Georgia Center for the Book, the state’s Library of Congress nonprofit affiliate based in the DeKalb County Library System, has released its annual lists of Books All Georgians Should Read for 2024.

Rough Draft is proud to announce that two of our contributors have made this year’s list including Above the Waterline columnist Sally Bethea for her memoir Keeping the Chattahoochee, and Julie E. Bloemeke, who co-edited Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology.

Books All Geor­gians Should Read 2024

Bethea, Sal­ly Sier­er, Keep­ing the Chat­ta­hoochee: Reviv­ing and Defend­ing a Great South­ern Riv­er (Non­fic­tion)

Blake, John, More Than I Imag­ined: What a Black Man Dis­cov­ered About the White Moth­er He Nev­er Knew (Non­fic­tion)

Bloe­meke, Julie E. and Brook­shire, Dustin (Edi­tors), Let Me Say This: A Dol­ly Par­ton Poet­ry Anthol­o­gy (Poet­ry)

Duc­tan, Mon­ic, Daugh­ters of Mus­ca­dine (Fic­tion)

Jones, Ani­ta Gail, The Peach Seed (Fic­tion)

Keng, Natal­ie, Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea: Asian Inspired, South­ern Style (Nonfiction/​Cookbook)

May, James Davis, Unusu­al­ly Grand Ideas (Poet­ry)

Oak­ley, Colleen, The Most­ly True Sto­ry of Tan­ner and Louise (Fic­tion)

Wat­son, Ruth P., A Right Wor­thy Woman (Fic­tion)

Woo, Ily­on, Mas­ter Slave Hus­band Wife: An Epic Jour­ney From Slav­ery to Free­dom (Non­fic­tion)


Books All Young Geor­gians Should Read 2024

Col­lier, Nicole D., The Many For­tunes of Maya (Mid­dle Grade)

Fang, X., Dim Sum Palace (Pic­ture Book)

Isley, Sier­ra, In the Ring (YA)

Low­ery, Mike, Every­thing Awe­some About: Dan­ger­ous Dinosaurs and Oth­er Pre­his­toric Beasts! (Pic­ture Book)

McCloskey, Shan­da (Illus­tra­tor), Nub­by (Pic­ture Book)

Mufleh, Luma, From Here (YA )

Strick­land, Shadra, Jump In! (Pic­ture Book)

Ross, Rebec­ca, Divine Rivals (YA)

Thomas, Ang­ie, Nic Blake and the Remark­ables: The Man­i­festor Prophe­cy (Mid­dle Grade)

Win­ters, Julian, As You Walk On By (YA)

Collin Kelley is the executive editor of Atlanta Intown, Georgia Voice, and the Rough Draft® newsletter. He has been a journalist for nearly four decades and is also an award-winning poet and novelist.