I was disappointed to see that not a single work in translation made the cut from the 36-book longlist for the Indie Booksellers Choice Awards to the 13-book list of finalists published this week. The longlist included seven works in translation. But since I reported at length on the award earlier this spring, here’s the shortlist for your delectation. I’m happy to see Barbara Comyns and Anne Carson still on it. And it’s good to have these recommendation of favorite reads voted on by the staff of independent bookstores across the country. Also: how great that so many independent publishers are represented in this list of faves.
The Black History of the White House by Clarence Lusane (City Lights)
Contingency Plan by David K Wheeler (TS Poetry)
The Instructions by Adam Levin (McSweeney’s)
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (W.W. Norton)
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Grove/Atlantic)
Nox by Anne Carson (New Directions)
The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich (Two Dollar Radio)
Orion You Came and Took All My Marbles by Kira Henehan (Milkweed Editions)
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane (Graywolf)
The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (Unbridled)
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns (Dorothy)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)
Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr (Akashic)
If you work for an independent bookstore, click here to vote on these finalists. The award will be announced May 23 at a ceremony at Housing Works Bookstore, indie par excellence.
P.S. – added later – here’s the list of winners.