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Every month, the American Booksellers Association put together a list of the top 25 new book releases of the upcoming month as their Indie Next List Preview. These are books that were nominated by booksellers at independent bookstores across the country, and they cover all genres and categories. Each book has a quote from a bookseller about why they recommend this book, and these recommendations can be printed out as “shelf-talkers” to display in store.
What better way to get book recommendations than from independent booksellers? These are passionate readers who have their finger on the pulse of the buzziest books of the moment—the ones they’re eager to get into readers’ hands. So, here are ten of the best books of August, according to indie booksellers. Many of these we also recommend on Book Riot, so I’ve quoted our relevant recs when available. Be sure to click through to the ABA website for the full list, including six Indie Next Picks that are now out in paperback.
(Note: the August Indie Next List Picks seem to run from mid-July to mid-August, so some of these came out last month.)
When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies
This is the #1 Indie Next List Pick!
Bo is an elderly man whose only company is his daily home care team visits and his dog, Sixten. When Bo’s estranged son says Bo is not capable of taking care of Sixten anymore and tries to take him away, Bo realizes how much they both mean to him and tries to repair his relationship with his son before it’s too late.
Arcana Academy by Elise Kova
Clara Graysword is a thief locked away in prison for making tarot cards, which can only be done by the magical practitioners at Arcana Academy. Resigned to spending her life locked away, she is surprised when she receives a visitor: the academy’s headmaster, Prince Kaelis. He tells Clara she can have her freedom if she steals a tarot card from the king that he needs to gain power. This arrangement leads her to an undercover role at the academy as a student and the prince’s bride-to-be and starts a whole adventure full of danger, romance, and magic. —Liberty Hardy
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Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Chuck Tingle is making a name for himself not just in the erotica/romance world (see I’m Gay For My Living Billionaire Jet Plane), but also the horror genre. He’s following up Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays with Lucky Day, which is set in the aftermath of the Low-Probability Event: a day where eight million people died in seemingly unrelated freak accidents. Vera, a bisexual statistics and probability professor, is teaming up with Special Agent Layne to investigate an inexplicably lucky casino which might explain that event—and could be the key to prevent it from happening again. —Danika Ellis
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
This fun novella is about food and freedom in the future! It starts when a group of reactivated sentient robots in San Francisco decide to reopen the restaurant where they all worked. The food is a hit, but when a bunch of one-star reviews put it in danger of closing, their community will have to band together to keep that from happening. It’s a charming and (clockwork) heart-squeezing journey! —Liberty Hardy
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Once-powerful witch Sera Swan lost her magic abilities and was thrown out of her Guild after she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine. Now she runs an inn with her no-longer-dead great-aunt and a talking fox, while also searching for a way to restore her powers. And then the answer arrives on their doorstep: guest Luke Larsen, a curmudgeonly historian who knows the spell for restoring magic. But Sera will have to convince him to help her and keep it hidden from the Guild if she wants to be witchy once more. —Liberty Hardy
Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava
After the success The Truth According to Ember, fans have been eager to read Danica Nava’s next romance. And now you can! Pop star Avery Fox caused a stir posing for a Rolling Stone cover wearing a feather warbonnet. She is Muscogee, but has been ridiculed by the public, so she’s staying with her estranged grandmother on a ranch for a while. There she meets Lucas Iron Eyes. The two strike up a deal where she helps fundraise for the ranch in exchange for more insight into her and Lucas’s shared heritage and culture. If you liked that Nava allowed her characters to be messy in her debut, you’ll love this book, too. —Isabelle Popp
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is attended by humans and the biggest monsters of the universe. Alessa Li is a student there, getting ready to graduate, when things go horribly wrong. On graduation day, the faculty decide to eat the graduating class. Only Alessa and a few of her classmates escape, and they lock themselves in the library. But with no way to get out, and the faculty at the doors demanding more human sacrifices, will anyone survive? —Liberty Hardy
The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
For fans of translated murder mysteries and time loops!
Imagine if without any rhyme or reason, a day in your life would suddenly repeat itself seven times before continuing on as normal. That’s what happens to Hisataro. So far he is certain that others can’t change anything in the repeating of the days, but he can. So when his grandfather is murdered during a family reunion—where members are fighting over the will!—and Hisataro finds himself in one of his time loops, he decides to solve the murder. But it won’t be easy with everyone in his family keeping secrets and scheming to be the one person listed in the will. —Jamie Canaves
Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings
Look, I have never once seen a Chicken Shop Date interview all the way through, but I can still be excited about this book (mostly because I’m always excited for Mazey Eddings books). Eva hosts Sausage Talk (lol), interviewing B-list celebrities over hot dogs. When she criticizes her college ex—now a popular social media personality—on the show, he’s determined to clear his good name with her and her viewers. To do that, they’ll go on a series of dates and debrief on his channel. Sure, she can do that. No feelings will get involved. Right? —Jessica Pryde
The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
This is the adult debut from the bestselling author of Holes! In the kingdom of Esquaveta, the king sees only one option to save his crumbling empire, and that’s by arranging a marriage between his daughter and a repugnant prince. But the princess has fallen in love with a scribe and doesn’t want to marry the prince, so the king calls on his magician for help. Anatole the magician has been nothing but a failure since he came to Esquaveta, and suddenly, now the fate of the kingdom falls on him. Will he be able to cast a spell to make the princess fall for the terrible prince and save the day? Can he even bring himself to do such a thing? —Liberty Hardy
Read the full list of 25 books plus six paperback releases at the ABA website.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
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