Another week, another Currently Checked Out post! These are the library books and resources that I’ve checked out and used between Nov. 15th – 22nd.
A wee bit of housekeeping is in order though! I’ve decided to sign up for Bookshop.org’s affiliate program meaning that I get a 10% commission of any books purchased using my links. I do understand that not everyone has a library system/s that is as well funded, stocked, and accessible as I do. I am truly fortunate in that regard. I decided to sign up for Bookshop’s affiliate program because it’s their mission to financially support local, independent bookstores in the United States. Not only will I get a 10% commission, but they’ll also donate a matching 10% to independent bookstores. They even have a map that helps you find bookstores near you!
I’m still a library girl though through and through and I will always promote library services first and foremost in the spaces I take up digitally! Now let’s get into what I currently have checked out from the library!
The Books
The Good House by Tananarive Due
Synopsis via Bookshop
Checked out from: MARINet
Green Apple Books $28.99 N/A | Books Inc. $28.99 N/A| Amazon $23.93 ✔︎
Inspired after reading “Ring Shout” by P. Djèlí Clark, I decided to see what other Black horror authors are out there. After doing a Google search, because hey, Google is free, I found this blog post titled “20 Great Horror Books by Black Authors” by Stephanie Malone and figured that would be a good place to start. This novel was one of the first one’s to jump out at me and I instantly requested it from the library.
From my understanding, “The Good House” is about a woman named Angela who returns to her once beloved family home two years after her son died there. Apparently there’s a terrifying entity, senseless calamities, and a potential curse that might have been put in place by Angela’s grandmother. I haven’t read a haunted house story in forever so I’m looking forward to look this.
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Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Synopsis via Bookshop
Checked out from: SFPL
Green Apple Books $12.99 N/A | Books Inc. $12.99 N/A| Amazon $12.05 ✔︎
I actually checked this one out a week or two ago but completely forgot about it! This is yet another result from my novella keyword search a few works ago. I can’t exactly recall what drew me to this one but looking at the subject/genre headings for it I suppose it sounds interesting, if not incredibly outside my usual reading tastes. It’s tagged as belonging to either the science fiction or fantasy genres and is apparently about intelligence officers and cults. The synopsis mentions a dude named Signalman who is trying to find information about an event that happened a week ago, a cult that’s gathering up the weak and susceptible (to what I wonder?) and NASA. I’m nervous about this one because science-fiction is one of those genres that I always find myself deeply confused it, but hopefully since this is a novella I’ll be ok.
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Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer
Synopsis via Bookshop
Checked out from: SFPL
Green Apple Books $18.69 N/A | Books Inc. $16.99 ✔︎ | Amazon $13.49
Another book that I know I checked out a while ago but somehow it just never got to make it’s appearance in my last two Currently Checked Out posts! I have absolutely no recollection of why I requested this, but it does seem like something I would request on a whim. It’s set in Victorian London and features a a dangerous underground cult, fencing, and a secret society dedicated to eradicating demons. It also appears to be the first book in a series so maybe I was in the mood to start a series when I requested it? Anywho, it does sounds kinda interesting.
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The eBooks
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
Synopsis via Bookshop
Checked out from: SFPL (Hoopla)
Green Apple Books $16.95 ✔︎ || Books Inc. $16.95 | Amazon $11.78
Since I’ve maxed out my holds list at SFPL and the wait for a physical copy is insane through MARINet (at the time of writing this there are 24 holds on 1 copy), I decided to get over my eBook fatigue and check it from Hoopla via SFPL. “Queen’s Gambit” is about a girl named Beth Harmon who becomes an orphan at 8 years old and is placed in an orphanage where she learns that she is a chess genius. The story follows her as she competes in tougher and tougher chess tournaments and battles with her addiction to the tranquilizers that the orphanage was pumping in the kids.
I recently finished watching the Netflix limited series based off this novel and I loved it. I’m excited to see what the differences are between the book and the show, and to see if there is one that I prefer over the other.
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Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV
Synopsis via Bookshop
Checked out from: SFPL (Hoopla)
Green Apple Books $14.99 N/A | Books Inc. $14.99 N/A | Amazon $13.41 ✔︎
Of course, I couldn’t help but check and see what comics and graphic novels are currently on Hoopla as well. I’ve been meaning to get around to this one for a while but I was so sick of reading digitally that I just couldn’t bring myself to check it out. However, I’m slowly getting over the aversion and I’m looking forward to reading this! It’s about a small town where the children are disappearing, most don’t come back and the few that do have horrible stories about monsters. Enter a mysterious stranger named Erica Slaughter who comes into town, believes the children, and gets to work killing the monsters.
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The Digital Resources
The New York Times
Basic Subscription – Billed at $4/month
(I’m not counting this one in the total because I counted it last week & technically if I had paid for the subscription it would be still be good this week!)
I’m still trying to get into the reading the news! I re-upped my 3-day access to the NY Times that I get through SFPL but I honestly did not pay that much attention to the “news news” but instead read a bunch of random other articles, which was nice. My favorite of the week was “It Was Hard Not to Eavesdrop on the Two Men at the Next Table” from the Metropolitan Diary column (is that what it’s called??). It a series of diary-like entries from people living in New York and I loved how simple but interesting they were. It made me want to start writing a super simple diary – want is the key word.
How Much $$$ Did I Save?
With San Francisco sales tax (8.5%) factored in the total amount of money I saved is $90.41
Amazon = $53.59 (59%)
Green Apple Books = $18.39 (20%)
Books Inc. = $18.43 (20%)
& if I break it down by library
SFPL = $64.38 (71%)
MARINet = $26.03 (29%)
I’m Curious…
What do you currently have checked out from you local library? And if you don’t have anything checked out, what are you currently reading?
Bonus Question: What’s your favorite genre?
Let me know in the comments!
Cheers,
Rae Of Books 