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.
The Selected Writings of Sydney Smith edited by W.H. Auden – When I read The Wry Romance of the Literary Rectory back in 2013, the standout individual profiled in it – for me – was Sydney Smith, the witty essayist, diarist, and clergyman. He was already on my radar then but the book confirmed my desire to learn more about him…so of course I did nothing for eight years. Picking up An Englishman’s Commonplace Book by Roger Hudson recently, I was inspired the Smith quotations included there to finally track down this selection of his writings.
A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken – Back to my favourite genre: the expat memoir. Here Aitken moves to Poland for a year to better understand why Poles are leaving their country.
Life without a Recipe by Diana Abu-Jaber – I loved Abu-Jaber’s first memoir, The Language of Baklava, and am looking forward to this follow-up.
The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan – I borrowed this back in August as an e-book but reached a point where I couldn’t stand to use my e-reader for a while. I’ve got this out now as a nice hardcover – much more satisfying.
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman – I finally caught up with the rest of the world and read Beartown last week and loved every page of it. Even before I finished reading, I made sure to grab the sequel.
Sarah Morris Remembers by D.E. Stevenson – I read this in 2012 back when I was racing through all of D.E. Stevenson’s books and it stood out then as one of her best. I’ve been struggling to find a copy of my own so am delighted the interlibrary loan system is running again and was able to lend this to me. It’s the perfect cosy comfort read for winter.
What did you pick up this week?
The Captive Reader 
Ooh, I think my TBR is filling back up based on this post! Added the Poland one, Life Without a Recipe, and the Stevenson book – missed that one on my recent binge.
I have been on a bit of a library slump also leading to a reading slump, so no Library Loot post today. I did just finish The Golden Thread – I believe I first read about that one on Sharlene’s blog, and it was amazing. Read-out-loud-in-bed-to-hubs amazing. He made fun of me (gently) until I started reading him the chapter on outdoor gear.
It’s all a matter of perspective – to me it sounds like you are building up a glorious TBR 🙂
Between you and Sharlene, I’m now almost convinced to try The Golden Thread (though, like your husband, that may not have been my first instinct).
Extra encouragement: Although it is in a kind of chronological order, you could definitely skip through and read the chapters you are most interested in, if that helps! The first chapter is linen, which unless you are terribly into Egyptology is a bit of a slow start.
It was great to read your interlibrary loan system is active again! Sadly, ours is not but definitely something to look forward to! As are your library loot posts, Claire.
Spending time on the customer service desk at the library has done wonderful things for my holds list. Scrolling through the ‘On order’ section is deadly!
I am then still behind everyone as I have yet to read Backman! And yes, do try The Golden Thread. It was full of such interesting information. It’s the kind of book that I want to buy a copy for people.