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.
It’s been a tiring year so far and while I know I really, really should be catching up on my reviews for A Century of Books (I’m more than half done my reading, but pathetically behind on reviewing), sometimes it’s just too daunting at the end of a long day to spend any more time in front of a computer. Much better to pick up a book instead. The reviews will come…eventually.
Mrs Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford – Seventy-seven year old Jenny secretly applies to compete on a popular televised baking competition and, while that doesn’t remain a secret from her husband of almost sixty years for long, the competition does start Jenny thinking about a much bigger secret she has been keeping for six decades. As twee and predictable as you’d expect, but I still happily read it.
Take Two by Danielle Hawkins – I discovered Hawkins’ books while in New Zealand last year and was delighted to convince the Vancouver library to purchase this new release.
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson – I am halfway through this right now and loving it.
War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott – excited to finally have my hands on this exciting reissue from the British Library Women Writers series!
What did you pick up this week?
I hope you review the Helen Simonson and British Library books.
I just finished the Simonson and while I’m unlikely to review it, I did enjoy it. It’s exactly what you’d expect it to be from reading the blurb, but Simonson writes very well and her heroine, Constance, is well-drawn. Simonson was a bit lazy with her extended cast of characters (all the nasty characters are racists while the nice ones are totally unfazed by new acquaintances of different races. No further character work needed) but overall very engaging.
Looking forward to your thoughts on War Among Ladies! And happy ACOB reviewing 😀 I am over halfway too, but I keep repeating years…
I’m so excited to read it! It will be a repeating year for me (which doubtlessly means I’ll actually review it quickly) but there are so many repeating years at this point…
Only one Hawkins at TPL, Dinner at Rose’s, and it sounds like a fairly conventional romance (heartbroken young woman leaves old life to take up new life and dot dot dot) but hey, why not?
<i>Dinner at Rose’s</i> is fairly conventional but I really liked it. For me, Hawkins writes about characters whose behaviours and mistakes feel very real and less contrived than in so many novels, and the family and community relationships are so strong.
I have left TWO links to my blog posts about Library Loot, but I frequently go to my libraries (plural) more than once a month. I’m sorry we have fewer and fewer book bloggers adding their links than we once did.
It’s too bad others have dropped off but so glad you’re still participating!