Just recently I had been thinking to myself that I was suffering from library book fatigue. Do you get it, too? This year I've read a greater number of library books than in previous years (yes, I must admit, I do keep track). And I've borrowed loads and loads more (I don't share them all here as then we'd all be swimming in book titles). This is of course not a bad thing as I am all for libraries and supporting them by using their services and collections, but it does add a few extra stresses to my normal reading. For one thing there are all the books I own (and buy...) that sit glaring at me from their spots in piles and on shelves waiting so patiently for their turn.
But really it's the library book due dates that pose a problem to my reading. I get a three week check out but can renew only if there is no one else waiting for it. Lately I seem to only request new titles, however, so I rarely get to renew the books I really want to read. And you know Murphy's Law. Request five books at different times and they will all come in on the same day. By the time I move a library book into my current reads pile the clock is ticking away and that due date is fast approaching. I think the last three or four books that I've read from the library I've returned late (and paid a fine on each) because I didn't want to go to the back of the line.
So I thought I would take a little break from library books. At least the newer titles that everyone else wants to read right now, too. My request list is even pretty short (for me that is). But then what do you think happens. I stay away from the library for not even two weeks and all of a sudden it is a new book explosion all over again. And they all look so good. I see more book shuffling in my future as I try and decide which ones I really want to read sooner than later. Here's what was waiting for me yesterday:
Midwinter Blood: A Thriller by Mons Kallentoft - "After being awarded the Swedish equivalent to the Whitbread Award for his debut novel Pesetas, Mons Kallentoft chose to give his own unique take on the classic Scandinavian crime novel. His success was immediate. The first book in the series about superintendent Malin Fors received unanimous praise from the national critics; it also conquered the bestseller charts and has today sold more than 300,000 copies in Sweden alone." The icy cold setting has particular appeal to me at the moment--I like the idea of snow on a 100F day!
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian - "This spellbinding tale travels between Aleppo, Syria, in 1915 and Bronxville, New York in 2012--a sweeping historical love story steeped in the author's Armenian heritage."
The Absolutist by John Boyne - "The Absolutist is a masterful tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and
betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they've turned the last page."
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje - "Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s
and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario. In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient."
Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann - "It’s the end of World War II, and cousins Nick and Helena part ways for the first time. Helena is moving to Hollywood and getting married; Nick goes to Florida with her veteran husband, Hughes. The women soon realize that their lives don’t match their dreams, but it takes more than twelve years and their
children finding a murder victim to jar them out of their complacency. Liza Klaussmann layers the story with the distinct viewpoints of Nick, her daughter Daisy, Hughes, Helena, and Helena’s son Ed. From wartime London in the 1940s to the family beach estate, Tiger House, in the late 1960s, each character brings their own baggage to the story of a family unraveling. Secret fears, desires, and relationships come to light as facades are worn away. The unsolved murder soon becomes just one of many mysteries swirling around the Tiger House, building suspense all the way to the startling conclusion."
The Summer House by Marcia Willett - "For years, Marcia Willett has touched readers with her poignant novels about the intricacies of friendship and family. Now, in The Summer House, she explores the secrets that families keep, and the decisions, made in an instant, that can change our lives."
Gilded Age by Claire McMillan - "Intelligent, witty, and poignant, Gilded Age presents a modern Edith Wharton heroine—dramatically beautiful, socially prominent, and just a bit unconventional—whose return to the hothouse of Cleveland society revives rivalries, raises eyebrows, and reveals the tender vulnerabilities of a woman struggling to reconcile her desire for independence and her need for love." This one sounds like a nice, juicy summer read!
So, maybe seven is not so much? And one is even an older title so I'll be able to send it to the bottom of the pile and save for later. So I guess I've recovered from my library book fatigue. With such interesting looking titles, how could I not?