I've been accumulating a few new books this past month. Most are books that I broke down and ordered but a few are mooches and two are review copies. From top to bottom: Suspect by Michael Robotham, which is called "taut and fast-moving" and has a "stunning twist". I'm obviously planning on continuing with my murder and crime reading binge. The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate is a book I came across while looking for another book online. Then serendipitously it was discussed in my online reading group, so I ordered a really lovely Penguin edition from The Book Depository. Click on the link to see the cover, which I love. It sounds very Edwardian, so I can't wait to read it.
The Oxford Shakespeare: Macbeth, I do want to continue reading one or two plays by Shakespeare a year. I've not made much progress so far this year, though. I am trying the Oxford University Press edition. It also has a lovely cover illustration--a John Singer Sargeant painting of Ellen Terry as Lady M. East Lynne by Ellen Wood is another new OUP edition and it also has a very cool cover. I swear I'm not just buying books for the cover art, though it is nice if it is attractive. This is more Victorian sensation literature, and this edition has "the racy slang-ridden narrative" that was removed from earlier editions. Could be fun! Scapegallows by Carol Birch is a book I came across browsing The Book Depository site (I really shouldn't do that). It's set in 1700s England and Australia about a woman born into "a smuggler's world".
In the Woods by Tana French, which I've already mentioned several times and plan on reading soon. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves is a recommendation I received from Karen at Euro Crime. It's set on the Shetland Islands and I believe there are due to be four books in the series. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard is a mooch. It's another murder mystery set in the American heartland. I'm really looking forward to reading Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners by Laura Claridge. I received this through Library Things' Early Reviewer Program. It is a biography and looks very interesting. Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal, by Diana M. Raab is another biography. The author kindly sent me a copy to review, and I am really looking forward to reading this and the book on Emily Post. They are up next as soon as I finish Lily Koppel's The Red Leather Diary. I've been greatly enjoying the biographies I've been reading this summer! And finally I had to get The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I've heard good things about it (of course). It is "a tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths." Why am I so drawn to books like this?
I feel another vacation day from work is due very soon....