Library Books Valentine's Day Edition

After reading Nick Hornby, I decided it might be interesting to blog about the books I bring into my house.  I'm going to do two posts a month, roughly two weeks apart - the books I now own (through purchase, gift, or swap) and the books I bring home from the library.

I work as an academic librarian, so I have books at my fingertips every day.  I also have access to interlibrary loan.  My library piles can be extensive!  Some of the books I'm actively seeking out for various reasons, and others I just can't help but bring home with me.  So let's take a look at the year so far.

• The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, translated by Ender Gürol 
• In the Garden of Stone by Susan Tekulve
• Icelandic Poems and Stories compiled by Richard Beck
• Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer
• At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón
• Fire and Ice: Three Icelandic Plays edited by Einar Haugen
• A Persian Requiem by Simin Daneshvar (aka Suvashun)
• Doc by Mary Doria Russell
• The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• (not pictured, eBook) The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto 

You will notice that several of these have a sticker on them that says "Leisure."  That is the doing of our fabulous staff member who orders all of our leisure reading.  She has impeccable taste and I always find books on those shelves I've never heard of.  That's why I brought home Frances and Bernard (an epistolary novel, which will fit a reading goal this year) and The Novel Cure, a book on books that I am looking forward to reading.

Many of my library books have to do with book clubs and reading challenges.  In the Garden of Stone was for the book club from the International Center of the Upstate, our annual local author pick.  She spoke at our meeting, and I enjoyed talking to her!  I'm in a virtual book club called the League of Extraordinary Dorks, and Doc was the pick for February.  I would not have selected historical fiction about Doc Holliday otherwise, but I did enjoy the novel.

The Time Regulation Institute is for the continued Turkish reading along with the World's Literature group in GoodReads, as are the two Icelandic books.  Well, they aren't official picks but when I went to check out the Laxness, I was reminded that the Library of Congress cataloging system groups fiction first by country of origin, then by author.  This means that in the small collection of Icelandic titles, I would find everything in the same place.  I couldn't resist bringing a few more home!  A Persian Requiem is for another GoodReads group that focuses on different Middle Eastern nations every year.  

The last three are on the list for the 2014 Tournament of Books, and I've been working my way through that list.  In March I'll be blogging about those book brackets, so stay tuned!   Now I can return some of the books in this pile that I've already finished.  You can read my ongoing reviews at GoodReads.