This week’s library loot was a small haul. I had two books on hold to pick up and as I didn’t have much time to wander around I only managed to add another book to the small stack. Let me tell you about my finds:

The first book is Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Kailana recently mentioned this book and it sounded good to me. I haven’t read a YA book in a while and want to give this one a try. Here’s from the back of the book: Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina — she’s fearless. Ooh, I wonder what will happen!

The other book I had put on hold was Laika by Nick Abadzis. This one was a recommendation from Nymeth and I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it. This graphic novel which blends fiction with fact is about Laika, an abandoned puppy destined to become Earth’s first space traveler.

Finally, Toronto Noir ended up in my pile because as I’ve mentioned I’m trying to read more short stories and I couldn’t pass up this collection. Actually, I realize that there are a bunch of others in this series, each noir collection set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Has anyone read any of the books from this series? Take a look at the Akashic Noir site to check out the other titles.

Oh and of course I couldn’t leave the library without picking up the latest BookPage Magazine. My sixth sense tells me I’ll be adding a lot of new books to my list. heh.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Alessandra that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. Go visit them and add your haul to the link!

I’m not a subscriber of the Oprah Magazine but on occasion I’ll check it out when I’m at the bookstore. In particular, I’m a fan of the Reading Room section. I like to see what others have on their reading lists. Anyway, I’m really glad I picked up this latest issue because there’s an article on Sandra Cisneros and I’ve found out she has a new book in the works. Yay.

Have you read her novels? My favorite is Caramelo. I’m also quite a fan of her poetry and so I thought I’d share one of the poems I like quite a bit. This is from her book Loose Woman.

Champagne Poem for La Rosie

The first glass will make you laugh.
The second will have you making others laugh.
The third is for singing operettas.
The fourth to give you wings.
The fifth will have you forget
the things you chose to remember
and remember things you chose to forget.
The sixth is for courage when dialing Him.
The seventh to bring down cuss and concupiscence.
Congratulations. The eighth will drive you to bed or brawl.
Or to brawl in bed. Same difference.

Her poems are sexy, filled with attitude and manage to be bold and tender all at once. So hope you’ll check some of her poetry out if you haven’t yet.

So, what magazine have you read lately and has it led you to some new authors or books?