Okra Picks: Great Southern Books Fresh Off the Vine
The Okra Picks are a dozen fresh titles chosen each season that SIBA Indie Bookstores want to handsell. These books should be southern in nature but can cover any genre, not just fiction. Southerners love their writers, and we want to be at the forefront of bringing them a strong selection of southern titles not to be missed each season.
A new harvest of Okra Picks will be announced each publishing season. To nominate a book you must be a SIBA bookseller.
Nominations can be emailed to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Or, you can use our new nomination form
Follow #okrapicks on twitter!
Special offers for booksellers who eat. read. display their okra!
Earn $50 in SIBA Credit!
As a SIBA member, you can earn $50.00 in SIBA Credit each time you do an in-store Okra Picks display and report your sales of Okra Pick titles. The credit can be used for anything SIBA, including Trade Show registration and meal tickets.
Download the sales report form: 
okra picks sales report
2011 Summer Okra Picks
- Last Updated on Friday, 26 October 2012 19:25
- Category: Okra Picks
Okra Picks – Summer 2011 Toolkit:
Shelf Talkers | Book Mark (2x8) | Book Mark Sheet (8.5x11)
The Okra Picks, 2011 Summer Edition:
Links and Publisher Resources
The Art of Saying Goodbye | The Fine Art of Insincerity | A Good Hard Look | Groove Interrupted | Hourglass | The Iron House | The Orchard | Paradise Dogs | The Reservoir | Silver Sparrow | A Small Hotel | Where Things Come Back | You Believers
The Art of Saying Goodbye by Ellyn Bache
William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: June 07, 2011
9780062033680
Paperback | $13.99 | 352 pages
Website: http://ellynbache.com/art-of-saying-goodbye/
Excerpt: http://ellynbache.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/excerpt_ellynbache.pdf
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ellynbache1?sk=wall
Blog: http://ellynbache.com/autobiography-or-not/
Review: New York Journal of Books: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/art-saying-goodbye-novel
The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt
Howard Books
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
9781439182031
Fiction | $14.99 | 302 pages
Website: http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/html/coming_soon.html
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsNku7BuAGM&feature=player_embedded
Author photos: http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/html/photos.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Hunt-Novelist/150579214980025
Publisher page: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fine-Art-of-Insincerity/Angela-Hunt/9781439182031
Reading group guide: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fine-Art-of-Insincerity/Angela-Hunt/9781439182031/reading_group_guide
Excerpt: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fine-Art-of-Insincerity/Angela-Hunt/9781439182031/excerpt/1
A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano
Penguin Press
Publication Date: July 7, 2011
9781594202926
Hardcover | $24.99
Website: http://annnapolitano.com/a-good-hard-look/
Reviews: http://annnapolitano.com/a-good-hard-look/#content2
Excerpt: http://annnapolitano.com/a-good-hard-look-excerpt/#content2
Reading group guide: http://annnapolitano.com/a-good-hard-look-readers-guide/#content2
twitter: http://twitter.com/napolitanoann
Publishers Weekly review: http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59420-292-6
Groove Interrupted: Loss, Renewal, and the Music of New Orleans by Keith Spera
St. Martins Press
Publication Date: August 2011
9780312552251 | $ 26.99 hardcover
Kirkus Reviews: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/keith-spera/groove-interrupted/
Publisher page: http://us.macmillan.com/grooveinterrupted
High res image: http://jacketupload.macmillanusa.com/jackets/high_res/jpgs/9780312552251.jpg
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Egmont USA
Publication Date: June 14, 2011
9781606841440
Hardcover |400 pages | $17.99
Iron House by John Hart
Thomas Dunne Books
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
9780312380342
Hardcover |432 pages | $25.99
Website: http://www.johnhartfiction.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JohnHartAuthor
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnhartauthor
Author photos: http://johnhartfiction.com/?page_id=48
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZLd-Trjt-o
Publisher page: http://us.macmillan.com/ironhouse
High res jacket image: http://jacketupload.macmillanusa.com/jackets/high_res/jpgs/9780312380342.jpg
The Orchard by Jeffrey Stepakoff
Thomas Dunne Books
Publication Date: July 5, 2011
9780312581596
hardcover | 304 pages | $22.99
Publisher page: http://us.macmillan.com/theorchard
High res book jacket: http://jacketupload.macmillanusa.com/jackets/high_res/jpgs/9780312581596.jpg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JeffreyStepakoff
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jeffstepakoff
Feathered Quill review: http://www.featheredquill.com/reviews/romance/stepakoff2.shtml
Publishers Weekley review: http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-58159-6
Paradise Dogs by Man Martin
Thomas Dunne Books
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
9780312662561
hardcover | 320 pages | $25.99
Man Martin's blog: http://manmartin.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.manmartin.net/media.htm
Reader's guide: http://www.manmartin.net/bookclubs.htm
The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson
Other Press
Publication Date: June 21, 2011
9781590514443
paperback | 368 pages | $15.95
Website: http://johnmillikenthompson.com/books/reservoir
Twitter: http://twitter.com/john_milliken_t
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thereservoirnovel
Reviews: http://johnmillikenthompson.com/reviews/
Excerpt: http://johnmillikenthompson.com/resources/excerpt
Slideshow: http://johnmillikenthompson.com/resources/slideshow
Reading Group guide: http://johnmillikenthompson.com/resources/reading-group-guide
Publishers Weekly review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59051-444-3
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isF__tGCfpM
Author Interview: http://www.otherpress.com/news/bea-preview-john-milliken-thompson
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication Date: May 24, 2011
9781565129900
hardcover | 340 pages | $19.95
Blog: http://www.tayarijones.com/blog
Website: http://www.tayarijones.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tayari
Reader's guide: http://www.tayarijones.com/reader/SilverSparrow_reader.pdf
Publisher page: http://www.algonquinbooksblog.com/blog/publication-day-silver-sparrow-by-tayari-jones/
NPR Review: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/19/136466056/silver-sparrow-tayari-joness-tale-of-secret-sisters
Excerpt: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51479619/Excerpt-From-Silver-Sparrow-by-Tayari-Jones
Washington Post review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-silver-sparrow-by-tayari-jones/2011/05/12/AGoGtzEH_story.html
Seattle Times review: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2015227397_br06sparrow.html
Atlanta Journal-Constitution review: http://blogs.ajc.com/arts-culture/2011/05/31/silver-sparrow-by-tayari-jones/
A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler
Grove Press
Publication Date: August 6, 2011
9780802119872
hardcover | 256 pages | $24
Publisher page: http://www.groveatlantic.com/grove/bin/wc.dll?groveproc~genauth~1555~5687~DESC
Excerpt: http://www.groveatlantic.com/grove/bin/wc.dll?groveproc~genauth~1555~5687~EXCERPT
Author Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Olen_Butler
Author Interview: http://www.storyinliteraryfiction.com/interviews/butler-robert-olen-interview/
Inside Creative Writing: http://www.fsu.edu/~butler/
Publishers Weekly review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8021-1987-2
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Athenaeum Books
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
9781442413337
hardcover | 228 pages | $16.99
“A very interesting read…John Corey Whaley got the ivory billed woodpecker fever right on.” --Mary Gay Shipley, That Bookstore in Blytheville, Arkansas
Website: http://www.johncoreywhaley.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Corey-Whaley/330384472829
Twitter: http://twitter.com/corey_whaley
Publishers Weekly review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4424-1333-7
Publisher page: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Where-Things-Come-Back/John-Corey-Whaley/9781442413337
Excerpt: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Where-Things-Come-Back/John-Corey-Whaley/9781442413337/excerpt
You Believers by Jane Bradley
Unbridled Books
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
9781609530464
hardcover | 406 pages | $25.95
You Believers is a damn good read. It has all the elements that keep the reader glued to the seat, ignoring pressing obligations—well-drawn, intriguing characters, sweaty palms-suspenseful scenes, dark humor, and poignant sorrow. This story lingers with the reader long after the book is closed, and returns again and again with every “Missing” headline.
— Laura DeVault, Over the Moon Bookstore & Artisan Gallery, Crozet, VA
Community United Effort at the National Center for Missing Adults and Children: http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/
( Ten percent of author proceeds from the novel are donated to CUE. )
Author website: http://www.janebradley.net/
Author essay: http://www.janebradley.net/ybessay.html
Publisher page: http://unbridledbooks.com/our_books/book/you_believers/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/youbelievers
Plain Dealer review: http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2011/05/jane_bradleys_you_believers_a.html