Warwick's Bookseller's Picks of the Month

Janet's Pick

Deaf Sentence
by David Lodge
This is the story of Desmond Bates - a retired linguistics professor who is losing his hearing. To occupy himself, he's writing about that and other life-changing experiences. Often hilarious and always with great wit, charm, and deep understanding. David Lodge is at his funny and sophisticated best. Immensely enjoyable! 

Heather's Pick
The Death of Bees
by Lisa O'Donnell
Two young sisters alone in the world, an elderly man with a shameful secret, a Glaswegian neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks, and a couple of bodies buried in the garden set the stage for Lisa O'Donnell's cunning debut novel The Death of Bees. Told in three distinct and sometimes unreliable voices, The Death of Bees follows the paths of sisters 15-year-old Marnie and 12-year-old Nelly, who have buried their recently and suspiciously deceased parents in the back garden and Lennie, their elderly neighbor who attempts to make sure the girls survive. A dark premise, rough about the edges, and full of the foulness of human life this novel could easily fall into an oblivion of harshness that dissuades readers, but instead O'Donnell uses a deft hand and superior writing skill to make a difficult premise darkly comical, heart-breakingly sad, and quietly touching as it explores the depths of the sister bond throughout unbelievable circumstances. Lisa O'Donnell is a fantastic writer, making Scotland street-slang appear at times, like poetry and her characters show high degrees of complexity, that make you both love and hate them, pity and fear them-a feat that only the best writers can achieve in a first person narrative. 

Adriana's Pick
Pain, Parties, Work
by Elizabeth Winder
What we know about Sylvia Plath's twenty-six days as a guest editor at Mademoiselle magazine comes from her one and only novel The Bell Jar. A twenty-year old Plath arrived in New York City in the summer of '53 ready for the experience of a lifetime. What she got was an assignment that would send her to the brink and back. Her time in the city would end up changing the way she saw herself, her friends, her family, her future. Winder interviews many of Plath's fellow guest editors who worked alongside her and were witness to the metamorphosis of a girl who was quickly becoming the writer of her generation. Stunning in all its detail, this will redefine what you thought you knew about a bright flame that was extinguished far too quickly.