The Captive Reader

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.

People!  How are you?  I went a full week without reading even a single page of a book and it was very, very weird.  This is what happens when a) you are learning a new job, b) you are sick, c) the weather finally turns nice after months of rain, and d) you combine a+b+c.  But my cold is gone, I’m settled at work, and we have so much sunshine in the forecast that I shall quickly learn to take it for granted.  Bring on the books!

The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer – one of the highlights of my new job is its proximity to a huge bookstore.  On rainy days (of which there have been many this year) I can duck in there and read during my lunch break.  It was on one of those rainy days that I came across this novel about a time-travelling neurosurgeon.  The start was promising and my love of Siena was enough to convince me that I wanted to keep reading (just not enough to buy it – thank you library!).

Zinky Boys by Svetlana Alexievich – Alexievich’s extraordinary oral history of Soviet women’s experiences during WWII (The Unwomanly Face of War) will undoubtedly make it onto my Best of 2018 list.  But it’s also inspired me to try more of her work, like this oral history of the war in Afghanistan.

The English Wife by Lauren Willig – I’ve enjoyed some of Willig’s books in the past so automatically placed a hold on this when I heard it was coming out.  But now that it’s here I’m a bit worried it’s too gothic for me (to be fair, my tolerance for all things gothic is extraordinarily low).  We shall see!

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern – did I know anything about this book when I placed a hold on it?  Nope.  Marketing departments take note: all I require in order to be intrigued by a book is the mention of a library.  That’s how easy it is.  Now that I’ve actually learned what the book is about, I’m even more intrigued.

Dancing Bears by Witold Szabłowski – NPR had an interesting interview with Szabłowski that got me interested in this account of people struggling to adjust to life after communism.

Emma Ever After by Brigid Coady – ever the optimist, I will always try anything Austen-related.  Particularly, as in this case, when it’s a modern retelling of Emma.  My favourite Austen book is the hardest to retell so my expectations are low.

Istanbul & Beyond by Robyn Eckhardt – a beautifully photographed collection of recipes from across Turkey.

Curries and Bugles by Jennifer Brennan – I read about this in More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin back in 2016 and, with my love of all things Raj-related, have been trying to find a copy ever since. Thanks to the inter-library loan system, I’ve finally got my hands on it.

Queen Bees by Siân Evans – to meet my never-sated appetite for inter-war gossip, I picked up this profile of six London society hostesses.

What did you pick up this week?

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