electricland

I believe I may have mentioned how much I'm enjoying the Toronto Public Library system again after years in the wilderness.* The fact that I've memorized my 14-digit library card number should tell you something about how much. I fully intend to do a few book reports once I get a bit more settled (just like I fully intend to email all my non-LJ friends about how I'm doing -- manana), but for now, I thought I'd record the current snapshot of what I have out and what I've reserved:

Checked out:
ADULT FICTION / CITY HALL
(it's actually Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos by Donna Andrews -- I have decided I like my crime fiction light to the point of fluffiness, and it was good fun)

The battle of evernight / by Dart-Thornton, Cecilia.
(Third book of the Bitterbynde trilogy. I found the ending exceptionally trying, although I can't say I was altogether surprised, but once the trilogy gets up and running it's gripping -- although my favourite part of the whole business was the sheer number of English, Scottish, Irish and Manx legends she manages to work in.)

The double helix; a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA / by Watson, James D., 1928-
(Read in the interests of balance after finishing Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA. My, he was a brat. But he admits it, and I do kind of admire his warts-and-all portrait of absolutely everyone including himself -- hard to believe this was the softened version! And the epilogue was generous towards her. All that aside, it was certainly a hell of a story.)

The house of the spirits / by Allende, Isabel
(not started yet)

Letters to a young activist / by Gitlin, Todd.
(ditto)

The mold in Dr. Florey's coat : how penicillin began the age of miracle cures / by Lax, Eric.
(ditto -- it's been reviewed favourably in JAMA and NEJM and I thought I'd give it a go)

My side of the mountain / by George, Jean Craighead, 1919-
(ditto -- recced by officemate Katherine)

Portnoy's complaint / by Roth, Philip.
(ditto -- borrowed after reading reviews of his latest book and realizing that I'd never read anything by him)

Prescription for excellence : how innovation is saving Canada's health care system / by Rachlis, Michael.
(Inspiring as hell. I need to do broader reading on the topic but it's great to read someone who doesn't hold by any of the Three Great Mutually Exclusive Received Truths of Canadian Medicare: it's too expensive, it's starved of money, and the whole thing's fatally flawed and we should scrap it and go to a nice private system. I do recommend it most heartily to anyone who's interested in the topic.)

Scandal takes a holiday / by Davis, Lindsey.
(Aaah, Falco and Helena and the gang at the seaside.)

Strong medicine : how to save Canada's health care system / by Rachlis, Michael and Carol Kushner.
(Similar stuff to Prescription for Excellence, but older.)

Walden / by Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862.
(Barely started. I do intellectually appreciate his injunction to mistrust any enterprise that requires new clothes, but I like new clothes. However. I'm going to enjoy Henry David.)

Requested items ready for pickup:
The fields of praise / by Leitch, Patricia.

Mexico / Lonely Planet
(I need to read up.)

Stupid, stupid rat-tails : the adventures of Big Johnson Bone, frontier hero / by Sniegoski, Tom.
(It's necessary!)

What's holding you back ? : 8 critical choices for women's success / by Austin, Linda S., 1951-
(Forget why I ordered this now -- oh yes, it was an article in the Medical Post.)

Holds:
(numbers show how far down the list I am)

Beowulf : a new verse translation /
2 of 2
(The Seamus Heaney translation. Which I could perfectly well borrow from

crankygrrl, but I loves me the library.)

Brick lane : a novel / by Ali, Monica, 1967-
147 of 197

The corporation : the pathological pursuit of profit and power / by Bakan, Joel.
144 of 153

Dark age ahead / by Jacobs, Jane, 1916-
723 of 756
(I picked that one up off their bestseller list. It's obviously going to take some time to get to me.)

French relations / by Walker, Fiona, 1969-
4 of 4
(More fluff. Yes, I know. Shush.)

Going postal / by Pratchett, Terry.
83 of 109
(Which is going to take for bloody ever since it's still "in process", whatever that means.)

The grow home / by Friedman, Avi, 1952-
1 of 1

Hat full of sky / by Pratchett, Terry
41 of 69
(Which has now been "on order" or "in process" for two months now. Get it together, guys!)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell / by Clarke, Susanna
657 of 772
(Yeah, won't be seeing that one for a while...)

The lovely bones : a novel / by Sebold, Alice.
74 of 111
(Recced by Jen's friend Shannon. I'm still not sure I want to read it, but everyone seems to be, so I'll give it a go. Bizarrely, this one is now in transit to me -- I guess they have a whole hell of a lot of them.)

The plot against America / by Roth, Philip.
195 of 329

Rose / by Smith, Jeff, 1960-
1 of 2
(I'm actually pretty sure I have the original comics somewhere, but that's not so very helpful.)

A scholar of magics / by Stevermer, Caroline.
3 of 9
(I have been waiting for this one for TWO MONTHS. Jeez. They only have 8 copies in the system -- 9 if you count the one in the Merrill Collection that doesn't circulate. But my time will come.)

Ooooh. Speaking of the above, just did a search for The Grand Tour and there's just the one copy (finally!), also in the Merrill Collection. I DON'T CARE IF THE GIRL IN BAKKA SAID IT WASN'T VERY GOOD, I WANT TO READ IT, DAMMIT! Ahem.

Yeah, so that's my immediate reading list. Not counting all the stuff of

crankygrrl's that I've been plundering while looking after her apartment. I am, let us say, in book heaven.

*I don't mean that literally, Montreal. It's just that libraries in Montreal always seemed to go out of their way to hide themselves. Also, they're not wildly Anglo-friendly. Also, they have about 3 million items vs. Toronto's 11 million. I could go on.