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.
A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian – I’ve loved this wartime coming-of-age story since I first read it as a twelve year old but my copy is somewhere deep in storage so I’m reliant on the inter-library loan system to read in right now. A little bit of patience is required but it’s always rewarded.
Adair of Starlight Peaks by Essie Summers – I am so enjoying tracking down Essie Summers’ light romances. The stories themselves are pleasantly predictable but the settings – in New Zealand – are so lovingly detailed that they are the biggest draw.
Animal, Vegetable, Junk by Mark Bittman – I’ve been looking forward to this look at human’s relationships with food.
Black Earth City by Charlotte Hobson – a beautifully-written memoir of the year Hobson spent studying abroad in Russia in the early 1990s.
African Europeans by Olivette Otele – The “untold history” of African Europeans (not just Pushkin!), you may have heard this mentioned back in May on Backlisted.
Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford – you’ve read her novels, you’ve read her letters, but have you read Nancy Mitford’s biographies? I read her Frederick the Great late last year and it was a complete anecdote-filled joy so I’m looking forward to this.
What did you pick up this week?
The Captive Reader 
Nevil Shute’s The Old Captivity. A surprise ending!
A surprise everything with that one! Definitely one of Shute’s weirder books.
Each book seems to be different. He’s certainly not predictable.
The Nancy Mitford book would be my first pick. Looks good.
I’m excited to get into it!
I have that African Europeans book on my wishlist, and enjoyed Johny Pitts’ modern journey through the topic in Afropeans earlier this year.
I’ve not heard of Johny Pitts before so I’ll keep an eye out for that!
African Europeans and Black Earth City both look good. Happy reading!
I haven’t started African Europeans yet but Black Earth City is very good – highly recommended.
Glad I’ve got you hooked on Essie Summers! Look for Moon Over the Alps – although it has a silly misunderstanding I love how the heroine handles life on a sheep station. I know I would starve in her shoes.
Thank you so much for introducing me to her!
I have just read Elizabeth McCracken’s book of short stories The Souvenir Museum and am totally in. A new find discovered by rooting through the newly returned books.
Excellent! Always fun to have serendipitous discoveries like that.