Library Loot: 4th of July Edition

By maphead on July 4, 2024

While many of my fellow Americans celebrate our nation's independence by watching parades, attending a friendly cook-out or maiming themselves with small explosives I'll be doing a little reading. Who knows, I might even crack open one of these promising library books I borrowed earlier in the week. As always, even though I'm up to my eyeballs in library books I couldn't resist borrowing a few more. So crank up the patriotic music, fire up the grill, pour yourself an adult beverage and read a good book. May those screams you hear after every explosion be celebratory shouts of joy and not painful cries of the newly dismembered.

The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China by David Eimer (2014) - A few weeks ago I mentioned one of my goals for 2024 was to read more books about China.
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (2020) - A library staff recommendation, I'm hoping to read this one for both Rose City Reader's European Reading and Introverted Reader's Books in Translation Reading Challenge.
The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason (2017) - Last year I had good luck with Indridason's Operation Napoleon. Translated from Icelandic, I'm hoping to apply this novel as well to the two above mentioned reading challenges.
The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition and America's Ill-Fated Race to Connect the Seas by Todd Balf (2003) - For some strange reason I've always been fascinated by this rugged, isolated and darn near impassable region shared by Colombia and Panama. The only land link between Central and South America and completely devoid of roads and railways today countless refugees and migrants nevertheless attempt to cross the Darién Gap on foot in hopes of making it to the US despite the dangers. Hopefully one of several books on the Darién Gap I'll be featuring on this book and yet another library staff recommendation.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading to encourage bloggers to share the books they've checked out from the library. If you'd like to participate, just write-up your post, steal the Library Loot icon and link your post using the Mr. Linky on Sharlene's Blog.