Thanks to Eleanor, Laura, Marcie, and Sarah for posting about their recent library reading!

I mentioned that my library has recently started running author events again, for the first time since Covid. Apart from that, the main thing that’s new is a sculpture of local author Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear, in the lobby. I have to say, it’s a little bit creepy because when you’re working behind the circulation desk you feel like there’s a person sat there the whole time. (And, as one staff member noted, he looks more than a little like Vladimir Putin.) It makes for a popular photo op, though not as much as the larger Paddington on a bench in the town centre. There’s nearly always a queue to get your photo taken with him.

My library will be a major source of books for Novellas in November for me.

My library use over the last month:

READ

• The Lone-Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
• I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
• What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
• Isabella & Blodwen by Rachael Smith

CURRENTLY READING

• Without Ever Reaching the Summit: A Himalayan Journey by Paolo Cognetti
• James by Percival Everett
• Small Rain by Garth Greenwell
• A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
• What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
• Heartstopper: Volume 5 by Alice Oseman (a reread)
• Playground by Richard Powers
• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
• Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World by Pádraig Ó Tuama

CHECKED OUT, TO BE READ

• Interlunar and Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood (for #MARM) [university library]
• Bellies by Nicola Dinan
• Orbital by Samantha Harvey
• Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee
• Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit [university library]

+ various novellas I’m gradually bringing home

RETURNED UNREAD

• It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis by Tori Tsui – I feared it would be depressing (though of course that’s exactly why I should read it) and from a glance it also appeared formulaic.

RETURNED UNFINISHED

• The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier – Way too much technical info about glassmaking in the early pages. I may try it another time as I’ve read everything else she’s written.
• The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes – I read 24 pages. It seemed fine but undistinguished as historical fiction goes.
• Held by Anne Michaels – The first few pages of pretentious fragments were unbearable.
• Autumn Moods – Yeah … a local publication … wow, it was bad.

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.