Throughout the 90-year history of Kirkus Reviews, we haven’t covered just the biggest name authors from the most recognizable publishers; we’ve always taken care to support independent publishers and highlight their important work. Here are five November titles from independent presses that you should add to your fall reading list.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely a book geek, so let’s start with an appealing history of Scribner, one of the most respected publishers in the U.S. In Scribners: Five Generations in Publishing (Lyons Press, Nov. 7), Charles Scribner III lays out the story of his family’s iconic publishing house. “Describing himself as ‘a professional son,’ Scribner, who joined his family’s firm in 1975, recounts the history of the esteemed publisher,” writes our reviewer. For anyone interested in how a publisher evolves over decades, this is “a charming memoir of a life in books.”
Since I started at Kirkus in 2004, Coffee House has published consistently excellent books, and nearly two decades later they continue to deliver—this month with American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion (Coffee House, Nov. 14), edited by Zeke Caligiuri and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. “Featuring contributions from Kiese Laymon, Valeria Luiselli, Steve Almond, Lacy M. Johnson, and other prominent writers, this book, edited by a collective of incarcerated writers in Minnesota, demonstrates what it means to live a life dominated by uncertainty,” notes our review. With such an impressive list of contributors, it’s no wonder that the book is an eye-opening showcase of “important stories of the unseen and unspoken…in America.”
In her latest book, Everyday Something Has Tried To Kill Me and Failed: Notes From Periracial America (Ig Publishing, Nov. 14), Kim McLarin gives voice to another marginalized community in America: Black women. The author of Womanish gets both personal and political in this series of essays on topics ranging from travel to hair to misogynoir. In a starred review, our critic writes, “McLarin…prefers ‘periracial’ to the misleading term ‘post-racial’ America. As her essays eloquently and devastatingly demonstrate, there probably will never be a post-racial America…A highly rewarding, commiserating nod as well as an astute rallying cry.”
An Unruled Body: A Poet’s Memoir (Restless Books, Nov. 14), by Albanian American poet Ani Gjika, is a testament to the power of writing to cope with trauma and pain. The winner of the 2021 Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing is a harrowing account of Gjika’s struggle dealing with repressed sexual trauma. “The author’s poetic prowess is clearly reflected in this text’s lyrical, clean lines, as well as in her compassionate but critical analysis of every character of the story, including herself,” according to our review.
Another writer whose lyricism explodes on the page is Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of the marvelous Thin Places. In her follow-up, Cacophony of Bone (Milkweed, Nov. 14), she “reflects on 2020, which she spent in isolation with her partner in a small stone cottage that he had inherited two years prior.…A voracious reader, ní Dochartaigh discusses works of literature that served as important companions and helped her navigate her emotions.” No sophomore slump for ní Dochartaigh, who delivers a “raw, honest, and poetic memoir.”
Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction editor.
