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.

Lost and Lassoed: A Rebel Blue Ranch Novel

Lyla Sage (Dial Press Trade Paperback)

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“This book was so much fun. This is the couple I’ve waited to read about ever since I picked up Done and Dusted! The tension, the banter, the spice, everything was exactly as I hoped it would be. I definitely recommend this book!”

— Kaitlyn Craig, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH

Indie Next List Inspired Recommendations from Indie Booksellers

The Blue Hour: A Novel

By Paula Hawkins

Mariner Books

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“A remote Scottish Island hides dark secrets as a young museum curator investigates a human bone in the work of the artist he exhibits. Drawn into an artistic world of love and jealousy, will he find the truth behind the lies?” — Benedict Tanter, Main Point Books, Wayne, PA

Pony Confidential

By Christina Lynch

Berkley

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“A talking horse? Not only that, a talking horse with some real powers of deduction and a thirst for revenge! This mystery gallops along from one end of the US to the other; you’ll be bouncing in your seat until the very satisfying conclusion.” — Anne Holman, The King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, UT

Blood Over Bright Haven: A Novel

By M. L. Wang

Del Rey

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“An immersive fantasy with a lot to say. Wang crafts a fantastic magic system that sets the foundation for ethical questions and masterful framing of societal ills, all nestled within a plot that is beautifully complex, yet briskly paced.” — Michaela Devine, Invitation Bookshop, Gig Harbor, WA

Like Mother, Like Mother: A Novel

By Susan Rieger

The Dial Press

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“A fun read full of characters that you root for. A few of them may be prickly, but they have such depth and grace that you can’t help but fall in love. I love the friendship between Grace and Ruth the most; we could all use a friendship like that in our lives.” — Corrie Stone-Johnson, Black Rock Books (NY), Buffalo, NY

What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird

By Sy Montgomery

Atria Books

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“As the tender of a small flock of chickens, how could I rate this anything less than a 10? Smarter than we give them credit for and a source of endless amusement, chickens are given their due in this wonderful book.” — Mary O'Malley, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, MO

The Teller of Small Fortunes

By Julie Leong

Ace

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“Such a charming, cozy, found family fantasy. Tao, the teller of small fortunes, is a solo traveler who eventually links up with a strong man, a reformed thief, and a baker. This is a heartwarming feel-good story that is a balm for our times.” — Audrey I-Wei Huang, Belmont Books, Belmont, MA

Didion and Babitz

By Lili Anolik

Scribner

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“Anolik tells a great tale of two fascinating women. Didion and Babitz not only tells of the lives of Eve and Joan, but also gives a social studies glimpse of the time: celebrities, places, clothes, parties, and events all included.” — Suzy Takacs, The Book Cellar (IL), Chicago, IL

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures

By Katherine Rundell

Doubleday

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“Charming, poignant, and sometimes very funny, Vanishing Treasures is equal parts love story, beacon, and manifesto. Come for the eponymous and often imperiled treasures of the title, stay for the urgent call to action.” — Rafe Posey, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, WA

Blood Test: A Comedy

By Charles Baxter

Pantheon

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“Charles Baxter should be required reading for aspiring novelists. Blood Test delves deeply into many of the broken aspects of our current culture, but also presents the redeeming qualities many possess to find fulfillment in an often-desolate world.” — Bill Cusumano, Square Books, Oxford, MS

Servant of Earth (The Shards of Magic #1)

By Sarah Hawley

Ace

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“In a sea of faerie romances, this one stands out! I love how the labyrinthine underground Fae world felt so foreign compared to Kenna’s human world. The writing was clear and fun. The ending has me counting down the days until book two!” — Amber Talbot, pages: a bookstore, Manhattan Beach, CA

If I Stopped Haunting You

By Colby Wilkens

St. Martin's Griffin

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“If I Stopped Haunting You’s mix of romance and gothic horror was so much fun! As a mixed Indigenous bookseller, it is incredible to have two main characters in a rom-com not only be Indigenous, but to also have meaningful dialogue about Indigeneity. A fun, hot, spooky romp.” — Hillary Smith, Black Walnut Books, Hudson Falls, NY

Metal from Heaven

By august clarke

Erewhon Books

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“A glorious, feverish, wholly lesbian feast. Boundary-pushing prose that’s not safe and same-y sounding. Follows through on the promise and consequence of violent revolution, and gives us a vision of anti- and post-capitalist community possibility.” — Allison Senecal, Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins, CO

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret: A Festive Mystery (The Ernest Cunningham Mysteries #3)

By Benjamin Stevenson

Mariner Books

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“It’s short, it’s quirky, and it’s a holiday treat. Fewer pages don’t mean less complications or chances to miss clues. The trademark wry humor and references to classic mystery tropes still resonate and make this a playful gift.” — Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books (NC), Davidson, NC

Blue Light Hours

By Bruna Dantas Lobato

Grove Press, Black Cat

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“A narrative intimately rendered with sparse prose, layered with empathy for its dual mother-daughter protagonists. Blue Light Hours is a stunner of a debut novel, seemingly stretching beyond its 192-page count and burying deep within your bones.” — Taylor Carlton, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX

This Will Be Fun: A Novel

By E. B. Asher

Avon

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“Shrek and the casts of Princess Bride and Legends and Lattes walk into a tavern…and there’s your new favorite cozy fantasy! E. B. Asher (who is three authors in a trenchcoat) brings readers a new quartet of heroes to fall in love with at a royal wedding.” — Allie Cesmat, Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ

The Bloodless Princes (The Fireborne Blade #2)

By Charlotte Bond

Tordotcom

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“The perfect follow up to The Fireborne Blade! The lore of Maddileh and Saralene runs even deeper than we previously knew. Just like last time the two prove that their names will be etched into the history books right alongside the lore.” — Katherine Nazzaro, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA

An Image of My Name Enters America: Essays

By Lucy Ives

Graywolf Press

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“Lucy Ives is a brilliant, singular, and encyclopedic thinker, and this collection of essays — spanning topics as wide-reaching as My Little Pony, the Assyrian Genocide, and the troubled history of romantic love — is astonishing.” — Scott Broker, Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, CA

Libby Lost and Found: A Novel

By Stephanie Booth

Sourcebooks Landmark

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“A delightful read! Full of endearing characters who collide with heartwarming results: an author of a beloved children’s series over deadline due to early onset Alzheimer’s, a tiny intrepid superfan, and her wacky family and town.” — Alana Haley, Schuler Books (Grand Rapids), Grand Rapids, MI

How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?: A Novel

By Anna Montague

Ecco

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“This novel follows a 70-year-old woman on a road trip with her best friend’s ashes. Along the way, she confronts her grief and her sexuality, showing that honesty and connection are there if we are brave enough to reach for them.” — Colleen Schneider Cameron, Read Between the Lynes, Woodstock, IL

The Author's Guide to Murder: A Novel

By Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White

William Morrow

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“Such a refreshing take on a mystery/thriller. Williams, Willig, and White have formed what feels like the ultimate ‘dream team.’ From page one, I was hooked — laughing out loud one minute and glued to the edge of my seat the next.” — Kate Seng, Poe & Company Bookstore, Milton, GA

Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah

By Charles King

Doubleday

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“This story of Messiah has everything: war, a royal succession crisis, forbidden love, disgrace, and reinvention, all funded by the horrors of slavery. Thrilling stuff, no matter your religious beliefs or familiarity with classical music.” — Amy Woolsey, Bards Alley, Vienna, VA

Forest of Noise: Poems

By Mosab Abu Toha

Knopf

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“Mosab Abu Toha, a poet from Gaza, here delves into the indignities, injustices, the utter cruelties he and his fellow Palestinians have been subjected to. In and through the sheer horror there is a most human spirit, a celebration of joy in the cracks where it might be found.” — Rick Simonson, The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA

Masquerade

By Mike Fu

Tin House Books

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“Past the layers of mirrors and doubles, peeling away history and memory, Masquerade is about resisting the inertia of remaining in life when and where it’s comfortable and instead (re)-writing the story as you would like to see it.” — Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA

Lowest Common Denominator

By Pirkko Saisio, Mia Spangenberg

Two Lines Press

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“Lowest Common Denominator refuses to be neatly categorized. As the narrator deals with grief over losing her father, she tries to reconcile the realities of middle age. A surreal read full of linguistic magic that makes the world feel alive with possibility.” — David Vogel, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI

Now in Paperback Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback