On being of the writer tribe.

In This Issue

Lady Banks' Commonplace Book | Read This! | The Pat Conroy Prize | Okra Picks | The Trailer Park | Book and Author Gossip | The Southern Bookstore | STARS Author Feature | Special to the Southern List | Southern Indie Bestsellers | Event Calendar

Dearest Readers,

This week her ladyship, the editor, is entertaining visitors. More specifically, her folks have come to stay awhile. This means her ladyship is cooking (white bean and kale soup and apple-rosemary upside down skillet cake), and cleaning (see last week's note about whacking carpets with sticks), and exchanging books with her mother. Once a week her ladyship is in the habit of calling her parent to see how they are doing and more importantly, find out what they are reading. But it is vastly more pleasurable to be able to have that conversation in person, over slices of warm apple-rosemary upside-down cake. 

Lately, the talks have centered around short story collections. Living as she does far enough north that she can see Canada from her back porch, her ladyship's mother never fails to arrive for a visit with a stack of books (laughable in itself, considering where she will be spending the next two weeks) by Canadian and New England writers. She will be met by her ladyship, with a stack of story collections from Southern authors. We will each argue the merits of our stack, exchange books, and then spend forthcoming phone calls discussing why we did or did not like this or that writer. 

What is never in question, however, is how much her ladyship and her mother enjoy short stories. Her ladyship's stack is a half dozen story collections found on the long list of the Pat Conroy Southern Book prize:

 If it were a competition -- north vs. south, a short story Civil War -- her ladyship would win.

Read independently! And shop local, for obvious reasons.

her ladyship, the editor

Lady Banks' Pick of the Week

Lady Banks' Commonplace Book

Noteworthy poetry and prose from her ladyship's bedside reading stack.

One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five days after Joshua Hamilton went missing, the State of Tennessee declared him legally dead.

Aubrey, his wife—or former wife, or ex-wife, or widow, she had no idea how to refer to herself anymore—received the certified letter on a Friday. It came to the Montessori school where she taught, the very one she and Josh had attended as children. Came to her door in the middle of reading time, borne on the hands of Linda Pierce, the school’s long-standing principal, who looked as if someone had died.

Which, in a way, they had.

He had.

Or so the State of Tennessee had officially declared.

Aubrey had been against the declaration-of-death petition from the beginning. She didn’t want Josh’s estate settled. Didn’t want a date engraved on that stupid family stone obelisk that loomed over the graves of his ancestors at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Didn’t want to say good-bye forever.

But Josh’s mother had insisted. She wanted closure. She wanted to move on with her life. She wanted Aubrey to move on with hers, too. She’d petitioned the court for the early ruling, and clearly the courts agreed.

Everyone was ready to move on. Everyone but Aubrey.

--J.T. Ellison, No One Knows (Gallery Books, 2016)  9781501118470

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Read This!

Recommended reading from Southern Indie Booksellers

from Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC:

Mosquitoland by David Arnold 

On a Greyhound bus headed from Jackson, MS (aka Mosquitoland) back to Cleveland, Ohio, 16-year-old Mim knows that if she can get to her sick mother by Labor Day, then all the confusion of the divorce, her new stepmom, and the recent move will no longer matter. Mim's voice in this amazing amalgam of a love story, a road trip novel, and a coming-of-age story, will stay with you long after you finish Mosquitoland. -Jill Hendrix

The Carlin Home Companion by Kelly Carlin

A vivid and compelling insight into the family life of one of the most brilliant and revered comics of the last half century. On a purely narrative level, Kelly Carlin's book is wholly engrossing; as a companion to her father's body of work, it's indispensable. -Ike, store employee 

Flying Circus by Susan Crandall

A fascinating love triangle among the members of a flying circus in the 1920s. A chance encounter brings Gil, Cora, and Henry together. They are each running from their own demons that threaten to undo them. They soon learn that the exhilaration of flying will never wipe out the truths that need to be faced. -Linda H., store volunteer

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Luna has lived her life in darkness. When she was born, a perpetual eclipse started. In the ensuing chaos, Luna's parents, the king and queen of Relhok, were murdered, and Luna was secreted away to a hidden tower, allowing everyone to believe her dead. But now Luna wants more than life in her tower, and her chance comes when Fowler shows up just before an attack on the tower. Now Luna and Fowler are on the run together and must learn to rely on each other in ways neither of them has needed or wanted to before, fighting the monsters born of the darkness and the humans who would tear them apart. But they both have secrets that could tear their blossoming love apart. The start of a new YA fantasy series with plenty of romance and surprises to keep you turning the pages. -Melissa O., store employee

More bookseller recommendations

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Okra Picks

In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as "The Girl on the Train" and "The Husband's Secret," "New York Times" bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.

The day Aubrey Hamilton's husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn't want to move on; she wants Josh back. It's been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage they were happy, weren't they? screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn t Josh show up at his friend's bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?

In "No One Knows," the "New York Times" bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops no one knows. 

From Parnassus Musings, the Parnassus Bookstore Blog:

"I’m fascinated by choices. I’d like to think I have a pretty steady moral compass, so when someone does something unethical, or criminal, I’m always aghast. And then I want to sit them down and find out why. What drove you to that decision? Was it easier to cheat? Weren’t you worried about how it would look? You weren’t afraid of going to jail? The idea that our society is split in two — law-abiders and criminals — makes novels like mine come to life. I love Nashville as the palette for this kind of story, too. The juxtapositions in this town are fabulous."

Buy from an indie | Read the first chapter

The Southern Bookstore

A few nights ago, I attended a signing at the wonderful Parnassus Books in Nashville. The signing author was Ariel Lawhon, who was launching her brilliant story chronicling the doomed flight of the Hindenburg, Flight of Dreams. As Ariel and I hugged and kissed hello, bookseller extraordinaire Bill Long-Innes smiled benevolently and asked, “Do you guys have a writer tribe? It seems like Nashville authors really make an effort to support one another. I wonder if any other cities have such a tight knit group?”

Ariel and I nodded, because we do have a tribe here in Nashville.

Our literary community, dubbed the Nashville Literati, is tight. There are cliques within it‑young adult writers in the SCBWI, crime fiction in Sisters in Crime, romance writers in MCWR, literary authors big with Salon 615 and Humanities Tennessee and The Porch Writers’ Collective. But when it comes to supporting another author, we cross genres like a boss. We lunch together. We attend each other’s signings. We hang out in East Nashville at East Side Storytellin’. We pull together all our writing buddies when a writer friend comes to town. We even go on writing retreats together.

And now one constant we all have in common is our indie store, Parnassus. I think the store’s staff has made it such a welcoming, open place for writers of all genres, of all stripes, that we can’t help but want to gather there.

When our beloved former indie, Davis-Kidd, closed its doors in 2010 (and Parnassus didn’t yet exist), it suddenly became much harder to get everyone together. We have the annual Southern Festival of Books, which is always well-represented with local authors. We did lunches and cocktails, drove out to other counties to attend signings, but not having an indie store that represented and celebrated all the writers in town was hard. A town without an indie store is a sad one indeed. It’s been very fun to watch Parnassus take hold in our community, to see stories being made there.

Davis-Kidd had a long history in this town. As a matter of fact, it was one of the reasons I was okay with moving here. When my then boyfriend (now husband) brought me to Nashville in 1993 to meet his parents, he drove me around, and our last stop was Davis-Kidd. “See?” he said. “This is the best bookstore in town. You’ll have plenty to read if we ever move here.”

(I’m not sure if I was more entranced by the idea of books‑books!—or the fact that my boyfriend had just hinted strongly he wanted a long future with me.)

Davis-Kidd was everything you could ask for in a bookstore: great staff, great events, a huge, diverse collection of titles. I attended my very first author signing there (John Connolly! My writing hero!). At that signing, I met a woman who became my other mother, who mentored me through years of writing, getting an agent, getting a deal. I did one of my first signings at David-Kidd. I hit my first bestseller list while I was launching my fourth book there. I attended Sisters in Crime meetings there. I wept with everyone else when it closed.

So to have an indie in our midst again is incredible. The Nashville Literati grows stronger day-by-day, with new writers coming up to join the established ones. And Parnassus is our hub. Several writers are booksellers there (And one co-owns it. You might have heard of her . . . her name is Ann.). This lends a verisimilitude unmatched anywhere else.

Yes, Nashville has a writer tribe, just as strong as Chicago, New York, and L.A. And thanks to our favorite indie, we have a place to call our own, too.

Writer J.T. Ellison lives and writes in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen critically acclaimed novels, including WHAT LIES BEHIND, WHEN SHADOWS FALL, and ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, and is the coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter. Her latest novel, NO ONE KNOWS, is available March 22.

Lady Banks' Book Trailer Park

"A heartfelt no-holds-barred ode . . . hopefully others will discover this man's brilliance through this powerful book." - Karen Hayes, Parnassus books

Friend, asshole, angel, mutant, singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt came along and made us gross and broken people seem . . . I dunno, cooler, I guess. A quadriplegic who could play only simple chords on his guitar, Chesnutt recorded seventeen critically acclaimed albums before his death in 2009, including "About to Choke," "North Star Deserter," and "At the Cut." In 2006, NPR placed him in the top five of the ten best living songwriters, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen. Chesnutt's songs have also been covered by many prominent artists, including Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Fugazi, and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Kristin Hersh toured with Chesnutt for nearly a decade and they became close friends, bonding over a love of songwriting and mutual struggles with mental health. In "Don t Suck, Don t Die," she describes many seemingly small moments they shared, their free-ranging conversations, and his tragic death. More memoir than biography, Hersh's book plumbs the sources of Chesnutt's pain and creativity more deeply than any conventional account of his life and recordings ever could. Chesnutt was difficult to understand and frequently difficult to be with, but, as Hersh reveals him, he was also wickedly funny and painfully perceptive. This intimate memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the music or the artist.

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The Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize:
Exploring the Long List

Short Story Collections in the Long List

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Book & Author Gossip

No One Knows

“People might compare it to ‘Gone Girl,’ but I wrote it before that book ever came out, back in 2011,” Ellison said. “It was based on a dream I had when my husband and I went to a wedding at the Opryland Hotel in Tennessee. After sending me a drink he disappeared. I was looking for him and as I rushed into the parking lot I saw the author Harlan Coben, who wanted to give me career advice. Unfortunately I never got it because I woke up. I did not have it published then because Catherine Coulter popped up in 2012. She wanted me to start writing with her so I shelved this book. Of course ‘Gone Girl’ came out a few months later. But now after numerous revisions I have published my first stand alone.” 

Virginia Festival of the Book

“There is at least one book being published every day and so many topics that we can choose from that I’m not sure it’s possible to run out of new ideas,” said Jane Kulow, the festival’s director. “This year we have topics on drones, pandemics, science and black holes and others. There’s a lot going on.”  One topic both in the news and on the festival events schedule is immigration and its impact on society. “This year is especially cool because we have a doubleheader series of programs on immigration, about the impact of “hyphen-Americans” and how they change the culture,” Kulow said. “It helps us think about how the makeup of Virginia has changed and how we react to it.”

My Southern Journey

I may be in the minority, but I’m actually partial to Bragg’s writing in essay form, rather than the memoirs for which he’s best known. Bragg’s words come together to form sentences so sumptuous and rich, I prefer them packaged in short bon mots that whet my appetite for more. Before “My Southern Journey,” my favorite Bragg book was “Somebody Told Me,” a collection of his best newspaper stories. 

Parnassus on Wheels

Nashville’s popular Parnassus Books is hitting the road. The bookstore, owned by Karen Hayes and author Ann Patchett, has a new bookmobile. Hayes found the retired bookmobile on eBay and purchased it. After a complete makeover, the truck is ready to roll. Customers will be able to find the bookmobile at businesses and in neighborhoods throughout the city. “It’s another fun way to weave literature into everyday life and to be where people are,” said Mary Laura Philpott, social media director at Parnassus Books. “Kind of take what’s happening in the store out onto the streets of Nashville.”

Inside one of history's forgotten nightmares

Working with those story elements, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly could have written a pretty good yarn in which most readers would find something to like: romance, danger, heartbreak, corruption, unrequited longing, unexpected tenderness. Instead, the two authors unleashed a raging deluge in The Tilted World, set amidst the devastation of the Mississippi River flood of 1927—a near-forgotten historical nightmare comparable to Hurricane Katrina. 

NC Writers call for a political rewrite

“those of us who are entrusted by both publishers and the people to tell the stories of our place and our time firmly believe that North Carolina needs — and deserves — a far, far better story for itself and its people than the one that has been coming out of Raleigh in recent years.”

It was like an overdose of porn

“My Father, the Pornographer” is much more than a look at a man who is regarded as one of the most prolific writers of pornography. In the book, the pornographer’s son carefully goes through his father’s astonishing legacy: more than 1,800 pounds of writing. Meanwhile, he also recounts his childhood with a man whom he found terrifying. “My father was a brilliant man, a true iconoclast,” Offutt writes, “fiercely self-reliant, a dark genius, cruel, selfish, and eternally optimistic.” His memoir is a tender and compassionate book that takes on a specific premise while revealing the universal complexities of child-parent relationships and the struggle of having family members whom we must accept can never love us properly. 

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Meet Whitney L. Grady

Award-Winning author Whitney L. Grady is author to the Young Adult adventure series "I Am Currency" where knowledge is not only power...it is currency. Her books "I Am Currency" and "Pass of the Crow-I Am Currency Book II" are available NOW everywhere books are sold! The third and final book of the series is due out this fall (2016)!

I am Currency

Would you turn in your books to a corrupt government, or would you join the Underground Book Movement? When a meteor slams into the earth causing a shift in the planet's magnetic core, the age of technology ends and economies across the globe crash. Years later, knowledge is not only power...it is currency. Bookkeepers are invaluable in this post-apocalyptic world. Nevel can never tell anyone he is a bookkeeper. His photographic memory is his secret. With a dystopian government that keeps all known books under lock and key looming as a constant threat and with parents involved as agents in the U.B.M. (Underground Book Movement) to protect the books that still secretly exist, Nevel is in a dangerous position. Never does this cause an issue until the day a fellow classmate, Quinn, appears at his door and proves to know more than she should.

Request an author appearance

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Southern Indie Bestsellers

For the week ending March 13. Books on the Southern Indie Bestseller List that are southern in nature or have been recently recommended by southern indie booksellers.

- A STARS Author | - A SIBA Okra Pick 
Titles in red are SIBA Book Award winners and finalists!
Printable versions: Hardcover | Paperback | Children.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr, Scribner, $27, 9781476746586
2. The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah, St. Martin's, $27.99, 9780312577223
3. The Swans of Fifth Avenue
Melanie Benjamin, Delacorte, $28, 9780345528698
4. The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins, Riverhead, $26.95, 9781594633669
5. Off the Grid
C.J. Box, Putnam, $27, 9780399176609
6. Rogue Lawyer
John Grisham, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385539432
7. My Name Is Lucy Barton
Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $26, 9781400067695
8. Midnight Sun
Jo Nesbo, Knopf, $23.95, 9780385354202
9. The Widow
Fiona Barton, NAL, $26, 9781101990261
10. The High Mountains of Portugal
Yann Martel, Spiegel & Grau, $27, 9780812997170
11. Cometh the Hour
Jeffrey Archer, St. Martin's, $27.99, 9781250061621
12. The Opposite of Everyone
Joshilyn Jackson, Morrow, $26.99, 9780062105684
13. Fates and Furies
Lauren Groff, Riverhead, $27.95, 9781594634475
14. Free Men
Katy Simpson Smith, Harper, $26.99, 9780062407597
15. The Steel Kiss
Jeffery Deaver, Grand Central, $28, 9781455536344

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. When Breath Becomes Air
Paul Kalanithi, Random House, $25, 9780812988406
2. The Road to Little Dribbling
Bill Bryson, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385539289
3. Dimestore: A Writer's Life
Lee Smith, Algonquin, $24.95, 9781616205027
4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Marie Kondo, Ten Speed Press, $16.99, 9781607747307
5. Between the World and Me
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Spiegel & Grau, $24, 9780812993547
6. Being Mortal
Atul Gawande, Metropolitan, $26, 9780805095159
7. My Southern Journey
Rick Bragg, Oxmoor House, $27.95, 9780848746391
8. Conspiracies of the Ruling Class: How to Break Their Grip Forever
Lawrence Lindsey, Simon & Schuster, $26, 9781501144233
9. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Carlo Rovelli, Riverhead, $18, 9780399184413
10. Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert, Riverhead, $24.95, 9781594634710
11. Dark Money
Jane Mayer, Doubleday, $29.95, 9780385535595
12. On My Own
Diane Rehm, Knopf, $23.95, 9781101875285
13. The Legends Club
John Feinstein, Doubleday, $27.95, 9780385539418
14. In Other Words
Jhumpa Lahiri, Knopf, $26.95, 9781101875551
15. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates
Brian Kilmeade, Don Yaeger, Sentinel, $27.95, 9781591848066

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante, Europa Editions, $17, 9781609450786
2. Brooklyn
Colm Toibin, Scribner, $15, 9781501106477
3. A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman, Washington Square Press, $16, 9781476738024
4. A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara, Anchor, $17, 9780804172707
5. Me Before You
Jojo Moyes, Penguin, $16, 9780143124542
6. Room
Emma Donoghue, Back Bay, $16.99, 9780316391344
7. The Story of a New Name
Elena Ferrante, Europa Editions, $18, 9781609451349
8. The Revenant
Michael Punke, Picador USA, $16, 9781250101198
9. Orphan Train
Christina Baker Kline, Morrow, $14.99, 9780061950728
10. The Great Gatsby
F.Scott Fitzgerald, Scribner, $15, 9781451689433
11. The Martian
Andy Weir, Broadway, $15, 9781101903582
12. Ready Player One
Ernest Cline, Broadway, $16, 9780307887443
13. The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro, Vintage, $16, 9780307455796
14. The Alchemist (25th Anniversary Edition)
Paulo Coelho, HarperOne, $16.99, 9780062315007
15. A Paris Apartment
Michelle Gable, St. Martin's Griffin, $15.99, 9781250067777

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. H Is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald, Grove Press, $16, 9780802124739
2. The Mindfulness Coloring Book
Emma Farrarons, Experiment, $9.95, 9781615192823
3. Alexander Hamilton
Ron Chernow, Penguin, $20, 9780143034759
4. The Boys in the Boat
Daniel James Brown, Penguin, $17, 9780143125471
5. The Big Short
Michael Lewis, Norton, $15.95, 9780393353150
6. In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson, Broadway, $16, 9780307408853
7. The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson, Vintage, $16, 9780375725609
8. Doctor Who Coloring Book
Price Stern Sloan, $14.99, 9780399542299
9. The Churchill Factor
Boris Johnson, Riverhead Books, $18, 9781594633980
10. I Am Malala
Malala Yousafzai, Back Bay, $16, 9780316322423
11. Empire of Cotton
Sven Beckert, Vintage, $17.95, 9780375713965
12. Healing After Loss
Martha Whitmore Hickman, Harper Perennial, $13.99, 9780380773381
13. The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Volume Two
Emma Farrarons, Experiment, $9.95, 9781615193028
14. You Are a Badass
Jen Sincero, Running Press, $16, 9780762447695
15. Yes Please
Amy Poehler, Dey Street, $16.99, 9780062268358

MASS MARKET

1. 1984
George Orwell, Signet, $9.99, 9780451524935
2. A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin, Bantam, $9.99, 9780553593716
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee, Grand Central, $8.99, 9780446310789
4. Animal Farm
George Orwell, Signet, $9.99, 9780451526342
5. Lord of the Flies
William Golding, Perigee, $9.99, 9780399501487
6. The Stranger
Harlan Coben, Dutton, $9.99, 9780451414137
7. The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger, Little Brown, $8.99, 9780316769488
8. The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss, DAW, $8.99, 9780756404741
9. A Clash of Kings
George R.R. Martin, Bantam, $9.99, 9780345535429
10. The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank, Bantam, $7.99, 9780553577129

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED

1. Pat the Bunny
Dorothy Kunhardt, Golden, $9.99, 9780307120007
2. Finding Winnie
Lindsay Mattick, Sophie Blackall (Illus.), Little Brown, $18, 9780316324908
3. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617
4. Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak, Harper, $18.99, 9780060254926
5. Green Eggs and Ham
Dr. Seuss, Random House, $8.99, 9780394800165
6. The Day the Crayons Came Home
Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers (Illus.), Philomel, $18.99, 9780399172755
7. The Day the Crayons Quit
Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers (Illus.), Philomel, $17.99, 9780399255373
8. Easter Egg
Jan Brett, Putnam, $17.99, 9780399252389
9. What Pet Should I Get?
Dr. Seuss, Random House, $17.99, 9780553524260
10. Happy Easter, Curious George
Margret Rey, H.A. Rey, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $9.99, 9780547048253

CHILDREN'S INTEREST

1. Lady Midnight
Cassandra Clare, Margaret K. McElderry Books, $24.99, 9781442468351
2. Pax
Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen (Illus.), Balzer + Bray, $16.99, 9780062377012
3. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $19.99, 9781423160915
4. Salt to the Sea
Ruta Sepetys, Philomel, $18.99, 9780399160301
5. I'll Give You the Sun
Jandy Nelson, Speak, $10.99, 9780142425763
6. Minecraft: Construction Handbook
Matthew Needler, Phil Southam, Scholastic, $8.99, 9780545823258
7. If I Stay
Gayle Forman, Speak, $10.99, 9780147514530
8. The Giver
Lois Lowry, Harcourt, $9.99, 9780544340688
9. Minecraft: Redstone Handbook
Nick Farwell, Scholastic, $8.99, 9780545823241
10. The One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate, Patricia Castelao (Illus.), Harper, $7.99, 9780061992278

CHILDREN'S FICTION SERIES TITLES

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.K.Rowling, Scholastic, $10.99, 9780590353427
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School
Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $13.95, 9781419717017
3. The Maze Runner
James Dashner, Delacorte, $10.99, 9780385385206
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $13.95, 9780810994737
5. Big Nate Blasts Off
Lincoln Peirce, Balzer + Bray, $13.99, 9780062111111
6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Harry Potter)
Newt Scamander, Arthur A. Levine Books, $9.99, 9780545850568
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $13.95, 9781419711893
8. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $7.99, 9781423103349
9. Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Collection
Marissa Meyer, Feiwel & Friends, $17.99, 9781250091840
10. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
Rick Riordan, Hyperion, $7.99, 9781423134947

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Special to the Southern List

Click on a book to purchase from a great indie bookstore! See the full Southern Indie Bestseller list here.

Events

Events at Southern Indie Bookstores

UNC Humanities in Action: Muslim Societies since 1945  (other event)
03/23/2016, 04:30 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

ERIK LARSON in conversation with DENISE KIERNAN -ticketed event at UNCA's Humanities Lecture Hall  (author appearance)
Erik Larson | 03/23/2016, 07:00 pm | Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe | Asheville, NC

William Brettmann discusses War Poets of the Western Front  (author appearance)
William Brettmann | 03/23/2016, 04:00 pm | McIntyre's Fine Books | Pittsboro, NC

Lee Smith - 'Dimestore: A Writer's Life' (off-site event; free admission; signing line ticket)  (author appearance)
Lee Smith | 03/23/2016, 07:00 pm | Quail Ridge Books & Music | Raleigh, NC

Henry Petroski -The Road Taken  (author appearance)
Henry Petroski | 03/23/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Happy Hours Book Club  (book club)
03/24/2016, 03:00 pm | Page & Palette | Fairhope, AL

Global Georgia Initiative: Paul Sutter – LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS GULLIES: PROVIDENCE CANYON AND THE SOILS OF THE SOUTH  (author appearance)
Paul Sutter | 03/24/2016, 05:00 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Laurent Dubois, -The Banjo: America's African Instrument  (author appearance)
Laurent Dubois | 03/24/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Erik Larson: Dead Wake  (author appearance)
Erik Larson | 03/24/2016, 05:00 pm | The Country Bookshop | Southern Pines, NC

Ross Howell Jr.  (author appearance)
Ross Howell Jr. | 03/24/2016, 05:00 pm | Hub City Bookshop | Spartanburg, SC

Author event with Alison Goodman, Alwyn Hamilton, Rachel Hawkins, Sabaa Tahir and April Genevieve Tucholke  (author appearance)
Alison Goodman | 03/24/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Avid Poetry Series: Lydia Conklin and Amber Dermont  (author appearance)
Lydia Conklin | 03/25/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Erik Larson - Dead Wake (off-site ticketed event)  (author appearance)
Erik Larson | 03/25/2016, 07:00 pm | Quail Ridge Books & Music | Raleigh, NC

Jan Ellison - Author of A Small Indiscretion  (author appearance)
Jan Ellison | 03/25/2016, 11:00 am | Litchfield Books | Pawleys Island, SC

Author Philip R. Wright: A GEECHEE HOMECOMING  (author appearance)
Philip R. Wright | 03/26/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

J.T. Ellison, No One Knows; Ariel Lawhon, Flight of Dreams  (author appearance)
J.T. Ellison | 03/26/2016, 01:00 pm | FoxTale Book Shoppe | Woodstock, GA

Sacrificial Poets Voicebox Youth Slam  (other event)
03/26/2016, 06:30 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

Erik Larson – Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania  (author appearance)
Erik Larson | 03/26/2016, 11:00 am | McIntyre's Fine Books | Pittsboro, NC

Lindsay Starck – Noah’s Wife  (author appearance)
Lindsay Starck | 03/26/2016, 02:00 pm | McIntyre's Fine Books | Pittsboro, NC

Double Book Signing: Gail Z. Martin - Shadow and Flame & Vendetta  (author appearance)
Gail Z. Martin | 03/26/2016, 02:00 pm | Park Road Books | Charlotte, NC

KIDS' Book Club - Special VIP Q&A with author Greg Neri! Book signing to follow  (author appearance)
Greg Neri | 03/28/2016, 06:30 pm | Inkwood Books | Tampa, FL

Baz Dreisinger - INCARCERATION NATIONS: A Journey to Prisons Around the World  (author appearance)
03/28/2016, 06:00 pm | Octavia Books | New Orleans, LA

There’s a Story Here with Jordy Searcy  (other event)
03/29/2016, 07:00 pm | Page & Palette | Fairhope, AL

Author Raymond Arroyo: WILL WILDER: THE RELIC OF PERILOUS FALLS  (author appearance)
Raymond Arroyo | 03/29/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

MATTHEW GRIFFIN presents HIDE  (author appearance)
Matthew Griffin | 03/29/2016, 07:00 pm | Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe | Asheville, NC

Francine Bryson Launch Party   (author appearance)
Francine Bryson | 03/29/2016, 07:00 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

UNC Humanities in Action: The Challenges to Democracy in Latin America  (other event)
03/30/2016, 04:30 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

Susan Higginbotham discusses her historical novel Hanging Mary  (author appearance)
Susan Higginbotham | 03/30/2016, 07:00 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

KEITH LEE MORRIS presents TRAVELERS REST  (author appearance)
Keith Morris | 03/30/2016, 07:00 pm | Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe | Asheville, NC

Book Signing: Katherine Clark - Expressions of Poetry in Season  (author appearance)
Katherine Clark | 03/30/2016, 07:00 pm | Park Road Books | Charlotte, NC

Michael Muhammad Knight -Why I am a Salafi  (author appearance)
Michael Muhammad Knight | 03/30/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

DAVID KUSHNER discusses and signs ALLIGATOR CANDY  (author appearance)
David Kushner | 03/31/2016, 07:00 pm | Inkwood Books | Tampa, FL

Book Party: THE WILD TREASURY OF NATURE - Philip Juras, Dorinda Dallmeyer, and Janice Simon  (author appearance)
Philip Juras | 03/31/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

WORKS IN TRANSLATION BOOK CLUB discusses THE ISLANDERS  (author appearance)
03/31/2016, 07:00 pm | Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe | Asheville, NC

Steve Jurovics - Hospitable Planet (at QRB On the Fly)  (author appearance)
Steve Jurovics | 03/31/2016, 07:00 pm | Quail Ridge Books & Music | Raleigh, NC

Darnelle Arnoult -Galaxie Wagon  (author appearance)
Darnelle Arnoult | 03/31/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Keith Lee Morris  (author appearance)
Keith Lee Morris | 03/31/2016, 07:00 pm | Hub City Bookshop | Spartanburg, SC

Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater Lunchtime Free Demo Event with Authors!  (author appearance)
Nimali Fernando | 03/31/2016, 01:00 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Meet the Author: Evania Rose  (author appearance)
Evania Rose | 04/01/2016, 05:00 pm | Page After Page Bookstore | Elizabeth City

First Friday Author Round Up - Adrienne Cooley & Phillip Otts  (author appearance)
Adrienne Cooley | 04/01/2016, 06:00 pm | Page & Palette | Fairhope, AL

Matthew Griffin discusses his debut novel Hide  (author appearance)
Matthew Griffin | 04/01/2016, 07:00 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

Poets Jaimee Hills & Jennifer Whitaker  (author appearance)
Jennifer Whitaker | 04/01/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Taylor Brown - Author of Fallen Land  (author appearance)
Taylor Brown | 04/01/2016, 11:00 am | Litchfield Books | Pawleys Island, SC

Author event with Nashville's Youth Poet Laureate Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay  (author appearance)
Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay | 04/01/2016, 06:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

An Evening of Mystery with Bryan Robinson  (author appearance)
Bryan Robinson | 04/02/2016, 07:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Author event with Josh Bledsoe author of Hammer and Nails  (author appearance)
Josh Bledsoe | 04/02/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Robin Conley -Confronting the Death Penalty: How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases  (author appearance)
Robin Conley | 04/03/2016, 04:30 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Jacquelyn Mitchard author of Two if by Sea  (author appearance)
Jacquelyn Mitchard | 04/03/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Local Author G. Derek Adams Launch Party: ASTEROID MADE OF DRAGONS  (author appearance)
G. Derek Adams | 04/05/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Kurt Gray -The Mind Club  (author appearance)
Kurt Gray | 04/05/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Emery Lord author of When We Collided  (author appearance)
Emery Lord | 04/05/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Brett Busang Presents I Shot Bruce: A Novel  (author appearance)
Brett Busang | 04/05/2016, 06:30 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Ann Packer discusses her novel The Children's Crusade  (author appearance)
Ann Packer | 04/06/2016, 07:00 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

Tim Johnston – Descent  (author appearance)
Tim Johnston | 04/06/2016, 06:30 pm | McIntyre's Fine Books | Pittsboro, NC

James S. House -Beyond Obamacare: Life, Death, and Social Policy  (author appearance)
James S. | 04/06/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Dr. Jason Miller Discusses Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's Rhetoric  (author appearance)
Jason Miller | 04/06/2016, 06:30 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Emery Lord discusses her new YA novel, When We Collided  (author appearance)
Emery Lord | 04/07/2016, 12:45 pm | Flyleaf Books | Chapel Hill, NC

Danielle Ofri, 2016 Emerson Lecture  (other event)
04/07/2016, 05:45 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Stuart Gibbs author of Spaced Out  (author appearance)
Stuart Gibbs | 04/07/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Meet Author Peter Selgin  (author appearance)
Peter Selgin | 04/08/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Stephanie Storey -Oil & Marble  (author appearance)
Stephanie Storey | 04/08/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Sara Foster In-Store Book Signing  (author appearance)
Sara Foster | 04/08/2016, 02:00 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Carl Galante Photography Exhibition  (other event)
04/08/2016, 06:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Susan Boyer - Author of Lowcountry Bordello  (author appearance)
Susan M. Boyer | 04/08/2016, 11:00 am | Litchfield Books | Pawleys Island, SC

Ten Minute Tarot featuring Phil Powers  (other event)
04/09/2016, 06:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Author event with Ross Howell Jr. author of Forsaken  (author appearance)
Ross Howell Jr. | 04/09/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Matt Gallager -Youngblood  (author appearance)
Matt Gallager | 04/11/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

2016 Teen Writing Seminar   (writers group)
04/11/2016, 04:30 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Author event with Ginger Manley author of Proud Flesh  (author appearance)
Ginger Manley | 04/11/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Author M.O. Walsh: MY SUNSHINE AWAY  (author appearance)
M.O. Walsh | 04/12/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Jason Miller -Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's Rhetoric  (author appearance)
Jason Miller | 04/12/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Ann B. Ross Talk and Signing  (author appearance)
Ann B. Ross | 04/12/2016, 02:00 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Stephanie Storey - Oil and Marble   (author appearance)
04/12/2016, 05:00 pm | Hub City Bookshop | Spartanburg, SC

Sit. Sip. Write. Creative Writing Group  (other event)
04/12/2016, 06:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Author event with Julie Buxbaum in conversation with Jeff Zentner  (author appearance)
Julie Buxbaum | 04/12/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Kristy Woodson Harvey Book Talk and Signing  (author appearance)
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 04/13/2016, 06:00 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Author event with Steve Berry author of The 14th Colony  (author appearance)
Steve Berry | 04/13/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Kathleen Grissom  (author appearance)
Kathleen Grissom | 04/14/2016, 07:00 pm | Bookmiser | Roswell, GA

Lee Smith - Dimestore: A Writer's Life  (author appearance)
Lee Smith | 04/14/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Dan Santat Book Talk & Signing   (author appearance)
Dan Santat | 04/14/2016, 06:00 pm | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Author event with Tom Bissell author of Apostle  (author appearance)
Tom Bissell | 04/14/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

JABBIES: Judge-A-Book-By-Its-Spine with Craig Popelars and Michael Reynolds  (other event)
04/14/2016, 06:30 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Signing with Author Kristy Woodson Harvey  (author appearance)
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 04/15/2016, 06:00 pm | Literary BookPost | Salisbury, NC

South Carolina Academy of Authors 30th Anniversary  (other event)
04/15/2016, 10:00 am | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Bo Petersen - Author of Washing Our Hands in the Clouds  (author appearance)
Bo Petersen | 04/15/2016, 11:00 am | Litchfield Books | Pawleys Island, SC

Author event with Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner  (author appearance)
Alicia Ybarbo | 04/15/2016, 05:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Kathleen Grisson, Glory Over Everything  (author appearance)
Kathleen Grisson | 04/16/2016, 01:00 pm | FoxTale Book Shoppe | Woodstock, GA

Book Signing with Jamie Mason  (author appearance)
Jamie Mason | 04/16/2016, 02:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Author event with Brooks Benjamin author of My Seventh Grade Life in Tights  (author appearance)
Brooks Benjamin | 04/16/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Author event with Jessica Knoll author of Luckiest Girl Alive  (author appearance)
Jessica Knoll | 04/17/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Parnassus Book Club - The Color of Water  (book club)
04/18/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

DAVID SEDARIS!!!!!!!  (author appearance)
David Sedaris | 04/18/2016, 07:00 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Fred Chappell - A Shadow All of Light  (author appearance)
Fred Chappell | 04/19/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Ken Ilgunas - Trespassing Across America  (author appearance)
Ken Ilgunas | 04/21/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Robyn Carr author of What We Find  (author appearance)
Robyn Carr | 04/21/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

National Poetry Month Event - John Guzlowski Reads from Echoes of Tattered Tongues: Memory Unfolded  (author appearance)
John Guzlowski | 04/21/2016, 06:30 pm | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Kim Michele Richardson, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field Book Launch  (author appearance)
Kim Michele | 04/22/2016, 06:30 pm | FoxTale Book Shoppe | Woodstock, GA

Facts and Fiction: Literary Trivia at Joe’s Place  (other event)
04/22/2016, 07:00 pm | Joe's Place | Greenville, SC

Kristy Woodson Harvey - Author of Lies and Other Acts of Love  (author appearance)
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 04/22/2016 | Litchfield Books | Pawleys Island, SC

Belmont University's Spring Leadership Luncheon with Arianna Huffington  (author appearance)
Arianna Huffington | 04/22/2016, 11:00 am | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Kristy Woodson Harvey, Lies and Other Acts of Love  (author appearance)
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 04/23/2016, 01:00 pm | FoxTale Book Shoppe | Woodstock, GA

Author Kristy Woodson Harvey: LIES AND OTHER ACTS OF LOVE  (author appearance)
Kristy Woodson Harvey | 04/24/2016, 06:30 pm | Avid Bookshop | Athens, GA

Author event with middle grade authors Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, Gail Nall and Lois Stephban  (author appearance)
Gail Nall | 04/24/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Author event with J.A. Jance author of Clawback  (author appearance)
J.A. Jance | 04/25/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Author event with NOFX authors of The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories  (author appearance)
NOFX Authors | 04/26/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Kathleen Grissom - Glory Over Everything  (author appearance)
Kathleen Grissom | 04/27/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Richard Zacks author of Chasing the Last Laugh  (author appearance)
Richard Zacks | 04/27/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Robin Kirk - Peculiar Motion  (author appearance)
Robin Kirk | 04/28/2016, 07:00 pm | Regulator Bookshop | Durham, NC

Author event with Roy Neel author of The Electors  (author appearance)
Roy Neel | 04/28/2016, 06:30 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Independent Bookstore Day featuring Kathleen Grissom and Gil Allen  (author appearance)
Kathleen Grissom | 04/30/2016, 09:00 am | Fiction Addiction | Greenville, SC

Author event with S. Teague and Shana Thornton authors of Seasons of Balance  (author appearance)
Shana Thornton | 04/30/2016, 02:00 pm | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

Independent Bookstore Day 2016!  (other event)
04/30/2016, 10:00 am | Fountain Bookstore | Richmond, VA

Authors Round the South
www.authorsroundthesouth.com