Oh goodness, can we hit pause and slow down time? It’s been crazy here at Casa Bookgirl but there are a lot of things to be happy about which I’ll tell you about soon. But, one is that I’ve received quite a few books lately which sound so very good so I have to share those with you.
First, I got The Passport by Herta Müller. As you know she recently won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. I read one of her books, The Land of Green Plums, quite a few years ago so I’m excited to try another of her books. In this story the subject is a German village in Romania caught between the stifling hopelessness of Ceausescu’s dictatorship and the glittering temptations of the west. You can read an excerpt here.
Also from the wonderful Serpent’s Tail press I got A Brief Life by Juan Carlos Oretti. This is a novel by an Uruguayan writer and I can’t believe I’ve never read anything set in Uruguay so I’m look forward to it. The other book is The Semantics of Murder by Aifric Campbell, which is described as literary fiction with a murderous slant. You gotta love that.
The next is a novel by Deborah Copaken Kogan, Between Here and April. I remember seeing this book in the library earlier in the year and making a note of it. I really liked Kogan’s bestselling memoir, Shutterbabe, so I hope this will be a great debut novel.
The other book is the story of the first pianos, Mr. Langshaw’s Square Piano by Madeline Goold. I’m not much of a non-fiction reader but this sounds delightful. I think I’ll have to have some Chopin in the background when I settle down with this read.
Finally going back in time, The Lute Player by Norah Lofts will take me to Richard the Lionhearted as he goes onto the battlefields of the Third Crusade. I haven’t read a good historical novel in a while and this one sounds juicy.
Have you read any of these yet? Are any of these on your wishlist?
Oh, and as I was talking about Type in my last post, you can see the subject is still on my mind when I created yet another Etsy treasury. Check it out for some gorgeous typography work.
I got most of these as well and am looking forward to reading them!
What a haul! Hope you enjoy reading those books and I look forward to hearing your views on them. 🙂
I’ve never read a book set in Uruguay either, so straight on to the wishlist it goes. 🙂
Not read any of them, but I’m confident if you bought them, they’re going to be good! There is nothing more satisfying that a nice healthy book haul!
I have read and enjoyed Mr Langshawe’s Square Piano; a fascinating piece of research both into the life of the man who bought the piano, and also of the instrument itself, the firm who made it (Broadwood), and of the “square piano’ itself: a size and shape which was feasible to have in one’s home, and indeed it was the forerunner of the upright piano.
Wow, you seem to have got lots of books and they are new to me, so I shall have to investigate.
What good books you’ve got! I haven’t read any of them but I am especially interesed in The Passport. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I have The Passport and A Brief Life as well and hope to read them over my break from work during the holidays. I’ll have to check out The Semantics of Murder–that sounds good, too. Have a great Holiday!
More books I haven’t heard of before. I hope you enjoy them and have a happy Thanksgiving.
Great books.
Love the treasury.
Can’t wait to hear the news.
Happy Turkey Day.
‘The Land of Green Plums’ turned up as a suggestion for one of my reading groups but we had difficulty getting enough copies of it, so had to put the idea to one side. Perhaps now she has won the Nobel we might have more luck. I must dig around and see what’s available.
Wonderful list of books!
Going to check out the treasury….
Happy Thanksgiggles!! 😉
Honestly haven’t heard of most of these, but that doesn’t stop me with being thrilled that you have new editions to your household! Yay for you!!!
I havent read any of these before myself. Happy reading! Great treasury 🙂
I haven’t heard of most of these, but I’ve got a copy of Between Here and April. I hope to read it soon. Soon being within the next decade, at this point. My reading has been very slow, lately.
I haven’t read any of your new books.
Great list though!
The Lute Player looks good.
Happy reading.
Hi Everyone – Don’t these sound good? And, actually I was very lucky as these were ARCs I received from the publishers so a nice bounty of books. I haven’t started any of these yet but I’ll keep you guys posted 🙂