The 100 Small Press Recommendations Are Up

A seal labeled 2025 100 Notable Small Press BooksThe 2025 list of 100 notable small press books is now up at Lit Hub. I was thrilled to work on this project along with about 40 other people under the gentle guidance of Miriam Gershow.

It probably doesn’t surprise anyone that I was reading science fiction and fantasy books for this project, which includes books from just about every genre you can think of, including poetry as well as prose. I noticed in going through the list that it includes several horror books as well as literary fiction and a lot of creative nonfiction.

Each reviewer was only able to provide capsule reviews of two or three books, which made the task very difficult. I read many other books that I really liked. Small presses are really publishing great things these days.

The books I recommended were:

Obviously you should check those out, but go read the whole list. You might find something from a genre you didn’t even know you liked!

Melbourne

While you read this, I will be Medievalisting in Melbourne. Monday is my recovery day, so I’m seeing friends and family Tuesday I have in-service training which basically means really good behind the scenes tours at a major library and a major art gallery. Wednesday to Friday is the conference proper. My paper is written, my slides are almost there* and I don’t feel at all ready for any of it.

I’ll report back next week! There may be pictures, or there may not. It depends…

It’s rare that I can visit any campus these days, because I’m Jewish, but a friend has given me her phone number and the security number and, hopefully, all will be well.

 

  • My cutest slide is of the word ‘ritter’ scratched on a slate in Hebrew characters. I am so dreaming of writing a story where a Medieval Jewish school boy dreams of becoming a knight. If you want to see this picture, let me know, and I’ll share it when I’m at my own desk.