It's taken me a little while to put this post together because of life and general things, but I thought it was time to share what I plan to read for the Indie Challenge this year! It's worked out to be quite a varied list of publishers, which happened by accident as I picked from the squares of our Bingo Card. If you haven't joined the challenge yet, you can sign up all year and I promise there are lots of suggestions coming your way, but until I manage to get them together make sure you have a look at our Monthly Indie Releases Lists for ideas! Below I've talked a bit more about why I choose each book, and you can click the titles to find out more about them if you're interested.
Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters (Serpents Tail) - I've chosen this for the 'more than 100 books' square as Serpents Tail publishes many books per year, but it would also fit the LGBTQIA square and woman author. I bought it when there was a load of twitter backlash against it making one of the book prize longlists last year (or the year before...) because nothing will make me buy a book quite as quickly as twitter backlash.
The Women's Atlas by Joni Seager (Myriad Editions) - this one is my pick for 'underrepresented voices'. I bought it from the publisher when they were selling bundles in their sale last year.
Duck Feet by Ely Percy (Monstrous Regiment) - I've heard such good things about this, and although I own everything Monstrous Regiment have published so far I haven't actually managed to read it yet, so this will be for my 'new to you' square.
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty (Guppy Books) - although this is technically more of a kids book I'm cheating and putting it in the YA square as it's the third in a series and I really want to read it.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Usborne Publishing) - I started this when I got it and then got distracted but it was great so I want to finish it for the 'genre fiction' square!
The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez (Daunt Books Publishing) - this is my pick for 'a book in translation', but would also work for woman author. I was very kindly sent this by the lovely publicist at Daunt Books last year, but everything sort of fell off a cliff due to personal circumstances, so I'm catching up now!
Still Lives by Reshma Ruir (Renard Press) - this is my pick for 'woman author', although that category also applies to over half of my TBR! This was another title sent to me by the publishers for a blog tour which happened just after my Grandma died last year, so I didn't manage to read it then. So I'm reading it now!
Ankomst by Gohril Gabrielson, translated by Deborah Dawkin (Peirene Press) - I've picked this book for the 'book in translation - written or translated by a woman'
Variations by Juliet Jacques (Influx Press) - this is my choice for the 'LGBTQIA' square.
Protest: Stories of Resistance edited by Ra Page (Comma Press) - as I don't read a lot of short stories, I've picked this for 'out of your comfort zone'. It's a really interesting concept because each short story is inspired by a different protest and is accompanied by a short piece by an academic.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (Bloomsbury) - this one's my pick for the 'memoir' square, and was a recommendation from a podcast a while back which I subsequently picked up on a bookshop crawl last year.
The Beautiful Struggl e by Ta Nehisi Coates (Verso Books) - this is in the 'recommended by a friend' category because it's been recommended to me by several people over the years.
Harriet vs the Galaxy by Samantha Baines (Knights Of) - This book has a protagonist and an author who wear hearing aids and is in my pile for the 'by a disabled author' square. I've heard that it's brilliant, plus the cover is gorgeous which always helps.
They Came to Slay: The Queer Culture of DnD by Thom James Carter (404 Ink) - 'a book from a micro press', and the one I got in 404 Ink's most recent crowdfunding campaign. We play a little bit of DnD and this sounds really interesting to me!
The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie (September Books) - 'nonfiction'. I got this for Christmas from my lovely friend and it's all about reconnecting with the natural world. I'm reading it at the moment (which is why it isn't pictured as I lost it in my house and then found it again) and taking my time with it.
I'd love to see what you have on your TBRs for this challenge! Indies of all sizes count, and books can most definitely count towards more than one square. You can choose your level of participation and sign up here and there will be prizes through the year, as you can enter whenever you complete a row (or the whole square!) of the bingo card here. Our hashtag is #IndieChallenge2023 which I'll be checking regularly and sharing so do feel free to use it.
Comments