The Captive Reader

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 basically no longer read.  Yes, I can be found with a book during my commute and during my lunch hour but the happy hours at home that were once devoted to reading have, for the last couple of weeks at least, been focused on my television where I have been binge watching A French Village.  It took ages to get the first season on DVD through the library but once I discovered how fantastic the series is it was thankfully quick to track down the subsequent seasons.  Set in the fictional town of Villeneuve, the series considers what life was like in France under the German occupation, looking at a different year each season (season 1 – 1940, season 2 – 1941, etc).  It’s absolutely wonderful and, clearly, utterly consuming.  There are 7 seasons and I’m just starting season 4 now so don’t expect a lot of bookish talk from me for a while.

Also here to distract me from books in the DVD of the recent HBO adaptation of My Brilliant Friend.  I’m feeling a little torn that I haven’t read the books first but I’ve heard wonderful things about the show.

Now, back to books:

Broken Lives by Konrad H. Jarausch – this is subtitled “how ordinary Germans experienced the 20th century” but it’s actually focused on one very specific generation: those born during the 1920s.  They came of age under the Nazis, survived the war, and lived most of their lives in a country torn apart by communism and struggling to come to terms with the legacy of the Holocaust.  Using more than 60 memoirs by Germans from all walks of life, Jarausch puts together a portrait of a generation and it looks like it’s going to be a fascinating read. (Book Depository)

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez – In a world designed for and by men, what is the impact on women?  That’s the focus of Criado Perez’s examination of how a data bias towards men can make things more challenging for women.  Ever wondered why a smart phone is the size it is?  Why women are more likely to be injured and die in car accidents than men?  Or why your office is always so cold?  Read this book. (Book Depository)

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert – I’ve been seeing great reviews for this everywhere (most convincingly to me in Sarra Manning’s round-up of best June releases) so thought I’d give it a try. (Book Depository)

The Wine Lover’s Daughter by Anne Fadiman – Anne Fadiman is beloved of readers everywhere for her book-loving essay collection Ex-Libris; a natural topic given that her father, Clifton Fadiman, was one of the most famous readers and public intellectuals in 20th Century America (back when a public intellectual was something America was proud of having).  This book is structured as a collection of essays about Fadiman Senior’s great love of wine but it’s really a memoir and biography of him by a very loving daughter.  A short and wonderful read that I sped through on the weekend (see!  I do know how to do something other than watch A French Village). (Book Depository)

Wilding by Isabella Tree – picking this back up after making it half-way through this spring. (Book Depository)

And, to finish off, two light reads:

The Year that Changed Everything by Cathy Kelly (Book Depository)

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (Book Depository)

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).