In the weekly Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week, the Montreal bookstore recommends several new works of fiction, art books, periodicals, and comics.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is one of Montreal's premiere independent bookstores.
Universal Cobra
by Shuvinai Ashoona & Shary Boyle
Since being paired together for an exhibition curated by Nancy Campbell at the University of Toronto in 2009, celebrated artists Shuvinai Ashoona and Shary Boyle have been in constant collaboration - their joint work taking form as the stunning Universal Cobra. Formed mainly by swapping drawings back and, their creations are jarring, erotic, and politically minded, the book’s themes centering around the feminist, Nunnavumit experience.
Invincible Summer
by Alice Adams
Chronicling the lives of four friends who met in university, Alice Adams’ debut novel doesn’t necessarily stray far from well-established mold, but nonetheless delivers fully-formed, engaging characters to root for. Navigating broken hearts and thwarted dreams, Eva, Benedict, Sylvie and Lucien begin their story in Bristol as inseparable friends—only to discover in their twenties and then their thirties that life doesn’t pan out as planned. In short, a beautiful summer read by a talented new author.
Grilled Cheese Magazine (Issue 6)
Freshly pressed from studio L’Abricot in Montreal, Grilled Cheese is a compact publication that pushes the boundaries of the classic “kids magazine.” Published in both english and french, each issue is filled with stories, games, and wonderful illustrations by local artists such as Julien Castanié, Julie Delporte, and Benoit Tardiff (to name a few). Their latest issue, which features elephants, an interview with a mole named Albert, and a treasure hunt, Grilled Cheese is the kind of magazine that we wish existed when we were growing up.
Goodnight Punpun Volume 2
by Inio Asano
Hailed as one of the most original manga series of the year, Inio Asano's Goodnight Punpun continues in the second volume as fifth-grader Punpun Onodera (depicted in bird form) comes of age. His parents marriage is in shambles, with his dad in jail and his mother hospitalized, and his crush is wrapped up in some kind of cult and seems to want to kill him. As if things weren't bad enough, even God is giving Punpun a hard time! Poor guy just can't catch a break. Stay tuned for more weird adventures in Volume 3, due out in September.
Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man’s Education
by Mychal Denzel Smith
Chronicling his own personal and political education as a young black man growing up in the U.S.A., author Mychal Denzel Smith's memoir tackles some of the most pressing contemporary political issues today. Smith examines the paradoxes present in a country where the optimism (among some members of the black community) sparked by the election of Barack Obama is consistently overshadowed by the fact that black men and women are routinely subjected to violence and racism from the state. While raised in a strict military household, Smith developed a deep love of hip-hop, which informed his politics and gave rise to his activism. Though his stories are deeply personal, he embraces intersectionality, recognizing that the oppression, erasure and violence that black man experience is inextricably linked to the struggles of black women and LGBTQ communities.
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other Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week
Online "Best Books of 2015" Year-end Lists
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly new comics and graphic novel highlights)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Short Cuts (writers pair a song with their short story or essay)
WORD Bookstores Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)