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.
September is Czech Lit Month (which prompted some thoughts on What is Czech Literature?) so, of course, I am hoping to participate. I have some unread books on my shelves but thought I’d grab some more from the library too:
Gerta by Kateřina Tučková, translated by Véronique Firkusny – Tučková’s The Last Goddess was one of the most absorbing books I read last year, about a woman piecing together, both before and after the end of communism, her family’s cursed history and heritage as healers. Gerta, written earlier, looks at the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from the Czech lands in 1945 and the Brno death march. It’s not an event that was widely talked about for a long time and I think this is the first time I’ve seen it handled in fiction.
Money from Hitler by Radka Denemarková, translated by Andrew Oakland – In sparkling, imaginative prose, celebrated Czech writer Radka Denemarková depicts a world of absurdity and darkness. Money From Hitler tells the story of Gita Lauschmanová, who as a young girl in 1945 leaves a concentration camp as an orphan to face the stunning realization that there is in fact nowhere to return, and that the oppression and savagery of the holocaust are far from over. For Gita, living is no longer a question of right or wrong. It is purely a question of survival.
What Ownership’s All About by Karel Poláček, translated by Peter Kussi – published in 1928, this tale of a policeman who builds a small suburban apartment building and then begins to exert terrible control over his tenants “hauntingly foreshadows the rise of fascism” (in the opinion of Publisher’s Weekly).
Lavender’s Blue by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer – after far too long a pause, Crusie is back! This is the first of three books being released in quick succession.
The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner – I quickly read and enjoyed Weiner’s newest book, about a very Weiner-esque heroine who ends up leading a cycling tour through upstate New York.
Feral by Emily Pennington – subtitled “Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks”, I am not sure if I’m going to enjoy the travel/adventure portion of this or get fed up with the introspection of a thirty-two year old trying to make sense of her life. 50-50 odds?
Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber – After loving Fanny Herself and enjoying The Girls, I’m keen to read more by Ferber.
Noon by Kathleen Thompson Norris – an “autobiographical sketch” that I’m eager to dip into it.
Books by Larry McMurtry – a memoir of McMurtry’s life with books (as always, bookish memoirs are irresistible to me).
What did you pick up this week?
I think you asked which Edna Ferber books I would recommend and I never answered. Saratoga Trunk is at the top of the list. Mainly because it is the first one I ever read when I pulled it off the shelves at home. I was a kid and it was different from what I usually read and I loved it. So Big is also very good. I reread it recently.
That is excellent to hear! So Big is a bit more of a challenge to track down (I’ll have to use ILL) but I’m on the hunt for it too.
I’ve read the McMurty! it was pretty good. And now I’m interested in Money from Hitler . . .
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the McMurtry! I’ve never read any of his novels so this is a fun way to be introduced to him.
[…] Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot icon and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s blog. […]
Related to your interest in Edna Ferber, please read So Big. Such a good book!
I’m looking forward to it!