Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the nineteenth day of the month is "Library." I've decided I'm going to just tell you what are on my library book shelves each month.
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Physical books checked out:
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke
Leaves of Grass: First and "Death-Bed" Editions by Walt Whitman
Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
Closer to the Heart (Valdemar: The Herald Spy #2) by Mercedes Lackey
A Duke in Disguise (Regency Imposters #2) by Cat Sebastian - Hm. I didn't realize this was second in a series. Should I read it without having read the first one?
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - I actually have two copies of this because it's our book club book for the month and the waitlist at the public library was so long that I had my husband take it out from the university library, too.
Ballet Shoes (Shoes #1) by Noel Streatfeild - Inspired by Doris and Anne from our ATGIB discussion, I checked this one out from the library.
Ebooks checked out:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyers
Audiobook checked out:
Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children #6) by Seanan McGuire
Spanish books checked out:
Juana y Lucas by Juana Medina
El robot del bosque (Bitmax & Co #1) by Jaume Copons, illustrated by Liliana Fortuny Arnella
Physical books on hold:
Black Sun Rising (Coldfire Trilogy #1) by C.S. Friedman
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
Ebooks on hold:
When in Rome (When in Rome #1) by Sarah Adams
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
Audiobook on hold:
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
This is, perhaps, too many books to have checked out. What's in your reading stack that you're most excited to start reading?
I'm very interested in how _On Beauty_ holds up for you because of its setting in academia. (I remember liking it... I used to teach it in a seminar on campus novels long ago. I bet it has a lot of hats in it!) I'm looking forward to reading Ruman Alam's _Leave the World Behind_. My cousin and I both have a copy so we're doing a bookclub for two :).
ReplyDeleteOn Beauty was a Women's Prize for Fiction winner (2006), which is how it came on my radar. Fingers crossed it holds up!
DeleteI love a book club for two! So much fun!
Ballet Shoes!!!!!!! It's one of my favorite books from childhood! I want to re-read it now. I hope you like it, although reading a kid's book for the first time as an adult is a different experience than reading it as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly but surely returning books to the library unread (as the library asks for them back) while I make my way through the Ender Saga. My son wants to jump right into the Shadow series, but I might take a break and try to get to some of the books on my TBR.
Ooohhhh...I would love to hear your thoughts on the Shadow series. I'm so tempted by them, but I'm trying to read mostly women and I feel like I'd just get sucked into the OSC world if I started reading them.
DeleteHow did Ballet Shoes never cross my path when I was a young reader?! Everyone else has such fond memories of it!
I just have to accept that reading is basically nonexistent for me each summer. This is just a fact. It feels ironic since so many people read MORE in the summer, but I feel like I'm burned out on books and have so little down time with the kids off school. I'm reading ATGIB which is PERFECT since it's only a few chapters a week and I'm picking away at the All The Living and The Dead (a chapter a night; great rec by the way)...and that's it. A bit pathetic, but it's what I can muster right now.
ReplyDeleteHey, reading comes and goes in waves. You're keeping up with ATGIB and that's not nothing!!! I didn't read a ton last month, either. Sometimes life gets in the way and that's okay. Reading isn't a competition!
DeleteAww, Noel Streatfeild, I loved those books when I was a kid! Such fun.
ReplyDeleteI just started reading Evvie Drake Starts over, by Linda Holmes, and am liking it so far--in fact, I really want to be reading it, not working! But we'll see if I keep liking it all the way.
Evvie Drake was good! I have been very happy with both of the books by Linda Holmes, which is good because I am always nervous when podcasters I love put out books because what if I don't like the books?!
DeleteI'll be interested to know how you feel about The Interestings. I read it that and liked it but didn't love it, if I'm remembering correctly. I didn't review it for my blog, so I have no notes. You are clearly an extremely avid reader. I rarely check out more than 2 books at a time. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I check out a lot of books because I do read a lot, but also because I only had four checked out when the library closed for COVID and I read those books really quickly and then HAD NONE LEFT. It was a bit of a crisis for me! So now I have rebounded and always take out way more books than I can possibly read and return some of them unread. It's better to have too many in mind!
DeleteOf these, I have only read Montana 1948 and The Tiger's Wife. My memory of The Tiger's Wife is that I found it absolutely transfixing, but that it had a lot of problems associated (in my mind at least) with first novels. I will be interested, as always, in your reviews!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just finished The Interestings and have a review post scheduled for Saturday.
I took out Montana 1948 because of your rec! Tiger's Wife won the Women's Prize for Fiction (2011) or I'm sure it would never have come across my radar. We'll see how it works out.
DeleteOkay besides reading Leaves of Grass in college, the only book I've read on your lists is The Last Train to Key West. Enjoyed it, light, but an interesting story. Yep, that's my review. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWell, The Last Train to Key West has a waitlist of a few months. I was hoping I'd be able to read it during the summer, but it looks like that's not meant to be!
DeleteI am excited about the new Katherine Center novel, Hello Stranger.
ReplyDeleteYay! Hopefully you can get if from your library quickly - the waitlist at our library is LONG.
DeleteLoved Remarkably Bright Creatures, On Beauty, The Lacuna and... well, We Need to Talk About Kevin was quite effective but obviously not a super-fun lovable read. I just finished My Dark Vanessa, which was quite a bit different than I expected and I couldn't stop reading, and at this moment I have no idea what I have out or what I'm going to read next, although I have ten ebooks out from the library and at least one hardcover. I also saw a Fred Vargas book in my armoire today while taking my pills that I bought over a year ago and I might just move that up to the head of the queue.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Remarkably Bright Creatures right now and I'm finding myself quite confused by it to be honest. I'm interested in my own review of it because I don't really know what I think. Our book club will meet about it on Sunday and maybe it will help me clarify my feelings.
DeleteSo, I read We Need to Talk About Kevin in 2012 and wrote a bit of a mean review about it on GR. I think my criticisms from back then stand, but I think I'm less mean than I was then! Ha!
Most romance series can be read out of order, and I think A Duke in Disguise is no different! I don't remember if I read the first book in that series, but if I did, I don't remember anything about it and it didn't affect my enjoyment of the novel.
ReplyDeleteYou have so many favorites of mine on hold!
Hmmm...I don't think I agree that you can read a lot of romance series out of order. Imagine jumping into the Bridgerton series with Hyacinth's story - there are so many other characters that I think it would be confusing! But I think you *should* be able to pop in on the second or third book and not have too many characters running around.
DeleteI feel like I there's a lot of pressure on me with so many favorites on hold. I'll have to be quiet if I have too many criticisms!
Yes, I agree with that! I think I mean that you won't get confused at the plot because it's not a continuation of the series when it comes to romance. Even with the Bridgerton series, each book stands alone and you can read them out of order and won't get confused because there are no continuing plotlines. Yes, there are characters and that's why it can be nice to read a romance series in order, but I've done that MANY times and I've often forgotten most of these people and their stories. The only reason I remember who each Bridgerton is is because of the show, ha.
Deleteoh my gosh that is a load. How much time do you need to read all those? Is that just one month? And is it sad, that I do not know even one of those titles?
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely more than a month's worth of reading since I usually read 8-13 books a month. But it's nice to have options!
DeleteIt's not sad that you don't know these books. There are SO MANY books out there!
Oh, man, now I'm super nervous that you hated Ballet Shoes! My dad was trying to find them for me a few years ago... wonder if he ever found any?
ReplyDeleteOh, I haven't read it yet! No worries! If I don't like it, I'll be kind. I definitely acknowledge that sometimes I'm not the audience for children's/YA books and take that into consideration.
Delete