In Tayyba Kanwal’s story collection, “Talking with Boys,” characters are in constant flux. Motion becomes an act of survival and self-definition for those whose lives are circumscribed by expectation.
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Contrary and Organized: “Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster”
A review of Gerri Willis’ “Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster,” the story of one of the “Big Five” female spies in the American Civil War.
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2025 Staff Favorites
The SRB editorial team looks back on the best books they read in 2025.
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Fear, Inheritance and Legacy in “Heaven, West Virginia”
A review of Ravi Teixeira’s recent graphic novel, “Heaven, West Virginia.”
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Circling and Expansive Storytelling in “Extinction Capital of the World”
Rather than a static snapshot, these ten interconnected stories share a portrait of Hawaii as a living, evolving organism.
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Books to Celebrate in December 2025
A non-exhaustive list of queer Southern books published in the second half of 2025.
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Penance and Control in “Famished”
A review of Anna Rollins’ memoir, “Famished.”
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“The Dark and the Devil So Close”: Kristi DeMeester’s Historical Feminist Horror, “Dark Sisters”
A review of Kristi DeMeester’s eerie, propulsive novel, “Dark Sisters.”
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Icarus’ Daughter: Reckoning with a Father’s Notorious Past
A review of Artis Henderson’s second nonfiction book, “No Ordinary Bird.”
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Secrets, Sisters, and Grasping the Past: An Interview with Julie Hensley
An interview with author Julie Hensley on her recent novel, “Five Oaks.”
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Southern Review of Books 