Two August Releases from S&S

I'm spending this week poring over The Complete Sailor in preparation for my week at home, so instead of a book review, I've got book teasers. In addition to the stack of books on my folder, the boxes of books still unpacked and the myriad galleys and books to read at work, here are two books I can't wait to get my hands on:

The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

Yes, it's a "romance." But technically, it's more than that. Gregory's books are historical fiction, Gregory being a historian before she was a novelist. With The White Queen, she delves into one of the greatest mysteries of medieval England: Elizabeth Woodville, who would become Queen of England, and her two sons, who would be ferried up into the Tower of London never to be seen or heard from (or of) again. To this day, historians have not been able to piece together what happened to these two boys, and on this day, the book is now on sale. Now, we just have to wait to see if it can top the 1.5 million copies of The Other Boleyn Girl sold. But then, that was made into a movie, and as we saw with Julie and Julia, those just generate book sales like no one's business.



From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords , by Dean Olsher

Olsher is a self-proclaimed obsessive. The first sentence of the first excerpt of the book on S&S's website reads: "There is no other word for it. I get defensive when people dismiss the crossword as a mere pastime or, worse, a form of escapism. To my mind, they just don't get it." This title promises to take us on a full tour of the crossword puzzle, the mind that loves it, and the obsession it creates. Personally, I can't wait. To read the book, or to dig up my Merl Reagle crossword books.