Sunday 21 October 2012

Library Loot 1: October 17-23

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by 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.  As someone who uses the library so much they don't have time to read the many unread books they own at home, I decided it was a good idea to start participating!  This week I visited the library in anticipation of finishing A Suitable Boy (which should be today, only 80 pages left!) and finally getting to start something else.  Half these picks were on my wishlist and half were from random browsing.


1. A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman - This is the story of Latha, a servant in Sri Lanka, whose life is tied to Thara, the spoilt daughter of the family she serves.  This book promises to tackle issues of class and prejudice whilst delivering an intense coming of age story in a volatile setting.  I chose A Disobedient Girl as it was already on my wishlist.
2. On Black Sisters' Street by Chika Unigwe - Four African women have come to Brussels to work in the red light district.  They are seeking the European promise of wealth but meet only struggle and hardship, including murder.  I first heard about this book on Willa's blog; it promises to be a difficult but important read.  I'll probably start this one after finishing Suitable Boy.


3. The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa - I've heard great things about Ogawa so when I saw this on the 'new to this library' stand, I picked it up and decided to take a chance.  I'm not familiar with Japanese literature at all but this collection of three novellas sounds deliciously creepy.
4. Comes the Night by Hollis Hampton-Jones - Another random pick.  Meade is a nineteen year old girl living in Paris who is emotionally and sexually obsessed with her brother, Ben Ho.  This promises to be dark and disturbing, perfect for this time of year. 


5. Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon - This is an unusual pick for me, I even ventured into the fantasy section of the library for possibly the first time!  But it's a retelling of The Little Mermaid, one of my favourite fairy tales, so it's worth a shot.  I'm looking forward to trying this one.
6. 26a by Diana Evans - I picked this up from a stand recommending books to read during Black History Month.  It's a coming of age tale of Nigerian twin sisters growing up in northwest London.  It won the Orange Prize for New Writers, which is enough to make me bring it home for a while.

Have you read any of the books I picked out this week? 

9 comments:

  1. I really loved Mermaid :-) if you like it I recommend her other book,Godmother:a Cinderella Story, which in my opinion was even better :-)

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  2. I haven't read any of them, but they all look fascinating. The covers are gorgeous - I can see why you would be drawn to check them out!

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  3. What an interesting and varied selection of titles. I really enjoyed Ogawa's writing in The Housekeeper and the Professor so I hope her short stories are equally impressive - enjoy!

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  4. I haven't read any of them, but they all look very serious. I'm such a wimp, wanting escapism in my reading, but I know I should delve into topics with more heft. I like that the first two books showed the backs of women.
    I started a new France meme and I hoped you might want to play along. Here's My Dreaming of France meme

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  5. I don't recognise any of these titles but they all look interesting and I'm adding them to my library notebook. I love seeing all the enticing covers on library loot posts.

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  6. The Diving pool is definitely creepy. The last novella left me wondering for a long time what the protagonist saw..... I can't wait to hear what you think about it!

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  7. What a great idea for a meme. Looks like great loot - these are all new to me! 26a looks especially intriguing.

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