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This week we talk about some of our favorite books coming out of small and independent presses. The Big 5 publishers print those blockbusters we love to stick in our beach bag but smaller presses support much more diverse authors and innovative and important stories that may be your next favorite read! We give you a little primer about the difference between a small press and an imprint by on the Big 5. And we give you 10 books (plus a few more) that we recommend from indie presses!

Books mentioned--

1- The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

2- The Odyssey by Homer

3- Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit

4- Everyman by Philip Roth

5- Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell

6- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - 5 star readrecommended by fellow book lover Amy Bernath @mrsmillardfillmorereads

7- The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel (Tin House)

8- Three Ways to Disappear by Katy Yocom (Ashland Creek Press)

9- The Salt Fields by Stacy D. Flood (Lanternfish Press)

10- Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross Smith (Hub City Press)

11- Landings: A Crooked Creek Farm Year by Arwen Donahue (Hub City Press)

12- Places We Left Behind: A Memoir in Miniature by Jennifer Lang (Vine Leaves Press)

13- What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me by Donna Gordon (Regal House)

14- Menopause: A Comic Treatment edited by MK Czerwiec (Penn State University Press)

15- Bad Tourist by Suzanne Roberts (Univeristy of Nebraska Press)

16- Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia(WVU Press)

17- World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)

18- Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl (Milkweed Editions)

19- Lungfish by Meghan Gillis (Catapult Books)

20- Tidepool by Nicole Willson (Parliament House)

21- The Keeper of the Key by Nicole Willson (Parliament House Books - coming Nov. 12, 2024)

Movies/Shows mentioned--

Maestro (Netflix, 2023)

The Changeling (Apple+, 2023)

For All Mankind (Apple+, 2019)

Links mentioned:

Odysseus Lunar Landing - www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/world/mo…nasa-scn/index.html

Solar Flare -

Human Isolation on Mars-

LA Public Library now owns a small press -