Library loot is a weekly event hosted by Marg and new co-host Claire, and encourages bloggers to share books checked out from the library. Waiting for me on my hold shelf,

   

The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

Russia, 1910. Young Valentina Ivanova charms St Petersburg’s aristocracy with her classic Russian beauty and her talent as a pianist. She scandalises society when she begins a romance with Jens Friis, a Danish engineer. He brings to her life a passion and an intimacy she has never known. Unbending in their opposition, her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count. Valentina struggles for independence and to protect her young sister from the tumult sweeping the city, as Russia is bound for rebellion. The Tsar, the Duma and the Bolsheviks are at each other’s throats. Valentina is forced to make a choice that changes her life for ever …

Paul Is Undead by Alan Goldsher

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT’S TIME TO REALLY MEET THE BEATLES.

For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.

Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever. . .

😉 I know, I know I swore I’d never stoop so low as to read one of these mash up books, but after Julie’s review at Outlandish Dreaming I’ve decided I must read this.

Marianne by Juliette Benzoni

I love these long lost treasures. Took some hunting to find a cover online and not much in the way of product description. I believe it’s a five book series and the heroine is a spy/mistress of Napoleon. You can read a bit more on Benzoni here at Historical Tapestry. It is an Interlibrary Loan so I’ll have to get to it pretty quick. Shorter borrowing time and non-renewable.