Inaugural Indie Next List for Reading Groups Debuts

The Indie Next List for Reading Groups for Fall '08/Winter '09 will be arriving in bookstores in the IndieBound movement in the October Red Box mailing; however, the full list, with bookseller quotes, can be previewed online now.

This list -- the first for reading groups since the launch of IndieBound -- incorporates a new design, which features fun and engaging illustrations to accent a superb selection of titles, all selected from enthusiastic nominations by indie booksellers nationwide.

"For a number of years, the Reading Group list has been one of the most popular lists -- with frequent requests from booksellers for more copies and lots of great stories about its creative use in stores," said Next List Editor-in-Chief Dan Cullen. "As part of the IndieBound movement, and with a wide-ranging selection of fiction and nonfiction, the list will continue to help point reading group members to the next great read, based on recommendations from booksellers they trust."

The Reading Group list is composed of 61 titles -- most in paperback -- and includes a number of acclaimed fiction debuts, lots of intriguing nonfiction, notable graphic novels, and 10 long-time favorite titles. Among the fiction titles are National Book Critics Circle-and Pulitzer Prize-winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead) and Book Sense Book of the Year Nonfiction winner Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper Perennial).

The list's top 10 includes Book Sense Book of the Year honor titles Away by Amy Bloom (Random House Trade Paperbacks) as the number-one selection; Run by Ann Patchett (Harper Perennial); and The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (Harper Perennial). And Book Sense Book of the Year Honor titles Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (Vintage) and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (Picador) were selected by booksellers for the list as well. Notably, the list also includes Half of a Yellow Sun (Anchor) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who was this week awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, aka a "genius grant."

Booksellers needing more copies of the list should e-mail Linda Ford at [email protected].