Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading 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.
I am beyond excited to announce that the new co-host of Library Loot is Sharlene from Real Life Reading! I love her eclectic reading tastes and have gotten many great recommendations from her over the years. She is an enthusiastic library user and a talented blogger and I could not be more delighted to have her as co-host.
She will be hosting next week but, for now, on to my loot!
The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold by Tim Moore – I love an adventure travelogue and I love books about Eastern Europe so when they are combined life is rather wonderful. I’ve wanted to read this account of Moore’s cycling trip along the old Iron Curtain since it was first reviewed in the Financial Times, which I now see must have been two full years ago. Time flies terrifyingly fast.
Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada by Jan Raska – this year marks the 50th anniversary of the largest wave of immigration from Czechoslovakia to Canada (which included my mother). To coincide with the anniversary, this fascinating new book looks at how the 36,000 Czechs who immigrated to Canada from 1945 to 1989 found their way here and established themselves in their new country. This is the most absurdly niche book I could imagine, so I doubt it appeals to most of you but I couldn’t be happier to have got hold of it.
Apron Strings by Jan Wong – the daughter of a restaurateur and mother of an aspiring chef, Wong set out on a journey (accompanied by her son) to explore home cooking in three of the world’s great food cultures: France, Italy, and China. A seasoned journalist, I always find Wong’s writing fascinating and am really looking forward to this. (Also, if you haven’t read it, her memoir of workplace depression, Out of the Blue, is extraordinarily good and really helpful for understanding both how depression looks – or doesn’t – and how workplaces can improve the support they give their staff.)
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Jennifer mentioned this last week in her “Books to Read in the Winter” post and I couldn’t resist picking it up again. Even as a child, I remember thinking it was by far the strongest book in the series but it’s been ages since I last read it.
Christmas on the Island by Jenny Colgan – The most recent book in Colgan’s Mure Island series, this is published as both Christmas on the Island (North America) and Island Christmas (UK). Colgan’s writing is getting stronger with every book and I’ve really enjoyed that the focus in this series has not stayed fixed on the heroine and her love interest – except to point out the shortcomings of the love interest. (I got really hopeful this was going to be a Little Lady Agency sort of situation, where the seemingly perfect love interest gets kicked to the curb after several books…but now I’m not so sure). It’s not great literature but is very enjoyable to curl up with on cold nights.
Ghosted by Rosie Walsh – another instance of dual titles: Ghosted for North America and The Man Who Didn’t Call for the UK. I added this to my list when Sarra Manning included it in her June roundup of books but, to be honest, now that it’s here I’m not quite sure if I’m really interested in it. But I will give it a try. That is the luxury that libraries afford us – the chance to try – and reject – as many books as we like, all for free.
Perfect English Townhouse by Ros Byam Shaw – for when reading words is too taxing, I can always fall back on photos of absolutely beautiful homes.
What did you pick up this week?
This post contains affiliate links from Book Depository, an online book retailer with free international shipping. If you buy via these links it means I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you).
The Captive Reader 
It’s sad you’ve aligned yourself with the Amazon owned Book Depository, choosing to accept some meager coin from them rather than supporting the retail book trade, local & independent.
The meager coin is very helpful at keeping this blog going. I personally buy most of my books from local shops but it’s impossible to get everything locally, which is why I love Book Depository. I can get titles from them that haven’t yet been released in my country and they ship for free. It’s too bad they’ve been bought out by Amazon but they still provide wonderful selection and a great service, so I am very happy to use them when needed.
I’d be interested in what other solutions you’d recommend. Any ideas?
Thank you for keeping the meme alive, Claire! And I loved to discover Sharlene’s blog, I will be following her, too 🙂
Wonderful, Juliana!
I hadn’t come across Sharlene’s blog before. I am following her now. As for the comment about The Book Depository, it is a great and useful place. Of course we would all like to be surrounded by amazing book stores where we can buy anything from any country but that is a fantasy. Reality, at least for me, is a lot of online shopping.
And, thanks for the mention. The Long Winter is perfectly nostalgic childhood reading, isn’t it?
So happy to have introduced you to Sharlene! She reads such an interesting and diverse range of books that I always find something new and intriguing to add to my list.
And yes, The Long Winter is proving incredibly nostalgic. I’m amazed but how much of it I remembered!
The Long Winter is brilliant. What Ma Ingalls went through to keep her family alive is unbelievable. Just bought a collection of LIW’s letters which I’m looking forward to reading.
It really is a wonderful book. I’ve been reading it this weekend and it is just as good as I remembered.
“That is the luxury that libraries afford us – the chance to try – and reject – as many books as we like, all for free.”
Exactly. I do it all the time. “Hmmm, that sounds like I might like it. Or not. No harm, no foul.”
Except, sadly, ebooks and audiobooks. I’m very very careful about what I take from the library in those formats, because the publishers sell only a restricted number of checkouts to libraries. I don’t want to waste one they’ve paid for. Grrr.
I’m enthusiastic regardless of the format. For ebooks and audiobooks, the plus side is that authors get paid when additional copies are purchased so I can still view it as a win-win!
Thanks for the lovely words Claire!
Of course! I am so delighted to have you as co-host.