New on the Library Shelves 02 11 14

AKA Showcase Sunday

A new segment here, participating in the Showcase Sunday meme over at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

Some good books this week: From Netgalley I think The Leopards of Normandy looks like it could be a nice historical series, while in the books that I purchased I'm excited to get a look at The World of Ice and Fire.

For review:
The Murder of Adam and Eve by William Dietrich (science fiction, Netgalley)
Empire by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard (science fiction, Netgalley)
The Leopards of Normandy: Devil by David Churchill (historical, Netgalley)
The Last Word by Hanif Kureishi (fiction, Netgalley)
The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer (fiction, Netgalley)
The Jefferson Rule by David Sehat (non-fiction, Netgalley)
More Awesome than Money by Jim Dwyer (non-fiction, Netgalley)

Bought:

The Lodger by Louisa Treger (historical)

Ebola by David Quammen (non-fiction)

Bathing the Lion by Jonathan Carroll (fantasy)

Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans (military fantasy)

Us by David Nicholls (literary)

The World of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin (fantasy)

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (non-fiction)

 

What books have you received or purchased this week?

New on the Library Shelves 26 10 14

AKA Showcase Sunday

A new segment here, participating in the Showcase Sunday meme over at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

A nice haul for review this week, from both Netgalley and Edelweiss. Cool to get the new Patricia Cornwell, I haven't read many of hers but the ones I have I have enjoyed. Path of Needles is also one I'm looking forward to - Alison Littlewood's horror is always nicely chilling! In terms of books purchased, I have been anticipating Cat Winters' The Cure for Dreaming for a while.

For review:
Children of the Canyon by David Kukoff (literary fiction from Netgalley)
Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell (crime & thriller from Edelweiss)
Electric City by Elizabeth Rosner (historical fiction from Edelweiss)
The Mouth of the Crocodile by Michael Pearce (historical crime from Netgalley)
Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe by Kathy Lynn Emerson (historical crime from Netgalley)
Red Notice by Bill Browder (non-fiction from Netgalley)
Cane and Abe by James Grippando (crime & thriller from Edelweiss)
When The Dead Awaken by Steffen Jacobsen (crime & thriller from Edelweiss)
Path of Needles by Alison Littlewood (horror from Edelweiss)
Ostland by David Thomas (historical mystery from Edelweiss)
John the Pupil by David Flusfeder (historical from Edelweiss)
Will Starling by Ian Weir (historical from Edelweiss)
The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins (literary comedy from Edelweiss)
The Strange Death of Sullivan Chance by Thierry Maugenest (literary crime from Edelweiss)

Bought:

Star Wars: Rebel Girl by Brian Wood and Stéphane Créty (graphic novel)
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters (fantasy)
The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca by Emily Wilson (biography)
The Golden City by J Kathleen Cheney (fantasy)
The Seat of Magic by J Kathleen Cheney (fantasy)
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas (fantasy)
The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas (fantasy)
Beware the Wild by Natalie C Parker (YA horror)
The Archived by Victoria Schwab (fantasy)
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas (literary)
Malice by Keigo Higashino
Gray Mountain by John Grisham

So, what's new on your shelves this week?

Collecting Shakespeare by Stephen H. Grant

Amazon

Goodreads

When the Folger Shakespeare Library opened in Washington D.C. in 1932 (on the Bard’s birthday) it housed an amazing number of First Folios, even more books and manuscripts, and even included an Elizabethan Theatre. All of this came together thanks to the tireless, almost obsessive collecting of an American couple – Henry and Emily Folger. The purchase, collection and storage of all sorts of items about Shakespeare and his era became the centre piece of their marriage, financed with the fortune Henry accumulated as president of the Standard Oil Company, where he worked with John D. Rockefeller Sr. In Collecting Shakespeare, Stephen H Grant recounts the story of this amazing couple, whose love for Shakespeare was only eclipsed by their love for one another…

I really wanted to like Collecting Shakespeare. A non-fiction book about book collecting at the turn of the century? Revolving around the collection of works about and by William Shakespeare? Collected by a man who lived and worked with one of the business moguls of the period? It seemed to be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. Stephen Grant lets the subject matter down with unexciting, ponderous prose, which leaches all of the fun out of what could have been an intriguing slice of turn of the century history. Considering the world of book collecting and the rivalries that Grant gets into, as well as Folger’s place in a world of oil and corruption that caused him to be brought up on charges more than once, this could have been great, exciting narrative history if in the hands of an Erik Larson or a Paul Collins. Unfortunately, in Collecting Shakespeare we get a simple, dry enumeration of events, one that at times follows a linear timeline and at other times jumps about in a more thematic view. This makes for a messy narrative that is not easy to follow. All in all, a disappointing treatment of an interesting subject. 

I gave Collecting Shakespeare 2 stars.