Friday, September 7, 2012

What's New on the Shelf 9/7/12

A few new things turned up in the mailbox and the shopping bag this week. I'm excited about all of them of course!

I've been fascinated by the looks of Ben Macintyre's books about World War 2 spying. His latest, Double Cross, is out in hardcover now and has been selling well; Agent Zigzag is an older title of his, about a man named Eddie Chapman, an English man who trained to spy for the Germans during the war and ended up as a double agent. I know I'm going to love this!

Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner, came from a used bookstore. It's a literary novel about two couples and their relationship over a number of years. I've been interested in Stegner and when I asked on Twitter which book of his to start with, this was the the clear winner.

Europa Editions sent me a review copy of Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers, a tome of 650-odd pages of teensy type. The type is so small that Europa sent along a separate letter saying that they were aware of the small type (i.e., don't tell us, we know!) and suggesting we reviewers remind our readers that the book is available as an e-book. So you've been warned if you decide to take it on! The story concerns an older writer who is asked to bear witness to a miracle to support the canonization of a Pope; the book constitutes the writer's memoirs. I'm taking my synopsis from one of the many glowing reviews of the book, which has apparently been out of print, to be found on LibraryThing.com. I'm intrigued to say the least!

What about you? Have you read any of these? What did you think? What's new on your shelf?

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

You always pick up the most interesting books - those are all new to me.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Earthly Powers sounds awesome, but with my aging eyes, I definitely need the eBook.....BTW - if I don't comment much it is because many days, like today, it too me 6 tries to get the CAPTCHA RIGHT...UGH

JoAnn said...

Oh, I hope you enjoy Crossing to Safety as much as I did. It's one of my all-time favorites!

Elizabeth said...

Nice blog....great books.

Found you on Alexia's Books and Such Blog.

Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com