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Every week, my colleague Danika Ellis looks at the bestselling books form lists like USA Today, Publishers Weekly, NYT, Amazon, and Indie Booksellers. They are, as you might imagine, usually not very diverse, and are often really redundant. I mean, sure there are a lot of great books on them, but they are books I always hear about, and they don’t change much week to week.
But then there’s Bookshop.org’s weekly bestseller list, which just feels very refreshing. If you’re unfamiliar, Bookshop.org is a site that supports independent bookstores by allowing customers to select specific bookstores they’d like their purchase to count towards. They’ve raised more than $33 million for indie bookstores since 2020.
And this indie-mindedness is very apparent in Bookshop.org’s bestseller list. It’s considerably more diverse (though it could be better), and there are many books that don’t turn up often in other lists. Though, I will say that, of the BIPOC authors that were on the list at the time of writing this, there weren’t many women. To combat this, I pulled a couple from the Indie Bestseller list, another great way to step outside the usual, bestseller-wise.
Rejection: Fiction by Tony Tulathimutte
This novel-in-stories has been longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award, but let me just say that it may give you the ick. That’s because its seven connected stories feature characters facing rejection in its many forms. A young woman spirals after her obsession doesn’t return her interest, a late-bloomer makes a life-changing mistake, and a young man becomes frustrated because his commitment to feminism isn’t getting him any. Like I said, the ick.
What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Here, Johnson weaves data, poetry, and art with essays that serve as guidelines for how to have and live in a repaired world. With words from visionaries—which includes everyone from farmers to architects and financers—we’re able to go past hopelessness for the current state of our climate and step into a future of possibilities.
James by Percival Everett
From the author of Erasure—what the new movie American Fiction was based on—comes a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but from Jim’s point of view. Jim is an enslaved man who learns he’s about to be sold to a white man in New Orleans, and so hides out until he can think of something that’ll keep him from being separated from his family. Then he meets Huck Finn—running from his own problems—and the two embark on their familiar story, this time with Jim’s full humanity on display.
Music Is History by Questlove
I love looking at how pop culture is shaped and how it shapes people in turn, and here, Questlove looks at what pop culture taught him about America. Going from 1971 to now, he draws connections between Blaxploitation and how it influenced Black identity, and even looks at how disco interacted with Black genius.
The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
In 2016, when things online felt especially hateful and soul-crushing, Amy Tan turned to nature. The world right outside her window gave her solace, but this peacefulness turned to something more—she started imagining the lives of the birds she watched, and here, she shares her thoughts, sketches, and daily entries as she took her birding to a new level.
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
I love how one of my most-anticipated YA fall releases is being so well received.
This Black-led, dark academia vampire romantasy with Ethiopian influences has been compared to Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, which is a particular brand of dark fantasy I vibe with. In it, lost heiress Kidan Adane infiltrates Uxlay University, where students dedicate themselves to studying to preserve peace between humans and vampires. But Kidan is there because her family was killed and her sister kidnapped, with all signs pointing to Susenyos Sagad, the vampire bound to her family, being the culprit. But Susenyos—and giving into her own darkness—is alluring, and after a murder happens that echoes her sister’s disappearance, Kidan finds herself dangerously deeper into the vampire underworld.
*All-Access Members Can Continue Below for Must-Read BIPOC Releases Coming Out This Week*
What BIPOC books are you reading this week? Let us know in the comments!
