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Quick Pick: June 17, 2016

A spotlight on the most exciting new release of the week!

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Liberty Hardy

Senior Contributing Editor

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

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Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić, Anthea Bell (translator)

Stanišić is one of the most wildly imaginative writers of this decade, and Before the Feast is a marvel. The story of a quiet German village (Population: an odd number) the night, er, before the feast. The town is populated by quirky characters getting prepared for the celebration, such as inefficient bell ringers and a night painter, as well as a fox hoping to score a couple eggs for her kit. Adding to the surreal, fairy tale-like quality of the village is the escape of the village’s stories from the town’s archive. Stanišić is a gifted storyteller, and this novel is beautiful and weird and definitely one to savor.

Backlist bump: How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone by Saša Stanišić