From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
Whale Fall: A Novel by Elizabeth O'Connor (Pantheon, $27, 9780593700914). "A debut and a paean to the forgotten cultures on the British Isles. An intelligent yet innocent protagonist is confronted with ethnographers from the mainland, as class, gender, and education meet, while the prose mirrors island life." --Richard Dixon, Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C.
How to Read a Book: A Novel by Monica Wood (Mariner, $28, 9780063243675). "A charming novel about the power of books to heal, connect, and teach. A prison inmate, her reading group teacher, and the man damaged by the inmate's crime are drawn together by their love of reading and their need for human connection." --Susan Taylor, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.
Paperback
The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller (Quirk Books, $16.99, 9781683694076). "A gruesome, campy book that plays on the beautiful and messy dynamics of queer community, the seedy claws of rainbow capitalism, and every zombie killing method ever fantasized. The Z Word will leave you laughing between every shocked gasp!" --Skye Euryale, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ages 4 to 8
Being Home by Traci Sorell, illus. by Michaela Goade (Kokila, $18.99, 9781984816030). "Traci Sorell's musical words paired with Michaela Goade's incredible illustrations are magic. I especially love how the illustrations are partly from the young girl in the story's imagination. Beautiful, lyrical, breathtaking." --Madison Duckworth, Saltwater Bookshop, Kingston, Wash.
Ages 9 to 12
The Things We Miss by Leah Stecher (Bloomsbury, $17.99, 9781547613021). "Remember 7th grade? The body changes, cliques, first fight with your BFF, and P.E. What would you do if all those uncomfortable moments could just be skipped? The Things We Miss is a time travel coming-of-age story that reminds us what it means to be present." --Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver, Bookseller, Savannah, Ga.
Teen Readers
The Ballad of Darcy and Russell by Morgan Matson (Simon & Schuster, $19.99, 9781481499019). "Morgan Matson is a master of fitting so much story into such a short period of time. I fell in love with Darcy and Russell over the course of their one exciting night. Matson continues to be one of my favorite YA authors." --Aedan Richter, Nowhere Bookshop, San Antonio, Tex.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
