Library Loot: August 4-10, 2010
Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Marg and Claire to share the books you’ve gotten from the library.
I woke up late and then decided I wanted to do my Library Loot post today, so I did my vlog when I was still half asleep. hehe
Covers/linked titles:
A Country in the Moon by Michael Moran (Reading the World Challenge), Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo (just because), Take Me with You by Carlos Frias (just because)
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (Literary Transgressions Classics discussions),, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Reading the World Challenge), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding (Decades Challenge)
The Edge of Physics by Anil Ananthaswamy (just because), The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum (just because), Wars, Guns, and Votes by Paul Collier (just because)
Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam (Reading the World Challenge), The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley (just because), Trespassing by Uzma Aslam Khan (Reading the World Challenge)
Zaatar Days, Henna Nights by Maliha Masood (just because), The Whale: in Search of the Giants of the Sea by Philip Hoare (just because), How to Cook a Dragon by Linda Furiya (just because)
The Sleeping Dragon by Miyuki Miyabe (Japanese Lit IV Challenge), Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin (just because), Literary Murder by Batya Gur (just because)
The Dancing Girls of Lahore by Lousie Brown (Reading the World Challenge), The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (just because), Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (just because)
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (Decades Challenge), Love by Toni Morrison (just because), Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Booker Challenge)
The Truth about Stories by Thomas King (Canadian Book Challenge)
A Striped Armchair 
some great books ,I love the whale when I read it a really well research an.d apssionate book just made me want grab moby dick and re read it ,,all the best stu
Oh yay: I loved Moby Dick, so now I’m even more excited about the whale book. :)
Wonderful loot! I saw The Tricking of Freya in the Reykjavik airport’s bookstore in June & thought it might be interesting. I did not buy the book, however. It will be interesing to learn your thoughts about it.
I read Baking Cakes in Kigali last year & liked it a lot. I had read another much heavier novel about the Rwandan genocide before that & Baking Cakes offered a totally different, more optimistic view of life in Rwanda.
Enjoy your library books!
Greetings,
Tiina
I’m glad you liked Baking Cakes in Kigali! I hope I do too. :) And I’ll let you know if The Tricking of Freya is worth it!
Got a bunch of great books there. I’m sure some will wind up on my tbr list! Great loot, Eva!
Thanks Linda!
I would love to go to the library with you. You always find the coolest things. You need to do a post on how you hunt these gems down!
Thanks Christina! I usually put the books on hold either from reading other book blogs or from the book lists that I make (which I did on a post on what I do for that), but I shall mull over if I can crystalise my process for a post. Thanks for the suggestion!
Like you, I hated Tess when I read it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed The Mayor of Casterbridge – hope you have a similar experience. It will never been one of my favourite books, but it definitely redeemed Hardy in my eyes.
I keep hearing wonderful things about The Whale and am now deeply intrigued by A Country in the Moon. Both will have to go on my TBR list.
Enjoy your loot!
I good: I hope I have a similar experience too!
I own Literary Murder but haven’t read it yet. I look forward to reading your thoughts on it!
Isn’t that the way of things re: owning books that haven’t been read? :)
Wow, that’s a lot of great looking books! Wars, Guns and Votes sounds really interesting to me.
Doesn’t it sound great? I hope it lives up to that!
So excited to hear what you think of The Tricking of Freya! And I keep meaning to get The Whale and The Disappearing Spoon. Just grabbed Peter Ackroyd’s Thames yesterday at the library though. Was it you that read that one or was it maybe Danielle? Hmm…
I haven’t read Thames, but I have an ARC of it on my shelves (from what, 3 years ago? oh the shame). Let me know how it goes! ;)
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh. So many books there that I so loved! Dead Aid, Cutting for Stone, The Tricking of Freya – all favorites. And Paul Collier – love that man, want to read this book! As always a great list of books that I want to read!
You’ve been influencing me too much lately! ;P j/k
I finished The Mayor of Casterbridge in May and I really enjoyed it, so I hope you do too!
I haven’t gotten to Tom Jones yet. For some reason it intimidates me so I think I am going to postpone it a little longer until I can be brave enough to try.
And I love Gulliver. :) It was fun to re-read it a couple months ago. I hope you enjoy the satire!
So many great books. I really wouldn’t know where to start. But I think Cutting for Stone and Amsterdam might top my list.
I know: it’s always hard to know where to begin! :)
Holy cow, what a haul ! Weatherford’s book on Genghis Khan has been on my TBR list forever. I can’t wait to read your review.
It’s been on my wishlist for awhile too!
I’d like to read Dead Aid and Africa’s World War back to back for nice perspective on Africa.
I’m reading Africa’s World War right now, and it’s SO good (but really intense and academic…not for those no background). I’m excited to read Dead Aid too for just that reason!
Several books jumped out at me this time: Cutting For Stone (which is on my TBR,thanks to a giveaway by Fizzy Softdrink); A Country In The Moon; The whale book (love the cover); How To Cook A Dragon. Tuffi saw the Hardy, Fielding and Swift and immediately set up a piteous howl.
LOL I’ve missed Tuffi! You should send her on over here for a vacation. :)
It was CLAIRE (the other Claire!) and THIS CLAIRE who read Love along with Ana and Steph! I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.
Some great choices; I look forward to hearing your thoughts, especially on some of the fiction titles that I have on my own to-be-read pile.
As you’re on an Icelandic kick, and if it extends to Icelandic, have you read the novella, The Blue Fox by Sjón? I reviewed it earlier last year and recommend it.
Sorry Claire! I don’t know why I couldn’t think of y’all: I’m blaming my sleep deprivation. Because I definitely read all your reviews!
I haven’t read The Blue Fox, but your review had put it on my wishlist: thanks for reminding me!
It always amazes me how many books you take out!
Enjoy your loot
Yeah: I should really rein myself in! But they’re free! lol
Wow great loot and apart from the classics and Cutting for Stone not a single one I had heard of before. I am going to have to check some of them out. I always look forward to this post week in week out!
Thanks Simon! Your sweet comments are part of why I put the time in to make the posts week after week. :)
Wow great haul! Some really beautiful covers too! Enjoy.
Thanks Mollie!
Excellent, excellent choices (as always). I’m really intrigued by The Poisoner’s Handbook!
Blum is a great writer!
I just read Love a few weeks ago with some other book bloggers and was a big fan! But then again, I’m of the opinion that Morrison can do no wrong… I thought this one was quite different from her other works I’ve read but it was still really amazing. I hope you love it!
Amsterdam, on the other hand, I did not like at all. It was the book that made me decided that Ian McEwan and I are just not friends. I thought this book was not nearly as clever as McEwan clearly thought it was, and it really did nothing for me at all. I hope you have better luck with it than I did, but… ugh!
I have a similar opinion of Morrison, and it was your group read that made me want to read it! lol
I’m sad about Amsterdam…I used to really like McEwan but I haven’t read him in quite awhile.
I’m always so amazed at the quantity and diversity of your library loot, Eva! Enjoy your books! :D
.. off to investigate How to Cook a Dragon. Not sure if it’s a cookbook or fiction, but I just love that title. ;)
Thanks Christine! How to Cook a Dragon is a memoir of an American moving to China. :)
Interesting Library Loot, Eva! I have ‘Cutting for stone’ on my ‘TBR’ list. ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ was one of my favourite classics, when I was in school. ‘The Edge of Physics’ looks like an interesting book. Would love to hear your thoughts on it. Have you read ‘The Trouble with Physics’ by Lee Smolin? It talks about how physics today is very different from the physics of the earlier part of the century – it gives the state of physics today with respect to ideas and way of research – and what needs to be done to make physics more exciting. It is one of my favourite books. And I couldn’t resist asking you this – have you read Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of nearly everything’? It is probably the best book on science for laypersons that I have read. I loved the fact that you dropped one of Uzma Azam Khan’s books, but didn’t mind exploring another of her books. I love the fact that you give an author a second chance :) ‘The Whale’ looks like an interesting and thick book!
Enjoy reading your library loot! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.
I did give The Trouble w/ Physics a try, but I couldn’t get into it. :( Haven’t read tha tBryson either!
Hope you get to read that book by Bryson. It is really wonderful (but I don’t know what you would think, after having read ‘Godel, Escher, Bach’ and all :) So I would really love to hear your thoughts on it). ‘The Trouble with Physics’ is a bit technical at the beginning, and I found it tough to get into, too. But I loved Part 4 of the book which is titled ‘Learning from experience’. It is wonderful and in some ways I would say that it is the heart of the book. If you would like to give this book a try again, I would recommend that you try reading just part 4 – I think you will love it :)
I loved The Mayor of Casterbridge, and I absolutely hated Jude the Obscure in high school, so I think there’s hope! I can’t wait to see what you think. I actually think I might like Jude these days, but I haven’t dared reread it to find out. I also have had Cutting for Stone out of the library at least twice but haven’t persuaded myself to read it yet; if you like it I might manage it the next time.
On the other hand, I felt sort of ambivalent towards Amsterdam; it’s not my favorite McEwan.
Great loot, Eva! I can’t wait to see what you think of all these. How to Cook a Dragon sounds awesome in particular, and fits in with my recent Chinese obsession.
I’m glad for Hardy hope! And concerned about the McEwan now.
You have a lot of “just because” reads in your loot this time. Have fun! I love that whale cover too. I’m such a sucker for book covers. I look forward to your review so I can see if the inside is as good as the outside ;o)
I’m a sucker for covers too! :D
Happy reading! You’ve got a lot of it! :)
Thanks Alison!
You get to read Cutting for Stone! I hope you like it as much as I did.
I have the Edge of Physics on my TBR pile as well. Of course, you managed to get lots of books that look interesting.
My mum read Baking Cakes in Kigali and I know she loved it. Ooh, Gulliver’s Travels – I had to read that in my first year of univesity. :D And Amsterdam? I love Ian McEwan but have yet to read that one. Looking forward to your thoughts on it.
Some lovely books there: I’m looking at The Sleeping Dragon, Literary Murder and The Disappearing Spoon. Haven’t read any of them but would love to. And I like you reason for getting books – just because!