The Booksellers Association has today announced The Things That We Lost by Jyoti Patel, as Fiction Book of the Month, while All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr is Children’s Book of the Month.
 
Independent bookshops around the UK and Ireland will be promoting The Things That We Lost and All Four Questions of the Moon throughout January on social media and in-store. The Booksellers Association will be supporting the promotion of the Indie Books of the Month through social media and promotional material.

The Things That We Lost by Jyoti Patel is a moving coming-of-age story exploring what it means to be a person of colour in Britain today, discussing themes of identity and the stories that we tell ourselves to manage trauma. Nik yearns to know more about his father, who died before he was born. His mother, Avani, held hostage by her guilt surrounding his death, refuses to share any information with her son. Nik is forced to create a fragmented image of his father, pulled together from hushed whispers at family gatherings and photos stolen from his mother’s bedroom. When his grandfather dies, secrets are revealed, and everything Nik thinks he knows about his father is turned on its head. Nik makes it his mission to discover the truth about his father and the circumstances of his death, uncovering painful truths in the process. The Things That We Lost is the winner of the 2021 Merky Books New Writers Prize. The Things That We Lost is published by Merky Books on 12 January 2023, also available in eBook, and is available to pre-order now.
 
Jyoti Patel said: “Independent bookshops have brought so much joy and solace to me as a reader and they've been an essential part of my development as an author too. The warmth shown by the booksellers at my local indie in particular has made the process of bringing my debut to bookshelves so much more beautiful. I'm incredibly grateful to indie bookshops for all they have done and all that they continue to do for readers and authors across the UK.”  
 
All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr is a big-hearted, magical story about sisterhood and a family finding their way in a new place. The night of the Mid-Autumn festival, making mooncakes with Ah-Ma, was the last time Peijing remembers her life being the same. Now facing a new home, a new school and a new language, everything is different. Peijing thinks everything is going to turn out okay as long as they all have each other. But cracks are starting to appear in the family. Biju, lovable but annoying, needs Peijing to be the dependable big sister. Ah-Ma keeps forgetting who she is; Ma Ma and Ba Ba are no longer themselves. Peijing has no idea how she’s supposed to cope with the uncertainties of her own world while shouldering the burden of everyone else. If her family are the four-quarters of the mooncake, where does she even fit in? All Four Quarters of the Moon is published by Usborne on 5 January 2023.
 
Shirley Marr said: “I love independent bookstores as the staff are always helpful, willing to chat and I see the amount of love they pour into selling books! I believe in supporting a business that gives so much back to the community; you'll always find me at my local independent buying books as gifts – or for myself!"   
The Indie Book of the Month titles are selected by panels of booksellers from publisher submissions.

The Fiction panel for January comprised booksellers from DRAKE – The Bookshop; Beverley Bookshop; Far From the Madding Crowd and Four Bears Books. The Children’s panel for January comprised booksellers from Little Ripon Bookshop; Booka Bookshop and Norfolk Children’s Book Centre.

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