This Just In!

Stasia (alcottacre) thought it would be fun to have a place where we can record the "treasures" that we have picked up, whether from the local library or books purchased throughout the year.

I hope everyone will share! The BlackHole needs to get bigger :)

From the public library (all of them for TIOLI challenges):
Madness : race and insanity in a Jim Crow asylum by Antonia Hylton - also for my Black Studies reading
A sudden light by Garth Stein
My soul's high song: the collected writings of Countee Cullen, voice of the Harlem Renaissance - also for my Harlem Renaissance reading
All in: an autobiography by Billie Jean King - already finished and the review is posted on my thread (4 stars)
Joe Pepper by Elmer Kelton
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Salt, sugar, fat : how the food giants hooked us by Michael Moss
Archaeology of the Bible : the greatest discoveries from Genesis to the Roman era by Jean-Pierre Isbouts

For my personal library:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore - also for a TIOLI Challenge in January

I normally post on Fridays here but given the wiki problems, did not get the list posted last week. Hopefully I can keep to the Friday schedule from here on out in 2025

These are new library holds picked up today:
* Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
* The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
* The Iliad by Homer, the Emily Wilson translation
* The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World by Daisy Dunn

I've already read the Fagles translation of The Iliad. I loved studying ancient history in grade school. I'd like to read more. I requested a classic, a work of history, and a work of historical fiction (still waiting for that one).

>4 ReneeMarie: Nice!

From the public library (all of them for TIOLI challenges):
Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History by David A. Jasen
The Selected Novels of W. Somerset Maugham Vol. I - continuing my reads of Maugham's works
Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier

For my personal library:
Borderlines by Archer Mayor - the second book in the Joe Gunther series

Three novels from the library plus from The Great Courses Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor presented by Prof Kenneth W. Harl.

The novels:
* Creation: A novel by Gore Vidal
* A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
* Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

>7 ReneeMarie: I have not read the Mrs. Pollifax books for years, but I always enjoyed them back in the day as good, light-hearted fun.

Treated myself to Small Town Sins

Camel Xiangzi (Rickshaw Boy) by Lao She
Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
The Once and future king by T. H. White

>8 alcottacre: They do make me giggle. I loved them as a kid, & it turns out I still love them.

>9 laytonwoman3rd: And what a sentence THAT makes!

>12 ReneeMarie: I thought so too! Started the book, though, and now I'm not so sure it will be a treat...we'll see.

The library visit word of the day is 'gluttony.' Here we go:

* Rejection: Fiction by Tony Tulathimutte
* All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami
* Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin
* Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce
* The Assassin's Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker
* Old School by Gordon Korman
* The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen

And I got two audiobooks that will let me try immersive reading:
* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
* The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen

>9 laytonwoman3rd: Which sins? Inquiring minds want to know. . .

>11 ReneeMarie: Yep. I understand that completely.

>14 ReneeMarie: Nice!

>15 alcottacre: Hehehe...you can read my review of it on my thread! I didn't give too much away.

>16 laytonwoman3rd: I have read your review and decided that I do not need to read the book :)

Only 1 new-to-me book in-house this week: Introduction to Manuscript Studies by Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham, a textbook on a subject which is of interest to me.

Kindle rewards double points day and I had been saving some book purchases for when it rolled around.
Onyx Storm Rebecca Yarros
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory Martha Wells
Compulsory Martha Wells
An American Duchess Caroline Fyffe

>18 elorin: Nice haul, Robyn! I will be curious to see what you make of the Martha Wells books. I love her Murderbot series.

>19 alcottacre: They are both short stories in the Murderbot universe. I'm looking forward to bite sized Murderbot!

3 of 4 library holds picked up are on fire:
* Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (this one's flaming, & it arrived before I finished rereading the first book, let alone the second)
* Babylonia by Costanza Casati
* We Do Not Part by Han Kang
* Good Material by Dolly Alderton

>20 elorin: Nice! I should check to see if I can get hold of them too.

>21 ReneeMarie: Good luck with getting the flaming Onyx Storm read before it is due back, ReneeMarie, especially if you are rereading the first two books in the series first. As I recall, they are not the shortest books.

I made my pilgrimage to Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney a couple of weeks ago and added (for my personal shelves):

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (Murderbot)
The Man with the Golden Torc by Simon R. Green
Into the Fire by Elizabeth Moon
The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones

I've also raided the library and have physical library books (as opposed to e-library books, which I can't keep track of since you can borrow them at any time of the night or day and when the loan has expired they just slip back to the library without you noticing):

Kill the Farm Boy
Starling House
The Amber Legacy
Immortal Prince
Freedom's Choice

The order I made for books as a Christmas/New Years present to my self arrived the other day (I put the order in a week before New Years so it's not that late.)
Three books had to be returned as they weren't what I thought they'd be (different format than other books I have in the same series).
The others are:

* Julias hus och nattpappan by Maria Gripe
* Tales of Polynesia by Yiling Changues
* Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
* At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
* Contemporary Art by Natalie Rudd
* Symbols in Art by Matthew Wilson
* Women Artists by Flavia Frigeri

I now have all of the "Tales" books and am only missing one of the Gripe books that have been republished so far.

>22 alcottacre: It's going to be a *LOVELY* 3 weeks.

I need to finish Fourth Wing (498pp & I'm on 40/41) by the 3rd, pick up Iron Flame that day, read it as quickly as possible, then read all of Onyx Storm by 2/17.

But, wait: I also have 2 other non-renewable books to read each week BESIDES the Yarros books. So I have 9 books I need to read over 3 weeks.

That's another fine mess I've gotten myself into. If it's all going to pot, I need to focus on the Yarros books. There are about 330 people waiting for Onyx Storm after me. (As soon as I checked it out, I put my name back down on the hold list to mitigate a possible epic fail.)

Going to stop typing & start reading now...

>23 humouress: >24 PawsforThought: Wow! Tons of great reading there, Nina & Paws!

>25 ReneeMarie: I hope the 3 weeks turn out to be as *LOVELY* as you want them to, ReneeMarie. It does seem as though you have your hands full with all those books!

I actually have things to report this week for the first time in what feels like forever:

From the public library (and all for February TIOLI Challenges):
The Harlem renaissance remembered; essays, edited, with a memoir by Arna Bontemps - also for my Harlem Renaissance reading
Sailor and fiddler: reflections of a 100-year-old author by Herman Wouk - also for "The Lists" challenge
Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram - also for "The Lists" challenge
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah - also for "The Lists" challenge
1177 B.C. by Eric Cline - on Hoopla
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - on Hoopla; for the British Authors challenge

For my personal library:
The Abuse of Power by Theresa May - a recent recommendation from Caroline
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple - a recent recommendation from Kathy
Time of the Child by Niall Williams - a recent recommendation from Mary

Good reading to us all!!

First of 3 weeks & I'm already behind. I finished my reread of Fourth Wing, the holds on Cameron's The Artist's Way were filled by other books, so I was able to renew it, but I still have 168pp left to read in Water Moon, so I'll be returning it two days late.

Picked up the next reread, plus 6 other titles, at the library today. And 4 of the 7 are on fire:
* Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
* Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki
* Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough
* The Artist's Way Toolkit: How to Use the Creative Practices by Julia Cameron
* The Mailman by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
* Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
* The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

>28 ReneeMarie: I understand about feeling behind already. I am glad to hear that your re-read of Fourth Wing so that you can read beyond it. Good luck with your 'fiery' books, ReneeMarie!

No library books for me this week. I have one on hold, but it is checked out to another patron so I am currently waiting (im)patiently for it to be returned.

For my personal library:
Written in Bone by Sue Black - a recent recommendation from Richard
Bonded in Death by J. D. Robb - a great surprise to all, I am sure :)

Good reading to us all!!

CULTURES OF THE JEWS - a very handsome used copy for less than $10 arrived and nearly broke our mailbox today. Stasia, this is a BIG BOOK!!!!!!!

Was in Stockholm last week for work so stopped by two great bookshops (Science fiction-bokhandeln and The English Bookshop) and picked up the following:

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Miss Marple’s Final Cases by Agatha Christie

Now I only have four (I think) Discworld books left to buy and Miss Marples and then I have the whole set. Not sure what series I’ll start collecting next.

The catalogues for the annual book sale was released last week so I’m skimming through the online bookshops to see what they’re offering this year. Will definitely be buying Fredmans epistlar and Röde Orm at least.

>29 alcottacre: Danke. I finished This Is How You Lose the Time War. Tried, but ultimately rejected, Rejection -- I think I'm too old and all wrong for that book. Didn't even make it through 2 of the stories. But still behind.

And 3 of the 4 books I picked up today (& both DVDs, I think) are on fire, so the pressure continues:
* The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
* A Calamity of Noble Houses by Amira Ghenim
* Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families by Judith Giesberg
* LifeStyled: Your Guide to a More Organized & Intentional Life by Shira Gill

>31 LizzieD: I thought I warned you about that :)

>32 PawsforThought: Now I only have four (I think) Discworld books left to buy and Miss Marples and then I have the whole set.

Nice, Paws!!

>33 ReneeMarie: Sometimes a book is just not for you, right? Better to put it aside (as hard as that is at times) and move on to a book more to your taste. I hope your next read is much better for you, ReneeMarie!

From the public library library:
The Wildes : a novel in five acts by Louis Bayard - for one of my TIOLI Challenges

For my personal library:
The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck - kindly sent to me by Mark
A Sabbatical in Leipzig by Adrian Duncan - a recent recommendation from Caroline
A Flat Place by Noreen Masud - already in the BlackHole, but Caroline recently reminded me about it

Good reading to us all!!

>34 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia! I just wish they’d publish the Poirot books in as nice an edition/cover as the Marples. And that more books/series I like would be published with nice covers.

Side note: I have the best colleagues. One of my closest colleagues work on literally the other side of the country and there’s a great bookshop there. Last year I asked if she could go there on my behalf to pick up a couple of books that they sell but I haven’t seen anywhere else and she was happy to do it. When I saw her last week she asked if I wanted her to go there again. I hadn’t asked her again because I didn’t want to bother her but she loved shopping on my behalf. I’ll see her again in April and she’s gonna shop for me again before that.

>36 PawsforThought: 😍

>36 PawsforThought: That is a great friend to have, isn't it? Count yourself very lucky, Paws!

I was fairly restrained, but even so one of these two library books has at least one hold on it...

* Band of Sisters: Madeleine Pauliac, the Women of the Blue Squadron, and Their Daring Rescue Missions in the Last Days of World War II by Philippe Maynial
* Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King

Just a couple in for me this week:

From the public library library:
Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray - For my Harlem Renaissance reading - I just hope that I can get to it before it is due back at the library!

For my personal library:
The Negro Novel in America by Robert A. Bone - for my Black Studies reading

Good reading to us all!!

Five new books from the library, with a hold on the first(!) one.

* Motivation by Brian Tracy
* The Hands-Off Manager: How To Mentor People and Allow Them To Be Successful by Steve Chandler and Duane Black
* A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
* The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
* The Blue Zones Challenge: A 4-Week Plan for a Longer, Better Life by Dan Buettner

>40 alcottacre: "I just hope that I can get to it before it is due back at the library"

Boy, do I know *that* feeling.

>42 ReneeMarie: I just bet you do!

New for me this week: Amelia Bloomer by Sara Catterall

>44 laytonwoman3rd: I will be curious to see what you think of that one, Linda.

In this week for my personal library:
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan - I have seen several good reviews of this one in the group
The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold - My daughter, Beth, mentioned this one and we are going to read it together
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein - For my 'Read More Sci Fi' Challenge
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami - For a shared read

Just 3 new library items today:
* We Hold These "Truths:" How To Spot the Myths That Are Holding America Back by Casey Burgat (I'm looking at this one skeptically; we'll see)
* Iceberg by Jennifer Nielsen
* Boy: A Novel by Nicole Galland

Well, these were all waiting for me when I got back and I've now added them to my catalogue:

Marend of Marloven Hess (The Norsunder War) by Sherwood Smith
The Trouble with Kings by Sherwood Smith

Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard
Love-in-a-Mist (Greenwing & Dart) by Victoria Goddard
Blackcurrant Fool (Greenwing & Dart) by Victoria Goddard
Whiskeyjack (3) (Greenwing & Dart) by Victoria Goddard
Bee Sting Cake (Greenwing & Dart) by Victoria Goddard
Stargazy Pie (Greenwing & Dart) by Victoria Goddard

The Super Easy Carnivore Diet for Beginners: 1500 Days of Quick and Satisfying… by Jessica G Snider
The Carnivore Diet for Beginners: Recipes and Meal Plans for Weight Loss, Healt… by Chris Irvin MS

Hundred Hindu Temples of Sri Lanka: Ancient, Medieval and Modern by Mr Sanmugam Arumugam - which my mum gave me

The Work Wives - a freebie from the bookshop (for buying 3 books by a local Castle Hill NSW author for firelion to read)

The Bullet That Missed: The third novel in the multi-million copy bestselling… by Richard Osman
The Last Devil To Die: The fourth novel in the multi-million copy bestselling… by Richard Osman - both bought by my husband from the airport bookshop

And these were for firelion (picked up on my travels):

The Symbicate: A Roaring, Whimsical Adventure by Sean M. T. Shanahan
Necromancing The Rose - Book 1 of the Whim-Dark Tales by Sean M T Shanahan
Grim, Ghastly & Gripping by Sean M T Shanahan

Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners (Teach Yourself, 1) by Olly Richards

>47 ReneeMarie: Are you running a fever? You must be if you only checked out 3!

>48 humouress: Wow! That is a lot of stuff to catalogue, Nina! Love seeing all of the Goddard titles.

>49 alcottacre: Thanks :0) I use the LT app on my phone to scan in the ISBN barcodes, which makes it fast. And this time (for once) I didn't have to enter any manually.

>50 humouress: That is cool. I did not realize that you could do that!

>49 alcottacre: Ha! No, just my continuing, intermittently successful attempt to wean myself from my library addiction.

But life IS getting harder.

>51 alcottacre: Yup, it makes life easier. Sign in to your account, go to add books, select the collections you want the books to go into and then scan in the bar codes. It makes a very satisfactory beep as it hits your catalogue :0)

I also use it to add my covers.

In case you missed me Monday, this is me reporting that I have nothing to report...

I was home sick Monday, but got to the library with the non-renewables Tuesday ($3.50 fine). Didn't check out any new titles.

Actually took back a full tote bag of materials, w/2 tote bags waiting to go back -- didn't feel like breaking out the shopping cart to get them all back at once by bus. At the moment I'm down to 86 items checked out.

I also deleted a bunch of hold requests. Besides a wifi hotspot, I have 5 active holds and 12 suspended holds.

I'm still trying to use the library less and shop my apartment more. (I keep adding to my apartment, too. Today it was a book I had ordered on eBay from Canada since it's not published in the US, plus an ARC of a title I just read about either in BookPage or my library's new materials feed. Gulp.)

Down to 79 items out -- woo hoo! Would've been 77, but I checked out 2 books I might use to put together a trivia contest for work:
* The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar by Austin Rogers
* Literary Trivia: Fun and Games for Book Lovers by Richard Lederer and Michael Gilleland

>55 ReneeMarie: A trivia contest at work sounds fun!

Just a few things for me this week:

For my personal library:
Joanna Godden by Sheila Kaye-Smith
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel - a birthday present from Peggy
Dear Bess edited by Robert H. Ferrell

From my local library:
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation by Noel Riley Fitch

>56 alcottacre: Yup. It's for the bookstore customers to play, in honor of the store's anniversary. I'm also working on a giveaway bingo card. Small prize(s?) for the trivia. Merely bragging rights for the bingo card.

Four new titles from the library today:
* The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
* Several Short Sentences about Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
* The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby
* Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by Ferris Jabr

>58 ReneeMarie: The first one sounds interesting to me! You will have to let me know if the Hartman book is worth the read.

In the last week:

From Library of Americ: The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

Bill's (@weird_O) fault: A Bell for Adano by John Hersey

Little Free Library find: House Made of Dawn by M. Scott Momaday


Library loans:
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

>60 laytonwoman3rd: Nice haul, Linda! I will be curious to see what you make of The Anthropocene Reviewed. I read that one last year.

>61 alcottacre: I'm reading The Anthropocene Reviewed now, Stasia, and enjoying it very much.

>62 laytonwoman3rd: Good to hear!

I am starting to collect books in anticipation of my 19th Thingaversary in May, so book #1 is: The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon.

In from the library this week, I received What I wish my Christian friends knew about Judaism by Robert Schoen, A fire in the mind by Stephen Larsen, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, The bookshop on the shore by Jenny Colgan, and The foxglove king by Hannah Whitten. All of these books are for April TIOLI Challenges.

I finally made up my mind on the James White Sector General books, and ordered two omnibus volumes in ebooks and one paperback that didn't make the omnibus volumes. My next Kindle read will be Sector General.
Beginning Operations
Alien Emergencies
The Aliens Among Us

>65 elorin: I have one of White's omnibuses too but have never gotten around to reading it. One of these days! I wish you good reading, Robyn!

>65 elorin: I got a couple of those omnibus but only read one of the books in them; I should get back to them too.

>66 alcottacre: >67 humouress: I read 5 or 6 Sector General books when I was younger, but apparently they are in my parents' library, not mine. Deciding to acquire them was easy, but choosing ebooks or paperbacks was harder.

Today's been -- not fun. It involved the gas emergency line, the fire department, and being evacuated for an hour and a half, sitting out in the cold with my cats. The terrifying part was that it wasn't a leak -- it was an elderly man who managed to leave gas flowing from a stove burner all day.

I wasn't sure what I was smelling until I came back from my library run. That's when I called.

Here's the new stuff, finally (and then I'm going to have dinner):
* Olivetti by Allie Millington (this seemed SO quirky -- or do I mean qwerty?)
* The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass
* Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America and Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution by Elie Mystal (these are my sister's fault -- she heard the author on NPR & recommended him)
* How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

>68 elorin: Ah, the decisions we have to make as readers!

>69 ReneeMarie: I am sorry that you had such a bad day, ReneeMarie! Hopefully the new books in-house will help with the stress of the day.

In from the local library this week (both for April TIOLI Challenges): The novels of the Harlem renaissance : twelve black writers, 1923-1933 by Amritjit Singh and The bookseller of Florence by Ross King.

For my private library, I received books 5-14 for my upcoming Thingaversary:
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
The Return and My Friends by Hisham Matar
Bookworm and Bookish by Lucy Mangan
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

>71 alcottacre: Of your ten permanent additions, Juana, I have 7 of them and have read 2 of that 7. Stone Yard Devotional and The Return and both are to be recommended.

I got a used paperback copy of The Aliens Among Us by James White

>72 PaulCranswick: Caroline recommended The Return recently so since I was already wanting to get My Friends I picked it up as well. Thanks for your thoughts on the book too, Paul.

All novels from the library this week:

* The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
* Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
* _The Gum Chews_ by Joanna Rowe (my guess is that this is a self-published print-on-demand children's book; it's a noir-loving kid character, so read it as "gumshoes")
* Insignificant Others by Sarah Jio
* The Usual Desire To Kill by Camilla Barnes

>70 alcottacre: Thanks. I've read 3 great books in the last few days, but my vacation didn't get better all that fast.

The following day I had to walk one of my cats to the two-mile-away vet. She has periodontal issues. Minimum estimate about $1,100. Then two miles home again. Her surgery is the 14th, so that's there and back twice. First trip home & second trip there, I should be able to travel mostly by bus. Can't take the cat on the bus, even in a carrier.

Friday I did my taxes. Refund should cover my vet bill. Coulda been worse.

>76 ReneeMarie: Refund should cover my vet bill. Coulda been worse. Yeah, I guess so but getting a refund to cover the vet bill just bites.

>77 alcottacre: You're right. Especially since I was counting on the refund to cover the extra rent I'll be paying when it goes up again in May. The irony: my hourly wage just increased, but only about 2/3rds the amount of the difference between current and future rent. So: more money, but still falling behind.

>78 ReneeMarie: I am sorry to hear about the financial difficulties, ReneeMarie. I hope things work out better for you in future.

>79 alcottacre: I doubt they'll be better any time in the next four years. I also doubt I'm alone in housing costs being a major issue. Witness the books by Matthew Desmond. But thanks for the positive vibes.

>80 ReneeMarie: Yes, I am familiar with Matthew Desmond's books. I am very lucky in that we have paid off our mortgage, but I know a lot of other people are not. I am sorry to hear that your housing costs are a major issue for you. I wish I could help in some way.

For my private library, I received books 15-20 for my upcoming Thingaversary:

15. Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings - On the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 longlist
16. The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke - On the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist
17. Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang - On the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist
18. The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden - Nominated for several prizes
19. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton - On the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist
20. Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment by James R. Gaines - Recommended by Peggy

>82 alcottacre: Your number 20 sounds fascinating. "Enlightenment" gets me every time.

Had to take Bertha to the vet for her periodontal surgery today, then go back to pick her up. She's not a big fan of me right now. Skipping my usual Monday library trip in favor of watching her today.

I'll go tomorrow instead, & add a library fine to this week's expenses. One of my holds will expire, but c'est la guerre.

>83 ReneeMarie: You can check out LizzieD's thread here in the group for further information on the book, ReneeMarie. She is the one who recommended it to me.

I hope Bertha appreciates your sacrifice in watching her today rather than going to the library!

>84 alcottacre: Nope. She hates me. She's either still loopy from anesthesia & pain drugs, or she's a smart cookie who remembers who took her to the torture palace & left her there for a few hours. She runs if I come anywhere near her.

Four new library books today:
* _Canva for Beginners_ from Yellow Pen Publishing
* Teach Yourself Visually Windows 11 by Paul McFedries
* Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman
* Mrs. Goodfellow: The Story of America's First Cooking School by Becky Libourel Diamond

>85 ReneeMarie: Ah, well. Hopefully she will love you again soon!

>86 ReneeMarie: Curious about the Mrs. Goodfellow book. It sounds interesting to me!

A couple of more books in this week for my private library:

The Englishman's Daughter by Ben Macintyre - a replacement hardcover copy for the battered, stained ARC that I had

Isola by Allegra Goodman - Recommended by Mark

Two new Kindle books for the smut book club
Gothikana and Scythe & Sparrow

>88 alcottacre: The Goodman has been on my radar, but am adding the MacIntyre to my "read someday" list.

Bertha is back to allowing me to pet her for half an hour or so at a time, at least as long as I'm in the less scary position of lying down. Whew.

One library book last night: The Page Turner by Viola Shipman. This one's on fire, but there are about 4 others aflame ahead of it.

>90 ReneeMarie: Yay for Bertha letting you pet her! Steps in the right direction!

In this week for my personal library:

The Guide for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides - For my Jewish Studies reading
Remember Me to Harlem edited by Emily Bernard - For my Harlem Renaissance reading
Black Women in White America edited by Gerda Lerner - For my Black Studies reading
In Search of Our Mother's Gardens by Alice Walker - For my Black Studies reading

Squee! I got a present for my mom (I will read it before sending it to her). It's a Little Golden Book titled I Am Mr. Spock. It took forever to ship but now it's here.

>93 elorin: Awesome!

I restrained myself on Independent Bookstore Day: 6 purchases from 3 independent shops and 1 library sale:

Open the Door!, Catherine Carswell (Virago Modern Classics), used
Fenny, Lettice Cooper (Virago Modern Classics), used
Love in Winter, Storm Jameson (Virago Modern Classics), used
The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas, used (like-new condition!)
The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, William Doyle, new
Lincoln and Chicago, John Toman & Michael Frutig, used--library sale

>95 kac522: Nice haul, Kathy!

>96 alcottacre: I probably would have bought more, but the stores were so crowded! So good to see! Here in Chicago there was a sort of "deal"--visit 10 participating bookstores in the area today, get your bookstore "passport" stamped, and you get 10% off all purchases at all the participating stores for a year. I just didn't have the stamina to get to 10 different stores, but it apparently is a fun incentive--sort of like a scavenger hunt.

The used bookstore where I bought the Virago editions is new to me and the owner is particularly interested in buying Virago editions and women's fiction of all kinds. Now I know a good place to unhaul my books when I'm ready to part with them--I know they'll be appreciated there.

>97 kac522: I sooo want to get a book passport and have it stamped - that sounds like just my kind of thing. (I only recently learnt that national parks in the US has something similar and I’m intensely envious.)
Alas, the closest participating bookshop for me is in Stockholm, a day’s travel away from me.

>97 kac522: The Viragos sound great, especially the Storm Jameson trilogy.

>99 ReneeMarie: Right, I have the first 2 now and hope (someday) to find the third. I plan on reading Company Parade, the first book, in the next few months.

>97 kac522: Too bad it will not be going on when I am in Chicago in August! Like Paws (>98 PawsforThought:), I would love a bookstore "passport." It sounds like great fun!

>98 PawsforThought: I am with you, Paws!

Four new library books:
* The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
* By the Book: A Novel of Prose and Cons by Amanda Sellet
* A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine by Chris Hedges
* Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

And somebody on LT hit me with an author bullet & I just requested 2 of the person's books interlibrary loan. The reference librarian really went above and beyond: one of the titles she didn't initially find in WISCAT or WorldCat, but she did some research & called me back to say she found one in Nebraska. Fingers crossed they're willing to share.

>102 ReneeMarie: Yay for the very helpful reference librarian! I hope the books are worth the effort!

>102 ReneeMarie: Librarians are so cool.

Fingers crossed for you.

For my personal library:

Clariel and Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix - to finish my collection of the Anhorsen books
The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell - to finish the Corfu Trilogy
The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison - the current final book in Addison's Goblin Emperor series; for one of the TIOLI challenges in May
The Art of the Jewish Family by Laura Arnold Leibman - for my Jewish Studies reading; for one of the TIOLI challenges in May
The Hunt by Faye Kellerman - for my series reading
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear - for my series reading
Chapter and Curse, A Treacherous Tale, and The Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney - Because I needed to start another series, right?
His Truth is Marching On by Jon Meacham - for my Black Studies reading
Embracing Hope by Viktor Frankl
Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Reading I've Liked by Clifton Fadiman
Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments by Michael Dirda - I am a huge fan of Michael Dirda's books and I did not have this one
Justice at Nuremberg by Robert Conot

From the public library (All are for May TIOLI challenges):
The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Enemies: A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer - also for the May Grand Tour challenge
This Is Where It Ends but Marieke Nijkamp
My Life of Absurdity by Chester Himes - also for my Harlem Renaissance reading
Across the Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto - also for the May American Authors challenge

And from Hoopla, I am borrowing The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies because I cannot seem to locate my copy at the moment!

>103 alcottacre: >104 humouress: No news yet on the ILL titles. A shame I don't have anything else to read. Oh, wait...

New from the library tonight:
* The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
* The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax
* Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce
* The Age of Enchantment by Anna James
* Books in a Box: Lutie Stearns and the Traveling Libraries of Wisconsin by Stuart Stotts (if you saw Independent Lens on PBS recently, this is a children's book about a 19th C woman featured in that episode)

>106 ReneeMarie: Running out of things to read is never an issue with us, is it? Lol

I will have to see of my local library has the book by Stuart Stotts. Thanks for the mention, ReneeMarie!

My copy of Tinkerbell: An Evolution came today. I look forward to curling up with it and enjoying the art. I'll have to add it to LT as there's no touchstone.

>107 alcottacre: If there aren't, ask for an ILL. My local library system in Wisconsin shows 14 copies. Sadly, only 1 is checked out right now!

I didn't know that you now get 3 weeks from when you *pick up* your ILL, rather than 3 weeks from when they *notify you* it's here. And suddenly ILL status actually shows up on your hold list.

So when I saw that both ILLs were here, I put on something other than pjs & left my apartment to pick up two books by Dorothy Whipple:
* Young Anne and
* The Priory

>109 ReneeMarie: The problem for me and ILL is that it takes forever for the books to arrive and then when they do, I am no longer in the mood to read them, lol.

>110 ReneeMarie: Dorothy Whipple is on my list of authors that I need to get to yet. I hope that you enjoy the reads!

Only one book in for me from the public library this week, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

However, for my personal library, I received the following:
Homunculus by James P. Blaylock - this series was recommended by Jim a while back
The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou - Because, well, Maya Angelou
You Learn By Living by Eleanor Roosevelt - A replacement copy as my original copy was destroyed
Index, A History of the by Dennis Duncan - Just because it sounds fun!
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon - More Outlander series reading

Today my smut book club met in person and held a blind date with a book. My blind date is Pen Pal and I was also gifted The Leather and BDSM Handbook and Life, Leather, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Earlier this week I got Baby's First Klingon Words and Too Many Tribbles, gifts for my mother, and Tinkerbell: An Evolution, a gift for myself.

I got a First Reads title this week on Kindle, then a $3 credit that I immediately used on another title, but I don't remember what books it was.

Smut Book Club selections for the month, which I bought on Kindle, are The Risk and The Perfect Fit.

Started Dorothy Whipple's Young Anne, and I think she's great at using just a few strokes of her pen to make her characters visible. In that way she reminds me of Dorothy Parker, although that Dorothy also uses negative space (you know who a character is just by what other people say about them) amazingly well.

Today's library run garnered:
* Emilie Davis's Civil War: The Diaries of a Free Black Woman in Philadelphia, 1863-1865 ed. by Judith Giesberg
* _Glass Flowers & Diamond Stickpins_ by Mary Ann Noe (novel w/Lunt & Fontanne, from a small print-on-demand publisher)
* Teach Yourself Visually Microsoft 365 by Paul McFedries
* Teach Yourself Visually Excel 365 by Paul McFedries

>114 ReneeMarie: Oo, Emilie Davis's Civil War sounds right up my alley. I will have to see if I can find a copy of that one.

I received several books for my personal library this week:
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker - for my science fiction reading
Black Hearts in Battersea and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken and The Children of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston - working on my collection of juvenile classics
Convenience Store Woman by Suyaka Marata, Clear by Carys Davies, and The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer - these have all been in the BlackHole for a while
The Forbidden Daughter by Zipora Klein Jakob - for my Jewish Studies reading
Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder and The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie - both are on the 2024 Women's Prize for Nonfiction Longlist

>115 alcottacre: Early this century I went on a Kage Baker reading bing. I quite enjoyed it, but I did have a final niggle or 3. I was disappointed when told her first name was 1 syllable rather than 2, so I never confirmed it and still call her ka-gay in my head.

>116 quondame: I always thought that her first name was one syllable although, to my knowledge, I have never heard it pronounced. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed your reading binge of her books :)

>116 quondame: >117 alcottacre: Dang. I've been saying it "kah'-gəh" in my head since I first saw it. I'm sad I'm wrong. I kinda like that.

>116 quondame: >117 alcottacre: >118 ReneeMarie: Whereas I just read it as 'cage'.

>118 ReneeMarie: >119 humouress: I was told by someone who said he'd met her that it was 'cage'. He's often of SF panels at cons, so I had no reason for disbelief.

I keep canceling and pushing back holds, but still walked out of the library with:
* Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart
* The Margaret Code by Richard Hooton
* A Daughter's Place by Martha Bátiz
* The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
* CRM for Dummies by Lars Helgeson
* Capitalism and Its Critics: A History from the Industrial Revolution to AI by John Cassidy
* Life on the Plains and at the Diggings by A. Delano

>119 humouress: Me too, Nina.

>121 ReneeMarie: I very much enjoyed The Spellshop. It is a lighter read, more of a fun book than anything else, and I need those these days! Lol. I hope you enjoy it, ReneeMarie!

In this past week for my personal library:
Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Time of the Magicians by Wolfram Eilenberger
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber - Peggy recommended that I give this series a try
Cyteen by C. J. Cherry - Another book Peggy recommended to me
After the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport
Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans
Severance by Ma Ling
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbi Tung
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench - a recent recommendation from Laura

>122 alcottacre: The last 3 books I've picked up to read have been full of characters dealing with grief and disappointment, so I need some lightness for a change, too. Thanks.

Both of my ILLs are read and returned, but 3 of today's library books have holds, so my priorities keep shifting.

Today's haul:
* Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
* My Friends by Fredrik Backman
* The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve
* A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
* "I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer": Letters on Love and Marriage from the World's First Personal Advice Column ed. Mary Beth Norton
* The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World by Selena Wisnom

>125 ReneeMarie: I have My Friends in mind to read soon. I have enjoyed several of Backman's books in the past.

In this week for my personal library:

The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides - a recommendation from Mark
When and Where I Enter by Paula J. Giddings - mentioned in the bibliography of a book I read recently
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin - mentioned in the bibliography of a book I read recently

From the public library: (all for TIOLI and other June reading challenges)
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Storm of the Century by Al Roker - also for the Nonfiction challenge
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Metamorphoses by Ovid - also for Paul's Grand Tour challenge

>126 alcottacre: Started it today after finishing Murder by Memory. Fourteen pages in and it's already a tearjerker. This is something like my 5th or 6th Backman.

When I recommend him at work, I always say that if they stopped translating him to English, I'd learn Swedish to keep reading him.

I want to read that Sutanto series you borrowed, too. Feels like there's a bunch of elderly sleuth books out now. But I'm a longtime fan of Marple & Pollifax, so the more the merrier.

>127 alcottacre: heads up: your catcher in the rye author link has gone ... awry. 😏

>127 alcottacre: I enjoyed Sutanto's Well, That was Unexpected which was a YA romance of an LA girl being brought back to her mum's home town in Indonesia - but then, I'm just next door in Singapore.

Victoria Goddard has announced two books for 2025,
one, Olive and the Dragon, to appear quite soon, and the other Bubble & Squeak for December, but currently available for preorder.

Also, Lois McMaster Bujold will have a new Penric & Desdemona book available this summer in which Penric has students and an Ox has a demon. Or a demon has an Ox.

>131 quondame: Yay for Penric and Desdemona! I can't wait!

>131 quondame: Yay for more Victoria Goddard reads!!

More restrained at the library today:
* Costumes for Time Travelers by A. R. Capetta
* I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery

>134 ReneeMarie: I do not think I have ever seen you only pick up 2 books at your local library before, ReneeMarie. Restraint indeed!

I picked up a set of books for both myself and my daughter, Catey, this week: A Fellowship of Bakes & Magic, A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons, and A Fellowship of Games & Fables. All of the books are by J. Penner.

I also got in a couple from the local library (both for June TIOLI challenges): The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills, a recommendation from Linda, who I am going to see tomorrow!

Full disclosure: I actually checked out 15 items today, but only 3 are new printed material. I also renewed 2 books & checked out a wifi hotspot, 4 DVDs, & 5 CDs.

One book, one CD, & one DVD are on fire (holds on them), & you never can renew the hotspots -- unending hold lists on those. For the CD, which is Disco, I blame the PBS documentary. The DVD is a British TV show, & those are always popular.

The books:
* Strangers in Time by David Baldacci (never read him, but this is historical fiction with WWII and bookstores)
* Four Queens of Crime: A Mystery by Rosanne Limoncelli (want to compare it to Marie Benedict's Queens of Crime & want to read this one first)
* The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (there's a certain "kind" of novel I've been reading a lot of lately -- some heavy subjects in it but ultimately positive or at least hopeful, & apparently that kind of book has a name: "Up Lit"; looking for more of it)

>136 alcottacre: Dang. The title of that second Penner book got me. I checked to make sure it was traditionally published, & it looks like it is -- now, at least. A local library has it, so one more on my hold list.

My hold list now stands at 55, which is way down. Only about 14 are active. Going in the desired direction. Mostly.

I haven't bought any books lately, but I have had a massive haul from the library in order to stock up for summer:
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Prague Cemetary by Umberto Eco
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
The Countess of Pembrooke's Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
The Aeneid by Virgil
Metamorphoses by Ovid
The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli
Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke
Roman Elegies by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

I'm still waiting for four more books, but it seems like the people who checked them out aren't going to return them in time for me to get them before I go on vacation (it's the library near work, so I have trouble getting there if I'm not working).
The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake
The Carter of La Providence by Georges Simenon
The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon
A Man's Head by Georges Simenon

>139 PawsforThought: Yummy list. I had no idea Dodie Smith wrote the dalmatians book.

Six new books from the library today. First an ILL, then 3 with holds, plus 2 others:

* Baron Bagge by Alexander Lernet-Holenia
* The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson
* So Far Gone by Jess Walter
* The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, trans. from the Dutch by David McKay
* Fighting Words: The Bold American Journalists Who Brought the World Home between the Wars by Nancy F. Cott
* Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison

Since my reserved copy of the Gormenghast trilogy isn’t going to come back before I go on vacation (my last day at work was yesterday, I’ll work from home for the next week) I had to replace it with something else so went past the library yesterday.

The Kill by Emile Zola
His Excellency Eugene Rougon by Emile Zola
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (I have all three of these in e-format but wanted to have paper copies as I prefer that when I can. I’m not planning on finishing these before the end of summer - they are long-term reads.)
Mördaren ljuger inte ensam by Maria Lang
Farligt att förtära by Maria Lang
The Bachelors by Muriel Spark
The Collector bye John Fowles
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Billiard at Half Past Nine by Heinrich Böll, which I forgot to pick up last time.

Plus the Simenon books which my brother will pick up for me.
There is no way I’ll be able to read all of these by the end of summer, but thankfully I have no reading plans for September so I guess it’ll be a catch-up month.

A bunch of books arrived last week while I was at Linda's and several more arrived this week:

House of Frank by Kay Synclaire - one of my favorite YouTubers, ezeekat, owns this imprint - and the book sounds fun!

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove - one of my favorite YouTubers, ezeekat, owns this imprint - and the book sounds fun!

A Far Better Thing by H. G. Parry - recommended by Mary (bell7)

The 60s: The Story of a Decade by The New Yorker Magazine - a book I spied on Linda's shelves that I decided I needed to read, so I picked up a copy for my own

Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World by Sharon Waxman - a book that had been in the BlackHole forever and then I saw a copy on Linda's shelves which reminded me that I still needed to read it

The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin with Richard Wagner - a book I spied on Linda's shelves that I decided I needed to read, so I picked up a copy for my own

Voices from the Harlem Renaissance by Nathan Irvin Huggins - for my Harlem Renaissance reading

Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King - for my series reading, the latest entry in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series

Jewish Magic and Superstition by Joshua Trachtenberg - for my Jewish Studies reading

Harlem Renaissance by Nathan Irvin Huggins - for my Harlem Renaissance reading

>141 ReneeMarie: I have had Look Me in the Eye in the BlackHole for a while now. I really need to get to it some time! I have only read one book by Jess Walter, Beautiful Ruins, but I enjoyed it. I will have to look into So Far Gone.

>142 PawsforThought: It looks like you replaced the trilogy with quite a few books, Paws! I hope you enjoy all the books.

I'm in London so I made my pilgrimage to Forbidden Planet where I picked up:

Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel 1) by T. Kingfisher
Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel 2) by T. Kingfisher
Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel 3) by T. Kingfisher
Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel 4)

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

To Guard Against the Dark by Julie E. Czerneda
This Gulf of Time and Stars by Julie E. Czerneda

Relight My Fire (The Stranger Times 4) by C. K. McDonnell

The Sacred Hunt Duology by Michelle West

A Hard Day's Knight (A Nightside Book 11) by Simon R. Green

Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch

I was down to only four library books, so it was time to add a couple more today:

Shoutin' in the Fire by Dante Stewart came in on interlibrary loan and

The Starlet and the Spy by Ji-Min Lee is one I selected from our "books in translation" display

>145 humouress: That looks like a great haul! Enjoy!

Returned 3 to the library, checked out 6. Wrong direction... And the first couple may have additional holds.

* The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon
* A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
* The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
* _G I Basics: The Low Glycemic Way To Lose Weight and Gain Energy_ by Helen Foster
* The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners by Rami Kaminski
* Frugal Mediterranean Cooking: Easy, Affordable Recipes for Lifelong Health by Melanie Lionello

>148 ReneeMarie: the first couple may have additional holds. Added incentive to read fast, right?

I have gotten in a bunch of books this week, in large part thanks to Linda who sent me several from Pennsylvania:

From the public library (all for TIOLI challenges in July):
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston - also for my Harlem Renaissance reading
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

From Linda, for my personal library:
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn - I will be reading this one for one of the TIOLI challenges in July; it has been in the BlackHole for years!
The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne - I will be reading this one for one of the TIOLI challenges in July
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
The Whole Five Feet by Christopher R. Beha
The Historians by Cecilia Ekback - Linda had duplicate copies of this one, lol
The Last Jews in Berlin by Leonard Gross - for my Jewish Studies reading
Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham

For my personal library:
The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck
Fighting Back by Harold Werner - for my Jewish Studies reading
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny - for my series reading
The Black 100 by Columbus Salley - for my Black Studies reading
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove - for my Black Studies reading
The City & the City by China Mieville - for my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - for my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge
How We Learn To Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde - a recent recommendation from Deborah, I will be reading this one for one of the TIOLI challenges in July
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi - for my Black Studies reading
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Whew!

>149 alcottacre: If by "incentive" you mean something weighing me down like this, yes:
https://youtu.be/ZyT8mVwf_40?feature=shared

More wrong direction, but I'm working on it. I suspended some holds & deleted at least 10-15 others. Still, today I brought 5 new titles home from the library:

* The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller
* The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
* Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
* _The Science of Shopping: How Psychology and Innovation Create a Winning Retail Strategy_ by Kate Hardcastle
* Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer

>152 ReneeMarie: Ah, well. Libraries need all the support we can give them!

Only a couple more in for me this week: Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz and Foreign Correspondence by Geraldine Brooks.

Monday's library trip resulted in these coming home with me:
* The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
* All the Words We Know by Bruce Nash
* Tyger by S.F. Said
* A Little History of the United States James West Davidson

>154 ReneeMarie: I have not read that Stiefvater book. I will be curious to see what you think of it.

>155 alcottacre: Me, too. She's known for YA SFF, but I selected this one for the WWII setting & because it made me think about the nonfiction of Helen Fry. Didn't know at first that there's a speculative element to it.

I didn't love the Baldacci I just finished, which was also an author work outside his norm. He is a self-confessed pantser, which could be why.

>156 ReneeMarie: He is a self-confessed pantser I have no idea what this is, lol

I like books set in WWII as a rule and I have enjoyed Stiefvater's books in the past, which is why I am curious about it.

>157 alcottacre: Sorry: in the world of writers, there are plotters and pantsers (people who write whatever comes to mind, by the "seat of their pants"). Real life meanders and has things in it that look like they'll be important but don't end up that way. But I prefer plotted stories, where the gun on the mantelpiece is used by the end of Act III. And its use is important to the story.

https://www.writersdigest.com/getting-published/what-is-a-pantser-in-writing

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox is out!

>158 ReneeMarie: Thank you for the explanation!

>159 quondame: One of these days I will get to that series, Susan.

I am playing catch up, since I normally post here on Fridays but this past Friday was pretty much of a disaster.

New books in-house from the public library:
Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio

New books in-house for my personal library:
One on One: 101 True Encounters by Craig Brown - this one has been hanging around the BlackHole for far too long so I finally picked up a copy
The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs - adding to my stock of children's books
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - another one that I am finally getting out of the BlackHole
Every Day a Gift by Tammy Duckworth - a recent recommendation from Lynda (Carmenere)
We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald - a recent recommendation from Richard
Beyond Courage by Doreen Rappaport - for my Jewish Studies reading

Hopefully I will be able to report more this Friday, lol.

We've just returned to England after the Irish leg (Northern and Republic) of our trip. We went to St George's weekend market in Belfast where I bought a couple of picture/ story books for my (actually my husband's) nephew's daughter from O'Donnell's (an independent publisher):

Samson's Titanic Journey by Lauren Graham and
Finn's Causeway Adventure by Lauren Graham

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

ONE new book (& 4 CDs) from the library today: The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths.

>162 ReneeMarie: I just fainted. . .

>163 alcottacre: LOL. Proving I was right to seat y'all, first.

Have to hit the library again today, to return the one-day-overdue "Death in Paradise" S14, but I'm not picking anything up. (I had 3/4 of one episode left when I left for work yesterday. Dagnabit.)

>164 ReneeMarie: Well, it's important to finish the series. I get my fix on BBC iPlayer, whenever they decide to show it. And the same for Bake Off (GBBO).

>162 ReneeMarie: Are you feeling okay?

>164 ReneeMarie: Yes, you were!

>166 PawsforThought: Du er morsom! (Du kommer fra Sverige, jeg vet, men du førstår norsk.)

>165 humouress: I bugged everybody last year about BritBox v BBC America v MHz Choice...and ended up not subscribing to any of them. My rent went up -- a lot, for how much I make -- and I looked at my PBS Passport usage over the past year and a half (about 1.5 seasons of 1 TV show), & decided I'd be wasting my money.

>168 ReneeMarie: Självklart förstår jag!

>169 ReneeMarie: Ugh, I know my usage of Netflix doesn’t even come close to justifying the cost of it, but I’m fortunate that it doesn’t really matter economically for me. I’m sorry you had to make the decision to cut an expense because of rent increases.

In this week for my personal library:

Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans - a recent recommendation from Karen O
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - I do not think that I have ever read this children's classic
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall - I loved this one when I read it a few years ago
Making Things Better by Anita Brookner
Portraits of the New Negro Woman by Cheren Sherrard-Johnson - for my Harlem Renaissance reading
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - I was reminded of this book recently and my love for it, so I picked up a copy for my personal library

>171 alcottacre: I read the Juster a year or two back. Didn't love it. At least now I know.

I went through a Brookner phase about 20yrs ago. Not an author to read on a blue day.

Going to look for that Bemelmans, though.

>172 ReneeMarie: I have only read one of Brookner's books to this point, Hotel du Lac, so I am giving more of her work a try. I am not sure if she is an author for me or not.

I will read The Phantom Tollbooth at some point, I am sure, but unsure of just when I might do so.

I hope you (and I, for that matter) enjoy Bemelmans when we get to him!

>171 alcottacre: I have read Norton Juster's book - aloud to the kids at bedtime when they were small but I don't remember that much about it to be fair.

Brookner is a reliable author and didn't write a bad book.

>172 ReneeMarie: I went through a Brookner phase about 20yrs ago. Not an author to read on a blue day.

Me, too. I read all of her books, mostly in order, and as >174 PaulCranswick: says, they were all good. But I needed to give myself time between them.

>158 ReneeMarie: Ah, good to have a name for that. I've been commenting (negatively) in my own thread recently about guns that don't get used; I guess I share your preferences.

I have acquired another batch of library books. Perhaps coincidentally, they all weigh in at more than 300 pages, and the largest weighs in at 941. Only the shortest book is fiction.

Penric's Labors 326 pp fiction
A culture of Growth 403 pp
The weirdest people in the world 680 pp
Iron Kingdom 776 pp
The Third Reich in Power 941 pp

It's a good thing books can be renewed 3 times, for a total of 12 weeks, if no other patron puts a hold on them. I expect to need that time, particularly for the two huge books about different aspects of German history.

p.s. I recommend walking to libraries and returning with books like these, if you want to build or retain a bit of core strength. A backpack can be helpful.

>170 PawsforThought: I'm still supporting PBS, especially important in the horrible times the US is in. Just not adding any other annual costs. But worse came yesterday: the way wages will now be set at work means pay will have nothing to do with ability, knowledge, effort, or experience. And since I'm above the new set wage for my position, no increase this year to help offset the rise in rent. Which probably explains the headache with aura & dizziness I woke up with today that kept me at home....

And probably also why my library confession is late: 4 new books.
* The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes
* Westfallen by Ann Brashares & Ben Brashares
* Sell More with Science: The Mindsets, Traits, and Behaviors that Create Sales Success by David Hoffeld (which I should just return because, honestly, what's the point?)
* The Complete Beans & Grains Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen

I'm trying to add beans to my diet. I don't even usually eat green beans. Closest is the soy milk I have in my chai, and the very occasional hummus and refritos frijoles. So if anyone knows a good, basic cookbook with tasty bean recipes, please share.

New books in-house for me this week:

Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr. - For my Black Studies reading
Or What You Will by Jo Walton - a recent recommendation from Misty (foggidawn)
Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor - For my series reading
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace - a recent recommendation from Richard
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Whirligig House by Anna Maria Rose Wright
Road Ends by Mary Lawson - The final book in Lawson's Struan trilogy
The War that Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan

For library fans:

I picked this up from the library's new books shelf:



Hidden Libraries: The World's Most Unusual Book Depositories by D C Helmuth (2025).

This over-sized book profiles unusual libraries throughout the world with text and photos. Some of the libraries profiled include 2 Little Free Libraries (one at the South Pole and one constructed into a tree stump); a mobile library that looks like a tank called "Weapon of Mass Instruction"; vending libraries in China; the Haskell Library which is half in Vermont and half in Quebec; a few "In Memoriam" libraries that no longer exist; several with "secret" locations and many more. If your library doesn't have it, it's a good one to recommend for purchase.

>180 kac522: Oo, I will have to see if I can locate a copy of that one. Thanks for the mention, Kathy!

The Bibliophile books that I have read recently also talk about (amongst a lot of other things) libraries around the world.

Another week with a library delay (& fine) -- working in receiving did my back in over the weekend. No extra movement yesterday.

Got home with two new books tonight:
* Losing the Plot by Annaleise Byrd
* Strength Training for Fat Loss by Nick Tumminello

>179 alcottacre: I thought Round Mountain was wonderful...but I'm curious how it fits into a Black Studies scheme.

>155 alcottacre: Had to return The Listeners at 186pp & now I'm waiting for it to come around to me again. I am really enjoying it. And so far the speculative element of the story is present but very low-key.

I came back from a trip to Oxford a few days ago, which decidedly fewer books in my luggage than I had thought.

I did get lovely hardback editions of the Alice stories (very fitting) which had both the classic John Tenniel illustrations plus some extra by John Macfarlane. I’m very pleased with those. Also a book about Greek loanwords, always a favourite subject of mine.

I am sad that the book publishers seem to have almost completely abandoned hardbacks aside from some very new releases and special editions of certain classics. I don’t like paperbacks and refuse to buy fiction in that format.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
It’s All Greek by Alexander Tulloch

>185 PawsforThought: Yes, this happens to me too, every time I go on a bookshop raid. I go through the entire shop, I end up with a basketful of books, I pay loads of money (in spite of any discount/ rewards I might have earned), I lug the whole thing home ... but when I open the bag to revel in my treasures, they seem to have diminished.

(ETA: I usually wait for MMPBs because they take up less shelf space than hardbacks and trade-size paperbacks.)

>183 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, it was my understanding that the stories in the book revolved around black characters. I will correct it if I am in error there and not count it towards my Black Studies reading.

>185 PawsforThought: Sorry you had to return it so soon, ReneeMarie. I hope you can get hold of it again soon!

>186 humouress: I am not a fan of paperbacks either, although I do find the trade paperbacks acceptable if I cannot get a book in hardback. I hate mass market paperbacks.

>186 humouress: and >187 alcottacre: I hate all paperbacks (and don’t know the difference between trade and mass market, shops here don’t distinguish between different types). I don’t want a soft, glued back and flimsy covers. I want a sturdy book.

>188 PawsforThought: I understand that completely. Given my druthers, I will always take hard cover books.

This week, I have gotten in books from the public library and books for my personal library.

From the public library: (All are for August TIOLI challenges)
Harlem Speaks by Cary D. Wintz - For my Harlem Renaissance reading
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - For the British Authors Challenge and my 'read more sci fi' challenge
Behold the Monster by Jillian Lauren - For the American Authors Challenge
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue - Recommended by Richard

For my personal library:
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie - Gathering books for a challenge in 2026
The Chinaberry Tree by Jessie Redmon Fauset - For my Harlem Renaissance reading
Flight Behavior and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - Mark reminded me recently that I need to read these yet
The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers - For an upcoming group read
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks by Donald Bogle - For my Black Studies reading
The Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter - I love Egyptology! KarenMarie mentioned this one recently on her thread.

>190 alcottacre: Preparing 2026 challenges already? Wow, now you’re making me want to start thinking ahead too.

>191 PawsforThought: I started thinking about 2026 last month since it was past the halfway point of the year. . .and I felt behind already, lol.

>187 alcottacre: No worries. It's already waiting on hold for me again.

>185 PawsforThought: >186 humouress: >187 alcottacre: Mass market v trade is generally a size term. Mass markets are smaller (a little over 4in x a little under 7in), although they've also been making tall rack mass markets for a while, & slightly wider ones for a little less than that. And they're disappearing from the landscape, although you still find some in the genres more than anywhere else.

The main draw has been the cheaper price, but they are also, or are perceived to be, harder to read because of font size. One of the last remaining distributors is getting out. Popularity is way down.

Trade paperbacks are the most popular and have been for a while. People like the size better than mass markets and the price better than hardcovers. I'm constantly being asked for the paperback version of new books just out in hardcover, but except for large print versions, that usually takes 9 months to a year to appear. And for books still selling well in hardcover, it can actually take YEARS to hit paperback.

Hardcovers are only getting more expensive, higher for nonfiction than fiction in general. There are still some who prefer them, but not as many. Which is why it takes a big audience for a genre author to get published in hardcover. There are a lot of books released as PBO (paperback originals).

For me, personally, I tend to be less willing to buy fiction in hardcover than nonfiction. There's one historical mystery series I buy in hardcover, possibly more out of habit since I'm about 18 books behind in reading them. Most novels I'm drawn to, I get from the library as a hardcover unless I have a strong impulse to own them. And that's as a bookseller with an amazing discount.

>193 ReneeMarie: I see, thanks. I'm surprised to hear that trade paperbacks are less pricey than mass market paperbacks, though I tend to avoid them because they're taller. My thinking is that I might be able to fit one more shelf into a bookcase (about 20 books, give or take) if all my books are the height of MMPB. Though, to be honest, I have very few individual shelves that are exclusively MMPBs (I shelve by authors' last names) and I doubt I have any bookcase without taller books scattered among them.

>194 humouress: Sorry, I wasn't clear: they like the trade price better than the hardcover price, and the trade size better than the mass market size.

>193 ReneeMarie: I guess it’s an English term - over here it’s just called paperback (or actually “pocket” and large paperback (“storpocket”). I’m not knowledgeable about price differences between them as I never buy them.
I know people like to buy paperbacks because they’re cheaper than hardbacks. Personally I don’t get it as I only buy books I want to keep forever - books I just want to read once I borrow from the library. I don’t like the “fast fashion” of books now - buy it, read it, throw it away.

>196 PawsforThought: Some people give up on the library because of long waits for really popular books. Some people get books for school, or work, or book clubs.

I only see the buying, I don't know how long they keep them. I do hear from some customers that they share books with friends or family. Or sell them to get money to get and read more. Or donate them to schools, libraries, shelters, nursing homes, etc.

Some people get rid of books when they're worried about clutter. Some people do e-books to avoid adding physical books to their living space, rather than worrying about decluttering.

I keep thinking about death cleaning, but I admit my books will be the last thing I remove from my apartment. Some will be hard to get rid of short of recycling.

Who wants old books about Word, or HTML, or XML/SGML? Used bookstores don't take ARCs -- and after 30 years, I have *a lot* of ARCs.

I also didn't research & read every book before buying it, so what sounded good even in theory & review may not have been enjoyable when I did read it. And my tastes change, sometimes before I get around to reading a book.

The most "fast fashion" book, however, *is* the mass market. Publishers don't want to pay for the return of unsold copies, so they generally get stripped. The cover is torn off & sent in, rather than the whole book. A larger book is sometimes also a strip, but it tends to be something like an annual ACT or GMAT test guide or the like. Something that isn't wanted by anyone after that year.

Books in Rachel Neumeier's Tuyo series are available for Kindle from $0.99 for Tuyo to $1.99, $2.99 & $4.99 for 2-9 in the series and the latest Hedesa released today is $8.99 - but if any of that's steep, then they are all or each available for Kindle Unlimited. If you read fantasy and like character development along with your adventure and weird world building these are well worth a try. Warnings would be more for physical violence than sexual content as the latter is implied rather than explicit.

At a library sale today, I scored some paperbacks for $2 each: 5 classics and a couple of nonfiction titles that were all in perfect condition--no writing or marks; spines, pages and covers in perfect condition:

Classics:
*Portrait of a Lady, Henry James (2009 Oxford World's Classics)
*Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales, Robert Louis Stevenson (2008 Oxford World's Classics)
The Bride of Lammermoor, Sir Walter Scott (1998 Oxford World's Classics)
Redgauntlet, Sir Walter Scott (1998 Oxford World's Classics)
The Antiquary, Sir Walter Scott (1998 Penguin Classics)

Nonfiction:
The Arts and Crafts Movement, Elizabeth Cumming (1991)
Thoughts and Adventures, Winston Churchill (originally published 1932; this edition published 2009)

*These 2 were library withdrawals--they looked like they'd never been borrowed!

>198 quondame: You could add that to Great Book/ E-book Sale Alert thread.

The Green Dragon also has a thread for bargains.

Two new library books:
* A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark's Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII by Tim Brady
* Endling by Maria Reva (Booker longlisted)

>201 ReneeMarie: Only 2?? You must be sick or something :) The Tim Brady book looks like one that I would be interested in reading. I will have to check it out.

New books in-house for me last week include:
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal by Rachel Naomi Remen - this book was mentioned in How We Learn to Be Brave, which I read and loved recently

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou - a book that I picked up for a 2026 personal challenge

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin - another book that I picked up for a 2026 personal challenge

Engine Summer by John Crowley - For my 'read more sci fi' challenge

2nd August was my 17th Thingaversary. I happened to pop into Books Kinokuniya to renew my discount card (for which I had the pleasure of paying S$58) and discovered that it was the second day of a two-day sale. So, in addition to the books (1-11) in >145 humouress: and these that I picked up on our trip:

12 - The Alhambra of Granada - Dosde
13 - Mr Men in Ireland by Adam Hargreaves
14 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - a gift from a schoolfriend now working as a virologist in a budget-struck NHS.

I got :

15 - Arabian Folk & Fairy Tales: Fables, Folkore & Ancient Stories (Flame Tree Collector's Editions)

My son picked up A Heart Full of Hatred, the latest in the Skulduggery Pleasant series (which I may eventually read but I've stalled on the first book in the series 3 times already).

>203 humouress: Ooh, that Folk & Fairy Tales book is on my list of books to buy - I have most of the books published in that series so far. They’re SO pretty!

>204 PawsforThought: I've been keeping an eye on the Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy books because they are stunning - but a bit pricey - but this is the first time I've come across the Flame Tree Collector's Editions series.

>205 humouress: Ooh, nice! I stumbled upon the Collector’s Editions in one of my favourite bookshops a couple of years ago and have steadily been collecting them since. Just a couple of of days ago I discovered that there is a whole bunch of new books about to be published in that series this year and next.

>202 alcottacre: Well, I did have 6 holds waiting for me at the library. But I can't get to the library for a while. Not until flood waters recede & the bus routes get back to normal. Yesterday it took me 2hrs 10mins to get home from work. More than twice the usual time.

The circ desk librarian canceled the holds for me and put them back on hold to give me time to pick them up. One had other holds, so I'll have a bit longer wait.

I hadn't asked her to, but she also force renewed the items due back yesterday that had no remaining renewals. And forgave all my fines except the one I accrued last week. (My library card expired, I go straight from work to my library, and with all the checked out items at "0 renewals" because my card wasn't active, I had no way of knowing a DVD actually had no renewals because another patron had just requested it. I'm having a tough couple of weeks, librarywise.)

Knock on wood everything gets back to normal soon. Although next Monday there are supposed to be more storms.

>203 humouress: You just "happened" to pop in? Lol

You now have me interested in the Flame Tree Collector's Editions. Rats.

>207 ReneeMarie: I am busily knocking on wood for you, ReneeMarie! I hope everything is back to normal soon too.

>208 alcottacre: *rubs hands with satisfaction*

You just "happened" to pop in?
But it was my Thingaversary, so I had to. Right?

>209 humouress: Ah, I understand now. But of course. . .

>208 alcottacre: Thanks. Just took a look at my account and unfortunately the circ librarian was...overly optimistic...about my hold waiting times.

But she really did help me out with overdues. And we probably all know by now that I have enough books at home to read for the rest of my life. Plus I have several series on DVD that I bought on sale recently and haven't got to yet.

I'm good.

Well, it was storming yesterday, so I went to the library a day late & just paid the fine.

The novels all have holds so will be non-renewable:
* The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
* The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
* The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
* Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History by Moudhy Al-Rashid
* _Sciatica and Piriformis Syndrome: Simple and effective exercises for buttock, leg, and back pain_ by Katharina Brinkmann & Nicolai Napolski

Book care package in the mail.
Big Fish Daniel Wallace
The Stranger Albert Camus
The Priory of the Orange Tree Samantha Shannon (this is a chonker)

I'm back on my Monday library schedule. Two books and a DVD today. The books:
* The Secret World of Denisovans: The Epic Story of the Ancient Cousins to Sapiens and Neanderthals by Silvana Condemi and François Savatier
* The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan

Wow, there are some great looking books coming in!

I have had several come in myself over the past couple of weeks.

From the public library or Hoopla: (all for September TIOLI Challenges)
Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
Village School by Miss Read
Allegro Court by Brenda Margriet
A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle

For my personal library:
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang - For my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge
At the Back of the North Wind and Phantastes by George MacDonald
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez - For my Building Bridges Diversity Challenge in 2026
Antisemitism in America: A Warning by Senator Chuck Schumer - For my Jewish Studies reading
Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan - a book I read recently and liked so much I decided I need my own copy
Stories of People & Civilization: Egyptian Ancient Origins edited by Charlotte Booth - this one is all Nina's fault
When the World Was Black by Supreme Understanding - For my Black Studies reading
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott - a recent recommendation from Richard
The Stories of John Cheever - Mark kindly gave me a copy while I was in Chicago
Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien - Mark kindly gave me a copy while I was in Chicago
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew by Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby - For my Jewish Studies reading
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeline L'Engle - Picked up at a Little Free Library in Chicago

I recently splurged and ordered the L E Modesitt l am behind on.

From the Forest
Overcaptain
Sub-majer's Challenge

I look forward to their arrival, although the price difference between Kindle and physical paperback finally got me and I ordered a digital copy of the last one. I have all of the rest in physical copies but between running out of shelf space and the price difference, I will go digital from here on out for this series.

>215 alcottacre: Robbie Arnott is an author that I have been looking for in vain here and I'll be very interested to see what you make of it, Stasia.

I had a binge on Thursday, visiting two new independent bookstores, and coming home with these titles (some new, mostly used):
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Louisiana's Way by Kate DiCamillo
The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
Foster by Claire Keegan
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kemmerer
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamli
Carried Away by Alice Munro
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

>218 laytonwoman3rd: Nice! I visited an independent bookstore while I was in Chicago on Joe's recommendation and picked up 5 books - Beth scored 6, lol.

You have some really nice reading ahead of you, Linda!

>219 alcottacre: Browsing is so much fun, isn't it Stasia? And I had a lovely chat with the owner in Friendly Aliens Books where I bought about half of those. We bonded over mutual appreciation for Claire Keegan and Alice Munro.

>220 laytonwoman3rd: I had a lovely chat with the clerk at Roscoe's Books in Chicago - we bonded over Zora Neale Huston as one of her books was on display next to the register and I remarked what a fan of hers that I am and we talked about the Harlem Renaissance reading that I am doing this year.

Book people are wonderful, aren't they?

Yesterday I brought home a hefty pile from the library, some of them on fire.

* Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman
* The Blue Line Letters by Steven Christiansen
* Death in the Countryside by Maria Malone
* Open When... by Dr. Julie Smith
* Surrounded by Bad Bosses (and Lazy Employees) by Thomas Erikson
* If I Can Get Home This Fall by Tyler Alexander
* _Powerful Habits for Aging Well_ from Fair Winds Press
* It Doesn't Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life by Sanjay Gupta
* The Story You Need To Tell by Sandra Marinella

>221 alcottacre: Good to see that you are back to normal, ReneeMarie!

New books in-house for me this week:
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - For my Black Studies reading
Mountain Time, The Eleventh Man, Prairie Nocturne, Sweet Thunder, and Heart Earth by Ivan Doig - I am blaming the Doig binge on Linda and Marianne, lol

>223 alcottacre: Gaaak. I need a new normal. Not this week, though...

Brought home new from the library tonight:
* The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton
* Short Stories in Norwegian for Beginners by Olly Richards
* Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain by Prof. Jason M. Satterfield (The Great Courses)
* Fat Loss Habits by Ben Carpenter
* The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M. D.

My Thingaversary books have started coming in. 3 were unavailable and 1 was reordered because Books K received it damaged. The rest should start turning up soon (waiting to receive them from the suppliers) but I have these for now:

The Bride of the Blue Wind by Victoria Goddard
The Warrior of the Third Veil by Victoria Goddard

(These were both surprisingly slim.)

The Cleopatra Crisis (Time Wars) by Simon Hawke
The Dracula Caper (Time Wars) (Volume 8) by Simon Hawke
The Khyber Connection: Volume 6 (Time Wars) by Simon Hawke

I currently have 10 books out on Overdrive/ Libby but I never report them becaus that's a revolving door.

>224 ReneeMarie: Lol, I need a new normal too!

>225 humouress: Yay for more Victoria Goddard!

New books in-house for me this week (both nonfiction):

The Story of Archaeological Decipherment by Maurice Pope - Just because I am me

Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway - Benita mentioned this one on Janet's thread a while back

Small haul from the library today, a day late and $1.75 short (library fine) because of a migraine that kept me at home yesterday:

* Wait, I'm Working with Who?!? by Peter Economy
* Working for You Isn't Working for Me by Katherine Crowley & Kathi Elster
* Wellbeing at Work by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
* Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate
* Making History by K. J. Parker

Look away. Nothing to see here...

Another library trip:
* The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson
* The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols
* A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
* Good Boss, Bad Boss by Robert I. Sutton
* It's the Manager by Jim Clifton & Jim Harter
* The Secrets of Successful Communication by Kevin T. McCarney
* Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower by Therese Huston
* The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman & Paul White
* Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People by Renee Evenson

Books received while I was out of town last week. These are all for my personal library:

All the Broken Places by John Boyne - I recently read the first book in this duology, The Boy at the Top of the Mountain
Zoo, or Letters Not about Love by Viktor Shklovsky - Mentioned in the book Bound to Please by Michael Dirda
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: Black Bibliophile & Collector by Elinor Des Verney Sinnette - for my Black Studies reading
South Side Impresarios by Samantha Ege - for my Black Studies reading
Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston - for my Black Studies reading

I forgot about my haul from my trip to Stockholm a few weeks ago:

Norse Myths & Legends
Native American Stories Legends
Snuff by Terry Pratchett
Iliaden and
Odysséen

And the two Tintin albums my wonderful colleague brought me from the French bookshop:
Objectif lune and
Tintin au pays de l'or noir

Going down to Stockholm again in a couple of weeks so there will be another haul, but probably smaller this time.

From the public library (all of them for TIOLI challenges):
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather
North Woods by Daniel Mason

>231 PawsforThought: Did I zing you too with the Flame Tree books (re Norse Myths & Legends)?

>233 humouress: I’ve actually been collecting those books for years!

>234 PawsforThought: Ah; I'm late to the party then. I have been eyeing their Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy collection, and even acquired one - in spite of the price.

>235 humouress: I’m sticking to the legends, tales and myths. Not dipping into the fiction books or the “ancient origins”. I haven’t found them any more expensive than other books, but I’m sure it varies depending on where you are.

In honor of my Thingaversary on September 24, I bought myself books today.
Last of the First L. E. Modesitt, Jr Saga of Recluce #26 Pre-order
King Foretold Jayci Lee (Realm of Four Kingdoms book 2)
Isolate L. E. Modesitt, Jr A Novel in the Grand Illusion
The White Tree , The Great Rift , The Black Star Edward W. Robertson The Cycle of Arawn
Dragon's Run Jody Lynn Nye (Robert Asprin's)
Dragon Force Lucia Ashta

>237 elorin: Nice! What Thingaversary was this for you, Robyn?

>238 alcottacre: 8 years!

I wanted to share a site I stumbled across where there are free downloadable quality books. I was doing some digital decluttering of shortcuts on my cellphone & clicked through to see if I was still interested in the book. Turned out it's an older open access (i.e., free) ebook. Clicked another link, and voila.

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open/

A bit more restraint at the library:
* Read & Think French from the editors of Think French magazine
* The Project: How Project 2025 is Reshaping America by David A. Graham
* Are You Normal?: Do You Behave Like Everyone Else? by Bernice Kanner

>239 elorin: Congratulations! I hope you continue to enjoy your time here on LT and in the group!

>240 ReneeMarie: Thanks for sharing that link, ReneeMarie. I am always looking for more places to get books, especially ones that I cannot seem to pick up through my local library.

>241 ReneeMarie: Wow, that is restraint for you! Lol

>242 alcottacre: Yup. I didn't get the French book until I returned the Norwegian. And I'm holding off on Read & Think Spanish and Read & Think Italian for now.

From Hoopla (For TIOLI challenges):
Troubling the Waters by Cheryl Lynn Greenberg - Also for my Black studies and Jewish studies reading
The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine

For my personal library:
Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear - For my series reading
Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olson

Less restraint, but only one book on fire:

* Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy by Zazie Todd
* _Are You Being Bullied at Work?_ by Aryanne Oade
* A Murder in Paris by Matthew Blake
* The Sherlock Society: Hurricane Heist by James Ponti
* The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell
* Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

>245 ReneeMarie: Since I now have 3 cats, I should probably read the first book on your list!

>246 alcottacre: I haven't taken a deep look at it so far. I did glance at it enough to know I'm a bad pet parent. I give my cats attention every day, but that doesn't mean I *play* with them. And I leave all the toys where they can get at them, rather than having a restricted rotation. And their feeding schedule is as consistent as possible, considering my schedule changes, but it does vary a bit day to day.

>244 alcottacre: I saw The Dead Husband Cookbook on your list, Stasia. I was wondering if that was a cookbook for widows or one that teaches a wife how to poison her husband. I then saw it was a novel. :D

>247 ReneeMarie: I am probably the worst cat parent ever! I am the same with giving my cats attention every day and the same with the toys. My cats have no kind of feeding schedule - if their bowls are empty, I feed them.

>248 SqueakyChu: It turned out to be a thriller/suspense novel, Madeline. I just finished it yesterday.

I was at the library just over a week ago and came home with my planned reads for October. (Did I also return some of my summer reads? No.)

The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Necrophile - Gabrielle Wittkop
The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
Phaedra - Jean Racine
Antigone - Jean Anouilh
Bel Ami - Guy de Maupassant
Nausea - Jean Paul Sartre
The Flies - Jean Paul Sartre
No Trifling with Love Alfred de Musset

Most of these are short reads, so shouldn't be a problem (I've finished three already). We'll see if I have time to read Bel Ami - that one's a chunkster.

>250 PawsforThought: Wow, some great reading there, Paws!

Got The Long Walk from the library yesterday. Looking forward to reading it.

In from the public library for me this week (both for TIOLI Challenges):

West by Carys Davies - a re-read for me and I should be finishing it up today
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies by Joyce Sidman - on the Banned Books list, I have already finished this beautifully illustrated, well written children's book

For my personal library this week:
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky - the third book in the Children of Time series

Three from the library today (because I accidentally left #4 on the hold shelf & the person on the circ desk didn't catch it):

* Weird, Sad, and Silent by Alison McGhee
* Songlight by Moira Buffini
* Dracula by Bram Stoker

Had another work trip down to Stockholm last week and made sure to stop by the Sci-Fi Bookshop for some goodies:

* The Fellowship of the Ring
* The Two Towers
* The Return of the King
I already have the LOTR books, plus a number of other Tolkien books, but they're in Swedish translation. These are original English, with a beautiful cover.
* The Colour of Magic
* The Light Fantastic
I have almost all the Discworld books now - only missing one or two.
* Korean Folk & Fairy Tales
* Arabian Folk & Fairy Tales

No more work trips until the new year (thank goodness!) means no more book shopping sprees in brick-and-mortar shops for a while.

>254 ReneeMarie: Oo, Dracula! Great reading for this time of the year!

>255 PawsforThought: Nice haul, Paws!

In for my personal library this week:

African Ancient Origins by Robin Walker - I am blaming this one on Nina, lol
Yes to Life In Spite of Everything by Viktor E. Frankl - a recommendation from Richard
Wellington: Pillar of State by Elizabeth Longford - thanks to Peggy, I am reading up the first volume of Wellington's biography, so I needed this one too!

Picked up in Joplin at the meet up
Birds of Prey by Wilbur Smith
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam
The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland
Voyage to Mars by Lawrence Bergreen
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
The Gathering Wind by Gregory A. Freeman
The Second World War, Revised Edition by Martin Gilbert
The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein - the only book that was in the BlackHole that I bought in Joplin; for my Jewish Studies reading
A Lawyer's Journey by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer - for my Black Studies reading
Animals and Other People and Malabar Farm both by Louis Bromfield - a blast from the past
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

Any thoughts on this week's purchases?

>257 alcottacre: Viktor Frankl is always inspiring. I've read Man's Search for Meaning several times. I have a biography Viktor E. Frankl: Life with Meaning that I picked up last year; I need to move that up the TBR.

>256 alcottacre: I do NOT generally read horror. And to watch it? Abbott & Costello better be making an appearance.

But I did read 2 horror novels that I really liked:
* My Soul To Keep by Tananarive Due (deliberate, it got a great review from Publishers Weekly, & I usually vibe with their reviews)
* A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan (this was an accident -- I thought it was historical fiction, and it was, but not only historical fiction)

And some classics have been on my read-someday list for years. Besides Dracula, I plan to read Shelly's Frankenstein. I read another vampire story, Le Fanu's Carmilla, for my classics book group years back.

And I want to read the story The Canterville Ghost by Wilde. I enjoy the movie version set during WWII, but I want to know what the original story was.

>257 alcottacre: Not a ton of thoughts. I don't have a lot of interest in the Flametree editions, but that Robin Walker one does sound interesting.

I have a Wilbur Smith or two. Unread. One is River God, which I heard recommended highly.

And I've read a couple of Emma Donoghue's books. Not that one, although I do own it.

>257 alcottacre: Only have a couple of those, Stasia, and haven't yet read any of them. The Wasted Vigil got pretty strong reviews as I recall.

>257 alcottacre: Woo woo ...

I mean, I'm so sorry (she said insincerely).

I hadn't realised that Joplin was for a meet-up (though I feel I should have). Photos?

>258 kac522: I have read Man's Search for Meaning a couple of times as well, Kathy, but never knew about Yes to Life until I saw Richard's review. I will have to search for the biography you mentioned.

>259 ReneeMarie: I am not a horror reader either, ReneeMarie. I have read one of Due's books, but it was a book of short stories. I own A Prayer for the Dying, but have not read it yet. I have read several of Stewart O'Nan's books and enjoyed them for the most part.

Frankenstein I do not consider to be horror. When Esquire published its list of the top science fiction books, they put Frankenstein as number 1 and I was like, 'what?' I will be curious to see what you think of it after you have read it.

I have not read The Canterville Ghost either. I will have to get to it sometime!

>260 ReneeMarie: I have only read one book by Robin Walker, When We Ruled: The Ancient and Mediaeval History of Black Civilisations, and it was outstanding, so I am anxious to get to this new one - if only the text was not quite so small.

I have River God in the BlackHole but do not have a copy as of yet and my local library does not have it either. We will see how I get on with the one I bought before I start a 10-book series, lol.

I have read several of Donoghue's books - my favorite remains Room - but had not even heard of this one so we shall see.

>261 PaulCranswick: It is funny, Paul, because the name The Wasted Vigil had stuck with me and I thought I might have read it but I checked LT and I had not. It turns out that I attempted to read it back in 2022 but it was a DNF book for me. Hopefully I will get on better with it this time around!

>262 humouress: Yeah, those Flame Tree Editions are gorgeous (if small). I love pretty books, I do.

Roni will be posting the few pictures that were taken on the Joplin thread after she arrives home today. You can check the thread out here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/371059

>264 alcottacre: I've only read Donoghue's historical fiction. Bought Slammerkin when it was first published. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman, similar vibe, came out slightly later, and that one did get read right away because it was pulled from the hat as a historical fiction book group pick.

Four of these are on fire, so I'm in tr-r-r-ou-ble (think Tootie; IYKYK):
* The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde (on audio)
* The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley (pretty sure this is a reread; it was on a golden age list in the front of a contemporary mystery I just read)
* Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada
* Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia
* A Dark and Deadly Journey by Julia Kelly
* The Librarians by Sherry Thomas

>107 alcottacre: FYI: I finally read the Stotts book. And I want to be Lutie Stearns when I grow up. She did SO much for Wisconsin libraries. She was Progressive, and feminist -- and left-handed like me. :-)

Wherein this week she makes it even worse:
* 1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe by Peter Fritzsche
* Spadework for a Palace by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
* The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong
* Bog Queen by Anna North
* The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
* Busted by Dan Gemeinhart
* The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

>267 ReneeMarie: Now I really have to get a copy of that book!

>268 ReneeMarie: Worse than what? Lol

>269 alcottacre: Every single one of those books from Monday has holds. That makes 14 books with no renewals due back between now and 11/17. Sheesh.

>270 ReneeMarie: All I can say is 'read fast.' Either that or 'do not sleep.'

>271 alcottacre: I've already added a re-hold to all of the non-renewables. And priority will go to the books with the longest holds list, followed by the books with the least number of pages.

And did I mention I have an 18hr DVD checked out? It's the new release of all the Peanuts specials. It's also due in two weeks with no renewals.

>272 ReneeMarie: Yep, not sleeping sounds like your best option to me. An 18 hour DVD? Never knew such a thing existed!

>273 alcottacre: The specials are on 5 discs in a single package. Knocked off the first 2 specials today. 3-4 more are required before bed. No Woodstock yet, but it's the bird's home I really want to see.

>274 ReneeMarie: I am a huge Peanuts fan so I know you are having a good time with those DVDs! Hopefully Woodstock will show up soon.

Returned 14 books to the library (four unread, the rest read during autumn and late summer) and only borrowed one!

* Don Quixote
To be read in November, for the Grand European Tour theme of Spain.

Will have to return another two books tomorrow because apparently other people sometimes want to read the same books as me. Luckily, I've already put a hold on one of them (the other one I'll finish today).

>276 PawsforThought: They let you put holds on books while you still have them checked out? My library requires that I check the book in before I can put a hold on it. (I try to avoid dueling holds by prioritizing books I borrow by using a hold myself, and any that I find to have holds on them some time after borrowing them, but they don't notify me when someone puts a hold on a book I have out, making that more difficult.)

>277 ArlieS: No, not technically. It was loaned out in my brother’s name because I couldn’t make it to the library to borrow it this summer. But otherwise I would have just returned it and immediately put a hold on it, so when the other person loaned it it’d have a hold.
My library (the university library) lets you borrow the book for as long as you want, and they automatically renew the loan when there’s three days left if no one else has put a hold on it. So if you get a message saying you need to return it, you know someone’s put a hold on it.
Normally I wouldn’t care much and just return the book (making a note of where I was if I’d started reading it) but this book I had plans for so I’m pretty annoyed. I’m hoping whoever else borrows it is quick to read (or DNF) so I can get it back. I wanted to read is as my “end of the years plus the holidays” read.

>278 PawsforThought: Ours does the same - if you don't check earlier, you learn there's a hold when the auto-renew fails, 3 days before the book is due. I can often finish a book during that 3 day grace period, if I put my mind to it. But not always.

>279 ArlieS: I seem to always get those notifications when I only just started a book. This particular book is over 900 pages and I was at about 50 so there’s no universe in which I would have been able to finish it in three days.

900+ pages sounds like my kind of book.

But I wouldn't be able to finish it in 3 days either. Some of those chunksters take me all 3 of the renewals my library permits.

I constantly overestimate how much I’ll be able to read so always have more books checked out than I’d be able to finish in time. But as my library has unlimited renewals it’s not normally a problem.

I bought Mate by Ali Hazelwood after enjoying Bride for the book club. And realized I bought another book club title for October, Forked Tongue and haven't even read page 1.

>276 PawsforThought: I hope you enjoy Don Quixote more than I did, Paws. You could not pay me enough to read it again, lol.

>283 elorin: Well, you have until tomorrow at midnight to get past page 1, Robyn :)

>284 alcottacre: I have a good feeling, but we’ll see. I started reading it years and years ago and had to put it down because I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud on the train.

>285 PawsforThought: There were parts of DQ that I enjoyed, do not get me wrong, but it is long and the second part of the book seemed to drag on forever for me.

>285 PawsforThought: What language/translation do you plan to read it in?

>287 ReneeMarie: Swedish. Fairly old translation but I wanted a copy that wasn’t simplified which was surprisingly difficult for me to find.

>288 PawsforThought: So Henrik Nordstrom? I haven't read DQ, but I do have it on the TBR mountain range. I think I have the Tobias Smollett translation (and I've read with enjoyment Smollett's Expedition of Humphrey Clinker), but I've heard the Edith Grossman is *the* translator from Spanish for modern English readers.

>289 ReneeMarie: No, it's a translation by Edvard Lidforss. Henrik Nordström was not a translator, but a publisher, I believe (at least that what the database at the Royal Library says. The translation published by him in their collection was translated by Jonas Magnus Stjernstolpe back in the early 19th century. My library doesn't have stuff that old - my copy is from 1995, but the translation is older, the 60s or so.

My web orders from as long ago as August are still trickling in. I picked up Time of Daughters I and A Night in the Lonesome October (BB from the Green Dragon) today. I've given up with the local delivery service. Plus picking my orders up in store gives me a chance to browse. I succumbed to some calendars too, for Christmas presents for my family.

In this week from my local library:

Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward T. Cotham - For November's Nonfiction challenge

By the Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle - For November's American Authors challenge and one of the TIOLI challenges as well

For my personal library:

An Alphabetical Life by Wendy Werris - For one of the November TIOLI challenges

Full Share, Double Share, and Captain's Share by Nathan Lowell - the next books in the Tale from the Golden Age of Solar Clipper series that I am reading

I picked up a few paperbacks this weekend, which I don’t normally do because I hate them. But I was at a flea market on Saturday and they had tables of FREE books! I grabbed a few I’ve been thinking of reading, and since they were free I’m okay with them being paperbacks - I’ll donate them somewhere once I’ve read them.

* The Lies of Locke Lamora - I’ve heard so many people both on here and Instagram talk about this one
* Brighton Rock
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being
* The Private Patient

Also scored a really nice Yule goat and a shoemaker lamp that cost about 1/20th what you normally find them for.

>293 PawsforThought: Scott Lynch is on my read someday list for the same reason -- I've heard lots of love for it. I own one Kundera, Slowness, but haven't read it yet (I've only owned it for 30 years or so). The historical fiction aspect, and very likely the cover, made me pick it up.

I just downloaded a few free titles and one reduced price trilogy from Kindle buffet.
Bananapants
The Dashwood Billionaires
Dragon and Thief
Dragon and Soldier
Dragon and Slave

Kindle Buffet Free Books and Discounts for Sunday, November 2, 2025 https://share.google/t0ows18D3mjjVPCmW

I'm hopeless. Six more from the library:
* Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection by Ben Rein, PhD
* On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom by Cass R. Sunstein
* Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick
* Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines
* Amanda by H.S. Cross
* The Book of I by David Greig

>295 elorin: Nice!

>296 ReneeMarie: Libraries need all the support they can get these days. You are not hopeless, you are helpful :)

>296 ReneeMarie: and >297 alcottacre: Stasia is 100% right. Libraries love you!

In this week from my local public library (all for TIOLI Challenges):

1941: The Year Germany Lost the War by Andrew Nagorski

Rez Life by David Treuer - also for the American Authors challenge in November

Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson

Six Days of War by Michael B. Oren

Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

For my personal library:

In Search of Lost Books by Giorgio van Straten

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones

>297 alcottacre: >298 PawsforThought: It being a positive for the library does not preclude it being a problem for me. Eight more today in which how horrible my job is right now is obvious.

* The Mudflats Murder Club by Brian Thiem
* 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk (I own another book by her, unread as yet, that also sold very well when I put it on a table)
* Growing Home by Beth Ferry
* Everyday Trauma by Tracey Shors, Ph.D.
* Real Life by Sharon Salzberg
* When You're Not OK by Jill Stark
* 50 Mindful Steps to Self-Esteem by Janetti Marotta
* The Depression Toolkit by Knaus, Korb, Robinson, Schab, & Strosahl

>275 alcottacre: Got to see the house in the Easter Beagle episode. But I feel like maybe I'm also remembering a book and not just the TV program.

Did not remember either how mean or careless Snoopy is with Woodstock. Nor that Snoopy was always hurting his paws. I only watched about 1/3 to 1/2 of the specials. Not going to buy it. I have the iconic Christmas episode on DVD, so I'm good.

>300 ReneeMarie: I am sorry to hear that your job is so horrible right now, ReneeMarie, but I am glad that you are finding some measure of comfort in the books. Trust me, I know how that goes!

>301 ReneeMarie: Did not remember either how mean or careless Snoopy is with Woodstock Nor did I, but is has been a good long while since I have either read or viewed Peanuts.

I love the Christmas episode though! I try and watch that one annually if I can catch it.

I went to the Austin Book Festival on Saturday and bought three new Ali Hazelwood books. We didn't get to get them signed but I am still going to read them.
Check and Mate
Not In Love
Problematic Summer Romance

>303 elorin: Nice, Robyn!

I received a couple of books for my personal library this week: Chasing the King of Hearts by Hanna Krall, a recent recommendation from Susan (quondame) and Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree.

At least my outs matched my ins at the library this week:
* Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser
* Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
* _Resilience_ by Linda Graham
* Believing in Myself by Earnie Larsen & Carol Hegarty

>305 ReneeMarie: At least my outs matched my ins at the library this week Progress of a sort?

>306 alcottacre: Mixed. Read the latest Osman mystery & the North historical fiction, both of which were on fire. DNF'd the Krasznahorkai. Not for me. Some of the other books that had holds now don't.

But as soon as titles get off my hold list, I add more to it. I keep looking at the new materials feed from my local library system. Really not helpful.

And I expect the new Ken Burns documentary will refresh my memory about historians I want to read, and people I want to learn more about.

I have a pile of 12 priority books next to my chair. That's not even a drop in the ocean. And the waters are rising.

>307 ReneeMarie: Sending boats.

>308 humouress: Ha! And life jackets...? Yes, please. :-}

>307 ReneeMarie: >308 humouress: >309 ReneeMarie: Sending boats, life jackets, and sailors. . .

BTW, ReneeMarie, I finished Semiosis today and I enjoyed it. I hope you get to it at some point.

>310 alcottacre: "I hope you get to it at some point." -- Ouch.

>311 ReneeMarie: I have so many books that I need to get to at some point that I can never die, lol.

New books in-house for me this week include:

Benediction by Ken Haruf - I am planning on reading Haruf's works in 2026

Karma Cola by Gita Mehta - for one of the 2026 Nonfiction challenges

The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig - one of his books that I did not already own

The Seven Good Years by Etgar Kemet

The Secret Family by David Bodanis - for one of the 2026 Nonfiction challenges

The ins and outs balanced. But two of the outs are also on fire...

* The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend
* One Hand Clapping by Nikolay Kukushkin
* Performance Feedback Strategies by Sandra Mashihi & Kenneth Nowack

>314 ReneeMarie: I had not heard of The Botanist's Assistant before. You will have to let me know how it is!

Glad to hear you are in balance :)

>315 alcottacre: Assuming I can get to it in time -- or at all. My batting average is pretty low. As for how I heard of it, I think I saw it mentioned in BookPage.

And I'm out of balance again. Returned one book & one DVD, checked out:
* We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (just won an NBA for translated lit)
* 4 Weeks to Healthy Digestion by Norton Greenberger & Roanne Weisman (grrr, GERD)
* Natural Solutions for Digestive Health by Jillian Sarno Teta & Jeannette Bessinger
* The Everything Guide to the Acid Reflux Diet by Edward R. Rosick

(Plus 3 DVDs.)

>315 alcottacre: I'm only two chapters in, but so far so good. The author is a journalist and her ability to tell a story is evident. A blurb on the cover calls it The Maid meets Lessons in Chemistry. I think that's quite accurate.

>317 ReneeMarie: Thanks for the input, ReneeMarie. I will have to see if I can find a copy and give it a shot.

Three returned & four checked out today, but only two were books.

From my trip down some Internet health rabbit holes:
* Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain by Bradley Bale & Amy Doneen with Lisa Collier Cool
* Goodbye to Inflammation by Sandra Moñino

>319 ReneeMarie: Gotta watch out for those rabbit holes. . .

>318 alcottacre: Just finished it. Really enjoyed it. Totally relate to the main character -- wish I could control my emotions as well as she does, though. And there's a chance it's not just a book, but book one. Only thing I really didn't like was the cover.

>321 ReneeMarie: Glad you liked it! Yeah, I need to track down a copy. I can live with the cover - I cannot see it when I am reading anyway :)

New books in-house for me this week include:

Daring to Be Free by Sudhir Hazareesingh - For my Black Studies reading
Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino - For my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge
The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan - For my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge
Zone One by Colson Whitehead - For my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge

I found 2 "thank you for being a patron" bookmarks in what I brought home tonight. Sweet.

* Short Stories in Spanish for beginners by Olly Richards
* Short Stories in French for beginners by Olly Richards and Richard Simcott
* Tilt: A Novel by Emma Pattee
* Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita
* See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon
* All the Lonely People: Conversations on Loneliness by Dr. Sam Carr
* Change Your Brain Change Your Pain by Daniel G. Amen

>324 ReneeMarie: I've been thinking of getting my hands on the Short Storie sin... books (French and German for me) so I hope you'll report back on whether theyre good.

I got a book delivery last week with the following books. One book had slight damage (the cover had been caught in the glue from the box) so I wrote to customer service but have not heard back. I'll write them again today - I understand that this is a busy time but you need to reply to people.

* Photography - David Bate
* Destination Art - Amy Dempsey
* Global Art - Jessica Lack
* The Rose Field - Philip Pullman
* Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie
* Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

The first three books are part of a series of books on art that I'm collecting. The Pullman, Christie and Pratchett books are the final purchases for series I've been collecting so now those series are complete.

>324 ReneeMarie: I have Tilt in the BlackHole. I am going to have to get to it one of these days!

>326 PawsforThought: Nice haul!

>325 PawsforThought: I recently had the Norwegian version out through interlibrary loan, & just started looking at the French version. The stories are basically the same, no matter the language. (So my recommendation would be to go with your better language *first*, because you'll have a better idea of what the stories are as you read the language you know less well.)

The pieces you read are short. Words that were bolded show up in a glossary at the back of each section and the back of the book. There are also plot summaries at the end of each section, & multiple choice questions about what happened in the story.

Still loving Dorothy Gilman's spy novels. My one new book from the library today is Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station.

>329 ReneeMarie: I have a soft spot in my heart for Mrs. Pollifax. When I was homeschooling my daughters, we used Mrs. Pollifax books for geography, lol.

>330 alcottacre: I can see it. She does get around. Mexico, Albania, Turkey, Zambia...

Three new books from the library, including the next Mrs. Pollifax -- since I inhaled the last one.

* Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha by Dorothy Gilman
* A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
* The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith

And, we're off to a smashing successful addition of books. Good idea Stasia to recommend this, though it does challenge my pledge made that for every book coming in, the same amount goes off the shelves and donated to the local library.

Today, I had free books accumulated because of previous purchases from Thriftbooks.com. After reading Gerda Weissmann Kline All But My Life the story a 70 plus year old survivor of the holocaust, living in the United States, and happily married to the man who rescued her from one of the most wicked camps, I added these books regarding the Holocaust:

The Escape Artist: The Man who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
Because of Romek: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir by David Faber, Anna Vaisman, and James Klein
We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust
Under the Domim Tree by Gila Almagor
Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust by Elly Berkovits Gross
The Hidden Girl: A True Story of the Holocaust by Lola Rein Kaufman

And then, I ended with a happy book:
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

Seven books in and now tomorrow I will cull my collections for seven that will be donated to the library.

>331 ReneeMarie: Yep! It was a great - and fun - way to introduce them to other countries of the world.

>332 ReneeMarie: I picked up one of the Mrs. Pollifax books today too! I started back at the beginning with The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.

>333 Whisper1: Library books count for this too, lovey, not just purchased books :)

>324 ReneeMarie: Ooh - we have a few of those Short Stories in books (in French and Spanish). I got them for my kids because they were/ are studying the language and haven't read them myself, so I couldn't tell you anything about them. Maybe I should give them a go and try your >328 ReneeMarie: tip about reading my stronger language first.

>335 humouress: Buena suerte

>336 ReneeMarie: Merci/ gracias.