Library Loot - April 15, 2009

I have absolutely no excuse for this insanity. Maybe I should blame the people who set up these challenges . . . or maybe I should acknowledge that I signed up for more than I could possibly read. . . . Nah.
So, what does the insanity look like?

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
• Hominids by Robert J Sawyer
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I am excited about this, and I seriously hope it doesn't let me down - I put it on hold for two of my friends as well, so we'll see how they like it)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Hopefully I will make it to the book club I signed up for on this one)
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (this is the first one)
• Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle
• Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle
• Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
• Epigrams by Martial
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I just started Coraline today, yay for Neil Gaiman!)
• Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel (fun crafty stuff)

I didn't feel like typing the challenge or other reason behind every single book. If you're curious, just ask in the comments. Hopefully the Read-A-Thon will help me get through some of this nonsense . . .
If you would like to join library loot, check it out here.

Library Loot - April 8, 2009

Once again, a killer week at the library. Next week promises to be just as big!

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So, we have:

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (for the Victorian Challenge)
• The Queen's Husband by Jean Plaidy (also for the Victorian Challenge)
• The Complete Odes and Satires of Horace (Really Old Classics Challenge)
• Satires by Juvenal (Really Old Classics Challenge)
• Secondhand Chic by Christa Weil (I picked this one up after flipping through it at the library - I love thrift store shopping, so I'm looking forward to reading this one)
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Really Old Classics Challenge)
• The Living Bread by Thomas Merton (Spiritually Speaking Challenge)
• The Epic of Gilgamesh, Stephen Mitchell translation (I took back my other copy of Gilgamesh, as I wanted to check out this edition for the Martel-Harper Challenge)
• Queen Victoria by Christopher Hibbert (Victorian Challenge)

Whew. I didn't have to return any this week, without having read them I mean, but next week might be a different story.

Library Loot - April 1, 2009

Ah yes, another week with only one book added to the pile. Hooray! That book is The Street-Smart Naturalist: field notes from Seattle by David B Williams. I expected this one to be more field-guidey, but it looks more like a series of essays. I guess we'll see.
Also, I had to return The Story of Edgar Sawtelle this week, unread. Alas, another book has been added to my virtual to-read list.
But now that a new month has started, I have placed more holds in order to help me with my challenges. So unfortunately, this is probably the last light week for awhile. Just when school is getting more hectic! I think I need to do something about my priorities . . .

Library Loot - March 25, 2009

Well, I try not to do two posts a day, but I forgot about Library Loot! And wouldn't it be nice if I had managed to not pick up anything this week? Ah well, one can hope to catch up someday . . .
So, what did I get?

• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Someday I really will get around to reading all of these books that I have for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
• The Singing by Alison Croggon (this is the fourth and final book in the Book of Pellinor series)
• Hunter's Death by Michelle West (the sequel to Hunter's Oath, I'm reading this one for the Reading My Name Challenge)

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I am really excited about both The Singing and Hunter's Death, and I will probably eventually get to The Divine Comedy. And I didn't have to return anything without reading it this week. Yay!

Library Loot - March 18, 2009

Yay! A small week! I think I actually completed the same number of books this week that I checked out. So I'm staying even with my piles. I know that I already have two more books that are on hold for me that I will be picking up in the next week, but that's not many. So maybe I will catch up someday.
Except for one, all of this week's books were for the 999 challenge. I am reading award-winners for that one, so two of them won either Hugo or Nebula awards (now I can't remember which) and one won the National Book Award for books for young adults. The fourth book is simply one that I had on hold for so long it was about to expire if I didn't unfreeze the hold.
So here they are:

• Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
• Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, traitor to the nation: the Pox Party by M T Anderson
• Consumed: how markets corrupt children, infantilize adults, and swallow citizens whole by Benjamin R Barber

I also checked out four Portland, OR travel guides, one of which is geared specifically to Portland's literary history (City of Readers by Gabriel H Boehmer). We're planning a weekend in Portland in a couple of weeks, so I'm excited to browse through these.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I had to return The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society without having read it. I almost returned The Hunger Games as well, but I decided to just sit down and read the whole thing instead. I think I can handle the late fees! And it was soooo worth it. I would have had a review up already, but school is making me a little bit brain-dead lately.
If you would like to see what others are picking up from their library, or join in the fun, head over to A Striped Armchair.

Library Loot - March 11, 2009

Ugh . . . I can't even keep my stacks of books together anymore. But truthfully, and I know I say this a lot, I will not continue to get this many books in the weeks to come. I will catch up.
So here they are:

• Bhagavad Gita (for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (see above)
• Notebooks by Leonardo Da Vinci (see above)
  
• The Known World by Edward P Jones (for the 999 Challenge - its a Pulitzer Prize Winner)
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (see above)
• Legacy of Ashes by Time Weiner (another award winner for my 999 Challenge)
• The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (see above)
• Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (see above)
• Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (see above)
• Octavian Nothing - The Pox Party by M T Anderson (see above)
  
• The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti (I can't even remember why I had this one on hold - so sad)
• City of Thieves by David Benioff (another one I'm not sure about, but I have it now!)

And this week I took back Graceling and The Given Day without getting to read them. So they're back on the to-read list.
If you would like to see what others are getting or participate, head over here.

Library Loot - March 4, 2009

I did not have any library loot last week, as I was out of town, but this week I once again make up for it by adding more books to my list than I can manage to read in a week.

• The Aeneid by Virgil (Another one that will eventually get read for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
• Metamorphoses by Ovid (see above)
• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (I have read so much about this book, I am looking forward to reading it)
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (on a Best of 2008 list, and still one of the most popular books at my library - I'm predicting now that I will not get it read before it's due back)
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman (I already saw the movie, and I loved it, so now I finally have the book to compare it to)
• Warriors: Tigerstar & Sasha #1 by Dan Jolley & Don Hudson, created by Erin Hunter (this is a manga that covers some of the back story of a few characters in the Warriors series - should be entertaining)
  

So there we are - as a note, it is obvious that I do not read quite this many books every week. Maybe I should start keeping track of the books that get returned when I can't even start them before they're due back. In that vein, this last week I returned Anathem by Neal Stephenson and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. They have both since been added to my to-read list, rather than my physical to-read stack.

Library Loot - February 18, 2009

A rather random selection picked up this week:

• The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans by Plutarch (for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
  
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (mainly because of the movie, which I haven't seen, and probably won't, but I wanted to read the book first anyway)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart (this has been on my list of books to read for awhile, and I needed another teen book)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (my hold of this one finally came in! Now if I can just get to it before it's due back . . .)
• Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck (another Alex Award winner)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (another hold, probably to be returned before I can read it, alas)
• Dynamic Youth Services through outcome-based planning and evaluation by Eliza T Dresang, Melissa Gross, & Leslie Edmonds Holt (for my Research Methods - Youth Services class)

And that's it - I have hope that I will get to most of these before they are due back! Now that I've finished Le Morte D'Arthur, I don't have anything sucking away my reading time. Well, except for school . . .
If you would like to share your library loot head on over to A Striped Armchair or Out of the Blue and join us!

Library Loot - February 11, 2009

Another ridiculous week of bringing home too many books. (I think I may have a problem.)
So this week I had on hold a handful of the 2009 Alex Award winners:

• Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
• Over and Under by Todd Tucker
• Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
• The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
• Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

And here are the rest of the books that I brought home:

• The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (I'm pretty sure I had this one checked out before, and had to return it without reading it - that's a chronic problem that I have. Maybe the poor thing will get read this time!!)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (one of the best teen books of 2008, or so I hear, so I'll give it a try)
• The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, prose version in Modern English by David Wright (in case you are wondering I did return the other Canterbury Tales that I had picked up a couple of weeks ago - I decided that I could not deal with any more Old English, so I'm cheating and reading a Modern English version)
• The City of God by Saint Augustine (for the Really Old Classics Challenge)

And for those of you who are curious, here is what my several stacks of books looks like. Here we have the two main stacks in front, and then we have three more stacks bracing them from behind. This is why I need to stop putting books on hold at the library! I can't even get through what I have. Oh, and this is what the stacks look like after my lovely canine friend has been playing around them - normally they are more stack-like.
If you would like to join in sharing your library loot, head over here.

Library Loot - February 4, 2009

Only one book picked up this week (thank goodness). I have several others waiting for me now that I'll be getting soon, but at least I only added one more book to my stacks. One of these days I'll take a picture so you can marvel over the ridiculousness of it.
So, what did I get this week?

• Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson - this title has been on my list for awhile, and I needed another teen/kids book to read, so I decided to get it now.
  

And that really is all that I have for this week. Now that I've started school I have less time to read books that are not textbooks, which is a big part of why I haven't been finishing books at my usual rate. The other part of it is Le Morte D'Arthur. Has anyone else ever tried reading this thing? It's taking me ages. But I am more than halfway through, and I will persevere!!!

Library Loot - January 28, 2009

This week brought more family planning books, another textbook, a couple sci-fi/fantasy titles, and a book that I had checked out before, but had to return without reading.
Here they are:

• Scribes, Script and Books by Leila Avrin (for my History of Books and Libraries class)
• Anathem by Neal Stephenson (this is a large, large science fiction book)
• Hunter's Oath by Michelle West (for the Reading My Name Challenge, and because I wanted to re-read it)
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (for the second time, maybe I'll actually get around to reading it!)
• Before Your Pregnancy by Amy Ogle and Lisa Mazzullo
• Fully Fertile by Tamara Quinn, Elisabeth Heller and Jeanie Lee Bussell

My stacks keep growing, and I'm not finishing books as fast right now! Ack. I'll just hope my Library Loot posts get smaller, because otherwise I'll never finish everything.

Library Loot - January 21, 2009

Another fairly big library week, although this should be the last big one for awhile. So what did I get?

• Women in Early Medieval Europe by Lisa M Bitel (for the Medieval Challenge)
• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (also for the Medieval Challenge)
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (I can't seem to stop reading books that will be made into movies - even though I usually hate the movies!)
• Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (this one was on a best of 2008 list for teens, so I thought I'd check it out)
• The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles (I think this one may have been from a best of 2007 list for kids)
• Developing Library and Information Center Collections by G Edward Evans (for a class, Collection Development)
• The Book: the life story of a technology by Nicole Howard (another book for my History of Books and Libraries class)

And there you have it. I do anticipate actually getting to all of these, although I may not be able to get the medieval ones read by the time the challenge is up. But it won't be for lack of trying!

Library Loot - January 14, 2009

Okay, so this week was a big one too. Last week it was seven, and I said that I normally only pick up three or four, but mysteriously I had nine waiting for me this week. So here they are:

• The Oresteia by Aeschylus - for the Really Old Classics Challenge
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - for the Medieval Challenge
• Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory - also the Medieval Challenge
• Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges - I think I picked up this one for the Martel-Harper Challenge, not sure
• History of Libraries in the Western World by Michael H Harris - first textbook of the new year! For the class History of Books and Libraries
• Home by Marilynne Robinson - because I loved Gilead
• Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert - I love checking out good seasonal cookbooks
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler - a little bit personal, but we are planning our family now! This one was recommended to me by my currently-pregnant cousin
• Amber and Blood by Margaret Weis - because I love fantasy, and I'm always reading something from one series or another

Okay, that's that. Crazy list this week. We'll see how many of them I get read before having to take them back!

Library Loot!!

This is a fun weekly event that was thought up by Eva at A Striped Armchair. I have never really been interested in these sorts of weekly blog events before, but this one is perfect for me. I get probably 80% of the books I read for my blog from the library, and I pick up several every week. I'm not sure what day of the week will be Library Loot day. But for this week's loot, it's today!
This week I got Europe Central by William T Vollmann and The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck, both of which qualify for the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge and at least one of my other challenges. I also picked up Maus by Art Spiegelman and Robot Dreams by Sarah Varon for the Graphic Novels Challenge. The other three books I picked up may qualify for one challenge or another, but I didn't pick them up specifically for that. They are Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier (because I will read anything new by her), Firestar's Quest by Erin Hunter (is there something wrong with me that I love these warrior cats so much?), and Socially Responsible Investing by Amy Domini (I had this one checked out awhile ago, but had to return it without reading it - so we'll see if I get it read this time around).
Seven is a larger amount than is typical for me, I guess. I think I actually usually get three or four a week. Either way, this should be a fun way to keep track!