Library Loot

I really must stop requesting books from the library ... but there are so many that catch my eye and it is better than buying them!

In this week's visit I collected:

Bone Black by bell hooks: a memoir by the famous feminist, I'm interested in hooks' thoughts on her growing up during racial segregation.

Vanessa and Virginia by Susan Sellers: as soon as the Not the TV Book Group reading list was announced, this title caught my eye and I was delighted that my library had it in stock (I was able to pick it up from the stacks as opposed to requesting it, which happens less often than I would like). Published by the Two Ravens Press, this looks like a book that I will love and I'm excited to read it, being a fan of Virginia Woolf.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi: I enjoyed The Icarus Girl and had Oyeyemi's follow-up novels on my wish-list but when Eva compared the psychological horror of White is for Witching with Shirley Jackson, I knew I had to read it immediately.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: who hasn't raved about The Help? It's about time that I read this one.

Have you read any of these or intend to?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot

I've been meaning to post my latest library loot for a while but erratic blogging and internet problems have prevented me until now. Furthermore, I realise that my last three posts have been stacks of books but 1) I know how much you like looking at books 2) I have a few reviews scheduled for this week and a few more in the bag.

My last Library Loot post was in 2009 and I suggested that it may be my last for a while as I resolved to read more from my TBR; that's still my intent but the lack of borrowing has fallen by the wayside a little as I looted for a few challenges and read-alongs that I am excited about (although ultimately I am reading more for myself and have been enjoying the freed0m to read books on a whim).

I still have a few outstanding library requests but on my last visit I came away with:

Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen: these two texts are for The Harlem Renaissance tour for The Classics Circuit in February; I'll be picking up Quicksand later today and I am really excited as I've been wanting to read both of these novellas for some time.

Daughters of Decadence: Women Writers of the Fin-de-siècle ed. by Elaine Showalter: this collection of short stories -written by "new women" about "new women"- has been on my wish-list for the longest time, since I studied Modernism. Including one of my favourite short stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" as well as a couple by the wonderful Kate Chopin, I'm looking forward to reading this collection for the Women Unbound Challenge.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa: I borrowed this to read for the Japanese Literature book group at In Spring it is the Dawn and you can read my thoughts tomorrow.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley: I requested this on a whim at the beginning of the month and now I can't really recall why ... perhaps to see what all the fuss is about? Now that I have it, I'm feeling less inspired to read it. A reviewer for The Guardian is quoted on Amazon as saying it is a mixture between I Capture the Castle (a beloved book of mine) and The Addam's Family; I'm going to love it, aren't I?

Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier: another book for Woman Unbound, I read about this on Eva of A Striped Armchair's blog and she completely sold me with this paragraph:

To say that I loved this book feels like a horrible understatement. I believe every single woman should read this book. If I were a billionaire, I would buy a copy for each woman who could read English, and press it into her hands with fervent good wishing.

High praise indeed (although to give credit where it is due, it was Nymeth who recommended the book to Eva); I've been awaiting a special inter-library loan request for this book since November and I hope it is worth the wait.

Have you read any of these or do they appeal?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot: the débuts

If I stick to my resolve, this will be the last library loot I shall be posting about for a while as I attempt to tackle the overwhelming to-be-reads. Coincidentally these books are all débuts by female writers, three novels and one collection of short stories. I requested the top one, which reminded me to request the second one (both won first book awards, the Guardian and Orange, respectively) and the bottom two both come highly recommended.

An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah won the Guardian first book award 2009 earlier this month. Synopsis (from the publisher Faber and Faber): In her spirited debut collection, Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah brings us the resilience and inventiveness of the people who struggle to live under Robert Mugabe’s regime. Despite their circumstances, the characters in An Elegy for Easterly are more than victims; they are all too human, with as much capacity to inflict pain as they have to endure it. They struggle with larger issues common to all people everywhere: failed promises, unfulfilled dreams and the yearning for something to anchor them to life.

An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay won the 2009 Orange Award for New Writes prize. Synopsis (from the publisher Orion): Jennet Mallow is born in Yorkshire in the 1920s but her interest in art and creativity alienates her from her family, her father who is a priest, her conventional sister and her emotionally stunted mother. Jennet moves to London in search of a more exciting life and finds it in her new environment and in the handsome and enigmatic figure of the painter David Heaton. When Jennet falls pregnant, her parents more or less force the two to marry. In the postwar austerity of the 1940s, the young couple struggles to make ends meet and Jennet finds that her home life is gradually eroding everything she has fought to achieve. Aware that David is becoming increasingly reliant on drink and tired of the dank and drab bedsit in which they live, Jennet suggests they move to Spain. There, the bright blue skies, warm air and sunlit beaches give the couple and their children a new lease of life. Jennet begins to paint again and an agent takes an interest in her work. But as Jennet's own career begins to take off, her relationship with David sours and the two enter a destructive spiral with tragic consequences.

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton is a book that I first came aware of a few months ago but allowed it to fall off my radar until a couple of bookish friends on Twitter reminded me about it when they named it as their favourite read of 2009 last week. Synopsis (from the publisher Granta): A high-school sex scandal jolts a group of teenage girls into a new awareness of their own potency and power. The sudden and total publicity seems to turn every act into a performance and every platform into a stage. But when the local drama school decides to turn the scandal into a show, the real world and the world of the theater are forced to meet, and soon the boundaries between private and public begin to dissolve. The Rehearsal is an exhilarating and provocative novel about the unsimple mess of human desire, at once a tender evocation of its young protagonists and a shrewd expose of emotional compromise.

The Tin-Kin by Eleanor Thom comes highly recommended by dovegreyreader and I am annoyed that it has taken me to the very end of the year to actually get around to borrowing the book, let alone reading it. However, upon discovering that Thom graduated with her Master's in Creative Writing from my alma mater, the University of Glasgow, I think I will be reading this next. The synopsis (provided by the publisher Duckworth) cements by desire to read it: When her aunt Shirley dies, Dawn finds herself back in her claustrophobic home town in Northern Scotland for the first time in years. She spends her days caring for her small daughter, listening to tapes of old country songs and cleaning Shirley’s flat, until one day she comes across the key to a cupboard that she was forbidden to open as a child. Inside she finds an album of photographs, curling with age. A young couple pose on a beach, arms wrapped around each other; little girls in hand-me-down kilts reveal toothless smiles; an old woman rests her hands on her hips, her head thrown back in blurry laughter. But why has her aunt treasured these pictures secretly for so long? Dawn’s need for answers leads her to a group of Travellers on the outskirts of Elgin. There she learns of a young man left to die on the floor of a cell, and realises that the story of her family is about to be rewritten... Weaving between narratives and decades, The Tin Kin is a beautiful moving novel about love, hardship and the lies and legends that pass between generations. It is a striking, unforgettable debut.

Never have I read so much new fiction in the one year, least of all new writers, as I have in 2009. Next week I shall be reviewing an astonishing début -also a prize-winner- and easily one of my favourite books of the year (a list of those will appear before the end of the year).

Have you read any of these or do any appeal?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot

I haven't posted a library loot post for some time as I have been consciously attempting not to borrow (nor buy) any books and work on the every-increasing to-be-read piles/stacks/shelves. instead I did collect a few requests this week though and noticed another that I had been wanting to reading so added that to my ticket.

Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education by Jane Robinson is a book that I requested upon reading Nymeth's review a couple of months ago. I wanted to read it at the time but now serendipitously it will make for the perfect non-fiction reading for the Women Unbound Challenge.

Another non-fiction title in this current library stack and also another blogger recommendation from Eva of A Striped Armchair is Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf. I actually requested this before Eva endorsed it, when she mentioned in her own Library Loot post a few weeks ago; I knew that a neuroscience book about how and why we read was something that ... well, I needed to read. Last Christmas books about the effect of music on the brain seemed to be all the rage and I am thrilled that there is a literary equivalent. I have a feeling that upon reading this I shall want to own my own copy.

Serving Crazy with Curry by Amulya Malladi is a book that I've been trying to track down for a couple of years. It is out-of-print in the UK and the library in my home-city didn't have a copy at the time I was originally looking for it so I was excited to discover that my new library's district did upon remembering about it. I did buy one of Malladi's other titles, The Mango Season, last year and enjoyed it; it was easily readable and diverting. I enjoy Indian-American settings and books about cooking and suicide (my, that makes me sound morbid) so the synopsis for Serving Crazy with Curry intrigued me.

It's not that Devi is the black sheep of her family. It's just that she can't seem to succeed at anything. Not even suicide. Rescued at the last minute by her interfering mother, Devi is returned to the family home to recover from the 'incident.' While Devi refuses to talk, she insists on cooking - and what food she creates! Drawn back to the table again and again by her stunningly successful dishes, the other members of the family talk, argue, joke and worry. Soon, secrets emerge, unshakeable family relationships lurch into new patterns, and success and failure don't seem quite as clear-cut as they used to be. This delightful, hopeful book sheds a warm light on three generations of women. Traditional and modern values and the cultures of Southern India and California are stirred and blended into surprising new flavours, much like one of Devi's own curries.

Last but not least is the debut novel of James Scudamore, The Amnesia Clinic. After loving Heliopolis when I read it as part of my Booker longlist reading challenge, I made a mental note to read Scudamore's previous work at some point and jumped on it when I happened to spy it in the library on my visit to collect requests. Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 2007, The Amnesia Clinic was also shortlisted for other literary prizes and sounds as fantastic (in both senses of the word) as its follow-up.

Anti, a quiet English boy living in Quito, Ecuador, strikes up a friendship with flamboyant classmate Fabian, who is everything Anti isn't: handsome, athletic and popular. What's more, he lives with his rakish Uncle Suarez, while Anti is stuck in the dull ex-pat world inhabited by his parents. Suarez, a storyteller par excellence, infects the boys with his passion for outlandish tales, and before long their relationship becomes one conducted entirely through the medium of storytelling. One subject, however, is taboo: Fabian's parents. But when details surrounding their disappearance begin to emerge, Anti decides to console his friend with a story suggesting that Fabian's mother may be living at a bizarre hospital on the coast for patients with memory loss. With confused emotions and reality losing its tenuous grip, the boys embark on a quixotic voyage across Ecuador in search of an 'Amnesia Clinic' that may, or may not exist.

Have you looted any library books this week and what do you think of mine?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot: the scary

In honour of upcoming Hallowe'en my library loot takes a distinctly horrific hue this week. The Virago Book of Ghost Stories is of course intended to scare and The Complete Maus has a terrifying subject matter (the Holocaust) whereas Fun Home is a family tragicomic set in a funeral home.

Wolf Home is a book that I have been dreading recently and belongs aptly to a season of horror; moreover, the cover lends itself dramatically to the blood-red tinge the photo has taken, as does my sofa.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot: the Good, the Bad, and the Uglier

This is an ugly pile of library books and now that I have collected them I feel completely uninspired to read them. Not All Tarts Are Apples by Pip Granger (doesn't that name sound like a variety of apple?) in particular completely puts me off reading it; I requested this title after seeing the Roxanna Bikadoroff cover which is far more enticing than the edition I have which, in all honesty, offends my suppressed inner literary snob.

The Persephone, of course, is attractive; it's such a pristine copy of Round about a Pound a Week that it almost feels like my own copy. I'll be reading this for book group this week and I even have a matching bookmark that came with the Persephone bi-annually last year on the book's release.

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan is the latest Oprah book choice and was suggested by Eva for my personal African literature project. Another title for this project that I borrowed this week is The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi; I have been intending to read this -and Oyeyemi's latest novel- since reading The Icarus Girl earlier this year and snagged a copy that I noticed on the library's display for Black History Month.

I also borrowed What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers which strictly isn't for my project as Eggers is an American novelist but it is set during the Sudanese Civil War and the other Claire of Kiss a Cloud enthuses about it, which is reason enough.

Lastly is the most hideous copy of Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett for Stuck in a Book Simon's read-along. I can't complain too much as it is an out-of-print title and copies are somewhat rare and costly. I have been wanting to read ICB since my friend did her thesis on her work whist we were doing our Master's together and more so since reading The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, even though, by rights, the Queen's disdain for her should put one off.

This loot is definitely a case of the good (the Persephone), the bad (the Granger), and the uglier (the Ivy Compton-Burnett)!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg encouraging library use and its promotion.

Library Loot

It's been a while since I regaled you with my library loot so I thought I would share the haul collected on my latest visit. All but one were requests I had placed for specific challenges including my personal one to read the Man Booker longlist.

The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill: this ghost story may be my first read for the R.I.P. IV challenge, hopefully this weekend.
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro: a double-header for both the R.I.P. IV challenge and the Japanese Literature one. Sarah Waters called Ishiguro's debut novel " a tightly controlled narrative surface, with half-glimpsed, terrifying depths".
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon: a Victorian sensation novel, this will be my contribution to Simon's Sensational September.
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off: Love Quarrels from Anton Chekhov to ZZ Packer: I came across this compilation of short stories in Waterstone's a few weeks ago and the concept intrigued me. Some great short story writers are featured including Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and Jhumpa Lahiri.
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami: also a combined Japanese and horror read, I am highly looking forward to reading this after books 1 and 2 of The Hunger Games, which has a similar premise. At 615 pages it is going to be a challenge but I hope a compelling one.
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt: now featuring on the Man Booker shortlist this one is a must-read. It is also another 615 pages.

I have a busy few weeks ahead...

Library Loot

It's been some time since my last Library Loot post but, for the most part, I was staying true to my resolution not to request or borrow any more books from the library. However, as you can see above, I broke my resolve a little.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is the book I am reading with one of my book groups next month and it's not one that interests me (non-fiction about success) but the point of book groups I think is to read things that you normally wouldn't choose for yourself.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book that I could not resist any longer. So many bloggers have raved about this book, a friend posted on my facebook page that I had to read it, and I read somewhere that Collins was inspired by Shirley Jackon's "The Lottery", which I loved.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction last year and will contibute to my personal challenge of reading all of the winners. The library had it in stock so I thought "why not?"

Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner won the Man Booker in 1984 and I am also reading those. I was browsing online looking at books one day recently (as I do) and I read the opening pages of this via Amazon and I desperately wanted to read the remainder. However I had a friend visiting me this weekend who described it as "the most boring book" she had ever read.

Ideally I am intending to read one Pulitzer and one Man Booker winner a month and this month I have fulfilled one part of that goal. I am woefully behind in my reading - do you remember my overly ambitious summer reading list? I must make some extra time...

Library Loot

I am going to put this in writing: I will NOT request any further books from the library until I finish reading the ones that I already have. Today I had to return The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb without reading it and am most annoyed with myself; I stupidly thought I could renew it thrice, not twice. Anyway, I picked up my last batch of requests for the time-being:

Ulysses by James Joyce - this is for the reading Ulysses challenge and as my own copy is at home in Glasgow and I won't be visiting for a couple of months, I thought I would borrow a copy to see if reading it in book form was easier than in DailyLit installments. I am pleasantly surprised to find that I have read 65 pages/the first volume over the last two weeks.

The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch - I fancied reading some Iris Murdoch for the first time. I do have a copy of The Sea, the Sea but, again, it's at home with the parents.

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald - this is a title that has been on my wish-list for some time.

The Parasites by Daphne Du Maurier - I thought it about time that I tried another book by the author of one of my all-time favourites, Rebecca.

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd - this book has recently won the 2009 Carnegie Medal, awarded posthumously, and I am enthusiastically looking forward to reading it.

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee - looking forward to reading this for my personal challenge to read more Man Booker winners.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín - there has been much talk about this recently amongst bloggers and a good chance it will be nominated for this year's Booker.

Now to the outstanding library loot before making a start on these.

Even More Library Loot

This morning my beloved book bag (left) and myself wandered to the library and picked up even more books! This has to stop. I returned five that I have read and still have four out (currently reading two of these) and collected eight so I have maxed my allowance of twelve; two outstanding requests won't be ready for some time as I am about fourth in the queue so at least I can concentrate upon the ones I currently have. All twelve of them.

Some of the ones I now have I have mentioned in previous posts; I requested some of the Orange Prize shortlisted novels a few weeks ago as well as a couple of other recommendations. Lady Chatterley's Lover is this month's book group choice; I've been wanting to read The Post-Birthday World and The Group recently; Fahrenheit 541 has been on my wishlist for as long as I can remember.

This afternoon I am going to try to finish one of the library books I am currently reading as well as hopefully some progress with another, whilst eating strawberries and cherries; I love summer.

This and That...

This is a blog post about this and that, bits and bobs; more of an update really.

Firstly, The Little Stranger is on its way in the post to me and I am unbelievably excited (I don't think I've anticipated a book this much since the last three Harry Potter books). I pre-ordered it over a month ago online but had to cancel that order since it hadn't been dispatched yet and order through Waterstone's instead, who were offering it at a far cheaper price anyway and where I could also redeem my loyalty points. I am hoping it will arrive my Saturday's post...

Secondly, I managed to finish my book for book group before tonight's meeting. I'll review that over the next few days. I'm looking forward to finding out what we're reading next (we take it in turns to decide).

Thirdly, my library pile is decreasing although I have five books waiting collection (and four to return). One of the books I'll collect over the next few days is The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey, which I am hoping to read before the Orange Prize is announced on June 3rd. The other books I'm picking up are The Group by Mary McCarthy (this one has been on my radar for a while but I watched a Hay Festival interview with Sarah Waters and she said that she's currently re-reading it so I took the recommendation and requested it); The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa; People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks; and The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver (this one I am most excited about). I also renewed The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb so that I have more time to tackle it as its sheer size is somewhat daunting.

Also, my friend and I are tackling some classics that we have always meant to read but never have and next up is Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh for July 1st (even though, ahem, my friend still hasn't finished the previous book, Brighton Rock).

I still have three books (and another still to review) to read for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge : one fairy tale book, which is currently in progress, and two non-fiction books before Midsummer's Night (June 23rd).

I have also began to participate in the Shelfari discussion group Booktivity's monthly challenge to read a book with a specific category -and its derivatives- in the title. This coming month's category is "weather" and I was thinking of reading Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Leaf Storm.

So that will be one new book, ten library books, one book group book (decided tonight); one unread classic; three challenge books; one weather book ... to be read within the next 4-6 weeks, not to mention the books I already have waiting (and wanting) to be read. Seventeen books is manageable in that time limit, isn't it? Deviating from the list and not adding new books, however, is less achievable...

(Image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk)

More Library Loot

My name is Paperback_Reader and I have eyes bigger than my book stomach. In all honesty this is a serious situation. I have another pile of books from the library, even though I've yet to finish my last loot and also have a book group book to read for next week and other books piling up around me eyes as well as tons of reviewing to catch up on. Oh well, at least it's not a stress in my life that makes me hyperventilate but something entertaining and joyful.

The latest haul:

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey: A Persephone that I will add to my collection (probably in the Classic format as the cover is exquisite), I've been wanting to read this one for some time and Simon's review (of which there is an image of the lovely endpaper included) intensified that wish so I requested it from library inter-loan. It is a short read so I am hoping to fit it in over the weekend before I plough through the book for book group and the remainder of my previous library loot.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson: I mentioned this in my last library loot post as I had requested it at that point. Anyway it arrived, I finally wandered around to collect it (I was waiting for the others), and I am looking forward to reading it. Moreover, the back blurb is a quote from Esther Freud (from her foreword), "Eccentric, funny, wise, full of joys, and small adventures. This is a book for life." This quote excites me because I trust Esther Freud and I believe what she writes.

The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux: As probably previously mentioned, I don't read a lot of non-fiction but this is something I am attempting to remedy. I saw this book on a shelf on my fly-by visit to collect books and borrowed it; the boy and I really enjoy watching Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends on BBC iplayer and this is a follow-up book he wrote after the series. I find Louis highly amusing and I am hoping this translates to his writing.

Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki: I also mentioned this book in the last loot post as it was one I requested. It arrived exceptionally quickly, I collected it promptly, and am currently 2/3 of the way through but thought I would include it in the photograph.

Julie and Julia: 365 Recipes, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell: The link takes you to the paperback version with a different subtitle but it is the same book, just reformated, and this link gives you a synopsis. This book has been on my wishlist for perhaps the last six months or so and I desperately want to read it before the film (with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) is released later this year.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb: Oh my Goodness, my eyes are definitely bigger than my book stomach because this is a TOME! Now there would be a very good chance that I could finish this between now and its due date in three weeks IF I didn't have the other books to read also; here's hoping I can renew it.

Okay, now back to the reading.

Library Loot

Today I decided to combine my favourite activity (reading and all things book-related) with my least favourite (exercise) by walking to my local library. Now, I'm not usually a library goer as I much prefer owning books and having lovely new copies in my hands but economy as it is and my own personal circumstances I'm all for supporting the community (and small booksellers). I only joined last week, in the hope of borrowing this month's book group book, but my hopes were dashed. However, I decided to waste not want not (besides it makes a lovely walk) and as it was I picked up a few books I've been wanting to read, pictured above (very beige, aren't they?!)

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett: this one has been on my wish-list for some time. I can't wait to read about the Queen's discovery of the mobile library!

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill: I've heard much about this and fancy reading something Gothic and suspenseful before getting my impatient mitts on Sarah Water's The Little Stranger later this month.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice: seemingly very popular across the blogosphere this book was first brought to my attention by Danielle at A Work in Progress. The beauty of digital word of mouth is that this is a book I would probably have otherwise overlooked in a bookstore as I would be put off by the chick-lit like cover! I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Miss Chopsticks by Xinran: I was researching some potential Eastern literature reads last night and this one caught my eye (as it has in the past); the premise interests me and the library happened to have it on the shelf. I also happen to have another Xinran book, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, unread on the shelf.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: apparently another popular book amongst bloggers (I've seen it reviewed a few times) this was brought to my attention by Fleur Fisher; the title intrigued me and her review prompted me to add it to the wish-list.


I have also began to make good use of the inter-library loan service by requesting a few other titles that were on my wish-list, that I hope will arrive soon.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb: I have heard so many good things about this title. A group of friends in the States all received it for Christmas and were reading it at once and commenting on it.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa: mention of this has frequently been popping up online and the pretty cover definitely caught my attention.

Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman: one of the six shortlisted titles for the Orange Prize for Fiction this year (of which I have so far read 1/6) the synopsis below definitely peaked my interest, especially as it's a true story:

Alabama, 1931. A posse stops a freight train and arrests nine black youths. Their crime: fighting with white boys. Then two white girls emerge from another freight car, and fast as anyone can say Jim Crow, the cry of rape goes up. One of the girls sticks to her story. The other changes her tune, time and time again. A young journalist, whose only connection to the incident is her overheated social conscience, fights to save the nine youths from the electric chair, redeem the girl who repents her lie, and make amends for her own past.

The Wilderness by Samantha Harris: another Orange contender and also appealing.

It’s Jake’s birthday. He is sitting in a small plane, being flown over the landscape that has been the backdrop to his life – his childhood, his marriage, his work, his passions. Now in his early sixties, he isn’t quite the man he used to be. He has lost his wife, his son is in prison and he is about to lose his past. Jake has Alzheimer’s.

As the disease takes hold, Jake struggles to hold on to his personal story, to his memories and identity, but they become increasingly elusive and unreliable. What happened to his daughter? Is she alive or long dead? And why exactly is his son in prison? What went so wrong in his life? There was a cherry tree once and a yellow dress, but what exactly do they mean? As Jake, assisted by ‘poor Eleanor’, a childhood friend with whom, for some unfathomable reason, he seems to be sleeping, fights the inevitable dying of the light, the key events of his life keep changing as he tried to grasp them, and what until recently seemed solid fact is melting into surreal dreams or nightmarish imaginings. Is there anything he’ll be able to salvage from the wreckage? Beauty, perhaps, the memory of love, or nothing at all?

Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki: of all the Eastern titles I looked at last night, this is the one that was immediately added to be wish-list and is at the top of my to read list when it arrives.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson: taking pride of place as number one of the 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About (not in order and ongoing), Simon at Stuck in a Book's review of this book made me anxious to read it this summer.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: the book I most want to buy but am awaiting the day I have money to do so and the book I am too impatient to wait to read until then. Enough said.

Even though I have a huge pile of books awaiting me (and all of the ones on the shelf), I'm off to read my copy of Marie Claire before I make dinner! I also woefully behind reviewing but please check in over the next few days when I hope to add a few.