2021 Annual Indie Book Picks

BROKEN PENCIL PRESENTS

OUR ANNUAL INDIE BOOK PICS: the best of the Fall and holiday reading season

GRAPHICA

Shame, Shame, Go Away

Jess MacCormack, Self-published

FICTION

Water Proof

Aaron Bushkowsky, Cormorant Press

The Pump

Sydney Warner Brooman, Invisible Publishing

Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body

Megan Milks, The Feminist Press

NON-FICTION

The Breaks

Julietta Singh, Coach House Books

Deep Sniff

Adam Zmith, Repeater Books

POETRY

A Small Homecoming

Furqan Mohamed, Party Trick Press

Small Press Spotlight

LATITUDE 46

North, magnetic North. The earnest, if eerie pull that surrounds the upper latitudes also drives the work of Latitude 46 Publishing. Founded by Heather Campbell and Laura Stradiotto in 2015, this small but mighty press focuses on work by Northern Canadian writers. Too often is writing from this region celebrated as some kind of distant cultural inheritance rather than the vibrant and complex tapestry these books show is fully alive. If you’re open to challenging your own expectations, you’ll find that this pair of books leads a whole catalog that punches above its weight for a small outfit like L46. Check out latitudepublishing46.com to see what we mean.

Uncommon Sense: An Autistic Memoir

Adam Mardero, Latitude 46 Publishing

Gold Pours

Aurore Gatwenzi, Latitude 46 Publishing