Some new books came my way today, Stranger. It was no surprise to me. I ordered them, after all. A synopsis, or what passes for one, follows. First, I'd like to introduce you to Kate Schatz. You may already know her if you're from Providence and if you were a student at Brown's Fine Arts program and if you were a devotee of the Providence Kickball League. She has published a short novel, part of the the 33 1/3 series put out by Continuum (go to their website, www.continuumbooks.com, for informations and explanations), called Rid Of Me. If you recognize that as the title of a P. J. Harvey album, well kudos to you, Stranger! You've done it again. Also of local import, Mary Cappello (occasional customer of Ada Books) has recently published Awkward: A Detour. It is, as I understand it, a sturdy of. A study off. A study of awkwardness. Or, as Sarah Waters blurbs (on the book's cover), it is "A wonderful, multi-layered piece of writing, with all the insight of great cultural criticism and all the emotional pull of memoir." Now, for those of you who prefer their stories told in a series of illustrations, I also have some new graphic novels, including: Aya, by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie; Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan; The Three Paradoxes, by Paul Hornschemeier; and others by Chris Ware, Charles Burns, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Joe Matt, Ivan Brunetti and more! Okay, maybe only two or three more, but I'd like to leave some things to your imagination, Stranger. Like what I'm wearing, for instance. And whether or not I shaved this morning. And do I still refuse to wear cologne? These things can only be discovered in person, at Ada Books, within range of a hand-shake.