New releases · Books
New books: Partita, Blockers and Poviedky z Pakistanu
This week’s book roundup moves from new Slovak and Czech titles to novels and nonfiction arriving from abroad. The international selection includes Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Lewis.
A roundup of new releases and their reviews. We have not seen, heard or read the works ourselves: the verdicts are those of the critics cited.
The week’s books range from new Slovak and Czech arrivals to Kingsolver, Lewis and Li on the international list.
- Poviedky z Pakistanu arrived from Laco Kerata.
- Slepá koľaj is a new book by Vladimíra Kmečová.
- Partita follows a former piano prodigy.
- Blockers examines human stakes in public systems.
- Music Against the Night explores artistic greatness’s costs.
The week of 14 October brings two new books from Slovakia and Czechia alongside international releases including Barbara Kingsolver’s Partita, Michael Lewis’s Blockers and Yiyun Li’s Music Against the Night. The available critical notices focus on the international titles, while the regional selection introduces new work by Laco Kerata and Vladimíra Kmečová.12
Slovakia and Czechia
The regional part of this week’s selection includes Poviedky z Pakistanu, a new book by Laco Kerata, and Slepá koľaj by Vladimíra Kmečová. Both appear in the roundup as newly released Slovak and Czech titles, with publication details available for Kerata’s book.1
Poviedky z Pakistanu
Poviedky z Pakistanu by Laco Kerata was released on 13 October by KK Bagala. It is one of the week’s new books from Slovakia and Czechia, arriving just ahead of the 14 October roundup date.1
Slepá koľaj
Slepá koľaj is a new book by Vladimíra Kmečová included in this week’s Slovakia and Czechia selection. The release is listed among the week’s regional arrivals.1
International
The international list brings together a new novel from Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Lewis’s Blockers and Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li. The notices available for these books point to fiction concerned with music and artistic ambition, and nonfiction looking for human stories within large public systems.12
Partita
Partita is Barbara Kingsolver’s first novel since Demon Copperhead. Its central character is Livia, a former piano prodigy who became a school music teacher; her past returns when she is drawn back towards an Appalachian farm and the ambitions she left behind.12
The novel’s story connects music with middle-aged compromise. Livia’s hopes of becoming a world-class pianist were ended after an accident damaged her hand, while a call from Sigurd, her former college love, unsettles the life she has built in rural Tennessee.1
Blockers
Blockers by Michael Lewis was released on 6 October. Lewis, also the author of Moneyball, turns here to people positioned at the human front lines of complex public stories amid the effects of an anti-government campaign in the United States.1
The book’s subject is framed around institutions and the people working inside them, rather than abstract systems alone. The surrounding account addresses pressure on public functions including disease control, weather services and tax collection.1
Music Against the Night
Music Against the Night is a novel by Yiyun Li, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It joins the international releases in this week’s books roundup.1
The critical response describes the novel in relation to artistic greatness and its costs, placing Li’s work among the week’s fiction releases concerned with the demands of creative life.1
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