Library Loot

Published on by Margaret

I hadn’t intended to borrow any more library books for a while, at least until I’ve read at least half of the ones I’ve got out at present. But on Thursday I was watering the hanging basket at the front door and glancing down the road saw a mobile library van. We moved here in December and this was the first time I’d seen it. Needless to say I went across the road to have a look and came away with four books. It comes here every three weeks! So now I have three libraries locally that I can use – I’m spoilt for choice.

One of the books I borrowed is a great source of writers: Myers’ Literary Guide The North East. This includes not just writers born in the North East, which includes the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, and Cleveland, but also writers with important links to the area. These include such people as Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Auden and Larkin. This area of Britain boasts the first known writer of English prose – Bede (673 – 735) who was also known as ‘The Father of English History’ – and the first Christian English poet, Caedmon (fl. 670 – 680), a servant at the monastery in Whitby. The only drawback is that it concentrates on historical rather than modern writers.

I also borrowed:

  • Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M C Beaton. This was quite opportune because I’d read an article about Agatha in newbooks Crime Fiction Supplement the other day. The victim of the haunting is an old lady nobody likes. Then she is murdered. This looks as if it sits in the Cozy Mystery genre.
  • Indiscretion by Jude Morgan, who was also mentioned in the Supplement, so maybe that’s why one of his books stood out for me. This one is historical fiction set in Regency England.
  • The Cruellest Month: an Inspector Gamache Crime Novel by Louise Perry. I keep seeing her books mentioned on book blogs but haven’t read any of them yet. This is a Canadian whodunit about a seance in an old abandoned house that has gone wrong. Another Cozy Mystery?

9 thoughts on “Library Loot”

  1. Margaret – It looks as though you’ve got some terrific books! I can recommend the Louise Penny. Of course, it’s just my opinion, but I think she’s a great writer, and I like her Armand Gamache.

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  2. Margaret, I also feel spoiled by my access to libraries — I, too, have three branches within 20 miles plus a “book box” at our local mall, which is about five minutes from my home. (The book box is a place where I can return books and pick up those I’ve reserved through our website.) I don’t have a bookmobile that stops across the road; that would be true luxury! What makes me feel really good about all the points of access is that everybody else has them, too.
    Annie

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  3. Margaret, you lucky person. When I was a kid, the bookmobile stopped right by our house. It even plugged in to the electrical outlet in our garage. Only time I’ve been that close to a library except for when I was working there.

    I think that Agatha Raisin is definitely a cozy. You don’t mind reading books out of order in a series so I’ll be curious to see how you like Agatha. I kind of have to be in the mood for her. I can’t talk enough about Louise Penny and her series. It is probably better read in order, but only because a pretty major story arc concludes in this book. No worries though. If you like her writing, you should try to start at the beginning though with STILL LIFE.

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  5. I read one Louise Penny (A Brutal Telling) and didn’t like it much, but as far as I could tell I was the only tepid responder in the entire blogosphere.

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  6. I think Kay is right in that you should try to start at the beginning with Armand Gamache. A very good series indeed but not a cozy one, imo, somewhere in the medium range with the likes of Martin Edwards.

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  8. I would consider Louise Penny´s novels cozy. I have read the first and the third in the series, and I enjoyed the cozy environment and the plots, but Armand Gamache is a bit too saintly for my taste.

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  9. I don’t get on with Louise Penny, her books don’t grab my imagination. Indiscretion is great fun, an intelligent and well written historical romp.

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