Books Borrowed, Bought, "Found", And / Or Contemplated: 2024 Edition

I was researching a title here on LT and the Conversations segment brought up a Green Dragon thread from 2016 asking what books people might have "Bought, Borrowed, Stolen or Found". So what are we borrowing or buying in 2024?

I have been *trying* to focus on what's already on my shelves, but I am as prone to temptation as the next Dragoneer. So what are some of the titles you all are adding?

So far just my two nature-photography books from the Sierra Club, with writings of Thoreau and John Muir.

My focus is more on finding people who want my books, and reading and eliminating some of the books I've inherited over the years. Those books will most likely go to the Little Free Libraries around town.

I bought myself this for my birthday when B&N was having it's 30% off sale.



I have no plan to read it again soon, but my copy (gifted to me by my parents almost five decades ago) was getting tatty. And I wanted the Tolkien illustrations to ogle.

I have two I'm waiting for holds to clear at the library:
The Lincoln Lawyer and The Circle

>3 clamairy:. Both Karlstar and I have that same edition. I know this because we talked about it on our respective threads. It's just lovely and worth the ogling. (I certainly did not need yet another copy of The Silmarillion when I got mine a year or so back. It may be the fifth copy of it here in the house.)

>5 jillmwo: LibraryThing informs me this was my fourth, but one is an audio so it's not taking up shelf space. I don't know where the third physical copy is at all. 😆 I don't remember your conversation with Jim, but I'm sure it embedded itself in my subconscious.

ETA: Ha! Never mind. The 'missing' copy is a Kindle edition, so it is also not taking up shelf space!

>3 clamairy: Congrats, that's a beautiful edition!

I plan on buying at least one more of Barbara Tuchman's history books in e-book form, some folks here warned me that the others aren't up to the level of The Guns of August, so I'll try to get one from the library first.

I already made my big book purchase of the year, so I'm happy.

>7 Karlstar: Wait a minute...you do only ONE big book purchase per year? I am so totally unaware of proper limits. (Which I guess is why I have these totally overloaded boxes of books here and everywhere...) I applaud your virtue.

>8 jillmwo: This one was considerably more expensive than usual. I'll still buy new books with gift cards and used books!

I recently read the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik, and am curious about her other work but not sure where to jump in. Amazon offered me a Kindle deal on a couple of volumes from the Temeraire series - has anyone read them? I gather its sort of an alternative history set in Napoleonic times, with a dragon? Is that a fair description?

>10 Darth-Heather:. I know that I read the first one, but my husband read through the full series, I believe. Enjoyable twist on alternate history (yes, to Napoleonic Wars with dragons); just be aware that they should be read in order. Go ahead and take advantage of the deal!

>10 Darth-Heather: My favorite books of hers were Uprooted and Spinning Silver, but I have not seen them on sale recently.

>11 jillmwo: great, thank you!

I thought of you recently when I read Salt & Broom which is supposed to be a 'retelling' of Jane Eyre but with a supernatural twist. I think it is geared toward a younger audience and I wondered how this would be received by readers like you that are well familiar with the classic work. Have you heard of it? It wasn't terrible but I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone who loves the classic tale.

>12 clamairy: I've heard such good things about both of those; they are definitely in my 'contemplated' list!

>13 Darth-Heather: I have contemplated Salt & Broom when it's been in a kindle deal. So far I have resisted, and your comments make me think I was right to do so. I haven't yet found a JE retelling that lives up to the original.

>13 Darth-Heather:. I had not been aware of Salt & Broom but now I am truly curious about it. I am always a little intrigued with books that build on other books (Pride & Prejudice variants, fan fiction, or the like) because you are never sure whether the original impetus for the author was a dissatisfaction with the original content or not. Is it an imaginative experiment the author is trying as they wrestle with developing their own writing or is it more of a corrective exercise (because how could Jane as a sensible woman possibly fall for THAT HORRIBLE, DUPLICITOUS, SELFISH MAN)? Our sensibilities change over the long haul so how the market accepts an outcome changes as well.

>15 Sakerfalcon:
>16 jillmwo:

It's actually not awful; the characters are interesting and the author does a nice job with describing the landscape and house and setting. As you predicted, Jillmwo, she does change up the nature of the characters to meet a more modern sensibility, but that won't appeal to fans of classic writing.

The supernatural twist is silly, and I just went along with it but near the end there is a bit that is just dumb. It might encourage new young readers to seek out the source material though, so it maybe has some merit in that way.

>10 Darth-Heather: I've read the first two books in the Temeraire series and enjoyed them, but from what I read of the plot of the third book, I paused there and haven't gotten back to it.