Bookshelf: 7 new Southern books for your fall reading list
Fall marks the release of an eclectic mix of new titles by Southern authors, including one by literary legend Harper Lee, who died in 2016. With topics ranging from a feminist horror story to a strip club thriller to a biography of a musical legend, here are seven intriguing books coming out soon.
“Living in the Present with John Prine.” Before he died from COVID-19 in April 2020, singer-songwriter John Prine had begun working on his memoir with Tom Piazza, a Louisiana author who has spent two decades writing about music, literature, Southern history and New Orleans in novels, essays, articles and the TV series “Treme.” In the wake of Prine’s death, Piazza turned the project into a personal account of his friendship with the musician and an intimate look at the last years of his life. (W.W. Norton, Sept. 9)
“House of Smoke.” John T. Edge, founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) and author of “The Potlikker Papers,” turns his attention on himself in this revealing memoir. While charting a path from his chaotic childhood in Middle Georgia to becoming a leading authority on Southern food, Edge confronts with candor the harmful Southern myths he grew up believing and the fallout surrounding his public ouster from SFA. (Crown, Sept. 16)
“Angels at the Gate.” A small, cloistered private college in the remote hills of Tennessee during the ‘80s serves as the setting for Atlanta author Sheri Joseph’s new novel. Leah, a sheltered scholarship student and perennial outsider, seeks a sense of belonging with some English lit nerds in the Gamma Chi fraternity, who are dealing with the mysterious death of a polarizing member. Time seems to stand still in this poignant, evocative glimpse at a pivotal moment in a young woman’s life as she navigates an all-consuming crush, a summer fling and a startling revelation. (Regal House, Sept. 23)
“Boom Town.” New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone of Atlanta has built a successful career writing topical YA books like “Dear Martin” and “Odd One Out” that grab young readers’ attention. Now she’s branching out with her first adult novel — in more ways than one. This thriller takes place in an Atlanta gentleman’s club where stripper Lyriq is determined to find out what happened to her co-workers Lucky and Charm, who have gone missing. In typical Stone fashion, her fiction addresses real-world issues like the disparity of public attention and media coverage for missing women of color compared to missing white women. (Simon & Schuster, Oct. 14)
“35 Natural Wonders of Georgia to See Before You Die.” The Altamaha River. Providence Canyon. Brasstown Bald. Okefenokee Swamp. Those are just a few of the sites highlighted in this survey of the state’s most beautiful, biodiverse, geologically significant places by Charles Seabrook, nature columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Accompanying Seabrook’s elegant descriptions of each location’s unique qualities are gorgeous illustrations featuring the paintings and field sketches of artist Ann Litrel. (UGA Press, Oct. 15)
“The Land of Sweet Forever.” The publishers are playing it close to the vest — advance copies are embargoed and the cover design has yet to be revealed. But the estate of “To Kill a Mockingbird” scribe Harper Lee has excavated her archives to release this collection of “early short fiction and later nonfiction” on “the Alabama schoolyards of Lee’s youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan,” according to the publisher’s website. Lee biographer Casey Cep, author of “Furious Hours,” provides the introduction. (Harper, Oct. 21)
“Dark Sisters.” When pushed too far, three female protagonists in three different eras — 1750, 1953 and 2007 — invoke a devastating power to challenge the patriarchy and assert autonomy within their oppressive environments in Atlanta author Kristi DeMeester’s haunting feminist horror tale. Witchcraft and an ancient legend are deployed in this sprawling saga to battle misogyny, homophobia and the iron-fisted grip of a religious cult determined to render women subservient. (St. Martin’s Press, Dec. 9)
