I've had a couple of sneaky library trips over the last week and found some absolute gems. My local library never seem to have the book I'm after but I always find something I want to read when I'm browsing. Mostly, I've been finding books I've wanted to read for, like, yonks but never saw them in a bookstore or they slipped my mind. So, as much as it is a trifle annoying not to come out with the books I intended, I'm loving the somewhat serendipitous finds I have been coming home with.
First up is The Rime of the Modern Mariner, a graphic novel by Nick Hayes. I've been meaning to dip my toes into the whole graphic novel scene for a while now (Maus has been sat on my shelf unread for about six months). I've had a bit of a soft spot for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ever since I studied it in college (and then again at uni). Lines occasionally pop in to my head at the oddest moments and I always give a little squeal of delight whenever it floods and the newspapers use the inevitable 'water, water everywhere' as the headline. I gave an even bigger squeal recently when I heard Bastille's (my favourtist band EVER) song 'The Weight of Living' and there is a line that proves the singer has smarts as well as looks ('there's an albatross around your neck'...he has definitely read the Mariner, surely). Anyway, before I start serenading you all with literary quotes...The images in this are beautiful and I already love how it is a divorcee that is stopped by the Mariner instead of a wedding guest. Moving with the times. Expect gushing reviews. Next is James Fenton's poetry collection Yellow Tulips. I saw this reviewed somewhere when it was published and have fancied it ever since. Seeing as April is National Poetry Month, I can't imagine a better time to finally get around to reading these. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene is this month's book club read. I've never read anything by Greene and never felt the need to either so I'll be going into this with no expectations whatsoever. Finally, a book I was a little too excited to find is Nicola Barker's Burley Cross Postbox Theft. This is another book I added to a list of 'books to buy and read at some point' when it was published. I have a mini obsession with epistolary novels because I really love what the whole style can add to a story and I have a feeling this one will be pretty amusing as it is a take on village life. So I'm thinking it will be full of curtain twitchers, lovable or freaky spinsters, village meetings and a sense that everyone knows everything about everyone. I cannot wait. In case it was in any doubt, I definitely love the library now. SO MANY BOOKS.
