In my job at the library I see a lot of new books. I wondered what a list of twenty fabulous new books under twenty dollars would look like.

It looks like this.

I would try to buy these from my favourite independent bookstore. 

We can also get them through the library catalogue. 

Note for shoppers: click on pictures/titles below to go to the library catalogue and a link to "Buy your own copy". If you buy the book through the link the library gets a portion of the sale price. More information here.

While supplies last.

A Yorkshire Sketchbook by David Hockney. This is a facsimile of one of Hockney''s sketchbooks. Hockney does that hardest of things — he makes drawing look easy.

Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis by Alice Kaplan. Three formidable characters, one formidable town.

The French Market Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes From My Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier. Vegetarian cooking, French style. For the latest templations, check Dusoulier's blog Chocolate and Zucchini.

The Fatal Touch by Conor Fitzgerald. The most vivid Roman atmosphere of any mystery I've read in the past few years.

Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri. One of a series of stand-alone mysteries set in Sicily. Great characters and hungry-making descriptions of meals.

Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar by Kelly Oxford. Looking forward to reading this. Until then I'm judging it by its perfect cover.

Life After Life: a novel by Kate Atkinson. Atkinson just keeps getting better. If you like this be sure to check our her Jackson Brodie series of mysteries. 

My 1980s and Other Essays by Wayne Koestembaum. A unique intelligence burns at the heart of each of these essays. After I finished My 1980s I wanted to read everything else Kostenbaum has written. 

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. Before she shot to fame with her memoir Wild, Cheryl Strayed gave unforgettable, gripping advice in a blog called Dear Sugar.

This Is How: Help for the Self: proven aid in overcoming shyness, molestation, fatness, spinsterhood, grief, disease, lushery, decrepitude & more — for young and old alike by Augusten Burroughs. The author who came to fame for the  hilarious epics of dysfunction Running with Scissors and Dry has written an epic self-help book. Sincere, surprising and utterly practical advice that you won't find anywhere else.

The Subject Tonight is Love:  60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz. Translated by Daniel Ladinsky. Hafiz was a 14th century Sufi mystic. Ladinsky's translations are utterly fresh — as if Hafiz had dashed these poems off last week. 

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. Fiftieth anniversary edition of her most important book. Toronto needs her now more than ever.

Revolution in the Head: The Beatle's Records and the Sixties by Ian MacDonald. Every single Beatles recording described with an "encyclopedic wealth of biographical, musical and historical detail" (Kirkus Reviews).

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela. A compelling evocation of classical Roman life with fascinating references to the modern city. 

Brice Marden by Eileen Costello. One of our best art book publishers has launched "Phaidon Focus" a new series of introductions to 6 artists — all sumptiously illustrated. I'd been looking for a good overview of Marden's achievement and this one is superb. You'll have to google-image his name to see if you'll like Marden's stuff. Whole series recommended.

Rookie: Yearbook One. Edited by Tavi Gevinson. Have you heard the story? 11-year-old starts blog that gets international attention…

Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste. Toronto's Carl Wilson uses the Celine Dion album to explore what it means to have "taste". What are we trying to say about ourselves when we love one thing and hate something else?

Superb collection by graphic artist Adrian Tomine. New York Drawings: a decade of covers, comics, illustrations and sketches from the pages of The New Yorker and beyond.

Weiwei-isms by Ai Weiwei. China's most acclaimed artist produces a Little Black Book.

Life's a Beach by Martin Parr. A collection of British photographer Martin Parr's hilarious beach photographs. Must be seen to be believed. Here's a sample.