It's been a while since my last Library Loot post and this one shoud actually be called Half a Library Loot :) as I also got a couple of Finnish novels I had reserved. As those novels, unfortunately, are not available in English I will concentrate on the English language novels I borrowed this week. I will also feature one novel I borrowed a bit earlier.
Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather by Gao Xingjian
I'm yet to read anything by this Nobel Prize for Literature winner and when I noticed this slim book of stories on a self at work today I just had to take it home with me. I love the name of the book. :) And the cover is very beautiful, too.
The Tea Lords by Hella S. Haasse
I learned about this Dutch writer while spending a week on a study trip in the Amstardam public library in 2008 and have been thinking of reading something by her ever since. It was really the name of this novel caught my eye. This is a story set in the Dutch East Indies and takes place between 1873-1918. The book is said to transport the reader "to the East Indies, into a colonial culture that rests on the quiet submission of the host population, the orderly haughtiness of the colonists and the back-breaking work done by both; a world with its own rich, distinctive scent". I borrowed this a few weeks ago, but wanted to mention it here, because it seems really interesting. I'm trying to manage and read the book before the loan period ends next week as somebody has reserved it.
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
This book just came out also in Finnish translation (and I like the Finnish cover much better than the cover of the English paperback edition I have at home), but I decided to read it English. It tells the story of Nina Revskaya, who once was a star of the Bolshoi Ballet in the Soviet Union. Now old and infirm and living in Boston Nina has hidden dark secrets for decades. When she decides to auction her jewellery collection Drew Brooks, a young associate director of the auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a Russian professor, find themselves facing a life-changing literary mystery. I'm always interested in books that have anything to do with ballet. It was the first dance form I ever fell in love with (at the tender age of 7 :)) and I took ballet lessons for almost 10 years before I moved on to ballroom dancing.
The Declaration by Gemma Malley
"My name is Anna and I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't exit. But I do. It's not my fault I'm here. I didn't ask to be born. But that doesn't make it any better that I was. They caught me early, though, which bodes well" Those sentences printed on the back cover totally bought me over. The story is set in 2140. By having her Anna's parents have broken the rule about not having any children and now Anna must pay for her parents disobedience.
Esther's Inheritance by Sándor Márai
Who was it that mentioned this slim novel on her blog recently? Ah yes, it was Eva on her library loot last week. This novella seemed something I, too, wanted to read, so I put a hold on it. It is a story about what happens when the love of Esther's life returns twenty years after leaving her.
I'm still reading The Lost Kings by Bruno Hare and am really enjoying the book. I also started readingnd Gym, a really wonderful book by Gary Mack & David Casstevens about mental training. But if I indend to read The Tea Lords before it's due date, I really should put those books aside for a few days and concentrate on Haasse...
What was your best library find this week?
To join Library Loot visit Marg's blog The Adventure's of an Intrepid Reader.
