(A rare second post in a day from me, but Library Checkout runs on the last Monday of the month, no matter what!)
I’ve been slowly chipping away at several nonfiction library books (memoir, nature, travel) – with the exception of bestsellers that are requested after me; these I always have to read within two or three weeks.
On Friday I picked up Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls from the library, expecting that there would be huge demand for it, but at the moment it hasn’t got any holds after me. I doubt I’ll want to take such a large hardback on the train to Milan next week, though, so I’ll hope to get straight into it on our return.
I give links to reviews of any books that I haven’t already featured on the blog in some way, and ratings for all. What have you been reading from your local library? I don’t have an official link-up system, so please just pop a link to your blog in the comments if you’ve taken part in Library Checkout this month. Feel free to use the above image in your post.
READ
- Lowborn: Growing Up, Getting Away and Returning to Britain’s Poorest Towns by Kerry Hudson
- The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
- The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal
SKIMMED
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
- The Wild Remedy: How Nature Mends Us: A Diary by Emma Mitchell
- The Seasons, a Faber & Faber / BBC Radio 4 poetry anthology
CURRENTLY READING
- Stroke: A 5% Chance of Survival by Ricky Monahan Brown
- An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame
- How to Catch a Mole and Find Yourself in Nature by Marc Hamer
- The Crossway by Guy Stagg
CHECKED OUT, TO BE READ
- How Do You Like Me Now? by Holly Bourne
- How to Treat People: A Nurse’s Notes by Molly Case
- Our Place: Can We Save Britain’s Wildlife before It Is Too Late? by Mark Cocker
- The Years by Annie Ernaux
- City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene
- The Electricity of Every Living Thing: One Woman’s Walk with Asperger’s by Katherine May
- Because: A Lyric Memoir by Joshua Mensch
- Under the Camelthorn Tree: Raising a Family among Lions by Kate Nicholls
- The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann
ON HOLD, TO BE CHECKED OUT
- Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
- Frankisstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson
IN THE RESERVATION QUEUE
- On the Marsh: A Year Surrounded by Wildness and Wet by Simon Barnes
- On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons by Laura Cumming
- How to Fail: Everything I’ve Ever Learned from Things Going Wrong by Elizabeth Day
- The School of Life by Alain de Botton
- The Garden Jungle: Or Gardening to Save the Planet by Dave Goulson
- Flight Risk: The Highs and Lows of Life as a Doctor at Heathrow Airport by Dr. Stephanie Green
- The Porpoise by Mark Haddon
- Expectation by Anna Hope
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
- Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
- Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith
- Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
- The Hiding Game by Naomi Wood
RETURNED UNFINISHED
- A Pocket Mirror by Janet Frame
- Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
That’s a looooooot of books checked out! Do you always take out so many at once? I wish the libraries here (in the Netherlands) had more of a collection of English books. They don’t really have much, especially no new releases. I think I would use it way more otherwise.
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My borrowing limit is 15, so that’s generally how many books I have out at a time 🙂 That must be difficult not being able to access books in English. I would struggle without a good library collection. If you read e-books, you could try downloading books from NetGalley and Edelweiss?
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Yeah maybe that would be an option, but I thought it was pretty difficult to get books via NetGalley unless you do a lot of reviews? I should definitely look into it though, thanks! Right now I listen a lot to audiobooks because I have a subscription that allows me an unlimited of books for the same price.
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Since you have your own blog you’re eligible for NetGalley. The more you review the more you’ll be approved for. I try to keep my feedback ratio at 75% or above.
(I’ve never listened to an audiobook!)
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Thanks for the explanation! You should definitely try reading to an audiobook sometime if you can. It’s a fun experience.
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I’m keeping an eye open for your reactions to Janet Frame since she was recommended to me as an author from Down Under…..
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I didn’t get on with her poetry, but what I’ve read of her fiction (Faces in the Water) and autobiography (To the Is-land) is amazing.
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I have Queenie and City of Girls checked out and there’s a HUGE wait for the Gilbert so I need to read it ASAP.
My Library Checkout will be out later this week.
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Great 🙂
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I spoke too soon — there’s two holds on the Gilbert now, so I’m taking it in my backpack to Milan after all! I read the first few pages last night and I’m enjoying the voice.
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Glad to hear it! I will start it as soon as I finish Atkinson’s Big Sky.
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I keep seeing On the Marsh and I think that’s one I will keep an eye out for.
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I loved The Signature of All Things, so I’m hoping City of Girls will be just as good!
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The Signature of All Things was amazing — this new novel has a lot to live up to!
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[…] will have a wait a few days. Here’s what I got up to at the library this month. Thanks to Bookish Beck for hosting this monthly celebration of library […]
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The one which leaps out at me in this moment’s reading mood is the collection of essays by Zadie Smith. I think I’ve missed only one of her novels and this one also looks brilliantly chewy.
I’ve been overdoing my library loans in recent weeks but I have gotten the stack tidied up a little now (temporary, I’m sure).
Hope you find some new favourites in this bunch!
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I’ve had the “on order” copy on hold for months now and am beginning to think it will never arrive! An essay collection is something I’m likely to skim, or just pick the few that most interest me to read.
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