My thanks, as always, go to Eleanor and Skai for posting about their recent library reads.

The Summer Reading Challenge ended on the 15th and my library has been quieting down again, thankfully. The number of reservations is still high, though – a good sign that people of all ages are continuing to use the library despite the return to school.

I was amused by this reverse-psychology display. I spotted a book I, too, hated (The Satsuma Complex), and another that I loved (Flesh) – though I can see what the reviewer means!

There’s a scene about Rhyme Time – which at my library starts just as I’m winding up my volunteering shift around 11 on a Tuesday morning – in Natural Disaster by Lisa Owens (see below):

My library use over the last month:

(links are to any book reviews not already featured on the blog)

READ

• The Great Bear by Annie Booker
• I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections by Nora Ephron (a reread)
• The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
• Natural Disaster by Lisa Owens
• Hum by Helen Phillips
• Crossing the Water by Sylvia Plath

CURRENTLY READING

• Stop All the Clocks: Poems of Love and Loss by W.H. Auden
• The Most of Nora Ephron
• Hail Mary by Funmi Fetto
• Everest by Ashani Lewis
• Autumn by Kate Mosse
• Night, Neon and Other Stories of Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Original by Nell Stevens
• The Queen’s Gambit by Walter S. Tevis
• Sheets by Brenna Thummler

SKIMMED

• The Savage Landscape by Cal Flyn (Wainwright Prize winner)

CHECKED OUT, TO BE READ

• In Meadowlight by Sussie Anie
• The Leveret by Anna Goldreich
• Eat the Planet Well: How to Fix Our Toxic Food System – One Meal at a Time by Dave Goulson
• End the Struggle and Dance with Life: How to Build Yourself Up when the World Gets You Down by Susan Jeffers
• The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing (from university library, for Classics book club)
• The Salt King by Natasha Pulley
• Green Crime by Julia Shaw
• When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard
• Fiesta: A Journey through Festivity by Daniel Stables

ON HOLD, TO BE COLLECTED                                                                  

• Every Last Fish by Rose George
• Neurodivergent, by Nature by Joe Harkness

IN THE RESERVATION QUEUE

• The Strangers by Naomi Alderman
• The Man Who Read Books by Rachid Benzine
• Dodge City by Patrick deWitt
• Honour & Other People’s Children by Helen Garner
• The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner et al.
• Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold by Daisy Johnson et al.
• Black Bag by Luke Kennard
• Are You with Me Now? by Hanif Kureishi
• Solace in Winter by Mary Lawson
• Paradises Lost by Ursula Le Guin
• Suspicion by Seichō Matsumoto
• Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
• How to Be Hopeful by Caitlin Moran
• The Winter Guest by Sarah Moss
• The Witching Hour by Michelle Paver et al.
• May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
• Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak
• Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith
• A Very British Christmas by Rob Temple
• The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain

RETURNED UNFINISHED

• Through the Window by Julian Barnes – I only read the one short story for #ShortStorySeptember.
• Taking Pictures by Anne Enright – I read the first two stories but didn’t feel drawn to continue.
• The Given World by Melissa Harrison
• Sunrise by Téa Obreht – The first chapters didn’t draw me in.

Two books borrowed; one bought from the sale shelves.

RETURNED UNREAD

• Ever Land by Amy Abdelnoor – Elle warned me not to waste my time.
• A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: The Collected Stories by Margaret Drabble – I ran out of time to try this one in September.
• Gentleman’s Relish by Patrick Gale – Ditto.
• From Far Around They Saw Us Burn by Alice Jolly – Ditto.
• The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín – Requested off of me before I could get to it.

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.