Library Loot 4

1. The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker
2. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
3. M Is For Magic by Neil Gaiman
4. The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson
5. Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

Plus three Thomas the Tank Engine books and one Postman Pat book for Elliot. I still have out Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay and What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt (which is what I'm currently reading)(Did you know that Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster are married? I didn't until yesterday.)

I almost picked up Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, but I didn't. They are both books I'd like to read and that I think I'd enjoy reading. The problem is that I own both of those books and I'm really likely to put off reading them forever because I know that they will always be there but that I have to return library books by a certain date. Maybe in a more desperate situation I'll resort to checking those books out.

I was hoping for a better selection of children's books. I really need them as a buffer between the serious books. That's why I went back for the Dorothy Koomson book. I'd read My Best Friend's Girl last year and really enjoyed it. And I was very excited with the Neil Gaiman.

(Incidentally, What I Loved, The Regeneration Trilogy, Surfacing, The Midwich Cuckoos, The Blind Assassin and Cloud Atlas are all on the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die, which I've taken up again. I'm feeling a little competitive and want to boost up my numbers. (Currently 114/1001) Ms Mac had mentioned it to me absolutely ages ago, but there are quite a few titles on the list that are short stories that could be viewed online. She'd mentioned The Yellow Wallpaper and I'd already read it so I didn't really look into any further until last night. I managed to read all three of the Edgar Allen Poe stories on the list (The Purloined Letter, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Fall of the House of Usher) so if you're interested (like me) that might be something to look into more... Apparently A Modest Proposal by Johnathan Swift is only a few pages long and there are others.)

I'll tell you, these last few days were hell-ish. I really wanted to go to the library and it snowed so I wasn't able until this morning. I hate being stuck indoors, especially when I'm running low on books. Even though I'm only 100 pages into What I Loved and still had another book to read after that (though I know once I start Saffy's Angel it won't take me long to read it), I start to panic a little bit. I get this weird jittery feeling and everything just doesn't feel right. It's amazing what books, or lack of books does to my mental health. Luckily, the roads looked clear this morning. And Elliot is back in pre-school this afternoon.

We did have fun for a little while, in the snow.