library book haul.

I wanted to share with you all my recent library book haul.

You all know that I love the library and am constantly finding books to put on my hold list. Even though I have so many books I own sitting on my bookshelves, I’m always looking for my next book to check out. As it so often happens, a bunch of books that were on my hold list became available all at once so I ended up checking out a large haul of books at the same time.

I picked these books up a couple of weeks ago so I’ve already read a couple of them and I can tell you what I think. Here’s what was in my library book haul:

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This book about witches and found family was so lovely and cute. You can read my (short) review here!

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
Another book about witches! It was totally not on purpose that I put these two books on hold together. This book was interesting although I couldn’t figure out its intended audience – is it YA? Adult? Historical fiction? Fantasy? It seemed like it wanted to be a lot of things. The book is also the first book in a series which I was not aware of when I picked it up. Books that are part of a series really need to have that noted very clearly on the cover.

Social Engagement by Avery Carpenter Forrey
I’m about 20 pages into this book and there’s something about the writing that is not resonating with me. This book is clearly rom-com chick lit, but the writing makes it want to be a literary masterpiece which is not what I want in a rom-com. I also read some reviews that indicate the book is wildly fatphobic. I’m not sure I will finish it.

Adrift by Lisa Brideau
I just started reading this book last night and I’m really liking it. It’s about a woman named Ess who wakes up with amnesia on board a boat with only a note that says Start Over. Don’t look back. She’s already met up with one sketchy person and I’m intrigued to find out what happened to Ess in her former life.

We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers
I saw (heard?) this book referenced somewhere, probably in a podcast, and thought it sounded interesting. Most books about money are not useful to me because they just contain “tips” like take advantage of compound interest or open a high-interest saving account. I feel like we all know that advice. Still, I always get sucked into reading these books thinking that someone will have that one piece of advice that I haven’t heard. We’ll see what this book has to say.

Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin, MD
Another book that I saw either in the New York Times or heard about on a podcast. This book discusses how self-care is more than juice cleanses and bubble baths, and how we can set boundaries with ourselves and create a routine that aligns with our needs and priorities. This book sounds super interesting and I hope I like it.

Knitting books!
I checked out two sock knitting books – Socktopus by Alice Yu and Operation Sock Drawer by Knitmore Girls. I checked these books out mainly because I’m looking for more sock patterns to knit and wanted to see what patterns were in these books. Unfortunately, most of the patterns are in chart form and I’ve come to the realization that I do not know how to read a knitting chart. I find them super confusing and much more work than just reading a printed pattern. Still, out of all the patterns in the books, I found one pattern in print form that I think I will try to knit.

As you can see, I check out a variety of books from the library. I love that the library is free because I know that there will always be hits and misses, which is why I never feel bad about whether I liked or disliked a book I’ve checked out. Frequently I find myself checking out the first book in a series and then if I like that book, I will purchase the next books in the series myself. I can also check out various books and if I don’t get to them by the time they are due back or change my mind and decide not to read a specific book, I can always return the book and not have any guilt.