The best books always transport the reader to a different place. And sometimes, those places can be pretty far flung, or not even real at all. Below are ten great books from independent presses that will take you from Addis Ababa to Yellowstone to a small Armenian village. Travel (literarily) to fantastical worlds, 18th century London, and ancient Egypt all without leaving home, thanks to the magic of the Libby app.

Get ready for crime, music, ancient history, fantasy for young readers, and some important life lessons that can best be learned from life’s end.

The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan
🎧 Audiobook

This is the second book in this delightful series that’s a twist on the old “Holmes and Watson” formula. Our detectives here are university instructor, Lao She, and martial arts expert and judge, Dee Ren Jie. Both are Chinese immigrants to London following WWI, and in this installment, they’re trying to understand how a murder in England is connected to the new Chinese Eastern Railway.

The mystery is fun and the deductions a pleasure, all with a side of action and punches thrown in. You don’t have to read it first, but Book 1, The Murder of Mr. Ma, is fantastic as well, and I highly recommend this series on audio.

Beartooth by Callan Wink
🎧 Audiobook

Thad and Hazen are brothers in their 20s struggling to make ends meet in their dilapidated house on the edges of Yellowstone National Park. Their father recently passed away and their mother ran off years ago. With mounting debt, Thad is having trouble keeping things afloat, as Hazen needs some extra looking after. How they manage isn’t always entirely legal, and as they move further across the line of legality, things don’t always run smoothly.

The prose is sparse and keeps the story moving, but not always moving in the direction the reader expects, which I loved.

Oromay by Baalu Girma, translated by David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu
🎧 Audiobook

The existence of this novel is equally as interesting as its plot. Like the main character, Girma was a journalist reporting on the fighting between the new Ethiopian government and Eritrean rebels in the early 1980s. But the author lost faith in the new Communist government, and he published this novel of political intrigue, passionate love affairs, and critiques of the government in 1983.

Shortly after its publication, Girma disappeared, most likely killed by the regime in retaliation for Oromay. An instant bestseller until it was banned in Ethiopia, Oromay is now available for the first time in English.

Separate Rooms by Pier Vittorio Tondelli, translated by Simon Pleasance
🎧 Audiobook

And here's another book that was much beloved in its home country in the 1980s and is now available for the first time in the U.S. The "Call Me by Your Name" vibes are strong with this novel about Leo, an Italian writer, who is wandering through Europe, often in a drug-addled haze, trying to forget Thomas, the German musician who was the love of his life, who died a few years earlier.

What’s striking about this book is the beautiful prose, and its structure, a constant weaving of memories through three sections designed as musical movements. The book includes an introduction from Call Me by Your Name author André Aciman, and a film is in development by director Luca Guadagnino, who also made the adaptation of Aciman’s novel.

Allegro by Ariel Dorfman
🎧 Audiobook

Another musical treat for readers is Dorfman’s latest, a historical mystery starring none other than Mozart, as he pieces together the events at the end of Johann Sebastian Bach’s life. It all begins one night in London, where the young Mozart is the guest at the home of his mentor, Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of the great composer. He's approached by an oculist who claims Mozart’s mentor is responsible for slandering him and for the treatment he gave the elder Bach near the end of his life.

Honestly, the mystery of it all is interesting enough, but what really compels the reader is the discussion of music and the contemplation of what an artist will do in order to create and see God.

The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra by Toby Wilkinson
🎧 Audiobook

Completely changing tracks now, this book is a fascinating history of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt. Egypt fell under the sway of Macedonia and the Greeks when Alexander the Great arrived in 332 BC. Following Alexander’s death, his childhood friend and trusted general, Ptolemy, took up rule of the country. Educated by Aristotle and the veteran of many military and political campaigns, Ptolemy used his wits to outmaneuver other claimants to this piece of Alexander’s empire by blending the Hellenic and Egyptian and starting work in one of the great cities in history, Alexandria. After Ptolemy, a line of his heirs followed until the last Ptolemaic ruler, Cleopatra, who could not withstand the most powerful empire since Alexander—the Romans.

Readable and enlightening, this is a great book for any adult who never got over their childhood Egyptian history phase.

Truth Cursed by Angie Dickinson
🎧 Audiobook

Imagine that you'd been cursed and couldn’t tell a lie or you would literally die. That’s the circumstance of the young heroine of this YA Fantasy series launch. (At least I hope it’s a series, because, oh man, there is so much more I need to know!)

What happens is this—Cressida Hoth has been raised by two elderly aunts after her parents are murdered, and these aunts give her a potion that prevents her from lying, and then as a teen, they send her off to boarding school. School is, obviously, rough without the ability to tell even the simplest white lie, but a great conspiracy soon begins to unfold, and Cressida’s curse may become a deadly liability.

The Tales of Newel and Doren: The Gorgon’s Fury by Brandon Mull
🎧 Audiobook

Newel and Doren are cousins, best friends, and the perennial winners of the Satyr Games. They live in Fablehaven, a refuge for magical creatures overseen by some human caretakers. But life isn’t as carefree and fun as it used to be, and the pair are wondering if they're becoming less satyrly—meaning less funny, spontaneous, and, well, irresponsible. That worry, however, gets pushed to the background when a gorgon gets loose and starts turning the residents of the preserve to stone. To find a cure, the duo head off on an adventure to the wilds of… Florida! This will be an enjoyable return for existing Fablehaven fans, but this is a new series launch, and first-time readers will also have a great time with this middle-grade fantasy.

I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney
🎧 Audiobook

Is it too horrible a cliché to say I laughed, I cried, it’s everything I could ask for in a book? Because, truly, I laughed out loud so much, but in a book that deals a lot with death, there were also a few tears.

This is the setup: Obituary writer Bud Stanley is having something of a midlife crisis after his wife leaves and he can’t seem to get his life back on track. Following the worst blind date in history, Bud goes home and has more whiskey than is wise, and ends up writing a hilariously inaccurate obituary for himself, which he then accidentally publishes. Obviously, his employer is not amused, but they also can’t technically fire someone who is dead. While his career is in limbo, though, Bud learns some important lessons about life and death.

To Go On Living by Narine Abgaryan, translated by Margarit Ordukhanyan and Zara Torlone

In case you’re wondering, I’ll admit that this is my favorite book on the list. To Go On Living is a remarkably structured novel of interconnected short stories about the inhabitants of a remote village in Armenia, where the author is also from. Everyone in the village has been impacted by the violence and death of the war with Azerbaijan, and each of their stories is beautifully, if often painfully, told. Another admission I’ll make is that I took breaks while reading this, but finishing it, and seeing how these people manage to go on living, was entirely worth it.

*Title availability may vary.

From 1920s London to Milan to Key West, travel somewhere new this spring break in the Libby app.

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