Local gift ideas: an anthology of local books to place under the tree

They don't lack words, and they put them down on paper. Here is an anthology of works created in our regions by eight very talented local authors. While it may not escape a certain subjectivity, this selection of eight books has the merit of offering a broad stylistic spectrum that will delight aficionados of last-minute gifts to put under the tree.

“As high as three apples” by Isaëlle Cailhau

Lilipouce is as tall as three apples but her universe, her garden, is as vast as the World. This beautiful initiatory album tells the story of the little girl's wanderings, discovering elsewhere, of the other, of difference. The book is admirably illustrated by the watercolorist talents of the author, who lives on the first steps of Quercy on the borders of the commune of Moissac. This book will delight the little ones (and perhaps even the older ones) during this very special end-of-year holiday season.

“Bakelite 1465” by Christophe Vallar and Fabrice Diaz

Christophe Vallar spent his childhood summers in Castelsarrasin, which he evoked through two tasty little candies (“L'enfant chocolatine” and “Nous suis 17 ans”), which won over readers of the sub-prefecture town . He returned to booksellers' stalls this year with an enigmatic novel written jointly with his great childhood friend Fabrice Diaz, a youth they spent together in the Auvergne metropolis of Clermont-Ferrand. “Bakelite 1492” is a key novel on the borders of the fantastic, which you won't take your hands off once started.

“The Relic” by Didier Noulet

Didier Noulet is known for being the president of the Lecture pour tous association, which organizes the Castelsarrasin book fair every year in November. The demon of writing is also anchored in him, with to his credit a handful of erudite novels written in history, with a touch of esotericism and mystery quick to kidnap the reader. “The Relic”, his latest work, is a gripping thriller which opens to us the thousand-year-old doors of Venice and Alexandria.

“Black among the Red-and-Whites” by Roland Bringay and Patrick Nieto

Vice-president of the same association, Roland Bringay has teamed up with Patrick Nieto for a most effective thriller whose intrigue plunges into the heart of the CAC, the emblematic rugby club of Castelsarrasin. The book is selling like hot cakes, it has found its audience. If you liked the TV movie “Murder in Montauban”, you will love it!

“In the Shadow of Outreau” by Yannick Bourg

The Moissagais writer, Jean Songe, carried out in-depth work to arrive at this impressive sum, collected in the minutes of a trial whose twentieth anniversary was celebrated this year. “In the Shadow of Outreau” is an uncompromising testimony to this Dantesque case of child abuse which made headlines and horrified the whole of France.

“A country psychologist” by Jean-Pierre Gendre

He is a child of Moissac, a town where he worked for a long time as a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. With “A Country Psychologist”, he relates this experience at the psychological bedside of his peers, with also many reflections on the future of our society inscribed in neo-liberal globalization.

“At the Edge of So Dense Corners” by Germinal le Dantec

If he is now from Montalban, Germinal le Dantec has long been the driving force behind the cultural spring that the Uval city experienced a few years ago. A wordsmith, an artist to the core, this inveterate poet delivers us a delicious collection of some astonishing coincidences, which we delight in like so many guilty little delicacies.

“Blue Box” de Christian Laguille

He writes regularly in our columns, and occasionally publishes collections of short stories and mischievous little novels for pleasure. The very latest “Blue Box”, with its ingenuous and deceptively light style, delivers a road trip tinged with humor and wisdom to discover our relationships with others, in the age of social networks.