Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Hello! It’s Wednesday again! Don’t forget to link-up or comment below.

My hold for this just came in! It’s been ages since I’ve read a David Mitchell book. Can’t wait. I’m especially excited as it’s a music story! I’m always intrigued when the covers are so different. I believe the one on the left is the American cover, and the right is the British one. And I am more drawn to the British one, I love the colours, but not the font. I get that the American one is trying to reference a vinyl but it’s a bit meh for me. Maybe the colour scheme is too muted.

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967 and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, guitar demigod Jasper de Zoet, and blues bassist Dean Moss, Utopia Avenue released only two LPs during its brief, blazing journey from the clubs of Soho and drafty ballrooms to Top of the Pops and the cusp of chart success, and on to glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American fortnight in the autumn of 1968.

David Mitchell’s captivating new novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue; of riots in the streets and revolutions in the head; of drugs, thugs, madness, love, sex, death, art; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder. Can we change the world in turbulent times, or does the world change us?

The first book was a fun read. But I must say that I am not really a fan of covers with half-faces like that. The first book’s cover had the woman with her back to the photographer (also admittedly, I have issues with book covers that only show women’s backs…but that’s another story for another time). And while I am not a fan of women’s backs on covers, maybe they should have stuck to that and kept it constant.

Aurora Rising (Consortium Rebellion #2) – Jessie Mihalik

Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it.

After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return, her father sends Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security, to haul her home like a recalcitrant child.

Bianca leads Ian on a merry chase across the universe, but when their paths finally collide, she persuades him that they would be far more successful at finding her brother if they worked together. She will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

As clues lead them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely. . .

I first learnt of this book from Well-Read Black Girl and thought it sounded like a fun read. It was interesting to learn that it was first published in 1967. And it made me wonder, why didn’t I read Konigsburg’s books when I was a kid? I only read From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler a few years ago – which for some reason, I have the impression was because of Buried in Print?

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, WIlliam McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth – E.L. Konigsburg

Elizabeth is an only child, new in town, and the shortest kid in her class. She’s also pretty lonely, until she meets Jennifer. Jennifer is…well, different. She’s read Macbeth. She never wears jeans or shorts. She never says please or thank you. And she says she is a witch. It’s not always easy being friends with a witch, but it’s never boring. At first an apprentice and then a journeyman witch, Elizabeth learns to eat raw ends and how to cast small spells. And she and Jennifer collaborate on cooking up an ointment that will enable them to fly. That’s when a marvelous toad, Hilary Ezra, enters their lives. And that’s when trouble starts to brew.

What did you get from your library this week?

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