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Archive for the ‘Library Loot’ Category

Library Loot: May 17 to 23

Posted in Library Loot on May 17, 2023| 3 Comments »

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 am off travelling again (now in Europe) and enjoying one of the great perks of my Auckland library membership: access to digital audiobooks of my favourite Lucy Parker novels. Great for long train rides and for getting extra excited about her new release, Codename Charming, which is coming out in August!

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: May 3 to 9 (or, Library Adventures in New Zealand)

Posted in Library Loot on May 3, 2023| 6 Comments »

Hello! I am briefly back after a wonderful two months in New Zealand, gearing up to head off to Europe shortly for another exciting three months of travel. New Zealand was amazing in so many ways and while most of my time was devoted to the outdoors, I did of course find time to read. I’m so used to travelling in non-English-speaking countries that the novelty of having libraries full of English-language books everywhere I went in NZ never wore off.

While my e-reader was my best friend on the trip, I did find time to pop into libraries throughout my visit and make significant progress in my quest to read all of Essie Summers’ books. Here’s what that looked like:

In Hamilton, I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading at the library to beat the heat after a morning visiting the gardens and walking along the river (reading, arguably, the worst Essie Summer’s book I have yet to find – His Serene Miss Smith)
During my week in Wellington, I took advantage of the National Library and spent several rainy and windy afternoons reading in their comfortable chairs. It’s easy to sign up for an account and be able to order items from the collection (to be read on site). I did try to access some non-book items and was unsuccessful but received the most helpful and detailed response from the archivist who was heading the search with alternative suggestions
In Picton, I spent the afternoon before I headed off on a five day hike hiding from tourist hoards in the lovely public library
In Christchurch, I spent a very rainy late afternoon at the gorgeous main library branch skimming through local interest books and gazing out the window at the restoration of the cathedral
In Dunedin and Auckland, I was spoiled beyond belief as I was able to get library cards (for a fee) and take books back to my accommodation to read at night! Dunedin was a particularly amazing offer as you provide a $50 cash deposit and they deduct $2 for every week you use the service. When I returned my card after 5 days, I got $48 dollars back. In Auckland, it was a flat $40 for several months of access so even at home I am still enjoying their digital library, which is full of titles by New Zealand authors I’ve not been able to access anywhere else and, most excitingly to me, the audiobooks of my favourite Lucy Parker novels

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: April 19 to 25

Posted in Library Loot on April 19, 2023| 2 Comments »

My last library loot post from abroad – at least for a little bit! I’ll have my hands on physical library books soon and I can’t wait. As much as I love my e-reader (it is a godsend for travel) it’s time to give it a break.

The General Danced at Dawn, and Other McAuslan Stories by George MacDonald Fraser – I love Fraser’s Flashman stories and this is my first encounter with his short stories, based on his own experiences of army life.

Riverman by Ben McGrath – a portrait of Dick Conant, who spent twenty years canoeing along American rivers and connecting with people across the country before disappearing in late 2014.

Thursday’s Child by Noel Streatfeild – one of Streatfeild’s classic children’s stories.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: April 5 to 11

Posted in Library Loot on April 5, 2023| 3 Comments »

The Holiday Bookshop by Lucy Dickens – some nice light holiday reading (always a good sign when “holiday” is in the book’s title) about a woman who takes a short posting to run a bookshop at a resort in the Maldives.

Did Year Hear Mammy Died? by Séamas O’Reilly – this memoir about growing up in Northern Ireland as one of eleven children being raised by their widowed father sounds excellent.

Faking It by Jennifer Crusie – One of Crusie’s best, making it one of the best rom-coms out there. A companion to the equally wonderful Welcome to Temptation.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: March 22 to 28

Posted in Library Loot on March 22, 2023| 3 Comments »

More adrenaline than usual this week!

Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes – MacInnes’ first book and still one of her best known (thanks to the film), about married academics who, heading off on a European holiday in the summer of 1939, are recruited to look for a missing spy.

Alias Emma by Ava Glass – Constance’s recent review of this suspense novel immediately intrigued me.

Edmund Hillary: A Biography by Michael Gill – next month I’ll be at Aoraki/Mount Cook, where Hillary made his first major climbs and later trained the Everest expedition. It houses the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and I thought it could be interesting to learn more about him before I get there.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: March 8 to 14

Posted in Library Loot on March 8, 2023| 1 Comment »

After reading so much about New Zealand while I was at home, it’s time to read about Canada while I’m abroad.

The Imperialist by Sara Jeannette Duncan – After reading An American Girl in London and Cousin Cinderella, this is clearly my year for discovering Duncan. Published in 1904, this has long been a part of the New Canadian Library and looks at two siblings full of high ideals in a small Ontario town.

The Watch That Ends the Night by Hugh MacLennan – I really love MacLennan’s works and, as far as I’m concerned, this story of a fraught love triangle is his best (though Barometer Rising about the Halifax explosion is the best entry point). It also has the distinction of inspiring “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)” by The Tragically Hip.

The Man from Glengarry by Ralph Connor – more than ten years ago, I read and loved Glengarry School Days and now I’m finally returning there.

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: February 22 to 28

Posted in Library Loot on February 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I am off now and likely deeply jet-lagged (so very appreciative of the ability to pre-schedule posts) but I did have a few final books arrive for me in the days before I left. Luckily I’m a good speed reader!

Gerta by Kateřina Tučková -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.

A Lamp for Jonathan and Autumn in April by Essie Summers – truly, my very, very last inter-library loan arrivals before my trip. These arrived days before my flight but helped me get in the mood (especially since one of them is set in the area I’ll be visiting first).

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Loot: February 8 to 14

Posted in Library Loot on February 8, 2023| 5 Comments »

I have only a little time left with physical library books before I head off on my travels. I love the convenience of e-books, especially when travelling, but spending months without physical books is always hard. It is really the only thing I’m sad about for my upcoming travels (the lack of income was much easier to make peace with).

To get me in the right mindset, I have a very appropriately New-Zealand-themed selection this week. After waiting since November for a number of Essie Summers ILLs, they have all decided to arrive in the weeks before I leave to get me in the mood!

And for everyone who wondered: don’t worry, my library loot posts will continue while I’m away. I might not always have much to share but they will be here!

What did you pick up this week?

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Library Lust

Posted in Library Loot on February 4, 2023| 1 Comment »

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Library Loot: January 25 to 31

Posted in Library Loot on January 26, 2023| 1 Comment »

The Reluctant Bride by Lucy Mangan – a reread (after many years).

The Gold of Noon by Essie Summers – I continue to track down as many Essie Summers books as I can – there promises to be a flurry of them next week as the ILL system is rolling again after a lull during the holidays.

This Land I Love by Susan Graham – in preparation for my trip to New Zealand, I have scoured the library catalogue and come up with some very random but appropriately themed picks. Graham was a Auckland-based newspaper columnist and this book from the early 1960s brings together entertaining vignettes from her travels around the country.

What did you pick up this week?

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