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.
Greetings from the holiday doldrums! Is it Friday? Is it Monday? Who knows! Time tends to lose meaning when I take time off work while staying in town and that is fine by me. The snow and ice have disappeared (thanks to truly monumental amounts of rain) so I’m able to stride forth easily on my daily walks and return to read (and dry off) next to the fire. Repeat ad infinitum – or at least until next week.
Assignment in Brittany and Ride a Pale Horse by Helen MacInnes – I continue my discovery of MacInnes’ spy novels. Assignment in Brittany is one of her more famous ones (as it was adapted into a film) and Ride a Pale Horse has me intrigued as it deals with Czechoslovakia.
The Grand Spas of Central Europe by David Clay Large – Speaking of Czechoslovakia (and when am I not?), I’m excited about this history of some of Central Europe’s largest spas, which includes the famous Western Bohemian spa triangle. I’m planning to stop in Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad) next spring so it will be fun to read more about its history before that trip.
Tempestuous Petticoat by Clare Leighton – What a title! This is artist Leighton’s memoir of her mother, an “invincible Edwardian” (as per the subtitle).
Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes – Simon intrigued me with his initial review of this body-swapping novel back in late 2020 so I was delighted to see him get it reissued and readily available through the British Library Women’s Writers series.
The Lyttelton Hart-Davis Letters: Volume Three, 1958 – after great success with volume two, I’m continuing my reading of this bookish correspodence.
What did you pick up this week?
The Captive Reader 
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
When I was younger I devoured every book I could find by Helen MacInnes I am now 85…maybe I should check her dates 😂
She definitely had a long career – more than forty years!
Interesting books all of them. I wish I could find a Helen Macinnes again.
The bulk of her work was reissued within the last ten years as both paperbacks and eBooks so hopefully they aren’t too hard to find these days!
Hurrah for Strange Journey! And Tempestuous Petticoat is a must-read for the title alone, agreed.
I’m so excited to start Strange Journey! Thank you for championing it and making it easy to find 🙂