewed by Jill Naylor, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Pony by R.J. Palacio
I’ve never seen a ghost, but I’ve experienced a sense of connection with loved ones who are no longer here. --R.J. Palacio The newest book by the author of the widely-beloved novel Wonder, is a short but intense story of a Silas, a young boy searching for his father in the 1860s Midwest. Palacio says that the idea for the story came from a scary dream one of her children had. It is a ghost story, Silas can see ghosts and has ghostly friend he calls "Mitttenwool," but this is not a horror story so much as it is an eerie story. "I’ve never seen a ghost," says Palacio, "but I’ve experienced a sense of connection with loved ones who are no longer here. Whether that’s internal or external, whether there’s a science to it or it’s just wishful thinking, I can’t tell you. I don’t know. That’s part of the mystery of life, which is what this book is about. Silas learns to embrace the mysteries." 
What booksellers are saying about Pony
About R.J. Palacio R.J. Palacio is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wonder, which has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The book's message inspired the Choose Kind movement and has been embraced by readers around the world, with the book published in over 50 languages. Wonder was made into a blockbuster movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. Palacio’s other bestselling books include 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts, Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, the picture book We’re All Wonders, and the graphic novel White Bird, which is currently being filmed as a major motion picture starring Gillian Anderson and Helen Mirren. Palacio lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. |
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Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger Adult Fiction, Psychological, Thrillers WOWZA! Was not expecting this! This fast paced thriller will leave you stunned. When Wren falls hard for a man she met through a dating site she is heartbroken when he ghosts her. Was it because she showed her soul? Never read a story quite like this. Can see as a movie. Don’t read alone. Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina |
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Strange Folk You’ll Never Meet by A.A. Balaskovits Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Strange folk populate these dark tales, fevered nightmares, and twisted fairytales. Readers beware, things most definitely go bump in the night here, and sometimes they bite. Lots of body horror and lots of gore, but if you like your stories fairly bloody, this book is for you! Reviewed by Kate Towery, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia |
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Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson Action & Adventure, Survival Stories, Young Adult Paige expects to wake up to her parents, younger brother, best friend, and a promising future in basketball. What she doesn’t expect is for that future to be seized from her, as her loved ones, and every other human on Earth for that matter, have mysteriously perished. This is an exhilarating and unpredictable survival story, realistic with an intriguing sci-fi supplement. There are moments of action, moments of sadness, and moments of banter, all brought to life by Carson’s descriptive writing style and genuine characters. I would highly recommend! Reviewed by Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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The Shadow Prince by David Anthony Durham African, Fables, Juvenile, Juvenile Fiction, Legends, Myths I thoroughly enjoyed reading every chapter of this book! All the Egyptian gods were fun to read about, and their personalities were unique! And the characters were fun and engaging! It was also brilliant to keep all the villains alive, meaning a hopeful sequel? I will be one of the first in line when the author makes the 2nd book! Reviewed by Mandolin Moore, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia |
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Read This Next! Books on the horizon: Forthcoming favorites from Southern indies... |
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A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Action & Adventure, Adult Fiction, Fantasy A Fall 2021 Read This Next! Title 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. Author Alix E. Harrow has not only turned the dying girl trope on its head, but also answered the question “What if you Spiderverse’d Grimm’s Fairy Tales?” And the answer is: lot’s of fun, a good dose of mind-being physics, and a dash of fairy tale logic. Taking probably one of the most overlooked fairytales, Sleeping Beauty, and ripping it inside out, tossing it upside down, and creating all new rules in a world that is both high stakes and beautiful, Harrow has created a spell-binding world that you’ll anxiously avoid leaving as you rush towards this perfect novella’s end. Reviewed by Christen Thompson, Itinerant Literate Books in North Charleston, South Carolina |
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Southern Bestsellers What's popular this week with Southern Readers. |
[ See the full list ] |
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Parting Thought "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." |
Publisher:
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance /
siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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