NOVEMBER 2025

Every month, we spotlight five books that have received extra attention lately. Don't miss our November picks, all from independent literary publishers:

• The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from the Dutch by David McKay (New Vessel Press | 9781954404328)—“an extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination,” set in Flanders in 1922—is on Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2025 list for Fiction. Order now.
• Marginlands: A Journey into India’s Vanishing Landscapes by Arati Kumar-Rao (Milkweed Editions)—“a vibrant and compelling account of the changes reshaping India today”—is on Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2025 list for Nonfiction. Order now.
• Girl Work by Zefyr Lisowski (Noemi Press | 9781955992046)—a poetry collection that “centers hybrid-form and prose poems exploring haunting, labor, sexual trauma, and the assertion of a gender-nonconforming self in our current political moment”—received the 2025 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Poetry. Order now.
• Regaining Unconsciousness by Harryette Mullen (Graywolf Press | 9781644453490)—a poetry collection that “confronts the imminent dangers of our present to sound an alarm for our future, to wake us out of our complicity and despondency”—is on Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2025 list for Poetry. Order now.
• Into the Hush by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon Press | 9781556597145)—which “explores the exigencies of climate change, of endangered cultures, and of our nuclear age”—is the latest poetry collection by the 25th poet laureate of the United States. Order now.

This month, we've put together a roundup of 15 novels and short story collections with speculative and science-fictional elements, all from indie presses.

Learn about the landscape of independent publishing in New England, including local presses and magazines, regional awards and festivals, and books set in the area.

Don't miss our roundup of 11 books of poetry and nonfiction to spotlight in celebration of Native American Heritage Month in November!

Madison Street Books is a woman-owned and independent bookstore in Chicago's West Loop, with the mission “to be a community-minded space with something in store for everyone.”

Bookseller Vanessa Deubler says, “As a small business, we're very passionate about supporting other small businesses. To that end, we have a quarterly Small Press Feature where we highlight staff-selected titles from six different presses. The titles featured in this current round are all presses that had their NEA funding stripped from them in the past year. Along with two displays in store (above our bookcases and in our front window), we also post about them on social media, add them forever to our website, and include them in our newsletter. We additionally have a small press book club that meets monthly, run by our owner Mary Collopy Mollman, called Not Your Big 5 Book Club. We also keep small presses in mind as we order inventory for the store.”

Booksellers, we want to hear how you help readers discover small-press titles! Email us for the chance to be featured in an upcoming Indie Lit on the Shelf.

In our latest spotlight on an indie publisher, Gabriela Baeza Ventura, director of Arte Público Press, says, "For more than four decades, Arte Público has amplified the voices of US Latino writers and transformed the national literary landscape. I am deeply honored to lead this next chapter—one grounded in our shared commitment to equity, access, and cultural transformation."

Discover poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published last month by independent literary publishers—including Abode Press, Lost Horse Press, Kaya Press, Orison Books, Radiator Press, Trio House Press, Wave Books, and more.

The Booker Prizes announced the launch of the Children's Booker Prize. The Kansas City Public Library has announced the longlist for the 2025 Maya Angelou Book Award. The American Literary Translators Association has announced the shortlist for the 2025 National Translation Awards in Prose and Poetry. The National Book Foundation has announced the finalists of the 2025 National Book Awards. NPR reports that PEN America has released its list of the most-banned books of the 2024–2025 school year. Spotify Audiobooks is launching Spotify Audiobook Selects, a program that will publish audiobooks by self-published authors. The New York Times reports that President Trump has refiled his $15 billion defamation suit against Penguin Random House, the New York Times, and several NYT reporters. Publishers Weekly reports that print book sales through the first nine months of 2025 are down about 1 percent from the comparable period in 2024. Kirkus Reviews has announced the winners of the 2025 Kirkus Prizes.