March Book Haul

It's becoming a recurring habit to post my book hauls half way into the next month, but what can I say, I'm easily distracted and swift to procrastinate. I was expecting this to be an extremely small bookhaul, like one or two books, but somehow I ended up acquiring 9 books in the month of March.

Part I: Books I Bought/Gifts/Won

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

The first book to make its way into my possession is none other than my most anticipated book of the year Lady Midnight. I am still in awe of the beauty of this, both inside and out. This book already stands as my favorite book of 2016, if you want to know more of my thoughts I have a full non-spoiler and spoiler review here. I also created some Dark Artifices playlists that I listened to as I read, which you can check out here.

 

A History of Notable Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare and Cassandra Jean

The next book is one of the most beautiful to have graced my life that my lovely friend gifted me for my birthday. A History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of the Downworld by Cassandra Clare and Cassandra Jean, is a book that contains beautiful illustrations of various important shadowhunters and downworlders told in the language of flowers, and beside each photo contains a short bio about each of them. I have already started flipping through it and the illustrations are so gorgeous and there are so many little facts about characters that I did not know about. This is a must have for any fellow TMI/TID/TDA trash like me. ☺☺☺

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This book I'm pretty sure I won this in a giveaway I entered awhile back. The main reason I entered was because it has the word library in the title like c'mon how can that not interest me. All I know is that it takes place in underground London and the characters have to retrieve a dangerous book, and its full of libraries and secret societies and honestly it was making me think of The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, which you know I love. More like hopelessly obsessed enough to name my twitter after a fictional character. I'm hoping that it does have some magic involved and the synopsis also slightly reminds me of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Part II: Review Books

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood

This is a book that I'm really excited to get to. A Tyranny of Petticoats is a 15 story anthology all about belles, bank-robbers, and other badass girls. Some contributing authors include, Marissa Meyer, Marie Lu, Beth Revis, Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Kekla Magoon and many more. There's so much diversity in this anthology and was perfect to receive during Women's History Month. I'll definitely have to get to this soon.

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Gutsy Girl by Carolina Paul

Gutsy Girl is a more unconventional type of book to come my way. In this book, Carolina Paul speaks about her adventurous escapades, and also those of other girls throughout history and offers insight on confidence and self-positivity. Throughout there are cute illustrations and even places to journal your own thoughts. Another excellent book to be received during Women's History Month. I can't wait to set out on my own adventures and catalog them as I go.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

When We Collided by Emery Lord

A rare contemporary finds it's way into my possession. When We Collided is actually a book I managed to finish in the same month that I received it. It was actually refreshing to read a contemporary after bombarding myself in fantasy novels. I wrote a full review on my thoughts here. And this book has already released so you should definitely check it out if you're a contemporary fan or enjoy any of Emery's previous books.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Another book I managed to complete in the same month I received it. Yes, I am quite proud of myself ☺ I also wrote full review on this here. I was quite surprised to have really enjoyed this novel, it definitely did not feel like a thriller at all, but I think that's what I liked about it. I'm really interested to see how they adapt this to film.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Desert Dark by Sonja Stone

I had requested an arc from the lovely people at Holiday House publishing, but had not known that the arcs weren't out yet. So in turn they sent me one of their finished books while I waited. From what I can gather from this novel, is that our main character is sent off to a government funded boarding school in the desert only to discover it’s a covert CIA program training high-achieving students for the Black Ops. Anything about spies or heists always intrigue me. This slightly reminds me of the Gallagher series by Ally Carter, which I have yet to finish, but also Heist Society trilogy by her, which I also loved.

Publisher: Holiday House

Have you acquired any exciting books this month?

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

January Book Haul

New Year...new books!! I thought my book accumulation would have calm down at the start of 2016, but it seems to only have gotten worse. I accumulated 18 books in the month of January, 2 which are not pictured because I am forgetful. I'm going to be splitting them up in two parts the first being books I bought and the second half being review books/books sent by publshers:

Part One: Books I Bought

1. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I actually bought this on New Year's Day because I have no chill when it comes to book buying. I was perusing through various thriftstores when I happened upon a perfect copy of Poison Study for only 50 cents, so of course I had to snatch it up, this has been a book on my tbr for so long and heard really good things about this trilogy and its prequel.

2. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

I am so in love with these Barnes and Nobles paperback classics, not only are they pretty and inexpensive I can find them every at thriftstore and used bookstore which equates to even more savings. I picked up Treasure Island and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for only $1 each and it was certainly the highlight of my day. This year I definitely want to delve into more classics. I already own an illustrated edition of Treasure Island and am so glad to add this beautiful copy to my collection.

4. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

If you didn't know already you might soon realize that I love venturing to thriftstores to find some really great deals on books and this was no exception. After City of Heavenly Fire released and I concluded with the Mortal Instruments series, I wanted to collected the entire series as a whole so I can one day reread. I knew I had no desire to reread it anytime soon so I decided to just buy them secondhand whenever I see a good price for them whether instore or online. I was very excited to buy this for only 50 cents, It's in such good condition and I knew I had to buy it because I rarely see the third book in secondhand shops anywhere. I now have all the books in this series besides City of Ashes, which I'm eagerly awaiting to get my hands on.

5 & 6. Theft of Swords and Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan

Looking around on my shelves I've come to realize that as a fantasy lover I am really lacking in adult high fantasy. I recently created a fantasy tbr jar to help me pick and vary the fantasy books I read. This is definitely one on the near top of my list. All I know is that it follows two thieves, who are on the run after they are framed for the murder of the king. That's all I need to know to get me interested before buy these on Amazon. I've heard really fantastic things about the writing and atmosphere that Michael J, Sullivan creates, so I'm prepared to sit down and indulge in these lengthy books.

Part Two: Review Books

7. Fantastic Cities by Steve McDonald

I've been meaning to find out about all this adult coloring book craze, but have to admit I wasn't really interested in coloring botanical images. Fantastic Cities is a gorgeous adult coloring book filled with numerous illustrated images of cities real and imagined. I have already started coloring in this and I'm in love with these illustrations. It's so convenient when you want to listen to an audiobook/podcast and can color at the same time.

Publisher: Chronicle Books

8. Silver In the Blood by Jessica Day George

Forever in love with this stunning cover. Silver in the Blood is the story about two cousins who are sent to Romania to learn a terrifying family secret. The synopsis is pretty vague, but I think it's best to go into this book that way. I have recently read it and enjoyed for the most part with it's intrigue, mystery, and romance blended all into one. Review will be up soon.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

9-11. Alfred Kropp trilogy by Rick Yancey.

This trilogy consist of The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, The Seal of Solomon, The Thirteenth Skull. I will admit that I wanted to read this because it reminded me of Percy Jackson.  Alfred Kropp trying to survive high school somehow ends up with the legendary King Arthur sword and delivers it to the wrong hands. Also this is by Rick Yancey aka author of the 5th Wave trilogy, one of my favorite books. I really hope to experience the same lyrical writing that Rick has, but with a bit more humor.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

12. The History of the Rain by Niall Williams

As much as I love this cover, I'll will admit that I really love the hardcover version more:

Can't go wrong with books on a book cover!

Over time I've heard mixed things about this book. Some people absolutely love it and some people not at all. I also remember this being longlisted for the Man Book Prize. Synopsis:

Bedbound in her attic room beneath the falling rain, in the margin between this world and the next, Plain Ruth Swain is in search of her father. To find him, enfolded in the mystery of ancestors, Ruthie must first trace the jutting jaw lines, narrow faces and gleamy skin of the Swains from the restless Reverend Swain, her great-grandfather, to grandfather Abraham, to her father, Virgil - via pole-vaulting, leaping salmon, poetry and the three thousand, nine hundred and fifty eight books piled high beneath the two skylights in her room, beneath the rain.

The stories -- of her golden twin brother Aeney, their closeness even as he slips away; of their dogged pursuit of the Swains' Impossible Standard and forever falling just short; of the wild, rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland -- pour forth in Ruthie's still, small, strong, hopeful voice.

This synopsis alone has me looking forward to this. There's nothing I love more than books that really theme on literature and the importance of stories.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

13-17. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

The lovely team at Fierce Reads were kind enough to send me the Lunar Chronicles series as part of their series campaign. The Lunar Chronicles is definitely one of my top favorite series, full of action, adventure, stellar characters, and fairytale twists. I've already read all of these besides Winter which I'm beyond excited to get to in the near future.

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

18. Manhattan Mayhem edited by Mary Higgins Clark

Manhattan Mayhem is an mystery anthology by a plethora of talented writers who each tell a short story in various locations around Manhattan. I've already read and reviewed this book here.

Publisher: Quirk Books