Library Books Mid-May 2017

The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky
The Islanders by Christopher Priest
Satan Says: Poems by Sharon Olds
Strange Divisions & Alien Territories by Keith Brooke 
Hard Light by Elizabeth Hand
Super Paleo Snacks by Landria Voigt
All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
The Last Shift: Poems by Phillip Levine
The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble

Over the past month, I brought home more poetry from the libraries - the Borzutzky (how many names have two Z's?), the Olds, and the Levine. When I went to pick up the Hand, which I wanted to read as the third book in a series I've enjoyed, I snagged the paleo snacks book too. The Brooke is a resource for my Reading class, the Drabble was mentioned on my podcast, and the Priest is a book on my radar.

For my Reading class, I require my students to read books in genres they don't usually read. I always do it too, so last year I read a football book and an Amish romance. This year I didn't have many options other than politics and philosophy... I decided to get the Bernstein/Woodward book because I know so little about the Nixon events. In school we basically learned "Nixon got impeached" and then headed to the 1980s.

Library Books Mid-April 2017

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest
Hold Your Own by Kate Tempest
Judas by Amos Oz
Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti
Midwinter by Fiona Melrose
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

This was a smaller library month, probably because I still had so many that I had checked out in previous months. In fact, I was really able to clear out some of those piles in the first few weeks of April.

The two Tempest volumes are for National Poetry month, Crispin and Valenti accompany my ongoing feminism reading, Melrose and Tremain are from the Bailey's Prize longlist, and Barnes is just... because.

Library Books Mid-March 2017

This month's library piles see the clear influence of award lists, because it is the season indeed!

The Mindfulness Diaries: How I Survived My First Nine-Day Silent Meditation Retreat by Jennifer Howd

Charm City: A Walk through Baltimore by Madison Smartt Bell
Light Box by K.J. Orr
Cain by Luke Kennard
The Beautiful Struggle by Ta Nehisi Coates
Everfair by Nisi Shawl
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum
The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone
Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair
The Barn at the End of the World by Mary Rose O'Reilly
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
One Child: the Story of China's Most Radical Experiment by Mei Fong
Version Control by Dexter Palmer
The Nix by Nathan Hill

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Judas by Amos Oz
Sex Object by Jessica Valenti
Midwinter by Fiona Melrose

I'm going on my first silent retreat in April, so I wanted to read the Howd and O'Reilly in preparation. I'm headed to Baltimore soon and snagged the Bell and Coates for that purpose, but it turns out that the Chabon is also set there. I read the Orr for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, checked out the Kennard and Sinclair for the Dylan Thomas Prize list, the Barnhill and Shawl for the Nebula, the Chabon & Palmer & Hill for the Tournament of Books, the Melrose for the Baileys, and the Oz for the Man Booker International Prize.

The Fong is the April book for my in-person book club; the rest were just books I was interested in.

I review every book I read on Goodreads, and a hefty chunk of these are already done!

These piles are an eternal tribute to the library where I work, because all but one book comes from their collection or through the statewide consortium, or infrequently, an interlibrary loan.

Library Books Mid-February 2017

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
Treats by Lara Williams
Black Wave by Michelle Tea
Books for Living by Will Schwalbe
We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future by Deepa Iyer
Flying Close to the Sun: My Life and Times as a Weatherman by Cathy Wilkerson
Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard
Assata, an autobiography by Assata Shakur
The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

To Dwell in Peace by Daniel Berrigan



One of my Goodreads groups is reading revolutionary reads in February, so I brought home the Davis, Wilkerson, Shakur, and Berrigan to try. My in-person book club discussed A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding on Monday, and I read the Southard to prepare for the discussion. Iyer is the March pick, but the public library has only one copy, so I thought I'd read it and return it quickly.

Williams, Tea, and Schweblin are award nominees with a lot of hype. Schwalbe is one I started in audio and decided I wanted to read it where I could mark pages and more easily make notes (audiobooks are hard this way.) The Krakauer is one I want to read for some of my campus work, and the McCracken was recommended to me by a Goodreads friend.

Library Books Mid-January 2017

This stack is really more of a reflection of the books I've brought home from the library since I went back to work on January 3, but that seems to be plenty! The Tournament of Books longlist and an upcoming book club discussion that I am leading fuel many of these.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
After by Claire Tristram
Ground Zero: Nagasaki Stories by Yuichi Seirai
Monterey Bay by Lindsay Hatton
The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
The Lightkeepers by Ally Geni
Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

The Hatton, Geni, Anderson, and Ivey were all contenders for the Tournament of Books, but none of them made the short list. That's okay, I'm still going to read them anyway. Actually I only have one left!

I'm leading a discussion next month on A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton. I felt like I needed a better grounding on Nagasaki, so that is why I have the Seirai (translated) and the Southard. I need to get cracking on those, and a reread of the Copleton!

I snagged the Jiles, Botton, and Hoffman from the new books cart in the library where I work, and requested the Tristram from interlibrary loan after hearing about it from my friend (who is the author!)

Library Books Mid-November 2016

I had to take two photos because I had a big pile of books on my desk at work that hadn't made it home yet, in fact some are work-related.

The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz
The Mindful Librarian: Connecting the Practice of Mindfulness to Librarianship by Richard Moniz et al
The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men's Prison by Mikita Brottman
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndezes
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Felicity: Poems by Mary Oliver
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz (guess I brought this one home by the time I took a picture!)
Killing Rage: Ending Racism by Bell Hooks
Bright Dead Things: Poems by Ada Limón
Letter to a Future Lover: Marginalia, Errata, Secrets, Inscriptions, and Other Ephemera Found in Libraries by Ander Monson
Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge

Well, what can I say. These are not cheery piles. Some of them are reactions to the election, some were on the short or long list for the National Book Award for non-fiction, and are just now coming into the library. The Kendi took that particular award, so that might be a good place to start. The Oliver and Limón have already been consumed, as poetry can sometimes carry me through.

How are you holding up, post-election? Are you finding reads to carry you through? I'm hesitant to start many of these quiet yet, although I have already abandoned the Monson and Brottman.

Library Books Mid-October 2016

I can't believe it's time already for the monthly library book roundup! I feel like I haven't had time to breathe in the last few weeks, much less go to the library. Good thing I work at the library or I might never go.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
Blackacre by Monica Youn
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kufkin
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
The House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill

Not pictured:
Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer
Blue Laws: Selected and Uncollected Poems, 1995-2015 by Kevin Young
Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems by James Baldwin
Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting: Poems by Kevin Powers
Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin

I checked out the Jackson, Nevill, and Oates for Spook/Book/Scare-tober reading. Greenwell, Youn, and Young all came home with me because they were longlisted for the National Book Award while the Thien is shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

The Kufkin and Bauer were for Banned Books Week, Baldwin and Powers were library eBooks in a hunt for recent poetry, Carr was a whim after seeing it posted in Litsy, and the Levitin is a book I requested my library to order after someone referenced Levitin a bunch in a presentation I found interesting.

Phew! What do you have on your library pile?

Library Books Mid-September 2016

It is prize long list season, which has definitely had an impact on the books I get from the library. But there are other reasons for some of the books in these piles.

The Many by Wyl Menmuir
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Janna Levin
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
Ethan Frome, etc.by Edith Wharton
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
How We Die: Reflections of Life's Final Chapter by Sherwin B. Nuland
I Fired God: My Life Inside - and Escape from - the Secret World of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult by Jocelyn Zichterman
Not pictured: The North Water by Ian McGuire
Not pictured: My Antonia by Willa Cather

The Strout, Levy, Beatty, McGuire, and Menmuir were all on the Man Booker Prize Long List, and so far I've read three of the four. The Beatty is on the shortlist but it is going to take something to get me back to it. Vinge is the Sword and Laser pick for September. I requested the Zichterman, Nuland, and Russo based on reviews by others (usually Litsy). The Wharton, Laskin, Cather, and Levin are required readings for some of the classes I'm librarianing for. I don't really need to read them, but find that knowing what they are starting from makes me more helpful with their research. I want to read the rest of the Neapolitan novels by Ferrante but so far all I have done is bring book two home.

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Tranh Nguyen
Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard

A few days after taking the initial photo so I could return some of my books, I checked more out. The National Book Award long list was announced between then and now. I am currently reading The Sympathizer for my in-person book club, and the same author wrote the memoir Nothing Ever Dies, which was named to the longlist. With so many titles about politics, I was happy to see a memoir! I'm hoping to finish both by book club to contribute even better to the discussion. I saw the Southard mentioned somewhere, maybe Instagram, and thought it would be a nice additional read to the book club discussion I'll lead in 2017, for The Dictionary of Mutual Understanding. The Winterson is on the shortlist of Winterson books I have yet to read, and I thought it sounded spooky in the right way for October. I'll stick it in a pile until then... not difficult to do.

Library Books Mid-August 2016

This post is brought to you almost entirely by one reading rabbit hole and one prize long list.

Bound to Violence by Yambo Ouologuem
Xala by Sembene Ousmane
The Yambo Ouloguem Reader by Yambo Ouologuem
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Hystopia by David Means
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves
Genii of the River Niger by Jean-Marie Gibbal
Kaidara by Amadou Hampate Ba
Ladivine by Marie NDiaye
(not pictured: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor)

I recently read Walking with Abel by Anna Badhken, which tells the story of one group of Fulani cowboys in their annual nomadic journeys in Mali. She had done a lot of research and I ended up adding a lot to my reading list, some of which I brought home. Although I haven't read any of it, that is why I have the two Ouologuem titles, the Gibbal, and the Ba.

The Man Booker long list was announced in July, and I checked out what my public library had available - the Means, the Moshfegh, and the Reeves.

I checked out the NDiaye and Gurnah for some Goodreads readalongs, the Ousmane for my Africa2016 project (although I'd previously read a book set in Senegal), the Darnielle because I started seeing his upcoming book in Litsy and realized I never read the last one, and the Okorafor after seeing her read from its sequel.

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-June 2016

I resurfaced from teaching my reading class on June 1, and went overboard at all the libraries! I need to get through these soon or I will have to return them unread, especially the interlibrary loan titles.

A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

The Book That Changed My Life: Interviews with National Book Award Winners and Finalists edited by Diane Osen

Walking with Abel: Journeys with the Nomads of the African Savannah by Anna Badkhen

The Secret Lovers by Charles McCarry

Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories by Joy Williams

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King

Two of these novels are for my Africa 2016 reading project - the Agualusa is from Angola and was also a nominee for the Man Booker International Prize this year. The Badkhen is non-fiction and looked good. I can't remember where I saw it mentioned, but I requested it from the library immediately.

I had pulled the King off the shelf when I was contemplating books in genres I don't usually read (and ended up with Amish romance and sports), and this is a book that comes up often in my book club. They read it before I joined them, but it stuck. I'm sure I'll like it once I get into it (why is non-fiction so hard to start?) I'm not sure I'll end up really reading the Osen but will definitely skim it for the titles. That was one that was near another book in the library and came home with me.

Some books were because of frequent mentions - Williams, Chee (also the June pick of one of my Goodreads groups), and Fuller. Fuller was also recommended by Nathan Ballingrud, the Hand (and maybe the Bennett) was recommended by Jeff VanderMeer, and the McCarry is just the next Paul Christopher book in my attempt to work through those spy novels. 

Library Books Mid-May 2016

The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories by Alice Walker
The Door by Magda Szabo
Some Day by Shemi Zarhin
The Forgotten Recipe by Amy Clipston
Upstairs at the Strand: Writers in Conversation by Jessica Strand
Hotels of North America by Rick Moody
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Arcadia by Iain Pears

I am teaching a reading class in the month of May for our May Experience term. Two of these books are in genres I haven't yet read - sports and Amish romance. I haven't decided which way to go so I may go both ways and read the Bissinger and the Clipston.

The McKenzie is on the Baileys shortlist, the Okorafor is on the Arthur C. Clarke shortlist (but I have read other books by her, and The Book of Phoenix is the prequel to my favorite, Who Fears Death.) The Moody just jumped out at me while at the public library, as did the Pears (I had tried the audio and couldn't get into it but still was intrigued by the description... I suspect this author may just not be for me....)

I requested the McCarry, the Garnier, the Walker, and the Zarhin through interlibrary loan. I loved the first Paul Christopher novel, and came across the Zarhin on a publisher's website sale. The Walker is the May read for a feminist book club in Goodreads; I've read poetry by Walker before but not short stories.

I have been wanting to read the Szabo but haven't cracked it yet. Robyn, my amazing co-worker with impeccable book taste, thought I might want to read the Strand so she saved it for me. I've dipped into one interview and enjoyed it, so I will likely read it in chunks between other things.

Library Books April 2016

Vacation, Bailey's Prize shortlist, and other random reasons to get books from the library!

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
The Meursault Investigation  by Kamel Daoud
The Past by Tessa Hadley
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
Koreatown: the Cookbook by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard

When we went on vacation a few weeks ago, I went impulse book picking at the library. I brought home the Straub (which I read in the low country) and the Hoffman (which I didn't.) The Daoud was a pick earlier in the year of one of my book groups, but it took a while for my library hold to come in and I had to read The Stranger first. I checked out the McCarry on a whim, after reading a review for a book later in the series.

The Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist was announced earlier this week. I had already read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and The Green Road by Anne Enright. At the library I found two more (which I probably ordered) - the Bond and the Rothschild. Koreatown was just sitting there begging to come home with me, and the Rankin I requested from interlibrary loan (also ordered a copy for our library to have later.)

The Hadley is the first group read of a new reading group I joined in Goodreads, which focuses entirely on super recent (as in published this year or last year) literary fiction. I'm looking forward to it!

Library Books Mid-March 2016

I bring home a lot of books from the library. But I have reasons!! So many reasons. And I think some of these are due soon, so I'd better get reading.

A Reading Diary by Alberto Manguel
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Light Years by James Salter
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
Sinners Welcome: Poems by Mary Karr
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Decolonising the Mind by Ngugi ma Thiong'o
Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen
Updraft by Fran Wilde
The Potbellied Virgin by Alicia Yanez Cossio
Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr
Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
I Call Myself a Feminist: The View from Twenty-Five Women Under Thirty by various
The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman

The Nebula Award nominees were recently announced, and that sent me to the public library for the Jemisin, Schoen, and Wilde. When I got there, Valente jumped off the new books shelf too.

I requested the Karr, Levithan, Salter, and Gawande from interlibrary loan all for different reasons. I was curious about Karr in poetry form, Levithan was recommended to me as a romance I might like, Salter was mentioned on a podcast, and Gawande I was interested in since my Dad is battling cancer. I can't get the nerve to crack the cover, so it may not be the right time for me to read this book about mortality.

The Cossio, Thiong'o, and feminist anthology are for book clubs, and the Doerr, Grushin, Gaiman, and Manguel are just for my curiosity! Actually I had previously read the Grushin as a review copy and wanted to read from it for my podcast, and checked out the library copy. Look for that on an upcoming episode.

New Books In, February 2016

Silent in the Grave (A Lady Julia Grey mystery) by Deanna Raybourn
The Perfect Match by Kristan Kiggins
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
And One Last Thing by Molly Harper
Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Unforgettable by Eric James Stone
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
The Last Librarian by Brandt Legg (ebook)
The Stranger by Albert Camus (ebook)
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison (ebook)
Loosed Upon the World: the Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction edited by John Joseph Adams (ebook)
HebrewPunk by Lavie Tidhar (ebook)
Letter to Tiptree by Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (ebook)
Some of the Best of Tor.com, 2015 by Nino Cipri (ebook)
You by Caroline Kepnes (audiobook, read by Santino Fontana)

This month, being February I guess, I decided it was time to tackle my romance novel block. I asked for recommendations from friends, from Twitter, and from podcast listeners. I went armed with said list to several used book stores and the library. That explains the Raybourn (mystery-romance), Higgins (contemporary romance), Jio (historical romance), Harper (contemporary romance), Henry (southern romance), and a few more that I downloaded from the library.

My former podcast cohost snagged the Stone for me from LTUE, and it's signed by the author. I like spies, as everyone knows, and this one has... a quantum spy? Sign me up. Actually we discuss it on Episode 052 of the Reading Envy podcast, if you haven't listened to that one yet.

I purchased a few books full price, brand new for my own collection this month. I ordered the Chambers from Book Depository in the UK because it doesn't come out in print in the states until July, but that cover is ugly, and I just couldn't wait to read it. Buying it from a UK distributor was not expensive but took longer to get than my Amazon Prime deal. Totally worth it, loved the book, will discuss it more in the future. I pre-ordered the Anders, and although I haven't read it, it is the March selection for the Sword and Laser book club, so I'm ready to go! The Kabat-Zinn is required reading for the mindfulness class I start at the end of March. I read it last year but wanted my own copy, so I'm happy to have it.

Most of the eBooks listed (Legg, Ellison, Adams, Tidhar, Pierce/Krasnostein, and Cipri) were Kindle deals that I snapped up, usually $1.99, $.99, and free.  The Camus I downloaded because I wanted to re-read it quickly before starting The Meursault Investigation.  I needed a new audiobook that would grab my attention, remembered Misti saying You was her best read of 2015, and picked that. NO regrets, great listen.

Library Books Mid-February 2016

The Book of Secrets by M.G. Vasanji
Coolhaus Ice Cream Book: Custom-Built Sandwiches with Crazy-Good Combos of Cookies, Ice Creams, Gelatos, and Sorbets
Speak by Louisa Hall (read my review)
Sugar in the Blood: A Family's Story of Slavery and Empire by Andrea Stuart (read my review)
Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems by Robin Coste Lewis
Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Constantine Croke
Hyena and the Moon: Stories to Tell from Kenya
Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruisie (not pictured; eBook) (read my review)
In Between the Sheets by Ian McEwan (not pictured; eBook)


The Croke and Stuart are book club selections for my local book club (International Center of the Upstate), and the Vasanji is for one of my online book clubs (Great Africa Reads.)

Speak and Coolhaus were picked up at the public library when I had to go to update my account. Because I updated my account I was able to download the Cruisie as part of my romance reading project.

I heard about the McEwan on the Books on the Nightstand podcast and downloaded it from the library where I work. I had the Lewis on hold forever since it was on the longlist for the National Book Award for poetry, which it went on to read. Hyena is part of my ongoing Africa 2016 reading project.

Library Books Mid-January 2016: Let the Challenges Begin!

I brought so many library books home in the last month that I had to take two separate photos. The holidays are a great time to finish up reading projects for the year and start in on new ones. Between the usual energy that generates and a knee injury that kept me on the couch most of the first week of the new year, I was very happy to have these books at home.

 

Emma's War by Deborah Scroggins
Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson
So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood by Patrick Modiano
The Gravity of Sunlight  by Rosa Shand
Labyrinth of time: Five addresses for the end of the millennium by Krzysztof Penderecki
Thirty Girls by Susan Minot
The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson
The African Kitchen: A Day in the Life of a Safari Chef (Cookbooks) by Josie Stow
Beyond the River Yei: Life in the Land Where Sleeping Is a Disease by Binyavanga Wainaina
There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan edited by Nyuel Luoth Tong
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
Revolution in Higher Education: How a Small Band of Innovators Will Make College Accessible and Affordable by Richard A. DeMillo

I was able to finish the winners of the Nobel Prize for literature and the National Book Award from 2015 before the end of 2015 - that's the Modiano and the Johnson. I really enjoy Johnson but probably loved his last novel more. Four out of six of the stories were excellent.

I learned of the Luiselli and the Harvey from the longlist/watchlist from the Tournament of Books that happens in March. These were 2/3 of the first books I read in 2016. For both I felt I was reading something I hadn't read before, a little bit of freshness in there, probably a bit more successful for the Luiselli than the Harvey in the way that it is more varied and moves through stages.

I brought home the DeMillo after it spent a few weeks on my desk over the holidays. I was supposed to be reading and discussing a chapter a week over on Bryan Alexander's blog (he is hosting a readalong) but I got behind the first week of December. Since bringing it home I've read... one more chapter. Darn. I think the book is technically "done" as far as discussion goes, and I am late to the party for the second half.

When helping mark books for a collection weeding project in the music library, I ended up checking out the Penderecki to make sure it didn't get weeded. I haven't cracked the cover yet.

One of my major reading goals for 2016 is to finish reading a book from every country in Africa (you can hear more on my goals podcast episode) so many of these books are related to that project. The Scroggins, Tong, and Wainaina are from (the Republic of) South Sudan, a very new country in the scheme of things.  The Shand, Minot, and Mengestu are set in Uganda. The Shand and Mengestu are set in roughly the same time period, the overturn of the government in 1971, while the Minot is set during a traumatic event in 1996. (As I was putting this post together I read a lot of negative reviews about the Minot, making me wish I instead had the non-fiction version of the story which many people feel she "stole.") The cookbooks are for the African project too, although I was not too thrilled by either of these.

Which books are you excited to read, either from the library or that you have purchased?

Library Books Mid-December 2015

These piles represent the second half of (New Zealand) November and the beginning of the last month of the year, where I know I will have more time to read over the holidays but the interlibrary loan deadlines happen early. So get ready. I actually had to take pictures in batches because I checked out and finished so many already, and then got a bunch more.

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
Potiki by Patricia Grace
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Far Eastern Cookery by Elinor Burt
The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt
When Sun And Moon Collide by Briar Grace-Smith
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen by Sam Choy
The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook by X Williams

The Williams, Choy, and Burt were research for cooking baking in Oceania, to coincide with my reading. The Burt was useless, more like mid-19th century processed food recipes with a few Polynesian ingredients like canned pineapple. I loved the Williams and will probably need to own it - each featured country also has a bibliography of recommended readings (usually ethnographies) and music to listen to. It was a great connection to my former life in an ethnomusicology grad program.

I went to the stacks to pull a few books from New Zealand. If you know the Library of Congress system at all, you know that literature is shelved first by country and then by author. I grabbed the Grace-Smith and Ihimaera but then just a few shelves away found the Wendt. I had a brief lapse where I forgot I wasn't including Southeast Asia in this year's big reading project; Ilustrado has been returned to the library and will wait for another year. I requested the Grace through interlibrary loan after the recommendation from a Goodreads friend.

I wanted to read the Dick before watching the television series, although now that I have finished the book and started the show, I know that they are vaguely related. One does not necessarily need to be consumed before the other. Ah well. It wasn't my favorite Philip K. Dick novel but it was fine. I finished the Nelson this weekend - this book I got through interlibrary loan after Carrie Brownstein mentioned it in the Q&A of her audiobook recording for Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl.

 
Sons for the Return Home by Albert Wendt
Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey
The Spell of the Pacific by Stroven & Day
Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson
African Kitchen by Josie Fison
The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson

The bottom two cookbooks give a clue about next year's regional reading project. The Wendt and Stroven are both for reading Oceania - the large tomb is a result of reading a mention of it in a book I recently finished - Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All.  The Harvey was one of the many books listed in the Tournament of Books Longlist for 2016, and sounded interesting. I also hadn't heard of it yet, while many of their books were known to me.