It's rare that I find new releases that look so interesting on the library's New Books shelves, but when I went to pick up two holds, I found two that jumped out at me. Almost always now, any new book that you want to get your hands on when they are ready to circulate, you really have to have gotten in line for before the actual publication. I have learned all the tricks to curating my holds list, my for later lists and how to manage so many holds in order that they don't all arrive at once. But there is a lot to say about the serendipity of finding a new book that you had not come across just sitting on a shelf waiting to be discovered!
The top two books are my 'discoveries'.
Why Did You Come Back Every Summer by Belen Lopez Peiro, translated by Maureen Shaughnessy -- This is translated from the Spanish. "A fractured account of family abuse, secrets, and the cost of pursuing the truth."
I do not generally tend to gravitate towards science fiction/speculative fiction, but I am probably missing out on some good reads. Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead. This one is not only a beautiful book (the endpapers are gorgeous), but there is a cover blurb from Sarah Waters (one of my most favorite authors). "A ground-breaking, mind-bending and wildly imaginative epic verse revolution in SF. A saga of colony ships, shattering moons and cataclysmic war in a new Eden. Truly unforgettable and richly lyrical eco-fiction."
And two holds I have been looking forward to: Rowan Beaird's The Divorcees and (actually this just sounded interesting and a recent request) Anna by Mia Oberlander, translated by Nika Knight. The latter is a graphic novel. This is what caught my eye: "Drawn with delightful exaggeration and formal inventiveness, Anna is a tongue-in-cheek, modern-day fairy tale about being "too big" for a narrow-minded world."
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And a few other reads that I've been hoarding over the course of the week to try and get to this weekend ...
The MIllions Most Anticipated 2024 Spring book preview! (For an even longer reading list).
Writers Talking Writers (Emily St. John Mandel on Irene Nemirovsky and Sarah Rose Etter on Tove Ditlevson.
Chantal Akerman is one of my favorite film directors, so this looks very interesting (and I will be looking for the books mentioned in the article.
I have long wanted to read Alan Furst's spy novels and here they are ranked by another reader (who has already read all his books).
Have you heard about the sudden closure of Small Press Distribution (SPD) earlier this month? I find that worrisome since I am a fan of small presses. They can be very hard to find in bookstores and I am often ordering them specially at my local indie. Now what happens? Here is the list that were previously distributed by them. Maybe this weekend will be a good time to go direct and support them by ordering online from them?
This weekend's watching will include Andrew Scott's Ripley (I have heard many good things about it!) and I cannot wait to see Wicked Little Letters!
Have a great weekend everyone!