On the bedside tables of our booksellers

Throughout the month of July, booksellers tell us what their current must-reads are. This week: Billy Robinson, from the Librairie de Verdun, who won the Prix d’excellence from the Association des libraires du Québec last spring, introduces us to three books he read in one sitting.

Laila Maalouf
The Press

my end of the world

“It’s a superb book that I was not expecting, and which completely moved me. We are in the universe of Simon Roy – an extraordinary being, a writer of great talent. What I liked is that he didn’t decide at the last minute to redo the wheel. He took what he does best, which is to include two stories related to his life to tell us another. Here we are with War of the Worldswhich had caused such a stir when Orson Welles decided to take the book back and turn it into radio drama. […] A very beautiful novel, relevant and important, and very luminous, despite everything, because it speaks to us about life, in fact. »

my end of the world

Simon Roy

boreal

Penances

“It’s a big punch. I really like queer literature; I always salute the publishing houses which have this conviction to launch novels without fuss and [Le Cheval d’août] is one of my favorites. Penances, it’s an oppressive camera between Jules and her father, whom she visits with a mysterious little box that she hasn’t seen for years. We realize that this father was very violent. […] At the same time, she shows him to us from a slightly tender side. It’s tough, but it’s beautiful and so well written, modern – a really lively pen. She is a must-read author. I had a big crush on this book. »

Penances

Alex Come

The August Horse

Hope is that feathered thing

“It’s inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson. This is the story of a singer, a rising figure in grand opera. A small accident makes her lose her voice and she can no longer sing. At the same time, comes into her life her brother-in-law suffering from cancer whom they will have to accommodate, her husband and her. He has a parrot that starts whistling and she starts whistling with him because, to keep her contract valid at the opera, they force her to give whistling lessons. A completely original premise that totally seduced me. It’s a little novel that does good, imbued with a beautiful sensitivity, soft, benevolent. Those who liked Changing flower water, by Valérie Perrin, will not be disappointed. »

Hope is that feathered thing

Nina Berkhout

Translated from English by Sophie Cardinal-Corriveau