IndieBound: Other Indie Favorites

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris (Penguin Press, $23, 9780735222113). "This slender tome began as a social media viral sensation. Shortly after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, a husband and father wrote an open letter to the perpetrators of those attacks, stating time and again that they would not have his hate, despite the fact that he lost his wife and the mother of their infant son. This memoir closely follows the hours after the attack, chronicling Leiris' thoughts and emotions for the next several days up through the funeral for his wife. Though brief, this is a powerful meditation on grief and resilience and the importance of building a legacy of forgiveness for his son." --Emily Crowe, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass.

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick (HarperCollins, $25.99, 9780062448767). "This moving novel establishes its unique tone and lyrical beauty from the opening sentence and sustains that level through a multi-generational story of the tension of loyalty to family and home against the lure and opportunities of the outside world." --Joe Strebel, Anderson's Bookshop Naperville, Ill.

Paperback
Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live by Peter Orner (Catapult, $16.95, 9781936787258). "From beloved novelist and short-story writer Peter Orner comes a collection of essays on the reading life. Orner considers Chekhov in a hospital cafeteria, Welty on a remote island. He also throws Julian Barnes out the window of a moving car--after all, who would trust a man who only talked about what he loved? Behind and around and between these meditations flit the ghosts of the author's life: his late father, his lost marriage, his self-deprecating take on his own career. The result is a book overflowing with charm--wry, delectable, and laugh-out-loud funny. Orner is a writer's writer, but he is also a reader's reader. Am I Alone Here? is an absolute treasure." --Mairead Staid, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

For Ages 4 to 8
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis (Candlewick, $16.99, 9780763665302). "In Du Iz Tak?, readers dive into the miniature world of bugs, where big things are happening. In a story told entirely in an imaginative insect language, readers will quickly find themselves understanding and speaking 'Bug.' Ellis' vibrant illustrations are full of tiny details and readers will come back again and again to explore this striking, inventive story. Su!" --Sara Grochowski, Brilliant Books, Traverse City, Mich.

For Ages 9 to 12: Revisit & Rediscover
The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,$7.99, 9780152026103). Originally published in 1960. "Two best friends, Amy and Clarissa, love to draw. They create a world where a moderately wicked witch has been banished to the top of a glass hill. The girls and witch communicate via a giant bumblebee, Malachi, who spells out messages between them. A request for companionship leads to a little witch girl and witch baby becoming part of the lively hilltop family. This magical tale, with its gentle suspense, sassy humor, and charming art by Ardizzone, has enchanted generations of young readers." --Elizabeth Bluemle, The Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vt.

For Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati (Delacorte Press/Random House, $17.99, 9781101938898). "After Catherine is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she doesn't believe that she'll survive. She knows that, while right now she's ok, soul-crushing depression, which she calls Zero, is coming for her. So she decides that she won't let it get her--she'll end things before it hits. But she has a few things to do first. Catherine's bucket list becomes an unlikely source for change as she begins to find hope where she never expected it. This book absolutely floored me. It tore me apart and rebuilt me, in the best possible way. It is by far the best depiction of depression that I've read in a very long time. I spent the last half of the book in grateful tears, filled with a deep recognition that gave me hope for life and love for Catherine. I cannot express enough what this book meant to me. Read it. It'll change you." --Flannery Fitch, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Calif.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
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