My decision to try and not read as many library books this year is not going swimmingly. Surprised? No, I didn't think so somehow. I thought I would try to keep the number down to 3 - 5. This is my current pile:
Eight books, twice as many as there ought to be, *plus* I have 4 more on reserve. Hopeless.
From the bottom:
Last Post by Robert Barnard. I thought I'd try something else by him and this is what the library had.
I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley. Book 4 of the Flavia De Luce series. I thought I would leave it a few months before reading this latest book in the series, but there it was and I couldn't resist.
Elsie and Mairi Go to War by Diane Atkinson. Biography of two women who set off for the Western Front, during WW1, to do their bit and set up a first aid camp. Randon grab but will read it for my WW1 challenge.
With Bags and Swags by Wendy Law Stuart. Two women cycling around Australia in the 1940s.
The Churchills by Celia and John Lee. Self explanatory... a random grab.
Decca - The Letters of Jessica Mitford edited by Peter Y. Sussman. More Mitford letters. Yes, I am hooked.
Love Among the Daughters by Elspeth Huxley. Not sure whose blog I saw this reviewed on, I *think* it might have been Danielle at A Work in Progress. It sounded good so I reserved it. It's one of those older books that has that lovely smell.
Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg. Loving his writing so grabbed this randomly from the library. It has a good rating on Amazon so I'm hopeful...
Despite my failure I'm very excited by this lot.
I used to be very determined never to give up on a book but since I hit my mid-fifties I've decided that's life is too short to plough on with a book you're not enjoying. So, 100+ pages into a vampire anthology that I thought would be good but was finding disappointingly dull, I abandoned it. Sometimes you just have to concede defeat. I picked up instead one of my own books, Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith. *Dull* it is not. It's about two cowboy brothers in the 1890s, the eldest of whom loves the Sherlock Holmes stories. I've only just started it but it seems they're out to solve some kind of murder mystery on a ranch in Montana. I have a feeling this one might be huge fun.
Freezing cold here at the moment. It seems we might be about to get the arctic conditions being suffered by those in eastern Europe. There's been quite a death-toll so I hope it won't be quite that bad. My pastimes at the moment are reading, jig-saw puzzles and sudokus and it seems like I might be doing quite a lot of all three over the next week. Stay warm!
17 comments:
Elsie and Mairi Go to War sounds wonderful. I can't wait to read your review :D Stay warm Cath :D
I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on HOLMES ON THE RANGE. It's one that's been on my radar for a while. We're having a bit of rain this morning, but it is definitely not cold - 66 degrees right now. We have had no winter to speak of and while that is OK, I fear the summer heat.
ah yes we are surely sisters! lol the only difference being you "use the library" and I "use the libraries used book store!" lol... I find it interesting to see what I will pick to read when the cost is only ONE dollar as compared to when I pay 12-18 dollars for a book. I do think I take more "chances" with the cheap books but have read some really good ones this way...not to mention the Charles Dickens books I can get in hardback (old but readable)..ok so.. I think your "problem" of reading so much is that you join challenges and you don't choose just "one book" for each challenge so you are spurred on to read faster and more!! As an old singer/ tv personality said when I was very young "bless your pea pickin' heart" (Tennesse Ernie Ford) lol I am glad we are sisters!!
I would say I need to start using the Library more but I have soooo many books unread at home.
Okay, Cath, I'll give this another try. Thank you for diabling the comment word verification. I've missed not talking here.
I have a hard time coming out of the library with just a few books as well, and used book stores are almost as dangerous. This is a nice pile you have and I'm especially interested in Holme's on the Range.
Like you, I no longer read a book if it just isn't grabbing me. There is just too much to read to spend it on something that isn't capturing my attention after 100 pages or so. It's rather liberating, isn't it?
You had quite a nice list of January books! Much better than mine. Okay. here goes, I'm hitting publish.
A lovely eclectic stack. Looking forward to your reviews of these, which if you are indeed about to get the winter we have been denied, may come sooner rather than later. I am still enthusiastically reading Passion and Principle, wanting to race through it, but not wanting it to end. It's always a danger with a good book, reading too fast and then it's suddenly done.
The more books you read from the library the better, because the more us a library gets, the more chance there is of opposing any proposed cuts. We should all use our libraries, or we may end up losing them.
I laughed at your resolve to only take out 3-5 books at a time from the library and the 'hopeless' as you succumbed to taking out more already! It is hopeless for us, isn't it? There I was at the library today too, taking out 7 more books!
I'm sorry the vampire collection was so boring. I haven't seen it over here yet, so I can't look at it and see what I think. I was hoping for someone to find a good vampire anthology so I could pick one up! That Holmes on the Range sounds interesting! Can hardly wait until you've finished it for your thoughts!
Kelly: It does doesn't it? I'm really looking forward to reading that one.
Kay: Enjoying Holmes on the Range so far, just taking my time with it. I've heard that the heat in Texas in the Summer is brutal so I don't balme you for fearing it.
Pat: Yeah, I definitely take more chances at the library or if a book in a charity shop is really cheap. You don't really want to be paying £7 to £10 for a book and find you don't like it. It has happened to me and I really resent it.
I love 'Bless your pea pickin' heart'. I will have you use that around here and watch people's faces. LOL! Good one, Sis.
Jo: I know that feeling exactly. I'm torn in two over it.
Penny: I'm so glad you're able to comment again.
I think all us book addicts are the same re: armfuls of books. I'm sure it's an incurable disease. Holmes on The Range is, so far, great fun.
It's *very* liberating. But it's taken me a few years to get to this point.
Sue: Yep... more time to read at the moment with the bad weather. Suits me. *g* Looking forward to reading the Fremont book later in the year. I know what you mean about not wanting a book to end.
ChrisCross: I completely agree. I even go around Devon visiting others town's libraries. That's a nice day out for me. LOL. The assistants say 'We like people like you!' I think they mean crazy people... ;-p
Susan: It is... or *we are* hopeless. It's a good job I can only take 12 books out at a time...
It might have been that if I'd persevered with the vampire book I would have found stories I'd liked. But by 120 pages or so I'd lost the will to live, so back to the library it went. A shame. If you want a good vampire anthology The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan Ryan is not half bad. I think that's where I first came across The Compte de St. Germain (Chelsea Quinn Yarbro) and fell totally in love. LOL. Sadly the later books in that long series are not as good as the early ones. And have you read The Historian?
Loved your Pern post... will comment on it later as we have family here for lunch and I shouldn't really be sitting here at the computer at all. lol
I wonder if you will read all of them? :<)
I disabled my word verification after Penny had trouble, but I put it back on after getting loads and loads of spam I had to delete. I was amazed. But she figured something out because she can now leave a comment.
Nan: I wonder if I will read them all too. LOL!
I've started to get a bit of spam but at the moment it's just a dribble. If it gets bad I'll have to put the word verification back on.
Oh, they are so very hard to resist, aren't they? I'm only saved by the infrequency with which I can get to the library. What a good thing I can't go to other libraries like you do!
GeraniumCat: Too tempting by far! Two reserved books came in today so off I went once again and came back with three more books. Insane.
Library books are like weeds--they just keep growing. I have massive piles at the moment, too, and they are starting to make me feel anxious! We're getting cold northern air, too. After such a mild winter it has been a shock to the system. Stay warm!
Danielle: I clearly have a severe library addiction, can't keep away from the place. In a way it's a good thing as, with the cuts over here, the more use a library gets the less it's likely to be closed. So I kind of have to balance that with my headless chicken urge to rush around the libraries of Devon picking up everything in sight. It's hard... but I'm guessing there are worse compulsions. :-)
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