The Return of Library Loot

Been a long time since I’ve done a Library Loot post. Therefore, it is high time I did one. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this meme, it’s been a tradition of many of us book bloggers to write about the different books we’ve picked up at the library that week. In turn, we post a link to our post on a blogger’s page so readers can see what we hope to be reading over the next week or so. Currently, our Library Loot co-hosts are Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief

Of the six books I’m featuring in this post, three are fiction and three are nonfiction. At a quick glance, I can tell you the bulk of these were published within the last year or so. Two however are older books, with one published in 2007 and the other in 2001. I grabbed one because of friend’s recommendation, and two have been on my To Be Read list (TBR) for a long time. The rest I checked out just because they looked promising.

• The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova – I’ve never read any of Kostova’s fiction so this will be a first for me. Set in Bulgaria, I’ll be reading this one for Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge.
• The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping by Aharon Appelfeld – I’ve heard Appelfeld is an excellent writer. The story of a traumatized Holocaust survivor journeying from Europe to British Palestine sounds like too good a story to pass up.
• Liberation Movements by Olen Steinhauer – The same friend who sang the praises of Before the Fall and Special Topics in Calamity Physics also sang the praises of spy novelist Olen Steinhauer. Can’t wait to find out if his recommendation rings true.
• The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century by Peter Watson – One of two books mentioned in this post from my TBR. I’m looking forward to getting an in-depth look at the last century’s intellectual developments.
• Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend by Barbara Oakley – The other book from my TBR. Goodness, with a subtitle like this how could I resist?
• The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB by Milton Bearden – Can’t wait to read about the final years of the Cold War.