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.
Last week, Sharlene noted that one book seemed a bit light for my weekly loot. But it was strategy. Suddenly all my library holds were rushing towards me at once and I was bracing for impact. And now here they are:
Wilding by Isabella Tree – What happens when you let nature take over thousands of acres that have been industrially farmed for years? That’s the experiment Isabella Tree and her husband undertook at their West Sussex estate and the results are fascinating. I first heard about this in a Financial Times article and am intrigued to find out more as I read this. (Book Depository)
The Wandering Vine by Nina Caplan – I don’t love wine but I love history and I love travel writing so am excited to hear about Caplan’s journey. (Book Depository)
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson – A new book from Wilson is an event worth celebrating! I loved her memoir and her first novel was one of my favourite books of 2013 so I have high hopes for this fantasy inspired by the tensions between Muslims and Christians in Inquisition-era Spain. (Book Depository)
Drumveyn, The Larach, and Sun on Snow by Alexandra Raife – Last September there was a “Can you help?” post over at Cornflower Books that immediately intrigued me. A reader was looking for a half-remembered book about a family in Scotland written in a D.E. Stevenson-esque style. I stalked the comments until the answer came – the book was Drumveyn by Alexandra Raife. And now I’m finally getting around to reading it, plus a few more of Raife’s books.
Coming to My Senses by Alice Waters – I’m headed down to San Francisco next week to visit a friend so, rather than just reread Saturday’s Child to get myself in the mood for the city, I thought I’d try this memoir from the woman who changed American food culture from her base in Berkeley. (Book Depository)
Cousin Harriet by Susan Tweedsmuir – I’ve had this on my TBR list since December 2012 (after reading this review) so happy to finally get my hands on it (thanks to the always miraculous interlibrary loan system).
Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes – There are not enough books in the world about the Swiss so I was delighted that my library finally got a copy of this one. (Book Depository)
A Paris Year by Janice MacLeod – I’m heading to Brittany next month and will only be passing through Paris but this has helped get me in the mood for France in general. (Book Depository)
In Paris with You by Clementine Beauvais – I hadn’t fully realised I needed a modern YA version of Eugene Onegin until I started reading this on my morning commute yesterday. (Book Depository)
The Rhine by Ben Coates – A travelogue recounting Coates’ journey along the Rhine (from his home in the Netherlands all the way up into the Swiss Alps) and its history as one of the most important rivers in the world. (Book Depository)
What did you pick up this week?
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I love getting our newsletter and nearly always look up the books you mention. I am a full time professional and a mother, there is not much time left to browse through book shops… And to be honest, I am often confused by the large offer in bookshops. So your selection just suits me perfectly. I have just now ordered Wilding and the Butterfly Mosque, and am very excited. I live in Paris and work in the 6th arrondissement, bang in the centre of town. If you would like to have a coffee, we could maybe work something out. I am half Austrian half Dutch, and have lived in Italy (15 years) and now France (another 15 years). Very best, Katharina
Katharina, what a lovely offer. However, I truly am just passing through Paris on this holiday with only enough time to jump from one train station to the next. We’ll have to save coffee for another visit.
Claire, enjoy your travels and I will continue enjoying your posts.
Best wishes,
Katharina
I am fascinated by Swiss as well. You can see how people are fighting when they do not want minority language to be represented, even if it is half of the population, and here they have 4 and are ok with it, amazing! The book must be a real treasure, have not seen many of that kind in book stores.
It’s not a new book but it is a new edition, and the third one at that! It was originally published in 2010, then 2012, and most recently updated in 2018. (From this I can only assume that there should be a wealth of used copies available for you to track down if you’d like.) At some point in that history my edition tells me that it was named a Financial Times book of the year so thankfully we aren’t the only ones interested in the Swiss!
I think we need a new app that just moves all the books you mention in Library Loot directly to my library reserve list! I may be going to Switzerland in July so that one is first on my list. Thanks, as always!
Switzerland in July sounds perfect! Did you ever read In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim? That’s another good one for Swiss travels.
Oh the feast and famine of the holds queue at the library! You’ll be a busy reader with this batch and researching your trip. Have a wonderful time during your travels, Claire,…how could you not?
Thanks, Darlene! I will say, obsessive researcher and traveller that I am, the bulk of my trip planning is done (it’s a good hobby for the dark winter months) so now I really just need to get myself in the mood and then show up and enjoy it. I’m finishing my France holiday with five nights in London too, which makes it an even more perfect trip.
I’m green with envy over the whole lot.
Understandable 😉
Aha! There the books are! 😛
Yes, as promised!
I agree with Audrey, that kind of app would be very helpful! I’ve added The Rhine to my reading list, if ILL can get me a copy (they won’t request new books, but I’m hoping a 2018 book is eligible). But I really want to read Cousin Harriet. I see she also wrote one called The Edwardian Lady, and I automatically want to read that.
That’s a promising title, certainly! My library has a number of her books but only the boring ones: the one she wrote about Canada (when John Buchan was Governor General), the friends and family’s memory book after Buchan died, etc. I’m excited to finally get my hands on one of her novels!