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.
Any time I have reason to go downtown, I always try and figure out if I can fit in a trip to the central branch of the library. It is a magical place (so many floors of books!) and I can never visit enough. I had a lunch date with my aunt on Saturday so decided I could go pick up a couple of books beforehand. It turned out to be more than ‘a couple’ but, perhaps constrained by having only one carrier bag or by the prospect of carrying those books on the scenic forty-five minute walk between the library and my aunt’s apartment, it was still a very reasonable number. I’m particularly excited to have picked up some more Trollope – I have missed him!
A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper – Danielle mentioned this YA book last week and as soon as I learned that other readers had compared it to I Capture the Castle, I had to place a library hold. It came in on Saturday and I read it that night, finding it absolutely delightful. It has so many irresistible elements – an island setting! Fictional royalty! The 1930s! A diary format! – and I cannot wait to read the next book, The FitzOsbornes in Exile.
Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman – this has been everywhere in the press and, after enjoying all the excerpts I came across, I had to try it for myself. Admittedly, parenting books aren’t my natural reading picks but this is more a personal book than a guide, chronicling the cultural differences one American woman experiences while raising her child in Paris. I started reading on Tuesday and it is very entertaining – the so-called ‘French’ style is very familiar but I’m fascinated to read about the (occasionally bizarre) ways Druckerman and her American and British friends approach parenting.
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan –I’ve been hearing amazing things about The Wheel of Time fantasy series for years. When Colin mentioned it last week in his brother Simon T’s “My Life in Books” feature, it seemed like a sign that I should finally start it, so here I am with the first book.
Four Plays by A.A. Milne – Having spent a good amount of time reading Milne in January (I loved Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Once on a Time, and his autobiography), it felt time to visit with him once again! My copy also has the most amazing bright green, patterned library binding I’ve ever seen – I’ll have to take a photo of it at some point to share.
The Lunar Men by Jenny Uglow – I’ve been looking forward to this ever since reading Jenny’s review last spring. I loved Uglow’s biography of Elizabeth Gaskell and trust this history of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and its energetic, influential members will be just as excellent.
Flora’s Lot by Katie Fforde – probably my favourite of Fforde’s novels.
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor – I did read At Mrs Lippincote’s and though I didn’t adore it, I did enjoy Taylor’s style enough to want to try more of her work. This is the March readalong book for the Elizabeth Taylor Centenary so it seemed as good a book as any to read next!
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope – It has been too long since I last visited Trollope’s Barsetshire, though I have been spending a fair amount of time lately in Thirkell’s 20th Century version of that delightful county.
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope – ditto.
And, because I can never resist the gardening section when I visit the central branch:
The Transplanted Gardener by Charles Elliot – From the question of why England is so wet – or, in the view of a dripping American, seems to be – to an account of the great Charles Darwin’s favourite obsession (it was earthworms), The Transplanted Gardener contains a sparkling set of essays exploring the history, practice, and eccentricities of gardening in “the world’s greatest potting shed,” England.
The Potting Shed Papers by Charles Elliot – In these essays, Charles Elliott casts a whimsical eye over gardens and gardening around the globe. From the Japanese craze for the Ingurishu Gaaden (English Garden) to the relentless plundering of tropical forests for glamorous orchids, from Bishop Compton’s horticultural obsessions to sex and the single strawberry, Elliott seeks to bring to life some of the more remarkable episodes in horticultural history.
My Garden, the City and Me by Helen Babbs – Helen Babbs is a self-proclaimed city girl who lives on the second floor of a flat in a chaotic corner of London. An urge to find more green in the city and a stronger connection to the natural world leads her to create her first garden, an organic edible garden on her rooftop.
What did you pick up this week?
Another interesting haul! Enjoy your loot!
What an interesting pile of books.
Your gardening books are calling to me at the moment.
Jenny inspired me to get The Lunar Men as well, but I had to return it unread. Thanks for the reminder, I’ll add it to my list again.
Doctor Thorne is such a wonderful character, like Uncle Alec in Eight Cousins – and Framley Parsonage is one of my favorites (though I probably say thats too often).
I have the Trollopes and The Lunar Men sitting on the shelf … about time they came down, eh?
Okay, I’m off to the TPL website to reserve The Brief History and the Helen Babbs book. Both look like my cup of tea, and my reserve list is down to single digits at present.
What I picked up this week: Peter Robinson’s stand-alone, Before the Poison, which I could scarcely put down. Soooo absorbing.
No Helen Babbs at TPL. sigh….
Enjoy your loot. They all look lovely!
Looks like you have some great loot to enjoy – I love the mix of classics with contemporary.
Enjoy your loot!
Hi Claire,
Always such a diverse selection of books! I’ve been intrigued by all the buzz surrounding Bringing Up Bebe, too.. .but not quite enough to pick it up. Hope you enjoy all your finds! 🙂
Maybe this will be the incentive I need finally to finish The Eye of the World, which I started two years ago… indeed, I read 550pp in one weekend, on the train to and from Paris, and then never got any further…
Four Plays – I don’t remember all that much of those particular plays, but you can’t go wrong with AAM!
(I had to use my Facebook account, as for some reason it wouldn’t let me comment otherwise…)
I am a huge public library fan! I go there a couple of times per week to pick up my requests and to browse. This week from the library I got To Siberia by Per Petterson, The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue, The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai, A Good American by Alex George, and The Interloper by Antoine Wilson. I am so excited to have found other library fans/appreciators (not sure if that’s a real word… 🙂 Your post is a list of wonderful books that I will now request for my TBR pile…books make me so happy!
Beth
A truly delightful loot you’ve got there! And though I am not a gardening or plant kinda person (worms are my greatest phobia!), I find the Charles Elliot essays looking to be very appealing! Such lovely covers too.
I am such a monogamous reader and library user! I can only seem to handle ONE book at a time. I currently have two checked out at the moment – OH NO. I’m likely to lose one of them.
But you sure have an amazing list here! Best to you.