Independent press bestsellers: May 21, 2026

Here are the ten bestselling fiction and nonfiction books from independent presses as sold by independent bookstores for the week ending May 17, 2026.

You can see the full Independent Publishers Caucus top forty list for both fiction and nonfiction at Bookshop.org.

FICTION

1. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett 

2. John of John by Douglas Stuart 

3. Heart the Lover by Lily King 

4. I Who Have Never Known Men, written by Jacqueline Harpman and translated by Ros Schwartz 

5. On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), written by Solvej Balle and translated by Barbara J. Haveland 

6. The Odyssey, written by Homer and translated by Emily Wilson 

7. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 

8. Three Bags Full, written by Leonie Swann and translated by Anthea Bell

9. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

10. On the Calculation of Volume (Book IV), written by Solvej Balle and translated by Barbara J. Haveland 

NONFICTION

1. The Gales of November by John U. Bacon 

2. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

3. The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit 

4. We the People by Jill Lepore 

5. Mutual Aid (new and expanded edition) by Dean Spade 

6. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl 

7. Money Unlocked by John Lee

8. The Glorians by Terry Tempest Williams 

9. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

10. Go the F*ck to College by Adam Mansbach