credit: Domino
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.
Advent started this weekend and so, of course, did the Christmas baking. It is vitally important to a) bake as many types of cookies as you can, b) make them as small as humanly possible while still being visible the human eye (and mouth), and c) have them available to show off to other competitive Czech women who come to judge you (also known as feeding the neighbours). Since I live in Canada, this last point is less vital but I need to feel that I am not letting my heritage down. So far, I’ve baked 443 cookies (numbers are important in competitive sports) but that’s only the first six varieties. This is basically how my evenings will be spent for the next week: work, then 4 hours of baking until bedtime. But the glory at the end will be great (hopefully). At least my colleagues, friends, and neighbours (and, to a much lesser extent, family) will be well-fed.
Since there is no reading happening after work, I’m sneaking in as much as I can on my commute and during rainy lunch hours. Right now, I’m rereading Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin with great pleasure. It came out last year (this year for American readers) and it was one of the rare times when I dashed out to buy the book on publication day. It’s probably the best Pride and Prejudice-inspired book out there and this is now the third time I’ve read it.
Does that mean I haven’t picked up anything from the library? Of course not. What a ridiculous idea. Some people shop to kill time – I drop by the library. There is one dangerous near my work (a very fortunate alternative to the massive bookstore that is actually IN my office building) and another by my house. I stop by, I stroll through, and I end up leaving with armfulls of books.
Here’s what I dragged home this week (no photos this week – all excess energy is being focused on baking):
Middlemarch by George Eliot – I’ve never read this classic but was recently listening to an audiobook where the young characters are studying it in school and one character was so enthusiastic I felt I had to try it. And December is always a good time for big Victorian novels.
Lent by Jo Walton – I’m not entirely sure I’m in the right mood to appreciate this right now but I am eager to read it. A fantasy novel focused on Savonarola cannot be missed.
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff – Slightly Foxed has started to reissue Sutcliff’s books as part of their “Cubs” series and seeing it mentioned so frequently had me longing to revisit it.
A Single Thread by Tracey Chevalier – Very excited about Chevalier’s newest release. So many of the elements – the 1930s! Needlework! Surplus Women! – appeal and her writing is usually (not always, but usually) very engaging.
Heartland by Sarah Smarsh – subtitled “A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth“, I’m really intrigued by this.
You Must Change Your Life by Rachel Corbett – No idea. This is the fruit of a lunchtime wander through the library, when I was clearly inspired by hunger pangs to pick up things I never would have otherwise. It looks at the friendship between Rodin (who I know nothing about) and Rainer Maria Rilke (who I would usually have said I don’t need to know anything about).
The Familiars by Stacey Halls – A witchhunt! This is all I know. This is all I need to know in order to be intrigued.
Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor – Another random grab during that lunchhour wander. I don’t usually read poetry but have been dipping into this and really enjoying it, proving that random grabs are a good idea
What did you pick up this week? (And what intense holiday traditions do you engage in?)
Posted in Library Loot | 14 Comments »
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.
I fled south last week for a quick and very warm holiday in Southern California. While I was gone, a few holds piled up so I had the very satisfying experience of lugging a full bag home from the library yesterday.
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer – I was reading Jo Walton’s October reading list on Tor.com and her incredible enthusiasm for Palmer convinced me that I have to try this. (Book Depository)
The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es – This won the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography prize and sounds excellent. (Book Depository)
The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking – Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, has written fun books on hygge and lykke and now looks at how memories – and the art of making them – can enhance our happiness too. (Book Depository)
Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen – Sharlene borrowed this a few weeks ago (and looks like she is reading it now) and it sounded so interesting that I wanted to try it for myself. (Book Depository)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – This showed up on a list of Russian-inspired fantasy novels I read a while back (I am such an easy target for these) and, with winter closing in, I’m in just the right mood for it. (Book Depository)
Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker – I read a review of this in the Globe and Mail during the summer and was intrigued enough to place a hold. 3 months later (almost to the day), here it is! In the meantime, I had a chance to read one of Tucker’s earlier books, The Simple Wild, which I really, really enjoyed. Light reading, absolutely, but well done. (Book Depository)
Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard – While on vacation, I ended up spending far too much time reading old food columns on the Guarding website and remembered how much I enjoy Lepard’s writing and recipes. I’m not sure I’ll actually bake much from this but it’s always fun to look through. (Book Depository)
Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan – A fun and tempting change from Greenspan’s usual baking books. (Book Depository)
One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein – A new community garden has opened near me (this sounds like a good thing but it actually a very frustrating tax dodge by real estate developers) and I’ve nabbed some space. I’m having lots of fun starting to plan my plot and this book looks like it should give me plenty of ideas. (Book Depository)
What did you pick up this week?
Posted in Library Loot | 8 Comments »
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