My parents, in their infinite wisdom regaring gift giving, have made it an annual practice to give me a bookstore gift card for my birthday. I nearly let the month go by before I shared my purchases this month with you.
This year, my selections were heavy on the Shakespeare, probably due to the fact that I took a class on teaching Shakespeare through the Folger Shakespeare Library in June.
I only hope I get a chance to read it all soon.
I started a reading group at my school. I was surprised by the reception! We have a good 15 interested teachers, which at my school is approaching half the faculty! We are reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I need to get started on that one or I won’t be ready for our first meeting.
I liked the Bryson, did not love the Greenblatt (Will In The World). Interred With Their Bones was junk, basically. "The Book of Air And Shadows" was the same thing (DaVinci Code for the Shakespeare set), just a whole lot better.
The others I'm not familiar with.
http://www.shakespearegeek.com
I hated The Book of Air and Shadows and was told Interred With Their Bones was better.
Ah well, different tastes I guess. Be prepared for a generic thriller ;).
I have read two of your birthday collection.
Bryson’s Shakespeare: The World as Stage is a short, nifty read. By the time you are through, you will know everything you need to know about Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre which, by Bryson’s own admission, will mean you know very little beyond conjecture, a smattering of hand drawings, and a slew of second rate musings by third rate historians. Bryson convincingly – for me, anyway – puts to rest all of the conspiracy theories and, for this alone, I am grateful.
People of the Book is a saga, literally and figuratively. It is the journey of a rare, illuminated Passover Haggadah through the centuries, surviving the ravages of war and outrages of the auto de fe by dint of the determination and uncommon dignity of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The book is, at once, uplifting and depressing. For the weak-at-heart, it can, at times, be a struggle…not what you would imagine from a book on literary forensics. You will love it and you will see why Geraldine Brooks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
I will be reviewing both books in more detail at The Literarian.
Best regards.