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3 weeks ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Readers of Jeanne Malmgren’s engaging memoir, Good Eye, Bad Eye, will find the universal themes and the clarity of her writing style appealing. From her personal story of trauma following a childhood eye injury, life truths emerge as Jeanne struggles to find her way in the world. This is not another poor-pitiful-me memoir. Instead, it is a story of growth, of strength. A story of finding inner peace. Jeanne’s tale begins in South Carolina, where her father worked in the textile industry.
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3 weeks ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Introduction:While I haven’t met Sara Warner in person that I can recall, she did live in Tallahassee for a time, as do I, so I have been aware of her as a writer. I recall meeting her husband Pete LeForge, who is also a writer, at an event sponsored years ago by the Leon County Library. Both Sara and Pete were very active in the Tallahassee writing community when they lived here.
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3 weeks ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Do You Believe in Magic? (Green Bird Publishing 2025) by Jim Melvin is a highly imaginative fantasy novel starring three thirteen year olds who find themselves transformed from middle school outsiders into leaders with special powers when they travel through a portal into a parallel world. Billed as “Book One of the Dark Circle Trilogy,” Do You Believe in Magic? will appeal not only to teens, but to readers who enjoy fantasy fiction in the vein of J.K. Rowling and Brandon Sanderson.
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3 weeks ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Horse People (2025) by Sara Warner is absolutely everything a stellar book should be. At times it moved me to tears. Other times the actions of villainous characters left me nauseous. I am a dog person and don’t know horses, yet I fell in love with the horses in this novel. Sara Warner helped me know these gorgeous creatures the way I know and love my dog. And you just can’t help but empathize with the gentle protagonist, Frank Grace.
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4 weeks ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
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1 month ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Hank Lazer has published thirty-six books of poetry, including most recently Abundant Life: New & Selected Poems (Chax Press), As We Vanish from Public View (7 Points Press), and field recordings of mind in morning (BlazeVOX, with 15 music-poetry tracks with Holland Hopson on banjo – available on YouTube). In 2025, Lavender Ink published What Were You Thinking: Essays 2006-2024.
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1 month ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
The Bright Years (Simon & Schuster 2025) by Sarah Damoff shimmers as an exquisite, poignant portrait of a family crumbling as their painful pasts push their way into the present. It is a story of addiction and recovery. Of love and loss. Of forgiveness and redemption. Set in Texas, The Bright Years takes readers on a journey with the Bright family using three points of view. First, we get a glimpse of Ryan as a child witnessing his parents’ abusive marriage in a prologue.
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1 month ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Hyeseung Song lays bare the difficulties she encountered trying to fit into American culture as a girl of Korean descent in Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl (Simon & Schuster 2024). Throughout her young life, Hyeseung longs to be seen for who she really is. She feels she is either invisible to White Americans or appreciated only when she is perfectly obedient and super-achieving.
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2 months ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Aracelis Gonzalez Asendorf’s Dressing the Saints (Black Lawrence Press 2024) is a collection of nine short stories that vividly explores the lives of Cuban Americans. The book, which won the Gold Medal for Fiction at the 2025 Florida Book Awards, brings to life the close-knit immigrant communities of South Florida and the rich cultural heritage they carry with them. Vivid Sense of PlaceAsendorf’s writing engages all the senses.
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2 months ago | 
southernlitreview.com | Donna Meredith
Tallahassee’s beautiful Cascades Park will host the tenth This FREE event will feature music, authors, food and fun all weekend. The only paid event is the Violent Femmes and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra on Friday, April 4. You can buy tickets here. Everything else is free. A few of the authors appearing are Kristen Arnett, Chris Bohjalian, David Campbell, James Kimbrell, David Kirby, Mark Mustian, Diane Roberts, Jeff VanderMeer, and M.O. Walsh. Here’s a list of all the artists appearing.
