June 2025 Indie Next List
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
June 2025 Indie Next List
Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers
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
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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
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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
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
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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
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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
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
