From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
The Baker's Secret: A Novel by Stephen P. Kiernan (Morrow, $26.99, 9780062369581). "Emma is an apprentice baker in a small Normandy village during the Nazi occupation whose quiet determination to keep her friends and grandmother alive is heroic and heart-wrenching. Forced to bake ten loaves of bread for the Kommandant each day, Emma stretches her supplies to make extra loaves to help feed the starving villagers. While she refuses to think she is part of the resistance and has lost hope of the Allies arriving, Emma epitomizes the French spirit of survival. Once again, we learn that the bravest among resistance fighters are often little more than children themselves. What a beautiful book to recommend to book groups and customers seeking a well-written story." --Patricia Worth, River Reader Books, Lexington, Mo.
Saints for All Occasions: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan (Knopf, $26.95, 9780307959577). "Saints for All Occasions is a riveting story about family and the secrets they keep. Nora Rafferty receives some devastating news that sets in motion a slow reveal of a longstanding secret between Nora and her sister Theresa, who immigrated from a small Irish village to Boston in the 1950s. It is also the story of Nora's relationships with her own adult children and the secrets they hide from their mother and each other. Sullivan's writing is lovely, and she has brought to life characters who are stronger than they think." --Woody Chichester, Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca, N.Y.
Paperback
Last Things: A Graphic Memoir About Love and Loss by Marissa Moss (Conari Press, $18.95, 9781573246989). "In this achingly raw graphic memoir, Marissa Moss untangles the seven whirlwind months between her husband's ALS diagnosis and his death. Forced to balance Harvey's increasingly complex medical needs and the needs of their three young sons, Moss struggles to maintain a sense of normalcy for her family in the midst of crisis. Absent are movie-perfect declarations of love and reconciliation; Moss lays bare the emotional devastation left in the wake of Harvey's illness with her understated drawings and text. But there are moments of joy, too, reminding us beauty can be found in the darkest of times. Powerful, heartbreaking, and, ultimately, hopeful, Last Things challenges readers with its unflinching look at marriage, family, love, and loss." --Beth Wagner, Phoenix Books, Essex Junction, Vt.
For Ages 4 to 8
This House, Once by Deborah Freedman (Atheneum, $17.99, 9781481442848). "As usual, Freedman's rendering of color, form, and light are just right for her loving, conscientious evaluation of the natural elements that collaboratively become the structure of a house. Emerging from a rich blueprint blue, the clouds become a window into the time before the house, before us. Brick by brick, we begin to understand that we not only coexist with nature, but that home is composed of both ourselves and the adventure of a life observed." --Jilleen Moore, Square Books, Oxford, Miss.
For Ages 9 to 12
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia (Amistad, $16.99, 9780062215918). "A hero isn't always a hero to everybody. When Clayton's beloved, blues-playing grandfather passes away, Clayton and his mother clash over their feelings. His mother wants to sell everything and move on, but Clayton loved Cool Papa Byrd and his music more than anything. So Clayton does the only thing he can think of: he runs away in search of Cool Papa Byrd's band. But the big, bad world isn't a simple place, and love isn't such a simple thing." --Alex Schaffner, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass.
For Teen Readers
Dear Reader by Mary O'Connell (Flatiron Books, $17.99, 9781250077080). "Dear Reader is a quirky and unique novel about the ways relationships change us. A special teacher can change the way you think or read, a first love can affect the ways we move through adulthood, and fiction can alter how we view the world around us. Mary O'Connell playfully explores the relationships Flannery forms with others, not through action but through unique narrative devices and interior voices. Alternately emotional and lighthearted, Dear Reader will satisfy bookish types and Brontë enthusiasts of all ages!" --Johanna Albrecht, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, N.C.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
