The Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event that was created by Melanie at MNBernard Books, and Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile, and is now hosted by Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile, and Dani at Mousai Books. It was inspired by the 1961 classic song by Neil Sedaka and created to ignite fun bookish discussions among readers and bloggers.
So, just like the song, each month a new theme is chosen (participants will get to vote between two choices), and participating bloggers get to choose their favorite book within the theme, or the book they think best fits the theme, to talk about in a blog post on the first Monday of each month.
For today’s post, the theme and my selection are:
National Library Week:
Favorite Book You Discovered at the Library
WINNER:
Free Fall by JOyce Sweeney
Check out Free Fall on Goodreads
When the four boys enter the cave, they’re armed with some food and supplies and their innermost secrets and fears. Once they realize they’re lost, each moment is precious as they band together facing a cave that takes no prisoners.
This month’s theme was pretty tough since I honestly have not been to a library since my high school days. Over 15 years ago. The reason for that is mostly because I prefer reading in English, and most libraries in Belgium only have a limited English selection.
When I was a kid and in high school however, I LOVED the library. (Those were also the days when the internet was very new and I didn’t have it at home yet, so I also loved the library because I could use the internet for 30 minutes and look up pictures of Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ahem. Back to the point.) I discovered a lot of fun books, but most of those were Dutch books by Belgian/Dutch authors and which I can’t use for this post or they were the classics which were mandatory reading for school and I did not enjoy as much, hence are also not suited for this post.
But there is one library book I loved so much that I bought a copy for myself afterwards and still have that copy in my possession. I did read it in Dutch, but it was a translation from English. And that book is Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney. It’s a story about 4 boys entering a cave, thinking it’ll be a fun adventure for a day, but then they end up lost and can’t find their way out anymore. So it becomes a story of survival and in doing so, the boys talk and share secrets and there are lots of emotions. Basically, they grow closer together though their ordeal and I think it may be the first book that made me realize I’m a sucker for stories about friendship.
What’s your favorite book you discovered at a library?
I discovered Artemis Fowl at the library when I was 13 so obviously that was my favorite library discovery book. 😀
I always see you raving about Artemis Fowl, but I have to admit I didn’t know of them yet – Seems like I really missed out!
That sounds like a great book! I love just browsing the new release section and finding something I haven’t heard of!
It’s been a while since I read it, but it was my favorite as a teen for many, many years. It’s nice to be able to discover something entirely new sometimes, without hype or prior recommendations 🙂
I was about to be concerned about the whole not going to the library in 15 years, but having a preference to read in English, and the library not having a wide selection of books in English definitely explains your infrequent visits. Wow, I can honestly say that I have never even heard of this book. It sounds interesting. And yes, I love books about friendship. Great pick!
Haha yeah I understand! I really miss going to the library though so maybe I should consider reading some more in dutch again 🙂
[…] Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads – Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney […]
This one sounds really interesting, and very intense!
It’s been so long since I last read it, but it was definitely intense! A reread is in order 🙂
Oh, I love the public library. There was a period of time where I didn’t really go, but I went growing up and then once I started working at one. A book that I always think about though is Dovey Coe. That was a random book I read from the library as a kid, and I really loved it.
-Lauren
I really, really miss going to the library – I loved it so much as a kid. And you’re right, the books we discovered there and loved as a kid have a way of staying in our thoughts 🙂
[…] Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads – Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney […]