Indie Booksellers Recommend: The Best of Independent Presses This August

We asked booksellers at independent bookstores across the country about the best books they were reading from indie presses this month. Here are their top recommendations for August.

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Matthew Rose, A World After Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right
(Yale University Press)

Matthew Rose’s examination of five thinkers of the “radical right” follows in the tradition of Isaiah Berlin’s classic Three Critics of the Enlightenment. It’s a fascinating and troubling account of five philosophers—though perhaps to call them such does a disservice to philosophy—whose work has greatly influenced the rise of anti-liberal rhetoric and fantasies about what follows the demise of the West. Rose’s writing is accessible and engaging, no small accomplishment for a writer mucking through some of the uglier political theories of the modern world.  –Stephen Sparks, Co-owner, Point Reyes Books

Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint, Names for Light: A Family History
(Graywolf Press)

In Names for Light: A Family History, Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint shifts between past and present, between Myanmar and the United States, drawing on fable, oral traditions, and her own lived experience to explore three generations of her family.  Her story blurs the lines between myth and reality, but is rooted in the very real experience of colonialism, violence, and economic instability.  Names for Light  is a shapeshifting map of memory and myth and the entanglements between the two. It is, above all, a moving testament to home and love.  –Lesley Rains, Manager, City of Asylum Bookstore

Cristina Sandu, The Union of Synchronized Swimmers
(Scribe)

Reminiscent of Wioletta Greg’s Swallowing Mercury, this short but impactful novella follows six young women’s lives, from a river behind to Iron Curtain to the Olympics and eventually, their freedom. Sandu’s English language debut explores the ties between women, the hunger for a better life, and the simultaneously futile and miraculous hope in an unforgiving world.  –Laura Graveline, Children’s Book Buyer, Brazos Bookstore

Agustín Fernández Mallo, trans. by Thomas Bunstead, The Things We’ve Seen
(Fitzcarraldo Editions)

An epic in every sense, The Things We’ve Seen is indescribable in the best possible way. Bursting with imagination and philosophical digressions, the scope and breadth brings to mind Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 with faint glimmers of Sebald. Consisting of three large chapters, The Things We’ve Seen is a meditation on the past, our fractured present and the ghosts who occupy both. A writer who disappears, a retired astronaut and a woman walking the Normandy coast all take turns narrating a novel that boldly transcends traditional narrative, traveling from Spain to 1970s San Francisco, from Florida to Williamsburg and even the surface of the moon. Bizarre, philosophical and reminiscent of David Lynch, there’s no easy way to summarize a novel at once so complex yet joyfully accessible.  –Mark Haber, Operations Manager, Brazos Bookstore

Charif Majdalani, trans. by Ruth Diver, Beirut 2020: Diary of the Collapse
(Other Press)

The August 4, 2020 explosion of over two tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the Port of Beirut was not an isolated catastrophe endured by its people, but a symptom of the ongoing collapse of a once thriving, cosmopolitan community. Lebanese writer Charif Majdalani’s thoughtful portrayal of what it takes to endure successive political and economic implosions has much to teach us, as Lebanon’s struggles are also present elsewhere in the world.  He and others reinvent themselves, help each other, and find joy and beauty. His words will encourage reflection and empathy.  –Karen Maeda Allman, Author Events, Elliot Bay Book Company