Library Books Mid-July 2016

This post is going live a little later than mid-July. I spent just over a week in Oregon and mailed my books back to myself, and since they went media mail they just got home. I put my library books in there since I had finished them, along with the books I bought at (where else) Powells. The newly purchased books will be included in my monthly new books in post at the end of July.

Disinformation by Frances Leviston
Physical by Andrew McMillan
Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting
The Patron Saint of Ugly by Marie Manilla
Apex by Ramez Naam
Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand
Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue
The Tusk that did the Damage by Tania James
My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber
Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death by Jane Halifax
Kaiseki by Yoshihiro Murata

I heard about the Murata from an eGalley of Super Sushi Ramen Express, so of course I had to read more about this fascinating cuisine.

I wish I could remember where I heard about the Halifax. I requested it immediately from interlibrary loan and devoured it before my trip home. I discuss it further on Episode 063 of the Reading Envy Podcast: Desolation Road.

The Leviston, McMillan, and James are all on my stack because they were finalists for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and I had already read the other two nominees. I figured, why not?

The Whiting and Manilla were total impulse checkouts when I was looking for light reads for my trip, the Taber was recommended by a Litsy friend, and the Enrigue was the July pick for one of my Goodreads groups.

The Hand and Naam are books in series I have started and liked, and want to keep reading. The Naam will finish a trilogy, and I hope to dig into it this weekend if not sooner.

Library Books Mid-September 2015

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
It Will End with Us by Sam Savage
The Coroner's Lunch (Dr. Siri #1) by Colin Cotterill
The Complete Visual Guide to Good Dog Training: The Balanced Way to A Well Behaved Pet by Babette Haggerty
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe
The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The Chimes by ANna Smaill
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir by Roz Chast

This month has been a busy month of books from the library (libraries, really). Three of the books on this pile are on the Man Booker Prize Longlist (Obioma, Smaill, Tyler) and I was trying to read at least the first 50 pages of as many of those books as I could.

I went to our leisure reading collection to pull the Chast because I was preparing to speak with a librarian who specializes in comics and graphic novels, and I was thinking I would have one fresh in my mind to talk about, and knew the Chast had been a finalist for the National Book Award (USA) last year. I ended up not using it as one of my primary choices, but I can say I have read it! When I was over in that collection, the Helm, Quick, and Toews followed me home. Whoops.

The Savage seemed out of place in the New Books section, a slim black paperback in a sea of academic hardbacks. Reading the description I found it is set in South Carolina, so decided it was worth a try, maybe a quick read.

I had wanted to read another Chodron after reading her book When Things Fall Apart. This one was not as easy of a read, but still great. I requested the Cotterill from interlibrary loan immediately following the recording of Reading Envy Podcast 037, where Juliane mentioned that series in passing. That was enough to peak my curiosity, not to mention that it is set in a country I had yet to read a book from for my Around the World challenge.

The dog training one was a whimsy pick from the new books section at the public library - I have two dogs who badly need training but we haven't taken the time to do a class yet.  I thought maybe it would help!