Book of the Year to be announced Sunday, December 15. 

Which one will win? Any of these titles make fine holiday gifts.

(Finalists listed alphabetically by title.)

Birdhouse Jesus by Terri Chastain

Using a combination of charm and horror and finally transcendence, Chastain creates a protagonist who comes to terms with childhood abuse by her alcoholic father. At six years old, Mary Alice Lydell is consumed by fear. No one can protect her from the monster she cannot name. Although Birdhouse Jesus is a story of trauma and betrayal, it is also one of resilience and hope, as Mary Alice struggles to become the woman that a part of her has always known she could be.

Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood by Bradley Sides

Though small in stature, Sides’s exploration of the human condition—death, grief, jealousy, neglect, the sins of the parents—packs a punch. In the same thread of author Angela Carter, Sides experiments with anthropomorphism and symbolic animalism building on fable, fantasy, and horror. Sides is a playful writer, much like George Saunders, who enjoys ribbing the reader with his unique characters, settings, and story structures. Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood is an amusement park ride of terrifically fantastical stories where the reader wishes the joyride would never end.

Glass Cabin by Tina Mozelle Braziel and James Braziel

A singularly beautiful book, radiant with life-affirming prose and poetry from husband-and-wife team.  In alternating voices, Jim and Tina tell a vivid, engaging story of how they built a cabin constructed in the wilds of Alabama. These poems explore the work it takes to measure cuts for stairs, to haul water-one ton at a time-up the side of the mountain, and to write. It is also a meditation on hope, on frustration, and their place in the wilder parts of the world.

Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennifer Capo Crucet

A bold and original story of a Cuban refugee and an orca. Crucet’s novel shines a light on the horror of whales confined in small tanks, removed from their families and forced to perform. It also highlights the culture of the Miami Cuban community through a teenage boy obsessed first by a rapper, and then by the movie Scarface. Slowly, Crucet reveals the boy’s underlying quest to recover the memory of how he came to the States and how his mother died.

Without You Here by Jody Hobbs Hessler

With achingly beautiful prose, Hesler explores mental illness and the devastating effects of suicide on family members left behind.  Without You Here is about generational trauma, mental illness, sloppy family dynamics, dangerous marriages, and the beautiful, redemptive nature of affection and love. Noreen, twenty-seven, is the same age as her beloved Aunt Nonnie when she committed suicide. In the end Noreen is left to ask: Will her life forever be defined by her aunt? And can she stop history from repeating itself?

Wofford’s Blood by Donna Coffey Little

Outstanding research underlies this tale, set up as a series of interviews with James Wofford, a half Cherokee, half White man who served as an interpreter on the Trail of Tears. The novel captures the angst of a relatively unknown historical figure caught between two cultures, considered as an outsider at times by each. Wofford shares Cherokee rituals, myths, legends, and prayers that were part of his life. Kudos to Donna Coffey Little for providing a voice to Native Americans who deserve to be more widely understood and heard.

2024 Gift Guide for Book Lovers

Donna’s  Picks

• For those who like literary-style memoirs with poetic touches:
  • My Life in Water by Cat Pleska
• For the one who enjoys memoirs about people who pull themselves up from hard times:
  • Lunchladies Bought My Prom Dress by Heather Ream
• For those who love historical fiction with strong environmental themes, here’s one that looks at the effects of a West Virginia disaster on survivors:
  • Beyond Buffalo by Betsy Reeder.
• For the mystery lover, a tale set in Asheville’s Grove Park Inn:
  • The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape by Terry Roberts
• For those who like gripping medical thrillers:
  • Treatment Plan by Darryl Bollinger
• For those who love smart speculative fiction:
  • Perpendicular Women by Chris Coward
• For those who enjoy feel-good stories set in small towns:
  • Ditch Weed by Rhett DeVane
• For those who like well-crafted stories about children endangered by homelessness:
  • Hotel Impala by Pat Spears
• For those who like beautiful coffee table books:
  • Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia by Matt Williams
• For the music lover:
  • Out of the Blue: Life on the Road with Muddy Waters by Brian Bisesi

Dawn’s Picks

• Make Some Wretched Fool to Pay by Christopher Lowe: For fans of Harry Crews, Larry Brown, Ron Rash, and Willliam Gay will want to read Lowe’s collection of shorts. Lowe does a deep dive into the SEC with his hard-hitting, no-bones-about-it, gritty Southern realism.
• The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock: With its lush prose and equally lush setting, Brock’s novel weaves in the history of Cumberland, GA with folklore, ghosts, island magic and secrets all with an eye for the art of storytelling. Southern Gothic and historical fiction readers will enjoy this novel.
• The Guava Tree by Andew Diaz Winkelman: Inspired by Winkelman’s Abuela Ines, Winkelman tells the tale of his grandmother’s search for a homeland after first leaving Lebanon for Cuba and then Cuba for America during the Revolution. Every son and daughter of first generation immigrants will want to read this novel.
• Sex Romp Gone Wrong by Julia Ridley Smith. A collection of short stories that explores the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, friendships between adult women, and the female experience in a patriarchal workplace all with the perfect balance of humor and angst.
• From Me to Us by Mike Coleman: Both an LBTQ pick and for anyone who has experienced outsiderism, this memoir tells the story of Coleman reconciling being gay in the 1970’s against the backdrop of an unaccepting family and homophobia. A love letter to Coleman’s partner and ultimately to himself, the author learns to love and accept himself.
• Accidental Activist by Mary Allen Jolley: From growing up in Depression-era rural Alabama to working with the upper echelon in Washington DC, Jolley’s unswerving integrity and commitment to education and social justice is an inspiration to all readers.
• They All Rest in the Boneyard Now by Raymond L. Atkins and Evelyn Mayton (Illustrator): For cemetery enthusiasts, Atkins’s poetry is both witty, thoughtful and totally approachable. As an added bonus, the collection was illustrated by Mayton who drew the real settings that inspired Atkins poems.
• The Haunting of Borden House (Book Three in the Dreamist Series) by Kim Poovey: For readers looking to sink their teeth into a haunted series, go no further. Set at the Lizzie Borden House, Poovey stirs up the ghosts of the past with America’s most infamous murder mystery.
• Hollow Out The Dark by James Wade: A synthesis of the Southern Gothic and Western Horror genres, Wade carved out every single word creating a dark and haunting prose you will savor for the language alone. For readers lamenting the loss of Cormac McCarthy, they well be roused by characters you don’t want to turn your back on and plots driven by old god violence.
• No Perfect Mothers by Karen Spears Zacharias: A must read for historical fiction readers, the novel reveals horrific truth about the injustices of eugenics and women’s rights, the novel gives voice to a dark history that sadly resonates with modern day anti-feminist polices.

Claire’s Picks

• Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke. Historical fiction at its best, James Lee Burke at his best in a complex, compelling, character-driven novel of the Civil War in Louisiana, told from diverse points of view.
• A Glooming Peace This Morning by Allen Mendenhall. Achingly lovely, stirring novel about confused youth, a tragically mismatched relationship, and small-town Deep South in the 1970s, this haunting story will stay with you long after you close the book.
• All We Were Promised  by Ashton Lattimore. Historical fiction in which three Black women in 1838 Philadelphia change each other’s lives—one a visiting slave hoping to escape further north, one a free-born Black abolitionist, and one an escaped slave living a precarious lie.
• The Halo of Bees: New and Selected Poems 1990-2023 by Michael Hettich. Brilliant and beautiful collection, comprehensive, varied, enthralling, by one of the best poets writing today, these are thoughtful, vibrant poems across a broad range of topics.
• Dirt Songs by Kari Gunter-Seymour. From Ohio’s Poet Laureate, superb poetry celebrating the wild energy and lustful passions of youth and the natural world of Appalachia, balancing the regrets, and all with precise language, fresh imagery, and vivid impact.
• Valediction: Poems and Prose by Linda Parsons. Poems and essays which are both personal and yet universal, earthly yet spiritual, sometime poignant, yet rather exuberant on balance, with an abiding sense of resilience and rebirth.
• The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James. Ambitious historical fiction, a fascinating, wild yarn of a story with elements of a classic western adventure invigorated with mystical realism and more than a gloss of karmic turbulence.
• Through Any Window by Deb Richardson-Moore. A robust, twisty, character driven novel with not one, but three unsolved murders, crisp prose, conflicts galore, and excellent world-building with just the right touch of quirky, social commentary, and humor.
• The Pearl Diver’s Daughter by Michael Blanchard. Gently intellectual and lyrical poems which often question the place in the world for both poetry and for a poet, written with a strong sense of curiosity and wonder, the poems are a delight—and sometimes a mystery.
• Lake County by Lori Roy: Set in the days of Marilyn Monroe and bolita, this is a treasure of a historical mystery/thriller/suspense novel, well imagined and charming, even with its violence and a complicated work with a dash of noir and a righteous dose of historical Tampa Bay area, Florida