Library Loot: January 12th to 18th
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
Video
Delayed due to Vimeo issues (and here I was all proud of myself because I’d recorded the video with plenty of time & remembered to upload it last night so it’d be ready). Once it’s working, I’ll add it in!
Have resorted to YouTube since Vimeo has yet to answer my question. Which means I don’t get to pick a nice thumbnail but oh well!
Note to self: stop saying ‘anyway’ so frequently.
Titles Mentioned
- The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore
- Silent House by Orhan Pamuk
- The Bathing Women by Tie Ning
- The 10 PM Question by Kate De Goldi
- Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge by Adam Segal
- The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke
- Trouble in Transylvania by Barbara Wilson
- Scheherazade Goes West by Fatema Mernissi
- Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China by John Pomfret
- In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip
- Song for the Basilisk by Patricia A. McKillip
- Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
- The New Golden Rule: Community And Morality In A Democratic Society by Amitai Etzioni
- The Age of Missing Information by Bill McKibben
- The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James
Covers
See all the details in my LibraryThing collection!
A Striped Armchair 
Ooooo! Such a terrific group of books! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Seamus Heaney’s “Beowulf.” I’ll check back for your video :)
I’m partially inspired to read Beowulf because of the *excellent* new Simon Armitage translation Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which I can’t rec highly enough!
Have you read The Immigrant Edge by Claudia Kolker? With your interest in refugees/immigration you might enjoy it although it is quite a light memoir.
No I haven’t: thanks for the rec!
Just based on the titles alone, Chinese Lessons and Scheherazade Goes West sound intriguing. I’ll look forward to hearing more about them and why you picked them once the video is up!
Having now watched the video, I can see I am going to have to add Patricia A. McKillip to my list of authors I need to try!
Do, she’s wonderful (if you like fantasy)! I wish I’d gone into more detail about Chinese Lessons for you; sorry. Must remember to talk about books instead of just self in these videos! ;)
Oooh, that Beowulf cover is really cool. Kinda creepy, in a way.
Isn’t it neat? & it kind of reminds me of Bedknobs & Broomsticks. :D
Love the library loot vlogs.I’ve had Patricia A.McKillip on the to be read list for awhile.Also love Thistle.
Thanks Teresa! Definitely give McKillip a go!
I read The Greatcoat last year. Like you I’m rather hard to please when it comes to ghost stories, but this one I enjoyed. I wouldn’t call it a typical ghost story.
I have not read Beowulf, but a Seamus Heaney translation picked my interest. Heaney is a great poet.
Oh good, I’m glad you enjoyed The Greatcoat! & now that I’ve begun reading poetry I’ll put Heaney on my list of poets to try out. :)
The Polished Hoe caught my eye. I’m going to have to look that one up. Enjoy!
Isn’t it a gorgeous cover? I can’t wait to start it.
Oooo … a ghost story! Will have to check out the Dunmore book.
I was just reading The Tale of the Firebird, retold and illustrated by Gennady Spirin, last night which reminded me to re-read In the Forests of Serre by McKillip only to wake up to see that you mention the McKillip book here! The two would make a great side-by-side read. The illustrations by Spirin in The Tale are absolutely GORGEOUS. I wandered into an art gallery in Laguna Beach a couple of years ago and managed to stumble into Spirin’s original illustrations for this book. They were absolutely stunning to see!
I already left a comment on your blog about this, but thnx for the rec!!!
The Greatcoat is the only one I am familiar with. Will be looking out for your reviews .
I really want to read The Greatcoat!
Enjoy your loot!
Great list. I have been looking for The Bathing Women and look forward to your review. I did have problems with Scheherazade Goes West, as i said in my review. Maybe you will be more generous towards her. Did I hear that Beowolf is available as an audio with Heaney reading it?
I didn’t know about the audio! Will have to see if my library has it.
Ooh, I see some McKillip, my recently-found twin! I haven’t read either of those, so looking forward to seeing what you think! Hopefully you understand the endings of both books ;-)
Song of the Basilisk had an unexpected ending, but I did understand it! Ombria’s waiting for me at library so should be able to read it soon. :)
That cover of Beowulf is one of my favorite covers of all time.
Anyway. LOL
Ooh what a good selection! The Heaney translation of Beowulf is what inspired me to study Old English, and I loved Joan Aiken and the whole Wolves of Willoughby Chase series as a child. Also ‘Song for the Basilisk’ is my mum’s absolute favourite, so hopefully it will live up to all your expectations. :)
I look forward to your thoughts on the McKibben book. I read it several years ago and don’t remember too much about it, except that, iirc, it was still surprisingly relevant despite being published in the early 90’s. I really liked his book Wandering Home.
And you definitely didn’t miss anything by giving up on Istanbu (not that you sound regretful, but I thought I’d tell you anyway). I read 2/3 of that book before giving up. It had a few interesting passages, but I found it to be dull overall.
Good to know re: Istanbul! And I haven’t read Wandering Home yet, btu I’ve read 3 or 4 other McKibben books and loved them all.
I ve not long read Silent house look forward to your review Eva ,all the best stu
I love the new Library Loot video! You’ve piqued my interest with Amitai Etzioni. I went to YouTube to find that video you were talking about and it was very intriguing.
RE: Authors and royalties – authors don’t make any more royalties on library copies than they do copies sold in a bookstore or online. Royalties are complicated but they basically earn a percentage on each book sold. They make royalties on various editions (audio, hardcover, paperback, ebook, etc.) and they make royalties/earn money on other things like licensing, TV/movie deals, lectures, appearances, etc.
I always love your Library Loot feature on your blog. You are Thistle are adorable as always and I love the eclectic path you make through your library! I always get lots of good ideas for reading and am inspired to go to my library.