I’ve mostly been reading my own books, review books, and stuff on Kindle during and since my America trip, so I haven’t actually completed any library books in June. However, I have several on the go at the moment, so next month should look a bit more impressive!
CURRENTLY READING
- Hidden Nature: A Voyage of Discovery by Alys Fowler
- Bee Quest: In Search of Rare Bees by Dave Goulson
- A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman
CHECKED OUT, TO BE READ
- Human Acts by Han Kang
- White Tears by Hari Kunzru
- Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss
RETURNED UNFINISHED
- Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates [AMERICA]
RETURNED UNREAD
Requested by someone else:
- Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton
Lost interest:
- Multitudes: Eleven Stories by Lucy Caldwell
- What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
- Gerontius by James Hamilton-Paterson
- Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed [AMERICA]
(Hosted by Charleen of It’s a Portable Magic.)
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I’m trying to make good use of my library’s reserve stock in the cellar, before they throw out those books permanently. Have found Alison Lurie, Elizabeth von Arnim, Janet Frame and Helen Garner there so far…
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That’s a great idea! I have only borrowed one book from the reserve stock so far: my first Murakami novel, a few months back. I would love to try something by Janet Frame but don’t know where to start; what can you recommend?
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I only read her autobiography An Angel at my Table, which was the only book of hers that the library had. I’ve heard Faces in the Water and The Carpathians are her most interesting works.
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I still want but have not tried to read the Alys Fowler. I’d still not kayak on my own city’s canals, mind!!
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I’m not very enamoured with her style, but I’m persisting so far. I think I’m about 90 pages in. Alongside the kayaking challenge is the breakdown of her marriage.
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Yes, I’ve read about that in I think the Guardian. I still (3 years on from GETTING married) have a bit of trouble with reading about that kind of thing, so if it’s a big part of it I might get from a charity shop and skim!
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Yes, I’d say it’s a major element. The title has a double meaning…
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Human Acts and Signs For Lost Children are both breathtaking, in different ways. A colleague of mine read White Tears and really liked it, although it doesn’t much appeal to me.
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No? From the blurb it sounds a bit like the Richard Powers book you recently read. I don’t really know what to expect from it except that it has themes of blues music and white privilege.
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The flavour I get from the description of the Kunzru is different – more pointed, more polemic, more wrestling. Which doesn’t always turn me off but for some reason is doing so with this title! I liked the Powers book because its politics were ever-present but mostly manifested through a close examination of what it’s like on a practical level to devote your entire life to an art. And also because finely detailed descriptions of singing (technique, psychology, effect) really do it for me 🙂
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Sorry to hear that the Caldwell stories did not capture your interest. Why is that? The collection is on my TBR. Thx from Washington state.
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I didn’t even open the book but decided I wasn’t in the mood for short stories. I’ve read two of her novels and enjoy her writing, especially The Meeting Point.
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Between my tablet, my Kindle and my stacks in the house, I probably have 350 or so books at my disposal.
But when I go for my vacation at the beach every year, I create a reading list of books available at my local library. That way they have a nice trip to the beach too…
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Looking forward to your review of A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman as I’ve tried 2x now to read it.
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I have been getting through it very slowly, about 10 pages at a time. I *think* I admire it, but I don’t find it very enjoyable reading.
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I’m frustrated with our library system at the moment – it was all taken off line earlier this month while they changed to a new system. Was meant to come back by June 17. Has it? No. When will it? No idea they say !! So we can’t use the library catalogue to find whats in reserve even …….
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Oh, that’s a shame!
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