I've finished two books in the last two weeks or so. Unfortunately for my stack at home, these were both from the library. When I actually get a chance to browse the New Releases shelves, I always end up bringing something home, and I've made it there three times in the last 15 days--twice with the kids for story hour on my day off, and once in the middle to return a 7-day loan book.
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. This was a good, quirky read. It has a romance element, and also a little light spellcraft as one of the characters manipulates people and emotions with food and flowers, and there's a magic tree involved. But I doubt it would be shelved with romances or with fantasy in most bookstores. It reminded me a lot of the magic realism of Like Water For Chocolate, where the mystical spell-type elements are addressed with the same tone as domestic abuse and sisterly relationships.
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. I probably would never have picked this one up if it were from a different author. There is a lot of football involved. Like, play-by-play of game after game. That's not my usual style, not by a long shot, but I've enjoyed several of Grisham's books in the past. Overall: it wasn't too bad, even if I did skim a lot of the playing details. I think some of his courtroom books have been more dramatic, but I didn't abandon this book in the middle, so it kept me interested. I think some of the description of various Italian locales and sights read like a guidebook (which is how the main character was learning the info, so it was appropriate). It made me really want to visit Italy, something I've been wanting to do for a long time anyway.
What's next? I don't know. I picked up another book at the library yesterday, and have more than a dozen more sitting on my shelf.
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