Southern Review of Books

11/21/2025

"In an era still grappling with political polarization and the weaponization of fear, Midnight in Memphis reminds us that justice is not merely about punishment, but about truth, accountability, and the courage to confront what divides us."

New review of MIDNIGHT IN MEMPHIS by Thomas Dann. Crooked Lane Books

Thomas Dann’s debut is much more than a typical whodunit.

11/19/2025

Our holiday plans definitely include knocking out a book or two from our (excessively long) TBR — but we've also added a few from this list of new Southern books out this month.

https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/11/19/best-books-of-november-2025/

11/12/2025

"Hutton’s narrative moves nonlinearly, shifting between the 1940s and 1970s, as well as geographically between Washington, D.C. and North Carolina. This temporal fluidity may initially disorient readers, but it becomes integral to the story’s emotional architecture, reflecting the fragmented nature of memory and regret while tracing the characters’ dreams, unconscious desires, and recollections."

New review of IF YOU LEAVE by Margaret Hutton. Regal House Publishing

Through interwoven narratives, Hutton uncovers how leaving can be an act of love, growth, and self-discovery, especially between mothers and daughters.

11/07/2025

"Unsurprisingly, much of BEARD reads like really good gossip. I was hooked from the start, in part because I wanted to know how it all unraveled, but also because the unraveling is done in a way that is both like a confession and an intro to q***r theory."

New review of Kelly Foster Lundquist's BEARD. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

“Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage” by Kelly Foster Lundquist threads religion, sexuality, identity and acceptance.

11/05/2025

"In these places, Brown discovered that the land was teeming with life, ultimately coming to recognize this life as an indication of the remarkable resilience of wild nature thriving in the interstitial habitat humans had abandoned. This realization catalyzed his project, driven as he is by the belief that by working to heal the wounds we have made on the landscape, we might also begin to heal the conflicts within ourselves."

New review of A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS by Christopher Brown. Timber Press

A review of Christopher Brown’s “A Natural History of Empty Lots,” which records Brown’s exploration of the murky lines between “nature” and “civilization.…

10/28/2025

SRB Editor Victoria Ward talks about her favorite spooky (yet nightmare-free) shows to watch this Halloween.

SRB Editor Victoria Ward talks about her favorite spooky yet nightmare-free shows for Halloween.

10/25/2025

Looking for something new this month? Check out this list of fantastic October releases!

https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/10/24/best-southern-books-of-october-2025/

10/22/2025

"The novel’s 'soft apocalypse,' as the narrator might call it, is set in the near future and bears many of the markers of dystopian science fiction. ... the planet provides no stability or safety; neither do institutions or governments."

New review of HAPPY BAD by Delaney Nolan. Astra House Books

What would have felt, twenty years ago, like a fairly extreme climate apocalypse novel reads like tomorrow’s news, or even yesterday’s.

10/21/2025

"More than most books, an essay collection reveals the author’s character: we read him in different circumstances, confronted by new conflicts, and through this continual shift of setting and time we witness his true self which, in Harrigan’s case, is a self defined by humility and heart."

New review of AN ANCHOR IN THE SEA OF TIME by Stephen Harrigan. University of Texas Press

A review of author Stephen Harrigan’s first essay collection since 2013.

10/20/2025

"Despite the heat of grief, the stories offer vignettes of respite in the catharsis that comes after loss, reminiscent of embers glittering like stars in ashen remains."

New review of WHAT REMAINS AFER A FIRE by Kanza Javed. W. W. Norton & Company

Kanza Javed’s debut burns bright with grief, memory, and unflinching beauty.

10/14/2025

“I wrote poems as if they were teenage bedrooms, full of music posters and tchotchkes, especially because most poems in this collection explore adolescence, family, nostalgia, and Mexican-American culture…. So much of my adolescent depression was due to feeling like an outsider, and my method of escape was through movies and music. How could I not go into the particular references?”

Happy pub day to THE PAST IS A JEAN JACKET! Check out Cloud Delfina Cardona’s movie reference guide and read more about pop culture references in her essay on the SRB. Hub City Bookshop

https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/10/14/the-past-is-a-jean-jacket-cloud-delfina-cardona-feature/

10/10/2025

"I’ve listened obsessively to the way people in Kentucky speak, especially in rural areas. It’s glorious. There’s a music to it. I get in my car and carry on conversations with myself from the mouths of people I’ve heard speak just as a means of entertainment. I take that same energy to the page."

New interview with Chris McGinley and Wes Brown on THEY ALL FALL THE SAME. Crooked Lane Books

If you wanna take a hell-ride into central Kentucky, read Wes Browne’s newest novel, “They All Fall the Same.”