From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next picks:
Hardcover
The Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story by Matt Bondurant (Scribner, $25, 9781416561392/1416561390). "I loved this book--an effective symbiosis of style, substance, and narrative technique. The novel absorbs the reader into its riveting account of the 1920s and 1930s Virginia moonshine trade and offers a fascinating perspective of American history. I was immersed from beginning to end."--Kristin Kirkham, the University Book Store, Madison, Wis.
Confessions of an Eco-Sinner: Tracking Down the Sources of My Stuff by Fred Pearce (Beacon, $24.95, 9780807085882/080708588X). "It's official: Everyone is going green. Sometimes, though, learning which behaviors really make a difference seems an impossible task. In Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, Fred Pearce is determined to find the truth by following his possessions from the cradle to the grave. What he learns is sometimes disturbing, occasionally rewarding, and always eye-opening."--Rachel Tavares, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, Ariz.
Paperback
How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith (Perigee, $14.95, 9780399534607/0399534601). "Keri Smith has written another book to spark creativity and to help us remember who we are. How to Be an Explorer of the World will make a great gift."--Keri Holmes, the Kaleidoscope: Our Focus Is You, Hampton, Iowa
For Young Adults
Masterpiece by Elise Broach (Holt Books for Young Readers, $16.95, 9780805082708/0805082700). "A marvelous story about a boy who doesn't fit in, a beetle who longs for adventure, and how they find each other. The interaction between the two rings true even as they become involved in an art heist at the Museum of Modern Art."--Trish Brown, Hooray for Books!, Alexandria, Va.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]