Saturday 19 January 2013

Book stack

I love to have a good pile of unread library books in my home. When I get onto the last book in the pile I start getting panicky in case I run out, because there is nothing worse than having nothing to read. Luckily I'm only a block away from my library so I'm there most weekends stocking up. This is the stack from my last library visit.

I find quite often when I'm at the library, I'll pick up a book which is about, say, a female private detective in Victorian London. Then I'll be randomly browsing and I pick up another book which is also about a woman in Victorian London. Or it might be two books about people who run away to join the circus. I'm not talking about when you consciously go browse the Historical Fiction section, just the random picking up of books that are uncannily similar!

I did that this time with The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini, which is about a woman divorcing her husband who goes to Hawaii to escape the stress. The next book I picked up was Honolulu by Alan Bennett, about a Korean picture bride who travels to Hawaii to marry. And then there was Twice Promised by Maggie Brendan, which is also about mail order brides. (I have yet to discover if they end up in Hawaii.)

I also got The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (it's so rare to find a Discworld book I haven't read already), The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg, and Hers: Design With a Feminine Touch by Josephine de Montravel.

So, that's me set for the next week or two. What about you, have you ever had this funny thing happen of finding similar books (almost as if the library was trying to give you books it knows you'll like??)

6 comments:

  1. Your book pile looks interesting - i love seeing what is on peoples bookshelves.
    I was intrigued by 'The Aloha Quiet', so have been to investigate and have brought the first book in the series on my ipad - i love a series that follows thru several books.
    Looking at your pile again, i'm off to investigate the story of the mail order brides!.
    Great Post!!.

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    1. Oh good I hope you enjoy it! I really like Jennifer Chiaverini's books, they have a lot of detail and really good character development. She writes a continuing series set in modern times of which The Aloha Quilt is one, and she also does the odd historical one which aren't related to the modern ones. They all tell good stories though. I just read one called Sonoma Rose which was set in California vineyards during Prohibition. Happy reading!

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  2. I usually only buy gardening books, but I have run into the problem of forgetting what I have, and buying the same book again! Does that count? :) I so wish I had a library close by my home. I know exactly what you mean by not wanting the stack to get too low!

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    1. Haha yes that's an easy one to do! You start reading and go, hmmm, this is familiar... I'm very lucky to live so close to the library so it's easy to feed my addiction!

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  3. You are so right about needing the book stack! Although mine is a section of bookshelf in my bedroom, so they are kind of stacked horizontally.I just refilled it this morning. I haven't had the experience you describe, but two of your books are familiar to me. I like the Jennifer Chiaverini books, even though I have only ever made one quilt and probably will never make another one. And 'The Last Continent' is one of my favourite Pratchetts, although that may be because it's set in Australia!

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    1. I love the Jennifer Chiaverini books, I don't quilt either but I do other crafts so I still enjoy the quilting descriptions. The author must do a lot of research (on lots of topics) because she is able to describe things so accurately! And I was thrilled to find 'The Last Continent' - my library seems to have about five copies each of 'Unseen Academicals' and 'Going Postal' because that's all that's usually there.

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