Wednesday 2 February 2011

Library haul *Or, the madness of wanting to read everything

I was busy in January, reading 10 books.  10!!!  I am so proud.  A lot of my tv viewing has gone down, and I've been enjoying reading more.  This is not say I'm not watching my favourites, I could never miss Fringe!    Mostly, I am enjoying reading,  and making time to read more  That is really what my resolution is about, making more time for books.  I know I can't read everything out there, though I really want to.
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! 

It seems I am finding almost every book interesting and irresistible.  Actually, I think I always have, but between all the books I bought in January (that's the next planned post) and the 20 + books out from my library, I'm pretty well feeling like the next six months of reading is covered!. Ok, I can hear you all wondering, what books did I haul from the library?

Here is a photo of my Library loot:

The Library Loot (with Blogger responsible beside it)
The pile on the left:
-Spellbent - Lucy A Snyder
- Death at Wentwater Court - Carola Dunn (Cath at Read Warbler, her post here)
- Sweater Quest - Adrienne Martini (Terri Windling, post here,  Delia Sherman, post here)
- Life and Fate - Vassily Grossman
- Sepulchre - Kate Moss (because of Bride's review of The Winter Ghosts, over at Bride of the Book God), and this one features a tarot deck. 
- The Westminster Poisoner - Susanna Gregory
- Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healey (a blogger somewhere)....
- Well-Witched - Frances Hardinge (Locus magazine review)
- Visitation - Jenny Erpenbeck
- Juliet, Naked - *Nick Hornby*
- How To Make Friends with Demons - Graham Joyce (Locus magazine - see my sidebar)

The pile on the right:
- Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - BBC production,  dvd. (score!!)
 - The Cold Light of Mourning - Elizabeth J. Duncan (Mystery Scene Magazine review)
 - The Laughing Policeman - Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (Detectives Beyond Borders blog, post here)
- Dangerous Angels - Francesca Block (Chris at Stuff as Dreams Are Made Of, post here)
- Murder on the Rocks - Karen MacInerney (Mystery Scene Magazine review)
- Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
- Silent in the Grave - Deanna Raybourne (Bride at Bride of the Book God, post here)
- Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading - Maureen Corrigan (Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, post here)
- The Burning Land - Bernard Cornwell (Mariel at Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops, post here - it led me to all her reviews of The Arthurian Cycle by Cornwell)
- The Limits of Enchantment - Graham Joyce
- A Chance Meeting - Rachel Cohen (Nymeth at Things Means Alot, post here; it's actually Litlove's comment to Nymeth that caught my eye, but the entire post made me add 4 books to my reading list!)
 - The Outlander - Gil Adamson

I forgot to put in the picture the library book I'm currently reading:
- Valley of the Lost - Vicki Delany (Kathleen at Boarding in My Forties recommended this author to me, how I missed a new Canadian mystery series I have no idea, but I am very much enjoying her.  Lesa at Lesa's Book Critiques has reviews of all the books in the series, beginning here.)

I can hear you all laughing.  I know I won't read all of these, though I'm going to try!  It's so much fun to click that button online and request a book from our library.  If only we could click a button and order more time just for reading, too!!

I'd say there are a lot of very bad Bloggers out there too, though really I thank you from the bottom of my heart for pointing me towards some excellent books to read.

Happy reading, happy library loot!

17 comments:

Low Flying Angel said...

I like Library Loot :) so much that I use four libraries

I like your blog pic with your books and teddies, that's how I have my bookcases :)

Cath said...

*Is proud to be a bad blogger* LOL. I think you'll enjoy the sheer fun and exuberance of Daisy Dalrymple.

But wow! That's a huge library haul! We can only have 12 books at a time so I could never have a pile that big. Plus we get charged 50p a time to reserve books, which makes you a little careful about pressing that button. ;-) Wonderful haul, Susan, look forward to hearing about the ones you decide to read.

DesLily said...

good gravy marie! That's 6 months worth of reading LOL LOL

Sam said...

Thanks for the picture...spotted a Nick Hornsby book I didn't know about. Now I need to ask my library to find and hold it for me.

Irene said...

I can hear you all laughing. I know I won't read all of these, though I'm going to try! It's so much fun to click that button online and request a book from our library. If only we could click a button and order more time just for reading, too!! You're Hilarious. I just stumbled upon your blog, and must say, I'm doing the library thing this year as well, just too many titles I want to read and not enough time. 2010 was a record reading year for me as well. I'll be watching for your reviews. Any of them Irish?

Anonymous said...

I love this - and from one "mad" woman to another - I'm the same way. I want to read everything!! Or so it seems when I'm reading about books on my computer. Then there's the whole actually reading everything problem. LOL

You have some good ones that I've enjoyed. Love Daisy Dalrymple and so hope you enjoy DEATH AT WENTWATER COURT. Love Karen MacInerney's books and hope you like MURDER ON THE ROCKS. She lives in my area most of the time when she's not in Maine. Love SILENT IN THE GRAVE and all of Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia series. And, last but not least, I love Vicki Delaney's books and especially the ones set in Trafalgar. The latest one, NEGATIVE IMAGE, is really, really good.

Sigh. That's all I have to contribute, Susan. Have a good week!!

Lesley said...

Holy cow, that's a lot of books!

I have been watching less TV and reading more this past month as well. I hope I can keep the momentum going.

I saw Graham Joyce's The Limits of Enchantment on your list and just wanted to give a thumbs up for that book. Love his books!

Anonymous said...

I love online renewal at my library. Saved me many a fine, although I still seem to be overdue often enough that I open my wallet at least 3 times a year.

Molly said...

Wowie that's a lot of books! And even if you don't have the opportunity to read all of them, just think of the fun you are going to have trying to do so :)

chrisa511 said...

Yep, you can most definitely hear me laughing from over here :p So glad to see Dangerous Angels there!!! It's so fantastic Susan!! I think you're going to love it! I've really been wanting to read Guardian of the Dead too...I've heard it's great.

Jodie Robson said...

Oh boy, what an amazing haul, I'm surprised you didn't bring back a dead moose too :-)

Our library charges 90p to reserve books, which can make looking to see if Amazon's got a copy for 1p + postage quite tempting sometimes, until I remember that *I have no shelf space left*!

Kailana said...

Good luck getting all that read! Lots of good books on there. I loved The Outlander!

Susan said...

Mary: Four libraries! I am so jealous....though I guess I shouldn't say that, as we do have inter-library load available here, for all the libraries in Ontario. But still, to have four libraries!

Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment, I will come find your blog.

Cath: 50 p to reserve a book seems so high! That would stop me from reserving so many, that's for sure. I currently have 29 books out. I don't know if I'm proud or shaking my head at myself! lol

Deslily: yes, it is!! and they won't let me keep them for six months, either! can you tell I'm trying to push myself to read more, so I get to my 100 books this year??

Sam: You're welcome! I hope you can find the Nick Hornby book. It's been getting good reviews. Now I hear he has another out, Slam, that's I haven't seen yet either. Just in case you didn't know! lol

Irene: Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment! I'm glad you caught the humour, all i can do is laugh at myself and roll my eyes when I see another book has come in for me at the library :-D

Yes, there will be some Irish reviews, although none of these ones are. I joined the Irish Challenge, and am waiting for Tana French's The Faithful Place to come in at *the library* lol

Susan said...

Kay: that's cool that Karen lives in your area when she's not in Maine!! you know I have you to thank for Vicki's series (I just finished book two and will be reviewing shortly). So knowing that you like Deanna Raybourn's series too, and the Daisy series makes me sure I will enjoy them. Thanks for letting me know! I am eager to read them all. I'm also very glad to know that you share my problem with the clicking to request books thing :-)

Lesley: Oh good! I enjoyed his The Facts of Life very much, and Limits of Enchantment did get really good reviews. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it also. LIke you, I'd like to keep this momentum of reading more going.

Stephanie: I paid so much in overdue fines last year that i could have bought some books! so I've decided to really try to return them on time this year. So far I have $1.00 fine....

Molly: I know! I keep moving them around in piles, sorting through what I want to read next. It's fun to have choice! lol

Susan said...

Chris: Thank you for your comment about Guardian of the Dead, it inspired me to read it today, and now I've written my post for it too. Go get a copy as soon as you can, I think you will enjoy it. Now I have to try Dangerous Angels and see if I like it as much as you did. Thanks! and I'm glad I make you laugh so much!! lol

Geraniumcat: I can't carry a dead moose and all those hardcovers!! lol nice one, though :-)

geez, your library is even more expensive than Cath's down south! what's with the libraries over there? I'd be tempted to go to Amazon too, despite no shelf space either. My library books sit on the floor since there are no 'vacant' books shelves. As if! lol

Kailana: I remember you talking about The Outlander! It might have even been your review that convinced me to try it, so I'll link it once I've read it. You tempt me too, you know, far more than is for my good :-)

Kathleen said...

That picture of your stack from the library is making me want to make a trip there, and soon!

Susan said...

Kathleen: There was a long time when I didn't go to the library much, busy with other things. Now though, I'm finding it's a great way to read books I'm not sure about buying, or want to try first, or just read and don't need to own. yes, I've reached the point in my library building that I'm beginning to pick and choose what will go into it! So the public library is fantastic. If this convinces you to find your nearest one again, then that will be fun!

of course, I'm still buying other books at the same time.....