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.
In my last Library Loot post, I mentioned I had just read (and adored) Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. Audrey then got my year off to a spectacular start by alerting me to the fact that there were not one but two sequels: Belong to Me and I’ll Be Your Blue Sky. What joy! Naturally I got my hands on them within a few days and have read them both already with great delight.
In contrast, I’ve known about Hearts and Minds by Jane Robinson since it was first announced, long before its publication early last year, but have had to wait ages for my library to get a copy. I am really looking forward to this history of the Great Pilgrimage of 1913, when suffragists (not suffragettes, importantly) marched from across the UK towards London to raise awareness of the fight for women’s suffrage.
I’ve borrowed Fascism by Madeleine Albright before but it has been in great demand and I wasn’t able to finish it before the due date. I’m excited to return to this “examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world.” Albright’s perspective is shaped by both her professional experiences as an American politician and diplomat, and her personal experiences of growing up in exile after her homeland was overrun by fascists (which you can read more about in Prague Winter).
I was browsing the food writing section of the bookstore by my office and noticed Unprocessed by Megan Kimble. I’m always intrigued by experiments and find Kimble’s one – to eat only whole, unprocessed foods for a year while living on a student budget – particularly intriguing.
Finally, it’s been two years since I first borrowed War Diaries, 1939-1945 by Astrid Lindgren. I didn’t manage to read them that time but I remain intrigued and eager to know more about what life in neutral Sweden was like during the war.
What did you pick up this week?
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The Captive Reader 
I’m so glad I could help! — I’ve certainly got a lot of great book recommendations from you. And getting to spend more time with those characters is definitely wonderful. 🙂
I just got to disappear into their world for a few days and it was the loveliest thing possible. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could dare write not just one but two sequels to something as perfect as Love Walked In but the results were so much better than I had dared hoped. I definitely plan to reread these again!
I was trying to decide if I wanted to borrow the audiobook of Fascism but wondered if I should read her earlier books first as I don’t really know much about her
I think you’re fine starting with Fascism. It is certainly influenced by her life experiences but doesn’t rely on any previous knowledge.
That said, if I had to pick one Albright book to recommend, it would be Prague Winter without a doubt.
Thanks Claire!
Unprocessed looks very interesting. I don’t need to read about anyone slaughtering animals for the freshest meat though. And I have to find a copy of Hearts and Minds!
I’ve started reading and there has been no butchering yet. So far, she’s ground wheat to make bread and learned how to make chocolate. All very interesting stuff.
Loved Fascism by Madeleine Albright as well as her Prague Winter!
I too loved Prague Winter and can’t say enough good things about it. I’m having trouble getting into Facism, I think because I miss the personal style of the earlier book.