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 have been reading like a fiend lately thanks to a recent run of great books (also, obviously, lots of time. Lots and lots and lots of time – I can only work and walk so many hours each day). I’ve already read through half of these and look forward to starting soon on the others:
The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting – I spotted a review of this last spring and have been patiently looking forward to this historical novel set in 1880 in a small Norwegian village. I read it as soon as I picked it up on the weekend and it was absolutely worth the wait – I loved it and am delighted to know it’s the first book in a trilogy.
Cuttings by Christopher Lloyd – a collection of Lloyd’s gardening columns for the Guardian. I enjoyed Dear Friend and Gardener, a volume of letters (always intended for publication) between him and Beth Chatto, and am looking forward to reading more by him.
Walking Away by Simon Armitage – I thoroughly enjoyed Walking Home, poet laureate Armitage’s account of walking the Pennine Way, and am looking forward to his subsequent experiences walking the South West Coast Path.
War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan – the newest book from the acclaimed historian.
Prisoners of History by Keith Lowe – speaking of new books from acclaimed historians…Subtitled “What Monuments to the Second World War Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves” this is incredibly timely given the debates going on.
Beyond Belfast by Will Ferguson – I have had this travel memoir about walking the Ulster Way and uncovering family history on my to-read-list for ages.
Dancing in the Mosque by Homeira Qaderi – An Afghan activist’s memoir of her life growing up in Afghanistan, written as a way to explain to her son why she left her country – and him – behind.
Harlequin House by Margery Sharp – seeing so much talk of Sharp recently (following the Dean Street Press recent reissues) had me searching the inter-library loan catalogue for titles I haven’t yet read.
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson – a surprisingly gentle tale about three very different characters – a dying old woman, a newly divorced young(ish) man, and an anxious seven-year old girl – and how their lives intersect.
Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls – A spirited YA novel about three young women struggling for suffrage, this has been on my to-read list since Sarra Manning praised it back in 2017. It took a few years to track down but inter-library loan came to the rescue!
And two cute rom-coms to round it all off: Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron and Love at First by Kate Clayborn
What did you pick up this week?
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
But there’s a few on your list that I will be looking for on my next visit. Thanks. ❤📚
Wonderful! Glad to hear you find some of these intriguing.
Ooh The Bell in the Lake and Walking Away both went on my TBR!! I’m reading The Gilded Ones right now and enjoying it, though I may be ready for a YA fantasy break after I’m done (there is only so much Chosen One trope I can take at a time)
The idea of the Chosen One does wear thin surprisingly quickly so sounds like both these books would be excellent palate cleansers 🙂
Happy to hear how much you enjoyed ‘The Bell in the Lake’, I’m looking forward to that one.
I’m just finishing ‘Innocence’ by Heda Margolius Kovály and wavering between two others for the next book.
I LOVED it. It’s been a long time since I felt so immersed in a book. Very impatiently waiting now for the next book in the trilogy to be translated!
Your selection is so varied that it would make all your reading interesting as well. I try to choose mixed genres but then I tend to drift towards one favourite.
I picked up a copy of Prisoners of History at Powell’s a few months back and soooo need to read it!
You do! It’s different from his other books and I found the format a bit choppy to start with but settled in and found it very thoughtful.