by Nick Gardner

Indie lit has always been counterculture.

It would honestly be nuts for a small press to open their door to submissions without the desire to fight the status quo. The very idea of indie lit is anticapitalist (small presses probably won’t get you rich), anti-establishment (the “Big Five” can eat it), and, for the most part, small presses like fiction that breaks the rules. But what makes a book punk-as-fuck goes beyond the author’s antiauthoritarian leanings. It must have some other pull. It needs music.

While this list is far from exhaustive, it focuses on books of literary fiction that don’t just have that punk fierceness, that blatant challenging of authority, but those that also have the music.

Think Bad Brains, Buzzcocks, Pere Ubu. You can get behind the lyrics, the message, the ethos, the power, but a punk group is nothing if the sound doesn’t make you want to mosh. That’s what makes these specific literary fiction authors stand out: not only the shared goal of challenging the way the reader sees the world, but also an understanding of the aesthetic necessary to keep a reader glued to the page. 

Here are 7 literary fiction books that challenge the status quo.

(Book lists on Independent Book Review are chosen by very picky people. As affiliates, we earn a commission on books you purchase through our links.)

1. Someone Who Isn’t Me

Author: Geoff Rickly

Publisher: Rose Books (2023)

Print Length: 258 pages

ISBN: 9798987581827

Asterism

Amazon

Okay, some can argue that he’s more post-hardcore than punk, but Geoff Rickly’s debut novel, Someone Who Isn’t Me, hums with musical prose that rivals the best lyrical writers of literary fiction.

A heroin addict and lead singer, the protagonist, Geoff, seeks sobriety through the psychedelic drug Ibogaine. His trip sends him on a psychic spiral through his guilt-laden past, forcing him to contend with the person he has become. Rickly depicts Geoff’s wild tour across the United States, not holding back on the bickering or the drugs. It’s a dirty novel in the way that addiction can be dirty. But it also breaks the trend of stories about addiction. Refusing to pause on the fallout, Rickly writes beyond into recovery and hope. 

2. No Names

Author: Greg Hewett

Publisher: Coffee House Press (April 2025)

Print Length: 352 pages

ISBN: 9781566897259

Bookshop

Amazon

Greg Hewett’s No Names is by far the slowest moving of the works of literary fiction in this list. Think Sleep’s Dopesmoker. Okay, maybe it’s doom metal. Whatever the case, punk is the root.

As Hewett skips around from POV to POV, a large focus is a punk band called, of course, The No Names, and the sketchy European tour that ended the band. But there’s also quite a bit of classical music in the background, as well as a long exploration of friendships entangled with sexual experimentation. Maybe the end drags on a bit longer than expected, but the prose holds up, a song that slowly diminishes rather than ending with a crash. 

Looking for more literary fiction recommendations? Check out our best books of 2024!

3. Earth Angel

Author: Madeline Cash

Publisher: CLASH Books (April 18, 2023)

Print Length: 152 pages

ISBN: 9781955904698

Bookshop

Amazon

Easy to read cover-to-cover in a single sitting, Earth Angel is all power chords, heavy and fast. Cash’s sentences are short and piercing and her endings cut to nothing rather than attempting a summation or even a meaning. Because everything is meaningless, right? 

Think Biblical plagues, Isis recruits, childless millennials and millennials with children that they’re not quite sure what to do with. Think designer drugs, broke city dwellers, homicidal fantasies, porn. Maybe Earth Angel is too modern to hold to the ‘80s DIY ethos, but it’s still counterculture AF. It still questions authority, culture, and god. It’s a witty collection for confused kids who definitely don’t want to grow up.

4. Scumbag Summer

Author: Jillian Luft

Publisher: House of Vlad Press (June 2024)

Print Length: 192 pages

ISBN: 9798320644059

Bookshop

Amazon

More sex, more drugs, more blood and fallout, Scumbag Summer explores smoky bowling alleys and dive bars, the crass scenery of Orlando. Though she’s a college grad, the protagonist seems intent on continuing her nihilistic young-adulthood, refusing to settle into any kind of square, middle class grind.

Orlando for her is No Doz and 7 layer burritos, and as she lodges herself more deeply into the dumpster fire, she spots the pages with social commentary, a distrust of wealth and power and an understanding of  “trash culture,” of those stuck in on the lower rungs of the social hierarchy who sometimes can’t even imagine the climb. Scumbag Summer also contains one of the most punk lines I’ve ever read: “Love is a friendly butcher.”

5. Ghosts of East Baltimore

Author: David Simmons

Publisher: Broken River Books (2022)

Print Length: 202 pages

ISBN: 9781940885544

Amazon

A Baltimore native with a deep understanding of the underground, David Simmons shrugs off the rules in his debut literary crime thriller. As with the other books on this list, there’s a unique and manic music behind Simmons’ prose. It’s rough music, blasted loud. I mean what’s more punk than a protagonist named Worm who gets out of prison to find that he’s the only one who can take out a drug ring smuggling dangerous chemicals into his community?

Simmons raises the bar for punk AF literature with his cutting social commentary, including “crack epidemic” history lessons and a deep understanding of Baltimore’s crime and corruption-ridden past. 

6. Hellions

Author: Julia Elliott

Publisher: Tin House Books (April 15, 2025)

Print Length: 272 pages

ISBN: 9781963108064

Bookshop

Amazon

Witches, Cryptids, Ghosts, and other supernatural entities plague the pages of Julia Elliott’s strange collection of longer short fiction. No flash stories here. But just like when you enter a DIY venue and feel surrounded by like minds, the pages of Hellions is a comforting place for those who have normalized the weird.

In “The Maiden,” a community trampoline allows a witchy girl to show up the popular kids with her otherworldly acrobatics before disappearing to her woodland squat. And in “Hellion,” a tough twelve-year-old tames an alligator. Elliott’s stories are filled with loners and weirdos outperforming their normative peers and youngsters challenging their parents’ conservative ideals. What’s more punk than that?

7. Hey You Assholes

Author: Kyle Seibel

Publisher: CLASH Books (March 25, 2025)

Print Length: 272 pages

ISBN: 9781960988393

Bookshop

Amazon

Seibel’s story of trying to publish this debut book of short literary fiction, Hey You Assholes is filled with almost as many bizarre twists as the book itself. It reminds me of a 21st century reenactment of ‘80s punk bands banging down doors to book a studio or distro a record. He couldn’t have found a better home for his book than Clash Books, a publisher of some of the strangest and most energetic fiction on the market. Energetic is the word, because even the longer stories don’t stop driving. ThinkLandowner Plays Dopesmoker 666% Faster and with No Distortion.

Hey You Assholes is a deep dive into the lives of unpopular people: soft-hearted alcoholics, wiley factory workers, and Navy veterans who feel forever lost at sea. None of Seibel’s characters have money or power and they definitely don’t have any respect for The Man. 

Want some thrills in your bookshelf? Check out the best indie thrillers!

About the Author

Nick Gardner is a writer, teacher, and critic who has worked as a winemaker, chef, painter, shoe salesman, and addiction counselor. His latest collection of stories from the Rust Belt, Delinquents And Other Escape Attempts, is out now from Madrona Books. He lives in Ohio and Washington, DC and works as a beer and wine monger in Maryland.

Thank you for reading Nick Gardner’s “Literary Fiction Books That Are Punk AF!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Literary Fiction Books That Are Punk AF appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Reviewed by Lisa Parker Hayreh

A sassy, hilarious, heartwarming, and provocative surprise

Henry Bradfield finds himself back in his hometown in Vermont with his extended family for a milestone birthday that he would prefer to ignore. He arrives to find his childhood mementos being offered in a garage sale, with his younger brother directing the sale. 

When some of Henry’s vintage comic books are sold to the son of his high school sweetheart, this touches off conflict as well as provocative questions about this past romantic relationship. Henry’s quarreling teenaged children, his wife, his parents, his alcoholic sister Margo, Margo’s boyfriend, and his nieces and nephews are all pulled into the drama that ensues. 

Henry discovers unanswered questions and lingering attraction to his former flame. Why exactly did their relationship end years ago? What might have developed between them had they continued their relationship? As Henry grapples with these questions, he is confronted with the discord and emotional distance in his marriage.

He must also face the animosity from his younger brother and navigate the old resentments between them. Like any parent, Henry must contend with the divergent agendas of his teenaged sons while wrestling with his myriad dilemmas. After Henry’s wife leaves the family reunion unexpectedly without farewell, Henry is forced to confront his issues more directly and choose his path forward.

Redemption, humor, and love shine through the tragic, the inept, and the mundane in this family’s relationships. Henry is a frustrated yet compassionate protagonist who has nonetheless become a halfhearted presence in his own life. 

All characters are incredibly well-developed and interact in refreshingly candid ways. Henry’s wife Denise is thoughtfully painted in complex layers, illuminating the difficulties in her marriage to Henry as well as her individual struggles. Erin, Henry’s high school sweetheart, is a strong presence in her own right, who has carved out a life after tragedy working as a single mom to raise her teenaged son. Henry’s brother highlights the thriving sibling rivalry between him and Henry. Margo serves as a faithful support for Henry throughout the novel, revealing her alcoholism and her own painful struggles along the way. Margo’s boyfriend is at turns ridiculous and endearing. Henry’s parents offer alternating exacerbation and soothing of the family angst throughout the action of the novel. Henry’s sons illustrate the emotional challenges of navigating adolescence while also giving us glimpses into the loving power of parental guidance.

As the novel progresses, Henry more actively forges his relationships and his path forward.  More vulnerability and kindness also emerge from Henry in the face of his increasing challenges. 

This delightful novel presents steady action balanced with vivid setting descriptions and snappy, engaging dialogue. The end result is a fresh take on adult existential struggles and extended family drama. A thoroughly enjoyable read, this fictional drama proves that a family reunion with a group of highly flawed people can still deliver happiness, love, redemption, and hope.

Thank you for reading Lisa Parker Hayreh’s book review of This Is Who We Are Now by James Bailey! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post STARRED Book Review: This Is Who We Are Now appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Reviewed by Nick Rees Gardner

In Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories, the mundane is not mundane, but a space where one can enter a jungle of anxieties, hopes, and fears.

Bennett Sims’ Other Minds is a collection of deep dives into its characters’ thought processes. They are quiet, intellectual stories, often taking place over no more than a couple hours of the character’s life in which very little action actually occurs. However, as the characters spiral, the tension grips tighter. As suspicions snowball into certainties and questions mushroom into conspiracies, the simple process of writing an essay or reading a book turns into a question of life and death.

Consisting of twelve stories, Other Minds begins and ends with two ekphrastic pieces. The first, “La ‘Mummia Di Grottarossa’” is a single page, opening the book with a description of the mummified body of a Roman girl in a museum in Rome, spelling out her epitaph, bringing this bit of history into the eerie present moment.

But while these moments of ekphrasis are fascinating, the stories wedged between them cover a vast array of subject matter, from the cerebral freakout of a man intent on killing his backyard chickens in “Pecking Order” to the detective in “The Postcard” who enters a world slightly askew from the reality he remembers. The stories don’t only vary in length, but in subject matter and theme. While “The Postcard” may have a noir leaning, “Unknown,” in which a strange number calls the protagonist’s cell phone, is as unsettling as a psychological horror story. 

It’s Sims’ penchant for the unsettling that is most thrilling about the book. The two-page short short, “A Nightmare,” bends the world uncanny when the dreamer sets foot in a field strewn with an endless line of grocery carts. The protagonist of the novella-length story, “Introduction to the Reading of Hegel” faces his own anxiety over a fellowship proposal letter, a frustration that builds to a point of tension close to a psychotic break.

Sims masterfully draws the reader into each story, each mindscape, until the reader themself feels at the brink of explosion or collapse, and Sims does so with minimal action, almost no external force. The hero and antihero, the tension and conflict, all of it exists inside the character’s head. 

The seduction of this book wouldn’t be possible without Sims’ smooth and eloquent prose. Whereas an ekphrastic piece about a mosaic medusa inlaid in a parlor floor may sound un-enthralling, Sims embellishes the scene with rhythmic prose: “Books are just sculptures that don’t erode: they extend mortal forms across immortal time, preserving impermanent pasts for an infinite future.” His prose alone is an engine that can sustain the reader’s momentum even when literally nothing is happening on the page; nothing, that is, except for the mental acrobatics of a questioning mind. While the vocabulary is academic and possibly not the most approachable, its sonic beauty carries the reader through even the most elaborate sentences, dancing to the rhythm of thought. 

Though showy, flashy, and linguistically extravagant, Other Minds is a simple book with a simple quest at its heart: to understand the minds of other people. Often the protagonists get nowhere, such as when the aforementioned Fellowship-seeker, intent on understanding what the reader of his application will expect, comes to ridiculous conclusions. Other times, the protagonist botches the job. But it is the intent to understand these other minds through literature, through the act of reading, these other minds with their labyrinthine mental blocks and penchants for doubt or intensity, that is at the heart of the book as a whole. Each story asks the reader to reach beyond themselves into the inner workings of the protagonist and to understand someone other, someone else. 

Thank you for reading Nick Rees Gardner’s book review of Other Minds and Other Stories by Bennett Sims! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post STARRED Book Review: Other Minds and Other Stories appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Reviewed by Genevieve Hartman

A sweeping story of Iranian people, poetry, and politics, spanning three decades

Nadine Bjursten’s debut novel Half a Cup of Sand and Sky follows Amineh, a young Iranian woman who has moved to Tehran for university from the small village of Qamsar. An aspiring novelist, Amineh longs to tell her parents’ story as rural rose farmers, even as she is caught up in the air of revolution surrounding the death of a classmate which is sparking protests against the Shah. 

As a student in 1977, Amineh is unsure of her place among the revolutionaries and social activists. She is gradually drawn in by her close friend Ava, and her eventual husband Farzad. Farzad is deeply invested in the country’s political state and, more broadly, in the goal of disarming nuclear weapons worldwide with the help of an international group called GR12. 

Over the course of thirty-two years, Amineh must face the deep-seated upheaval of her country through the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini’s rule, the horrors of the Iran-Iraq War, betrayal from those close to her, and threats to her family’s safety because of her husband’s anti-nuclear weapons work. Through everything, she experiences the delights and trials of marriage and parenthood, buoyed by the resounding love of family and friends. 

Amineh is pulled between the traditional and the revolutionary as she survives through turbulent times. She struggles between realizing her dreams of a novel, coming to terms with what it means to be a wife and partner to her husband, and mothering her children in a country fraught with war and loss, all while nurturing her independent spirit. Her emotional intelligence and strength through the various seasons of her life make Amineh a well-developed narrator that readers will root for through her highest and lowest moments. 

Half a Cup of Sand and Sky was a finalist for the PEN/Bellweather Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction in 2016, and it’s easy to see why. From beautiful images of Iran, Sweden, and the UK, to heavily researched historical events, and to characters that are deeply human in their joys, mistakes, and dreams, Nadine Bjursten has written an exceptional book. This is a necessary story of maturity and resilience told from a perspective that is often overlooked by Western readers. Half a Cup of Sand and Sky will captivate folks of all genres and ages with its craft, vitality, and wisdom.

Thank you for reading Genevieve Hartman’s book review of Half a Cup of Sand and Sky by Nadine Bjursten! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post STARRED Book Review: Half a Cup of Sand and Sky appeared first on Independent Book Review.