It’s more good news for two Salisbury-reared authors.

Both John Hart and Kristy Woodson Harvey are finalists for the Southern Book Prize, given by Southern independent booksellers.

Formerly known as the SIBA Book Award, the Southern Book Prize features an expanded list of categories – including seven different fiction and three nonfiction categories. Finalists were chosen by Southern independent booksellers from the long list ballot. The finalist titles will be sent to juried panels of booksellers, who will then decide on the winners in each category. Winners will be announced on July 4, “Independents Day.”

Harvey is nominated for general fiction and Hart is nominated for thrillers.

This list is also a great way to find new books to read.

Fiction

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (Harper)

Lies and Other Acts of Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Berkley Books) 

Long Way Gone by Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (Crown Books for Young Readers)

Family Life

Flight Patterns by Karen White (Berkley Books)

A Lowcountry Christmas by Mary Alice Monroe (Gallery Books)

The Risen by Ron Rash (Ecco)

Historical

Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan (Algonquin Books)

Forsaken by Ross Howell Jr. (NewSouth Books)

Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (Simon & Schuster)

Literary

Fallen Land by Taylor Brown (St. Martin’s Press)

Miss Jane by Brad Watson (W.W. Norton & Company)

Over the Plain Houses by Julia Franks (Hub City Press) 

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Mystery & Detective

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow & Company)

Lowcountry Book Club by Susan M. Boyer (HeneryPress)

Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross (Viking)

Prayers the Devil Answers by Sharyn McCrumb (Atria Books)

Southern Stories & Stories by Southerners

The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell (Thomas Nelson)

A Lowcountry Wedding by Mary Alice Monroe (Gallery Books)

Monsters in Appalachia: Stories by Sheryl Monks (West Virginia University Press) 

Ninety-Nine Stories of God by Joy Williams (Tin House Books)

The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews (St. Martin’s Press)

The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg (Random House)

Thriller

Darktown by Thomas Mullen (Atria Books) 

Redemption Road by John Hart (Thomas Dunne Books)

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters (Mulholland Books)

The Whistler by John Grisham (Doubleday Books)

Juvenile

Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley; Jillian Tamaki (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart (Delacorte Press)

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart; Diana Sudyka (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty (Disney-Hyperion)

Biography, Autobiography, & Memoir

Dimestore: A Writer’s Life by Lee Smith (Algonquin Books)

The Gatekeeper: Missy Lehand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency by Kathryn Smith (Touchstone)

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham (Milkweed) 

My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir by Chris Offutt (Atria Books)

Cooking

Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South by Vivian Howard (Little Brown and Company)

Hungry Is a Mighty Fine Sauce Cookbook: Recipes and Ramblings from the Belle of All Things Southern by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (Shiloh Run Press)

Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy; Johnny Autry (Clarkson Potter Publishers)

Creative nonfiction

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmyn Ward (Scribner Book Company)

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance (Harper)

A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writing Life by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese)

Poems: New and Selected by Ron Rash (Ecco Press)  

Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy (Little Brown and Company)