Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
This is going to be one of those weeks when I give more than ten answers. It will help to make up for the weeks when I fall far short of that goal.
As I’ve mentioned here before, most of the books I read come from my local library for practical, environmental, and frugal reasons.
Depending on how many ebooks my library has ordered, this could mean that I might immediately be able to download a book from them, be one of the first people on the waitlist for the next available copy, or, in some cases, have a few weeks or months to go until one is available for me.
I don’t mind waiting for books. It increases my anticipation for my next great read and helps the librarians show just how popular certain titles are. They are often able to order more copies if the waitlists stretch out so long that the people at the bottom of them can expect to wait for several months to years at the current pace.
Usually, the most popular titles either already have plenty of copies of them circulating or will soon see a huge increase in how many of them are available to borrow that will reduce my wait time from several years to a few months or several months to a couple of weeks.
Here are the books on my hold shelf that have long waitlists.
1. Antarctica by Claire Keegan
Waiting Since: February 20
Why I’m Interested: She’s on my must-read list. I love her descriptive writing style and realistic storylines.
2. The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe
Waiting Since: March 5
Why I’m Interested: Canadian fiction often isn’t as well-advertised as all of the books published down south in the U.S., so I make a concerted effort to seek out non-American authors and stories as much as possible. This seems like a nice slice-of-life read.
3. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport
Waiting Since: March 20
Why I’m Interested: This is something I struggle with and hope to improve within myself.
4. The Lost Sounds by Chris Watson
Why I’m Interested: Birds are such fascinating creatures. I’m waiting for the audiobook version of this book so I can hear all sorts of beautiful bird songs from the U.K. that (I’m assuming?) we probably don’t get to enjoy very often here in Canada.
5. To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower
Waiting Since: April 3
Why I’m Interested: Did you know that Orville and Wilbur Wright had a sister named Katherine? I did not, but now I’m curious to read this cozy mystery about her. Is it at all historically accurate? Will there be airplanes in it? I have no idea, but trying new things is worth it in my opinion.
6. Lewis Carroll’s Guide for Insomniacs by Lewis Carroll
Waiting Since: April 9
Why I’m Interested: I sometimes have trouble falling back asleep at night and I love Caroll’s work.
7. The Wisdom of Nurses: Stories of Grit From the Front Lines by Amie Archibald-Varley, Sara Fung
Waiting Since: April 9
Why I’m Interested: Some of my relatives work in the healthcare field. I have a great deal of respect for anyone in that profession and love dipping into memoirs and similar sorts of books about their experiences.
8.The Laundryman’s Boy: A Novel by Edward Y.C. Lee
Waiting Since: April 17
Why I’m Interested: Mr. Lee is another Canadian author I’ve added to my TBR. The writing in the short preview I read was gorgeous, and I’m quite curious to learn more about the protagonist, a young Chinese immigrant who dreams of leaving his exploitative job and continuing his education.
9. The Minotaur at Calle Lanza by Zito Madu
Waiting Since: April 17
Why I’m Interested: This travel memoir set in Italy in 2020 sounds like such a poignant read.
10. A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland
Waiting Since: April 17
Why I’m Interested: This is a title I mentioned in the Spring 2024 TBR List post back in March. The Selkie Wife is a wonderful folk tale, so I’m thrilled that I’m a little closer to (finally!) being able to read this retelling of it now.
11. Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal
Waiting Since: April 17
Why I’m Interested: When I was in school, I learned very little about Native American history before the arrival of people from Europe and other continents. I’m hoping this book will help to change that and fill in some gaps in my historical knowledge.
12. Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada by Jane Philpott
Waiting Since: April 17
Why I’m Interested: Canada has Universal Health Care, but our system isn’t funded as much as it should be given our growing and aging population. I am so curious to read this doctor’s perspective on the best ways to ensure that everyone gets the healthcare they need and that healthcare workers are treated fairly and given the tools to succeed as well.
13. MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact by Adaira Landry, Resa E. Lewiss
Waiting Since: April 19
Why I’m Interested: I have seen some evidence of this working in my life with topics like setting fitness goals, but I want to learn more about it.
Wish me luck as I wait my turn for these titles! I’d love to hear your thoughts on them if you’ve already read them, too.
If you have a local library that you use, how long are the waitlists there for new and popular books?
The Lost Sounds looks good! I have Lost Spells and Lost Words, I will need to get this one as well, but waiting for the audio sounds like a fantastic idea.
Thank you. I hope you like it!
As an insomniac, Lewis Carroll’s Guide for Insomniacs sounds quite interesting! I’ll have to take a peek at it and see if I can get my hands on a copy. A Sweet Sting of Salt also sounds interesting. I love retellings. I hope you don’t have to wait much longer for these books and that you enjoy them when they land in your hands! Happy reading 🙂
Thank you, Dini. I hope you like those two titles.
The bird book sounds interesting but sad.
I hear you there.
I also enjoy Claire Keegan’s books and didn’t realize she had a new one out. I also have that Amanda Flower book on my TBR.
May you enjoy both of them!
There are some interesting selections here. I hope you find time to get to them soon!
Thank you. 🙂
I love how eclectic your reading is. So many unique titles that span so many genres. Like you, I love using my library.
Thank you very much. 🙂
Aren’t libraries the best?
I hope your holds come in soon, but not all at once. I love using my library and that is what usually happens to me.
Ha, that has happened to me, too! It’s funny and kind of overwhelming.
Ooo, Amanda’s book looks interesting! I haven’t seen that one on lists or read about it, but I’ll have to add it to my possible titles. 🙂 Thanks a bunch for visiting my website today!
You’re welcome. Enjoy!
Great post
Thanks!
I read good reviews about A Sweet Sting of Salt, hope you enjoy it 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
The Lost Sounds sounds interesting!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
I’m glad you think so!
Great list! I’m curious to see what you think of A Sweet Sting of Salt; selkie books are fun but I haven’t read as many of them as I’d like. And The Lost Sounds seems fascinating! I agree that the audio would be the way to go for that one.
Here’s my TTT this week: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2024/04/23/top-ten-tuesday-my-physical-unread-tbr-shelf/
Thank you. 🙂 I hope to blog about A Sweet Sting of Salt.
Hope you enjoy these!
Thank you.
Very interesting list. I’m waiting for Slow Productivity at the library. I look forward to your reviews on some of these.
Thank you. I hope you like Slow Productivity. And I just saw your reply to me on your blog! 🙂
I’ve seen A SWEET STING OF SALT all over the place – might need to add it to my TBR
May you enjoy it!
I actually managed to get an ARC of To Slip the Bonds of Earth, but I have fallen behind in reading those. Fingers crossed I can get caught up some on my upcoming trip.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-more-random-books-on-my-goodreads-tbr/
Oh, cool! I hope you like it.
The Lost Sounds. sounds wonderful! I have been meaning to read The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, and my library has the audiobook for the former (but alas, not The Lost Spells or The Lost Sounds.)
I actually did know about Katherine Wright; she attended my alma mater. I’m looking forward to reading Amanda Flower’s mystery featuring her, since I enjoyed Flower’s first Emily Dickinson mystery.
Your other books all sound good, too. I hope your holds come in sooner, rather than later!
Thank you, Lark!
It’s neat you were already aware of Katherine Wright. May you enjoy that book. Yeah, I’d heard that Flowers’ Emily Dickinson novel was good, too.
So many of these sound really good. I’ve had Cal Newport’s Deep Work on my TBR, and now I’m adding Slow Productivity too. A Sweet Sting of Salt sounds right up my alley as well. I hope you enjoy all of these!
Thank you. I hope you enjoy both of those books.
I haven’t read any of these. I hope your wait goes quickly and you enjoy them all when you get to them!
Thank you. 🙂
I want to read Amanda Flower’s book as well. I recently saw it at our library, but it was only a 2 week hold and I didn’t think I could get it read in time, so I passed on it for now.
I hope you’ll get another chance to read it soon!
I love Claire Keegan and I’ve seen Antarctica on a few lists. I need to put that on my own holds list. I hope you get it soon!
Thank you. Hope you like it.
Going to look up Antarctica! I’ve read 2 Claire Keegan books recently and loved them both.
May you enjoy it!
I also have trouble falling back to sleep after waking in the middle of the night. Maybe I need to check out that Lewis Carroll book as well. A Sweet Sting of Salt also looks good. Hope you enjoy these!
Thank you. Happy reading!
Great approach to the list this week! I just did a big clean-up of my library hold list and ended up removing almost everything — I realized that every time a hold finally came through, I was unavailable or not in the mood. I’m going to start over again, I’m sure, but for now, I like not having anything pending.
Thank you. Good for you for doing that cleanup!
Good luck with these. I think the only one I’m familiar with is A Sweet Sting of Salt.
Thanks. 🙂
We have some long waitlists for really popular books–it took me a month to get The Thursday Murder Club! That said, I think they generally do a good job of getting lots of copies for popular books. I’m also interested in A Sweet Sting of Salt since I like the selkie wife folktale; I hadn’t heard of a lot of the books here since I’m not as into nonfiction nor do I read as many Canadian authors as I would like, so thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by. I hope A Sweet Sting of Salt is a good read for you.
Huh, isn’t Cal Newport the “deep work” guy? I wouldn’t have expected something called “slow productivity” from him, but then, I know a fairly limited amount about what he actually wrote, mostly about what people have made of it.
Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe?
Great list, as usual, Lydia! I love your focus on Canadian authors, and totally thought of you when I read a book by an author from Canada during the week. You always introduce me to such intriguing books, and I tried adding A Sweet Sting of Salt to my TBR only to realize it was already on it, probably from your last post featuring it.
Thank you very much, Leah. You’re so kind. I hope you enjoy A Sweet Sting of Salt.
I hope you’ll love all of these when you get to read them!
Thank you. 🙂
It’s cool that you prioritize Canadian fiction. I definitely hadn’t heard of The Spoon Stealer or its author… although I guess that’s also true of nearly everything on your v. interesting list today. I didn’t even know about The Lost Sounds; I’ll have to share that one with my dad. I can’t quite tell — is it specifically an audiobook only, or a book as well?