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Quick Pick: October 16, 2015

A spotlight on one of the week's best new releases.

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Liberty Hardy

Senior Contributing Editor

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

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cover of calf by andrea kleineCalf by Andrea Kleine

Kleine’s remarkable debut is based on two real-life events that occurred in 1981: the attempted assassination of President Reagan, and the murder of a ten-year-old girl (who was a friend of the author.) Calf is unsettling in its subject matter, but such a breathtaking book, and imagined brilliantly. It is the dual story of a young girl trying to navigate the complexities of social status and peer pressure in a new school while dealing with turmoil at home, and the increasingly disturbing behavior of an unstable loner, desperate for love, who becomes fixated on “rescuing” a young actress. This one will stick with you.

Backlist bump: The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan

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