The winners of the first annual Indie Booksellers Choice Awards have been announced.
The following five books were selected by independent booksellers: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books), The Instructions by Adam Levin (McSweeney’s), The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (Unbridled), Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Grove/Atlantic), and Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr (Akashic).
The five winning titles will be displayed in participating independent bookstores throughout the country. Comedian David Rees hosted the awards ceremony at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City.
Melville House co-founder Dennis Johnson explained the award: “The award grew out of my distaste for most literary prizes. The point is usually to laud some individual or book that doesn’t really need the stroking. We wanted to come up with something that would better support the ecosystem we live in. The IBCA is good for the author, good for the bookseller, and good for the publisher, and so it’s good for art and industry.”