Library Loans and Holds

 I started to answer the question at the end of Engie's last post (it's probably definitely not the last post anymore because she blogs Every Freaking Day, HOW does one do such a thing, I do it in November and it nearly kills me, I am agog) and then realized it would be an unfeasibly long comment but a decent-length blog post.

Speaking of Engie (did I mention she blogs, like, a LOT), on this post about the word 'hat', and how it appears in a lot of books (and a bunch of other hat-related stuff), I said that since I read a lot of children's books I was not surprised to find that 'hat' occurs a lot in books, and mentioned one of my favourite children's book authors, Jon Klassen, (look at that, he's Canadian, I was unaware). Klassen writes beautifully twisted books about animals stealing other animals' hats, and reaping the consequences thereof, and also books about animals finding hats, and I don't know what put the hat-bee in his bonnet (see what I did there), but I LOVE them, and they are big hits at storytime.

Well Engie then TOOK THIS BOOK OUT of the library and praised it, and mentioned it on a post where I was sad and said it made her day, which in turn made MY day, but I don't think I had a chance to mention it, so THANK-YOU Engie, you are a good fish and I will never steal your hat. 

For the first time in a while, I put a bunch of paper books on hold with gay abandon and trusted they would not all show up at once.

This was not smart.

I did recently discover that my library has eliminated overdue fines, which is awesome, because I am terrible for bringing books down from my room, stacking them by the door, even putting them in the damned CAR, and still not managing to get them back to the damned library for a few extra days. But I don't want to hoard books for months, so I've still been gulping down paper books at a furious rate. I've always been curious about how things shake out when libraries get rid of fines, and I might try to track down someone I did a placement with to see if they have a view on how it's going. 

Paper Books Borrowed:

Lone Women by Victor Lavalle - Lavalle writes socially conscious horror involving racism and I have loved everything I've read by him.

Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg by Emily Rapp Black - stumbled on this while searching for Frida Kahlo biographies

Sanctuary by Emily Rapp Black - kept reading Emily Rapp because she's a beautiful writer who has gone through some shit.

The Still Point of the Turning World by Emily Rapp - I discovered too late that this was too much Emily Rapp to read at one time (my fault, not hers).

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall - intriguing young adult writer 

The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney - really cool concept, great casual representation of queerness, good writing - I'm a fan. 

I have a bad habit also of loading up the maximum number of ebooks (10) even though it is very rare that I can actually get through all of them before they disappear or I have to try to renew them or put them on hold again, and this also is a kind of book-hoarding that I should not do. I somehow feel the need to create this massive bulwark of books between me and the howling existential void.

Digital Books Borrowed

Leech by Hiron Ennes - weird horror book, reading slowly

The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier - weird philosophical/ sci-fi / many-charactered / won the Prix Goncourt/ just finished and not sure exactly how I feel about it yet

Girl Forgotten by April Henry - going fast, not bad, a little slight

Undersong by Kathleen Winter - first book I've read of hers since Annabel

Sherlock Holmes, the Complete Novels and Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes is a book bingo square this year, and I don't remember loving the actual Holmes works, but everything "holmesian" I've tried as an alternative has been inexpressibly terrible, so here we are

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley - The cover annoys me, I keep reading the synopsis and being annoyed that it states "nightcrawling" as a profession without elaborating - I believe it turns out to be sex work, but I've asked around and no one else automatically went to that either, so I find it annoying that it's just there without explanation. So annoyed before even beginning the read, what could go wrong? I have been really trying to read more black woman authors, which largely has been very enjoyable, but right now it feels like a chore and I'm not sure how to deal with that. (The first few pages are very good, I will probably just suck it up and stop whinging).

I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan - she co-wrote Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, who I quite dislike as an author, but someone I know liked it so I'm reading this memoir instead.

If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin - 

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - Loved Hamnet and Judith, intrigued by the fact that this is apparently based on the poem My Last Duchess

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline - I am regretfully realizing that I just don't think Cherie Dimaline is for me - people who I generally share book opinions with really liked The Marrow Thieves and this, and I admire the concepts but the writing for some reason does nothing for me. 

I have 21 books on hold, but I think I won't even go there right now. I use the library almost exclusively unless there's something I decide I really want to own (I tried to achieve zero growth by getting rid of a book every time I buy a book - results have been mixed), but I still probably need to exercise some restraint.

Oops, I'm almost late for my job interview.