Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, a window into another world that will forever change this reader. Looking forward to discussing it at my book club in June.
Listening: To classical music and highway sounds as I barreled down highways, past the Great Smokies, through the Cumberland Gap, and on to Louisville, KY for our Indie Press Social with GLIBA.
Watching: Electronic and abandoned billboards along my travel route, which are alternately funny and terrifying, depending on your POV.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse but saw that Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri is now up on Edelweiss, so I'm about to go back and forth so I can finish two of my favorite series!
Listening: In between audiobooks, so listening to the sounds of the airport on my way to SIBA's Indie Press Social in Louisville, KY!
Watching: About to watch Three-Body Problem.

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Mike Merryman-Lotze, We Wrote in Symbols, Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers, edited by Selma Dabbagh. But for my next big sink-your-teeth-into-it summer fiction I'm reading Her Side of the Story and The Forbidden Notebook, both recently available in English from the Italian feminist writer Alba de Céspedes -- who I never heard of! I only stumbled across the name because Elena Ferrante wrote the forward to The Forbidden Notebook.
Listening: Having listened to Judi Dench, Shakespeare, the Man Who Pays the Rent, I am now revisiting my Arkangel Shakespeare productions with entirely new eyes and ears.
Watching: In a fit of nostalgia, Simon Schama's The Power of Art.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: New on my shelf: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth, cartoonist (New Yorker) Ken Krimstein's 2018 graphic biography of Hannah Arendt.
Listening: Just in time for a long flight, Tiger Blood, the new album from Waxahatchee (the performing name of singer/songwriter Katie Crutchfield); Washed Out's new album, Purple Noon; a cover of Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" by King Princess that was in Hacks; Chappell Roan's album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
Watching: The hilarious, outrageous, mean but open-hearted third season of Hacks starring the brilliant Jean Smart, long may she reign.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I'm sitting in decision paralysis because I don't have anything I need to read and so much I want to read, I can't pick where to start. Send help.
Listening: Birds chirping outside and my cats chirping at the birds inside. Watching: Jeopardy! Masters - I can't get enough of those folks.

Orders are now open for SIBA’s Holiday Catalog -- a key element in maximizing 4th quarter sales for SIBA bookstores. Although the deadline to place your catalog order is June 15th, we recommend you order now to get ahead of the June 1 deadline for saturation mailing (sending your catalog to residents of specific zip codes and carrier routes) and voting on the holiday cover design. 

The sooner you order, the sooner we can make sure you’re all set! And remember, the first 7000 catalogs are free!

John Cavalier, former SIBA Board president and co-owner of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, LA, has already placed his order and offers this shout-out of encouragement to fellow SIBA booksellers:

“The SIBA Holiday Catalog is a big part of our holiday plans. We use the heck out of it. We do so many offsite events in the last quarter of the year and we hand those catalogs out like a politician at a parade! Dollar for dollar, it's probably one of the most cost-effective tools we have in our marketing tool chest. Over the years we've used the catalog as mailers, newspaper inserts, handouts, bag stuffers - you name it. No matter the use, we've always seen results! It brings old customers back and is a professional first impression to share with new customers. It's a no-brainer for us!”

Place your order here, and reach out to us if you have any questions.

Congratulations to Lauren Groff and The Lynx Bookstore, which was featured in the New York Times last week:

“This store would probably still be a pipe dream if the book bans hadn’t happened,” said Groff, who has lived in Gainesville since 2006. “I want this for me too. I don’t want to live in a place where we stifle free expression.”

Position Open: Assistant Manager

Boutique bookstore in Atlanta West End college community seeks assistant manager with bookstore administration, event planning and floor sales experience. BA degree required. Prior experience in medium or large bookstore a plus. Please contact info@44thand3rdbookseller.com to submit interest.

Bookstore for Sale

Douglasville Books, a historic bookstore in Douglas County, GA that has been in existence for 38 years, is currently up for sale. The store is located in downtown Douglasville and is 2500 square feet. It's the only bookstore in the county besides Books-A-Million, who often sends customers to Douglasville Books. Diamond in the rough that makes a decent income. The store address is 6643 Church Street, Douglasville, GA 30135. Interested parties should contact dvillebooks@gmail.com for inquiries.

Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Women! In! Peril! by Jessie Ren Marshall. So imaginative; each story brings you somewhere new, and different than anything you've experienced.
Listening: Enjoying music and meditation on my Calm app.
Watching: Am in between series at the moment, and open to recommendations for cozy mysteries and romantic comedies set in beautiful places.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. So excited to dig into the third book in this trilogy!
Listening: So close to finishing The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang!
Watching: Finally finished The Wire. What a brilliant show! I particularly loved Bubbles, Omar, and Prez's character arcs.

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science by Renee Bergland, We Wrote in Symbols, Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers, edited by Selma Dabbagh.
Listening: Judi Dench, Shakespeare, the Man Who Pays the Rent. I switched to the audiobook because, you know, Judi Dench! What a fascinating look at how a great actor approaches a character. Most oft-repeated piece of advice: "The audience understands more than you think. Don't underestimate them."
Watching: Well, thanks to the above I have a lot of RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) productions queued up on my watch list. But with some trepidation -- film is not stage.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading/Listening/Watching: "A story is not like a road to follow … it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It also has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you." - Alice Munro

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I just finished an ARC of The Genius of Judy, about Judy Blume's books and feminism and I could not have loved it more.
Listening: Rain outside! It's so cozy, all I want to do is tuck in with a cat and a book.
Watching: All I am watching right now is the weather forecast for my upcoming camping weekend, when the rain will be much less cozy.

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.

Siblings, serial killers, and second chances -- the books on the June "ReadThis Next! list are a perfect collection of summer reads.

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

What SIBA Booksellers have to say:

A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi, Hildegarde Serle (trans.)
At first glance, you might think that this book won't rip your heart out, but I can tell you that it absolutely does!
– Kelsey Jagneaux, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida

Swift River by Essie Chambers
Swift River is such an emotional story, effortlessly intermingling American history with one young woman's personal history. You will fall in love with Diamond and find yourself rooting for her!
– Emily Lessig, The Violet Fox Bookshop in Virginia Beach, VA

Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle
An epic saga romance between two people who have been it for each other since they were young, but things have never been right. a steamy second chance romance with snappy dialog.
– Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Georgia

Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
This story about grief and mental illness is woven around struggles to understand family, both biological and nurtured. Brilliantly written, Fire Exit bears witness to what a birthright and culture mean when you were denied what felt like home.
– Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryel
Coryell's debut will have you captivated even as you groan along at Hannah's poor decision-making. Is Hannah setting herself up for murder or is she the one who can see the truth? Hannah is a hot mess but you can't help but hope it all works out for her!
– Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

Today’s question is: Which SIBA scholarships and grants can I apply for? Which ones will help me get to New Voices New Rooms?

SIBA currently has seven different scholarships and grants open for applications. Here’s what you can apply for right now to help with the annual New Voices New Rooms (NVNR) conference costs:

May Deadlines:

Binc Scholarship: Deadline is May 15. Provides one $500 scholarship with a full event pass to a SIBA bookseller to attend NVNR.

George Keating Memorial Scholarship: Deadline is May 15. Provides one $500 scholarship with a full event pass to a SIBA bookseller to attend NVNR.

BIPOC Booksellers Development Scholarship: Deadline is May 17. Provides four $500 scholarships with full event passes to SIBA booksellers who identify as BIPOC to attend NVNR.

NVNR Travel Grants: Deadline is May 17. Provides six $500 travel grants with full event passes for SIBA booksellers to attend NVNR. 

Jamie Rogers Southern (SIBA Retiring Board Member) Scholarship: Deadline is May 17. Provides one $500 scholarship with a full event pass to a SIBA bookseller to attend NVNR.

Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarship: Deadline is May 20. Provides one $500 scholarship with a full event pass to a SIBA bookseller who identifies with an underrepresented group (BIPOC, queer, disabled) to attend NVNR.

June Deadlines:

Wanda Jewell Scholarship: Deadline is June 15. Provides one $400 scholarship with a full event pass to a SIBA bookseller to attend NVNR.

SIBA has a really useful web page listing all the scholarships and grants we offer, application links, and a handy calendar to help you keep track of deadlines. We offer more than NVNR scholarships! Take a look and apply now for any assistance you might need. As always, if you have questions or want additional information, feel free to reach out to me at candice@sibaweb.com.

Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Swiped by L.M. Chilton, a novel that brings together the horrors of online dating, serial killers, and existential dread in surprisingly funny ways. I've also been enjoying The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, a book that's long been highly recommended and is both entertaining and inspiring.
Listening: Enjoying the birdsong and toddler giggles just outside my office window.
Watching: Finished the latest season of Shetland, which was fantastic, and am still on a Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise kick.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: I just started Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. I'm going to take this one slow because so far, it's one of my favorite series of all time, and I don't want it to end (Between Earth & Sky, began with Black Sun). This is the final book of the trilogy, and I can't wait to see if it's just as metal as the rest of the series!
Listening: Still making my way through The Emperor and the Endless Palace, and honestly I'm immediately obsessed. And it's pretty spicy!
Watching: Well I finished season 4 of The Wire, and I'm just heartbroken. I have started season 5, the last season, and I don't expect to get any less heartbroken. To balance the heaviness out, I also love my short, charming sitcoms - Abbott Elementary, Animal Control, and Not Dead Yet!

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading:Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science by Renee Bergland. Judi Dench, Shakespeare, the Man Who Pays the Rent, and We Wrote in Symbols, Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers, edited by Selma Dabbagh.
Listening: I spent an afternoon sporadically transferring all my playlists off apple music and on to Spotify, and in the process discovered an old playlist from 25 years ago I had titled "Bubblegum."
Watching: Movie night with SP returns! We watched Marleen Gorris' A Question of Silence, also something I remembered from, well, a long time ago. I remembered the story being brilliant. But I hadn't remembered that everything else about the film -- the cinematography, the casting, and the script, oh, the script! -- was equally brilliant. Also, one of the characters was reading Doris Lessing! I distinctly saw the name on her book, although I couldn't see the title and could not even after an intensive image search on Google, find a picture of the cover.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: I am about a third of the way into French writer Julia Malye's epic new novel Pelican Girls. Set in 1720s French Louisiana, it's the story of a group of young French women dispatched from an overcrowded asylum/prison in Paris to be brides/breeding stock for French colonists. Elegantly written, meticulously researched, and harrowingly action-packed.
Listening: Recent stars of my playlist: country icon Linda Martell's classic 1970 album Color Me Country, Angel Olsen/Big Time, Beyoncé/Cowboy Carter, Van Morrison/St. Dominic's Preview, Andrew Combs/Canyons of My Mind and Ideal Man, Calexico/Algiers.
Watching: Nicki and I revived the "watch a movie while furiously texting each other about it" society with A Question of Silence (1982), Dutch director Marleen Gorris's furiously feminist classic. Yes, this needed twice the recommended dosage of "furiously."

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: Jingle Bell Mingle, the upcoming Julie Murphy/Sierra Simone collab and the third in their Christmas Notch series. It's super spicy right out of the gate this time!
Listening: There is a very enthusiastic Little League game going on across the street from my house right now and it sounds like the dang World Series is happening.
Watching: Everybody's in LA, John Mulaney's absurd live show on Netflix. It's completely ridiculous and lots of fun.

Join me in Louisville, KY!

In just a few weeks, on May 21, SIBA & GLIBA booksellers will participate in SIBA’s second Indie Press Social. These special events bring some of our favorite independent publishers together with our booksellers, to understand each other’s goals and missions, learn more about how we can work together, and have fun. Michael Reynolds, Editor-in-Chief of Europa Editions shares, “Independent booksellers are our first and our best friends in the business, yet there’s so much room for us to do more together and to grow together. The Indie Social, pioneered by SIBA and now, in a historic first, co-hosted by SIBA & GLIBA, is the perfect forum for those conversations to happen."

The program includes:

• An office tour of Sarabande Books, a nonprofit literary press founded in Louisville, Kentucky that champions poetry, fiction, and essays

• A presentation at  Carmichael's Bookstore's Frankfort Avenue location, where eight independent presses present on their mission, and upcoming titles

• A group discussion and Q & A from booksellers

• Dinner and bowling at Vernon Lanes

The featured publishers are Beacon Press, Europa Editions, New Directions, Other Press, Sarabande Books, Soho Press, Two Dollar Radio and Verso Books.

I hope you can join us! If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Registration is $25/bookseller with a limit of 25 booksellers from SIBA.

Register Here

Holiday Catalog orders are now open for SIBA stores. The catalog program is one of the most important (and cost effective) benefits of SIBA membership, and a centerpiece in the fourth quarter strategy for the bookstores that take part.

What you need to know:

• Stores can order as few as 500 and as many as 7000 catalogs for FREE. There is no cost to print and no cost to ship.
• Orders of 1000 catalogs or more are eligible for imprinting for a single set up fee.
• Stores can request saturation mail service for area zip codes, finding new customers in communities you want to reach.
• Digital catalogs and professionally designed social media and printable assets are available for all participating stores.

Ordering tips for stores new to the program:

1. If you are only ordering one box of (500) catalogs, you can use the Express Order option. You'll be done in just a few minutes!
   
   
2. If you are ordering two or more boxes, use the Full Order option, and ask for imprinting. Imprinting can be used not only for your store address and website, but can include incentives like a coupon or special offer to drive traffic to your store.
   
   
3. If you are interested in a more extensive campaign, including newspaper insertion and/or saturation mailing, start your catalog order early so you can have time to work with RAMP to choose how many catalogs to send out and to where.
   
   
4. If you feel uncertain or would like a guiding hand, choose the Concierge Order option and someone will work one on one with you to create a catalog order that best meets your needs and budget. There is no extra charge for concierge service, but starting early will give you time to explore all your options.

The Holiday Catalog program is one of SIBA's longest-running, most popular member benefits, beautifully designed and perfect for both in-store displays and customer mailings. It is also an important element in funding SIBA's programs and support for bookseller development. Many of the scholarships and grants offered by SIBA are directly funded from the catalog program, so bookstore participation is important!

Don't wait to place your orders. Go here to get started.

Current Newsletter: The Books of May

Book Buzz Feature: Worry by Alexandra Tanner

When you have a sibling, you can have a relationship with almost no boundaries. You can say anything to me; I can say anything to you, and because we’re bound by all of these things—the structure of our family, the understanding we have of one another’s issues, the love we have for each other; we’re always going to be connected. At the same time, it’s a delusion to think that you know a person so entirely because you grew up together—because you have the same parents; because you were raised in the same way. Every person has secrets. Everyone has a complete internal world that you know nothing about.

― Alexandra Tanner, The Columbia Journal

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature: Batman: White Knight by Sean Murphy
"This arc follows a man named Jack Napier who is bent on taking down Batman and exposing Gotham’s corruption-but is he a savior or a doomsman? Murphy does an excellent job making you go back and forth with this idea until the end. The art is serious and dark, setting the tone of the story well. A fun read, and one you’ll want to return to again and again." --Reviewed by Hilton Airall, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky

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