- “Denmark Vesey’s Garden,” Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts, The New Press
- “What Can I Bring?,” Elizabeth Heiskell, Oxmoor
- “Privacy’s Blueprint,” Woodrow Hartzog, Harvard University Press
- “The Best Cook in the World,” Rick Bragg, Knopf
- “South Toward Home,” Julia Reed, St. Martin’s Press
- “Crazy Rich Asians,” Kevin Kwan, Anchor
- “You’re on an Airplane,” Parker Posey, Blue Rider Press
- “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,” Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington, PublicAffairs
- “Calypso,” David Sedaris, Little, Brown and Company
- “Myself and the World,” Robert W. Hamblin, University Press of Mississippi
Children and Young Adults
- “The Hate U Give,” Angie Thomas, Balzer + Bray
- “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, Henry Holt and Co.
- “Where’s Waldo?,” Martin Handford, Candlewick
- “We Don’t Eat Our Classmates,” Ryan T. Higgins, Disney-Hyperion
- “Brave Enough for Two,” Jonathan D. Voss, Henry Holt and Co.
Compiled by University Press of Mississippi
Reported by Book Mart and Café (Starkville); Lemuria Books (Jackson); Lorelei Books (Vicksburg); Main Street Books (Hattiesburg); Square Books (Oxford); Turnrow Books (Greenwood)