Love Your Library, March 2023
Thanks to Naomi for writing about her fascinating selection of recent library audiobook reads, all of them nonfiction; plus several Canadian novels read from the library. I appreciate Elle for being my most faithful participant; here’s her latest borrowings. And welcome to Jana, who has contributed for the first time with a post about what her library system has to offer: the different ways she can access audiobooks, the non-media items that can be borrowed (such as gardening tools from a Library of Things), and take-home activity kits.
Have you heard of the “Human Library”? The tagline is “Unjudge someone.” The idea is that you sign up to hear about someone else’s experiences that are quite different to your own. Events are online or in person and have involved ‘human books’ from 85 countries. “We host events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to. Every human book from our bookshelf, represent a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.” I would be fascinated to hear from anyone who has taken part in this initiative.
As for my own library use since last month:
READ
- Ephemeron by Fiona Benson
- A Fortunate Man by John Berger
- Quiet by Victoria Adukwei Bulley
- The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
- Maame by Jessica George
- Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
- Cane, Corn & Gully by Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
- England’s Green by Zaffar Kunial
- Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
- Nightwalking: Four Journeys into Britain after Dark by John Lewis-Stempel
- His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
- The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
- Manorism by Yomi Sode
CURRENTLY READING
- Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
- Shadow Girls by Carol Birch
- How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
- This Is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships by Matthew Fray
- Islamic Mystical Poetry, ed. Mahmood Jamal
- Two Sisters by Blake Morrison
- Rain by Don Paterson
I also have some lovely piles out from the public library and university library to read soon.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, February 2023
Thanks to Cathy, Elle and Sarah for contributing with their recent library borrows!
While shelving in the large print area at the library I noticed something I’d never seen before: a “Dyslexic Edition” of a novel. I opened it up and saw that it has large type, but various other features: the font is a sans serif, in medium to dark blue, and there are lots of short sections rather than lengthy paragraphs. Instead of passages being in italics, they appear in bold face. The overall effect is fewer words on a page and maximized readability. We shelve these with large print, but there are plans to pull them out for a future display on disability awareness. There are also some children’s series geared towards dyslexic and reluctant readers, as well as the “Quick Reads” books put out by the Reading Agency for adult readers who may struggle with literacy.
This isn’t library-specific, but most of you will have heard about the new UK expurgated versions of Roald Dahl children’s books commissioned from the consultancy Inclusive Minds by his literary estate. Dahl’s work still flies off the shelves at my library. What’s more, it’s inspired countless other writers with his particular brand of snarky/edgy humour. Apparently the specific changes made are to, in hundreds of places, replace words like “fat,” “stupid” and “ugly.” In general, I’m leery of censorship, preferring that parents speak to their children about the appropriate use of words or, if that can’t be guaranteed, adding an introduction or afterword. (The unaltered “classic” Dahl collection will still be sold, too.)
Yet I am sympathetic in this case because I know how hurtful some stereotypes can be. For instance, we have Jen Campbell to thank for this addition to The Witches (who are portrayed as bald and wearing wigs): “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.” She has various genetic conditions including alopecia and has long been opposed to casual associations of disfigurement with evil in popular culture.
What’s your take?
And my own library reading since last month:
READ
- The New Life by Tom Crewe
- Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
- How to Be Sad by Helen Russell
- Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
- City of Friends by Joanna Trollope
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Plus a load of picture books about winter and snow; I reviewed them here.
CURRENTLY READING
- A Fortunate Man by John Berger
- The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
- Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
- Nightwalking: Four Journeys into Britain after Dark by John Lewis-Stempel
- His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
- Manorism by Yomi Sode
I also have the rest of the Folio Prize poetry shortlist out on loan to read soon. A lot of the other books pictured in this post have already gone back unread. I never consider that a problem, though, as it still helps libraries retain funding, and authors get royalties!
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, January 2023
Elle has been reading loads from the library (and discovering the freedom of DNFing or not reading the library books you borrow; this is not a problem in the least, and it still helps the library’s statistics!). Naomi always finds interesting books to read and review from her library system. Margaret’s “My Life in Book Titles 2022” almost exclusively featured books she’d borrowed from libraries. Through Twitter I saw this hilarious TikTok video from Cincinnati Library about collecting book holds. If only I could be so glamorous on my Tuesday volunteering mornings. Washington Post critic Ron Charles’s weekly e-newsletter is one of my greatest bookish joys and I was delighted to see him recently highlight an initiative from my hometown’s local library system. Whenever I go on the cross trainer, I read library books or my e-reader so exercise time isn’t ‘lost’ time when I could be reading.
Since last month:
READ
- A Night at the Frost Fair by Emma Carroll
- Bournville by Jonathan Coe
- A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney
- The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner
- Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
CURRENTLY READING
- Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
- Martha Quest by Doris Lessing (for our women’s classics book club subgroup)
- How to Be Sad by Helen Russell
- Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
- City of Friends by Joanna Trollope (for February’s book club)
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
My library system has a ton of new books on order – I set up an alert so I would be e-mailed a weekly digest of all 2023 adult fiction and nonfiction releases added to the catalogue – so my reservation queue is nearly full now with all kinds of tempting stuff, including a new biography of Katherine Mansfield and a bereavement memoir by Blake Morrison, whose And When Did You Last See Your Father? was my favourite nonfiction read of 2018. In fiction, I’m particularly excited about The New Life by Tom Crewe, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz, and Maame by Jessica George.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, December 2022
The UK has just experienced its coldest week since 2010, so it’s no wonder we’ve been freezing here in our drafty old house. It’s turning milder (and rainy), so we hope to have it habitable for hosting my parents-in-law on Christmas day, and my sister the week after.
Margaret sent me a link to this charming story about a public library in Poland that moved its entire collection 350 meters down the road using a human chain of over 600 volunteers. Marcie sourced many of her graphic novel and poetry reads, as well as various globe-trotting stories, from the library this year. And Eleanor has been reading loads of print and e-books from her library: everything from Dickens to sci-fi. Thank you all for your contributions!
Earlier in the month my library closed to the public for two days to complete a stock take (which happens once every three years). I helped out for my usual two hours on the Tuesday morning, scanning children’s chapter books with a tiny device about the size of two memory sticks put together. We scanned the library’s nearly 50,000 on-shelf items in the equivalent of just over one working day.
All of my remaining reservations seem to have come in at once. There’s no hope of me reading all the big-name 2022 releases (such as the Booker Prize winner, and Celeste Ng’s new novel) before the end of the year, but I will see if I can manage to finish a few more that I have in progress.
Since last month:
READ
- Pages & Co.: The Treehouse Library by Anna James
- Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce
- Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat
- Leap Year by Helen Russell
- The Family Retreat by Bev Thomas
- Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
CURRENTLY READING
- Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney
- Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
RETURNED UNFINISHED
- Lessons by Ian McEwan
- Liberation Day by George Saunders
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, November 2022
Eleanor got loads of her R.I.P. reads from the library last month. Several of my novellas for this month have come from the public library, and before long it’ll be time to gather up a few holiday-appropriate reads.
I cut down my library volunteering from four hours a week to two, to claw back a little more time for work and for myself – between adjusting my meal times and walking there and back, it felt like I lost the whole of my Thursday afternoons, and already I enjoy having them free.
Early next month the library will close for two days for a complete stock take. I’ll go in on my usual Tuesday morning to help out with that for a few hours. I know to expect a lot of standing and repetitive work, but we’ve been promised tea and cake at break time!
Since last month:
READ
- Strangers on a Pier: Portrait of a Family by Tash Aw
- Fair Play by Tove Jansson
- The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
CURRENTLY READING
- Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
- Pages & Co.: The Treehouse Library (Pages & Co. #5) by Anna James
- Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat
- Leap Year by Helen Russell
- The Family Retreat by Bev Thomas
- Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, October 2022
Naomi has been reading an interesting selection of books from the library. I’ve recently returned a couple of giant piles of library books unread or part-read so that I can focus on novellas next month; I can always borrow those particular books again another time, or maybe the fact that none ever made it onto one of my reading stacks tells me I wasn’t excited enough about them.
A lot of other reading challenges are coming up in November: Australia Reading Month, German Literature Month, Margaret Atwood Reading Month, and Nonfiction November. If you don’t already have plans, your local library is a great source of options. And of course we would be delighted to have you join us in reading one or more short books for Novellas in November (#NovNov22), which launches tomorrow. I’ve been reading ahead for it, as you can see.
Since last month (links where I haven’t already reviewed a book or plan to soon):
READ
- The Improbable Cat by Allan Ahlberg
- Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
- Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh
- The Fear Index by Robert Harris
- Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
- Undoctored by Adam Kay
- Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham
- Metronome by Tom Watson
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
CURRENTLY READING
- Strangers on a Pier: Portrait of a Family by Tash Aw
- Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
- Leap Year by Helen Russell
Then I have various new releases on hold for me, including the new Maggie O’Farrell novel (which I’m on the fence about actually reading) and this pleasingly colourful pair.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, September 2022
How embarrassing to find out from a fellow blogger’s post that two North American readers host a weekly meme for library borrowing. It’s called Library Loot (title envy!), and you should feel free to participate in that in addition to or instead of my monthly event.
Pretty soon it will be time to stock up on horror and short books for R.I.P. and Novellas in November. For now, I’m still working on some short story collections, and plan to skim a bunch of nonfiction I’m interested-ish in (but not enough to read every word) to make space on my card. I did have reserves on three Booker-shortlisted titles, but admitted to myself that I don’t actually want to read them and cancelled my holds. The one that I do still plan to read is Treacle Walker by Alan Garner, a perfect read for #NovNov22, if not before.
Since last month:
READ
- Brief Lives by Anita Brookner (for book club)
- Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
- The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris
- The Boat by Nam Le
- Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
- This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
- Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
- Summer by Edith Wharton
- The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood
CURRENTLY READING
- The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
- State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (a reread)
- Leap Year by Helen Russell
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Plus various new releases on loan or on hold.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, August 2022
Edited: Belatedly adding in links to this month’s posts by Eleanor and Marcie, with a huge thank you for participating!
And here’s my haul from today. A few short story collections there because in September I always try to focus a bit more on stories.
Naomi has also been reading a lot from her local libraries, and Laura stocked up before heading out on holiday:
Normally my library system would be busily buying up the Booker Prize longlist, the Wainwright Prize shortlists, and big-name upcoming releases by the likes of John Irving and Ian McEwan. I have a file on my desktop with a list of 29 author names I periodically check for, as any on-order titles from them will show up at the top of the results. But there’s been a huge slowdown on acquisitions, and I know exactly why: the librarian who orders and processes new books experienced a family tragedy this summer and has been on compassionate leave for a while already. Were I not a library volunteer who also vaguely knows her socially, I’d have no idea and might be simmering with impatience right now. Instead, I’ll be patient, read what I already have out, and address my review book backlog.
Since last month…
READ
- Where the Wildflowers Grow by Leif Bersweden
- Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (for book club)
- My Life in Houses by Margaret Forster
- Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
- Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
- From the Hedgerows by Lew Lewis
- The Last Wild Horses by Maja Lunde
- Golden Boys by Phil Stamper
- The False Rose by Jakob Wegelius
Also a children’s book I spotted while shelving – who knew it existed?!
- River Rose and the Magical Lullaby by Kelly Clarkson; illus. Laura Hughes
CURRENTLY READING
- Brief Lives by Anita Brookner (for book club)
- Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
- Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
- State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (a reread)
- Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
- The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood
A few of these are from the Booker Prize longlist, in advance of the shortlist announcement on 6 September.
And from the university library:
- Summer by Edith Wharton
Still lots around that I’ve borrowed and not gotten into yet:
And various new releases on hold or awaiting me on the reservation shelf.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, July 2022
Margaret posted about books picked at random while volunteering at the library, and the way a certain type of cover can draw you in or fit your mood. I’ve certainly experienced this, too!
I’ve noticed that, lately, my library system has been making an effort to cover gaps in its holdings, purchasing books to boost its collections of LGBTQ and postcolonial literature: reissues of novels by Caribbean and Indigenous (e.g. Maori) authors, more by trans people, Black British authors from the Virago Modern Classics series, etc. They also tend to buy up writers’ back catalogues, especially if reprinted as a uniform series – I keep hoping they’ll do this for Sarah Hall. Though I volunteer at the library twice a week, I don’t have insider knowledge; it’s still a mystery to me how and why some books get ordered and some don’t.
Since last month…
READ
- Orchid Summer by Jon Dunn
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford
- This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan (for book club)
- The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen
- Transitions: Our Stories of Being Trans, ed. Juno Roche et al.
- Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart
- Madwoman by Louisa Treger – reviewing for Shelf Awareness
And from the university library:
- The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
From whence this amusing quote about library books:
“No T. More in any of the bookshops, so tried Public Library. Can’t think why one never thinks of Public Libraries. Probably because books expected to be soupy. Think this looks quite clean and unsoupy. You get fourteen days. Sounds like a sentence rather than a loan.”
(I sometimes get perfume-y books, but not soupy ones. How about you?)
I’ll zero in on one of these, Lessons in Chemistry, because there are 50 reservations after me in the queue – that must be a record for my small library system! Bonnie Garmus made her authorial debut at age 64; you can be sure she’ll be in the running for the next Paul Torday Memorial Prize (awarded by the Society of Authors to a first novel by a writer over 60). Elizabeth Zott is a scientist through and through, applying a chemist’s mindset to her every venture, including cooking, rowing and single motherhood in the 1950s. When she is fired from her job in a chemistry lab and gets a gig as a TV cooking show host instead, she sees it as her mission to treat housewives as men’s intellectual equals, but there are plenty of people who don’t care for her unusual methods and free thinking. I was reminded strongly of The Atomic Weight of Love and The Rosie Project, as well as novels by Katherine Heiny and especially John Irving what with the deep dive into backstory and particular pet subjects, and the orphan history for Zott’s love interest. This was an enjoyable tragicomedy. You have to cheer for the triumphs she and other female characters win against the system of the time. However, her utter humourlessness/guilelessness felt improbable, the very precocious child (and dog) stretch belief, and the ending was too pat for me.
CURRENTLY READING
Continuing with my flora and summer themes; continuing to linger in Scotland; reading about the amazing birds filling our skies (and nesting in our eaves):
- Where the Wildflowers Grow by Leif Bersweden
- Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (for book club)
- Swifts and Us by Sarah Gibson
- Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
- Tenderness by Alison MacLeod
- Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean
- Golden Boys by Phil Stamper
- The False Rose by Jakob Wegelius
- Summer by Edith Wharton
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Love Your Library, June 2022
In the past month we’ve had visits to libraries in Canada and Catalonia – thanks to Marcie and Margaret for sharing about these.
It’s been good to see more activities resuming at my local library, where I volunteer twice a week. In recent months I’ve noticed the upstairs meeting room being used for Lego building and flower arranging, as well as for reading group discussions.
When it comes to library material, I’ve been borrowing much more than I’ve been reading. I stocked up in advance of our Scotland holiday – even though we’re travelling by train, bus and ferry, so I haven’t been able to take very many books with me.
This is what I’ve gotten to since last month:
READ
- The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
- A Parrot in the Pepper Tree by Chris Stewart
- The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius
(I reviewed the above four across my Spain trip and 20 Books of Summer posts.)
- By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison
- Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart (review to come)
- The Schoolhouse by Sophie Ward
CURRENTLY READING
- Orchid Summer by Jon Dunn
- Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford
- Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
- This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan
- The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 