One of the loveliest parts of our job is that sometimes we get to preview newly published works that relate to our content. Two such books made their way to us in the past few months and we thought we’d take a moment to highlight them for you.

The first is Linda Vista, the latest play from the incomparable Tracy Letts out of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. The story about a divorced man’s midlife crisis is fairly passé but Letts’ intricate, character-driven language is always such a thrill that I’m very happy to see the play published (by Theatre Communications Group, priced at $23.95 in Canada).

The other book we were able to preview is a real gem that I can’t recommend enough. All the Sonnets of Shakespeare from Cambridge University Press is a beautiful collection of, well, all the sonnets of Shakespeare. There’s excellent scholarship around every selection including very useful footnotes and an extensive introduction that places everything into important, enlightening context. The book is beautifully formatted and a perfect dare I say necessary addition to any Shakespeare collection. (Edited by Paul Edmondson & Stanley Wells, priced at $17.95).