Adventures of a Bookonaut: Library Loot December 14

Dec 14, 2011

Library Loot December 14 - 20

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire fromThe Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

The link can be found at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

I got some rather rare loot today in the Library’s cancellations bin, goodness knows when I’ll get to reading them but they fit nicely into my collection.

The first is Ursula K Leguin’s Always Coming Home . It’s described as part novel, part textbook, part anthropologist's record,Always Coming Home explains the life and culture of the Kesh people. All that for $1 which is an absolute steal when the paperback retails at $45.

Debbie Moorhouse reviews it here.

There was a cassette tape that went with the book making it an early multimedia experience. It look like copies of the music and poetry can be obtained through LeGuin’s website

The next was China Mieville’s Iron Council which I also picked up for a $1. I have Kraken (still to read since last Christmas) but I figured its China Mieville and its cheap and in condition – didn’t really have to think about it. Wikipedia describes it thusly:

Iron Council (2004) is China Miéville's fourth novel and his third set in the Bas-Lag universe, following Perdido Street Station (2000) and The Scar (2002), although each can be read independently of the others. In addition to the steampunk influences shared by its predecessors, Iron Council also draws several elements from the western genre.

Iron Council is perhaps the most overtly political of China Miéville's novels to date, being strongly inspired by the anti-globalization movement, and tackling issues such as imperialism, corporatism, terrorism, racial hatred, homosexuality, culture shock, labour rights and war. The novel won the Clarke and Locus Awards in 2005, and was also nominated for the Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards that same year.^[1]