View the 2024 list here.

2023

Don’t Cry for Me By Daniel Black

Flipped: How Geor­gia Turned Pur­ple and Broke the Monop­oly on Repub­li­can Pow­er By Greg Bluestein

Big­ger than Brav­ery: Black Resilience and Recla­ma­tion in a Time of Pan­dem­ic Edit­ed by Valerie Boyd

Wing­walk­ers By Tay­lor Brown

The Con­ver­sa­tion Turns to Wide-Mouth Jars By Cathy Carlisi, Beth Gylys, and Jen­nifer Wheelock

A Road Run­ning South­ward: Fol­low­ing John Muir’s Jour­ney through an Endan­gered Land By Dan Chapman

My Peo­ple: Five Decades of Writ­ing About Black Lives By Char­layne Hunter-Gault

The Resem­blance By Lau­ren Nossett

My Boy Will Die of Sor­row: A Mem­oir of Immi­gra­tion From the Front Lines By Efrén C. Olivares

The Float­ing Girls By Lo Patrick

2022

Chron­i­cling Stanko­nia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South by Dr. Regi­na Bradley

The Part­ed Earth by Anjali Enjeti

Moth­er Mary Comes to Me: A Pop­cul­ture Poet­ry Anthol­o­gy Edit­ed by Karen Head and Collin Kelley

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Hon­orée Fanonne Jeffers

A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Dis­co, and Atlanta’s Gay Rev­o­lu­tion by Mar­tin Padgett

Wild Spec­ta­cle: Seek­ing Won­ders in a World Beyond Humans by Janisse Ray

Chas­ing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Mem­oir of the Jim Crow South by Win­fred Rem­bert (as told to Erin I. Kelly)

Peach State: Poems by Adri­enne Su

Memo­r­i­al Dri­ve: A Daughter’s Mem­oir by Natasha Trethewey

Mon­ster in the Mid­dle by Tiphanie Yanique

2021

Smokelore: A Short His­to­ry of Bar­be­cue in Amer­i­ca by Jim Auchmutey

Slide to Unlock by Julie Bloemeke

Things New and Strange: A South­ern­er’s Jour­ney through the Smith­son­ian Col­lec­tions by G. Wayne Clough

How to Bury Your Broth­er by Lind­sey Rogers Cook

Native: Iden­ti­ty, Belong­ing, & Redis­cov­er­ing God by Kaitlin Curtice

The Nature of Remains by Gin­ger Eager

Body Braille by Beth Gylys

Com­ing Full Cir­cle: From Jim Crow to Jour­nal­ism by Wan­da Smalls Lloyd

Pas­sion­ate for Jus­tice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time by Cather­ine Meeks, PhD, and Nibs Stroupe

The Last Wid­ow by Karin Slaughter

2019

Real Queer Amer­i­ca: LGBT Sto­ries from Red States by Saman­tha Allen

Anti­semitism: Here and Now by Deb­o­rah E. Lipstadt

St. EOM In the Land of Pasaquan: The Life and Times and Art of Eddie Owens Mar­tin by Tom Pat­ter­son (Pho­tog­ra­phy by Jonathan Williams, Roger Man­ley, Guy Mendes)

Holy Envy: Find­ing God in the Faith of Oth­ers by Bar­bara Brown Taylor

The Care and Feed­ing of Rav­en­ous­ly Hun­gry Girls: A Nov­el by Anis­sa Gray

The Mag­net­ic Girl: A Nov­el by Jes­si­ca Handler

Unmar­riage­able: A Nov­el by Soni­ah Kamal

The Atlas of Reds and Blues: A Nov­el by Devi S. Laskar

The Tra­di­tion by Jeri­cho Brown

Still Life with Moth­er and Knife: Poems by Chelsea Rathburn

2018

Faith: A Jour­ney for All by Pres­i­dent Jim­my Carter

Hel­lo the House: Poems by Rupert Fike

The Vain Con­ver­sa­tion: A Nov­el by Antho­ny Grooms

Turnip Greens & Tor­tillas: A Mex­i­can Chef Spices Up the South­ern Kitchen by Eddie Her­nan­dez and Susan Puckett

Almost Sis­ters: A Nov­el by Joshi­lyn Jackson

An Amer­i­can Mar­riage: A Nov­el by Tayari Jones

Atlanta Noir by Tayari Jones, editor

Big Chick­en: The Incred­i­ble Sto­ry of How Antibi­otics Cre­at­ed Mod­ern Agri­cul­ture and Changed the Way the World Eats by Maryn McKenna

Homey Don’t Play That: The Sto­ry of In Liv­ing Col­or and the Black Com­e­dy Rev­o­lu­tion by David Peisner

Secrets of the South­ern Table: A Food Lover’s Tour of the Glob­al South by Vir­ginia Willis and Ang­ie Mosier, photographer

2017

A Riv­er of Kings: A Nov­el by Tay­lor Brown

Drowned: A Mermaid’s Man­i­festo by There­sa Davis

Blood, Bone and Mar­row: A Biog­ra­phy of Har­ry Crews by Ted Geltner

My Two Souths: Blend­ing the Fla­vors of India into a South­ern Kitchen by Asha Gomez

The Under­dogs by Melis­sa Fay Greene

A Lil­lian Smith Read­er by Lisa Hod­gens, editor

Inspired Geor­gia by Jud­son Mitcham; Michael David Mur­phy; Karen L. Paty

Dark­town: A Nov­el by Thomas Mullen

Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleans­ing in Amer­i­ca by Patrick Phillips

Among the Liv­ing: A Nov­el by Jonathan Rabb

2016

The Class Of ​’65: A Stu­dent, A Divid­ed Town, And The Long Road To For­give­ness by Jim Auchmutey

Fall­en Land: A Nov­el by Tay­lor Brown

South­ern Tufts: The Region­al Ori­gins And Nation­al Craze For Che­nille Fash­ion by Ash­ley Callahan

Twain’s End: A Nov­el by Lynn Cullen

Mem­o­ries Of The Man­sion: The Sto­ry Of Georgia’s Governor’s Man­sion by San­dra D. Deal, Jen­nifer W. Dick­ey, and Cather­ine M. Lewis

Where We Want To Live: Reclaim­ing Infra­struc­ture For A New Gen­er­a­tion of Cities by Ryan Gravel

How I Shed My Skin: Unlearn­ing The Racist Lessons Of A South­ern Child­hood by Jim Grimsley

Ty Cobb: A Ter­ri­ble Beau­ty by Charles Leerhsen

Bull Moun­tain: A Nov­el by Bri­an Panowich

Blue Laws: Select­ed And uncol­lect­ed Poems, 1995 – 2015 by Kevin Young

2015

Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara

Suf­fer & Grow Strong: The Life of Ella Gertrude Clan­ton Thomas, 1834 – 1907 by Car­olyn New­ton Curry

Untamed: The Wildest Woman in Amer­i­ca and the Fight for Cum­ber­land Island by Will Harlan

Blood Ties & Brown Liquor by Sean Hill

A Clear View of the South­ern Sky: Sto­ries by Mary Hood

Wel­come to Brag­gsville by T. Geron­i­mo Johnson

The Chero­kee Rose: A Nov­el of Gar­dens and Ghosts by Tiya Miles

A Prayer Jour­nal by Flan­nery O’Con­nor, edit­ed by W.A. Ses­sions

Break­ing Ground: My Life in Med­i­cine by Dr. Louis W. Sullivan

The South­ern Poet­ry Anthol­o­gy Vol­ume V: Geor­gia edit­ed by William Wright

2014

War Like the Thun­der­bolt: The Bat­tle and Burn­ing of Atlanta by Rus­sell S. Bonds

Reign of Mad­ness by Lynn Cullen

The Star­board Sea by Amber Dermont

The Com­plete Poems of James Dick­ey by James Dickey 

Must Win: A Sea­son of Sur­vival for a Town and Its Team by Drew Jubera

The Many Deaths of the Fire­fly Broth­ers by Thomas Mullen

Eat Drink Delta: A Hun­gry Trav­el­er’s Jour­ney Through the Soul of the South by Susan Puckett

The World of the Salt Marsh: Appre­ci­at­ing and Pro­tect­ing the Tidal Marsh­es of the South­east­ern Atlantic Coast by Charles Seabrook

Thrall: Poems by Natasha Trethewey

The Grey Album: On the Black­ness of Black­ness by Kevin Young

2010

Win­ter Sky: New and Select­ed Poems, 1968 – 2008 by Cole­man Barks

Slav­ery by Anoth­er Name: The Re-Enslave­ment of Black Amer­i­cans from the Civ­il War to World War II
Dou­glas A. Blackmon

Long Time Leav­ing: Dis­patch­es from Up South by Roy Blount, Jr.

At Canaan’s Edge: Amer­i­ca in the King Years, 1965 – 68 by Tay­lor Branch

Snake­skin Road by James Braziel

Heart of a Patri­ot: How I Found the Courage to Sur­vive Viet­nam, Wal­ter Reed, and Karl Rove by Max Cleland

A Cry of Angels by Jeff Fields

The Con­fed­er­ate Gen­er­al Rides North by Aman­da Gable

Bomb­ing­ham by Antho­ny Grooms

Invis­i­ble Sis­ters by Jes­si­ca Handler

The Crack­er Queen: A Mem­oir of a Jagged, Joy­ful Life by Lau­ret­ta Hannon

Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams by Paul Hemphill

Lumi­nous Mys­ter­ies: A Nov­el by John Holman

How Far She Went by Mary Hood

The Girl Who Stopped Swim­ming by Joshi­lyn Jackson

New and Select­ed Poems of Thomas Lux, 1975 – 1995 by Thomas Lux

Under the Tus­can Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes

Hue and Cry: Sto­ries by James Alan McPherson

The Bal­lad of Blind Tom by Deirdre O’Connell

When the Finch Ris­es by Jack Riggs

An Altar in the World: A Geog­ra­phy of Faith by Bar­bara Brown Taylor

The Watch­ers by Memye Cur­tis Tucker

Noth­ing With Strings: NPR’s Beloved Hol­i­day Sto­ries by Bai­ley White

The Heart of a Dis­tant For­est by Philip Lee Williams

Bön Appetit Ya’ll: Recipes and Sto­ries from Three Gen­er­a­tions of South­ern Cook­ing by Vir­ginia Willis

2008

Tak­ing After Mudear by Tina McEl­roy Ansa

Above the Fall Line: The Trail from White Pine Cab­in by Amy Blackmarr

Be Sweet by Roy Blount, Jr.

Waltz­ing Through End­time by David Bottoms

Dwelling Place by Ersk­ine Clarke

Baby Broth­er’s Blues by Pearl Cleage

Strong at the Bro­ken Places by Max Cleland

Geor­gia Odyssey by James C. Cobb

The Mean­ing of Con­sue­lo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

A Cab­i­net of Won­ders by Renee Dodd

There Is No Me With­out You by Melis­sa Fay Greene

The Untelling by Tayari Jones

The Book of Marie by Ter­ry Kay

The Race Beat by Hank Klibanoff

Crab­cakes by James Alan McPherson

A Lit­tle Sal­va­tion by Jud­son Mitcham

Your Body is Chang­ing by Jack Pendarvis

Pin­hook: Find­ing Whole­ness in a Frag­ment­ed Land by Janisse Ray

Down­town by Fer­rol Sams

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

We Are the Ones We Have Been Wait­ing For by Alice Walker

For the Con­fed­er­ate Dead by Kevin Young

The Big Mama Sto­ries by Shay Youngblood

In the Morn­ing: Reflec­tions from First Light by Philip Lee Williams

2005

The Last Radio Baby by Ray­mond Andrews

Ugly Ways by Tina McEl­roy Ansa

Going to Ground: Sim­ple Life on a Geor­gia Pond by Amy Blackmarr

Wrapped in Rain­bows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

The Latin Deli by Judith Oritz Cofer

The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy

A Child­hood: The Biog­ra­phy of a Place by Har­ry Crews

Wit by Mar­garet Edson

The Tem­ple Bomb­ing by Melis­sa Fay Greene

Trou­ble No More by Tony Grooms

Leav­ing Birm­ing­ham: Notes of a Native Son by Paul Hemphill

Daugh­ter of My Peo­ple by James Kilgo

Woman of Col­or, Daugh­ter of Priv­i­lege by Kent Leslie

The Heart Is A Lone­ly Hunter by Car­son McCullers

Lamb in His Bosom by Car­o­line Miller

Sab­bath Creek by Jud­son Mitcham

Every­thing That Ris­es Must Con­verge by Flan­nery O’Connor

And the Dead Shall Rise by Steve Oney

Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary Pomerantz

Wild Gin­ger by Bet­tie Sellars

The Celes­tine Sib­ley Sam­pler by Celes­tine Sibley

Free­dom: Geor­gia’s Anti-Slav­ery Her­itage 1733 – 1865 by Michael Thurmond

Dri­ving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry

Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bai­ley White

A Dis­tant Flame by Philip Lee Williams

2002

Baby of the Fam­i­ly by Tina McEl­roy Ansa

Mid­night in the Gar­den of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Armored Hearts by David Bottoms

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns

Tobac­co Road by Erk­sine Caldwell

An Hour Before Day­light by Pres­i­dent Jim­my Carter

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordi­nary Day by Pearl Cleage

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

The Library Drag­on by Car­men Deedy and illus­trat­ed by Michael White

Deliv­er­ance by James Dickey

The Souls Of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

Pray­ing For Sheetrock by Melis­sa Fay Greene

Dream Boy by Jim Grimsley

Uncle Remus: The Com­plete Tales by Joel Chan­dler Har­ris and Julius Lester

To Dance With the White Dog by Ter­ry Kay

The Mem­ber of the Wed­ding by Car­son McCullers

Gone With the Wind by Mar­garet Mitchell

A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Oth­er Sto­ries by Flan­nery O’Connor

Light­house by Euge­nia Price

Ecol­o­gy of a Crack­er Child­hood by Janisse Ray

Run with the Horse­men by Fer­rol Sams

Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Col­or Pur­ple by Alice Walker

A Tes­ta­ment of Hope: The Essen­tial Writ­ings and Speech­es of Mar­tin Luther King, Jr. edit­ed by James Melvin Washington