Thursday, June 05, 2014

Bibliomanse New Arrival Weekly Round-Up

Here are a few things that strolled right into the bookshop this week and proceeded to strike a pose of such distinction on our fair shelves that I was forced to pull them back down and, like a true exhibitionist, take some vanity shots of em and tell you all about their respective virtues.

So without further ado...

Like my grandfather always said, better to be a cheesemonger than a warmonger. 

Heather O'Neill wrote Lullabies for Little Criminals, a gritty yet charming coming-of age portrayal of a troubled youth blossoming toward self-discovery. Her new novel, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, explores the tensions between Nicolas and Nouschka Tremblay, two young twins living in, and trying to escape, the shadow of their famous french folksinger father and the weird vicissitudes of Quebecois celebrity culture. Did I mention she wrote Lullabies for Little Criminals?


A cross-country American hitchhiking adventure with "the Pope of Trash". Note to prospective hitchhikers in search of pointers: Waters's sign read "I'M NOT PSYCHO."

Winner of the prestigious 2013 IMPAC Dublin Award, Kevin Barry is the best Irish writer you've never heard of. Like a mongrel of Flann O'Brien and Tom Waits, his books explode with musical verve, twisted humour, and grotesque splendour. Pictured are his post-apocalyptic glam-western City of Bohane (like a cross between The Warriors, The Road, and Clockwork Orange) and his latest collection of peerless short stories, Dark Lies the Island, some of which originally appeared in The New Yorker and justly went on to blow minds.

Do fathers matter? I mean, beyond providing economic stability, barbecuing inevitably charred burgers, and providing moral support at soccer practices? This book, citing everyone from neuroscientists, animal behaviourists, geneticists, developmental psychologists, etc, argues that yes, apparently they do. So if you were still having doubts about whether to celebrate next weekend, rest assured: dads count.

American Innovations is the new book of short stories by a Canadian writer turned American literary phenom. Rivka Galchen is often mentioned in the same breath as Rachel Kushner and Karen Russell, and so,  I sure as hell can't wait to dive into this one.

Did you know that in real life Antoine De Saint-Exupery was also a pilot? And one of the first pilots to deliver mail by plane? Also an innovator of air routes and an amateur racer.  This beautifully illustrated biography for children explores and celebrates the life of the author of The Little Prince

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