Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and myself 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!
A week from now I will be on a plane, headed for Prague. So, of course, I quite logically decided to check out books that I desperately wish to read but have no hope of finishing before I leave. All of these are from the university library and I’m still a bit dazzled by the access it has given me to titles I have long wanted to read, like The Rector’s Daughter, but have been unable to track down. Even though I won’t finish all of these before I leave, there is certainly comfort in having now seen them for myself and in knowing that they will all still be available to me when I come back.
The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor
This is one of those Virago titles that seems impossible to escape, with people praising it online, in books, and in newspapers. It was one of the first books I added to my TBR list after I started blogging in early 2010 and now, finally, I’ve got my hands on a copy!
The New House by Lettice Cooper
Almost the first thing I did after gaining access to the university library was cross reference its catalogue against the Persephone list. I know almost nothing about this book but such is my faith in Persephone that I picked it up and am intrigued to try it.
Ayala’s Angels by Anthony Trollope
Trollope! Except the edition I have (not the one pictured) is tiny, about half the size of a normal book and I’m finding the smallness of the print incredibly difficult. I can see it clearly enough but it’s just too stressful to focus for long periods of time on such tiny font. I may have to set this aside until I can find a better edition. Summer in the Country by Edith Templeton
I knew absolutely nothing about this book or this author when I stumbled across this in the stacks. But I saw that it was a Hogarth Press book and anything that promises a country setting will earn a second glance from me. And with that second glance I discovered that the countryside in question is not in England but Bohemia. How providential since, as I mentioned, I’ll be there this time next week!
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Okay, this Persephone I do know something about (unlike The New House) and was thrilled when I discovered the university had a copy (though their copy is a first edition, not the Persephone one pictured). I started reading it immediately and am loving it.
A Vicarage Family by Noel Streatfeild
My only experience with Streatfeild so far has been Saplings, which I found promising but ultimately forgettable (and which I will one day get around to reviewing properly). But I did like her writing style and am interested to read more of her work, starting with this autobiographical novel, the first of three volumes about her childhood.
What did you get this week?
I bet you are very excited about your trip! I would be!
Enjoy your loot.
The only one of these I’ve read is the Noel Streatfield but they all look very interesting
Happy reading!
Those look amazing, happy reading. And have lots of fun in Prague! 🙂
How funny! My mother has only just (yesterday!) finished “Hostages to Fortune”, which she enjoyed very much, though she said it was rather sad. And two days ago, I was going through her bookshelves and came across a tattered 1946 Penguin edition of Lettice Cooper’s “The New House”, and am now dying to read it! I hope you have time to read it before you head off to Prague, so that you can tell me if it’s any good!
They all look very interesting. Hope you get to finish one or two before your trip.
What an interesting list and beautiful books!
I adore Hostages to Fortune! The New House also good, though not quite as good. Similar feel.
Today I read a 1927 Vogue in the library!
Have fun in Prague.
I’m actually not a member of a library, I tend to buy all my books but since I’ve started blogging and looking round lots of review sites it’s become obvious I need to join the local library. There’s just too many books I want to read and I’m not rich enough to buy them all. Sadly.
Summer in the country, The Rectors Daughter and A Vicarage Family are the three I would love to see what you think of.
So have you decided what books you’re taking with you? That’s always the first packing I do! and of course, I usually overpack.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read Trollope and lately I keep seeing his name in the blogs. Beginning to think I’m missing out. btw ebooks @ Adelaide has Ayla’s Angel available in HTML, printable and epub formats
my current loot favors fairy tale, fable, and myth as well as fiction by Stephen King, Anne Beatie, Louise Erdrich and Jodi Picoult among others and several memoirs including Anais Nin and a couple of ex fundamentalists. Also some movies and TV series.
Have a wonderful visit to Prague. Looking forward to the pictures!