The Captive Reader

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and myself 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!

Marg has the Mr Linky this week!

I am happy to report that I seem to have shaken my reading blues.  Writing my review of Unhooked last week and working all that angst out of my system was a huge help, finally clearing my mind and allowing me to return to my every-growing pile of library books.  Time to take a break from the really depressing stuff!  Although I’m currently devoted to reading my lovely little grey books in preparation for Claire and Verity’s Persephone Reading Weekend (February 25 – 27) I know I’ll have these to enjoy once I’m done:   

Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood
Atwood musing on debt, her topic of choice for her CBC Massey Lectures in 2008:

An investigation into the idea of debt as an ancient and central motif in religion, literature, and the structure of human societies.  By investigating how debt has informed our thinking from pre-literate times to the present day, Atwood shows that the idea of what we owe one another – in other words, “debt” – is built into the human imagination and is one of its most dynamic metaphors.   

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World by Wade Davis
I couldn’t resist picking up another CBC Massey Lectures book after grabbing Payback, not when it was right there! 

A profound celebration of the wonder of human genius and spirit as brought into being by culture.

Made in America by Bill Bryson
While I patiently wait for my turn at At Home (good news!  I’ve moved up to position 114 in the hold queue) I thought I’d try one of Bryson’s less familiar works.  I’ve read and reread his travelogues but never tried this history of American English:

Bryson de-mythologizes his native land – explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn’t won, why Americans say ‘lootenant’ and ‘Toosday’, how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up – as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.

Beyond Belfast by Will Ferguson
Reloot, first checked out many, many months ago but never started.  I do love both Ferguson and travelogues though so I’ll keep checking this out until I finally read it!

Offbeat and charming, and filled with humour, insight, and a wide array of eccentric characters, Beyond Belfast tells the story of one man’s misguided attempt at walking the entire Ulster Way: a 560-mile path that circles Northern Ireland, from the city walls of Derry to the moorland heights of the Sperrins, from the green glens of Antrim to the Mountains of Mourne.

Arranged by Catherine McKenzie
A bit of a strange pick, based solely on a positive magazine review I read while at the dentist (in Chatelaine, I think?).   Sounds light and a bit odd but I’m always up for a book about an arranged marriage!

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels – A Love Story by Ree Drummond
I know some of you have read this already with mixed results but I had to try it for myself and am quite looking forward to it.  Books by bloggers are hugely fascinating to me and I can’t resist a real-life love story.  I have to admit that I don’t follow The Pioneer Woman very closely online but I visit The Pioneer Woman Cooks section often enough to appreciate Ree’s humour and energy (and truly mouth-watering recipes).