Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader 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 placed a flurry of holds last week and they are starting to come in quickly, not quite as anticipated; when a book shows as ‘on order’ and you are sixth in line for one copy, it seems quite miraculous when it suddenly appears at your branch on a few days later, as happened with On the Road to Babadag. A bit of a surprise but certainly the best kind – a very nice way to start off the year!
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
After enjoying The Warden, I read (and, of course, loved) Barchester Towers at Christmas and am eager to start on this, the next book in Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire.
On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe by Andrzej Stasiuk
I included this travelogue in my reading list for the Eastern European Reading Challenge 2012, thrilled that my library finally had a copy after months of eager waiting (ever since I read this Guardian review).
An Autobiography (also published as It’s Too Late Now) by A.A. Milne
The 5th of Simon’s “50 Books You Must Read”, I knew I had to read this as soon as I heard about it. Milne was, without a doubt, the most influential author in my early childhood but it has taken me a while to get around to it. No bedtime was complete without a reading from the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh or The World of Christopher Robin. One of my very first reviews on this blog was of Christopher Milne’s The Enchanted Places – how odd it is to go back and reread that, especially when I remember the book so much more fondly than I reviewed it! One of my plans for 2012 is to finally read the second volume of C. Milne’s memoirs, The Path Through the Trees, but it seems only right to read the father first.
Family Circle by Cornelia Otis Skinner
Lisa counted this as one of her favourite books of 2011 and, after reading her review, I’m quite intrigued to find out more about the Skinner family. It’s been years and years since I last read the wonderful Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and her friend Emily Kimbrough but I have a feeling this might send me back for a reread.
“Miss Elizabeth Bennet: A Play from Pride and Prejudice” by A.A. Milne
A.A. Milne does Jane Austen. Irresistible prospect.
Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed my Life by Stephanie Staal
I’ve been looking forward to this reading memoir since it was published last winter but it has been a popular choice at the library and this was the first time a copy was available. I haven’t read many of the books that Staal touches on so I’m interested to see how that impacts my reading experience. What I am certain of is that I will come away with a list of titles I want to read!
What did you pick up this week?
I’m very intrigued by Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
It’s been ages since I read Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. Wow, bringing back a lot of memories!
Linda, I just finished reading “Miss Elizabeth Bennet” and it was WONDERFUL. If you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it!
These all look good. I still am reading the pile I borrowed over a week ago! Isn’t the library a great place!
The library is indeed a great place! I must admit to still having most of my books from December sitting in my TBR pile but, telling myself I work better under pressure, I did not let that impair my signing out of new ones. This usually leads to chaos and then I end up wishing I had the restraint of readers like you…
Your LIBRARY has Miss Elizabeth Bennet? Wow! I had to try so hard to find a copy of it. But I had been very lucky before that – in 2003 or thereabouts I saw a production of this play, in a little village. It’s a lovely mixture of Milne and Austen.
And hurrah hurrah for Milne’s autobiography! One of my all time favourite books, as you know. And I do hope you get to A Path Through the Trees (in fact, I posted it to you back in the day, didn’t I?)
Also want to read the Skinner. Oh, you are bad for me, Claire…
My library is AMAZING, I think I can safely now declare that as fact since not only do they have “Miss Elizabeth Bennet” but also a number of the obscure books you and others have been reviewing lately. Though I just picked up “Miss Elizabeth Bennet” from the library yesterday afternoon I have already read and I loved it. I think this is the first Milne play I’ve read and I’m really looking forward to reading more.
And yes, you did send me my copy of A Path Through the Trees almost two years ago so it really is time I gave it the attention it deserves.
I am going to deflect the blame for the Skinner onto Lisa!
Oh, I’m so pleased that you got Family Circle, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It did send me straight back to Our Hearts for a re-read. Once again you have some wonderful books – including more Trollope. I’m going to look for the Stasiuk
and Staal books.
You know the worst thing? I gave away my copy of Our Hearts Were Young and Gay when I moved from Calgary to Vancouver last year. What a little fool I was!
I hope to have only good things to report once I start reading Family Circle (a quick skim through the first few pages already has me excited to read more) and good luck to you in tracking down the Stasiuk and Staal!
Right, so, I see you are reading Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire. I’m reading County Chronicles by Angela Thirkell and it wasn’t until I looked her up on wikipedia to find out something that I realized that she set her books in Trollope’s fictional location. So I’m wondering is it best to start with Trollope and then go to Thirkell? But obviously you’re doing both at the same time, so I guess not?
I read a dozen of Thirkell’s novels before I ever started on The Warden and, clearly, my enjoyment of Thirkell was not at all impaired!
gosh i havent read AA Milne since my childhood so you’ve totally put a bug in my ear to re-read them, now i see several “free” reads on my ibooks/kindle app on the iphone, so thanks for the reminder!
You’re welcome! It’s been ages since I reread the Winnie-the-Pooh books but I do still pull down Milne’s poems with some frequency. He is timeless and I’m really excited to read more of his work aimed at adults, especially having just read and loved “Miss Elizabeth Bennet”.
That is a lot of loot. Happy reading!
Thanks! These, along with a half dozen or so books I have leftover from old visits, should keep me busy for a while.
The A.A. Milne book looks quite interesting!
It’s excellent! If you can track down a copy, I highly recommend it.
I’ll be looking for your post on On the Road to Babadag!
I’m also curious to see what you make of Reading Women. I wasn’t as huge a fan of it as most of the other bloggers I saw, but I was expecting more literary analysis and less personal memoir-ish stuff.
Eva, sorry to say but I abandoned On the Road to Babadag. I started reading it as soon as I picked it up but really did not enjoy the style. I know you’re interested in it and I hope you have better luck!
I’ve already finished Reading Women and, while not a big fan of it, I did find it entertaining enough. I had expected more lit crit and less memoir but for me that was a pleasant surprise. I’m glad I tried it but I didn’t find it particularly memorable and I’m not sure if I’ll ever review it in detail.