Book Challenge, Book Club, and Book Quest

My library count is creeping up again, although it seems to me that I only have a few too many books to read. I'm holding back on returning the Cybils YA so my oldest and I can look at them all together and have our own private judging party. I've got two double ebook/print books out because I prefer to read on paper at home but I carry my tablet around when on errants. And my kids requested some books that are out on my card. But it is true that my library shelf in my bookcase has filled up and has some tomes tucked in on top or on the side. So I'm all about restraint this week. Kinda.

My hold shelf loot was two rather small books:



Flutter and Hum, Julie Paschkis. The last of the Cybils poetry books.

Death Cloud, Andy Lane. A YA about a young Sherlock Holmes. I kind of threw a tantrum at the last book club and demanded a book that required very little brain power. So they picked this one for our July meeting, which will come right before my summer cruise.

Of course, I had also noticed that I was starting my last Library Quest book, and my son's bus was running late, so I sauntered over the next book case and pulled a book from each shelf. I got:



The Spider's War, Daniel Abraham. I've been meaning to try this author for a while. Of course, I noticed when I got home that it's number five in a series, so this might not be the best introduction.

The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady, Susan Wittig Albert. This author came to my rescue last year in my 50 States challenge, so I grabbed her Alabama book. It might be the 6th in its series.

First Frost, Sarah Addison Allen. Another book chosen for its setting (North Carolina). 50 States challenges take a lot of attention. Also there's apparently a book before it.

Magic Shifts, Ilona Andrews. This has been on my to-read list for a while. At least I've read the others in the series.

The Crocodile's Last Embrace, Suzanne Arruda. The 6th Jade del Cameron mystery (my first) is set in Kenya, so the setting sold me.

That's a total of 38 things out, which is too many. But about ten are Cybils books, so I rationalize them.  I'll go look at the Library Loot which is at The Captive Reader this week to see what everyone else is getting.  Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post - feel free to steal the button (that pile of books up at the top) - and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. 

Library Questing

Here I document any progress I make in my Quest to read a book from every shelf in my local library.

I've finished Living with a Wild God by Barbara Ehrenreich. She started writing a history of religion from the perspective of someone moving from strident atheism to a more nuanced agnosticism when her editor convinced her to make it a memoir instead. I'm not sure it completely works; the focus on the intense solipsicm of her teenage years, extending through some inexplicable mystic experiences, gets a bit tedious because highly philosophical teenagers are inherently boring.


Left For Dead, J.A. Jance. This is another mystery, but it takes place in Arizona, which I need for my 50 states challenge. I'm on disc 4 and enjoying it a lot; I don't find myself zipping back to podcasts after a few minutes.

I'm starting Jon Meacham's Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Yes, I picked it because of the the name. (My last name is Mitcham. I'll just assume one of his ancestors was a bad speller). Also, my BIL knows tons about American history (so much that he teaches it) so this give me a chance to throw out some nuggests and then find out how they fit in the wider picture.