Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader 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 very excited about all three books I picked up this week. I’ve already finished one and I’m afraid Amanda Foreman’s A World on Fire is going to be abandoned until I finish the other two. So much for my good intentions of finishing old books before starting the new ones!
Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett – Oh, the history behind this book. I placed a hold on it on December 22, 2010. Within a few short days, the library website showed that it was being transfered to my branch. Excellent! Every day, I’d go online to see if it had arrived yet. Usually it takes two days. After two weeks, I was somewhat suspicious so talked to the librarians and they put out a trace on it. Ten months later, they found it! Judy and her husband Peter’s adventures restoring a crumbling Welsh castle (complete with a sinister ghost) have kept me well-entertained since I, of course, started reading it as soon as it came in – I was not going to wait any longer!
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay – You know what is better than a Guy Gavriel Kay novel? Three of them, all combined into one massive volume.
The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson – After thinking so much about Ibbotson’s A Countess Below Stairs while reading The Novel in the Viola, it felt right to pick up one of her books. But rather than reread one of her adult novels, all of which I know so well, I am turning for the first time to her children’s books, none of which I have ever read before. I am so excited!
What did you pick up this week?
The Captive Reader 
Beautiful books! They all sound great.
Aren’t they all pretty this week? I love the covers and I hope to love the stories just as much!
I read Castles in the Air years ago and loved it!
On loan from the library is The Hours (DVD)…again, and At Home by Bill Bryson. A fabulous book that I’ll be snapping up the minute I spy it on a sale table somewhere.
I quite enjoyed Castles in the Air, but I had to suspend my practical side (which likes things like electric lights and central heating) while I was reading in order to fully absorb the romance and idealism of their project.
I LOVED At Home and, like you, am just waiting to find a copy for myself on a sale table.
I just finished reading Book Lust to Go (why do we torture ourselves with books like this?!) and have added about 200 books to my Wish List. Castles in the Air is one I put on my list and which I will now put on hold at my library. I hope I get it in less time than it took you to get it from your library!
I read Book Lust to Go in the spring and it did a number on my TBR list too; I think I added about 130 books. The mention of Castles in the Air just taunted me, since at that point the book was well and truly lost and had been for months. It was worth the wait though and I hope you enjoy it!
I haven’t read anything by Guy Gavriel Kay yet, but I’ve almost bought his books on several occasions. I’ll be curious to see what you think of this set!
I’ve read two of his books now (A Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan) and adored them both so I’m very excited about starting on this.
Ooo, 2 Ibbotson refs in one morning. Dovegreyreader has a posting about her today, and the highlight for me was this link about Eva and libraries in 1934. I challenge you not to tear up by the time you reach the end.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/09/fiction.features#history-bylinehttp://
What I picked up this week: On the Outside Looking Indian, by Rupinder Gill. A 30 year old daughter of Indian parents is determined to have a normal Canadian childhood, 20 years later.
Hah. Just now realised you were the first commenter on DGR’s blog this morning.
Oh yes, as soon as DGR’s post went up (Tuesday afternoon, for me) I was there! As I said in my initial comment, the article is even sweeter with the knowledge that Ibbotson immortalized the doctor in one of her adult novels.
Hope you enjoy Gill’s book! I started it a few months back but it was not for me.
I’m not familiar with any of those but they all have beautiful covers! Enjoy your loot.
The covers are quite lovely, I agree – and they look so nice grouped together!
I love the title and cover for Castle in the Air. Hope you enjoy it and your other reads 🙂
Having now read the book, the title is very apt!
Castles in the Air sounds like one to hunt down. My kids have been about half and half with Ibbotson’s children’s books. They all really liked Journey to the River Sea, but I don’t think any of us have read this one. We’ll look forward to your comments on it.
I have a copy of Journey to the River Sea that I picked up earlier this year at a used book store but I haven’t read it yet. But I’m certain I’ll be starting on it soon since I’ve just now finished The Dragonfly Pool and really enjoyed it!
Loved The Fionavar Tapestry, my first ever GGK. It’s a bit different from his other ones because of the world it’s set on.
I’m really excited to read it since I’ve been hearing wonderful things about it for years and years!
I love the cover of The Dragonfly Pool. Happy reading!
Isn’t it pretty? I may hate the covers Macmillan chose when they came out with the YA editions of Ibbotson’s adult novels but the ones they did for her most recent children’s books (Journey to the River Sea, The Star of Kazan, and this) are all lovely.
I love all the covers. Don’t you hate it when the library doesn’t know where their books are. At least your branch is persistent.
I’d love to praise the tenaciousness of my branch but really, all they had to do was click a button in the computer system to declare it lost, such is the magic of technology. But someone somewhere found it and eventually got it to my branch and for that I am very thankful.
Wow, ten months! Maybe the sinister ghost is to blame…
Happy reading!
I excel at helping the library to identify books that are actually lost but still showing as on the shelf. In fact, I’m starting to think of it as my specialty – I’ve got three more holds that are now in trace status since they’ve realised the books are not where they thought they were. A bit frustrating for everyone involved but also a bit of a public service!