We recommend: The best new book releases
The best of new fiction
Long Island by Colm Tóibín: In 2009, Tóibín wrote a moving melodrama ‘Brooklyn’. The book was set in the 1950s and focussed on Eilis Lacey who migrated from an Irish town to New York, searching for better prospects. There she meets a man and marries him but is called back to Ireland on urgent family matters. She hides her betrothed and enjoys the courting efforts from another man. In the end, with a heavy heart she must go back. Now, ‘Long Island’ picks up 20 years later and explores this love triangle even further. Wall Street Journal says though the style of the writing is “muted and undemonstrative,” it “captures the decency and ordinariness of the characters as well as the deep emotional ruptures that drive them toward disorder.” (May 7)
All Fours by Miranda July: This hilarious and tender novel follows a woman who has decided to drive cross-country from LA to New York—wanting to break-free from the monotony. This 45-year-old artist witnesses an upending of her life as she embarks on this journey. July poignantly highlights struggles of a middle-aged woman—love, sex, bodily autonomy—using the most absurd settings. Miranda July is known for surprising her readers, and this novel might just do that once again.Publisher’s Weekly calls it “hilarious, sexy, and wonderfully weird.” Vogue writes, it’s a “frank and delirious ode to love in all its forms… just as brilliantly funny and strangely touching as you might expect.” (May 14)
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth: This fantasy book is from the author of the popular young adult Divergent book series. The story is inspired from Slavic folklore which follows Dymitr, a mysterious newcomer to the Chicago metropolis, and his unlikely connection with emotion-eating immortal, Ala. Eventually Dymitr and Ala explore Chicago’s underbelly in attempts of freeing themselves from the shackles of the past. Harvard Crimson says: “It is fresh, short, and bittersweet, even if it bites off a little more than it can chew.” (May 14)
You Like It Darker By Stephen King: This collection of 12 short stories by the king of horror delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorically and literally. Some of these stories have never been published and some are King’s best work. In ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,’ an unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives—in ‘Rattlesnakes,’—sequel to ‘Cujo’ BTW—a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance. It only gets darker and scarier in this collection. (May 21)
This month’s poetry pick
Acts: Poems by Spencer Reece: A poignant body of work, it often has moments of sorrow and celebration penned by the poet who also happens to be an Episcopal priest. His third book of poetry—it is a product of a decade of work and a life well lived. The poems traverse odes to Madrid as well as his childhood in the US at Connecticut and Rhode Island. Expect profound verses on love and grief weaved with artful lyricism. (May 28)
The best of new non-fiction
Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil: This is a collection of essays from Aimee Nezhukumatathil—who is an American of Filipino and Malayali descent. Through the foods in her childhood she tried when she visited her grandparents’ homes, she presents an innocent first account of these flavourful and colourful foods—a unique blend of South and South East Asian—and explores food associations and remembrances and their emotional subtexts tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia. (May 7)
Rebel Girl by Kathleen Hanna: For those who don’t know, Kathleen Hanna was one of the faces, a pioneer, of the feminist punk rock era of the 1990s. She was the lead vocalist for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre—and even popularised the punk riot grrrl movement and populated the punk zine which were made of cut-outs from magazines. This book is a memoir in which she chronicles her tumultuous childhood to her formative college years and her first shows. (May 14)
Skateboard by Jonathan Olivares: Oh look, it's a book about Skateboards! The book traces the origins of skateboards—from its simple wooden plank design to the present day cultural significance. The six chapters are chronologically organised by decades using the physicality of the object to comment on the ideas of free movement the object brought into our society. The book is packed with 500 illustrations including studio-shot and historical images. (May 22)
