Library Loot: September 15-21, 2010
Back to doing Library Loot posts! I’ve included not only my most recent loot, but whatever other library books I saw lying around that I didn’t think I’d mentioned before (got them during my blogging break). This is fiction heavy, since I have lots of left over nonfiction from my previous loots, and you’ll notice the R.I.P. V Challenge is the only one I’m really focused on at the moment! ;) (Speaking of which, I shall actually be officially joining in said challenge tomorrow.)
Vlog (my 30th!), missing a couple books, which I’ve noted in the linked titles/covers section:
Pretty pictures & linked covers:
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple (in a mystery mood),Purge by Sofi Oksanen (Tiina told me to read it; forgot to grab it off my nightstand to include in the vlog), The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin (I heart Nigerian lit)
Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand (heard good things about her; R.I.P. V),The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes (enjoyed Aura), The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan (on a fantasy kick)
The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll (been meaning to read it for years; R.I.P. V), The Between by Tananarive Due (wanted to give Due another go; R.I.P. V), The Age of Dreaming by Nina Revoyr (came across when looking at mystery suggestions in Novelist)
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. Two by Diana Wynne Jones (because my mom and I both loved the first volume; I didn’t include this in my video because my mom was reading it!), Stories ed. by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio (because I love Gaiman, even when he’s editing anthologies; this isn’t in the video because I forgot it was on my bedside table), Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (Amy told me to read it; on a mystery kick)
Buddha’s Orphans by Samrat Upadhyay (it’s set in Nepal, which is a new country for me and reading fiction!), Eva Luna by Isabel Allende (I love Allende), Wild Seed by Octavia Butler (I’ve very much enjoyed Butler in the past)
The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh (loved Sea of Poppies; R.I.P. V), Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (in a mood for fantasy and I do enjoy Victorian-set novels), Victorian Villainies ed. by Graham Greene (Victorian sensation fiction! alliteration! what’s not to love?)
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier (love du Maurier; R.I.P. V)
Favela by Janice Perlman (I’m interested in Brazil), American Vertigo by Bernard Henri Levy (heard Levy in an interview, which was quite fun, and I love TOcqueville), The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson (have heard good things, and I’m on a bit of an Islam nonfic kick this year)
What’s your favourite cover from the batch? Least favourite? My favourite’s Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (w/ honourable mention going to The Butterfly Mosque), and my least favourite is The Calcutta Chromosome (a seriously unfortunate cover that one).
A Striped Armchair 
My favorite covers are The Secret Live of Baba Segi’s Wives and Wild Seed. An eclectic mix of books you have here and should make for wonderful reading. Enjoy!
Two of my favourites too! :)
I of books love how you always have a mixture of books I wana read and things I’ve never heard of. I love Isabelle Allende. thankyou for checking my blog out Eva. I can’t wait to see some more reviews.
Thanks Le!
Thanks for featuring my novel! And thank you, Kinna (although I shouldn’t really take any of the credit).
Thanks for stopping by. :)
I adore Smilla’s Sense of Snow! Hope you enjoy that. And all I remember from reading Hand’s book is eh, rituals :) Then again, I read that more than a decade ago :)
I’m in the middle of Smilla’s Sense of Snow now, and I’m in love! :) lol @ your impression of the Hand
For some reason, I can’t see your vlog up on my screen. However, you books look awesome. Smilla’s Sense of Snow is called something different over here, as I have just picked this one up again after reading it about ten years ago. Amitav Ghosh one looks good – I remember your Sea of Poppies review.
Oh no! Is it just in my reader, or can you not see it on my blog?
Great haul! I read Eva Luna a couple of years ago, and I thought it was awesome. I hope you like it. :)
Thanks! :)
The Butterfly Mosque is my favorite cover and Smilla’s Sense of Snow is probably my least favorite. The title that catches my attention is Buddha’s Orphans.
I just finished Buddha’s Orphans…it didn’t quite do it for me. But worth a look for a different kind of reader! :)
That’s funny: I actually like the cover of Smilla’s Sense of Snow! It draws me in with that eye.
Waking the Moon is one of my favourite books. I read it when I was visiting DC so it had more impact! I’ve heard lots of good things about Jonathan Carroll but haven’t read any of his books yet. An interesting selection of titles as usual:)
Oh neat! I hadn’t seen anything about Waking the Moon. :) I visited DC years ago, so I’m curious to see if it reminds me of that trip.
The Butterfly Mosque has my favourite cover. The Secret Live of Baba Segi’s Wives is also funky although it’s entirely different from the one published here in the UK. The book has been on my radar recently -as has Purge- and can’t wait to hear your opinion(s).
Albeit fiction, have you read Heliopolis by James Scudamore? It’s particularly good in describing the favelas and favela life of São Paulo. I reviewed it this time last year but has recently been issued in the US by Europa Editions.
Smila’s Sense of Snow is published as Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow and I’ve just started to read it! I’m looking forward to comparing notes.
It’s so interesting to compare US/UK covers! I haven’t heard of Heliopolis, but now it’s on my TBR list. :) I think I prefer the US title of Smilla to the UK one, but I’m also a sucker for alliteration. hehe I’m in the middle of it and loving it, so I’m curious to see what you think!
The Butterfly Mosque is on my tbr list. I bet that it will move into my library queue after I hear your thoughts.
Great group of books there, Eva!
Thanks Linda!
I read Frenchman’s Creek this past spring and loved it, but it’s duMaurier after all, what’s not to love? :)
So true! The only one of hers I haven’t adored is My Cousin Rachel.
Oh, I just love your lists! I still need to get my hands on Stories edited by Gaiman. Stories is my favorite cover, not because it is beautiful, but because it makes me want to giggle everytime I look at it! The monster looks like something I would have drawn as a child.
I love the cover on Stories too: cracks me up. :D
Your library loot vlog always inspires me to make great reading choices when I go to the library. I love the eclectic mix of books. From this list I would probably choose to read The Butterfly Mosque first. I’m looking forward to your thoughts on this one.
Thanks Kathleen! :)
I loved smila when I read it got his the women and ape on my book shelf also the eagles throne a different book by fuentes ,as ever eva a wond3erful selection by your good self ,all the best stu
I’m in the middle of Smilla now and loving it! THanks Stu. :)
I’ve been curious about Smilla’s Sense of Snow, so I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on it.
So far, I say go read it! :)
What a haul! I’m really looking forward to Baba Segi’s Wives at some point, and have Purge on my tbr list so I’ll be watching what you think of both of those. Oh, and Stories, I have that too! I’m nervous for Smilla’s Sense of Snow – I read it so long ago, but really enjoyed it. I hope you do too!
Don’t be nervous: I love it so far! Definitely not too gritty. :) Purge is intense (I’ve had to take a break to avoid depression) but good: I can see it as an Amy book. And I plan to pick up Baba Segi’s Wives tonight!
Another great loot! The Butterfly Mosque sounds really interesting (and the cover is lovely:)). Have you heard of We Are a Muslim, Please by Zaiba Malik? Just saw it at work today. It is a memoir of what it’s like to grow up muslim in Britain. Also, did you know that Peter Hoeg was a ballet dancer before he became a writer? I have not read Smilla yet, really should, though. :)
Greetings,
Tiina
I haven’t heard of the Malik, but it’d be neat reading about the European-Muslim perspective!
I didn’t know Hoeg used to be a ballet dancer, but that’s so awesome.
I’m always awed by the sheer volume of your library loots and this week was particularly impressive! So glad to see that you’ve picked up The Butterfly Mosque. I’ll look forward to hearing what you think of it.
Enjoy your loot!
Thanks Claire! I do go a little out of control, lol. It is free, though. :)
What a fantastic selection! Favela looks very interesting. I’ve heard some horrific stories about the slums of Brazil, so I would be curious to read Perlman’s perspective. I’ll look out for your review!
Thanks! I should be getting to Favela soon. :)
You’ve got such a great stack this time that my head is spinning. Wow.
I know: it’s hard to decide where to begin! lol
Great selection! I love how you read such a wide array of literature. Victorian Villainies looks amazing!
Thanks Kate! :D
I’ll have to track down Tooth & Claw – I love anything vaguely Victorian (doing my bit for alliteration there!) I’m curious to see what you think of Peter Temple – he won the Miles Franklin this year – the big Aust lit award – for his follow up to Broke Shore but I just can’t plough through him – everything needlessly gritty and some odd, ideas, about, how, often, commas, should, be, used,,,,,
I’m finding Broken Shore a bit too gritty, to be honest. And I’m laughing hysterically at the comma thing! hehe
So many of those sound good, but THE AGE OF DREAMING really stood out for me. As soon as you mentioned that it was set in Old Hollywood, I knew I wanted to read it. I’ll look forward to your thoughts!
I definitely will get around to Age of Dreaming: I hope it lives up to its potential!
I’m so sad–I just haven’t been able to get your vlog to load! :( And I want my Eva fix!!!
I feel so backwards looking at your loot though—I haven’t read a single one, only own two of them (Stories and The Calcutta Chromosome), and have only even heard of a handful more. Yes, I know what this means–that my wish list better prepare for massive expansion over the next few weeks. :P
I’m sorry Debi. :( Does it work on the vimeo site? http://vimeo.com/15046105
Don’t feel backwards: I haven’t read any of them either, obviously! lol
Awesome collection. I missed the Australian mystery on #spbkchat, so I’m going to have to track that one down. I don’t know why, but I love an Australian setting. I’ve got get back to Chrestomanci series.
I can’t remember for sure if it was #spbkchat or a blog, lol. I don’t read enough Aussie books, though. And squee for Chrestomanci!
The Butterfly Moaque sounds very interesting. Islam is a big topic in the media here in Germany right now and I don’t feel like I really have a good insight into what it means to be Muslim. Maybe this might help me understand it a little more?
I just finished a GREAT book I’d highly recommend to total novices on the Islam topic: No God but God. It’s about Islam itself, but includes stuff on the main points of being Muslim in the 21st century too.
Thanks for the recommendation, Eva!
Loved the Gaiman’s Stories and the Chrestomanci series (I only have one left to go — might save it for the Readathon). I was pleased to see The Between by Tananarive Due — I went to school with her in undergrad, so I love seeing her books on the library shelves and in the bookstores (though I haven’t read all of them (hangs head in shame). I read Smilla’s Sense of Snow years ago, about the time the movie came out. It’s worth seeing, but I think I preferred the book.
I’ve been reading randomly from Stories, and so far I’ve enjoyed most of them. I think I’m maybe 1/4 of the way through them!
How neat that you know Due! And I had no idea there was a film version of Smilla’s Sense of Snow…I think I’d prefer the book too.
Great books, Eva! I’m especially interested in your thoughts on Wild Seed. I read my first Butler short story (“Bloodchild”) recently, and it was stunning!
You should go read Fledgling! It’s so good. :)
Nice haul ! I finished Butterfly Mosque a couple of weeks ago, so I look forward to reading your review. I hope to have a review posted on my page within the next week or so.
Favela looks very interesting. I can’t wait to read your thoughts on that one, too.
Can’t wait to see what you thought of it! We’re both on Islam kicks, eh? :)
Eeek! I just bought a used copy of Smilla’s Sense of Snow, which I read years ago, but which here in the UK is called Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow… there seems to be an ongoing debate about which translation is ‘better’, the US or UK one, as there are apparently quite a few differences in the text as well. I really want to read this again soon.
I was VERY excited to see that Tiina Nunnally had done the translation, since I loved her translation of KL. And I like the US title more. ;) But I didn’t realise there’d been two different translations!
I love Allende too. I also liked Smila’s Sense of Snow.
Isn’t she lovely?
I have Waking the Moon and Eva Luna on my shelves. Looking forward to seeing what you think.
I looooved Smilla’s Sense of Snow! Hope you are enjoying it at as well. Devastating.