What's On My Library Ticket?

One of the best things about working in a library (well, two libraries really) is that I often stumble across an author I would not have otherwise found. Recently I was shelving some crime novels when Bury Her Deep by Catriona Mcpherson fell on my toe. I took it home and devoured it, and have since read two more. There is one waiting for me to collect it, and having visited the authors wonderful website, I have found that Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains will be published in December. How I love a good murder mystery at Christmas! Set in the 20s they are a delightful read and I could spend a great many words telling you about them...but why not visit here instead? http://www.dandygilver.co.uk/

So, what is on my library card at the moment?

A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman is all about the kind of novelist published by Persephone Books (her own company) but was written years before she started it. Persephone have recently republished this book, and it is a great companion to this hot water bottle genre of literature, and at the back of the book there is a kind of glossary of writers, which has given me lots of ideas for books to order in the future!

Learning To Cook Vegetarian by Rose Eliot since we are having a month of vegetarian eating at home, this is the perfect book for lots of great ideas for tasty dinners to make. Because naturally, there are a lot of vegetables in vegetarian cookery, it makes it easier to eat with the seasons. One of my favourites so far is a cashew nut and broccoli curry served with home made naan bread.

Boudoir an utterly divine book, about turning your bedroom into a boudoir, with several different 'themes' but not in the obvious Changing Rooms way. There is a country-ish section, a 'starlet' section, sections with a rich jumble of beads and butterflies...it is hard to settle on one style, but I like marrying several together. It has given me lots of ideas for prettying up our bedroom once I have finished tidying out and decluttering. Alas, dear Carl does not approve of my idea to paint our bed white!

Marguerite Patten's Top 100 Teatime Treats was left on my desk by a colleague who knows I love baking and afternoon tea. This one has lovely sections on specialities from different places around Great Britain, and savoury ideas too. I think that once I have tried out a few recipes, this may be a book that I have to buy!

The Edge of Love a dvd treat that I am saving for tomorrow! I watched Ballet Shoes yesterday and was transfixed. Not only was the story lovely, but visually, the sets, the costumes....I have high hopes for this one too!

100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet is a delightful book that I have had out for a while now. There are so many that I would like to make that I hardly know where to start. As well as brooches and hair decorations for myself, I want to make some holly sprigs and misteltoe bunches to adorn Christmas presents with this year...the idea being that they can act as a bow on the parcel, and then be hung up or worn later.

Coco and Igor by Chris Greenhalgh. On the night that I went to the Proms, I heard some music by Stravinsky. On the way to the concert hall, I saw lots of posters for Coco Before Chanel, which has Audrey Tatou in the lead roll. While I was searching our catalogue for some books about Stravinsky, I found this novel, which is the fictional account of the real life affair between Chanel and Stravinsky. I can't wait to dig in!

Tales From Greenery Street by Denis Mackail is an interlibrary loan which I was pleased to see on my desk. It is a series of short stories and I finished them this morning. I have several other of his titles on the way, and I can't wait!

A Classical Education by Caroline Taggart. How could I resist a book that had this on the back:

From engineering and architecture to drama and democracy, the world around us is founded on the principles and discoveries of the Ancient World, yet our understanding of it is episodic at best. So if you've ever confused Plato with Pluto, struggled with Socrates, wish you could formulate a logical argument or wondered whether the Romans really dined at vomitoria, then carpe diem and delve into this book- it is never too late to learn!

I know I am biased, working in public libraries as I do, but I think the fact that anyone can walk into their local library, answer a few questions and then be given a card that lets them borrow books without having to pay a penny is just amazing. In my own authority, it is 14 books, and you can use every single public library in the county. You can reserve books free of charge if you do it yourself, so often I will have a pile of brand new books that are on sale in the big bookshops just waiting for me to take them home. There are times when I fall in love with a book and go on to buy it, but I could not possibly afford my reading habit without my library! It is so amazing to be able to try a book without risking anything. I pick up an author I fancy trying, and if I don't like it, I just hand it back and try another. Imagine if I had to pay for every book I borrowed!

Recently a friend came back from New York and gave me a book journal from the New York Public Library. I have tried to keep a book journal so manh times, but have never got very far. I have turned over a new leaf though, and really keep this journal. Part of me thinks that I should keep a little note of how much each library book I read would have cost to borrow, so I can work out how much I have saved over a year!