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.

Creation Lake: A Novel

Rachel Kushner (Scribner)

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“Rachel Kushner turns noir on its head in this mesmerizing, philosophical, and darkly funny tale. Creation Lake is a page-turner crackling with electricity from one of our greatest living writers — a spy thriller with literary teeth.”

— Chantel McCray, Rainy Day Books, Fairway, KS

Indie Next List Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers

Colored Television: A Novel

By Danzy Senna

Riverhead Books

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“Incisive, of the moment, and darkly funny, I loved everything about Colored Television. Very few contemporary authors can so acutely examine race and class while maintaining a razor-sharp sense of humor, but Danzy Senna is in a league of her own.” — David Vogel, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI

Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles #2)

By TJ Klune

Tor Books

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“Returning to Marsyas island is like coming home after a long trip — you are immediately enveloped in warmth and comfort. This novel is a celebration of queer families and inclusive communities. It’s exactly what we need to be reading right now!” — Jody Hardy, Mostly Books (AZ), Tucson, AZ

Tell Me Everything: A Novel

By Elizabeth Strout

Random House

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“I’ve just spent the last few days observing a grand reunion in this gorgeous book! All my old friends showed up: 90-year-old Olive, Lucy Barton, the Burgess brothers, even Amy and Isabel! Strout probes human nature and the many meanings of love.” — Carol Katsoulis, Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville, IL

Blue Sisters: A Novel

By Coco Mellors

Ballantine Books

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“I’ve always wanted a sister; this book gifted me four. Four unique characters, each flawed but lovable in their own way, who seem like they would never be able to get along. Pick up this book, then call your therapist. Better yet, your sister.” — Caroline Giblin, Thunder Road Books, Spring Lake, NJ

There Are Rivers in the Sky: A novel

By Elif Shafak

Knopf

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“Water: the omnipresent witness to the reverberation of the underdog and the valorized, to the drenched disorderedness of security throughout civilization. Elif Shafak tackles the toxicity of human greed, cruelty, and survival through water.” — Kayleen Rohrer, InkLink Books, East Troy, WI

Bluff: Poems

By Danez Smith

Graywolf Press

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“Danez Smith is an artist grappling with the role of art at the end of the world. These poems shine a soft light into the darkest tunnels of our history, into the precise cuts they made into your soul, and leave you with something better than hope.” — Michelle Carroll, Powell's Books, Portland, OR

The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts

By Louis Bayard

Algonquin Books

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“Bayard transports us to the British countryside, an Italian villa, the trenches of France, and back to London. Told in the language of the late 19th & early 20th centuries, The Wildes involves the entire Wilde family and the scandalous drama that ensues.” — Mindy Ostrow, The River's End Bookstore, Oswego, NY

The Life Impossible: A Novel

By Matt Haig

Viking

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“Matt Haig’s wonderful book about climate change, aging, and recovering from guilt. Widowed Grace is left a house in Spain by a friend she hasn’t heard from in over 30 years. She heads out on an adventure where new friends and life-altering changes await.” — Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

By Any Other Name: A Novel

By Jodi Picoult

Ballantine Books

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“A fascinating story of a woman who may have written many of the works attributed to Shakespeare. While this book is fiction, Picoult digs deep into the research that’s been done to present an interesting and intriguing tale of what might have been.” — Camille Kovach, Completely Booked, Murrysville, PA

Where the Forest Meets the River

By Shannon Bowring

Europa Editions

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“In Where the forest Meets the River, Bowring takes us back to Dalton, Maine, where some of my favorite and not-so-favorite people live. Dalton has its secrets, but Bowring spins a tale full of love, sorrow, and laughter.” — Jayne Rowsam, Mystery to Me, Madison, WI

Madwoman

By Chelsea Bieker

Little, Brown and Company

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“This incredible story of domestic violence survivors had me on the edge of my seat. Fans of Godshot will recognize Bieker’s humor and depth. But in Madwoman, there’s growth, not always for the better, of a character trying to forget her dark past.” — Emily Berg, Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL

That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America

By Amanda Jones

Bloomsbury Publishing

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“Fierceness and bravery should not be a requirement for librarians. In this era of book banning, however, a librarian must be a warrior. Jones is fighting the good fight to give everyone freedom to read and feel safe in a library space.” — Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller, Stillwater, MN

Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian's Journey Home

By Chris La Tray

Milkweed Editions

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“With Becoming Little Shell, Chris La Tray takes a very personal journey of introspection and familiar heritage and connects it to the larger social issues of the Métis and other Indigenous peoples. This book is an accomplishment.” — Mara Panich, Fact & Fiction Downtown, Missoula, MT

The Night Guest

By Hildur Knútsdóttir, Mary Robinette Kowal

Tor Nightfire

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“Why are we all so tired all the time, even after sleeping for a full night? For one woman, the answer is much darker and tied into family history and the misdiagnosis of doctors. A compelling novella that demands to be read in a single sitting.” — William Carl, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, MA

The Examiner: A Novel

By Janice Hallett

Atria Books

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“When faced with a new Janice Hallett mystery, there’s nothing to do but dive in and swim for the end. There’s no stopping along the way — you don’t want to get lost in the clues before you’ve figured out the solution. (Ha! Good luck with that.)” — Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, WA

William

By Mason Coile

G.P. Putnam's Sons

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“Henry, an engineer, has created an AI marvel with William. His wife, who’s been standoffish since her pregnancy, invites some colleagues over for lunch. Suspicious of his wife, he decides to introduce them to William. This dark tale will leave you guessing.” — Jason Kennedy, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

We're Alone: Essays

By Edwidge Danticat

Graywolf Press

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“In so few pages, Edwidge Danticat weaves language that situates us in the moment with compassion and clarity. From odes that ache and appreciate the humanity of brilliant authors, to writings about Haiti and storms to come, Danticat threads it all.” — Mari Guzman, Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC

I'll Have What He's Having

By Adib Khorram

Forever

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“A substitute teacher turned restaurant owner meets a sommelier in this completely charming ‘friends with benefits…oh, oops, we’re in love’ rom-com! Khorram’s impeccably-titled adult debut will surely be a big hit this fall.” — Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC

Spirit Crossing: A Novel (Cork O'Connor Mystery Series #20)

By William Kent Krueger

Atria Books

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“A work of fiction can hold an abundance of truth. In this story, it’s not until the body of a missing white girl from a prominent family is found that a missing Indigenous woman gets attention from law enforcement. Lives are at stake on the path to the truth.” — Casey Luke, The Book Shoppe (IA), Boone, IA

The Instrumentalist

By Harriet Constable

Simon & Schuster

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“Inspired by a true story, The Instrumentalist immediately pulled me into 18th-century Venice. Anna Maria’s journey to find love, meaning, and purpose in life kept me turning pages. It’s so satisfying watching her learn to use her gift for good.” — Michelle Ratto, A Thousand Stories, Herndon, VA

Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle that Saved a Child's Life

By Rachel Clarke

Scribner

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“An emotionally complex tribute to an unfathomable loss, a profound love, and a choice that offers up a miracle. Dr. Clarke interweaves the emotional story with the medical history that has led up to this lifesaving gift. A stunning, memorable read.” — Maxwell Gregory, Madison Street Books, Chicago, IL

Under the Eye of the Big Bird: A Novel

By Hiromi Kawakami, Asa Yoneda

Soft Skull

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“What will the world look like when humanity is near its end? In short glimpses, this book gives us insight to small groups of people and how they live and survive in an ever-changing, increasingly dystopian world. This is speculative fiction at its best.” — Miranda Myers, Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ

The Book Swap: The Romance Novel about Book Lovers and for Book Lovers - Uplifting, Moving, and Full of Love

By Tessa Bickers

Graydon House

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“I am a sucker for a well-written and meaty romance and The Book Swap delivers. Erin and James are both imperfect people, but they also both have such a capacity for love and growth. Them falling in love through margin-writing in books is just the cherry on top.” — Amelia Yasuda, Queen Takes Book, Columbia, MD

Best Copy Available: A True Crime Memoir

By Jay Baron Nicorvo, Geoff Dyer

University of Georgia Press

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“Do not shy away from this memoir. It’s a hard read but it’s so worth it. Nicorvo is masterful in his ability to share the trauma of his childhood. Part memoir, part true crime, completely unforgettable!” — Julie Slavinsky, Warwick's, La Jolla, CA

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