Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: In a stroke of incredible timing, just read The Art Thieves by Andrea L. Rogers, a novel of Cherokee futurism set in the near future when the effects of climate change, pandemics, and international sabotage turn the world upside down. Just started The Sentence by Louise Erdrich and it is delightful.
Listening: To the sounds of Red Cross, military, and medical helicopters crossing the sky above my home rescuing folks and bringing supplies, and to the heart-lifting conversations of neighbors sharing resources and emotional support.
Watching: A community coming together during the most difficult of times.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella. So far, it's entertaining!
Listening: The sounds of squirrels scrambling up trees and birds flitting through the bushes.
Watching: I love silly, completely unrealistic action movies and have never seen The Fast and the Furious franchise, so I've started watching those, and they do not disappoint!

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: I finished Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner while Helene was raging through the Carolinas. Amazingly, not by candlelight. Yalo by Elias Khoury is still an ongoing project.
Listening: For most of the week, the sound of hammers, because we had the roofers on site to replace the entire roof. So hammers, and also the dog, who was dedicated to warning me every time one of them walked by a window.
Watching: Reruns of House, MD.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: A difficult reading week, again, as I imagine it was for a lot of people. But Enlightenment (Sarah Parry) still awaits.
Listening: Tami Neilson's latest Neilson Sings Nelson, and Willie's Willie Nelson Sings Kristofferson from a long time ago. Not recommended unless you feel like crying. Which you probably do.
Watching: A Room with a View. Merchant Ivory plus Forster at their dreamiest. Plus Maggie Smith's tart, tragicomic, brilliant turn as Miss Bartlett.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I have approximately 40 books downloaded for my upcoming vacation, and I have no idea where to start.
Listening: A friend of mine just guested on an episode of Bash Pinball podcast and that was a fun listen.
Watching: There's a new season of The Circle out on Netflix, so I'm waiting with bated breath for each Wednesday release of episodes.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 3, 2024 

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is pleased to announce the results of its 2024 Board elections. Julia Davis, owner of The Book Worm Book Store in Powder Springs, Georgia has been re-elected for a second term. Davis currently serves as SIBA's President.

Also elected were Rayna Nielson, Events Manager at Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana, Cristina Nosti, Director of Events and Programming at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida, and Melissa Taylor, co-owner of E. Shaver Books in Savannah, Georgia. The elected slate will start their terms January 1, 2025, after completing training. SIBA's Board is run on the Carver Method.

"This was in many ways a historic election," says SIBA Executive Director Linda-Marie Barrett. "It was our first election under our new bylaws with its expanded definition of bookstore membership. It is also the first time we have voted to expand the board in over tweny-five years." In 2024 SIBA increased its board from five to seven members to better represent the organizations wide spread geographic territory and increasingly diverse range of bookstore business models.

The election was also a milestone for the organization in member participation and engagement. 74 bookstores in total voted, representing 33% of SIBA members. Barrett noted that voting percentage is the highest SIBA has seen in a decade, more than doubling the average turnout since 2014 and especially significant as SIBA's membership numbers have climbed steadily from 130 stores in 2014 to a peak of 225 in 2024.

She also noted that all the candidates on the slate received substantial numbers of votes and that it was a very tight race right up to when voting closed.

"That so many bookstores voted is a sign that they are engaged and invested in SIBA," said Barrett. "We are very pleased with the turnout."

SIBA booksellers can meet with their current board members and be introduced to the incoming slate at the SIBA Annual Meeting to be held on Zoom on October 23, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET/ 3:00 PM CT.

For more information, visit sibaweb.com or contact SIBA's main office at siba@sibaweb.com.

Incoming Board Bios:

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JULIA DAVIS

Julia R. Davis (she/her) was elected to the SIBA Board in 2021 and is currently serving as SIBA's President. In that capacity she has guided the organization through major changes, included the adoption of SIBA's revised bylaws in 2024. She was born and raised in New York. She spent over 15 years in the legal profession with 7 of those years managing law firms. Davis took ownership of The Book Worm Bookstore, located in historic Downtown Powder Springs, Georgia, in November 2020 when the former owner retired. Ms. Davis’ passion for promoting self-love and literacy has become the foundation that The Book Worm stands on.  The store's motto is "Where love is shared as much as stories!"

Julia also hosts a series of children’s events, appropriately titled “I Love ME!” designed to encourage children to love themselves as they are. In February 2014, Ms. Davis published her first children’s book “I Love me because….I’m DIFFERENT.” Currently, there are eight published picture books, one Chapter Book, and various self-love items in the continually growing I LOVE ME! Book Series.

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RAYNA NIELSEN

Rayna Nielsen’s formal training is in travel and tourism but her lifelong career is bookselling. She began her bookselling career in her home state of Florida then continued after moving to Louisiana in 2005. She has spent over a decade as a bookseller at independent bookstores in New Orleans, including her current position as Event Specialist at Blue Cypress Books. She is the creator and host of Book Banter, a virtual event series and she currently serves as President of the Independent Bookseller Association of Greater New Orleans.

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CRISTINA NOSTI

Cristina Nosti is Director of Events and Programming at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. She programs and helps to market over 600 events a year. As a Latina-identified person, her approach is community-centric and interdisciplinary and stems from her background in the arts. Before coming to Books & Books, Cristina worked as Development Director for the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami. She was the Executive Director of the Cuban Museum of Art & Culture, in the early 90s, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Oscar B. Cintas Foundation to award fellowships in the arts to creators of Cuban descent. She has also worked as General Manager of Miami Dade College’s Department of Cultural Affairs and as Author Liaison for Miami Book Fair. She has also worked in Hollywood, California as a reader of screenplays and in the television industry (her father was a pioneer of Spanish-language programming in the United States). She lives in Coral Gables, Florida with her partner, the ghost of their beloved dog and lots and lots of books.

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MELISSA TAYLOR

Melissa Taylor is a bookseller with over 20 years of industry experience. She is currently the co-owner of E. Shaver, Bookseller which was named Best Bookstore in the South by the readers of Southern Living and is also included in the book 150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before You Die. She is the cohost of the podcast Pull Your Shelf Together and serves on the Binc Finance Committee. She lives in Savannah with her husband (a former bookseller) and their two rescue dogs.

SOUTHERN INDIE BESTSELLER LIST
For the week ending 9/22/2024

Edelweiss Collections:
(sort by "Catalog Order" to see each list according to rating)

Hardcover Fiction | Hardcover Nonfiction | Trade Paperback Fiction | Trade Paperback Nonfiction | Mass Market | Children's Illustrated | Children's Interest | Children's Series

Current Newsletter: Banned Books Week Around the South

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Leah Jordan, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Megan Bell, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia
• Kate Snyder, Plaid Elephant Books in Danville, Kentucky
• Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
• Winter Goldsmith, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Adam Fall, Underbrush Books in Rogers, Arkansas
• Kim Brock, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky
• Elizabeth Walker, Sassafras on Sutton in Black Mountain, North Carolina
• Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
• Michelle Weiler, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Book Buzz Feature: Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White
Horror will always be the genre that feels the most like home to me, largely because it’s the only genre that will let me get away with the sort of stuff I want to write. It’s messy, and visceral, and gut-churning! (Plus, once you include a single horror element in, say, a romance novel, it becomes a horror-romance by definition; horror infects everything it touches, and isn’t that wonderful?) –Andrew Joseph White, Interview, F(r)iction

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
What Jonathan Evison has done in Lawn Boy is give us an unlikely hero in Mike Muñoz, who tells it like it is and just wants a fair shake. Only twenty-two but already beaten down, Mike knows what it means to go hungry, to share a house with too many people, to never get ahead. Lawn Boy covers issues like racism, immigrant rights, and homophobia in the same breath as dating misadventures, Mike’s fledgling topiary carving artistry, and the pretentious writing MFA candidates produce. It is just this type of book (relatable, funny, entertaining) that could get us talking about social justice.
― Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

Things to do / Things not to miss

1. Holiday Catalogs land the first week of October. Now is the time to think about how to make the most of this member benefit. Marketing assets are available for printing and social media, and the digital catalog is available for store websites. Start planning your displays now.
Marketing Assets | Edelweiss Collection
Ingram Discount: Starting October 1, Ingram will add a 2% discount on all holiday catalog titles. No code needed.

2. NVNR Owners Retreat, Oct 17 at 6:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM CT on Zoom
Moderated by Michelle Cavalier, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana and Jackie Inman Burns, Bethany Beach Books in Bethany Beach, Delaware

Join other bookstore owners from NAIBA and SIBA for a rousing conversation about prepping your store and your staff for the holiday season. Your best resource is each other! This event is for store owners only and will happen over Zoom. After you register you'll receive a link to join from the SIBA office. Registration is limited to 25 stores each from NAIBA and SIBA. | Register

3. SIBA Annual Meeting, Oct 23 at 4:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM CT on Zoom
The SIBA Board of Directors invites all members to attend the 2024 SIBA Annual Meeting and Town Hall. The meeting will include a report on the State of SIBA and reports from SIBA staff. The board will report on the work being done on behalf of the membership, and the results of the 2024 board ballot will be announced. There will also be time for questions from attendees. The event will be recorded. | Register

4. The Southern Book Prize Season Begins!
Mark your calendars! The 2025 Southern Book Prize finalists will be announced on November 1, 2024. Voting for the 2025 Southern Book Prize winners will start on the same day. The Prize, representing Southern bookseller favorites from 2024, is awarded to “the best Southern book of the year” as nominated by Southern indie booksellers and voted on by their customers. Winners are chosen by popular vote from a ballot of finalists in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s and young adult literature. 

SIBA will give member booksellers a sneak peek at the finalist list the first week of October, so stores can plan displays and place supporting orders. Bookstores will also have a chance to sign up for the Southern Book Prize Scavenger Hunt on Instagram.

The books on the October Read This Next! list range from legends to the legendary, and from homey to horror. "The perfect book(s) to distract you from real life."

RTNext! Bookseller Resources:
Edelweiss Collection | Flyer | Flyer Front (image)

What SIBA Booksellers have to say:

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
A book about art, about the reclusive artist, the the curator obsessed with her work, and the people who have come to be in possession of pieces of her art. A psychological drama about self-worth, loneliness, loss, and love, you will definitely not soon forget this dark and chilling story of obsessive love.
– Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel
The Elements of Marie Curie is one of the best biographies I've ever read. It's not just a deeply personal look at Curie's life. By tying the elements that were part of her work to her family and staff, we're introduced to the many women she supported in the sciences, especially her daughter.
– Rosemary Pugliese, Malaprop's in Asheville, North Carolina

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski
I loved this sweet cozy fantasy! It had me from the first page with the tantalizing descriptions of the smells and tastes of the tearoom. I was totally invested in the lives of the three sisters. This is the perfect book to distract you from real life!
– Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
A Song to Drown Rivers retells ancient legend with phenomenal voice, bringing a truly worthwhile addition to the historical fiction genre. The romance in this book was also done so perfectly! There was so much tension and longing..
– Baldwin Bookseller, Baldwin & Co. in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
A slow, coiling narrative set in the early 1900s that follows a group of men thrown together in a sanitarium to cure their tuberculosis. At turns creepy and philosophical, there's plenty to get your teeth into.
– Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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

by Libertie Valance, Firestorm Books

Our bookstore is lucky to be in a small city with a long history of grassroots prison book activism. Almost a decade before community activists opened the doors at Firestorm, volunteers launched Asheville Prison Books (APB) to distribute free literature to incarcerated folks across the Southeast. A few years later, Tranzmission Prison Project (TPP) was created to provide books, zines, and other resources for queer and trans prisoners nationwide.

There has always been overlap between our co-op’s staff and prison book program volunteers. One of our earliest community events was a 2008 benefit for TPP, at which we crowded into the back of a then basement location to watch a pirated copy of a film about a queer and trans volleyball team. It probably didn’t raise much money, but it built community connections, which are the heart of any grassroots effort. A few months later, we began selling APB benefit shirts at a sliding scale of $5-15. In an email proposing the idea, a member of our team noted that the shirts were “really weird styles and sizes” and “smell like Goodwill” (where they’d undoubtedly originated) but featured a skillfully screen printed design.

Over the years, we’ve sold many benefit shirts and hosted a slew of DIY events to raise funds for books and postage—film screenings, puppet acts, waffle brunches, punk shows, and more. We’ve also regularly offered space for volunteer orientations, letter writing activities, and abolitionist teach-ins.

Being volunteer-run organizations, APB and TPP changed over time, waxing and waning as capacity allowed. New members arrived with vision and fresh energy, and older members moved away or shifted focus. The same patterns played out in our co-op during its early years. So while our relationship to the prison book movement continued, it was constantly being reinvented by new configurations of booksellers and volunteers. Many of the things we’re doing, or have experimented with in the past, could be easily replicated by other bookstores…

Packaging Parties

Prison book programs (PBPs) rarely own or rent physical spaces that are sufficient to host public events, so bookstores can offer a free and welcoming place for packaging parties—public events where community volunteers learn the ropes and pack shipments for incarcerated readers. Because prisons and jails impose wildly varied and arbitrary restrictions on mail, these events require the guidance of folks with knowledge of the facilities to which books will be sent. If a local community doesn’t yet include activists who can provide this, bookstores may be able to connect with a regional program that can lend direction and support.

Bookstores can also provide a PBP with a public address for receiving prisoner requests and sending packages. Having a legitimate retailer on the return address increases the likelihood that books are accepted at many facilities, and protects the privacy of individual volunteers.

Book Drives & Wishlists

PBPs aren’t just sending random books into prisons and jails, they’re responding to specific requests from incarcerated folks. Sought after titles—such as contemporary reference works, career development material, and literature by authors with marginalized identities—may be hard for volunteers to come by. But finding books is something that indies are great at!

Booksellers that know what sort of titles are most needed can keep an eye out for damages and ARCs. Book drives, whether short term or ongoing, are another great way for a bookshop to solicit donations that match the needs of incarcerated folks. Many prison book programs will provide clear guidelines for collection.

Nevertheless, some highly sought titles, like legal dictionaries, simply can’t be sourced second hand. Bookstores can work with a PBP to curate a list of these books for customers to purchase on behalf of an incarcerated reader. At Firestorm, we feature frequently requested titles on our website.

Fundraisers, Benefit Merch & Matching Donations

For PBPs, covering postage is often a greater barrier than finding books, and indies are well positioned to help with that too, even if they don’t have cash to spare. Fundraising strategies could include campaigns, like donating a portion of sales during Prison Banned Books Week, and ongoing efforts, like a donation jar to passively solicit funds at the register, or unique “benefit” merchandise. The impact of these efforts can be extended when a bookshop or PBP identify donors willing to match funds.

Even when fundraising events don’t take place at a bookstore, booksellers can still have an impact by donating raffle items and supporting publicity through in-store signage and social network promotion. It turns out that the sort of people who visit your bookstore are also the people most likely to generously support literary activism!

And that brings us to a final opportunity: Advocacy and Awareness. Bookstores have a huge role to play in educating their communities about the censorship and abuses taking place in prisons and jails. By building a relationship with a PBP, bookshops can direct resources, but also passionate people, into the work of addressing these harms while fighting for a better world!

Current Newsletter: Celebrating Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
• Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
• Anna Trevathan, The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee
• Carroll Gelderman, Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Michael Yetter, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Louisville, Kentucky
• Claire McWhorter, River & Hill Books in Rome, Georgia
• Angela Redden, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee
• Amanda Grell, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia
• Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
• Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida

Book Buzz Feature: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Certain themes really choose writers. Addiction is a theme I never really chose to write about, but I cannot escape it. I’ve been sober for eight years and I come from a family of addicts and alcoholics, almost all of whom are sober as well, so I was interested in writing about addiction in families. I’m also interested in sobriety in families and how that can get passed down through generations. What does it look like to be long-term sober but still self-destructive? What does it look like to be newly sober and starting to heal? What does it look like to have never drunk or done drugs, but still have the impulse to escape yourself, which I think Bonnie has.
–Coco Mellors, Interview, The Guardian

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Islandborn by Junot Díaz
It means the world that stories like this exist throughout children’s literature these days, and Islandborn is a book that tells the tale so wonderfully. This is the story of an immigrant who moved here as a baby, or maybe even a child born in the States, who is surrounded by talk of “home” and of the “old days” all their life. This is the story of how that can be alienating and painful and how learning more about where and who you’re made of can bring you strength and joy untold. The illustrations are vibrant and lovely, each page full of story and tiny, beautiful details.
― Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida

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NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

SOUTHERN INDIE BESTSELLER LIST
For the week ending 9/15/2024

Edelweiss Collections:
(sort by "Catalog Order" to see each list according to rating)

Hardcover Fiction | Hardcover Nonfiction | Trade Paperback Fiction | Trade Paperback Nonfiction | Mass Market | Children's Illustrated | Children's Interest | Children's Series

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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NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS