Wednesday, April 6, 2011

(Because great minds think alike, Britt and I had the same idea for posts today. Hers was first, so I feel like I'm copying, but I really did have inspiration to do this post today.  So check her awesome post out too.  It's okay...I'll wait.)

By now, you should all know about the beloved SDBBE book club I participate in.  I think this is the third year I've been swapping books with these awesome ladies (Apryl, Isabel, Amy, Jeanette, Britt - I love you all!  SDBBE fo-ev-ah.)  Well, we don't necessarily limit our conversations to the books we mail around.  Every now and then, a flurry of emails get sent around between us all.  My heart skips a beat when I open my email and I have multiple messages from these women.

Last night's emails were no exception.  I had made a post about Year of Wonders, and then Amy commented on it.  Then last night an email came from Amy about her discovery of a new Geraldine Brooks book - Caleb's Crossing.  I kept thinking about the name of the book but couldn't figure out why it seemed familiar.  Then this morning I opened up my library holds and there it was!  I put a hold on for it back in February, 3 months before its release date of May 3rd, 2011. 

I love my library system.  I use it (not as well as Britt does, as I only have my own library card number memorized, not my son or my husbands.  BTW - Britt - Nicky only needs to be 5 to get his card.  You're almost there!) on a weekly, if not more, basis.  Generally, I find a book that I want to read by trolling the Barnes and Noble website, starting with books that have been recommended on blogs or emails or random newspaper articles.  I carefully read the Kirkus and Library Journal reviews for the book and then place my hold.  It takes some time, but it's worth it. There have been times in my life, whole months in fact, where I read book after book after book from my hold list with nary a one that I set aside unfinished.  Ah, the mecca of book reading.

But anyway, as much as I love describing my process for finding books, I wanted to share my current library holds list.  I have 7 that I am still waiting for.  I picked up 2 last week that I have yet to read (Juliet by Anne Fortier and Bitter in the Mouth by Monique T.D. Truong.)

I am waiting for:

Caleb's Crossing by Brooks, Geraldine
A Discovery of Witches by Harkness, Deborah E.
Dreams of Joy by See, Lisa
I am Number Four by Lore, Pittacus
The Peach Keeper by Allen, Sarah Addison
The Tiger's Wife by Obreht, Téa
The Weird Sisters by Brown, Eleanor

I am most likely to get I am Number Four the soonest.  Two (Caleb's Crossing and Dreams of Joy) aren't released yet.  I am excited to read the Sarah Addison Allen book; her books remind me of the way Alice Hoffman books used to feel: magical and in tune with nature, with quirky, memorable, lovable characters.  I'm anxious to read A Discovery of Witches; it keeps showing up in the NYT bestseller list week after week; I hope that it's good and that I don't regret not buying it.

So, do you love your library?  Are you obsessed with putting holds on books?  I must say that I sometimes want to pinch myself for the luck of living in proximity of such a great county library system.  It is the perfect mix of small-town library feel and sophisticated and varied literary availability.  Who can complain about that?

3 comments:

Fluent Brittish said...

Janssen just read Caleb's Crossing. She must have gotten an advanced copy or something. I need to start being important enough to get advanced copies of books.

I'm glad there is someone out there who is as geeky about the library as I am! I, too, enjoy our mass e-mails. I was just thinking about that yesterday, how it's so funny that we have these strange conversations via mass e-mails that last for several days.

Apryl said...

And now I need to go update MY library hold list!

Amy Sorensen said...

I have 47 items on my hold list. ;)

Discovery of Witches I cannot WAIT to read. I also have The Tiger's Wife and The Weird Sisters on my list. Off to read about #4 and Dreams of Joy. I haven't tried Sarah Addison Allen yet but I need to!