Library Loot ~ April 4-10

Hattie and the Wild Waves: A Story from Brooklyn ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1990, children's

Based on the life of the author's mother, a young girl from Brooklyn enjoys her summer at the beach where she can paint and listen to the wild waves.

Island Boy ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1988, children's

Matthais, the youngest son in a family of twelve children, grows from a little boy to a grandfather on the small Tibbetts Island out in the bay.

Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1982, children's

Great-aunt Alice Rumphius was once a little girl who loved the sea, longed to visit faraway places, and wished to do something to make the world more beautiful.

Kali's Song ~ by Jeanette Winter, 2012, children's

Thousands and thousands of years ago, a young boy gets his first hunting bow and learns to shoot, but he prefers to use the bow to make music.

Before I Go to Sleep ~ by S. J. Watson, 2011, fiction, 9/10

Memories define us.  So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?  Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love — all forgotten overnight.  And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story.  Welcome to Christine’s life.

Because my mother had Alzheimer's, I have spent a lot of time thinking about memory.  My first-grade teacher told my mother I had a photographic memory, but that isn't true.  I did have a very good memory and memorized whole picture books, but that's because I loved stories and because I paid attention and because I probably had my parents read the stories over and over and over to me.  I really hate it, these days, when I can't put my finger on a name or a word I want to use.  Sometimes, even simple words.  It scares me, wondering if this is an early sign of Alzheimer's or simply old age catching up with me.  I like to think maybe it's as simple as having 72 years of memories that I have to sort through to come up with that single word I'm trying to find.

Anyhow, I'm trying to read twice as many books from my own shelves as I read from the library, so there's only one adult book from the library this week (I'm not counting children's books in this reading challenge).  Since this book by S. J. Watson wasn't originally on my list for the 2012 Spring Reading Thing, that means I'll have to read a couple of extra books to "make up" for checking out this one.  But it was worth it.  As you can see, I've already finished the book and rated it 9 of 10 because it's an excellent book.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share titles of books they’ve checked out of the library. To participate, just add your post to their Mister Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries this week.