The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Fiction
For the week ending May 17, 2026
Here are this week’s 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.
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1. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau)
2. John of John by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press)
3. Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove Press)
4. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books)
5. On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle, Barbara J. Haveland (Transl.) (New Directions)
6. The Odyssey by Homer, Emily Wilson (Transl.) (Norton)
7. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Grove Press)
8. Three Bags Full (A Sheep Detective Story) by Leonie Swann (Soho Crime)
9. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1 by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
10. On the Calculation of Volume (Book IV) by Solvej Balle (New Directions)
11. Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Grove Press)
12. On the Calculation of Volume (Book II) by Solvej Balle (New Directions)
13. Victorian Psycho: A Novel by Virginia Feito (Liveright)
14. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Catapult)
15. Mothman Is My Boyfriend: Ten Tales of Cryptid Love and Lust by McKayla Coyle, Wendy Stephens (Illus.) (Quirk Books)
16. You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson (Button Poetry)
17. Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (Europa Editions)
18. The Overstory by Richard Powers (Norton)
19. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 2 by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
20. Foster by Claire Keegan (Grove Press)
21. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Europa Editions)
22. Writers & Lovers by Lily King (Grove Press)
23. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (Spiegel & Grau)
24. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle (New Directions)
25. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Grove Press)
26. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)
27. The Wax Child by Olga Ravn (New Directions)
28. Witch Hat Atelier 1 by Kamome Shirahama (Kodansha Comics)
29. Hunger by Choi Jin-Young (Europa)
30. The Eyes Are the Best Part: Deluxe Limited Edition by Monika Kim (Erewhon Books)
31. Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (Zando)
32. Startlement by Ada Limón (Milkweed)
33. The Last Page by Katie Holt (Alcove Press)
34. The Employees by Olga Ravn (New Directions)
35. The Throne of Broken Gods: Deluxe Special Edition (Gods and Monsters #2) by Amber V. Nicole (Kensington)
36. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 3 by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
37. Go As a River by Shelley Read (Spiegel & Grau)
38. So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (Grove Press)
39. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 4 by Beth Brower (Rhysdon Press)
40. Carmilla, Deluxe Edition: The Dark Sapphic Romance that Inspired Dracula by Sheridan Le Fanu (Pushkin Press)
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