July 2025 Indie Next List
July 2025 Indie Next List
Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers
By Lisa Jewell
Atria Books
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“If you enjoy a tale full of complicated relationships filled with secrets, then this is a necessary read. Told with many voices, the reader is offered a platter of delectable bites to sample as they savor the plot bite by bite.”
— R. Aimee Chipman, The Bluestocking Bookshop, Holland, MI
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“Julie Soto smashes into the romantasy scene with a darkly decadent story of magic, intrigue, and desire. Can't even explain the levels of tension in this book — talk about slow burn! Not for the faint of heart, but deeply bingeable.”
— Kassie King, The Novel Neighbor, Webster Groves, MO
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“For fans of Jonathan Franzen, Kathy Wang delivers a stellar debut. Her keen observations on everyday life are on full display with Joan Liang and her unexpected life journey where she must seek the satisfaction that lies within.”
— Susan McBeth, Adventures By The Book, San Diego, CA
By Sophie Elmhirst
Riverhead Books
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“(Indies Introduce) A raw telling of the fight a young couple endures physically and mentally as their boat is capsized by creatures in the middle of the sea. Reads like a novel — it’s crazy this is a true story!”
— Alex Hammett, Serendipity Books, Chelsea, MI
By Jessica Berger Gross
Hanover Square Press
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“Told from multiple characters’ perspectives, this is a downright titillating story about family and community, choices and growth. Readers will root for Hazel and her entire family from beginning to end in this page-turning drama.”
— Liz Whitelam, Whitelam Books, Reading, MA
By Katie Sturino
Celadon Books
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“Very rarely do we ever fit into a mold. This book completely forges a new path in accepting yourself and others for who we are. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and this is just what the doctor ordered!”
— Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC
By Loretta Rothschild
St. Martin's Press
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“I have never gasped as loudly as I have at the conclusion of Finding Grace’s first chapter. At that point, I was all in. Rothschild's elegant prose and sense of place and time root the reader in this incredibly vivid story of love, loss, and the history that we are willing to rewrite.”
— Megan Birch-McMichael, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, MA
By Sarah MacLean
Ballantine Books
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“Alice travels home to the family island for the funeral of her eccentric, billionaire tech father. As old wounds reopen and family drama compounds, we learn the inheritance game is afoot. Will Alice play? Hang on for the ride!”
— Sierra Hollabaugh, The Bookery Cincy, Cincinnati, OH
By Irene Solà
Graywolf Press
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“I insist that you’ll be obsessed with this magnificent, slim book. Curious, disgusting, beautiful and resoundingly feminist — this is a book to captivate your hungering Madeline Miller readers, your Oyeyemi fans.”
— Dustin Kurtz, Literary Arts, Portland, OR
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“Just as she did in Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley gives voice and understanding to parts of life that our culture often tells us to ignore. The book is full of life and heart and hope.”
— Beth Black, The Bookworm of Omaha, Omaha, NE
By Sarah Beth Durst
Bramble
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“This cozy fantasy in the world of The Spellshop is the first notes of birdsong mixing with winter sunshine. It’s a snowy evening spent in front of a fireplace, with fresh bread, warm soup, and the comfort of quiet company. A balm for a weary soul.”
— Jericha Harriman, Northshire Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, NY
By Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Rey
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“I really had fun with this book. It had the creeping tension of Shirley Jackson, a dash of Lovecraft's twisted New England atmosphere, and a hefty heaping of Mexican witchcraft that makes for a damn good read.”
— Thomas Wilkerson, BookPeople, Austin, TX
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“Ashley Poston has done it again. She wonderfully combines laugh-out-loud humor with tender, heartfelt moments. If you love music, small Southern towns, or just a good story, Sounds Like Love is for you.”
— Julie Hansard, All Good Books, Columbia, SC
By Michelle Huneven
Penguin Press
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“Bug Hollow is just wonderful. Characters thrown together after being torn apart are Huneven's specialty. As always, the characters in this California novel are given all the grace and mercy they need. Perfect for book clubs.”
— Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, KS
By Aisling Rawle
Random House
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“Lily wakes up in a middle-of-the-desert house as a cast member on a mysterious reality show that’s part Survivor, part Truman Show, part Love Island. I was uneasy (a good thing) from page one of this unpredictable tale that unfurls with mounting dread and razor-sharp societal commentary.”
— Joelle Herr, The Bookshop (TN), Nashville, TN
By Samuel Hawley
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
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“A historical novel that really opens your eyes to what Japanese people experienced at the end of WWII. Daikon fills in the emotion that strict history does not. Wonderful characters and beautiful writing!”
— Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville, IL
By Kelsey Cox
Minotaur Books
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“Everyone loves a Sweet 16! Cox weaves together multiple narratives to build the perfect amount of suspense in her debut thriller, wherever everything and everyone are not quite what they seem.”
— Emily Freeman, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC
By Kalie Cassidy
Little, Brown and Company
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“Rich atmospheric writing and a fresh take on siren lore make this the perfect dark romantasy to pick up this summer. I loved the strength of the main character and the blooming feminine rage as the story progressed.”
— Brooke Williams, Beanbag Books, Delaware, OH
By Gary Shteyngart
Random House
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“How do you review an absurdist novel, filled with hilarious moments & thinly veiled references, when reality has become absurd? Call it what it is: Subversive Literature. Maybe we all need to view the world through the eyes of a ten-year-old whose family is falling apart in the near future.”
— Rebecca Dowling, Napa Bookmine, Napa, CA
By Tamara Yajia
Bloomsbury Publishing
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“Tamara Yajia finds a not-so-delicate balance of irreverent crassness and heartfelt storytelling. Her life is almost unbelievable while still somehow relatable. Perfect for fans of Samantha Irby, Jenny Lawson, and Maria Bamford.”
— Mara Panich, Fact & Fiction Downtown, Missoula, MT
By Carrie R. Moore
Tin House Books
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“(Indies Introduce) I mean it when I say this book is breathing life into me. Each story is a slow burning tale set in the South, braiding history, love, family, and self-discovery together with crisp prose and honest storytelling.”
— Nadi Hinojosa, Lark and Owl Booksellers, Georgetown, TX
By Benedict Nguyen
Catapult
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“Hot Girls With Balls is a searing satire of a hostile world that asks minorities to speak on behalf of their communities and then silences them. I couldn’t help but root for Six and Green as they navigated their roles as two Online Famous Trans Girls in the men’s pro-Volleyball league — all while being hot sweaty girls in love.”
— Ellis Breunig, Page 2 Books, Burien, WA
By Chloe Michelle Howarth
Melville House
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“Following two young girls as they fall in passionate but impossible love in ’90s rural Ireland, this novel is the song Triple Dog Dare by Lucy Dacus. Reading it felt like a sunburn: The beating heat of the sun, the pain of the burn, the relief of aloe vera, and the peeling back of skin revealing something nascent yet terrifying.”
— Jeanette Byrnes, Browsers Bookshop, Olympia, WA
By Sarah Sawyer
Zibby Publishing
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“The Undercurrent is an impressive literary work of fiction that pulls the reader in and never lets them go. Two families grapple with the disappearance of a young girl in their neighborhood, leading them to an unimaginable truth. Intelligent, gripping, and beautifully written!”
— Kathy Mailloux, East City Bookshop, Washington, DC
Now in Paperback
Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback
