Recovering from a cold with a book haul or two

Like many a book lover, nothing will stop me from getting the book I want and that includes a bout of inclement weather that leads to a nasty head cold.

Some things are worth a little inconvenience,although I could do without the congestion.

Anyway, my main reason for making this latest library haul was to pick up a copy of Cheryl Strayed's Wild that was on hold for me. Yes, I know this book has been out for quite some time now(long enough to be adapted into a Reese Witherspoon movie and a plot point on Gilmore Girls:AYITL) but it feels like the right time for me to check it out.

Even with it's popular success, opinions are varied about this memoir in which Strayed chronicles her trek on the Pacific Crest Trail, a thousand mile journey that seasoned hikers consider daunting. As a means to clear her mind upon the death of her mother and other personal issues, that trip does sound a bit much yet if you think of it as a spirit quest of sorts(don't know if Strayed felt that way,just my own notion), this is certainly the physical and emotional challenge to take there.

I haven't seen the movie and will probably wait until I finish the book to watch it. I'm sure it's a fine adaptation but like Lorelai Gilmore, I'm a book person first,so it'll be better to experience Wild that way in the beginning:

Since I already had another library book on renewal(Lilac Girls) at home, Wild got paired up with Falling by Jane Green. I've been reading plenty of mystery/thriller lit lately and need something a touch lighter to sooth my spirits.

Falling's leading lady is Emma, an English woman who jumped the pond in order to pursue a high profile career in Manhattan. She makes another jump into a new life in Westport,CT, by choosing a beach rental house as the start of her home improvement business.

Fortunately for her, new neighbor Dominic happens to be eager to assist in rebuilding the house and interested in a little romance as well. Emma is drawn to him but resistant for many years, including not wanting to interfere with Dominic's tentative bond with his son Jesse. However, love may be able to smooth over those potential rough spots.

With Valentine's Day coming up, this sounds like a nice,relaxing read and Green does know her way around a solid romantic story structure. Yep, this definitely is the type of book to curl up with a warm cup of tea by:

Of course, a library trip is not enough to console my seasonal cold ridden self, which lead to buying a few literary items online.

Part of my current reading joy these days has been Melanie Benjamin's The Girls in the Picture, about the long term bond between movie queen Mary Pickford and ground breaking screenwriter/director Frances Marion. It's a smartly written and timely novel that really brings old school Hollywood to life.

Naturally, upon realizing that I have a new author's work to explore, I needed to own another one of her books and chose The Swans of Fifth Avenue as my next stop into Benjamin country. The swans in the title refer to a group of high society ladies in New York during the 1950s and 60s, lead by queen bee Babe Paley. Her preferred escort was Truman Capote, who eagerly took part in their social scene and exchanged many a confidence among this superficial circle of friends.

However, it was Paley who took the heat when Truman publishes a thinly veiled version of a hushed up scandal as a magazine story, causing several rifts and matters of trust to be shattered. This slice of socialite pie certainly does sound appetizing and more juicy than any dessert should be:

Also, this was a good opportunity to add another Miss Marple book to my small Agatha Christie collection and I went with The Body in the Library.

I've only read this story once,back in 2012 to be exact(thank you,Goodreads, for that date!) and even seen a TV adaptation of it. The plot is simple enough yet quite challenging as Miss Marple's dear friend Dolly Bantry is anxious to discover just how the dead body of an unknown young woman wound up in her home library.

The solution is not hard to reach at first but it's only the start of a greater mystery to be unfolded. This promises to make for an excellent reread(perhaps during Spring Into Horror this April?) and the stylish book lined cover art makes this ideal as a gift to reopen again and again:

Well, hopefully this cold will have run it's full course before the end of the week and I can relax with my books a bit more. It helps to think about the warm weather to come in the spring, along with a special new PBS series called The Great American Read. Now that's going to cause many new trips to the library and not just for me!: