New & Used: Book Talk: Recent Episodes
Janet Hoy & Tim Hanna
Two bookstore owners discuss books in their new & used section of their store. Each episode, one owner picks one book from their hot new releases and the other picks a used book that they think needs some love.
In Episode 14, Tim and Janet take a well earned break leaving Tony, the regular guest from Australia, in charge. Tony reviews Jacqueline Crooks’ Fire Rush, a wonderful new novel set partly in London. Then Tony visits the generally untouristed London neighbourhood of Somers Town to discover its rich literary history. For the ‘used’ section of the show, he talks about three books about London that go well beyond the standard travel guide model. Notice the trend? Yes, this is an episode all about London. However, despite the recent big event in that city, this is NOT the coronation special that Tony first suggested! It just happens to coincide with that event…
Books mentioned, or books by authors mentioned:
Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks (2023)
Saturday by Ian McEwan (2005)
Thoughts on the Education of Daughters by Mary Wollstonecraft (1787)
A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
The Adventures of Caleb Williams by William Godwin (1794)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
Walking in the Shade by Doris Lessing (1997)
The London Compendium by Ed Glinert (2003, 2012)
Nairn’s London by Ian Nairn (1966)
The Lost Rivers of London by Nicholas Barton (1962)
Thomas Hardy’s poem about St Pancras Old Churchyard:
The Levelled Churchyard
*'O Passenger, pray list and catch
Our sighs and piteous groans,
Half stifled in this jumbled patch
Of wrenched memorial stones!
'We late-lamented, resting here,
Are mixed to human jam,
And each to each exclaims in fear,
"I know not which I am!"
'The wicked people have annexed
The verses on the good;
A roaring drunkard sports the text
Teetotal Tommy should!
'Where we are huddled none can trace,
And if our names remain,
They pave some path or porch or place
Where we have never lain!
'Here's not a modest maiden elf
But dreads the final Trumpet,
Lest half of her should rise herself,
And half some sturdy strumpet!
'From restorations of Thy fane,
From smoothings of thy sward,
From zealous Churchmen's pick and plane
Deliver us O Lord! Amen!'*
In Episode 13, Tony talks with Stephen Marche about his new book On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer. Tim tells us all about the genius of poet's EVA H.D. and her new release The Natural Hustle. Janet talks about The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas and how it changed her reading ways.
Stephen Marche - The Call of the Loon
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-call-of-the-loon/
Biblioasis Field Notes Series Link
https://www.biblioasis.com/product-category/field-notes/
The New Puritan Manifesto
1. Primarily storytellers, we are dedicated to the narrative form. 2. We are prose writers and recognise that prose is the dominant form of expression. For this reason we shun poetry and poetic licence in all its forms. 3. While acknowledging the value of genre fiction, whether classical or modern, we will always move towards new openings, rupturing existing genre expectations. 4. We believe in textual simplicity and vow to avoid all devices of voice: rhetoric, authorial asides. 5. In the name of clarity, we recognise the importance of temporal linearity and eschew flashbacks, dual temporal narratives and foreshadowing. 6. We believe in grammatical purity and avoid any elaborate punctuation. 7. We recognise that published works are also historical documents. As fragments of our time, all our texts are dated and set in the present day. 8. As faithful representations of the present, our texts will avoid all improbable or unknowable speculation about the past or the future. 9. We are moralists, so all texts feature a recognisable ethical reality. 10. Nevertheless, our aim is integrity of expression, above and beyond any commitment to form. (vii)
In Episode 12 of New & Used: Book Talk, Tim and author Liz Harmer talk about the meaning of ecstasy while discussing her new book Strange Loops. Janet’s pick for a new book is Jessica John’s Bad Cree and looks at the importance of working together as a family and the creepiness of being followed by crows. Tony’s pick for used is Iain Sinclair’s Lud Heat: A Book of Dead Hamlets and tell us all about psychogeography, laylines, and almost running into him in London!
Strange Loops review – Quill & Quire
https://quillandquire.com/review/strange-loops/
Bad Cree review – Globe & Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/reviews/article-with-its-chills-and-thrills-bad-cree-goes-beyond-the-trauma-porn-trope/#:~:text=Bad%20Cree%20is%20an%20excellent,impact%20on%20our%20lives%20today.
Bad Cree interview – Shondaland
https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/books/a42539093/bad-cree-jessica-johns/
It's our year end episode! This episode, Tim, Tony, & Janet discuss some of their favourite books of the year. Some diversions include The Ice Capades, what's with Canadians and body horror, and what happens when rock stars aren't rock stars anymore. Music & horror books seem to be a big theme this year.
Episode 10. We have hit double digits!!!
In this episode we are joined by Erica McKeen published by Invisible Publishing who discusses her new book Tear that just made the top Globe & Mail top 100 books of 2022!
Tim has decided that his book The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell by Brian Evenson published by Coffee House Press might be too smart for him. It also creeped him out a little too.
Tony sings! But it was necessary in discussing the literary thriller The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne published by Random House.
Erica McKeen's photo taken by Macy Mirka.
In Episode 9 Tim talks to writer Michael Hingston about his new book Try Not To Be Strange: The Curious History of The Kingdom of Redonda.Janet raves about how much she loves Night of The Living Reza collection of short stories by Morgan Talty. Michael Hingston explains why Nicholson Baker's U & Iis such an important book to him.
In case you want to listen to the Morgan Talty interview mentioned in the episode here are is link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgP2zIsW6_g&ab_channel=TheCenterforFiction
The podcast interview is from Between the Covers Morgan Talty: Night of the Living Rez.
In episode 8 of New & Used: Book Talk, Tim, Tony, and Janet talk to Damian Rogers about her beautiful and devasting memoir An Alphabet for Joanna. Damian also fills us in on her project If It’s Alive, Feed It (writing through the TAROT deck one card at a time) and how tarot has shaped her life and how this project has shaped her past year.
Tony discusses Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan that has been shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and examines how big a little novel can be.
Damian tells us about one of her favourite poets Hoa Nguyen and her book A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure that was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry 2021.
Janet discusses Helen Oyeyemi’s first book The Icarus Girl and poses the question, is the main character has the worst imaginary friend ever, possessed, or having mental health issues or both.
Here is some more information regarding the books discussed.
An Alphabet for Joanna - A gripping memoir from acclaimed poet Damian Rogers about being raised by a loving but erratic single mother who is today diagnosed with a rare form of frontal-lobe dementia. In the vein of Plum Johnson's They Left Us Everything, Leanne Shapton's Swimming Studies, Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle and Susannah Cahalan's Brain on Fire.
Small Things Like These - Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family.
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure - A collection inspired by Hoa’s mother, a stunt motorcyclist in an all-woman Vietnamese circus troupe, is verse meditation on Vietnam’s diaspora.
The Icarus Girl - A story of twins and ghosts, of a little girl growing up between cultures and colors, this book heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
An interview with Helen Oyeyemi: https://www.npr.org/2014/03/07/282065410/the-professionally-haunted-life-of-helen-oyeyemi
Yoruba and twins: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6687030/
In this episode we have brought back Tony Thompson. The new books discussed this episoder are Elena Knows by Claudia Peneiro and translated by Frances Riddle and Pure Life by Eugene Martin. When picked we had no idea how much the two books had in common! The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary is the old classic for this month.
Side topics include: what books should go on your best of list, why not to play contact sports, and how we look at books now as opposed to then.
Elena Know -From the ‘Hitchcock of the River Plate’ (Corriere della Sera) comes Piñeiro’s third novel, a unique tale that interveaves crime fiction with intimate tales of morality and search for individual freedom.
Pure Life -A harrowing, intense, powerful new novel that reads like a classic, from one of the great writers of his generation.
The Horse's Mouth - The Horse's Mouth, the third and most celebrated volume of Joyce Cary's First Trilogy, is perhaps the finest novel ever written about an artist.
Interview with Claudia Peneiro by her translator Frances Riddle
https://southwestreview.com/a-mundane-odyssey-an-interview-with-claudia-pineiro/
In this episode, Tim discusses the new release, Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden. Janet is looking forward to The Wall by Marlen Haushofer being revived as it is being rereleased by New Directions. There is also a special guest! Tony Thompson, author of The Doors: every album every song, comes on to remind us what an excellent book Suttree by Cormac McCarthey was.
New logo by Sadie Henry
Music is Young One Eye by Paul Emery and the Dickens
In Episode 5 of New & Used, They by Kay Dick and The Riders by Tim Winton are discussed by Janet & Tim.
Our cat Django does make an appearance but unfortanely his is not heard.
Music is Young One Eye by Paul Emery and The Dickens.
Information and articles cited on Kay Dick and They
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/13/a-lost-dystopian-masterpiece/
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/rediscovering-a-lost-dystopia-and-its-radical-author
https://xtramagazine.com/culture/books/kay-dick-they-novel-216918
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/dystopian-horror-they-by-kay-dick-reviewed
https://lithub.com/why-we-should-all-be-reading-english-novelist-kay-dick/Tim Winton and his fish
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/a0cac352f9b53c7f3c8dbfa8bed78dde?src
In this episode of New & Used, Tim & Janet discuss The Trees by Percival Everett and Brown Girl In The RIng by Nalo Hopkinson.
Music: Young One Eye Paul Emery and The Dickens
Nalo Hopkinson's incredible art! https://www.nalohopkinson.com/gallery
Link to Percival Everett's exhibition Once Seen at The Show Gallery based on The Trees. https://www.show.gallery/percival
Brown Girl In The Ring Boney M version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15nMlfogITw
Super cool black speculative fiction author and books mentioned and not mentioned in this episode to check out.
Nine Bar Blues - Sheree Renee Thomas https://thirdmanstore.com/products/nine-bar-blues
Sorrowland Rivers - Rivers Solomon https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374266776/sorrowland
Moon Witch Spider King - Marlon James https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/717346/moon-witch-spider-king-by-marlon-james/9780385690355
Far From The Light of Heaven - Tade Thompson https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tade-thompson/far-from-the-light-of-heaven/9780759557895/
The City We Became - N.K Jemisin https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/n-k-jemisin/the-city-we-became/9780316509855/
Noor - Nnedi Okorafor *https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/316943/noor-by-nnedi-okorafor/9780756416096
Triangulum* - Masande Ntshanga
https://twodollarradio.com/products/triangulum?_pos=1&_sid=e5efbd2e7&_ss=r
In this episode, Janet discusses the new release How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Meanwhile in the used portion, Tim looks back to 1970 and reviews the general zapped an angel stories by Howard Fast.
Other topics include robot dogs frend or foe? Is genre-bending an overused word?
In this episode, Tim chose As You Were by Elaine Feeney as the new book and Janet chose The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa as the used book. They also pick their favourite books of 2021.
Music: One Eye Blind by Paul Emery & The Dickens
Info on Magdalene Laundries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland
Info on the 8th Amendment in Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_Ireland
Book Review of The Housekeeper and the Professor The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/02/housekeeper-and-professor-ogawa
Janet & Tim's Best Books of 2021
Lucia. Alex Pheby. Biblioasis
Ghost in the Throat. Doireann Ni Ghriofa. Biblioasis
Kill the Mall. Pasha Mala. Knopf
Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted. Gary Barwin. Knopf
The Cabinet. Un-Su Kim. Angry Robot
Strange Beasts of China. Yan Ge. Melville House
Open Water. Caleb Azumah. Grove Atlantic
Mayflies. Andrew O’Hagan. Mclelland & Stewart
It Never Ends. Tom Sharpling. Abrams Press .
Kitchenly 434 Alan Warner White Rabbit
Monument Maker David Keenan White Rabbit
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Mariana Enriques Hogarth
The Sentence Louise Erdrich HarperCollins
Grievers adrienne maree brown AK Press
Rememberings Sinead O'Connor HMHBooks
FireKeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley Henry Holt & Co
A Little Devil In America Hanif Abdurraqib Random House
Householders Kate Cayley Biblioasis
I Will Die In A Foreign Land Kalani Pickhart Two Dollar Radio
Books we wish we had added to our list
Nina Simone's Gum Warren Ellis Faber & Faber
Sorrowland Rivers Solomon Picador
The Hard Crowd Rachel Kushner Scribner
Welcome to the first episode of New & Used: Book Talk. Each episode The City & The City Books owners discuss a new and a used book from their shelves. In this episode Janet reviews Velvet Was The Night a noir thriller by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (pub Del Ray) and Tim reviews The Black Queen Stories a collection of short stories by Barry Callaghan (pub Lester & Orpen Dennys).
We apologize for any names or words mispronounced or stuttered over. We were very nervousl
Music is One Eye Blind by Paul Emery and The Dickens.
Velvet Was The Night Cover & Description
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/671891/velvet-was-the-night-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/9780593356821
Mexican Gothic Cover & Description
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/577068/mexican-gothic-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/9780525620808
Velvet Was The Night Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oUAqLnfPuRR3tdXV7tDGH?si=18f04351fa0f415b&nd=1
Velvet Was The Night Commissioned Comic Book Artwork
https://randomhouse.app.box.com/s/meco7102c685lq1czii48fe15epf3c0t
Authors & Books Mentioned
Clarice Lispector - Complete Stories
Mariana Enriquez- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories
Samanta Schweblin - Fever Dream & Little Eyes
Claudia Pieiro - Elena Knows
Jenni Fagan - Luckenbooth
Andrew O'Hagan - Mayflies
Alan Warmer - Kitchenly 434
Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain
Here is a teaser of New & Used: Book Talk. Janet & Tim briefly explain what their new podcast is all about.