Book of the Month

The Heavens by Sandra Newman

New York, late summer, 2000. A party in a spacious Manhattan apartment, hosted by a wealthy young activist. Dozens of idealistic twenty-somethings have impassioned conversations over takeout dumplings and champagne. The evening shines with the heady optimism of a progressive new millennium. A young man, Ben, meets a young woman, Kate―and they begin to fall in love. ate lives with her head in the clouds, so at first, Ben isn’t that concerned when she tells him about the recurring dream she’s had since childhood. In the dream, she’s transported to the past, where she lives a second life as Emilia, the mistress of a nobleman in Elizabethan England. But for Kate, the dream becomes increasingly real, to the point where it threatens to overwhelm her life. And soon she’s waking from it to find the world changed―pictures on her wall she doesn’t recognize, new buildings in the neighborhood that have sprung up overnight. As Kate tries to make sense of what’s happening, Ben worries the woman he’s fallen in love with is losing her grip on reality.

This month’s book was suggested by Michael Reynolds. Thank you, Michael!

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The Shakespeare Requirement by Julie Schumacher

Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets she’s not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off English’s meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitger’s attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb.

Lord, what fools these mortals be! Julie Schumacher proves the point and makes the most of it in this delicious romp of satire.

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback or Hardcover

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Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson

Ramón Montez always achieves his goals. Whether that means collecting Ivy League degrees or growing his father’s fast-food empire, nothing sets Ramón off course. So when the sexy señorita who kissed him on the Day of the Dead runs off into the night with his heart, he determines to do whatever it takes to find her again. 

 Celebrity chef Julieta Campos has sacrificed everything to save her sea-to-table taqueria from closing. To her horror, she discovers that her new landlord is none other than the magnetic mariachi she hooked up with on Dia de los Muertos. Even worse, it was his father who stole her mother’s taco recipe decades ago. Julieta has no choice but to work with Ramón, the man who destroyed her life’s work—and the one man who tempts and inspires her. 

 As San Diego’s outraged community protests against the Taco King takeover and the divide between their families grows, Ramón and Julieta struggle to balance the rising tensions. But Ramón knows that true love is priceless and despite all of his successes, this is the one battle he refuses to lose.

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback

Link to Amazon: Paperback and Kindle

Lady of the Play by Deena Lindstedt

Was Elizabeth (Ely) Trentham only just the second wife of Edward deVere, the 17th Earl of Oxford? Or, should she be properly recognized as the authentic Shakespeare?

The story of the genius of Ely is revealed, from her childhood to the ten years as a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I, her marriage to deVere and their collaboration, and why they needed to hire Wm Shaksper as their front. After Edward’s death in 1604, Ely continues to write plays until her death in 1612, the same year “Shakespeare” retires. Unbeknownst to anyone, Ely leaves clues behind waiting to be discovered even though it will take four-hundred years to do so.

Interwoven into the story of Ely is the modern story of Cynthia Parsons, a history teacher who is convinced Ely and Edward collaborated. Cynthia’s life includes friendships and romance, but researching the truth about Ely remains her primary focus. She receives help from a librarian friend and an attorney and together they search for evidence to prove who actually deserves the title “Shakespeare.” When Cynthia finds the clues left behind by Ely, there are those who will use any means to keep Cynthia from revealing her discoveries.

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The Science of Shakespeare by Dan Falk

William Shakespeare lived at a remarkable time―a period we now recognize as the first phase of the Scientific Revolution. New ideas were transforming Western thought, the medieval was giving way to the modern, and the work of a few key figures hinted at the brave new world to come: the methodical and rational Galileo, the skeptical Montaigne, and―as Falk convincingly argues―Shakespeare, who observed human nature just as intently as the astronomers who studied the night sky.

In The Science of Shakespeare, we meet a colorful cast of Renaissance thinkers, including Thomas Digges, who published the first English account of the “new astronomy” and lived in the same neighborhood as Shakespeare; Thomas Harriot―”England’s Galileo”―who aimed a telescope at the night sky months ahead of his Italian counterpart; and Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose observatory-castle stood within sight of Elsinore, chosen by Shakespeare as the setting for Hamlet―and whose family crest happened to include the names “Rosencrans” and “Guildensteren.” And then there’s Galileo himself: As Falk shows, his telescopic observations may have influenced one of Shakespeare’s final works.

Link to Amazon: Hardcover

Lady Romeo: The Radical and Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America’s First Celebrity by Tana Wojczuk

This illuminating and enthralling biography of 19th-century queer actress Charlotte Cushman portrays her radical lifestyle that riveted New York City and made headlines across America. With new research and rarely seen letters and documents, Wojczuk reconstructs the formative years of Cushman’s life, set against the excitement and drama of 1800s New York City and featuring a cast of luminaries and revolutionaries who changed the cultural landscape of America forever. The story of an astonishing and uniquely American life, Lady Romeo reveals one of the most remarkable forgotten figures in our history and restores her to center stage, where she belongs.

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Thinking Shakespeare by Barry Edelstein

Thinking Shakespeare: A working guide for actors, directors, students…and anyone else interested in the Bard gives theater artists practical advice about how to make Shakespeare’s words feel spontaneous, passionate, and real. Based on Barry Edelstein’s thirty-year career directing Shakespeare’s plays, this book provides the tools that artists need to fully understand and express the power of Shakespeare’s language.

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback

Link to Amazon: Paperback and Kindle only

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood

Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” – or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare’s players perform. As full of twists and turns as a London alleyway, this entertaining novel is rich in period details, colorful characters, villainy, and drama. The Shakespeare Stealer is a delightful adventure full of humor and heart set in Elizabethan England!

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback

Link to Amazon: All versions

1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro

1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.

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The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro

In the years leading up to 1606, Shakespeare’s great productivity had ebbed. But that year, at age forty-two, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn—King Lear—then writing two other great tragedies, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. It was a memorable year in England as well—a terrorist plot conceived by a small group of Catholic gentry had been uncovered at the last hour. The foiled Gunpowder Plot would have blown up the king and royal family along with the nation’s political and religious leadership. The aborted plot renewed anti-Catholic sentiment and laid bare divisions in the kingdom. It was against this background that Shakespeare finished Lear, a play about a divided kingdom, then wrote a tragedy that turned on the murder of a Scottish king, Macbeth. He ended this astonishing year with a third masterpiece no less steeped in current events and concerns: Antony and Cleopatra.

This month’s book was suggested by Laura Ganz-Holtan. Thank you, Laura!

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback or Hardcover

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As She Likes It by Lori M. Myers et al.

As She Likes It is an anthology of short plays that features women from Shakespeare’s canon. The characters step outside of the male-dominated context of their original works, sometimes into another time and place. These familiar women from classic stories may have had muted voices in Shakespeare’s plays, but here they take center stage to discuss the choices they have made and navigate the power structures that have controlled their lives. These plays offer great roles for women, opportunities for thoughtful scene study, educational exploration and a larger conversation about how these women’s stories resonate in our current era. Written by Lori M. Myers, Sean Adams, Marjorie Bicknell, David Nice, Sue Lange, Barbara Trainin Blank and Sandra Fenichel Asher

Link to Dramatic Publishing: Script

Women of Will: The Remarkable Evolution of Shakespeare’s Female Characters by Tina Packer

Women of Will is a fierce and funny exploration of Shakespeare’s understanding of the feminine. Tina Packer, one of our foremost Shakespeare experts, shows that Shakespeare began, in his early comedies, by writing women as shrews to be tamed or as sweet little things with no independence of thought. The women of the history plays are much more interesting, beginning with Joan of Arc. Then, with the extraordinary Juliet, there is a dramatic shift: suddenly Shakespeare’s women have depth, motivation, and understanding of life more than equal to that of the men. As Shakespeare ceases to write women as predictable caricatures and starts writing them from the inside, his women become as dimensional, spirited, spiritual, active, and sexual as any of his male characters. Wondering if Shakespeare had fallen in love (Packer considers with whom, and what she may have been like), the author observes that from Juliet on, Shakespeare’s characters demonstrate that when women and men are equal in status and passion, they can—and do—change the world.

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback or Hardcover

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Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions by Barry Edelstein

From renowned Shakespearean director Barry Edelstein comes Bardisms: a straightforward, accessible guide to using Shakespeare’s wit and wisdom at special occasions of every type. Over the course of his career, Edelstein has directed more than half of Shakespeare’s plays, and he brings all his passion, insight, and years of study to Bardisms.

Link to Warwick’s (La Jolla): Paperback or Hardcover

Link to Amazon: All versions