Bits and pieces

Calling all historical fiction readers!  Jerome de Groot's English students at the University of Manchester are interested in learning more about your views and reading preferences.  Visit the Meet the Readers site to take a short survey.  Keep an eye on that page, too, since student projects will be posted there over the next month or so.

If you live in or will be visiting NYC between October 13 and December 5, you'll have the opportunity to see the world premiere of "Banished Children of Eve," a dramatic production of the Irish Repertory Theatre based on the bestselling historical novel by Peter Quinn.  A short synopsis:  "Against the backdrop of the dangerous, sweltering Civil War summer of 1863, the Bowery explodes with racial tension and the City of New York rushes headlong toward the fatal July draft riots. Moving to the music and rhythms of these dangerous times, a diverse band of characters is drawn together in a net of intrigue and violence."  Head on over to the IRT site for show times and to purchase tickets.

At NPR, Mary Sharratt recommends three novels to take you back to the Italian Renaissance.

The Death Instinct, Jed Rubenfeld's sequel to The Interpretation of Murder, is out in the UK... but not yet in the US, where it will be published on January 20th by Riverhead.  Rubenfeld is an American novelist writing about early 20th-century New York, yet his literary thrillers have attracted more attention from the British reading public. Perhaps this new one, about a real-life terrorist attack in the center of Manhattan in 1920, will change that?  He's interviewed in The Independent.

Hey, I just realized this was my 500th post.  I've been buried in reference desk work, review editing, and grant proposal reading, but I hope to have more reviews and forthcoming title info posted soon.