Thanks to Eleanor, Laura, Marcie, and Skai for posting about their recent library reading!
Sadly, my library system’s Mobile Library service closed down recently.
New at the library, however, is a digital piano, which can only be played with headphones on.
I was delighted to come across Lucy Mangan’s paean to Bromley Library in Bookish: “it was ugly as sin. Unlike my beloved Torridon, it was modern. Its cold, stark, straight lines, metal bookshelves and thin polyester carpeting … amplified every sound. … But it had more books than Torridon. Lots more books. More books in one place than I had ever seen. … And it had a secret. Behind a set of unassuming double doors was hiding a silent reading room and a reference library.” It was a sacred space for her even when she wasn’t borrowing books.
My library use over the last month:
(links are to books not already reviewed on the blog)
READ
- The Things He Carried by Stephen Cottrell (from my church’s theological library)
- Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
- Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
- We Do Not Part by Han Kang
- Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives by Lucy Mangan
- Poetry Unbound by Pádraig Ó Tuama
- The Leopard in My House: One Man’s Adventures in Cancerland by Mark Steel
SKIMMED
- The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
CURRENTLY READING
- Spring Is the Only Season: How It Works, What It Does and Why It Matters by Simon Barnes
- Women by Chloe Caldwell
- All Fours by Miranda July
- Stoner by John Williams (a reread for May book club)
CHECKED OUT, TO BE READ
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (for June book club)
- A Conversation with a Cat by Hilaire Belloc
- Day by Michael Cunningham
- The Meteorites: Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Time by Helen Gordon
- Period Power: Harness Your Hormones and Get Your Cycle Working for You by Maisie Hill
- I Am Not a Tourist by Daisy J. Hung
- The Forgotten Sense: The Nose and the Perception of Smell by Jonas Olofsson
- The Waiting Rooms by Eve Smith
ON HOLD, TO BE PICKED UP
- Bellies by Nicola Dinan
- Looking After: A Portrait of My Autistic Brother by Caroline Elton
- Rebel Bodies: A Guide to the Gender Health Gap Revolution by Sarah Graham
- Of Thorn & Briar: A Year with the West Country Hedgelayer by Paul Lamb
- The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann
IN THE RESERVATION QUEUE
- Good Girl by Aria Aber
- Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Religion by Lamorna Ash
- A Sharp Scratch by Heather Darwent
- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
- Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince
- The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
- Enchanted Ground: Growing Roots in a Broken World by Steven Lovatt
- Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
- Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie
- The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
- Spring: The Story of a Season by Michael Morpurgo
- Ripeness by Sarah Moss
- The Age of Diagnosis: Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far by Suzanne O’Sullivan
RETURNED UNFINISHED
- The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes – The type is so small in the paperback that I couldn’t cope. I will have to get this on Kindle or secondhand in hardback sometime.
- Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis – The first couple of short chapters were entertaining enough but a little bit try-hard. I decided to focus on other things.
RETURNED UNREAD
- Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley – The first pages weren’t gripping and it was requested after me. Let me know if it’s worth trying again another time.
- Sarn Helen by Tom Bullough – It’s at least the second time I’ve had this out from the library, thinking it would be a perfect one to take on holiday to Wales, and not read it. I glanced at the first few pages but, you know, I don’t actually enjoy most long-distance walking adventure books.
What have you been reading or reviewing from the library recently?
Share a link to your own post in the comments. Feel free to use the above image. The hashtag is #LoveYourLibrary.
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Bromley Central library is my local and it IS ugly as sin! But it does have a lot of books, and they’re responsive to stock suggestions too. I have yet to find this silent reading room of which Mangan speaks, but perhaps they’ve done away with it. (And the library is about to move, too, from its current space in the same building that houses the Churchill Theatre to an abandoned flagship Topshop across the street—so we’ll see what they provide after that.)
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I knew you’d want to read the Bookworm sequel anyway, but when I came to that passage I thought it couldn’t be more perfect for you!! My childhood library, if it hasn’t been remodeled, was similarly hideous.
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Something seems to have really called Brutalist architects towards designing libraries. Or maybe it’s that new libraries got gov’t funding at a particular time (the ’50s-’60s)?
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It’s a terrible shame when any library closes down, but mobile libraries fill such a need for those who can’t get to the static library that it’s even worse. 😦
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I can see why they had to close it down what with fewer customers using it and the vehicle not being worth repairing. We do still have an “At Home” service mostly staffed by volunteers who take books to people who are disabled or shut in.
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That’s something, at least.
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I’m just about to pick up Good Girl from my library as well!
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I’m glad I have much longer to read from the WP list than from the CSP. I’ll hopefully get to read The Persians, which is currently on order, as well.
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That’s cool about the digital piano and too bad about the book mobile. My local library system recently added a book mobile. It’s a neat experience! Here are my April Library Reads https://inspirationalskai.blogspot.com/2025/04/love-your-library-april-april-1-april.html
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Thanks so much for joining in again!
I’ve never had cause to use a mobile library but I do love seeing them, on the road or parked up somewhere.
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In such a predominantly rural area, our mobile libraries remain essential, as does our housebound service. Love the idea of the digital piano though!
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We have a good number of smaller branches that serve the villages, plus an At Home service.
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I guessed you hadn’t abandoned your rural readers.
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I so badly want to make better use of my library but I’ve sadly had to come.to terms with the fact that life admin just isn’t in my skillet and I have never and probably never will remember to return them on time!
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Thanks for commenting! Some library systems offer automatic renewals, or have done away with overdue fines. E-books might be easier for you to access, and might not incur a charge? It’s worth looking into anyway!
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Love those digital pianos!
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Awww, I’m sad to hear that about the mobile unit, although relieved there are still volunteers filling the gaps for those patrons (via your comment above). I find music services at libraries fascinating. There are two soundproof rooms with pianos in them at one of my favourite branches in Toronto and I used to sit near them just to look at who went in and out of them (you could hear them a little, but not in a disruptive way). There are also instruments you can sign out for loan there, something else I find fascinating. Just because, you know, libraries shhhhh, music bam! More than just books, as we often say. (Thanks for linking to my post.) I really liked The Husbands. And it had nice print in it too! (I can relate to giving up on the occasional volume with squishy font.)
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I bought Of Thorn and Briar when I went into the bookshop to see if my order was in after finding out my hairdresser was retiring, and when my order wasn’t yet in I bought that anyway to make myself feel better!
I really enjoyed The Husbands so I hope you get on well with that. I did enjoy Fundamentally but you did have to push past the beginning and I can see why you gave up. I have Bellies TBR on the Kindle.
Sad about the mobile library – I used to love working on it when I was a public library assistant (putting the blue gloves on to eat our sandwiches). I’m glad they’ve created the volunteer service to support people who need it.
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Alas, Of Thorn and Briar has been requested off of me, but I’ll get it back another time.
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Nooooo!
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