The 6 Books We’ve Already Pre-Ordered For 2016
2016 promises some big literary gifts we’re so pumped for, from publishing houses large and small! Here’s a sampling of the news books that make us simply the giddiest.
1. Marina Abramovic’s memoirs
This year, Crown Archetype will be publishing the legendary performance artist’s memoirs to coincide with her 70th birthday.
According to the New York Times, “The book will chronicle her childhood growing up in the former Yugoslavia, where her father served as a commander during World War II and her mother was a major in the army. It will also describe her evolution as an artist as she tested the limits of her physical and mental endurance, burning, cutting, starving and whipping herself in some of her more challenging works.” I get the feeling that this will be a revealing and insightful look into the enigmatic artist’s life…expect tears.
2. Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine by Diane Williams
Coming up swiftly on January 18th from McSweeney’s, this follow up to avant-garde short story Diane William’s Vicky Swanky is a Beauty promises forty more stories just as succinct, punchy, but all-encompassing as the work for which she’s been praised. Kirkus calls her microfiction “supershort and superpithy.” Jonathan Franzen has said: “Her fiction makes very familiar things very, very weird.” Not to mention, this cover may make a few best-of lists for its bright, graphic flair. Sometimes you can judge!
3. Relief Map by Rosalie Knecht
As far as first impressions go, this may also be one of the loveliest covers of 2016—of course, it’s too soon to call. But Relief Map, another exciting debut on our list coming from Tin House in March, goes beyond the superficial: one part political thriller, one part coming-of-age story, with a small town setting and suspenseful twists, this one sounds like it contains mazes of excitement.
4. Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss
Is there anything more aesthetically fascinating than the New York City art scene in the 1980s? Well, sure, but NOT MUCH. Scuzzy, gritty, punk as nails, you had Warhol, Basquait, Richard Hell and Debbie Harry making cameos in the galleries amongst the glitterati. Tuesday Nights in 1980 by debut author Molly Prentiss, coming from Gallery in April, promises to bring readers back to that era with unforgettable characters.
5. Thin Slices of Anxiety by Catherine Lepage
With the preponderance of adult coloring books focusing on buzz words like “calm” and “mindfulness,” it’s no surprise that we’re an anxious bunch. Artist Catherine Lepage will try to ease our modern woes with the upcoming Thin Slices of Anixety, a picture book from Chronicle with eye-pleasing illustrations and a wry sense of humor, ready to set our nerves at ease this May.
6. Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri
Europa Editions had been killin’ the indie press scene with the advent of #FerranteFever in recent years, and this May they promise to delight fans of the mysterious Italian author with Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri. This novel was a bestseller in Italy, has already been heaped with praises from Elle magazine, with a motion picture on the way. Will this be the year of #MelandriMania? (We have time to workshop the hashtag.)