Library Loot

All I took was Clair’s recent Library Loot post to inspire me to grab a few more books. Foolish, since I still have a towering stack of previously borrowed books next to my bed. Just like I said last week, when will I ever learn? Probably never. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s blog. 

• When We Danced on Water by Evan Fallenberg- A promising-looking  debut novel that weaves back and forth between decades is always hard to resist. 
• The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy by Brian Klaas – Host Charlie Sykes devoted an entire episode of his Bulwark podcast interviewing Klass, who was promoting his recent book Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us. I couldn’t help but hang on ever word Klass said about the pathologies of those who seek out power and how they abuse it to their own ends. Until Corruptible is available at the library I’m going to start with his 2017 book The Despot’s Apprentice. 
• The Good Assassin: How a Mossad Agent and a Band of Survivors Hunted Down the Butcher of Latvia by Stephan Talty – I first read about the Mossad’s attempts in bringing to justice Latvian mass murderer Herbert Cukurs in Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal’s Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service.  When I discovered someone had written an entire book about the mission I jumped at the opportunity to read it.

Library Loot

Even though I’ve been enjoying Erika Fatland’s Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan I felt I needed a break. But instead of just reading something from the stack of previously borrowed stuff next to my bed I grabbed more library books. Once again, I have more library books on my hands than I know what to do with. When will I ever learn? 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene’s blog. 

• Innocence; or, Murder on Steep Street by Heda Margolius Kovály – Needing something representing the Czech Republic for Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge made this one hard to resist. A murder mystery set during the early years of the Communist regime also made it hard to turn down. 
• The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori – Born in a part of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire that’s now Ukraine, Rezzori’s novel of family drama during the first decades of the 20th century looks like an entertaining glimpse into a world undergoing unprecedented political and societal change. 
• Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School by Stuart Jeffries – 20th century intellectual giants Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, Jürgen Habermas, and Herbert Marcuse are all associated with this highly progressive and intellectually bold department at Goethe University in interwar Frankfurt. One of my buddies who’s a professor at the local university is always talking about the Frankfort School. Maybe if I read this book I’ll finally understand what the heck he’s talking about.
• A Feather on the Breath of God by Sigrid Nunez – A novel featuring a protagonist with a Chinese-Panamanian father and a German mother set in the housing projects in the 1950s and 1960s sounds like a fun adventure. 
• Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging by Alex Wagner – The daughter of a Burmese mother and a white American father traveling around the world in search of answers regarding her ethnic identity is the perfect companion book to Nunez’s above-mentioned novel. 
• Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin by Ann Patty – After working thirty-five years as a book editor in New York City, Ann Patty said no more and moved to the country. After getting bored with living out in the woods she started studying Latin at the local college. Sounds eerily similar to my life. (Other than I never spent 35 years as a book editor in New York, and I’m not studying Latin at the local college.) 

Library Loot

After finishing Ian Kershaw’s To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 I was feeling adventurous and decided to grab a few more library books. With a towering stack of previously borrowed stuff next to my bed begging to be read one could argue this was a foolish move. But, as well all know I have no self-control whatsoever when it comes to library books. So I might as well make the best of the situation and just keep reading. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene’s blog. 

• Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland –  I’ve stumbled across this book from time to time but despite my curiosity about this part of the world never borrowed it. But now it’s finally the time. Hopefully, this will serve as great follow-up reading to Gary Shteyngart’s 2006 hilarious novel Absurdistan and Ken Silverstein’s 2008 investigative book Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship.
• The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas – This 2013 historical novel won a ton of awards and accolades. If everything goes according to plan you’ll read more about it an upcoming Nonfiction November post. 
• The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War by David Nasaw -Unbeknownst to most Americans the conclusion of WWII led to a massive refugee crises with millions of Europeans streaming across borders seeking sanctuary. Roughly a million of them were unable or unwilling to return to their native countries. Nasaw’s 2020 book looks like great follow-up reading to several faves of mine, including Keith Lowe’s 2012 Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II and Ben Shephard’s 2011 The Long Road Home: The Aftermath of the Second World War. 

Library Loot

I’m still making my way through Ian Kershaw’s To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 and have barely touched Souad Mekhennet’s I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad. Even though I borrowed a big ole stack of library books just last week you wouldn’t think I wanted anymore. Well, I stopped at the library the other day and grabbed four more.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene’s blog. 

• I Kiss Your Hands Many Times: Hearts, Souls, and Wars in Hungary by Marianne Szegedy-Maszák – Needing something representing Hungary for Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge made this one hard to resist. 
• Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure by Christopher S. Stewart  – This one has a Lost City of Z look to it making it also hard to resist. Only upon closer inspection did I learn it’s from the same author of Hunting the Tiger: The Fast Life and Violent Death of the Balkans’ Most Dangerous Man. 
• We Heard the Heavens Then: A Memoir of Iran by Aria Minu-Sepehr – Nor can I resist a memoir by an Iranian. 
• Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Buczacz by Omer Bartov – I’ve borrowed this book from the library several times before yet never managed to start it. Maybe this time I’ll finally read it. 

Library Loot

 After months of reading nonfiction I needed a break. In search of a little variety I recently borrowed three historical novels (plus one family memoir), even though I’ve got plenty to read right now with Ian Kershaw’s To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 and Souad Mekhennet’s I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad. But maybe an enjoyable work of fiction over a hot cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning is just what I need. Plus, it’s hard to resist stuff set during the Second World War or the period immediately afterward. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s blog. 

• The Distant Land of My Father: A Novel of Shanghai by Bo Caldwell – Been wanting to read this one for a couple of years. Looks like a great follow-up to Paul French’s City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai. 
• All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski – Paula from Book Jotter loved Josie Holford’s review of Kempowski’s final novel so I had to grab it. Set during the Red Army’s thrust into German East Prussia near the end of WWII made it even harder to resist. 
• Inge’s War: A German Woman’s Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival Under Hitler by Svenja O’Donnell – With her family refugees from East Prussia, this memoir should be the ideal companion to All For Nothing. 
• Here in Berlin by Cristina García – A diverse cast of characters inhabiting the ruined city of post-war Berlin was too hard to pass up. 

Library Loot

 Fall has finally arrived and with it cooler temperatures, colorful leaves and American-style football. To me this is the perfect time of year to spend a lazy weekend afternoon or crisp early evening reading a good book along with an enjoyable adult beverage. To help usher in the season, I recently borrowed a half-dozen books from the library, all of which look promising. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s blog. 

• Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money by Diccon Bewes – Claire including this one in her Library Loot post back in December. Looks perfect for Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge. 
• The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World’s Greatest Civilization by Anthony Everitt – Prominently displayed as a library staff favorite, another book for the European Reading Challenge. 
• Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick – Another library staff favorite, Warrick’s 2015 critically-acclaimed book on the birth of ISIS was impossible to resist. 
• To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw – I’m trying to read more books on 20th century European history. If this one is half as good as Kershaw’s superb The Global Age: Europe 1950-2017 I’ll be a happy camper. 
• The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China by Jonathan Kaufman – Until I read Paul French’s City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai I had no idea pre-World War II Shanghai was home to a vibrant and influential Jewish community. I wanna do another Trio of China Books post and this looks like an ideal candidate. 
• The Lions’ Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky by Susie Linfield – A few months back my world affairs discussion group read and discussed Peter Beinart’s Guardian piece “A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return.” Linfield’s 2019 book looks like great follow-up reading to Beinart’s bold and arguably controversial article, as well as the perfect lead-in to the 1970 Michael Selzer- edited anthology Zionism Reconsidered: The Rejection of Jewish Normalcy, a copy of which I acquired two years ago. 

Library Loot

Even though I’m up to my eyeballs in stuff to read I went a little crazy at the library and wound up with a big ole stack of books. Sadly, I fear I’ll never get ’em read. But I’m sure as hell gonna try.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s Blog.

• Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul by Charles King – A little something representing Turkey for Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge. 
• The Forever War by Dexter Filkins – Consider how much I’ve enjoyed his stuff in The New Yorker, I’m embarrassed to say it’s taken this long to read his 2008 award winning first hand account of America’s recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 
• I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet – Been in the mood for books on the Middle East. But then again when am I NOT in the mood to read about the Middle East. 
• Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler by Bruce Henderson – A few months ago I watched a great PBS documentary on Jewish American GIs in World War II. Who knows, maybe Henderson’s book will feature an appearance by Hugo Sgitlitz.  
• The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones by Larry Loftis – I’m a sucker for WWII era cloak and dagger stuff. 
• Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past by David Reich – I love origins of humanity/deep history kind of stuff. Can’t wait to start it. 

But is having too many books really a problem? Naw. Looks like I’ve got some great reading in my future. Nothing wrong with that. 

Library Loot

Thankfully, it’s not going to be a million degrees this weekend. But I still wanna find a spot that’s cool, grab an adult beverage and read a book. So yesterday while I was in town running errands I dropped by the public library a grabbed some books because, well I could. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene’s Blog.

• Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance by Mustafa Akyol – Been wanting to read this one ever since it popped up on my radar a few months ago. Started it last night and so far so good.

• The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts by Karen Armstrong –  Even though I’m a big fan, I haven’t read anything of Armstrong’s in a long time. How her 2019 book by slipped by without my knowledge is beyond me.

• Sarajevo, Exodus of a City by Dzevad Karahasan – Published in 1994, this one looks bold, unconventional and artistic. I suspect I’ll either love it or hate it. Or both. 

With COVID restrictions in my state finally lifted I can now sit at the bar, drink a pint or two and read until my heart is content. Let the good times roll. 

Library Loot

It’s going to be a million degrees this weekend. (Ok not a million but 112° F or 44° C. ) So I might as well find a spot that’s reasonably cool, grab an adult beverage and read. So yesterday I drove into town to run a few errands and dropped by my favorite public library to grab a book or two. Because if it’s gonna be hot, I gotta have enough stuff to read. 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene’s Blog.

• Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron – I’ve been wanting to read this one for years. After finishing Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World I’m thinking now is the time. 
• The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean by Paul Theroux – I’ve never read any Theroux but this one looks promising. How can I go wrong with a book about the Mediterranean? 
• The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization Began by Valerie Hansen – Another promising follow-up read to Frankopan’s The Silk Roads. Can’t wait to start it! 
• God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark – I’m afraid in the end I’ll probably think Stark is full of crap. Who cares I still wanna read it. 

With COVID restrictions in my county continuing to be rolled back maybe I’ll find a nice air conditioned pub, drink a few pints of beer read until my heart is content. Let’s just hope when I do eventually step outside I don’t melt.

Library Loot

With the weather improving and COVID restrictions in my area easing up a bit I drove into town today to run a few errands and drop by my favorite public library to maybe grab a book or two. (Because after all, I can’t have too many library books at my immediate disposal can I?) Of course by doing so I’ve completely wrecked any hope I’d stick to my intended 20 books of summer. But seriously, did anyone really think I’d really read all the books on my list? 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot pic and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Claire’s blog.

• The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan – Grabbed this one for a book club that meets on Zoom next month. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it. 
• Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker’s Adventures in the New Iran by Jamie Maslin – How could I NOT resist a book with a title like that? Plus as we all know I’m a sucker for stuff about Iran. Hoping to feature it as part of my Middle Eastern Memoirs series. 
• A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People by Steven Ozment – If 2020 was the year for reading about Italy then 2021 might end up being the year I read about Germany. (Or Iran. Or Russia. Or…) 
• Family History of Fear by Agata Tuszyńska – Yet another book about Eastern Europe and perfect for both Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge and Jennifer’s Books in Translation Reading Challenge. 

With COVID restrictions beginning to lessen, weather improving and more people able to interact because they’ve been vaccinated I look forwards to once again being able to sit in a pub with a pint of beer and a big ole stack of books and read until my heart is content. And with a three day weekend coming up next week I think that’s exactly what I will do.