“Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.” It is hosted by 5 Minutes For Books this month.
Last week, I took a trip to Utrecht with a friend and what is a city trip without stopping at a couple of bookstores!? I actually found a few not too expensive, used books which I’ve been wanting to read for a while:
The Ministry of Pain (Dubravka Ugresic)
A novel about the experience of living in excile, my first Ugresic I think!
My Turn to Make the Tea (Monica Dickens)
Yes, it ws the title that made me pick up the book 😀 But reading about the daily life of a young reporter in the newsroom packed in a cosy and witty story made me buy this copy.
Little Boy Lost (Marghanita Laski)
Laski’s Victorian Chaise-Longue was amazing so I was happy to find a copy of this book about the search for a young boy in post-war France.
Blandings Castle (P. G. Wodehouse)
Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle series is just as amazing as his Bertie and Jeeves stories and I think I’ll have to pace myself soon.
I also went to the library and picked up:
2666 (Roberto Bolano)
I’ve never read anything by Bolano and this might not be the best place to start but I’m determined to read more literature that is not British or U.S. American. The book’s size and its reputation are quite intimidating but we’ll see how I’ll get on.
American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
I read Neverwhere ages ago and enjoyed the story but the writing wasn’t too impressive. Since so many people told me how much they liked American Gods, I want to give Gaiman another try.
What books did you acquire or loot from the library recently?
If You Can Read This 
You can never go wrong with P.G. Wodehouse. I love Bertie and Jeeves! Enjoy your new books this week.
Exactly! 🙂 Love them, too, but this series is just as fantastic.
Oh dear good luck with 2666 and American Gods. Can’t finish either of them. Hope you have better luck than me and enjoy the rest of your loot!
Oh dear…it doesn’t bode well if even you couldn’t finish them! Hope I’ll persevere, fingers crossed 🙂
I look forward to hearing what you think of Little Boy Lost as I really enjoyed Victorian Chaise-Longue too.
I’ve heard good things about it, hope I’ll get around to reading and reviewing soon then! 🙂
Enjoy! your reading week.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/08/mailbox-monday.html
Thank you!
Nice mailbox…great blog!!
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2012/08/mailbox-monday-august-6-2012.html
Thanks for stopping by!
great 2666 is wonderful and wodehouse is always a laugh to read ,all the best stu
Very true, Wodehouse is always fantastic. Glad to hear about 2666 🙂
Wonderful books in your mailbox, Bina! Wonderful to know that you got a ‘Blandings Castle’ book. My first Wodehouse story was on Uncle Fred and it made me laugh aloud 🙂 I see from the right pane that you are reading ‘American Gods’ now. I have heard some wonderful things about the book. Hope you are liking it. You got ‘2666’? Wow! I read Bolano’s ‘The Savage Detectives’ a few years back and liked it very much. I got ‘2666’ also at that time but didn’t read it – it is still there on my bookshelf. Its size intimidates me. One of my friends who read it said that Bolano is a mad genius. Other people said only great things about it and a few said that they couldn’t finish it. Hope you have fun reading your first Bolano. Happy Reading!
I haven’t gotten to Uncle Fred yet, but it sounds wonderful! I am enjoying American Gods so far, though as usual I can’t fathom why the story needs so many pages! 😉
Ooh The Savage Detectives has been tempting me for a while, but it was checked out from the library. I know, right? These chunksters. If you’ve got the time and want to take 2666 from the shelf, we could read it together and motivate each other 🙂 I haven’t started it yet and can always renew it at the library.
Good choice of books from Utrecht. 😉 I am especially interested in what you have to say about “My Turn to Make the Tea”, it sounds like the kind of book that I love to read.
My newest acquisition is “Vish Puri and the Case of the Deadly Butterchicken”, which I am extremely looking forward to reading and which I want to save for a special moment as I am sure that Tarquin Hall’s third novel in the series is just as great as his first two ones were.
Heh, thanks! 😀 I’ll probably read it soon and I can send it to you afterwards if you like?
Love the title already, enjoy! I’m very fond of the Indian Poirot as well 🙂
I really want Little Boy Lost! And the Monica Dickens too. Hope you enjoy American Gods!
So glad I gave it a try, I loved American Gods. Stayed up till 4 am to finish it last night! 🙂
Well done on your finds 🙂
Hehe, thanks! 🙂
Good luck with Bolano. He is an author I feel I really must get around to reading too but have not yet tackled despite hearing wonderful things.
Thank you! It’s the same for, but I felt now’s the time to finally give him a try 🙂
Hm, I didn’t like Ministry of Pain much, but I guess I’m a little prejudiced against books that are set in the Netherlands (they make me want to recognise parts I know, but unfortunately the setting is usually kept vague). I’ve got another book of hers on the shelves, so I’ll have to give her another chance sometime. I would like to know your opinion of it! As for American Gods, I read that ages ago, and I remember liking it.
My recent library loot includes The Snow Child and two biographies on Jane Austen. I’m going to check out some more books today, I think.
I can see how that might get on your nerves. I’ll let you know what I think about it, though I’ve mostly seen only the touristy parts of Amsterdam, so I might not notice the vagueness 🙂
I loved American Gods, no idea why it we didn’t read it in class!
The Snow Child sounds really good, hope the biographie are well-written. Have fun at the library, hope you post about your loot!
Oh!! I’m so excited to see Dubravka Ugresic on here! I have loved everything I’ve read by her so far. This one is on my shelf still waiting to be read though.
Glad to hear you enjoy her works so much, this bodes well for Ministry 🙂