Five on My TBR - Indie Books

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme that was hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. Learn more about it here. 

Indie Books

I love any opportunity to feature more books and found this meme an interesting way to take a look at my TBR. I hope to also get some feedback from you. Should I keep these books on my TBR? Should I push them up the list? Without further ado, below are five indie books on my TBR. 

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I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Deep underground, forty women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.

Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian's. But Emma's plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian's. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

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The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

One family’s deepest pain. Another’s darkest secret. Who will they be when the truth comes out?

On a hot day in 1960s Maine, six-year-old Joe watches his little sister Ruthie, sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of the blueberry fields, while their family, Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia, pick fruit. That afternoon, Ruthie vanishes without a trace. As the last person to see her, Joe will be forever haunted by grief, guilt, and the agony of imagining how his life could have been.

In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma is growing up as the only child of unhappy parents. She is smart, precocious, and bursting with questions she isn’t allowed to ask – questions about her missing baby photos; questions about her dark skin; questions about the strange, vivid dreams of campfires and warm embraces that return night after night. Norma senses there are things her parents aren’t telling her, but it will take decades to unravel the secrets they have kept buried since she was a little girl.

The Berry Pickers is an exquisitely moving story of unrelenting hope, unwavering love, and the power of family – even in the face of grief and betrayal.

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Rebel Season by Leah Brunner, Katie Bailey

He wants to prove he’s more than a pretty face with a trust fund…

NHL rookie Archibald Fisher is wealthy, handsome, and appears to live a charmed life without a care in the world.

But behind closed doors, Fisher’s pretentious family treats him like a liability. A problem to fix rather than a person. And when his granddad passes away, he’s given an ultimatum: Get married, or say goodbye to every penny of his inheritance.

His family thinks it’s a foolproof plan to control their rebellious youngest son...but they clearly don’t know him very well.

…She’s fighting to save everything she loves

Lila Chen practically grew up in San Francisco’s historic firehouse turned art collective. Her fellow artists are like family to her, especially since her mom passed away.

So when she discovers the firehouse is going to be destroyed by Fisher Group, Lila is desperate to save the only home she has left. But after multiple dead-end attempts, she’s running out of hope.

Until Archibald Fisher shows up with a proposal she can’t refuse…

Their marriage was meant to be on paper only, until real feelings creep in. But new love is fragile, and between Lila’s secrets and threats from the Fisher family, there might be no way to stop it from shattering…

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The Troublemaker by Piper Rayne

A fake marriage deal was never in my life’s plan.

Especially not to Easton Bailey.

Chicago Colts flashy shortstop.
The kind of man built for a good time and allergic to forever.
And the one who just slid a ring on my finger… on paper.

It’s supposed to be simple.
A mutually beneficial arrangement.
I play nanny to his son. He plays husband to my family.

No emotions. No complications. And absolutely no falling for each other.

Turns out pretending to be a family is the fastest way to break every rule we set.

Because he watches me like it was never just a deal.
Because he trusts me with the person who matters most.
Because the more we pretend, the less fake it feels.

And now the man who was never supposed to stay is the one I can't lose.

What indie books are on your TBR?
Let us know in the comments!