library haul

 
Just stopped in to return some books to the library the other day, and ended up taking an armful home with me- I couldn't resist posting about them. I've added to the haul with a book from the library where I work (is it excessive being a member of 2 libraries? I don't even care). So here's what I've got lined up:

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith
Well, if I'm honest I've read this one already. I didn't blog straight away and it was just too good not too finish. Though I had no real desire to read J.K. Rowling's first book after Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy, I'd heard good things about her pseudonymous foray into fiction. I really loved the set-up to this book- I feel like there aren't enough private detectives in modern mysteries and Cormoran Strike is a good one, complete with personal demons and dingy office. I also loved his secretary, Robin, and I think these characters really made the book. Though for some reason I found myself hoping that romantic tension didn't develop between them. Anyway, parts of the solution were maybe slightly lacking, but it was a good journey there with plenty of clues to follow along. Looking forward to the sequel!

A Curtain of Green - Eudora Welty
The one I'm currently reading. A collection of short stories from this famous Southern writer. I haven't read anything by her, but I've heard her name around a lot so I thought it was time to fix that. Apparently this is Welty's first short story collection, published in 1941, so I suppose it's a good place to start. I'm finding it a strange book so far.

Orkney - Amy Sackville
I just have this thing for books set in remote Scottish islands, and I feel a special interest in the Orkneys since visiting there a couple of years ago (or since before visiting really, that's why I chose to go there at all). I'll just include a gratuitous holiday photo, why not. Anyway based on that alone I picked this up, and the blurb also sounded somewhat familiar- it's the story of a professor and his former student who have come to the Orkney Islands for their honeymoon and "alone beneath the shifting skies of this untethered landscape, the professor realises how little he knows about his new bride." There is also a definite suggestion of selkies or mermaids, which just adds to the intrigue. 
Approaching the Orkney Islands by ferry
Mr Fox - Helen Oyeyemi
I read The Opposite House a while ago, and found it fascinating but uncomfortable. I think it was well written but it was a bit of a hard read. So I am approaching this optimistically but with caution, in case it bites. Lovely cover, though, and I knew I'd heard something intriguing about it. Googling it just know to jog my memory I see it's inspired by/a retelling of Bluebeard, so I suppose it was the fairytale connection. And foxes. 

 Lion in the Valley - Elizabeth Peters
What's not to like about a series of murder mysteries whose protagonist is an Egyptian archaeologist in the 19th century? I started reading the Amelia Peabody series a little while ago and they are a lot of silly fun. Unfortunately this is the fourth in  the series, and I've only read the first two, so I will need to hunt down the third one first I suppose.

 The Child that Books Built - Francis Spufford
This was recommended to me by a colleague, it's the only non-fiction book in the bunch and it's a book about children's literature and being a child who grew up reading. At least, that's the impression that I get. The blurb tells me it's about the author going back and rereading childhood favourite books and reflecting on them, and that sounds like a great premise right there. 

 Anyway, that's such a bounty of reading coming up, I'm reinspired (I was feeling a bit of a reading slump for a while there). If anyone is still reading this blog, I'd love to hear what you've got lined up to read next, or any recommendations for future reading?

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