Booksmith Timeless Classics

These are the "Best of the Best". They include Pulitzer Prize winners and unknown authors; titles with world-wide appeal and those with a mini audience.

What they all have in common is our connection. We brought some back in print, published a few, and discovered the rest. Almost all are only available at The Alabama Booksmith.

These very special treasures have now become part of our mission - to put them in the hands of readers and collectors with good taste.

Most of our regulars already own signed copies, so to encourage purchasing them as appreciated presents, we will gift wrap, enclose a special card, and ship anywhere in the United States - compliments of The Booksmith.

Make a list of friends and family who will love a thoughtful surprise, and let them wonder how you were able to get the author to sign their timeless classic.

If you are gift-giving, please let us know how the enclosed card should read. Check out the treasures below:

Work Like Any Other Virginia Reeves

WORK LIKE ANY OTHER is set in rural Alabama in the early twentieth century and is the story of a farmer who siphons electricity from the state to modernize his home. All is well until an inspector is electrocuted, and the farmer is sent to prison. This is a powerful debut of dispossession, injustice and redemption. ...

The Distance Home Paula Saunders

THE DISTANCE HOME takes place in the stark, rolling fields of the author's home state of South Dakota. Set during the Baby Boom years of post-war America, it examines the relationship between ever-achieving sister Rene, shy and sweet brother Leon, and their slowly distancing parents. Both sharp and tender in turn, this...

The Kept James Scott

THE KEPT is a dramatic, powerful and violent tale, told with a unique brilliance. Set in upstate New York in 1897, a teenager and his mother set out to avenge the murders of their family members. James Scott writes in a style reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. This title has been selected as a Booksmith Timeless...

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth Christopher Scotton

SECRET WISDOM OF THE EARTH gives the reader a warm and wonderful story of the bonding of a boy and his grandfather, side-by-side with a large coal company's disregard for the community's environment. Throw in a hate crime and you'll have one of our all-time favorite books and best sellers. This title has been...

Calypso David Sedaris

CALYPSO is another fantastic and funny collection of stories from one of the world's finest and twisted comedy minds. This time David sets his razor-sharp wit toward an examination of the foibles of middle age, triggered by the introspections brought on by buying his dream beach house.  This title has...

Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 David Sedaris

THEFT BY FINDING: DIARIES 1977 - 2002 must be the funniest diary on record. This book needs to be read in a sound-proof room to avoid embarrassment! This title has been selected as a Booksmith Timeless Classic, meaning it is among the best of the best for the last several decades. We will ship it free anywhere...

The Fateful Lightning: A Novel of the Civil War Jeff Shaara

THE FATEFUL LIGHTNING: A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR takes readers through the last eight months of the hellish war. Stories are told from the perspectives of the commanders as well as he ordinary foot soldiers. This title has been selected as a Booksmith Timeless Classic, meaning it is among the best of the best...

The Women in the Castle Jessica Shattuck

THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE is one of the great World War Two novels that gives the reader a new perspective - from three German women of different political persuasions surviving unimaginable hardships.  This title has been selected as a Booksmith Timeless Classic, meaning it is among the best of the best for the...

Dimestore: A Writer's Life Lee Smith

DIME STORE: A WRITER'S LIFE is a delisious look at America's recent past, and the delightful biography of one of the South's most beloved writers. Lee Smith tells all in a manner that is poignant and wise, and most of all enlightening and humorous. his title has been selected as a Booksmith Timeless Classic,...

Mattie C.'s Boy: The Shelley Stewart Story Shelly Stewart

MATTIE C.'S BOY: THE SHELLEY STEWART STORY is the most remarkable Rags-to-Riches biography in the store. Shelley Stewart created one of America's leading marketing firms with clients like Honda, Verizon, The NBA AMEX Card and on and on. However, as a young African-American boy in the South in the 1940s...