Independent booksellers call the shots at the Indies Choice Book Awards, which return this year after being on hiatus since 2019.

Titles that appeared on the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next List, Kids’ Indie Next List, and/or Indies Introduce lists in 2025 are eligible to win $2,000 (and boundless glory) in each of seven categories.

Highlights from the shortlists, which were revealed yesterday, include:

Adult Fiction:

• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• Heart the Lover by Lily King
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Young Adult:

• Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
• The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold
• Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
• They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
• Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

Awards will also be given for adult nonfiction, picture books, and middle grade. We’re especially happy to see categories honoring the best debuts in both adult and children’s books.

Bookseller voting is open through March 25. The winners will be announced April 8.