Library Loot: Mostly Mysteries – and BBC Audio

It’s time for Library Loot, where book bloggers share what they brought home from the library this past week.

I love going to the library, although these days, because I’ve been very efficiently using the library’s request holds system, I normally just pop in, grab my on hold books off the hold shelf, take a quick look at the “New” section and come right back home.

I kind of miss just wandering around, not having any goal except finding interesting-looking books. My work schedule will be much easier after the next two weeks, so I will probably be doing more treasure hunting at the library after then. But I did manage to get to the library for an afternoon of browsing this past week, as well as having some requested books come in.

My husband likes to say I’m the library’s biggest financial supporter; he bases this on the amount of library fines I’ve paid in all the time that he’s known me. I actually don’t feel embarrassed about the amounts anymore – not when people are getting charged $1 a day for overdue DVDs!

Here’s what I picked up from the library this past week:

Mystery: A Cure for All Diseases, by Reginald Hill. I actually borrowed this late last year, but wasn’t able to get around to reading it until it was due back. I couldn’t renew it because someone else had it on hold, so I requested it again. I love Dalziel and Pascoe, and have been wanting to read this one ever since finishing up Death Comes for the Fat Man early last year.

Contemporary fiction: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I put in a hold request for this a few months back – it’s a book that I probably would never have discovered if it weren’t for book blogs (I have a lot of books on my TBR and i-want lists that are a direct result of hanging around other book blogs). I’m looking forward to this one.

I only picked up two books this past week, but I took an afternoon to hit the shelves specifically in search of audiobooks. I dislike abridged versions of audiobooks, and will always opt for the unabridged version (or not get the audiobook at all if there is no unabridged version) but there’s an exception to this: BBC Radio Collection (BBC Audio) audiobooks!

These audiobooks are simply wonderful. There’s a full cast of characters, all with rich, plummy British accents, and lots of background sounds to get you right into the mood of the story. When you’re ready for something light and dramatic, but you don’t really want to watch a movie, these are extremely fun listens.

So far I’ve just been listening to mysteries from the collection, but there are audio presentations of lots of other kinds of novels too: see the selection here and here.

I picked up the following BBC Radio Collection audiobooks this past week:

Cover Her Face, by P.D. James, starring Robin Ellis, Siân Phillips, Beatie Edney and Hugh Grant. Yes, Hugh Grant! I don’t know if this is THE Hugh Grant (haven’t listened to the CDs yet), but anyway, this Hugh Grant plays the role of Felix, one of the major characters (not Dalgliesh, so he’s probably one of the main suspects).

Three Act Tragedy, by Agatha Christie, starring John Moffatt (as Hercule Poirot), George Cole, Michael Cochrane and Clive Merrison. I remember the plotline (but not who-done-it) so I know I’ve read this one before, but definitely not under this title (for a brief second there, I was quite ecstatic, thinking here was finally an Agatha Christie title I hadn’t read before).

Peril at End House, by Agatha Christie, starring John Moffatt (as Hercule Poirot, once again). No other actors are listed on the back, and there’s no little booklet inside, so I don’t know who plays the rest of the main characters. I have read Peril at End House numerous times, so I know that by midway I will have remembered who-done-it, but the dramatization will keep it interesting, I’m sure.

Lord Edgware Dies, by Agatha Christie, and starring, of course, John Moffatt as Poirot. Other actors include Simon Williams and Nicola Pagett.

Each of these audiobooks runs for about two hours or so, so they don’t require a huge investment of time. And have I mentioned how much fun they are?

What did you get from the library this past week? And have you tried the BBC Audio (BBC Radio Collection) audiobooks? What did you think of them?

Tweet

Related posts:

1. More Library Decadence
2. This Week’s Library Loot
3. Audiobook Review: Death in the Clouds, by Agatha Christie
4. Flash Reviews: The Agatha Christie Audiobook Edition, Part 1
5. An Embarrassment of Library Riches

Tagged as: Agatha Christie, Annie Barrows, audiobooks, BBC Audio, contemporary fiction, Library Loot, Mary Ann Shaffer, mysteries, PD James, Reginald Hill, to be read