The post Forthcoming & New Release Books You Won’t Want to Miss (2025) appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Eric Mayrhofer
The final quarter of 2025 is upon us.
Autumn—the season when we start pulling out cozy sweatshirts, putting pumpkin in everything, and getting started on our Christmas lists (if we’re ambitious). If you’d rather binge Gilmore Girls for the ninetieth time, you have my blessing, but I also highly recommend checking out this season’s new book releases instead.
The books coming out between October and December 2025 are gearing up to freak you out and give you hope. They’re getting ready to show you the magic in the world and remind you that it’s a wild place to live. In a season of so many extraordinary reads, these are some of the best indie books to add to your TBR.
Here are 12 new release books you won’t want to miss.
1. Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre
Author: Brandie June
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9780744311792
Publisher: CamCat Books
To me, autumn is the season of writing. From the motivation of the former beast known as NaNoWriMo to the coziness of drafting by hand while watching the leaves change beyond the window, nothing feels quite as right as writing. But when you add forbidden magic? Now that makes a story worth savoring.
Those elements are the starting point in Brandie June’s new release Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre. Playwright Violet Ashmore lives in the shadow of her sister Iris, who has promised to protect Violet and her dangerous magic from from the Crown. But when bounty hunter Alec Morgan infiltrates the theater and begins falling for Iris, their life—and the theater—could all come undone.
With a literary protagonist longing for more, the danger of books like Caraval and the lyrical magic of The Night Circus, Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre has the potential to be the most enchanting read of the end of 2025.
2. But the Wicked Shall Perish
Author: Catori Sarmiento
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Fantasy
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9781960018762
Publisher: Running Wild Press
More than a few years ago now, The Golem and the Jinni used Jewish folklore to incredible effect, creating a lush and heartwarming fantasy about the immigrant experience in America. This year, Catori Sarmiento incorporates the culture’s mythology to paint a blood-red portrait of a woman seeking her murderer—and revenge.
But the Wicked Shall Perish slips readers into Tziporah Curiel’s resurrected shoes. When she comes back to life in 1920s Venice, Italy, she begins a quest for justice that will leave a trail of souls in her wake and lead to a deal with a demon, forcing her to come to terms with what happened and what she has become. Supernatural, heart-wrenching, and pulse-pounding, this might be exactly the early Halloween treat you’ve been looking for.
3. The Scald Crow
Author: Grace Daly
Genre: Literary Fiction / Horror
Release Date: October 14
ISBN: 9781951971311
Publisher: Creature Horror
“This isn’t a dream… This is really happening!” Could that iconic quote from Rosemary’s Baby be the inspiration for a new spooky season favorite? It may seem like it when you read The Scald Crow by Grace Daly. Offering laughs and scares in equal measure, the novel asks, “Can a sick woman ever be trusted?”
The sick woman in question is Brigid, a self-doubting protagonist living with chronic pain so severe it cost her her job. To add misfortune to injury, her mother goes missing, a turn of events that forces her back into her childhood home. Soon, a crow starts following her, a painting returns no matter how often she rids herself of it, and nightmares of her mother keep startling her awake. Is it all in her head? After all, her pain has no identifiable cause, and that must be her own fault too…right?
A book that confronts readers with the one thing that is all too often our own worst enemies—the negative voices in our heads—The Scald Crow is a spine-tingling, ultimately empowering entry in the horror genre.
4. The Ten Thousand Things
Author: Debbi Flittner
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9798992424218
2025 isn’t all about the scares though. Any time is a good time for beautifully written memoirs. This memoir on silence and belonging is the author’s lifelong attempt to understand her “elusive, unnerving” mother.
Lauren Hayataka of IBR says it’s the lyricism of the prose that elevates the memoir. She says, “Flittner writes with the precision of someone who has carried these memories for decades, shaping them into vivid, almost cinematic scenes: hiding beneath plastic during a sudden storm, watching rain blur the world into a secret cave; lying in the plastic-covered back seat of the family’s Buick as the desert slid past; screaming for help in a kitchen where no one came.”
For all those looking for moving true stories about complex family in lyrical prose, find out why Hayataka calls it “radiant” and “unforgettable.”
5. Bloodletting a Butterfly
Author: Alec B. Hood
Genre: Poetry / Dark
Release Date: Oct 14
ISBN: 9798891328266
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Okay, back to the dead. But with a twist.
Alec B. Hood’s poetry is “visceral, devastating, and brilliantly gory,” says Mandy Bach of IBR. The speaker of the collection is completely preoccupied with death and dying and discusses it with raw, physical imagery.
“Hood expertly uses surreal descriptions of the body to help readers understand the disturbing nature of this preoccupation with suffering and death. He writes, ‘there are insect eggs / embedded in my esophagus // parasites peering / through my pupils // my lungs / flooded with webs // my blood / blinking with lightning bugs.‘”
Feast your eyes on roadkill, ghosts, and more in this “beautifully ugly” collection.
6. The Mongoose
Author: Joana mosi
Genre: Graphic Novel
Release Date: October 14
ISBN: 9782925114475
Publisher: Pow Pow Press
Pow Pow Press is doing some amazing work! After the unique power of The Jellyfish and Botanica Drama, I couldn’t help but get excited about The Mongoose.
This black and white graphic novel about grief and ghosts and, oddly, a phantom mongoose combines what I’ve come to expect from Pow Pow Press: thoughtful and moving visual stories with a dash of strange.
7. A Blood Witch
Author: Joseph Stone
Genre: Fantasy / Dark
Release Date: November 5
Joseph Stone is no stranger to captivating dark fantasy. From the alluring darkness of The Lykanos Chronicles, which we included in our list of best book series of the past few years, to the first book in the Haunted Women series, which Alexandria Ducksworth raved about, Stone writes evocative fantasy with “jaw-dropping” and “downright scary” results.
And now, book two! Victoria Lilly of IBR called it “a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle… Not a comforting read, but a valuable one.”
8. The Sofa
Author: Sam Munson
Genre: Horror / Literary
Release Date: November 11
ISBN: 9781953387974
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
Mr. Montessori goes downstairs one morning to find his sofa is different. The doors are all locked. Windows too. Nobody’s broken in. So how did this get here, and where did their old, perfect couch go?
Suddenly, the image of a man in a bowler hat starts popping up all around him. His son’s drawing used to only have the new sofa in it. The mirror used to be only him staring back.
The Sofa by Sam Munson is a surreal piece of everyday horror that nails down obsession in an eerily painful way. Man, what if Montessori just stepped away from this fascination? What if he accepted this weirdly outdated sofa as his own and moved on with his perfectly fine life? It surely wouldn’t turn out like this.
9. A Gathering Place
Author: Vicki salloum
Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: November 18
ISBN: 9798999042286
Publisher: Silent Clamor Press
Sometimes faith is all but a voice.
81-year-old Blue Hamieh follows her faith to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, believing that the Virgin Mary wants her to open a gathering place, a cafe, for downtrodden people in the devastated city. Is this a true calling, or is her family right and she should return to Mississippi?
Vicki Salloum imbues this community-driven novel of faith and resilience with artful, meaningful prose and a big heart. I dare you not to fall for Blue by the novel’s end.
10. Hotel Melikov (Citizen Orlov Book 2)
Author: Jonathan Payne
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Crime
Release Date: November 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780744311808
Publisher: CamCat Books
What better way to prepare for the oncoming winter chill than to immerse yourself in the chilling espionage of a mountainous, central-European country?
In Hotel Melikov, the second book of Jonathan Payne’s Citizen Orlov series, readers find Orlov as the Minister for Security of a nation on the verge of collapsing. When tension between the government and revolutionaries erupt, all he wants is to return to his former life as a fishmonger. But when he discovers a sinister plot that threatens everyone, what will he choose?
Featuring tense thrills, political intrigue, nuns who are more than they seem, and a comedic twist, Jonathan Payne returns us to the world of Citizen Orlov in style.
11. Hope
Author: Sommer Schafer
Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories
Release Date: November 25
ISBN: 9781963115475
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Previously published in Best American Short Stories, Sommer Schafer returns with Hope, a story collection to keep you warm as winter approaches.
Set in the small island community of Hope, Alaska, Hope offers an experience that will delight fans of small-town, big-emotion collections like Olive Kitteridge. Linked stories show the hopes and dreams the townsfolk have for the future, all while questioning how well (or how much) they can bury the past.
With precise descriptions, sharp insights, and subtle humor, Schafer’s collection holds all the promise of an uplifting read on these lengthening nights.
12. Dark Matter
Author: Kaja Kothe
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: December 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781946154972
Publisher: Meerkat Press
Bunny Graves has to make this list. Kathe Koja’s Dark Factory series has already been praised for its wild and mind-bending prose, the esoteric experience it gives readers, and its thrilling combinations of art, technology, and a willingness to explore both reality and virtual reality.
Readers might just have their minds blown in Dark Matter. Here, Bunny and Koja’s array of characters wind through a cyberpunk-ish landscape to break the rules, chase ancient myths into virtual reality and back again, and make it through in a world where corporate wars can be life and death. It’s set up to be a rewarding finish for longtime fans of the acclaimed Koja and a bold new world for readers in search of a Snow Crash-meets-Cyberpunk 2077 fix.
What new release books are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!
Author Bio
Eric Mayrhofer is a marketing creative living in Connecticut with his partner and their three cats, Frosty, Korra, and Zoe. A lifelong reader, Eric is working on his first novel in between illustrating, watching spooky movies, and pretending he knows how to bake after watching reruns of The Great British Baking Show.
Thank you for reading “Forthcoming & New Release Books You Won’t Want to Miss (2025)!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
Book Reviews | IBR Blog | Resources for Writers
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The Unfurling Frond
by Rebecca Beardsall
Genre: Nonfiction / Memoir
ISBN: 9781639889556
Print Length: 254 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Reviewed by Erin Britton
An inventive memoir that explores the search for identity and place
A memoir comprised of essays, vignettes, poems, photographs, and experimental forms, Rebecca Beardsall’s The Unfurling Frond is by turns poignant and hilarious, deep and frivolous, as it chronicles key episodes from her life—whether or not they initially appear to be so.
The central theme of seeking (for someone, something, somewhere) is established from the outset through “Blank Slate/White Bag,” the essay that forms the prologue to The Unfurling Frond. Here, Beardsall draws on a pivotal moment from the twelfth grade, when each member of her art class is asked “to illustrate a bag that would represent a product that said something about ourselves.”
Initially, Beardsall sits at her desk, “looking at the blank bag, feeling blank,” but later that day, inspired by a magazine ad for Ralph Lauren’s “Lauren” perfume, she hits upon the idea of her own eponymous fragrance, one that truly captures her essence. Of course, such a perfume can’t possibly be called “Becky.”
“My name didn’t hold the same elegance of the bottle. Becky made it look like the ever-cheerful Bonnie Bell – most certainly not the caliber of Lauren. It also didn’t have the same movement as a wave. No flow. No elegance. No mystery like the sea.”
Once she recognizes that a change has to be made, the answer seems simple: “Rebecca. The white-bag project started the movement towards reclaiming my name.” What’s more, while Beardsall doesn’t know it at the time, this realization launches her on what is to become a lifelong journey toward finding her true self and where she fits in the world, a journey that will span continents and entail considerable emotional upheaval.
Along the way, amid the many highs, Beardsall encounters her fair share of tragedy. The death of her brother, Dwayne, in a farming accident at the age of just twenty-five is discussed in the essays “May 25, 1991” and “Vision to Venture,” poignantly marking the fact that “of the three of Bob and Marilyn Helm’s children, I will be the only one to traverse the world.” Despite his premature passing, Dwayne continues to have an immense impact on both Beardsall’s life and her creative work.
And in terms of travel, venture she certainly does. In The Unfurling Frond, Beardsall chronicles her movement through both time and space, as she travels from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, via Ontario, Canada; Dumbarton, Scotland; Flathead Lake, Montana and many more besides; to Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Bellingham, Washington, all the while traversing through different versions of herself. “It wasn’t a vision that caused me to venture; it was a life lost in an instant that spurred me to move on and into myself.”
She also meets various people who will have a profound impact on her life. In “I Thee Wed… And With It I Bestow All of the Treasures,” Beardsall describes her wedding to Geoff, the rather older New Zealander whom she relies on to help her navigate life in Auckland. The fact that she met Geoff online marks a clear departure from the Mennonite approaches to love and marriage she grew up with, and so their relationship represents another important step on her journey to becoming her true self, not the self she is expected to display.
Life in New Zealand also adds another dimension to Beardsall’s identity: writer. She begins her new career—the first she has had that is entirely her own—writing for magazines and it takes off from there, accompanying her as she moves between countries and from city to town. Her writing and journaling eventually gives rise to The Unfurling Frond, which comprises an amalgamation of everything that has gone before.
Beardsall has a gift for recapturing elusive memories and drawing out everything they might contain and imply. In her own words, she lingers “in the odd, mistrusted places of time – the spaces no one wants to talk about or recognize, let alone be seen lurking in its corners,” which leaves her uniquely placed to mine the great reserves of her past and piece together the evolving picture of herself. In so doing, she gives considerable thought to the vexed issue of place and the sometimes fine line between becoming and colonizing.
Rich in love for both people and place, The Unfurling Frond is an insightful exploration of the self, with Beardsall elucidating both the formation of her own self and the impacts she has had on the selves of others. Whether describing major events or minor details, she does so with verse and insight, ultimately forming a memoir of unusual format and exceptional impact.
Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of The Unfurling Frond by Rebecca Beardsall! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post Indie Books to Watch in Summer 2023 appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Joe Walters
Get your pre-order finger ready. Summer 2023 is a season of great indie books.
Summer is a time for heat, for adventure, for vacation, for books. No matter if you’re in love with the season like me and Ray Bradbury or not, I still give you my full permission to dive into something brilliant this season.
Explosive. Groundbreaking. Essential. The indie books on this list are gearing up for big splashes, and I just want to make sure that you see them first. Literary fiction, mystery-thrillers, fantasy romance, climatology, and beyond–this list is anything but exhaustive of the great work indie presses & authors are doing.
So many books have crossed my desk over the last few months, boasting a summer release date. And while many more of them looked great, I can’t help but shout these 23 from the rooftop. Ready to read more? Start here.
Here are 23 indie books coming out in Summer 2023 that you’re going to want to see.
(Everything on Independent Book Review has been independently selected by a very picky group of people. We may earn a commission on items you purchase through our links.)
1. The Lost Journals of Sacajawea
Available May 2023
Author: Debra Magpie Earling
Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9781571311450
Print Length: 264 pages
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Sacajawea was the interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark. You’ve heard stories in schools and history books, but you’ve read nothing like Debra Magpie Earling’s The Lost Journals of Sacajawea. This lyrical novel challenges the historical narratives of this wildly impressive human.
2. The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos
Available July 2023
Author: Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya
Genre: Coming of Age
ISBN: 9781953387332
Print Length: 170 pages
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
This Latinx American coming of age story has so much for so many, despite being so short. Identity, love, soccer, humor, the sweeping truths of American immigration–The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos will have you antsy to crack it open every chance you get.
Take it from Dantiel W. Moniz: “Restrepo Montoya’s prose illuminates truths so clearly you can see straight through them to the world around you, and even into yourself.”
3. About the Carleton Sisters
Available June 2023
Author: Dian Greenwood
Genre: Family / Sisters
ISBN: 9781647424404
Print Length: 312 pages
Publisher: She Writes Press
I’m a sucker for a parallel storyline, especially when they converge. This literary novel from Dian Greenwood and She Writes Press is a story of the uniqueness of sisterhood and the uniqueness of sisters. Laura Stanfill, author of one of our impressive indies of 2022, called it, “Incisive, raw, and achingly beautiful.”
4. The Memory of Animals
Available June 2023
Author: Claire Fuller
Genre: Literary / Dystopian
ISBN: 9781953534873
Print Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Tin House Books
Claire Fuller has been pumping out hits since 2015. From Our Endless Numbered Days to Bitter Orange and Unsettled Ground, when Fuller releases something, you should probably pay attention. This dystopia is giving off thriller vibes with its pandemic reality, the complications of squid, and survival.
5. Kill Your Darlings
Available May 2023
Author: L.E. Harper
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781792366628
Print Length: 322 pages
How do you write a book about a writer? Tensions are high for authors, even when the room is quiet, when they are pounding away (or not) on their keyboard. You can do that, or you can throw them into the thick of their own novel.
Kill Your Darlings is a writer fantasy that’ll have you second-guessing whether or not that dangerous plot twist is worth including in your next story, and it tackles depression and the need to escape with fervor.
6. Weft
Available August 2023
Author: Kevin Allardice
Genre: Literary Fiction / Surreal
Print Length: NA
Publisher: Madrona Books
IBR’s Nick Rees Gardner had this to say about Weft in a forthcoming review, “At the intersection of realist literary fiction, surrealism, horror, and crime, Kevin Allardice’s Weft is a powerful and unexpected novel about the ties that bind us to family and the lies we weave to make ourselves feel safe.”
And did I mention it’s about a mother-son con duo who find themselves in a haunted house? Keep an eye out for this one!
7. Dark Park
Available August 2023
Author: Kathe Koja
Genre: Science Fiction
Print Length: NA
Publisher: Meerkat Press
Dark Factory landed a place on our 2022 Impressive Indies list, and with good reason. Bestselling sci-fi author Kathe Koja has gone above and beyond in building this reality-bending world, and Dark Park is coming in for an encore. If you like experimental sci-fi, this series is going to get you dancing.
8. Pure Cosmos Club
Available May 2023
Author: Matthew Binder
Genre: Literary Fiction / Humor
ISBN: 9781736912812
Print Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Stalking Horse Press
Pure Cosmos Club is an absurd tragicomedy about a painter who falls under the influence of a New Age guru. With his life already slipping out of his grasp, he joins the guru’s cult in search of a solution beyond the daily humdrum materialism of life in today’s America. If you like Vonnegut and Murakami, choosing Binder is a no-brainer.
9. The Wind Began to Howl
Available May 2023
Author: Laird Barron
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Supernatural
ISBN: 9798988128601
Print Length: 192 pages
Publisher: Bad Hand Books
This supernatural thriller follows private investigator Isaiah Coleridge into a chilling mix of music, movie magic, and madness. Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor, calls it “hardboiled and trippy at the same time,” while Clay McLeod Chapman calls it a “bareknuckle novella that’s equal parts Hollyweird fiction and conspiracy-laden Catskills noir.”
10. At the Edge of the Woods
Available June 2023
Author: Kathryn Bromwich
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Literary
ISBN: 9781953387318
Print Length: 220 pages
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
This one might look familiar! At the Edge of the Woods received a starred review from Jaylynn Korrell back in February, and it was chosen as an Indie Book of the Month in April. It’s right up our alley with beautiful nature writing combined with real-life thrills and an excellent protagonist.
11. Launch Me to the Stars, I’m Finished Here
Available June 2023
Author: Nick Gregorio
Genre: Science Fiction
Print Length: NA
Publisher: Trident Press
I loved Gregorio’s debut, Good Grief, back in 2018, and have been seeking out his books ever since. Why? He’s been pumping out uniqueness for years: from a mixed poetry and short story collaboration to his latest, Rare Encounters with Sea Beasts and Other Divine Phenomena, which gently covers childhood grief and friendship.
Launch Me to the Stars is about a depressed young woman aiming to build a spaceship so she can get to a lightyears-away world. I’m already a huge fan of Gregorio, but give me something about escapism, and I’ll get lost in it for days.
12. The Plotinus
Available July 2023
Author: Rikki Ducornet
Genre: Literary Fiction / Dystopian
ISBN: 9781566896818
Print Length: 88 pages
Publisher: Coffee House Press
This inventive novella is about a young man who gets arrested and incarcerated by a robot called the Plotinus. With surprising optimism and vibrant hallucinations, this book celebrates the enduring power of imagination. And it’s from the brilliant Rikki Ducornet!
13. Girl Country
Available May 2023
Author: Jacqueline Vogtman
Genre: Short Story Collection
ISBN: 9781950539765
Publisher: Dzanc Books
Did you hear that Dzanc Books just won the AWP Small Press Publisher Award? And with good reason! We’ve loved a number of Dzanc Books over the years, from The Conviction of Cora Burns to Dioramas by Blair Austin.
So when Girl Country hit my desk, I knew I couldn’t look away. It’s populated by mothers and monsters, mermaids and milkmaids, nuns and bus drivers—women navigating the intersection of the mundane and the magical.
14. Small, Burning Things
Available July 2023
Author: Cathy Ulrich
Genre: Short Story Collection
Print Length: 180 pages
Publisher: Okay Donkey Press
Cathy Ulrich’s debut, Ghosts of You, included some of the best flash fiction I’ve ever read. So you could imagine my excitement to see a second collection on its way to print.
Ulrich’s story starters are the best, you’ll see. Kim Magowan, author of How Far I’ve Come, even says, “Cathy Ulrich’s opening lines are magic wardrobes and trapdoors, plummeting readers into enticing, twisted story-worlds where girls disappear into thin air, fall from the sky, ignite in flames, crash through ice, and leave dirty, elusive footprints in their wake.”
15. Prince Zadkiel (The Royal Matchmaking Competition)
Available June 2023
Author: Zoiy G. Galloay
Genre: YA / Fantasy / Romance
ISBN: 9781958996058
Print Length: 437 pages
I couldn’t get you out of here without a romance! Zoiy G. Galloay, author of Princess Qloey, is back with another installment in her trope-filled Royal Matchmaking Competition series.
Find out why IBR’s senior reviewer Alexandria Ducksworth says, “Readers will love Galloay’s diverse fantasy world and its people…filled with elves, dwarves, nymphs, fairies, and more with their own unique cultures.”
16. Maybe There Are Witches
Available June 2023
Author: Jude Atwood
Genre: Middle Grade / Adventure
ISBN: 9781646033645
Print Length: 216 pages
Publisher: Fitzroy Books
Give me any excuse to dive into witch activity, and I’m taking it. This one is about a middle schooler who, along with a couple weird boys from school, must get to the bottom of the witchy mystery surrounding her long-dead relative and determine if the villagers who killed her might have had a point.
Steven T. Seagle, creator of Ben 10 & Big Hero 6, says, “At a time where we all worry our kids might get lost in their phones, WITCHES poses that they might, instead, get lost in their tomes, and aside from the impending cataclysmic doom they might find within, I can’t think of a better fate for young readers like Clara, or yours.”
17. The Quickening
Available August 2023
Author: Elizabeth Rush
Genre: Science / Climate & Environment
ISBN: 9781571313966
Print Length: 424 pages
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Elizabeth Rush’s last book, Rising, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. This brilliant writer has a way of breaking down climate truths and remaining personal, human, and vulnerable in the face of the planet’s melting reality. It’s an expedition to Antartica, and somehow, it takes you even beyond that.
Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning, says, “The Quickening is the Antarctic book I’ve been waiting for—an immersive modern day expedition tale, a reflection on science and knowledge-making, a confrontation with gendered histories, and a brilliant writer’s spellbinding meditation on human mistakes, distant goals, and courage.”
18. Talking Back
Available May 2023
Author: Alejandra Dubcovsky
Genre: American History
ISBN: 9780300266122
Print Length: 280 pages
Publisher: Yale University Press
If you’re an American history buff, you can’t miss this book. It tells stories of Native women breaking through in the colonial south, making big differences in big ways. With stories you likely won’t hear anywhere else, Talking Back is the epitome of essential historical nonfiction.
19. Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?
Available May 2023
Author: Kenneth Wenger
ISBN: 9781959632016
Print Length: 264 pages
Publisher: Working Fires Foundation
Artificial intelligence is near impossible to avoid in 2023, and it will only improve and expand from here. In this first book from Working Fires Foundation, AI expert Kenneth Wenger breaks down the complexity and demonstrates its potential and pitfalls.
20. Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City
Available May 2023
Author: Jane Wong
Genre: Memoir / Asian American
ISBN: 9781953534675
Print Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Tin House Books
Like so many of my northeast neighbors, I know my way around the Jersey Shore. I’ve got memories of its streets, its people, its beaches, its seagulls, its nonsense. Jane Wong’s memoir is humorous and honest and lyrical, “a love song of the Asian American working class.” This story of making a life with what you have is one that will stick with you.
21. Little Beast
Available May 2023
Author: Sara Quinn Rivara
ISBN: 9781736138670
Print Length: 76 pages
Publisher: Riot In Your Throat
Riot In Your Throat has published some of the best books our team has read, like Somewhere, a Woman Lowers the Hem of Her Skirt, so we’re always keeping an eye on what they’re producing. Enter: Little Beast! This new collection by Sara Quinn Rivara is filled with wildlife, witchcraft, and wonder.
22. The Nameless
Available August 2023
Author: Brandi George
ISBN: 9798986523330
Print Length: 199 pages
Publisher: Kernpunkt Press
The Nameless, an autobiographical poetry collection by the author of Gog, explores the speaker’s relationship with the figure of Death as a friend, a tormentor, a savior, and a capricious and mysterious force.
David Kirby says, “It’s not possible for me to imagine a book more challenging or more pleasurable than this one.”
23. Judas & Suicide
This collection navigates religion and suicide by way of Black family and community. Author Allison Raskin says, “Rarely, if ever, have I read such an honest and artistic exploration of what it means to have to develop a will to live…. This book is one small, but crucial, step toward destigmatizing suicide in society and one large leap in helping those who have had their lives touched by it feel less alone.”
Which Summer 2023 books are you excited about?
About the Author
Joe Walters is the founder and editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel or trusting the process. Find him @joewalters13 on Twitter.
Thank you for reading Joe Walters’s Indie Books to Watch in Summer 2023! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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