Indie Books Best Sellers List - July 2022
August 5, 2022 · Eric
“I finally heard the truth,’ Grigor told him. He couldn’t explain when he’d heard it, or from whom, but he’d heard it in his heart, without words, a deep knowing, and nothing could hurt him or frighten him now. It was so simple that the reasoning of it tended to slip through his mind as soon as he touched it, like a rabbit in the woods. Once you breathe, it’s gone.” ― Ottessa Moshfegh, Lapvona
As readers, if you're always looking for something new to read, how do you decide what to buy? It's nearly impossible to choose just 16 Indie books of the hundreds published in July 2022. Based on the talk on the internet and my personal experience with some of these, I am happy to enumerate some terrific works of fiction published by Indie Publishers.
This character-driven novel is a multi-layered, dizzying and fantastical tale of a medieval village plagued with tragedy and manipulation. Where does God fit in such evilness? Where does God fit in madness? Perhaps religion is a madness of its own. Every character is delusional and wicked in their own ways, but these are clever, funny, and disturbing people.
NAMED IN MOST ANTICIPATED INDIE BOOKS OF 2022 BY The Millions, Harper's Bazaar, New York Magazine, LitHub, AV Club, and more
We follow one woman as she explores a community in which girls become wives, wives become mothers and some of them, quite simply, disappear.
Schaitkin's prose is both lyrical and incisive as she explores the role of women in society, particularly within this strange community where female identity seems to be limited to roles as wives or mothers.
This book would be perfect for fans of books like The Handmaid's Tale or The Power by Naomi Alderman
The world is ending, and down-and-out sadist Lee spends their days working for a big corporation and their nights wandering the streets of Brooklyn listening to true crime podcasts. But everything changes when Lee is dragged to a warehouse party by their best friend, where they find themself in the clutches of the seductive and bloodthirsty X. When Lee seeks her out again, she's nowhere to be found.
Amid the steady constriction of civil rights and the purging of migrants and refugees, the U.S. government has recently begun encouraging the semi-voluntary "exporting" of undesirable citizens--the radicalized, the dissident, and the ungovernable. Word has it that X may be among those leaving. If Lee doesn't track her down soon, she may be gone forever.
Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends--Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily--during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah's world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April's death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide...including a murder.
Each Indie book mentioned on this list is a terrific piece of fiction, so there should be at least one book here that jumps out at you. If not, just take your time—a lot of great fiction was published in July 2022, and I can guarantee that you won't have trouble finding something to read. Have fun!