Library Loot ~ July 20-26

Here If You Need Me: A True Story ~ by Kate Braestrup, 2007, memoir (Maine), 10/10

Synopsis:  "Ten years ago, Kate Braestrup, her husband, Drew, and their four young children were enjoying a morning like any other. Then Drew, a Maine state trooper, left for work and everything changed. On the very roads that he patrolled each day, an oncoming driver lost control, and Kate lost her husband.  Stunned and grieving, Kate decided to pursue what had been her husband's dream and became a minister.  And soon she found a most unusual calling:  serving as chaplain for search-and-rescue missions in the Maine woods, giving comfort to people whose loved ones are missing — and to the wardens who sometimes have to deal with dreadful outcomes. Whether with parents whose six-year-old daughter has vanished into the woods, with wardens as they search for a snowmobiler trapped under the ice, or with a man whose sister left an infant seat and a suicide note in her car by the side of the road, Braestrup provides solace, understanding, and spiritual guidance when they're needed most."

I checked this book out at closing time (6 pm) Friday and had it read before I slept that night.  Yes, I read into the wee hours of the morning, but the book was that compelling to me.  Whenever I find a book I can't put down, I rate it 10 of 10, which I showed on Sunday in my Still reading ~ second half of the year post. 

The House on the Strand ~ by Daphne du Maurier, 1969, fiction

Synopsis:  "In this haunting tale, Daphne du Maurier takes a fresh approach to time travel.  A secret experimental concoction, once imbibed, allows you to return to the fourteenth century. There is only one catch:  if you happen to touch anyone while traveling in the past you will be thrust instantaneously to the present.  Magnus Lane, a University of London chemical researcher, asks his friend Richard Young and Young's family to stay at Kilmarth, an ancient house set in the wilds near the Cornish coast.  Here, Richard drinks a potion created by Magnus and finds himself at the same spot where he was moments earlier — though it is now the fourteenth century. The effects of the drink wear off after several hours, but it is wildly addictive, and Richard cannot resist traveling back and forth in time.  Gradually growing more involved in the lives of the early Cornish manor lords and their ladies, he finds the presence of his wife and stepsons a hindrance to his new-found experience.  Richard eventually finds emotional refuge with a beautiful woman of the past trapped in a loveless marriage, but when he attempts to intervene on her behalf the results are brutally terrifying for the present.  Echoing the great fantastic stories of H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, The House on the Strand is a masterful yarn of history, romance, horror, and suspense that will grip the reader until the last surprising twist."

Doesn't this sound interesting?  However, I've already tossed it into my car to return this morning because — ta-da! — I'm trying to move before the end of the month.  Remember I told you about the burglary at my house?  I'm moving closer to my children.  Therefore, I don't have time to read this now and it could easily get lost among the million books I'll be moving.  (Okay, okay, not quite a million, but if you are a bookie, you understand what I'm talking about.)  I'll have to remember to check this out again later or, as Marg says, "re-loot" this book.

The Good Husband ~ by Gail Godwin, 1994, fiction

Synopsis:  "As a young woman, the brilliant and eternally curious Magda Danvers took the academic world by storm.  Then, to everyone's surprise, she married Francis Lake, a mild, midwestern seminarian, who has devoted his life to taking care of his charismatic wife.  Now, Magda's grave illness puts their marriage to its ultimate test.  Though facing what she calls her 'Final Examination,' Magda continues to arouse her visitors with compelling thoughts and questions.  Into this provocative atmosphere comes Alice Henry, retreating from family tragedy and a crumbling marriage to novelist Hugo Henry.  But is it the incandescence of Magda's ideas that draws Alice or the secret of 'the good marriage' that she is desperate to discover?  Alice, Hugo, Francis, and Magda will learn that the most ideal relationship — even a perfect marriage — doesn't come without a price."

Another book to re-loot.  I read the book back in the 1990s, but I'm ready to read it again and, having no idea where my copy got to, I checked out the library's copy.  I think this one can wait a week or so, maybe even a month or so, until I get moved to my new place.  But I do plan to re-read this book.

Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Claire from The 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.  Claire has the Mister Linky this week, if you'd like to share a list of the loot you brought home.  You may submit your list any time during the week.