August 2021 Indie Next List
Once There Were Wolves
Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books)
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“Telling of the reintroduction of wolves to the Scottish highlands, Once There Were Wolves affirms the importance of our connections to the human and more-than-human worlds that sustain us, worlds we sever at our own peril.”
— Ben Platt, Jackson Hole Book Trader, Jackson, WY
August 2021 Indie Next List
Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers
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“With this debut set in a Pacific Northwest logging town, Ash Davidson has immediately established herself as a true writer of the American experience, in all its potential for self-destruction and beauty.”
— Josh Popkin, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA
By Rachel Yoder
Doubleday Books
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“At once weird, darkly funny, moving, relatable, and deliciously messed up, Nightbitch is a rallying howl to women, and especially mothers, everywhere.”
— Danielle Raub, Itinerant Literate Books, Charleston, SC
By Shelley Parker-Chan
Tor Books
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“Zhu’s tooth-and-nail fight for her destiny merges hero and antihero into a transcendent figure with an incomparably strong will. She Who Became the Sun carves out a bold and bloody new genre of epic fantasy.”
— Jessie Prutisto-Chang, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA
By A. K. Blakemore
Catapult
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“A brilliant story set in 17th-century England about a women’s community at the margins of society and the constant dangers of religious fervor. Dark, unsettling, and highly entertaining.”
— Ulrika Moats, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX
By Katie Kitamura
Riverhead Books
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“A cool and precise portrait of a woman and system on the verge of breaking, this latest literary thriller from Kitamura quietly insinuates itself into readers’ consciousness with subtle and haunting force.”
— Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books, Point Reyes Station, CA
By Anthony Veasna So
Ecco
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“These stories of the members of a compact Cambodian-American community, from the refugees to the business owners to the gay teenagers, seamlessly balance humor with hardships.”
— Sofia Silva Wright, Phoenix Books Burlington, Burlington, VT
By Mona Awad
Simon & Schuster
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“Gloriously bananas, dark and weird, and so, so good. All’s Well is a big, messy, strange journey about chronic pain, Shakespeare, friendship, mental health, witchcraft, and work.”
— Rachel Barry, WORD Bookstores, Brooklyn, NY
By Tracey Lange
Celadon Books
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“Tracey Lange has created some truly memorable characters and a wonderfully moving experience in seeing this tight-knit family cope with conflicts, setbacks, and the disclosure of long-buried secrets.”
— John Lynn, The Kennett Bookhouse, Kennett Square, PA
By Virginia Feito
Liveright
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“Virginia Feito has effortlessly updated the comedy of manners in this darkly funny mystery. This book will haunt you until you reach the breathtaking conclusion, and you’ll remember Mrs. March for a long time to come.”
— Olivia Edmunds-Diez, Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO
By Nawaaz Ahmed
Counterpoint
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“Two sisters and their mother are reunited as the eldest sister is about to give birth, but they struggle to find common ground. Brilliantly told through the voice of the unborn child, love, loss, politics, faith, sexuality, and race intersect across decades and continents.”
— Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books (NC), Davidson, NC
By Matt Bell
Custom House
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“This cross between a Shakespeare drama and a Grimm fairy tale is unsettling, attention-grabbing, and thought-provoking in the way stories do so well when reason often fails. A powerful read!”
— Helen Eddy, The Book Shoppe (IA), Boone, IA
By Julie Murphy
Hyperion Avenue
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“There simply aren’t enough words in my vocabulary to explain how beautifully Julie Murphy is able to craft such sweet stories. If the Shoe Fits is the Cinderella twist readers have been waiting decades for.”
— Hannah Oxley, Mystery to Me, Madison, WI
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“This story opened its broad arms and admitted me into the recharging station that I needed so badly in 2021. It was cute. It was sweet. It was heart-wrenching. It was steamy. It was everything!”
— Stephanie Arrache, Waterwheel Gifts and Books, Dubois, WY
By Naomi Hirahara
Soho Crime
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“Clark and Division is a propulsive mystery and a heart-wrenching examination of Japanese internment and relocation in the 1940s. Hirahara beautifully weaves history and injustice into this fascinating and compelling crime novel.”
— Luisa Smith, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA
By Anna Bailey
Atria Books
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“You’ll find yourself invested in and rooting for each of the young people in this book as they navigate secrets and prejudices to unravel the mystery of what happened to their sister and friend — and why.”
— Alana Haley, Schuler Books (Grand Rapids), Grand Rapids, MI
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“Made in China is an emotionally wrenching and engrossing memoir about abuse, immigration, and the American dream. Qu’s pain is raw and unfinished, but her resiliency and growth are unforgettable.”
— Marie Cloutier, Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
By Sara Nisha Adams
William Morrow
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“A beautifully written novel about people connected by a local library and an amazing reading list. As the characters’ lives are revealed through interweaving storylines, readers will root for them, cry for them, and celebrate their victories.”
— Lisa Driban, Hockessin Book Shelf, Hockessin, DE
By Maggie Smith
Atria/OneSignal Publishers
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“Maggie Smith is the kind of magician who can make a poem breathe and sing. Goldenrod leaves the reader feeling as though the poet has gently struck their heart with a mallet, sending vibrations echoing throughout them for a long time.”
— Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery, Park Rapids, MN
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“Despite the classically creepy content of a true horror tale, I found myself devouring these pages before going to sleep at night and seeking them out again first thing in the morning, nightmares be damned.”
— Sara Knight, Maria's Bookshop, Durango, CO
By Megan Abbott
G.P. Putnam's Sons
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“The Turnout is a deliciously uncomfortable story, from the brutality imposed on dancers’ bodies to the uneasy dynamics of sisterly relationships and the tension when someone new intrudes on their domain.”
— Lexi Beach, The Astoria Bookshop, Astoria, NY
By Adam Thompson
Two Dollar Radio
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“I am thrilled to have read Born Into This, which is filled with stories about Aboriginal people existing between cultural heritage and cultural change, and the seemingly inexorable loss of the natural world in which they live.”
— Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, WA
By Cristina Sandu, Cristina Sandu
Scribe Us
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“Six girls living behind the Iron Curtain turn their leisurely summer swimming routine into something more. Glimpses into their adult lives join atmospheric vignettes of their journey into synchronized swimming.”
— Maggie Henriksen, Carmichael's Bookstore, Louisville, KY
By Lizzy Stewart
Fantagraphics
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“Through Lizzy Stewart’s wistful art, these stories feel like bruises that leave you tender, thoughtful, and forgiving for not living up to your own expectations when adulthood isn’t at all that you’d imagined.”
— Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA
By Pamela Korgemagi
House of Anansi Press
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“In this eerily beautiful tale of nature and humanity, we follow Cougar from birth to death, while the man hunting Cougar is drawn in by the echoing call of the forest and the stories told by the men of his town.”
— Lily Hunter, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, MO
Now in Paperback
Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback
