I stopped by the bookstore after work last night and left with only a very few books, one of which was something that had been set aside for me. The trick is not letting myself browse beyond the first few front tables. Their marketing worked nonetheless as I still managed to find one bargain book and one new release. My intention was to go straight to the cash register for my book, but you know how that goes sometimes.
First Matt wrote about it and then I noticed Cornflower is reading it, so I had to go and search for a copy of Georgina Harding's The Spy Game for myself (as they rarely steer me wrong when it comes to good books). Luckily it's been published here in the US as well as the UK (lately I seem to be tempted by too many books not yet available here). I'm looking forward to reading this one soon. The New Yorker called it an "austere but atmospheric début".
I seem to recall mixed reactions to Jennifer Lee Carrell's Interred with the Bones, but as I found a copy in the bargain bin, I didn't hesitate to buy it. It's supposedly a "literary romp" about a Shakespearean puzzle (a lost play?). I've not forgotten about my project (and will hopefully be gearing up to read another play soon), so even though this is a novel it could be fun to read about Shakespeare as part of an adventure tale.
And for more Shakespeare, I came across Faye Kellerman's The Quality of Mercy, which I had not heard of before. It's a "sweeping tale of illicit desire, dangerous intrigue, and enthralling adventure". I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something (I need a little adventure in my life?). Set in Elizabethan England, Rebecca Lopez is the daughter of one of Queen Elizabeth's physicians. She's also a clandestine Jew. She gets messed up in intrigue and murder--in the company of a young actor and would-be playwright, William Shakespeare. I'm often leery of books featuring once real people, but this just sounded like fun, so I have to give it a try.
Now I'm off to peruse my new books.