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Alabama-based tales for your bookshelves

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins 
Available at Little Professor Bookshop 

Think back to the first time you read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, savoring the novel’s gothic setting and its passionate characters. Now, imagine that one of your all-time favorites has been retold in a modern setting: right here in Mountain Brook, Alabama! 

100 Things to Do in Birmingham Before You Die by Verna Gates
Available at Little Professor Bookshop

Believe it or not, there's more to do in the Magic City besides indulging in the exceptional food scene. Longtime reporter, author and educator Verna Gates "features the best of the 'Ham, from high cuisine to gas station BBQ; from opera to hiking and from history to hipster."

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink
Available at Thank You Books 

This historical YA novel takes place in the shadow of the Greenwood Massacre in Tulsa's Black Wall Street, an event that has reverberated for a century. Birmingham author Randi Pink tells the story of a rebellious young poet and a studious loner who fall in love against the backdrop of racist turmoil in 1920s Oklahoma, illuminating a too-little-told story in American history. 

Distracted by Alabama by James Seay Brown
Available at Thank You Books 

Samford University history professor James Seay Brown weaves together threads of Alabama waterways, history, folkways and more in this exploration of a state rich with natural resources and historical change. Alabama's unique traditions, from handicrafts to food preparations, are explored in a great book for transplants looking to understand their new home, or lifelong Alabamians looking to deepen their appreciation of the Yellowhammer State. Photo provided by University of Alabama Press.

This Isn't Going to End Well by Daniel Wallace
Available at The Alabama Booksmith (April 2023)

Wallace — who wrote the acclaimed novel-turned-film Big Fish — went to school in Birmingham, and his parents and siblings are from Birmingham. Though he now lives in Chapel Hill, he is still considered a local author and well respected novelist. Now, for the first time, he has written a nonfiction book, autobiographical and set in the Magic City. 

The Father Goose Collection of Poetry by Charles Ghinga. 
Available at The Alabama Booksmith

Father Goose, also known as Charles Ghinga, lives in Homewood and recently penned a new book of poetry. This must-have collection for any budding reader includes 101 whimsical poems from one of America’s most beloved children’s poets. 

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