[{"id":276249,"date":"2026-08-27T04:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276249"},"modified":"2026-08-27T07:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:49:12","slug":"the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-fiction-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-fiction-32\/","title":{"rendered":"The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are this week\u2019s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers<\/a> for fiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association.<\/a> Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

1. The Calamity Club<\/em><\/a> by Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau)
\n2. The Odyssey<\/em><\/a> by Homer, Emily Wilson (Transl.) (W.W. Norton)
\n3. The Poison Daughter<\/em><\/a> by Sheila Masterson (Slowburn)
\n4. I Who Have Never Known Men<\/em><\/a> by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books)
\n5. John of John<\/em><\/a> by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press)
\n6. Heart the Lover<\/em><\/a> by Lily King (Grove Press)<\/span>
\n7. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n8. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 2<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n<\/span>9. On the Calculation of Volume (Book I)<\/em><\/a> by Solvej Balle, Barbara J. Haveland (Transl.) (New Directions)
\n<\/span>10. Small Things Like These<\/em><\/a> by Claire Keegan (Grove Press)
\n11. Stoner<\/em><\/a> by John Williams (NYRB Classics)
\n12. Taiwan Travelogue: A Novel<\/em><\/a> by Shuang-zi Yang (Graywolf Press)
\n13. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 3<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n<\/span>14. I See You’ve Called in Dead<\/em><\/a> by John Kenney (Zibby Publishing)
\n15. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 4<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n<\/span>16. Lights Out<\/em><\/a> (Into Darkness Series #1) by Navessa Allen (Slowburn)
\n<\/span>17. Helen of Nowhere<\/em><\/a> by Makenna Goodman (Coffee House Press)
\n18. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)<\/span>
\n19. The Butcher Legacy: A Dr. Wren Muller Novel<\/em><\/a> by Alaina Urquhart (Zando)
\n20. Writers & Lovers<\/em><\/a> by Lily King (Grove Press)<\/span>
\n21. Stitched<\/em><\/a> by Eli McCann (Torrey House Press)
\n22. Kindred<\/em><\/a> by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)
\n23. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 6<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n<\/span>24. The Overstory<\/em><\/a> by Richard Powers (W.W. Norton)
\n<\/span>25. The Employees<\/em><\/a> by Olga Ravn (New Directions)
\n<\/span>26. Foster<\/em><\/a> by Claire Keegan (Grove Press)
\n<\/span>27. The Berry Pickers<\/em><\/a> by Amanda Peters (Catapult)
\n<\/span>28. My Brilliant Friend<\/em><\/a> by Elena Ferrante (Europa Editions)<\/span>
\n29. The Unstoppables<\/em><\/a> by David Biro (Regalo Press)
\n30. Witch Hat Atelier 1<\/em><\/a> by Kamome Shirahama (Kodansha Comics)
\n<\/span>31. Culpability<\/em><\/a> by Bruce Holsinger (Spiegel & Grau)
\n<\/span>32. The Iliad<\/em><\/a> by Homer, Emily Wilson (Transl.) (W.W. Norton)
\n<\/span>33. We Were Forbidden<\/em><\/a> by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit)
\n<\/span>34. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 7<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)<\/span>
\n35. Orbital<\/em><\/a> by Samantha Harvey (Grove Press)
\n36. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8<\/em><\/a> by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
\n37. Victorian Psycho: A Novel<\/em><\/a> by Virginia Feito (Liveright)
\n38. Freyja<\/em><\/a> by Margr\u00e9t Ann Thors (Spiegel & Grau)
\n39. Three Bags Full<\/em><\/a> (A Sheep Detective Story) by Leonie Swann (Soho Crime)
\n40. Carmilla, Deluxe Edition: The Dark Sapphic Romance that Inspired Dracula<\/em><\/a> by Sheridan Le Fanu (Pushkin Press)<\/span><\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are this week\u2019s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers for fiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association. Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus. * 1. The Calamity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":269719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43069,6,43070,43135],"tags":[108921,53909,111531,108630,112034],"class_list":["post-276249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-literary-criticism","category-readinglists","tag-independent-press","tag-independent-publishers","tag-independent-top-40","tag-top-40-bestsellers","tag-top-publishers"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19RD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fiction-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276251,"date":"2026-08-27T04:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276251"},"modified":"2026-08-27T07:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:50:28","slug":"the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-nonfiction-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-nonfiction-32\/","title":{"rendered":"The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Nonfiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are this week\u2019s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers<\/a> for nonfiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association.<\/a> Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

1. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants<\/em><\/a> by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed)
\n2. The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald<\/em><\/a> by John U. Bacon (Liveright)
\n3. The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss<\/em><\/a> by Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris (W.W. Norton)
\n4. Is a River Alive?<\/em><\/a> by Robert Macfarlane (W.W. Norton)
\n5. No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism<\/em><\/a> by Jared Huffman (W. W. Norton)
\n6. This Is The Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy<\/em><\/a> by Ben Wikler (W. W. Norton)
\n7. The Success Lie: Reframing Your Reality to Thrive Personally and Professionally<\/em><\/a> by Chantell Preston (Resolve Editions)
\n8. A Resistance History of the United States<\/em><\/a> by Tad Stoermer (Steerforth)
\n9. Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature<\/em><\/a> by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian (Spiegel & Grau)
\n<\/span>10. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate\u2014Discoveries from a Secret World<\/em><\/a> by Peter Wohlleben (Greystone Books)
\n11. The Wreck of the Mentor: A True Story of Death, Despair, and Deliverance in the Age of Sail<\/em><\/a> by Eric Jay Dolin (Liveright)
\n12. Triage<\/em><\/a> by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press)
\n13. Man’s Search for Meaning<\/em><\/a> by Viktor E. Frankl (Beacon Press)<\/span>
\n14. The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life<\/em><\/a> by Helen Whybrow (Milkweed Editions)
\n15. S.P.Q.R.: A History of Ancient Rome<\/em><\/a> by Mary Beard (Liveright)<\/span>
\n16. A Philosophy of Walking<\/em><\/a> by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Gros, John Howe (Transl.)\u00a0(Verso)
\n17. How to Relax<\/em><\/a> (Mindfulness Essentials #5) by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax Press)
\n<\/span>18. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)<\/em><\/a> by Dean Spade\u00a0(Verso)
\n19. Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization without Political Consequences<\/em><\/a> by Anton J\u00e4ger (Verso)
\n20. Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering<\/em><\/a> by Joseph Nguyen (Authors Equity)
\n21. The Scenic Route: Following My Inner Compass Across 12 Countries in 12 Months<\/em><\/a> by Sarah Aviram (Amplify Publishing)
\n22. The Wretched of the Earth<\/em><\/a> by Frantz Fanon (Grove)
\n23. Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old<\/em><\/a> by Mary Beard (University of Chicago Press)
\n24. The Wave in the Mind: Imagination and the Art of Writing and Reading<\/em><\/a> by Ursula K. Le Guin (Shambhala)
\n25. Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life<\/em><\/a> by Alex Mayyasi, Hosts of NPR’s Planet Money (W. W. Norton)
\n26. How to Love (Mindfulness Essentials #3)<\/em><\/a> by Thich Nhat Hanh, Jason DeAntonis (Illus.) (Parallax Press)
\n27. How to Relax: Hardcover Gift Edition<\/em><\/a> by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax Press)
\n<\/span>28. The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary<\/em><\/a> by Terry Tempest Williams (Grove Press)
\n29. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Book of Cats<\/em><\/a> by Ursula K. Le Guin (Library of America)
\n30. The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change<\/em><\/a> by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books)
\n31. Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization<\/em><\/a> by Bill McKibben (W. W. Norton)
\n32. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses<\/em><\/a> by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Oregon State University Press)
\n33. A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders: Surprising Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps<\/em><\/a> by Jonn Elledge (The Experiment)
\n34. Tequila Wars: Jos\u00e9 Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico<\/em><\/a> by Ted Genoways (W. W. Norton)
\n35. The Wisdom of the Odyssey: Twenty-Four Life Lessons from Homer’s Epic<\/em><\/a> by Phil Cousineau (New World Library)
\n36. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America<\/em><\/a> by Richard Rothstein (Liveright)
\n37. The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year<\/em><\/a> by Margaret Renkl (Spiegel & Grau)
\n38. Three Six Five: Prompts, Acts, Divinations (an Inexhaustible Compendium for Writing)<\/em><\/a> by Lucy Ives, Nick Mauss (Illus.) (Siglio Press)
\n39. The Power of Now<\/em><\/a> by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library)
\n40. What Tech Calls Governing<\/em><\/a> by Adrian Daub (Stanford University Press)<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are this week\u2019s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers for nonfiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association. Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus. * 1. Braiding Sweetgrass:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":266893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43069,6,43070,43135],"tags":[108921,107978,1460,112035],"class_list":["post-276251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-literary-criticism","category-readinglists","tag-independent-press","tag-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers","tag-nonfiction","tag-top-nonfiction"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19RF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NONFICTION-BESTSELLER.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":275303,"date":"2026-08-27T04:53:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=275303"},"modified":"2026-08-24T20:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T00:54:38","slug":"the-shadeless-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-shadeless-border\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shadeless Border"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was twilight. A horse approached, and from its speed it was clear that it intended to cross me. It wanted to leave Khanaqin as quick as possible and cross to Iran. Before it came close, I did my duty, gave myself a little shake and set off a landmine. The explosion hurled the horse into the air and it landed on its side with a loud thud.<\/p>\n

It stood up again with great effort, shaking itself. Its body was still warm, but the horse shivered nonetheless. It tried to move, but it staggered and fell. The horse tried to rise several more times, attempting to move, yet it stumbled every time and fell back down again. Looking at itself, it noticed a gaping wound on one of its legs; steam was rising from the torn flesh and exposed bones. Its blood had drawn crooked and contorted lines on the ground, as if a painter had splashed colorful strokes on a canvas to create a postmodern masterpiece.<\/p>\n

That night, the horse was thrashing and writhing in agony, suffering from the pain of its wound. Much of its blood had drained from its body, and as time passed, it had lost its strength and was no longer able to move. Despite the pain, it tried to nibble from the grass and plants nearby. It had become near-impossible for the horse to graze, it had no energy left and it also had to be mindful of the pieces of shrapnel and bullet casings scattered on the ground between the plants. Every time it takes a bite, its lips or teeth touched a bullet, a piece of shrapnel or a casing. When the sun finally rose, the horse resembled a weary painter who, after considerable effort, has completed his painting and fallen asleep on top of it, exhausted and barely alive.<\/p>\n

For a few days, the horse fed on the same plants and grass and drank from the rainwater collected in a puddle nearby. About a week passed in this fashion, and the wound on its leg was healing.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Gradually, the horse was getting accustomed to standing on its remaining three healthy legs and falling less often.<\/p>\n

The anti-aircraft guns and rifles of both Iran and Iraq had burst into action. From both sides, the whizzing sound of bullets, the roar of tanks, and the booming sound of artillery fire could be heard. Hence, nobody dared to approach the horse, and its owner wasn\u2019t found. I had acquired such power that nobody dared to come near me. I had grown so tall that even airplanes and helicopters were mindful of me.<\/p>\n

We were in the midst of war, and, astonishingly, I had become more prosperous and more powerful. In these recent years, I, too, have gained a status and influence, and with the assistance of mines and weapons of war, I have secured a place so strong that no one can dream of removing me.<\/p>\n

Several nights passed. No matter how much I tried to talk with the horse and start a conversation, it didn\u2019t respond and seemed dazed and confused. However, when it realized it was stuck and unable to move due to the ongoing explosions of artillery fire and bomb shells around it, understanding it could die any second, its heart gradually softened. It was no longer as restless as before and didn\u2019t turn away from me as frequently.<\/p>\n

Slowly, it spoke a few words. It knew there was no solution and it had to say some things. Even though I was its sworn enemy, who else did it have to speak to and share its heart with? While the horse spoke, its eyes were fixed on the sky, and it never looked downwards.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I lived for twenty-one years on the warm plains of Khanaqin. I carried loads and goods towards the Bamoo mountains for the Peshmerga. Now, I want to return to the place where I was born, to die where the early days of my life were spent. I wanted to become a part of that soil. Amidst the war between two governments, I now find myself trapped at the border and amazed that I have managed to survive until today, and that this half-life of mine has not become a target for the soldiers\u2019 bullets. I can neither go upward towards the mountains nor downward towards the plains. Before the war, we used to travel without fear and hesitation, and the borders weren\u2019t so eager to take anyone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

One morning at dawn, the sky still a bit dark, I brought Barzoo and his sister Shirin, and at this very point, perhaps a little further it, we crossed the border and headed towards Khanaqin. Shirin was sitting behind Barzoo on my back, and said, \u201cBrother! I haven\u2019t seen Khanaqin yet. What will you buy for me there?\u201d Barzoo replied, \u201cMy dear sister, I\u2019ll buy you whatever you want: clothes, scarves, shoes . . .\u201d At that time, the border between Qasr and Khanaqin had little security, and most of the time the guards weren\u2019t even at their posts. Whenever they caught someone, they could easily be bribed with a date palm leaf.<\/p>\n

It was around noon when we arrived in Khanaqin. Barzoo and Shirin\u2019s relatives came to greet them. A couple of women surrounded Shirin. I still remember the words of Aunt Zmroot, who kissed Shirin\u2019s forehead and said, \u201cMay Dawu take good care of you. You\u2019ve grown up! Four years ago, when we came to your house, you were just a little child. How time flies!\u201d Shirin replied, \u201cThank you, Aunt Zmroot.\u201d<\/p>\n

At sunset on the first day, Zmroot and her daughters had spread a big table in the courtyard and prepared soup, meat, and rice. That day, they paid special attention to Shirin and never left her alone.<\/p>\n

Shirin later complained and said, \u201cWhen Zmroot and her daughters brought me those clothes and dressed me up, I became suspicious. My brother was supposed to buy clothes for me, not Zmroot\u2019s family! Later, I realized why my mother was crying when we left.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are small fragments of Shirin\u2019s life that I have either witnessed or heard from her own mouth. That day was one of the worst days of her life. On his last trip, Barzoo had promised me and Shirin to Sayeh. On his return, instead of Shirin and me, he brought home some provisions, cloth, and clothes. \u201cShirin\u2019s life is in your hands now!\u201d he said, before he returned to the other side of the border, and Shirin and I were tied to Sayeh\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I now understood that the final return of the horse to the land of its birth was meant to reveal a secret that needed to be told.<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

From The Shadeless Border<\/a><\/em> by Jiyar Jahan Fard, translated by Chiya Parvizpur, published by Common Notions. Copyright \u00a9 2026 Jiyar Jahan Fard. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was twilight. A horse approached, and from its speed it was clear that it intended to cross me. It wanted to leave Khanaqin as quick as possible and cross to Iran. Before it came close, I did my duty,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":275304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25508,3,43074,43076,26764],"tags":[111650,111652,111649,111651,1262],"class_list":["post-275303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-fiction","category-excerpts","category-fictionandpoetry","category-from-the-novel","category-novels","tag-chiya-parvizpur","tag-common-notions","tag-jiyar-jahin-fard","tag-the-shadeless-border","tag-translation","story-type-daily-fiction"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19Cn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9781945335709.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":275951,"date":"2026-08-27T04:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=275951"},"modified":"2026-08-26T14:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T18:30:10","slug":"aruni-kashyap-on-indias-cockroach-youth-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/aruni-kashyap-on-indias-cockroach-youth-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Aruni Kashyap on India\u2019s Cockroach Youth Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novelist Aruni Kashyap joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Jennifer Maritza McCauley to talk about the surprising surge of a new youth movement in India. Kashyap, the author of a new novel, How to Date a Fanatic,<\/i> about young queer academics navigating the Indian campus protests of the mid-2010s, explains how the Chief Justice of India likening unemployed youth to \u201ccockroaches and parasites\u201d has prompted the rise of a wildly popular satirical group. He shares the history of the Cockroach Janta Party or Cockroach People\u2019s Party, whose followers now number in the millions and whose political demands have become well known. Kashyap discusses those demands and the historical significance of campus politics in India, considers how a satirical organization is pushing real reform, and recalls his own experiences with campus protests in India, where he grew up and previously taught. Kashyap reflects on writing about political violence, love, and queer life in India. He reads from How to Date a Fanatic.<\/i><\/p>\n