2023 Nominees

CHILDREN’S BOOK

Abby the Crabby Tabby: Discovers Gratitude by Andrea Lane, Illustrated by Heather Bousquet
Drive-Thru Miracle by Dana Edwards
Impossible Moon by Breanna J. McDaniel, Illustrated by Tonya Engel
Gentle with Gertie by Will Pollock, Illustrated by Aljon Inertia & Nora Inertia
The Big Yawn by Robert Kenimer, Illustrated by Stacy Jordon
Maizie's Full Heart: an Adoption Story by Kate Seng, Illustrated by Cat Kahnle
Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra-Deedy, Illustrated by Brian Lies
Penny, the Engineering Tail of the Fourth Pig, by Kimberly Derting & Shelli R. Johannes, Illustrated by Hannah Marks
Faith’s Freckles: A Book to Build Self-Esteem by Baylei Hinds-Perry & Shermaine Perry-Knights
The Fairy Glen Adventure by Carol Bland Dolson, Illustrated by Elaine Hearn Rabon
Milton's Ears by Erich Worster, Illustrated by Kristine Ramsey
Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady, Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Thunder the Wonder Donkey by Beverly Bruemmer, Illustrated by Stacy Jordon

COOKBOOK

Cook & Celebrate: A Collection of Southern Holiday & Party Culinary Traditions by Johnathon Scott Barrett
Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind by Pinky Cole
Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities by Julia Skinner
Fabulous Modern Cookies: Lessons in Better Baking for Next-Generation Treats by Paul Arguin & Chris Taylor

DETECTIVE/MYSTERY

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen
The House That Wasn't There by Andrew Forrest Baker
Such a Pretty Smile: A Novel by Kristi DeMeester
Manhattan Mayhem by A. Shane Etter
The Devil Himself: A Novel by Peter Farris
Hush, Delilah by Angie Gallion
Killshot: A Rachel West Thriller by Lee Gimenez
A Face to Die For by Iris Johansen
A Brush with Murder: A Watercolor Mystery by Gail Langer Karwoski
Anywhere You Run: A Novel by Wanda M. Morris
The Unreliables: When The Only One You Trust Doesn’t Exist by Katherine Nichols
Pets, Pens & Murder: A Cozy English Animal Mystery by Kathy Manos Penn
In Danger of Judgment: A Thriller by David Rabin
Cofer Woods by Frank Reddy
The Corporate Lies by Donald Reichardt
Blackmail and White Lightnin' by Paul Sinor
Never Go Home: A Novel by Christopher Swann
Sanctuary: A Thornton Mystery by C.L. Tolbert

ESSAY

Sifting Artifacts: Essays by Kathy A. Bradley
Better to See You With: Perspectives on Flannery O’Connor, Selected and New by Marshall Bruce Gentry
A Month of Sundays: The New Mexico Columns by Harry Musselwhite
Everyday Leadership by Brian Unell

FIRST NOVEL

Sudden Death: A Novel by Carolyn Newton Curry
A Good Mourning by Brian DeLaney
The Maine Caper by John Frisbie
The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney
A Lineage of Deception: A Southern Novel by Maryann Hopper
Mama Tried by Kathy Des Jardins
Salou by Morenike McFaal
Rough Draft: An Alabaster Cash Novel by Alex McRae
Tell It True: A Novel by John Pruitt
Hands of Gold: One Man’s Quest to Find the Silver Lining in Misfortune by Roni Robbins
Lakewood by William Walsh
Summer Solstice by Lynn Weathington
The Freedom Chronicles by John Yow

HISTORY

Ghosts of Athens and Beyond: History and Haunting of North Georgia by Tracy L. Adkins
Shakespeare's Sceptered Isle: Finding English National Identity in the Plays by Brian Carroll
A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land by Dan Chapman
Twenty-Two Cents an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wages by Doug Crandell
The Pursuit of the Atlanta Child Killer: Facts, Fibers, and Forensics by Joseph Drolet
Legacy of Honor: The Patriarch by Larry Freeland
The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson: A Battle for Racial Justice at the Dawn of the Civil Rights Era by Chris Joyner
Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II by Alex Kershaw
The North of the South: The Natural World and the National Imaginary in the Literature of the Upper South by Barbara Ladd
Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World by Scott Reynolds Nelson
The Long Haul: Solving the Puzzle of the Pandemic's Long Haulers and How They Are Changing Healthcare Forever by Ryan Prior
The Columbus Stocking Strangler by William Rawlings
Proving Pregnancy: Gender, Law, and Medical Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century America by Felicity M. Turner

INSPIRATIONAL

Be Unexpected: Resetting Routines to Revolutionize the Future of Work by Marva Bailer
The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent—and Reinvent—Our Identities by Gregory Berns
Thank You Bodie!: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion In Spaces Beyond Workplaces by Tracey Fisher
You're Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God's Design and Why That's Good News by Kelly M. Kapic
The Simple Guide to a Successful You: Navigating Your Career After Life Gets Messy by Sarah Lebel
Bloom Where You Are by Deborah Malone
Develop Skills to Effectively Manage Money: A Practical Guide to Financial Self-Development by Myke Marshall
Daily Inspirations from the Unflappable Substitute by Susan May
Do the Best You Can't! by Bud Stumbaugh
Awakening Dignity: A Guide to Living a Life of Deep Fulfillment by Phakchok Rinpoche and Sophie Wu

LITERARY FICTION

The Gospel of Rot by Gregory Ariail
The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock
Wingwalkers: A Novel by Taylor Brown
Obsidian Mirth by Thom Brucie
A Fair In August by Mandy L Cantrell
The Hollow Kind: A Novel by Andy Davidson
The Best Version of Alice by Merrill J. Davies
Dynasties by Anju Gattani
The Lottery Winner's Greatest Ride: A Millionaire, A Young Reporter . . . And A Journey To Find What Matters Most by Skip Johnson
Wildwood Flower: A Novel by Anne Lovett
The Truth Keepers: A Novel by June Hall McCash
Songs By Honeybird by Peter McDade
By Way of Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser
The Editor: How the Brewster Gazette Became the World’s First Metaphysical Newspaper by Thomas A. Williams PhD
Sister Mother Warrior: A Novel by Vanessa Riley
Return to Hardscrabble Road by George Weinstein

MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope by Beverly J. Armento
Odyssey: Young Charles Darwin, The Beagle, and The Voyage that Changed the World by Tom Chaffin
Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-blackness in U.S. Society by Barbara Harris Combs
Making It Home: I Set Out to See the World and Made It All the Way to Cleveland by R. Mark Giuliano
Justice in the Age of Judgment: From Amanda Knox to Kyle Rittenhouse and the Battle for Due Process in the Digital Age by Anne Bremner JD and Doug Bremner MD
Ocean of Stars and Dreams by Maday Martinez de Osaba
Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia, 1740-1788 by Clay Ouzts
Feathers at my Feet by Barbara Pearson
Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War by Barry Pencek
Be Home by Dark: How I Earned my Dime Store MBA by Dale K. Phenicie
The Flight by Cammie Wolf Rice

POETRY FULL LENGTH COLLECTION

unbridled by Shay Alexi
The Woman Who Lives Without Money by Rebecca Baggett
Face Cut Out for Locket by Jenn Blair
Straw Hat Stanzas by Mark Bromberg
Mother Medusa by Lucas Carpenter
Thrash by Michael Diebert
Black Swim by Nicholas Goodly
The Lost Thing: Poems by Sarah Gordon
The Color of Truth by Laura Anella Johnson
A Girl / Woman / Teacher / Poet by Candice Kelsey
Palabras que respiran / Words that Breathe by Cecilia Lee
Magicicada & Other Marvels by Kathleen Brewin Lewis
A Woman Somehow Dead by Amy Locklin
All the Blood Involved in Love by Maya Marshall
Call it in the Air by Ed Pavlić
Climbing an Unnamed Mountain by Michael Walls
Eden's Last Horizon: Poems for the Earth by Philip Lee Williams

POETRY CHAPBOOK

Poem at the Edge of the World by Julia Caroline Knowlton
Some Kind Of Black by Amber Moss
Amo e Canto by JC Reilly
It Felt Like Mississippi: Poems by Monica Lee Weatherly

ROMANCE

The Case of the Missing Botticelli by Marilyn Baron
Fire Magic & Ice Cream by Lauren Connolly
Stealing Ares by Kim Conrey
Eloping with the Laird by Jeanine Englert
Hyde and Zeke: Cutie and the Beast by Josh Langston
Racing to You by Susan May

SHORT STORY COLLECTION

Haints on Black Mountain: A Haunted Short Story Collection by Ann Hite
We'll Talk Some More: A Collection Of Southern Short Stories by Ed Nichols
Tower: Stories by Andy Plattner
Shadows in the South by Caroline Smith
The Westering Trail Travesties: Five little-known tales of the Old West that probably ought to a' stayed that way by Mark Warren

SPECIALTY

Ghostland America Stories and Photographs by James Calemine
Frankie Welch's Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics by Ashley Callahan
Following the Tabby Trail: Where Coastal History Is Captured in Unique Oyster-Shell Structures by Jingle Davis, Photographer Benjamin Galland
Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic Edited by Valerie Boyd; Contributors: Alice Walker, Kiese Laymon, Deesha Philyaw, Jason Reynolds, Imani Perry, Emily Bernard, Destiny O. Birdsong, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Karen Good Marable, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Khadijah Queen
Coach: The Greatest Teachers in Sports and Their Lessons for Us All by Justin Spizman
Perfume (Object Lessons) by Megan Volpert
The Conversation Turns to Wide-Mouth Jars by Beth Gylys, Cathy Carlisi, and Jennifer Wheelock
The Encyclopedia of Self-Publishing by Thomas Williams

SPECIALTY

The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George
Does My Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt
Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed
A Tale Twice Told by Mark Warren
Black Dove by Crystal Wilkins