Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief 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.
A last minute chance to escape to the sunny south has thrown my library habits into disarray! Books I picked up last week expecting to have lots of time to finish have been returned unread and exchanged where possible for their e-book equivalent. I will, of course, be taking along a few physical books but with no checked luggage you have to prioritize! Thankfully, my library has a great e-book collection: only three of my books this week are hardcopies.
Chips: The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon – you can only keep me away from gossipy 20th century diaries for so long and here I’m reverting to my favourite sort of diarist: the socialite politician (see my love of Harold Nicholson diaries). Chips has already appeared in my reading twice this year (he’s mentioned in The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh as well as Travellers in the Third Reich) so I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman – my reading diet has been lacking good historical fiction lately so, while I wait for my hold on The Game of Kings to come through (or fold and buy a copy), I turn to this tale of Richard III.
If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler – Tyler is a bit of a new discovery for me. I’ve read Vinegar Girl (her updating of The Taming of the Shrew) and A Spool of Blue Thread but she has so many more books for me to discover. This one sounds really good – I love when female authors write male main characters.
Something Wholesale by Eric Newby – before he was a famous travel writer and following his harrowing experiences during WWII, Eric Newby worked in the family business: the rag trade. I’m excited about this one, especially since it’s quality seems preconfirmed: it was just released by Slightly Foxed and they have flawless taste.
Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby – Speaking of those harrowing days, this is Newby’s famous memoir of his wartime imprisonment in Italy and eventual escape, after which he was sheltered for months by anti-fascists (including his future wife, Wanda).
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen – a food memoir and an immigrant memoir all in one convenient package! I started this back when it was first released and was loving it but had to return it before I finished. This time I’m determined to read it all the way through.
Flâneuse by Lauren Elkin – as a woman who walks (extensively, exclusively, enthusiastically), I’ve been intrigued by this history/memoir of women as walkers since it was released to much praise a few years ago.
Morgan’s Passing by Anne Tyler – continuing my exploration of Anne Tyler’s backlist. This one sounds…odd. But intriguing.
George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl – Nancy Pearl, the hero to librarians and library-lovers everywhere, has written a novel!
Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair – This showed up on a diversity-focused reading list I saw somewhere and as it was one of the few books on there I hadn’t read – and I’d loved the ones I had read (like Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged, and Alif the Unseen) – I thought it was worth trying. The rather detailed publisher blurb certainly has me intrigued.
Dream Hoarders by Richard V. Reeves – In my ridiculously overpriced city, it’s impossible to go out these days without talking to someone about growing inequality and stagnating social mobility so this seems like a very timely read.
A Secret Garden by Katie Fforde – Fforde’s last four or five books have been awful but I retain hope that she’ll return to form, maybe with this gardening-themed tale.
What did you pick up this week?
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The Captive Reader 
I really liked The Sunne in Splendor. It can be rather dense at times, but I thought it was worth the effort. Enjoy!
Good to hear! I really like Penman’s writing but it’s been a while since I read anything by her so am very much looking forward to this.
Enjoy!
Just finished Simonson’s The Summer Before the War. Just as well written as Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I’ve read The Sunne in Splendor and enjoyed it. It is a book you can sink into because it is huge and well-researched so you feel like you are living in another time. Enjoy your break.
I’m happy to hear that! I’ve read other books by Penman and know how great her research is and how seamlessly she incorporates history into her writing.
Dream Hoarders sounds great. Up to the end of last year I too lived in a horribly overpriced city (Portland, OR) and I’d love to learn what Reeves’ has to say about this phenomena.
I guess everything is comparative! To us, Seattle looks remarkably cheap and Portland extraordinarily so. The median detached home price is around $4M now in my area ($1M for a two-bedroom condo, of which there aren’t many) and city-wide 75% of detached houses are appraised above $1M (including the worst parts of town). With median household income at around $70,000 ($54,000 USD) the math just doesn’t work. No wonder we can’t seem to talk about anything else!
Where did you end up moving to?
To a farm just outside of Monmouth, OR. It is about a two hour drive from Portland.
I absolutely adored Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking. Looks like you’ve got plenty of great reading – enjoy your trip.
Thanks! It’s going to be a very lazy trip so there should be plenty of time for reading – the perfect way to vacation!