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.

The Night We Lost Him: A Novel

Laura Dave (S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books)

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“Laura Dave’s signature blend of twisty mystery, family drama, and moving love story is top-notch in this tender and profound exploration of grief, truth, trust, and forgiveness. A perfect follow-up to The Last Thing He Told Me!”

— Alyssa Raymond, Copper Dog Books, Beverly, MA

Indie Next List Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers

The Bog Wife: A Novel

By Kay Chronister

Counterpoint

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“This one blew me away! The whole human experience contained in an immersive tale about the five children of a strange family navigating their relationship to each other, the land, and their history. A spectacular accomplishment.” — Christie Olson Day, Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle's Children's Books, Mendocino, CA

The Crescent Moon Tearoom: A Novel

By Stacy Sivinski

Atria Books

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“Sisters and secrets. Magic and mystery. Tea and tarot! I could not have been more invested in what happens to these triplets and their tea shop in Chicago, bursting with magic and a house that loves them just as much as they love each other.” — Rhiannon Gupta, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT

Entitlement: A Novel

By Rumaan Alam

Riverhead Books

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“In Entitlement, Rumaan Alam’s prose is at its most effortless, his storytelling at its most engrossing, his pacing at its most propulsive. Questions of race, class, generosity, and obsession weave through a thoroughly unpredictable story.” — Joelle Herr, The Bookshop (TN), Nashville, TN

Intermezzo: A Novel

By Sally Rooney

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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“Rooney’s dazzling masterpiece explores the hidden depths of our relationships to one another. Peter and Ivan grieve the recent loss of their father. Never close, they struggle to avoid estrangement while navigating their very different lives.” — Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

A Song to Drown Rivers: Deluxe Edition

By Ann Liang

St. Martin's Press

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“As enchanting as it is heartbreaking, A Song to Drown Rivers follows a young woman turned deadly spy, who uses her beauty and charm as a devastating weapon to topple kingdoms. This book will take your breath away!” — Claire Deeds, Covered Treasures Bookstore, Monument, CO

Swordcrossed

By Freya Marske

Bramble

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“In this vibrant story, a struggling heir hires a charming con artist to be his swordsman at his upcoming wedding. Through sword-fighting practice and an unexpected mystery, white-hot desire sparks and they risk losing everything they hold dear.” — Joshua Lambie, Underground Books, Carrollton, GA

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story

By Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Riverhead Books

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“The Empusium is a sardonic tale that holds nothing back, taking institutional misogyny to task in a world on the brink of World War I. Tokarczuk brings all her brilliance and creates a poignant narrative that’s eerily reminiscent of modern day.” — Dominic Smith, Underbrush Books, Rogers, AR

The Sequel: A Novel (The Book Series #2)

By Jean Hanff Korelitz

Celadon Books

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“The meta fictional humor of this sequel to The Plot works on every level — as a straightforward thriller, as a satire of the literary industrial complex, and as a knowing wink to the secret strivings and longings of artists everywhere.” — Errol Anderson, Charis Books & More, Atlanta, GA

The Last One at the Wedding: A Novel

By Jason Rekulak

Flatiron Books

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“What is more powerful: love or money? This book takes the reader on a twisty journey of how far one will go to help their kids and do the right thing, even when they don’t want (or need) help.” — Tara Goldberg-DeLeo, Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, PA

Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs #1)

By Maiga Doocy

Orbit

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“When you find yourself magically bound to the guy you hate, what else is there to do but explore a magical forest full of bizarre, deadly monsters together in hopes of finding an elusive sorcerer who can cure you? I can’t wait for book two!” — Jenna Kaufman, Brick & Mortar Books, Redmond, WA

Playground: A Novel

By Richard Powers

W. W. Norton & Company

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“Powers raises his poetic prose to the heavens in Playground. A thematic triad of intense but flawed relationships, a powerful environmental message, and fantastical technological advancement results in nothing less than a masterpiece.” — Kay Wosewick, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

Season of the Swamp: A Novel

By Yuri Herrera

Graywolf Press

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“There isn’t a writer out there like Yuri Herrera, one of my favorite Latin American writers. His newest novel is just as brilliant. An extraordinary, vivid, and ingenious novel. I couldn’t look away from the minute I started reading.” — Oscar Almonte Espinal, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books, Philadelphia, PA

American Rapture

By CJ Leede

Tor Nightfire

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“In lesser hands, American Rapture would feel like well-trodden apocalyptic ground; here, it feels fresh and bleak. CJ Leede is really doing the horror lord's work! American Rapture will rip your heart (and throat) out!” — Audrey Kohler, BookWoman, Austin, TX

Graveyard Shift: A Novella

By M. L. Rio

Flatiron Books

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“Graveyard Shift is an ode to insomniacs — to the students squirreled away in their corners writing and studying, to the faculty and staff with their own troubles, and to the truly sleepless watching the sun set and rise again. Fun and creepy.” — Maxwell Leaning, Paragraphs Bookstore, Mount Vernon, OH

A Dark and Drowning Tide: A Novel

By Allison Saft

Del Rey

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“Mesmerizing, romantic, and charged through poignant critiques of nationalistic literature. Saft’s adult debut challenges the dark origins of twisted fairytales with empathy while weaving a tense web of sapphic yearning. A new favorite!” — Isabel Agajanian, The Oxford Exchange, Tampa, FL

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi

By Wright Thompson

Penguin Press

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“Thompson’s research not only reveals the depth of depravity and barbarity of Emmett Till’s murderers, but illuminates the commitment to collective forgetting by the white townspeople. This book is a necessary admonition and critical to the historical record.” — Destinee Hodge, East City Bookshop, Washington, DC

The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science

By Dava Sobel

Atlantic Monthly Press

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“There’s a very short list of biographers whose books I’ll read no matter the subject. And there is an even shorter list of science communicators who make complex subjects both accessible and fascinating. At the center of that Venn diagram is Dava Sobel. A deeply satisfying read!” — Susan Tunis, Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco, CA

A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories

By Mariana Enriquez, Megan McDowell

Hogarth

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“Mariana Enríquez is willing and able to explore the darkness simmering in both Buenos Aires and the Argentinean countryside. Be prepared for her mesmerizing storytelling and otherworldly horrors.” — Elizabeth Ahlquist, Blue Cypress Books, New Orleans, LA

The Mighty Red: A Novel

By Louise Erdrich

Harper

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“A stunning look at small town life. A beautiful look at a place and a way of life that is harmful to those that live it. Erdrich draws you right into the hearts and souls of her characters and their surroundings.” — Marisa Neyenhuis, Chapter One Book Store (MT), Hamilton, MT

Bull Moon Rising (Royal Artifactual Guild #1)

By Ruby Dixon

Ace

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“Bull Moon Rising was a great mix of fantasy worldbuilding and steamy monster romance that we expect from Ruby Dixon. The tension in Aspeth and Hawk’s marriage of convenience is delicious.” — Mekhala Villegas-Rogers, Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, FL

The Stone Witch of Florence

By Anna Rasche

Park Row

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“When a thief steals holy relics from churches in Florence during the outbreak of the Black Plague, one woman formerly accused of witchcraft and exiled is brought back to investigate by a deceitful, powerful bishop. A fascinating historical read.” — Jane Simons, The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra, NY

The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry

By Maria Popova, Ofra Amit

Storey Publishing, LLC

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“Imagine aliens asking us about the human experience, about what it is like living on earth, and us giving them a guide. I’d like it to be this book. I’ve been a subscriber to Popova’s newsletter for a long time and my life is better for it. And now there’s a BOOK!” — Andrea Iriarte, Molly's Bookstore, Melrose, MA

American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era

By Nico Lang

Abrams Press

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“Following eight trans and nonbinary teenagers, American Teenager shows us that there is no one way to be trans — or a teen. At their heart, these trans teens dream of what’s after high school, gossip, dread tests and class assignments, and try to figure out life.” — Kristin Saner, Fables Books, Goshen, IN

The Ancients: A Novel

By John Larison

Viking

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“In this apocalyptic story, Larison sweeps us across a landscape through the eyes of characters each with a unique view of the devastation of the past. Different societies clash as resources grow scarce, and plans for colonization of other lands become paramount.” — Josie Williams, Invitation Bookshop, Gig Harbor, WA

Now in Paperback Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback