The Captive Reader

Library Loot: May 17 to 23

May 17, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

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 am off travelling again (now in Europe) and enjoying one of the great perks of my Auckland library membership: access to digital audiobooks of my favourite Lucy Parker novels. Great for long train rides and for getting extra excited about her new release, Codename Charming, which is coming out in August!

What did you pick up this week?

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Notes from New Zealand – the South Island

May 6, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

A perfect day in Abel Tasman National Park

Before I went to New Zealand, I heard a lot about the South Island and visited it endlessly in the pages of Essie Summers’ novels. Some travel books seem to think it’s the only part of New Zealand worth visiting and friends from home warned me that much of it looks extraordinarily like British Columbia.

Well, I can attest that lots of it does look exactly like home, with the joyful novelty of never needing to look over your shoulder for bears or mountain lions (this never got old). But there is nothing wrong with that! I spent most of my time hiking and enjoying the well maintained tracks, while still enjoying the cities and towns over the five weeks I was there.

My highlights were:

Spending three days hiking in Abel Tasman National Park
Gazing down on gorgeous inlets while walking the 70km long Queen Charlotte Track
Enjoying beautiful gardens and birdsong on the Banks Peninsula

If I were to go back, I would probably focus my time on the North Island as it offers more novelty with the scenery and more chances to experience Maori culture but I’m so glad I got a chance to explore both islands during my two months there.

Big views on the third day of the Queen Charlotte Track

Vivid portrait of Edmund Hillary in Christchurch, a city full of murals

A misty morning in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula (before I stupidly spent the next two hours walking through a cloud)

A special morning as the only visitor at Fishermans Bay Garden on the Banks Peninsula

An early start on the Hooker Valley Trail near Mount Cook, one of New Zealand’s easiest and most popular walks

A gorgeous autumnal walk near Lake Wanaka (though basically indistinguishable from my many photos of visits to the BC Interior)

Another day and another beautiful walk near Wanaka

An Easter outing from Queenstown on the SS Earnslaw

The Essie Summers’ plaque in Dunedin, in a place of pride at the foot of the Robbie Burns statue

Sun was rare in Dunedin but the clouds lifted enough for beautiful views out on the neighbouring Otago Peninsula

Posted in Travel and Tourism | 9 Comments »

Library Loot: May 3 to 9 (or, Library Adventures in New Zealand)

May 3, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

Hello! I am briefly back after a wonderful two months in New Zealand, gearing up to head off to Europe shortly for another exciting three months of travel. New Zealand was amazing in so many ways and while most of my time was devoted to the outdoors, I did of course find time to read. I’m so used to travelling in non-English-speaking countries that the novelty of having libraries full of English-language books everywhere I went in NZ never wore off.

While my e-reader was my best friend on the trip, I did find time to pop into libraries throughout my visit and make significant progress in my quest to read all of Essie Summers’ books. Here’s what that looked like:

In Hamilton, I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading at the library to beat the heat after a morning visiting the gardens and walking along the river (reading, arguably, the worst Essie Summer’s book I have yet to find – His Serene Miss Smith)
During my week in Wellington, I took advantage of the National Library and spent several rainy and windy afternoons reading in their comfortable chairs. It’s easy to sign up for an account and be able to order items from the collection (to be read on site). I did try to access some non-book items and was unsuccessful but received the most helpful and detailed response from the archivist who was heading the search with alternative suggestions
In Picton, I spent the afternoon before I headed off on a five day hike hiding from tourist hoards in the lovely public library
In Christchurch, I spent a very rainy late afternoon at the gorgeous main library branch skimming through local interest books and gazing out the window at the restoration of the cathedral
In Dunedin and Auckland, I was spoiled beyond belief as I was able to get library cards (for a fee) and take books back to my accommodation to read at night! Dunedin was a particularly amazing offer as you provide a $50 cash deposit and they deduct $2 for every week you use the service. When I returned my card after 5 days, I got $48 dollars back. In Auckland, it was a flat $40 for several months of access so even at home I am still enjoying their digital library, which is full of titles by New Zealand authors I’ve not been able to access anywhere else and, most excitingly to me, the audiobooks of my favourite Lucy Parker novels

What did you pick up this week?

Posted in Library Loot | 6 Comments »

Library Lust

April 22, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

Hollywood Home (credit unknown, retried from my.life.in.colour instagram)

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Library Loot: April 19 to 25

April 19, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

My last library loot post from abroad – at least for a little bit! I’ll have my hands on physical library books soon and I can’t wait. As much as I love my e-reader (it is a godsend for travel) it’s time to give it a break.

The General Danced at Dawn, and Other McAuslan Stories by George MacDonald Fraser – I love Fraser’s Flashman stories and this is my first encounter with his short stories, based on his own experiences of army life.

Riverman by Ben McGrath – a portrait of Dick Conant, who spent twenty years canoeing along American rivers and connecting with people across the country before disappearing in late 2014.

Thursday’s Child by Noel Streatfeild – one of Streatfeild’s classic children’s stories.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Lust

April 15, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

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Library Lust

April 8, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

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Library Loot: April 5 to 11

April 5, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

The Holiday Bookshop by Lucy Dickens – some nice light holiday reading (always a good sign when “holiday” is in the book’s title) about a woman who takes a short posting to run a bookshop at a resort in the Maldives.

Did Year Hear Mammy Died? by Séamas O’Reilly – this memoir about growing up in Northern Ireland as one of eleven children being raised by their widowed father sounds excellent.

Faking It by Jennifer Crusie – One of Crusie’s best, making it one of the best rom-coms out there. A companion to the equally wonderful Welcome to Temptation.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Lust

April 1, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

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The 1940 Club – Reading Ideas

March 29, 2023 by Claire (The Captive Reader)

As Simon has just reminded everyone, the 1940 Club is fast approaching. I’ll still be travelling so won’t be participating, which is a shame as it’s a superb year for books.

If you’re looking for ideas of what to read, you can make Simon happy and try his beloved Miss Hargreaves but if you want other suggestions, here are a few books from 1940 that I wrote about previously:

Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell – my very favourite Thirkell

Mariana by Monica Dickens – the first Persephone book I ever read and one of my earliest reviews

Behind the Lines by A.A. Milne – a collection of poems about the early days of the war. Not great but fascinating, especially for AAM fanatics

The English Air by D.E. Stevenson – probably my favourite DES book about a young German man whose experiences visiting his English cousins cause him to rethink his views of his own country. Now available from Dean Street Press

Bewildering Cares by Winifred Peck – the fictional and heavily Provincial Lady-inspired diary of clergyman’s wife, I found this disappointing but other readers loved it

Ten Way Street by Susan Scarlett – typical Scarlett romance and now much easier to track down than when I first wrote about it as it too has been reissued by Dean Street Press

Posted in The 1940 Club | 5 Comments »

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