Indie Next List

What is the Indie Next List?

The Indie Next List is your next great read! This monthly list features the top nominations from independent booksellers across the country, showcasing the best of the best debuts and new releases in all categories and genres.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V. E. Schwab (Tor Books)

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“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is V. E. Schwab’s literary follow up to the phenomenon that is The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This book is truly dripping in bloody soil and grows a dark flower with teeth.”

— Kendra Burns, The Book Vine, Cherokee, IA

Indie Next List Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers

Atmosphere: A Love Story

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ballantine Books

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“Emotional, thoroughly researched, and packed with characters navigating the demanding world of NASA, this book is all that you want from Taylor Jenkins Reid. Joan will make you believe in the goodness of humanity.” — Cat Bock, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN

Run for the Hills: A Novel

By Kevin Wilson

Ecco

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“Kevin Wilson is a much needed literary voice. His books are always delightfully zany while not feeling slight. Mad is one of Wilson’s best central characters yet and each episode in her journey is a joy to read.” — James Harrod, West Side Books , Denver, CO

The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom #1)

By Rachel Gillig

Orbit

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“The Knight and the Moth is haunting and mystical, tender and raw. Gillig explores devotion — both in religion and human connections, and what happens when those relationships become perverse.” — Carolyn Pallof, White Whale Bookstore, Pittsburgh, PA

The Love Haters: A Novel

By Katherine Center

St. Martin's Press

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“While Katie goes to Key West to film Coast Guard hunk Tom (Hutch) Hutcheson, trouble starts with a simple lie. A true love story about loving the person you are and those you want to love. Fantastic!” — Karen Piacentini, Fenton's Open Book, Fenton, MI

So Far Gone: A Novel

By Jess Walter

Harper

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“Retired journalist Rhys Kinnick thinks he can live out his days reading — until he must save his kidnapped grandchildren. Walter delves into our era’s most pressing issues with grace, humor, and humanity.” — Yvette Olson, Magnolia's Bookstore, Seattle, WA

Aftertaste: A Novel

By Daria Lavelle

Simon & Schuster

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“A captivating and innovative debut novel that seamlessly blends food writing with the supernatural. A deliciously unique and deeply poignant narrative interwoven with themes of grief, healing, and letting go.” — Kyra Tatlow, Book Love (MA), Plymouth, MA

The River Is Waiting: A Novel

By Wally Lamb

S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books

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“A family’s life is shattered by addiction and trauma. Corby’s journey through the damage he has caused, incarceration, and his attempt to find mercy is a stark and sobering look at America and its response to crime and punishment.” — Bill Cusumano, Square Books, Oxford, MS

The Listeners: A Novel

By Maggie Stiefvater

Viking

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“A fascinating hotel with magical water running through it, lovable characters with mysterious pasts, and wartime chaos combine in this amazing read. I was so immersed in the world of the Avallon.” — Andie Keith, Word After Word Books, Truckee, CA

Great Black Hope: A Novel

By Rob Franklin

S&S/Summit Books

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“(Indies Introduce) Great Black Hope is an immersive experience of the dilemmas faced by characters confronting a broken justice system and a society that still erects barriers to Black achievement. It is marvelous.” — Shane Grebel, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, KS

Left of Forever: A Spunes Novel

By Tarah DeWitt

St. Martin's Griffin

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“Left of Forever is a wonderful second-chance romance about two people finally finding their way back to each other as they road trip up the western coast. If you love to yearn, you will love this.” — Kaylie Padgett, Women & Children First, Chicago, IL

The Ghostwriter: A Novel

By Julie Clark

Sourcebooks Landmark

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“This is Julie Clark at her best! Olivia has been hiding from her past all her life. Now that her father is sick, he wants her to ghostwrite his memoir. Clark takes you on a rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless.” — Toni Chase, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI

A Family Matter: A Novel

By Claire Lynch

Scribner

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“This is a beautiful, quiet book about being unmoored. There is so much love, and much pain — laws in 1982 England classified lesbian relationships as inappropriate. A strong reminder that our past was not so long ago and we have a responsibility to speak up.” — Kira Wizner, Merritt Bookstore, Millbrook, NY

Endling: A Novel

By Maria Reva

Doubleday

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“Endling is a rich stew of the foreign bride industry, nearly extinct snails, familial disappointment, and war in a scabrous, blistering portrait of contemporary Ukraine that is as eye-opening as it is entertaining.” — David Enyeart, Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul, MN

Is a River Alive?

By Robert Macfarlane

W. W. Norton & Company

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“Through Robert Macfarlane’s eyes, we see beauty in the natural world, beauty in the people devoted to protecting it, beauty in a possible future, and beauty in the words that carry its message.” — Trevor Ogden, Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO

Make Me Famous: A Novel

By Maud Ventura, Gretchen Schmid

HarperVia

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“Ventura offers a hilarious yet harrowing story of a young French American musician’s rise to fame. A flawless depiction of the pressures of being young, beautiful, maintaining a fan base, and staying on top.” — Melanie Fleishman, Center for Fiction Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY

Behooved

By M. Stevenson

Bramble

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“Come for the horse puns, stay for the very sweet enemies-to-lovers romance! This is a slow burn, low spice, but it was so charming and comforting. A read I can see myself coming back to!” — Bonnie Ingersoll, Spoke + Word Books, Milwaukie, OR

The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life

By Helen Whybrow

Milkweed Editions

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“One of the great gifts of writers is so delicately, artfully, placing characters in our minds that we can fully experience them. Read this for a shepherd's life and the landscapes they inhabit. Beautiful, telling, and human.” — John Evans, Camino Books, San Diego, CA

King of Ashes: A Novel

By S. A. Cosby

Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar

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“Darkness reigns in this novel of a man returning home to fight for his family in a conflict he never anticipated. A Faustian deal with his hometown devil descends into depravity. S. A. Cosby proves he never disappoints.” — Nath Mayes, Carmichael's Bookstore, Louisville, KY

Notes on Infinity: A Novel

By Austin Taylor

Celadon Books

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“Zoe and Jack have found a way to genetically engineer genes related to aging. Their incredible work and parallel love story are almost too good to be true. Fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow will race through this.” — Beth Mynhier, Lake Forest Book Store, Lake Forest, IL

Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature

By Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

Spiegel & Grau

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“A wonderful celebration of the beauty and strangeness of the natural world, as well as a fascinating memoir about growing up different. You will love Kaishian’s clear, vivid prose!” — Michael Bender, Split Rock Books, Cold Spring, NY

The River's Daughter

By Bridget Crocker

Spiegel & Grau

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“I loved learning about Bridget Crocker’s life on these incredible rivers! Crocker made me feel like the river is a living thing — the way it speaks to you, and carries you, and drives its own path across the barriers in its way.” — Cassie Clemans, Roundabout Books, Bend, OR

The Summer We Ran

By Audrey Ingram

Zibby Publishing

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“If you’re looking for a novel beyond romance, nostalgic ’90s summers, and complex characters, The Summer We Ran is for you. Ingram delves into class, ambition, and our capacity to forgive and love despite tragedy.” — Melody Wukitch, Severna Park Books & LitCoLab, Severna, MD

Of Monsters and Mainframes

By Barbara Truelove

Bindery Books

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“A delightful found family romp through space! Think if Murderbot was a creature feature. I really can’t get over how fantastic and charming this is!” — Athena Palmer, Shelf Life Bookstore, Richmond, VA

The Girls of Good Fortune: A Novel

By Kristina McMorris

Sourcebooks Landmark

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“The Girls of Good Fortune takes you through the streets of Portland’s Chinatown and the Shanghai tunnels. Celie’s search for love and justice illuminates the struggles in the immigrant experience and atrocities long buried.” — Sally Sue Lavigne, The Storybook Shoppe, Bluffton, SC

Now in Paperback Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback