February Book Haul

Another month has gone by and yet again, I've managed to accumulate more books, a total of 17. A small consolation is knowing that all the ones I bought were all used, and I was quite excited to find many of these titles in excellent condition. Again I'll split this haul into two parts: books that I bought/gifts and books for review.

Part I: Books I Bought/Gifts

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I was beyond excited upon finding The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This has been a book I've had my eye on for awhile, even more so due the amount of praise coming from the bookstagram community. All I know is that it is about a mysterious circus that pops up one day in the middle of the night. I can honestly stare at this gorgeous cover all day, and looking forward to all the mystery and intrigue that is bound to ensue.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I pretty much bought this book on a whim. For some weird reason I seem to be wanting to collect all of Gillian Flynn's books before I start them. I don't even know much about this book, besides the fact that it's a psychological thriller, but I really love going into those types of books blind.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I think this is the first time I've ever bought a double copy of something purposely. I saw this movie tie-in lying around the thrift-store for a couple of weeks now. I had thought about buying it numerous times, but never ended up actually doing it until now. I decided to just cave since it was so inexpensive, and this is one of the few movie covers I actually love. Not to mention that I'm pretty much shadowhunters obsessed so I'll buy anything related to it.

The Martian by Andy Weir

I actually received this book from one of my lovely friends who honestly didn't really much like this book, but knew how much I wanted to read it so she gave it to me. I'm still really looking forward toward this, especially since I also want to see the movie afterwards. This cover is gorgeous, but I do prefer the simplicity of the hardcover. Also, this cover reminds me of the Deja Entendu album cover by Brand New. I just think they compliment each other well.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Honestly thrift-stores have been treating me well with these Barnes and Nobles paperback classics, once you start actively looking for them, you can find them almost anywhere. I did find many, but I only want to collect ones that I have an actual interest in reading. So elated to find a copy of Jane Eyre, I was surprised to realize that I didn't already own it. After living through the abuse during her childhood, Jane Eyre grows into a young women and takes a job as a governess at the estate of Mr. Rochester and the two fall in love, until Jane unearths a terrible secret that he has been hiding. It's rare for me to pick up classics of this massive length, but I believe that consuming it slowly I will be able to take a lot from it.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Most likely one of my most exciting finds of the month. Keeping up with the paperback classics trend. I manage to purchase volume I & II of Sherlock Homes. Being a huge fan of the show and these books I knew I had to have them in this edition. I do own another edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but it only contains a handful of stories, which I very much so enjoyed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has a very distinct way of writing which makes me separate him from any other type of classic fiction I read. There's something almost modern about the way he writes, the dry whit, hidden meanings, and almost snarky and dark demeanor of Sherlock Holmes makes you almost want to hate him in these books, but you can't because he's cunningly clever and at the end of the stories you're smacking yourself on the head in a "how did I not see it, he made it so obvious" kind of way. I do prefer reading these stories at regular intervals rather than all at once so it might take awhile before I am able to say I completed it.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

Completing this mini haul of paperback classics is this beautiful edition of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. This was pretty much a blind grab. I came. I saw. I bought. This is actually a book that I have read before, though it was back in 8th grade when I had to read this for English class, and though the text was hard to get through at first I soon found myself really enthralled by this story. Prior to that all my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde knowledge came from the numerous adaptations I was obsessed with watching. It's going to be quite interesting to read this now years later and see how it compares and revive all that I have forgotten.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Usually this is the kind of book that would go unnoticed by me. I will admit that my main influence came from one of my favorite booktubers Whitney of whittynovels. She highly praised this book and called it one of her favorite books of the year, full of feminist ideals and being a classic was bound to pique my interest. This book is significantly short, only about a hundred pages or so, so this will definitely be one I get to soon.

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

I received this book in this month's The Bookly Box which is a bookish subscription box where you get choose a box based on genre and it sends you that book with the items pictured above. I have seen this book around for some time now, but checking upon goodreads reviews it seems that a majority seem to really enjoy this book, deeming it creepy and almost like a retelling of the Brothers Grimm.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

It's been a long time coming. I can finally say that I officially have all the Harry Potter books in my possession. I've been collecting these slowly over the years and I finally found copies of the last two books in good condition in just days of each other. I'm definitely planning to marathon these over the summer.

 Part II: Review Books

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

This was the first book to land on my doorstep in the beginning of the month. As you know I wasn't the hugest fan of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. While reading it I didn't feel wowed by much of the plot, it felt like any other ya fantasy I have previously read. It wasn't terrible, but just okay. I was still interest in continuing with the sequel Glass Sword, which recently released, though I've been hearing mixed things about this second book which makes me even more wary.

Publisher: Harper Teen

The Scarlet trilogy by A.C. Gaughen

Funny thing is that I have seen this book around, but never actually picked it up. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen is retelling of Robin Hood, where Will Scarlet, a member of Robin Hood's band of thieves is actually a girl in disguise. It's not too often that I read retellings, but I do indeed love Robin Hood so this should be interesting to dive into and see where the rest of the trilogy takes me.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

The Photographer's Wife by Suzanne Joinson

The Photographer's Wife takes place in 1920s Jerusalem following civic adviser and architect Charles Ashton who has an an ambitious project to redesign the Holy City by importing English parks to the desert and knocking down Ottoman minarets. He then employs William Harrington, a British pilot, to take aerial photographs of the city and surrounding desert and soon falls in love with his wife, Eleanora. It's going to be quite refreshing to read a book that takes place during the 20s that isn't set in New York City. I'm expecting not only romance, but also the political intrigue.

Publisher: Bloomsbury