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This thread is a place we can talk about new purchases, books we just checked out of our libraries, or books we're considering buying or borrowing -- and to comment on our choices.

I'll go first. From the library, I picked up Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black (IRL true crime book club pick); and I brought these home from a used book store:

Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Oriental Tales by Marguerite Yourcenar (maybe I'll apply duct tape to cover the title)
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Wedding Group,The Sleeping Beauty, The Devastating Boys, and The Blush Elizabeth Taylor (2 are short story collections which I didn't realize at the time of purchase, but fine)
The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien
Jonah's Gourd Vine / Mules and Men / Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (YAY! all 3)
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

I picked up only two books from my latest library trip - although considering I often pick up books 2 or even 3 times a week that isn't a sign of great personal restraint. Still, the books are.....

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois and Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood - a graphic novel series that I'm surprised to find I'm enjoying despite all the mental complaining I'm doing about it.

Got a couple of male-authored books on hold for when my library opens again.....

Nadine in California wrote: "I picked up only two books from my latest library trip - although considering I often pick up books 2 or even 3 times a week that isn't a sign of great personal restraint. Still, the books are........"

Nadine, your library habit is mine, as well. I've had to return Love Songs and fear I won't get it back in time for the NLF group read, but I definitely want to push through my reluctance to commit to loooooong books and read it soon. I'm #32 again. (I hope all these other checker outers are actually reading it.)

Carol, I loved Swing Time and A Jest of God. I hope you will as well.

I just bought the following on a Kindle sale. The first will hopefully be part of my WiT challenge. The second is simply because I always find Joyce's books a comfort.
Almond by Won-pyung Sohn
Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

I also have these on their way to me from Book of the Month:
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho
Still Life by Sarah Winman

Carol wrote: "I've had to return Love Songs and fear I won't get it back in time for the NLF group read,.."

This is the second, or possibly third (!) time I've checked out Love Songs. I actually cracked opened the cover this morning, although my streak isn't broken till I start reading tonight ;)

Susan wrote: "Carol, I loved Swing Time and A Jest of God. I hope you will as well.

I just bought the following on a Kindle sale. The first will hopefully be part of my WiT challenge. The second is simply becau..."

Oh my - I want to read all 4 of those, Susan. I had mistakenly thought that the Joyce novel was her debut. And hadn't heard of Still Life until it showed up in Ron Charles' end of year top 10 and this morning I read his review and was wowed. Pushing all up my TBR.

Nadine in California wrote: "Carol wrote: "I've had to return Love Songs and fear I won't get it back in time for the NLF group read,.."

This is the second, or possibly third (!) time I've checked out Love Songs. I actually c..."

my sister from another mother.

I checked out these from my library: Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun and The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa.

Newly resident on a permanent basis: 2 by E.C.R. Lorac (Two-Way Murder and These Names Make Clues), and Lady Susan by Jane Austen.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of The Juniper Tree, too, for our February group read.

Ooh, Lady Susan is so much fun.

I went a little crazy ordering from Book Outlet and have these on the way:
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
Songs for the End of the World
The Agony of Bun O'Keefe
The Shape of Family
Three Things About Elsie
Tumbling

Susan wrote: "Ooh, Lady Susan is so much fun.

I went a little crazy ordering from Book Outlet and have these on the way:
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
[book:Songs for the End of the World|525..."

I've had Tumbling on my TBR since before GoodReads existed. I read another of the authors' novels some time ago and adored it, but somehow just haven't gotten to this one. I'll keep an eye out for your feedback if you read it. Fingers crossed.

This list is so interesting. I'd not heard of A Mind Spread out on the Ground or its author and it looks stunning! (qualifies for our quarterly challenge, too - bonus)

The University of Chicago Press is giving away a free copy of this e-book today (March 1st) : Disruptive Acts: The New Woman in Fin-de-Siecle France

Story wrote: "The University of Chicago Press is giving away a free copy of this e-book today (March 1st) : Disruptive Acts: The New Woman in Fin-de-Siecle France

..."

Bummer to have missed the giveaway, but this looks really interesting in any event. Thanks, Story - Imma try to find a copy.

I think the offer is for the month of March, I just requested it and received the ebook.

I'm refreshing this thread in the hopes we can focus it on library books we've borrowed, in recognition of many challenging budgets for our members, as well as because it's just darned fun.

Yesterday, I picked up:

The Hidden One by Linda Castillo
Sister Mother Warrior by Vanessa Riley
Her Name Is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
Remain Silent by Susie Steiner
Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegül Savas, and
The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton

You?

I have so many books that I own to be read that I have made a new rule about the library: only one book at a time. It surely won't last but it's been working out well for the last month or two.

I just finished my current library book by a male author (Now Is Not the Time to Panic), so tomorrow I will be picking up Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. My hold for the audiobook of The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama came through yesterday, so I guess that is technically two library books and I'm already cheating!

This thread is a great idea! People in real life just don't understand how exciting it is to come home with a good haul. I just got a very good one all from the library:
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
Assemblyby Natasha Brown
The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Qu� Mai

I just found out about this thread (thanks for commenting Hannah)!
I love my local library, and I can never leave without a few books! My most recent haul were the following:
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker and Small Mercies by Tim Winton (I finished both last week)
On Beauty which I am currently reading
Ithaca by Claire North
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
Ice Rivers by Jemma Wadham
The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012

And I returned today Barracoon: The Story Of The Last Slave by Zola Neale Hurston and Little Crackers: Tales from the Edge by Beda Higgins

Hannah wrote: "This thread is a great idea! People in real life just don't understand how exciting it is to come home with a good haul. I just got a very good one all from the library:
Elena Knows..."

I got the greek translation of Elena knows in August but i havent read it yet. Did you like it?

Oh dear... I love this thread. Though I just whittled my library loan list down to less-than-30 (from way-too-close-to-50) but now it's up to 36 again... Went a little crazy (again) ordering nobel prize winners I haven't read yet...

Thankfully our libraries don´t allow more than 21 media at the same time (also including dvd´s or cd´s). ;)

The only books by women I got last time are the children´s book One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul and a German biography of Margarete Von Osterreich: Diplomatin Der Renaissance by Ursula Tamussino.

Hannah wrote: "This thread is a great idea! People in real life just don't understand how exciting it is to come home with a good haul. I just got a very good one all from the library:
Elena Knows..."

I adored Assembly, Hannah, and hope it fights its way to the top of the pile.

Crazytourists_books wrote: "I got the greek translation of Elena knows in August but i havent read it yet. Did you like it?"

I don't know yet crazytourists I only just picked it up! How is it going with on beauty? I haven't been able to get into this author yet although I know she is much loved

Carol, I am starting with Assembly, it certainly gets your attention very quickly, what astounding writing

Hannah wrote: "Crazytourists_books wrote: "I got the greek translation of Elena knows in August but i havent read it yet. Did you like it?"

I don't know yet crazytourists I only just picked it up! How is it goin..."

I have the feeling that I should like it more than I do... I am at page 114 and it is rather lukewarm I'm afraid

The other day, before the library closed for the holidays, I picked up Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin.

I have been over-requesting from my library but also found several interesting books on the shelf, all of which came home with me :

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Rattlebone by Maxine Clair
Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga
Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights by Gretchen Sorin
Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World by Linda Colley
My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route by Sally Hayden
Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020 by Salman Rushdie

Rattlebone and Kibogo I plan to read; everything else depends on mood and my first 10 pages experience.

Susan wrote: "The other day, before the library closed for the holidays, I picked up Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Pachinko Parlour by [autho..."

Did you read Pachinko Parlour, Susan? I keep encountering it on lists, but am on the fence about whether it’s a good fit for me.

Hannah wrote: "Crazytourists_books wrote: "I got the greek translation of Elena knows in August but i havent read it yet. Did you like it?"

I don't know yet crazytourists I only just picked it up! How is it goin..."

@hannah, I’m sorry I didn’t spot your comment sooner. What did you think of Assembly?

Carol wrote: "I have been over-requesting from my library but also found several interesting books on the shelf, all of which came home with me :

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li but still fascinated me.

Really hope the Clair and Mukasonga work for you.

I loved Pachinko Parlour fwiw, the style/sensibility is similar to Yuko Tsushima's but the story is more grounded in cultural/social history of the Zainichi Korean community. It's much less abstract than Winter in Sokcho and I preferred it for that reason

Alwynne wrote: "Carol wrote: "I have been over-requesting from my library but also found several interesting books on the shelf, all of which came home with me :

Portrait of a Thief by [author:Gr..."

Excellent. Thanks, Alwynne.

Over the weekend, I checked out:

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer, and
Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard

If anyone's read any of them, would love to hear your thoughts.

Women & Power is really good Carol

Crazytourists_books wrote: "Women & Power is really good Carol"

excellent. I read reviews where so many took issue with the fact that she doesn't present solutions in these two essays, and I didn't think I cared.

I agree with you, I didn't care. Solutions and suggestions are good, but sometimes, presenting the issues as they really are is enough

I picked up a short story (hardcover), Galatea Madeline Miller, Are We Ever Our Own by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes and Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery, which pretty much explains why book recommendation algorithms are confused by me. (Spotify has the same challenge.)

Carol wrote: "I picked up a short story (hardcover), Galatea Madeline Miller, Are We Ever Our Own by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes and [book:Rilla of..."

What a mish mash! I really liked Galatea

Hannah wrote: "Carol wrote: "I picked up a short story (hardcover), Galatea Madeline Miller, Are We Ever Our Own by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes and ..."

Cool. Now I’ll make sure I read it. I’ve not read miller before, have some guilt about that, and I’ve no excuse for not allocating 30 minutes to it. Thanks.

I brought home:

Call and Response by Gothataone Moeng
Invisible Wounds: Interviews with American Vets by Jess Ruliffson
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming
and Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks

The Brooks collection is the only sure thing, but I'm excited to try every one.

What have you all borrowed recently?

That looks like a good haul, Carol!

I currently have out from the library (obviously doing award reading):
Demon Copperhead (just finished it and didn't care for it)
Junie (Carol Shields Prize nominee)
The Furrows (Carol Shields Prize nominee)
Homesick (Women's Prize nominee)
Marigold and Rose: A Fiction

Susan wrote: "That looks like a good haul, Carol!

I currently have out from the library (obviously doing award reading):
Demon Copperhead (just finished it and didn't care for it)
[book:Junie|60..."

What did you think of the 2 Carol Shields Prize nominees, Susan? Do recommend either or both?

This week several impulse-driven holds came in. The first I can't recall why I got it transferred because it's not really "me", but someone I respect must have recommended it, so...

A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Hard Rain: A Novel by Samantha Jayne Allen
Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari, and
A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast, translated nonfiction by Danish author Dorthe Nors. Translated by Caroline Waight

Hi Carol. I read both Junie and The Furrows from the Carol Shields longlist. They were both good but not great for me. The Furrows was a bit too bizarre for my tastes, and Junie seemed very much like a first novel that needed a tighter edit.

I burned out on this prize a bit and have only read The Sleeping Car Porter from the shortlist. I am looking forward to seeing which book will win tomorrow and then plan to read that one and probably circle back on the rest of the shortlist titles.