You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by Ada Limón
The book I went back to again and again this year is You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. Edited by Ada Limón, the book’s fifty poems take the reader on a wild and meditative jaunt through the landscape of our world and lives. As Limón says, “Not unlike a redwood forest or a line of crepe myrtles in an otherwise cement landscape, poems can be a place to stop and remember that we too are living.”
—Dave DiBenedetto, editor-in-chief
James, by Percival Everett
“With James, Everett has mounted a high-stakes, revisionist raid not just on Twain’s imagination but on ours as a nation,” writes G&G contributing editor Jonathan Miles in his review of Everett’s award-winning novel. Watch a conversation between Everett and Miles at the G&G offices here.
Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show, by Tommy Tomlinson
Almost every time I look at my two Yorkie mixes, Oscar and Felix, I think about what I learned from G&G contributor Tommy Tomlinson’s Dogland. For the book, Tomlinson followed a snowy white Samoyed’s quest to become a champion at America’s oldest and most beloved dog show, but Dogland is about so much more: humans’ relationship to dogs, breed histories, and top pups in pop culture. As the Charlotte writer puts it, “The dog is humankind’s greatest invention.”
—Amanda Heckert, deputy editor
Bayou, by Melissa M. Martin
In her second cookbook, the James Beard Award–winning writer and owner of the Mosquito Supper Club spotlights the culinary traditions of her Southern Louisiana homeland. The gorgeously photographed collection features personal stories and one hundred recipes for the hallmarks of the Cajun calendar. Originally titled Communion (as she told us in a recent interview), the book shares the importance of celebrating life’s big and little moments, enjoying the fellowship of dining together, and appreciating the origins of one’s food. “It’s an art of living and slowing down that we are losing so quickly,” she says.
—Emily Daily, newsletter editor
Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden, by Bunny Williams
Bunny Williams’s first garden memories are dusted with her native Virginia’s red-clay soil. Throughout her personal and beautiful botanical memoir, Williams digs into her love of plants, sharing outdoor hosting tips, design sketches, and photographs of her own garden through the seasons. She shared even more tips and stories when she visited for our G&G Reads event this year.
—CJ Lotz Diego, senior editor
Truckload of Art: The Life and Work of Terry Allen, by Brendan Greaves
“Talking about art,” as Terry Allen once said, may be “trying to French kiss over the telephone,” but Greaves does an admirable job describing the ecumenical contexts and nuances of what are often indescribable works. But he does an even grander job, with clear but measured affection, getting onto the page the contexts and nuances of Allen, an utterly unique figure at the crossroads—or maybe better, the eight-way interchange—of American art, however you define it.
—Jonathan Miles, in his review
Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, by Tama Matsuoka Wong
Despite its thud factor and gorgeous photography, this is a workhorse guide meant for dog-earing, one that transformed the way I look at my yard. As a forager to top chefs, Wong is all about following Mother Nature’s lead and finding beauty and nourishment in whatever springs forth.
—Elizabeth Florio, digital editor
The Great River, by Boyce Upholt
If a beach read is doing its job, the details should stick like wet sand. Or in the case of The Great River, like Mississippi silt. In his new chronicle of the South’s iconic waterway, the New Orleans journalist Boyce Upholt slides fascinating lore alongside jolting conservation truths. —CJ Lotz Diego
Our South: Black Food Through My Lens, by Ashleigh Shanti
To paraphrase Zora Neal Hurston, Ashleigh Shanti cooks like she’s got a map of home on her tongue. Our South traces her family story through the Carolinas and beyond to modern Asheville. Recipes for mullet in parchment, bologna schnitzel, trout roe beer, and rice custard brûlée amplify the narrative and explode old stereotypes about Black cooking from the South.
—John T. Edge, contributing editor
Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark, by Leigh Ann Henion
A prescient reminder to let your vision ripen at night. And if you do, you’ll understand why we need more evenings full of foxfire and “mothapaloozas.” In this vivid book, Leigh Ann Henion of Boone, North Carolina, renders our night world with such profound care and discovery.
—Aimee Nezhukumatathil, contributor
A Really Strange and Wonderful Time, by Tom Maxwell
You don’t have to be a North Carolina musician (like I am) to love this definitive history of the Chapel Hill music scene. Written by Tom Maxwell, who as a member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers was himself part of the reason that people were calling Chapel Hill “the next Seattle” back in the day, this book is built around interviews with almost all the major figures from the time (think Ben Folds Five, Superchunk, Dillon Fence, Sex Police, Polvo, Archers of Loaf, Zen Frisbee…the list goes on) and does a great job of showing how one small group of people in one tiny Southern town could come together to create a community of artistic exploration that, for a while at least, inspired the world.
—Nic Brown, contributor
Playground, by Richard Powers
Richard Powers’s masterful The Overstory went deep on trees; here water is the central character. “The ocean’s waves lap at the lives of Powers’s cast,” writes Jonathan Miles in his review. “The sea, Powers writes, was ‘forever unfolding, forever exploring, forever tinkering with form, and every part of it was busy talking about what was all around…So was every being that came from those waters. Which meant every living thing.’”
Bite by Bite, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Every word from the Mississippi-based poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a little bite of joy. Her writing explores memories, history, and the heritage behind flavors in the South and beyond. I really admire her ability to transport readers into a sensory-rich space, one that feels real and familiar as she spoons into custardy pawpaws, cracks open crawfish, and slurps up juicy mangoes.
—Gabriela Gomez-Misserian, digital producer
Real Americans, by Rachel Khong
This saga follows a Chinese-American family across generations and continents, flitting between New York, San Francisco, Washington State, Mao-era China, and Florida, where the author, Rachel Khong, studied writing with the Southern literary heavyweight Padgett Powell. The story is smart and moving and will have you hooked until the last page.
—Caroline Sanders Clements, associate editor
Shark Heart, by Emily Habeck
Most of us (I would hope) haven’t seen a loved one morph into a great white shark in front of our very eyes. That doesn’t stop Habeck’s debut novel (released in paperback this year) from being any less relatable; it captures love in all the ways a conventional love story does not: between mothers, daughters, spouses, friends, family, and sharks.
—Helen Bradshaw, contributor
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, by Wright Thompson
The one book everyone should be reading is The Barn from the peerless Wright Thompson. For too long we have thought that if we don’t talk about the ugliness of history it will just disappear. For too long we have not asked ourselves the really hard questions. We have knowingly allowed ourselves to become apathetic. The Barn will change that.
—Vishwesh Bhatt, chef
Thoughtful Cooking, by William Stark Dissen
Asheville chef William Dissen’s Thoughtful Cooking spotlights his love of seasonal ingredients and his appreciation of the joy of cooking. “Open a bottle of wine. Turn the music up. Just enjoy,” he told G&G in an interview. The first recipe I’d like to try: his mac and cheese with country ham.
—Emily Daily
Giving the Bird, by Ashley Longshore
Straying from my usual murder-myster-whodunits, Ashley Longshore’s Giving the Bird, a humorous take on avian personalities paired with colorful illustrations, has been a top-tier addition to my coffee table. The Southern-born artist, dubbed the “feminist Andy Warhol,” had a studio in New Orleans and will showcase her work at the Aqua Art Miami fair in December. Flipping through hyperbolic tales of birds such as Mrs. Gooch, Looloo, and Babs immediately incites laughter (Mrs. Gooch’s nest smells like “Chanel No. 5 and mothballs”). Each tale is just as remarkably amusing and specific as the next, and I’m most certainly going to start rattling off some of Longshore’s hilarious (albeit inappropriate) quips in everyday life.
—Danielle Wallace, editorial assistant
A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places, by Christopher Brown
In Christopher Brown’s fascinating memoir-of-sorts, the author describes the scene near his house: “Sitting right there, hiding in plain sight a few feet from the road, the heron roost is an uncannily beautiful thing to witness, like a green branch of Eden appearing at the edge of the dystopia we made. Wondrous, wild, unexpected.” Read an interview with the author here.
Winging It: Improv’s Power and Peril in the Time of Trump, by Randy Fertel
Randy is based partially in New Orleans, and came on one of the trips to Mexico I lead. His new book is a very smart and curious read that speaks not only to our times but also examines some of the influences that have shaped the world we live in now.
—Bill Smith, chef and contributor
Don’t Let the Devil Ride, by Ace Atkins
Don’t Let the Devil Ride, by Ace Atkins
Books by Oxford native Ace Atkins are always a great read. I spent my June trip to the Outer Banks with his latest masterpiece, Don’t Let The Devil Ride.
—Vishwesh Bhatt
Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South, by Kate Medley
This new book by the photographer, journalist, and my friend Kate Medley is both nostalgic and eye-opening. Gas station food is not just hot dogs anymore. It can also be tamales and banh mi.
—Bill Smith
Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey, by Evan Dalton Smith
The author Evan Dalton Smith bounces his life against Andy Griffith’s to see where the sparks fly. Their twined lives get meted out in vignettes, in short capsules glancing on Griffith’s career, his fan base, his cultural legacy, North Carolina history, Smith’s shambolic post-divorce existence, and, perhaps most of all, “our desire and nostalgia for things that didn’t exist.” —Jonathan Miles. Read his full review here
Neighbors and Other Stories, by Diane Oliver, and Shae, by Mesha Maren
My favorite Southern books of 2024 were Neighbors by Diane Oliver and Shae by Mesha Maren. Neighbors is a haunting, often terrifying story collection by a writer who died too early at twenty-two. Shae is a stunning study of addiction and gender identity in Appalachia.
—Wiley Cash, contributor
Valley So Low: One Lawyer’s Fight for Justice in the Wake of America’s Great Coal Catastrophe, by Jared Sullivan
In Valley So Low, Jared Sullivan recounts in cinematic detail the saga of a coal disaster and the self-described “hillbilly lawyers” who stood up for blue-collar workers in a tiny Tennessee town. Sullivan reported the heck out of this one, and tells the tale with authority.
—CJ Lotz Diego
Henri Bendel and the Worlds He Fashioned, by Tim Allis
No less a fan of fashion than Julia Reed used to take the train from her Virginia boarding school to New York to visit what many remember as the chicest small department store in the world: Henri Bendel’s. In Tim Allis’s gorgeously illustrated and engaging history of the store and the man who founded it, we learn that Bendel wasn’t French as the name Henri implies, but Bayou-born and bred. Author Allis is well-suited to present his story, having grown up on part of the original Bendel family estate in Lafayette, Louisiana.
—Caroline Rennolds Milbank, fashion historian
Bourbon Lore: Legends of American Whiskey, by Mason Walker and Clay Risen
It’s hard to have a greater wealth of whiskey knowledge than New York Times writer Clay Risen does. But when he joined forces with whiskey collector Mason Walker, something like magic happened. The two teamed up to tell the story of American whiskey through a hundred renowned bottles of bourbon and rye in their illustrated book. Read more from G&G’s conversation with Risen here.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This tiny book is an absolute joy and would make a thoughtful stocking stuffer. Kimmerer’s writing floored me (and thousands of other readers) in her now-classic Braiding Sweetgrass. The Serviceberry is a little meditation on giving and features gorgeous artwork by G&G’s own What’s in Season illustrator, John Burgoyne.
—CJ Lotz Diego
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions, by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey
The legal thriller titan John Grisham turns to nonfiction in his latest release, gathering tragic stories of false arrests and imprisonments. Grisham told readers about this book—and his commitment to the Innocence Project—when he visited for a G&G Reads event.
Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories, by Anne Byrn
“It requires a hefty cookbook to adequately take on Southern baking, and at a smidge thicker than 475 pages, Baking in the American South doesn’t shrink from that responsibility,” writes G&G contributing editor Steve Russell. “With room to work, Byrn followed two hundred recipes for biscuits, cornbread, pies, cakes, cookies, and puddings into every delicious nook and cranny of South, often bringing back extra layers of history and context that make those dishes even sweeter.” Read Russell’s conversation with Byrn here.
The Heirloomist: 100 Treasures and the Stories They Tell, by Shana Novak
“It started as a personal photography project between my grandmother and me,” Shana Novak says of her desire to photograph family heirlooms. Then, she started photographing for other families. In her book, Novak features one hundred of her favorite heirlooms she’s photographed, from Elvis tickets to the saddle of a beloved horse. “I think Southerners represent the best of the Heirloomist, in their reverence for family and kindness,” Novak says. G&G’s Haskell Harris writes more about The Heirloomist here.
What the Mountains Remember, by Joy Callaway
“Being there in that atmosphere, surrounded by what I considered to be a wonder of the world, was always fascinating to me,” Callaway says of childhood trips to Asheville’s Grove Park Inn. “I knew from the time I began writing that this was a place I wanted to write about.” Read about how the author uncovered the inn’s history while writing her novel here.
Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits, by Aaron Goldfarb
“As Goldfarb would learn, vintage spirits aficionados are a special breed, and his new book…explores the appeal of old bottles of bourbon, rum, tequila, and other spirits—and why collectors go to extreme lengths to track them down,” writes Tom Wilmes. Goldfarb shared some of his knowledge of vintage liquor with G&G here.
Graveyard Shift: A Novella, by M.L. Rio
This taut story drew its inspiration from a graveyard in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “The cemetery was where I watched the seasons change, without thinking much about how the years were flying by,” Rio wrote in a personal piece for G&G. “The magnolias kept their leaves while the dogwoods shed theirs; sunlight flashed off the marble obelisks in springtime; more modest plaques and fieldstones disappeared under our thin, fleecy dustings of snow. As the seasons changed, so did I.” Read her ode to the cemetery here.
Garden & Gun has an affiliate partnership with bookshop.org and may receive a portion of sales when a reader clicks to buy a book.
