It’s my first Library Loot of the new year! I feel like my reading in this beginning of the year has been only so-so. I haven’t had any books yet that have truly enveloped me.
I’m hoping this new batch of books will invigorate my reading. And I have picked up one of them – Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog – and was really loving it and laughing at its wit, when I remembered that the book was an homage to Three Men in a Boat, which I haven’t read. Yesterday, I downloaded the audio book from my library (my branch didn’t have a physical copy – I checked), but I don’t have an iPod, so I can only listen to it on my c0mputer, which is not my usual setting for audio books. (Audio books are for when I’m driving.) So I’m feeling kind of stymied. I want to continue reading To Say Nothing of the Dog, but I feel like I’d be missing a whole layer of reading experience if I don’t read Three Men in a Boat first. Gah!
Maybe I’ll shelve the Willis book for now, request a physical copy of Three Men in a Boat from my library system, and start on one of these other intriguing books first.
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin – I mentioned that I planned to read more travel writing this year, and Vishy recommended Chatwin and this book, which was published in 1977.
The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye: Five Fairy Stories by A.S. Byatt – Eva of A Striped Armchair recommended this book as a good introduction to Byatt.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie – Similar to Byatt, I’ve heard good things about this author (and this book), but haven’t read anything by him yet.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King – Yet another author whose work I have never read! Jenny and Teresa from Shelf Love did an excellent post recently to convince non-horror readers to try Stephen King. I picked the one about an 11-year-old girl lost on the Appalachian Trail. It was short which was a big factor for being picked in this library loot, because the next book is much chunkier . . .
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood – She of A Book Blog. Period, recently did a nice review of this book that worked as an effective pitch for me to pick it up. In an apparent theme of my library loot, this will also be my first Atwood book, not counting an aborted attempt to read The Handmaid’s Tale in college, when I just truly didn’t have time for free reading.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis – Which I mentioned before, and which is also my first book of Willis’.
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
A Good Stopping Point 
2010 was the year of Connie Willis for me – I read Blackout, then Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and, finally, All Clear – and really enjoyed all of them, despite some minor quibbles here and there. For what it’s worth, I (still) haven’t read Three Men in a Boat, and though I felt like I should have read it before starting To Say Nothing of the Dog (and while I understand wanting to have read it first), I felt like there was enough other stuff going on in Willis’s book that I didn’t actually feel like I was missing anything as I was reading it.
I look forward to hearing what you think about the Chatwin book – I haven’t read anything by him yet but his name always does seem to come up as a must-read.
I just read To Say Nothing of the Dog and agree with Heather that you don’t need to read Three Men in a Boat to enjoy it. Mostly there are just some jokes early on and a cameo by the main characters; after a while, it hardly comes up at all.
And I’m so glad you decided to try some Stephen King. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of my favorites. And The Blind Assassin is great too; it’s one I want to reread.
I hope you absolutely love The Blind Assassin! If you’re not a fan of it, I would definitely suggest to read one of her dystopian novels because they are so wonderful, but I am betting you will like TBA because Atwood is top notch!
Also, I am jealous you’re reading her for the first time. 😀
Great loot. Enjoy!
These authors would all be firsts for me. I’m so glad I am not the only one in bookblogland who hasn’t read Atwood and Byatt yet. I hope you enjoy your books.
Nice haul. How about reading an e-book version of Three Men in a Boat? I think it should be available from Project Gutenberg.
Heather – thanks so much for letting me know about your own experience. I decided to keep reading To Say Nothing of the Dog based on your and Teresa’s advice. I’d rather not stop reading it!
She – No matter what I think of The Blind Assassin, I promise I won’t write Atwood off! Her books sound too diverse to judge her by just one.
Thanks, Linda! I feel like it’s a good haul myself.
Iris, oh yay, glad to find someone in same company.
olduvai – Thanks for the suggestion! I forgot that Project Gutenberg would be a good place to check. I think I’m going to continue on with To Say Nothing of the Dog anyway.
Wonderful library loot, Christy! Hope you enjoy reading ‘In Patagonia’ 🙂 Jerome K. Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’ is wonderful and is one of my favourite books! Hope you enjoy reading / listening to it. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. He also wrote a sequel called ‘Three Men in a Bummel’ which is equally funny and wonderful!
Hope you enjoy your first Stephen King! Stephen King’s ‘The Green Mile’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ are also non-horror books and quite good (their movie versions are also excellent).
Enjoy reading your library loot!