So it's Black Friday and everyone's hawking their wares at low, low prices. But why not pay more and feel better by buying something from an indie bookstore? Some recommendations of bookshops and books follow. 1/12

Don’t Touch my Hair, Emma Dabiri. A wide-ranging and deeply rich social, cultural and political history centred on Afro hair, this book made me think more than any other I read this year. Buy this, or something else, from @newsfromnowhere 2/12

Machine, Susan Steinberg. Machine is bold, singular and deeply affecting; it’s also formally daring, without ever losing its emotional acuity. Buy this, or something else, from @burleyfisher 3/12

Pew, Catherine Lacey. The best way I can describe this novel is as a ‘glacial thriller.’ The prose is astonishing, the tendrils of plot and menace curling up beneath each sentence. It is gloriously strange. Buy this, or something else, from @Bookishcrick 4/12

Strange Hotel, Eimear McBride. You can almost smell the air-conditioning & feel your hands around the mini-bar whisky in this unsettling, unnerving and always compelling confessional. The most misunderstood book of the year. Buy this, or something else, from @redlionBooks 5/12

I am not Sidney Poitier, Percival Everett. The funniest serious book I read this year, it is a triumph, and one we should thank Influx for bringing to us. Buy this, or something else, from @booksellercrow 6/12

Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion. The first audio book I’ve listened to since I was a kid was so good, I had to race ahead and read the whole thing. Buy this, or something else, from @lrbbookshop 7/12

Moderato Cantabile, Marguerite Duras. I’ve read fewer new books this year than usual, mainly this is because I have been reading everything I can find by Marguerite Duras. This is my favourite though. Buy this, or something else, from @bookabookshop 8/12

Glitch, Lee Rourke. The most sustained and brilliantly executed novel yet from one of the UK’s most interesting writers. Buy this, or something else, from @linghamsbooks 9/12

Kitch, Anthony Joseph. Though I read it last year, I feel like I’ve been pushing this on as many people as I can all year. An immersive, consistently evolving picture of an extraordinary musical life. Buy this, or something else, from @kirkdalebooks 10/12

Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam. I’m hooked on this at the moment, and I suspect it will top many people’s lists of 2020. Buy this, or something else, from @NewhamBookshop 11/12

Finally, if you’ve got this far, why not take a punt on The Blind Light? It’s the perfect gift, so long as you know someone into nuclear terror, invented books, Cumbrian poets, and agents of control. 12/12 https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-blind-light/9781529030976?aid=681