Library Loot - Books for The Begorrathon

March brings The Begorrathon - a month long cultural celebration of all things Irish hosted by Cathy@746 Books and The Fluff is Raging . You can read all about it at either of those links.

With the end of the month rapidly approaching I set off to the library to pick up the three books I had planned to read but old habits are returning and I came home with a couple more than expected. 

Through Connemara in a Governess Cart by Somerville & Ross.......I have always enjoyed Lisa's reviews of the books of S & A and have had this one on my TBR for quite a while. It is the only one my library has but fits in nicely with The Begorrathon.

Laws in Conflict by Cora Harrison.....In 2010 I read the first in this mystery series set in 16th century Ireland, really enjoyed it and was looking forward to more. Unfortunately the library never bought any more  until last month when I noticed they had added all further seven of the series - I have some catching up to do.

A History of Loneliness by John Boyne.....'a courageous, deeply moving account of a nation and a man living through a period of cataclysmic, irreversible change.'

Academy Street by Mary Costello .....' the heartbreaking and evocative story of one woman's life spanning six decades.' The sort of book I would have expected to be of chunkster proportions and I'm interested to see how a lifetime can be portrayed in 178 pages.

The Doll's House by Louise Phillips ... Irish Crime. Criminal psychologist Dr Kate Pearson is called in to help in the investigation of a murder after a body is found in a Dublin canal.

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Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.



I was very restrained last Friday when I had my first visit to the library in six weeks and only brought home three books. Two crime and some short stories for lighter reading...

The Winter Foundlings by Kate Rhodes - the third in the author's series featuring psychologist Alice Quentin who works with the police when they need help solving murder cases. I enjoyed the other two and expect to like this one too.

The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C.Kasasian - ' set between the refined buildings of Victorian Bloomsbury and the stinking streets of London's East End this one is for those who like their crime original, atmospheric and very,very funny.' 

Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood - a collection of short stories ' darkly humorous and seriously playful.'

I also placed two on hold and the first is already waiting to be picked up.

The Crooked House by Christobel Kent

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

If I can stand firm these will be my library allowance for the month!

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Library Loot & Put on Hold

Every year I see brave bloggers undertaking the Double Dare Challenge - to only read from their own shelves for the first three months of the year. While I know I should do it my library visits are so much a part of my life I also know I simply could not stay away for that length of time.

However, when I saw a post from Lory @ The Emerald City Reader  inviting anyone to join her during January reading only our own books that seemed achievable as it's holiday time here and the month always goes very quickly. I do have to make one exception as the book I plan for Reading England I don't want to buy and it will be a library book.

Until then I have a few library books to finish! 

Gwennie's Diary by Gywnne Peacock is the record of a young New Zealander who sets off to see the world and meet her Yorkshire family in 1939.

The only library book I had left at home and commonsense told me not to bring back any more. But when it comes to books saying no is so very hard and now there are three more which I may, or may not, get read before the end of the month.

Lila by Marilynne Robinson - an unforgettable story about a girl living on the fringes of society. 

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett - a novel of timeless love and dangerous obsession. Antiquarian bookseller becomes obsessed with finding the origins of a Victorian miniature that reminds him of his dead wife.

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey - How do you solve a mystery when you can't remember the clues?

*****

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

Library loot for AusMonth

November is AusReading Month - an event hosted by Brona's Books.

Originally I'd planned to read from my bookshelf which would also cross a few more titles off my Classics Club list but have decided now to start the month with some lighter reading so it was off to the library..

Currawong Manor by Josephine Pennicott - ' an evocative tale set in the spectacular Blue Mountains, a mystery of art, truth, and the ripple effects of death and deception.' I really enjoyed this author's first mystery novel, Poet's Corner and expect good things from this one too.

Albert of Adelaide by Howard L. Anderson - ' a wholly delightful, old-fashioned novel about friendship and loyalty.' I love the sound of Albert's adventures and this will be my weekend reading.

The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane - ' a tender thriller and an exquisitely constructed meditation on time and memory.' A debut novel that has received very positive recommendations and has been on my TBR for some time.

*****

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.



I have lifted the library ban and hope that three weeks is enough to teach me I do not have to bring home every book that takes my eye, every week. I've let myself off a week early because I noticed in the library catalogue at the weekend that two of my most anticipated books had moved from 'on order' to 'in cataloguing' and immediately put them on hold. Today I picked up the first, the new Sarah Waters, and to keep it company I allowed myself one more - such restraint!!!

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Her by Harriet Lane 

What's in your loot this week?

Library Loot & a reading update

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

I returned home after 10 days away to a pile of unread library books most of which were already, or very near to being, overdue. I decided to take most of them back and only renew the three I really wanted to read.

Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst - this is a beautiful book packed full of gorgeous photographs - I know I will love it and refuse to return it unread.

The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene - more about this one below.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler - the only title on the Booker longlist I felt drawn towards reading.

To these I added...

Thursday's Children by Nicci French - the latest in this series featuring psychotherapist Frieda Klein has her returning to the Suffolk coastal town of her childhood. Should be good bedtime reading

This Is Not A Novel by Jennifer Johnston -  'only Imogen believes that her brother did not drown thirty years ago.'

Time Present and Time Past by Deirdre Madden - when Fintan Buckley develops an interest in old autochrome photography, strange things start to happen.'

I was wandering the shelves with my little green notebook when I saw these last two authors written at the top of a page. No book titles with them and I have no idea why I wrote them down. After seeking their books out I found they are both set in Dublin and are by Irish authors. They are also both barely over 200 pages long which suits me right now as I'm having difficulty settling on what to read and staying concentrated on it.

I finished reading Jane's Fame last night but am putting Emma aside until another time.

I read The Headmaster's Wife over the weekend and enjoyed it very much. I thought it sounded like a psychological thriller but was completely wrong. This book doesn't belong anywhere near a crime/thriller shelf. It's written in short, rather terse sentences and the author really builds the tension in the first half while the reader feels an increasing unease and uncertainty without knowing why. The narrator changes halfway through from the headmaster to his wife and the answers start to reveal themselves.

The headmaster teaches English and loves the Russian classics - Turgenev is mentioned several times which I take as a sign from the book fairy as to where to go next. My Classics Spin book is Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev and with several reading events in September I think it would be a good idea if I read this next week. It also has only 200 pages for which I'm very thankful - the spin definitely worked in my favour.

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I'm Back with some Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Linda @ Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

I've been away far longer than was ever intended but unfortunately life does get in the way at times. I thought it was appropriate to begin again on the same note I left on - with my latest loot from the library. Most of my reading in the past few months has been 'comfort food' which for me is usually crime and thrillers so I'm looking forward to getting back into something more varied.

Catching up with the many posts from my favourite bloggers in my reader has been great - it was very tempting just to mark as read - and while I regret what I've missed I'm also inspired by what's new. Like Shiny New Books - awesome! Off to the library I went yesterday with the hope I might find some SNB on the shelves and I think I did rather well. Four out of the five below are from the SNB fiction lists.

The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry -' a heartbreaking portrait of one man's life - of his demons and his lost love.' I don't expect to be disappointed with this one.

The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah - 'Stuck in a traffic jam, Nicki Clements sees a face she hoped never to see again.' A favourite author who writes excellent psychological thrillers - very surprised to find this one on the shelf.

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz - 'Grace Sachs, a happily married therapist with a young son, thinks she knows everything about women, men and marriage'....another psychological thriller by an author who is new to me - looking forward to reading this one.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North 'No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before.' Of the five books here this is the one that intrigues me the most.

The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir - 'An unmanned luxury yacht crashes into the harbour in Reykjavik. What happened to the crew, and to the young family who were on board when it left Lisbon.' The sixth in this series featuring Icelandic lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir. Tried and true reading.(I hope)

That the emphasis is still on crime and thrillers is because I still need easy, relaxing reading........plus I began a Classic which I thought would take a while to read but has turned out to be such compelling reading I can't put it down - more about that another time.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire @ The Captive Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

After returning a pile of unread books ( I do overdo it) this is my loot from the past two weeks.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

I was delighted to read this morning that The Luminaries has advanced to the Booker shortlist. A wonderful achievement for this 28-year-old New Zealand author.
I began reading it last week and am still only halfway through - partly because it's too big to read in bed and partly because it requires close attention and a slow pace. Very entertaining and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Next week Anbolyn from Gudrun's Tights is hosting Mary Stewart Reading Week. I chose this title because it was published prior to 1960 which will make it eligible for the Vintage Mystery challenge as well. 
It's a long time since I read Mary Stewart so quite looking forward to renewing our acquaintance.

Constance by Patrick McGrath.......'a compelling story of a troubled marriage and a damaged family.' While I was on holiday I managed to find a copy of Asylum which lived up to everything I'd read about it so I'm hoping this new one will be as good.

The Ghost Riders of Ordebec by Fred Vargas.......Commissaire Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds. it took me a long time to read a Fred Vargas but now she is one of my favourite crime writers.

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly.......An odd young girl, a missing baby.. 'gripping and chilling with a killer twist.'

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberley McCreight........a mother seeks the truth about her daughter's supposed suicide attempt.

This year I haven't read as many crime/psychological suspense novels as I have in the past so I decided to focus on that genre for the R.I.P. event and I think I have some good ones here!

What's in your loot this week!

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire @ The Captive Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they have checked out from the library.

Last week I brought home a pile of shiny new books but after reading two of them the attraction of 'new' wore off and I felt like something different so a bit more variety in today's loot.

Alex by Pierre Lemaitre......In kidnapping cases, the first few hours are crucial. For Alex Prevost time is running out. Winner of the CWA International Dagger Award 2013.

Now in November  by Josephine Johnson.....I was doing one of my searches for Virago Modern Classics when I came across this one. Originally published in 1934 it is the story of a middle-class family driven into poverty by the depression. A Pulitzer Prize winner.

The Garden of Reading - Short Stories about gardens and gardening. Includes work from authors as diverse as Barbara Pym, Saki, Colette , James Thurber and many more. Sounds as lovely as its cover and I know I will enjoy these.

What's in your loot this week?