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!
Something very exciting has happened: I now have access to not just the public library but to the university library as well. I’ve been home since December but it honestly didn’t occur to me until a few weeks ago to check if the university had some of the titles the city library did not. But they did! They had Angela Thirkells and Viragos and so many obscure others that I hadn’t even dared to believe I would ever be able to track down. And they had a subscription rate of $120/year for those unaffiliated with the university. Having gone to university in Ontario, I was definitely unaffiliated. But my mother got her master’s degree there in 2006. Alumni cards are free and my mother is generous. There was much rejoicing after my first visit last week (5 of this week’s books were picked up there) and, since I live only a short bus ride from the university, I’m definitely looking forward to exploring the library’s offerings more thoroughly in the coming months! Two libraries are always better than one. Now my greatest concern will just be keeping the return piles for the two library systems separate!
Here’s my loot from this week:
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
After loving my first encounter with Trollope so much and having spent so much time recently in Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire, it only made sense that I’d move on to the first of Trollope’s chronicles of Barsetshire.
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
In Michael Ondaatje’s beloved family memoir, fact and fiction blur to create a dazzlingly original portrait of a lost time and place. Ondaatje left Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) at the age of eleven. Almost twenty-five years later, he returned to sort out the recollected fragments of experience, legend, and family scandal, and to reconstruct the carefree, doomed life his parents and grandparents had led in a place where couples danced the tango in the moonlight, where drink, gambling, and romance were the main occupations of the upper class.
My Berlin Child by Anne Wiazemsky
I came across this in a bookstore, was intrigued, took note of the title, and immediately went home and placed a library hold. This is how I ‘shop’!
In this autobiographical story, Wiazemsky’s writes about her mother Claire as a young woman. At twenty-seven, Claire is still under the sway of a domineering father, the acclaimed author François Mauriac. With the Second World War raging, her desire for freedom prompts her to join the Red Cross in southern France, where she faces the horrors of war with a youthful naïveté and audacity. When, having survived the months of bombing and bloodied patients, Claire realizes that rather than quelling her spirit her experiences have left her thirsting for more, she sets out for the heart of the fallen enemy: war-torn Berlin.
Remember when I said that I had learned my lesson about binging on Thirkell? A blatant lie. I am trying to pace myself – interspersing the novels with other works – but I cannot completely tear myself away. The summaries come from The Angela Thirkell Society website.
Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
Young Colin Keith decides to become a schoolmaster at Southbridge for the summer half term in order to support himself, rather than follow his father into the law.
Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell
Painfully shy Alice Barton must go to a house party at Pomfret Towers. Thirkell at her best; an excellent look at the pomp and ceremony of a pre-WWII house party given by a wealthy host.
Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell
Yes, I am already rereading Thirkell. This was one of the first books of her books that I read and critically I can see that it is isn’t as strong as some of the earlier ones but sentimentally it may be my favourite so far.
Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell
In spite of the plethora of characters it is the best of her “war” novels, giving the flavor of wartime England in a small village. The plot revolves around Mr. Villars, vicar of Northbridge, his wife, and several officers billeted on them.
The Rector and The Doctor’s Family by Margaret Oliphant
My first encounter with Mrs Oliphant, these two short novels (The Rector, at less than 40 pages, is very short indeed) introduce her “Chronicles of Carlingford” series.
The Curate’s Wife by E.H. Young
Dahlia Rendall has moved not many yards from her family home, Beulah Mount in Upper Radstowe. While her sister Jenny sojourns in the English countryside, the lovely unconventional Dahlia launches forth on what appears to be the most conventional of marriages – to a curate, the Rev. Cecil Sproat. As Cecil struggles with his sermons, Dahlia battles with domesticity, her naturally irreverent wit, and her weakness for handsome young men. And Dahlia’s vision of marital perfection is at odds with Cecil’s. But she has intelligence, determination, and a sense of humor — all useful weapons in the age-old battle of the sexes called marriage.
And when not happily ensorcelled in a novel, I can be found planning my upcoming trip to Europe, hopefully with the aid of these books:
Austria (Eyewitness Travel Guide)
Vienna: City Guide (Lonely Planet)
Rick Steves’ Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol
Am planning to get to Angela Thirkell’s books at some stage but want to finish Trollope’s Barchester chronicles first. I think you’ll love The Warden.
I think I will too! And I’m sure you’ll love Thirkell when you start in on her!
We’re lucky to have both a city and a county library system here. I do miss working in a university library. What great loot this week! You have Trollope’s Barsetshire as well as Thirkell’s. Part of the fun for me in reading Thirkell is figuring out all the connections to Trollope, and all the in-jokes. Margaret Oliphant’s books also remind me of Trollope, in their “slice of life” realism – and how many books they wrote! But most of hers are out of print now, unfortunately.
I’m really looking forward to reading about Trollope’s Barsetshire since there are definitely moments in Thirkell where you realise that she is referencing Trollope but in my ignorance these connections and jokes mean nothing to me!
I just watched the first half of the BBC adaptation of The Warden/Barchester Towers, and now I can’t wait to read the books. (Usually, I’d make myself read the books first, but I’m still in the midst of Wives and Daughters!) I love Lisa’s comment about the ‘in-jokes’ and connections between A.T. and (oh!) A.T. So glad you’re enjoying these – she is one of my favorite authors.
I think I saw a bit of the adaptation years ago but it meant nothing to me at the time and I remember none of it. Definitely something to look forward to after I’ve read the books (and I can completely understand letting yourself slack on the reading before watching if you’ve been distracted by Wives and Daughters!).
Those Thirkell covers are enough to make me swoon. I must try her some day soon. First, I have some overdue books to return. Sigh.
We belong to the Morton Arboretum here and frequent it regularly. It wasn’t until recently, however, searching for a Beverly Nichols, actually, that I discovered that my membership allows me to check out books from their vast horticulture library. I can really appreciate your glee at discovering the university library is at your fingertips now. I know you will enjoy it!
I do hope you’re able to track down some Thirkell!
I have a membership at our local botanical garden but I’ve yet to explore their library, though my membership does entitle me to use it. Something to look forward to this winter if the university library doesn’t keep me busy enough!
Great. A new word for me: ensorcel.
The Berlin one looks enticing. So that’s going on my list.
…or not. It’s available at TPL only in French.
Or I can check out any amount of Irving Berlin music.
No, not time to practice your bilingual skills? 🙂 I believe it’s a relatively new title so hopefully TPL will get it eventually!
Running in the Family is pretty good. It’s been years since I read it, but I remember the blurring of fact and fiction making some scenes pretty interesting! Enjoy your loot!
Thanks, Julie. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I love how your books aren’t the ones everybody else seems to be reading. I always find something to add to my list!
Thanks, Olga. So happy to have introduced you to some new titles!
Oh, how exciting! A whole new library to explore!
I would love to be planning a trip to Europe.
Enjoy your loot!
Isn’t it exciting? None of my friends or family seem to understand why this new library card is bringing me such joy but I knew other book bloggers would understand!
Can’t wait to hear about your trip!
And I can’t wait to go so that I’ll have lots to tell you!
How exciting! A whole new library catalogue ripe for the picking! Good luck with the trip planning!
I love research and planning so I’m having almost as much fun preparing for the trip as I’ll probably have on it!
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