Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Here is an assortment of library books I’ve borrowed recently and what I thought of them.
This list is random in the sense that I tried to pick a wide variety of genres and topics from the usual assortment of books that I borrow from my local library.
I also included tales that spanned the range from DNF to things I genuinely liked and would recommend to likeminded readers.
1. The Boy on the Bridge (The Girl With All the Gifts, #2) by M.R. Carey
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror (It was a cordyceps zombie story, to be specific)
What I Thought Of It: What a wild ride! It was especially interesting to see how the various crew members got along while on their dangerous mission since there was quite the clash of personalities sometimes. This is a series that needs to be read in order, by the way, unless you enjoy being totally confused by everything that’s going on. Hehe.
2. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Genre: Nonfiction
What I Thought Of It: This was a well-written deep-dive into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life. It included sometimes tragic stories about her childhood that she left out of the Little House books for a variety of reasons. I’d recommend it to hardcore fans of the Little House books who want to know more about this era. The writing was a little dense and academic at times, but it was worth it if you fit into this niche.
3. Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
Genre: Literary Fiction
What I Thought Of It: I was looking forward to this one, but sadly couldn’t get into the writing style or the slow pacing. It was a DNF for me.
4. The Secret Midwife by Katy Weitz
Genre: Memoir
What I Thought Of It: The stories themselves were quite interesting, but I was disturbed by the paternalism and sexism in the labour and delivery ward. For example, pregnant women were denied pain medicine even after asking for it repeatedly because the midwives didn’t think they really needed it. Shouldn’t the person giving birth be the one making that call? This was another DNF for me.
5. The Power by Naomi Alderman
Genre: Science Fiction
What I Thought Of It: I was not a fan of the writing style or character development. While I’m enjoying the show based on it, this was a DNF for me.
6. The Last Cold Place: a Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica Naira de Gracia
Genre: Science (Zoology)
What I Thought Of It: What a delightful read. It felt like having a conversation with the author in the best possible sense of that metaphor. Penguins are such interesting animals, and her passion for studying them shone through perfectly.
7. Destination Prairie by Cathie Bartlett
Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance
What I Thought Of It: The main character was a sensible, kind woman who worked hard and dreamed of better days. If she were real and lived in 2023, I would happily be her friend. I only wish the author had made this a longer work so that we could dive more deeply into all of the interesting plot twists as they sometimes felt rushed to me.
I like how you picked a wide variety assortment of lesser-known books. Penguin book—yay! Midwife book—disappointing.
Thank you. 🙂 I saw this comment right after I commented on your post! Funny timing there.
OOooh. Going to add the penguin book as a science prospect.
I think you’d love that one!
I’ve had The Power on my TBR for so long and still haven’t read it! I think this might have to be my sign to finally read it.
May you enjoy it!
The Last Cold Place looks good!! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Penguins are so cool.
Thank you. Yeah, penguins are awesome.
Ten good books.
Thank you.
I’ve always wanted to read that Carey book. It’s cool you have it on your shelf.
It was so good! Hope you like the series if or when you read it.
these look interesting!
Thank you!
I’ve had The Boy on the Bridge and The Power on my TBR for ages now. I haven’t heard anyone talking about the former but I’ve seen mixed things about the latter. Sorry to hear it was a DNF for you though!
Thank you. I hope you like The Power if you read it. The TV show based on it is really good so far.
What an interesting mix! The Laura Ingalls book sounds interesting since I remember that show rather fondly. The penguin book too sounds delightful. Bummer about Small Joys- I rather liked the cover and went to read the blurb, sounds kinda heavy though.
Thanks, Greg. May you enjoy Small Joys if you read it. \
I’ve only ever seen random episodes of the Little House books here and there, but I liked them.
I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these, but will say, that cover with the penguins is fun! Also, I’m glad that one was a good read for you. It’s a good writer that can draw you in like that. 🙂
Thank you!
I watched The Girl With All the Gifts movie, but I hadn’t thought of picking up the book. I didn’t realise it had a sequel!
Wasn’t that a good film? The Boy on the Bridge is technically a prequel, but it should be read second. Sort of like how you should read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before The Magician’s Nephew if you’re following the original publication order. 🙂
Prairie Fires sounds interesting. My family went to see Laura Ingall’s Wilder’s home last year and I bought The Selected Letters of Laura Ingall’s Wilder, but haven’t read it yet.
Isn’t her home interesting? I hope you like Prairie Fires if you read it.
A great mix of books. I need to get back to the library at some point, but have so many other books to read first!
Have a great week!
Thank you. Happy reading!
I really enjoyed The Power when I read it for book group but a lot the group didn’t like it
Interesting! Yeah, it seems to get a wide array of reactions. Glad you liked it, though. Have you seen the show?
I need to read The Boy on the Bridge. And Prairie Fires. And the one about the penguins in Antarctica! So many good books on your list. 😀
Thank you. Hope you like all of them.
I, too, did similar and my list includes read, TBR, and DNF – and it all happened by chance. You have also peeked my interest in The Boy on the Bridge, but I am assuming you need to read The Girl with All the Gifts first?
Yes, you definitely want to read The Girl With All the Gifts first.
Your list was fun!
Super choices! I’ve read a couple of other books on Laura Ingalls Wilder or her daughter, Rose, but remember this book coming out. The penguin book is going on my tbr–thanks!
Happy reading! Hope you like the penguin book.
This is a great list! I’ll have to check out The Last Cold Place — scientists studying Antarctica fascinate me, but I seldom remember to look up good books about them.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/05/02/top-ten-tuesday-10-random-fantasy-books/
I just saw this comment now. Hope you like The Last Cold Place!
I love that you chose library books – libraries are such a great and valuable resource in our communities. Plus, you also picked some incredible choices, even if I haven’t heard of any of them yet. A lot of them look really intriguing and I’m planning to look into them, so thanks for the heads up.
Thank you very much. Happy reading!
Penguins are my all time favourite animal (especially the little penguin but I am also an equal opportunity penguin enthusiast, so I like ALL penguins!) so I’m adding The Last Cold Place to my TBR!
Yay! Enjoy! They’re such cute little creatures.
The Boy on the Bridge (The Girl With All the Gifts, #2) by M.R. Carey
Thank you for listing this one – I had read The Girl with All The Gifts #1 and loved it, then life happened.
I have added The Boy on the Bridge to read later this year.
Great list!
I hope you like it. Thanks. 🙂
I tried the audiobook of The Power and DFN too, the style feels a little dense
I hear you there.
I like your mix of books! The penguin book sounds amazing! I’m also enjoying the TV version of The Power more than I liked the book.
Thank you. That’s interesting to hear!
I really like the sound of The Last Cold Place x
It was wonderful.
I’ve not seen the one about Laura Ingalls Wilder before. It sounds interesting, though. I love how eclectic your picks are!
Thank you very much. The Laura Ingalls Wilder book was so good.
PRAIRIE FIRES sounds super interesting. I’ve actually had a copy since it came out, but I just haven’t gotten to it yet. One of these days!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I hope you like that one! Happy belated TTT to you as well.
I need to try The Boy on the Bridge. Thanks for sharing!
Happy reading! Hope you like it.
Cordyceps zombie story?! Well, I’m intrigued. Great list!
It was such a fun read. And thanks.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Small Joys. I really enjoyed that one! It definitely took some getting used to the dialect, though. Happy reading, Lydia!
Thank you, Dedra. I’m glad you liked it.
The Last Cold Place looks good!! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Penguins are so cool.
Thank you. Yeah, penguins are awesome.
I’m unfamiliar with all of these books. The Midwife book sounds like it could be an interesting read. It’s incredible how little say women have over their bodies, especially regarding their reproductive rights. Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
You’re welcome. Yeah, I was really looking forward to the midwife book and so disappointed with that aspect of it.
I do like the cover for Small Joys so I’m sorry to hear it was a DNF for you.
Thank you. 🙂
I love how 99% of the time you talk about books I haven’t ever heard of. I need to keep Destination Prairie in mind for my bonus mum – that book could be one she’ll enjoy.
Aww, thanks. I hope your bonus mom likes Destination Prairie.
I still need to read The Girl with All the Gifts but I hadn’t heard many reviews on the second book so its good to hear you really liked that one as well.
Thank you. Yeah, it was creative and a pretty fun read. 🙂
What a great list. I own Prairie Fires, but I haven’t read it yet. I agree with you on the pain meds. I unwillingly, after being given an epidural that did not work, went through natural child birth. Convincing them I was actually in pain was a task that took hours, and by the time someone believed me, it was too late to increase the dosage.
Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.
I’m so sorry that happened to you! I hope you like Prairie Fires.
The midwife book really caught my eye. It’s a shame it was a DNF, it doesn’t make me very hopeful for the book 🙁
I hope you like it better than I did if you end up reading it.
I normally loved medical books like that. What a shame.
What an interesting assortment of books. I can only imagine what a colorful patchwork your full checkout history must be!
I can honestly say I’ve never thought of reading about scientists studying penguins, for all I enjoy little video clips of them interesting, but I’m glad it was as delightful as it looks.
Thank you. Yeah, I read stuff from just about every genre at least occasionally.