by Lília
Maybe our most surprising bestseller in April was the One Piece Card Game: Adventure in Kami’s Island booster, unfortunately already sold out.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman were again bestsellers across all three stores.
We had some old classics such as White Nights and Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank’s Diary), which keep popping up every month or every other month. And repeats from months past: The Safekeep, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 29, I Who Have Never Known Men, and Heated Rivalry.
But also new titles released in April, such as This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (a Staff Choice of four (!) ABC colleagues, myself included), Release Me by Tahereh Mafi and Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke; and older titles that found new readers, such as The Psychology of Money, One Piece Omnibus Vol. 1 and We Will Rise Again.
Dive in!
Assassin’s Apprentice – Robin Hobb
The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child’s name is Fitz, and he is despised. Raised in the castle stables, only the company of the king’s fool, the ragged children of the lower city, and his unusual affinity with animals provide Fitz with any comfort.
To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family. But his tutor, allied to another political faction, is determined to discredit, even kill him. Fitz must survive: for he may be destined to save the kingdom.
Cute ‘n Cozy Stickers Therapy – Zenny Abanales
Relax, unwind and enter the wonderful world of tiny-craft cuteness. Create 8 cozy room scenes with these adorable stickers that can be used again and again – and discover your favourite new peaceful pastime! With over 500 stickers, on beautiful, high-quality paper, Cute ‘n’ Cozy Sticker Therapy takes you back to a comforting world of simple pleasures (and ultimate cuteness!).
The Factory – Hiroko Oyamada
Beyond the town, there is the factory. Beyond the factory, there is nothing.
With hints of Kafka and Beckett and unexpected moments of creeping humour, The Factory is a vivid, and sometimes surreal, portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of the modern workplace.
Staff Choice: Bob
One Piece Omnibus Vol. 1 – Eiichiro Oda
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.
In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.
ABC Favorite
Release Me – Tahereh Mafi
Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. Now she wants revenge.
James Anderson had a plan. Now he has nothing but problems.
Aaron Warner Anderson has a headache. Something dark is coming, and Rosabelle’s arrival is just a prelude.
Volcanic tension, breathless reveals, breakneck action—and a dystopian world that never stops raising the stakes: Welcome back to The New Republic.
Short Stories in Dutch for Beginners – Olly Richards
Short Stories in Dutch for Beginners is an unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories at high-beginner to low-intermediate level for adult and young adult learners.
ABC Favorite
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me – Ilona Andrews
When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.
Staff Choice: Naomi, Damla, Sophie and Lília! You can also read book reviews by Naomi, Damla and Lília here.
We Will Rise Again – Annalee Newitz, Karen Lord and Malka Older
From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transformative visions of the future, fantastical alternate worlds, and inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow.
In this collection, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older champion realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers across the world. Exploring topics ranging from disability justice and environmental activism to community care and collective worldbuilding, these imaginative pieces from writers such as NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, Alejandro Heredia, Sam J. Miller, Nisi Shawl, and Sabrina Vourvoulias center solidarity, empathy, hope, joy, and creativity.
Staff Choice: Else
The Will of the Many – James Islington
The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.
I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.
Yesteryear (UK edition) and Yesteryear (US edition) – Caro Claire Burke
A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805 — where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.
Staff Choice: Sigrid
