Autumn Haul

Well, this post has been a long time coming! I think the last book haul I posted must’ve been in July? Or maybe even earlier… In any case, I’ve been adding things to this list since August, when I broke my book-buying ban on a trip to Topping in Ely… But I’ve managed to be pretty good since then. 👍 (The library has been my friend.) These are the books I bought from August to October:

1) The Art of Fire Emblem: Awakening. A book that’s pretty self-explanatory… Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of my favourite games, and I really loved all the art in it, so I was very happy to find this at Topping, despite the pain I felt in the general vicinity of my wallet (at the total price of everything I bought there, rather than just the price of this book, which wasn’t unreasonable for an art book of this size)…

2) The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan. Another treat to myself from Topping. I was actually debating between getting this or History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera, but I came down on the side of The Dark Prophecy because they had signed copies. The second book in the Trials of Apollo series, set in the Percy Jackson universe but focusing on the god Apollo who’s been turned into a mortal teenager. This isn’t my favourite of the Percy Jackson-verse series’, but I had a lot of fun with The Hidden Oracle, and I’m sure that I’ll enjoy this one, too.

3) On the Pleasure of Hating by William Hazlitt, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill & The Rights of Man by H.G. Wells. The last three books from my splurge in Ely, all of which are indulgences of my (kind of) recent obsession with civil rights… The first two books are part of the Penguin Great Ideas series, which I’m tempted to start collecting (they’re really nice editions), despite the fact that not all of them appeal to me content-wise. 😓 I read On the Pleasure of Hating back in October, but have yet to start on the other two.

4) The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s Punishment & Beauty’s Release by Anne Rice. The entire original Sleeping Beauty trilogy (though I believe another sequel was written not long ago). Not pictured, because I couldn’t bring myself to remove them from my “get-rid-of-ASAP” pile. I read (and had way too many thoughts about) the first book in September, and it was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever come across. Which is saying a lot… I was hesitantly considering reading the other two out of morbid curiosity, but decided on further refection that sticking needles in my eyes would be a better use of my time. 😑

5) La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. The first volume of The Book of Dust, which is a companion series to His Dark Materials, one of my favourite trilogies of all time. I haven’t managed to start this book yet due to way too many other time commitments, but I’m hoping it’ll be one of the first things I read in 2018. 😆

6) Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot. The follow-up to the Princess Diaries series, which follows a grown-up Mia dealing with the stress of her royal duties and all the personal drama that always seems to follow her around. I started reading this the night before last, and it’s been great fun so far, getting back into Mia’s head, but with a slightly (only very slightly) more mature spin on things. I had a grin on my face the whole time I was reading. 😁 Review to come soon.

7) A History of Magic. The catalogue for the exhibition that’s currently on at the British Library, which is about Harry Potter and occult history. I wrote a whole post about the exhibition just the other day, but in short, it was really fascinating, and this catalogue is basically the exhibition in book form -though, of course, it’s different seeing the exhibits in the flesh (as it were) than in pictures. A wonderful book that I will be perusing often now that I’ve recovered it from my mother. 😋

May-July Haul

My book-buying ban has somewhat derailed, I’m afraid, but at the end of last month it was still going strong, and so I only have seven books to show you in this post, several of which were gifts, and all but one of which I have already read (incredibly. I’ve never known myself to read things so promptly after buying/receiving them!). In any case, here they are:

1) Geekerella by Ashley Poston. A super-cute love story between die-hard fans of Starfield, a fictional Star Trek-esque TV show, which jumped straight to the top of my to-buy list almost as soon as I discovered that it existed. 💕 I’ve already read this book, and you can find my review of it here.

2) We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. An essay about why feminism is (or should be) important to everyone. This book was a gift from my friend Grace, who just so happened to have a spare copy lying around, and kindly offered it to me when I off-handedly mentioned that I’d been meaning to read it for a while… 😁 I didn’t write a full review for this one, but you can find my thoughts on it in my June wrap-up.

3) Bee & Puppycat, Volume 1 by Natasha Allegri & Garrett Jackson. A cute comic book about a girl and her alien/cat/puppy flatmate, doing bizarre temp jobs. I bought this on a whim when it appeared at the second-hand bookshop where I work, entirely due to the cuteness of the art and Natasha Allegri’s name on the cover… And although I liked the book, it’s not a series that I think I’ll be continuing with. ☹️ Not pictured because I re-donated it a few days ago; my review is here.

4) The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts. A beautiful and amazing book of art from the Legend of Zelda series, which was a birthday present from my best friend Chloë (who also gave me Hyrule Historia – which Art & Artifacts accompanies – for Christmas last year!). As it’s an art book, it’s not really the kind of thing to be read cover-to-cover, but I have spent a significant amount of time staring at it, and can confirm that it is a thing of wonder. 😍

5) Now I Rise by Kiersten White. The sequel to And I Darken, which is about a young Vlad the Impaler, had he been born a woman. This is the only book on this list that I haven’t finished reading yet (I’m currently about a quarter of the way through it, but I keep getting distracted by life – and readathons), but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far, & I hope to get round to continuing it soon. I really can’t recommend this series enough. 😊

6) Once & for All by Sarah Dessen. The latest of Dessen’s teen romances, which I bought – along with Now I Rise, as they were both on buy-one-get-one-half-price at Waterstones – right before going on holiday to Skye. I was actually intending to finish this book before I left, but didn’t quite make it, and so it came with me on my trip, and was very much enjoyed. 😋 Not my favourite of Dessen’s books, but an amazing read nonetheless… you can find my review here.

7) Calum’s Road by Roger Hutchinson. The last book I acquired in July was a birthday present from my sister Helen, the biography of a man called Calum MacLeod, who build a two-mile road between Brochel Castle and South Arnish in Raasay, with only a wheelbarrow, shovel, pickaxe, and his own two hands. Biographies are not usually my thing, but this was an incredible story – which I’ve reviewed here. (Also not in the picture, because I lent it back to Heli to read almost as soon as I’d finished it myself, but this is definitely a book I’ll be keeping. 👍)

February – April Haul

Good news, everyone: My book-buying ban (/restriction) is going super-well! So I only have five new books to show you even though it’s been three months since my last haul (one of which was a gift, so I’ve only actually bought four). 😀 They are:

1) Starfall by Melissa Landers. The sequel to Starflight (and final book in the duology), an epic space-pirate adventure that I read around this time last year. This book will focus on two of my favourite supporting characters – Cassie and Kane – from its predecessor, and will hopefully be just as amazing (if not more so).

2) Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer. A re-telling of Pride & Prejudice from Darcy’s perspective, which I picked up on a whim in March, and read pretty much immediately. I wasn’t expecting much more than a few hours of fun from this book, but it actually turned out to be surprisingly well-written, as well. 🙂 (I doubt I’ll be holding onto it for long, though.)

3) The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski. The penultimate book in the Witcher series, which I’ve been obsessing over since late last year – and definitely one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. I’m dying to know what happens next, but am also resolved not to read The Lady of the Lake until it’s available in paperback… so this year is looking to be a particularly suspenseful one in Witcher-land. 😉

4) The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke. A standalone novel that follows a girl called Cat Novak through her life, and in particular her unusual relationship with Finn, an android whom her father programmed to act as her tutor when she was young. This is a book that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time, but it turned out to be not at all what I was expecting – in the best possible sense. 🙂 I’ve written a proper review of this book, which you can find here. (And many thanks to my aunt, Lucy, who gave me this book as a belated Christmas present!)

5) Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. This last book I just bought a couple of days ago, and I don’t actually know all that much about it, but the blurb sounded rather Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell-y in premise (a court sorcerer who travels to Fairyland in order to find out why magic has started to disappear)… though of course Sorcerer to the Crown is considerably less dense (as is the case with most books). It’s the first book in the new Sorcerer Royal series, and I’m looking forward to reading it soon!

January Haul

It feels like it’s been a while since I obtained enough books in a single month to justify writing a dedicated haul, but I just about made it in January. And, amazingly, I still haven’t broken my book-buying ban! (I’m allowing myself to buy one book for every five that I read, but that doesn’t include gifts, and I had a couple of book-credits saved up before Christmas, so…) I have four books to show you this time, & I’m super-excited about them all; let me know if you’ve read any of them!

1) The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg. A graphic novel set in the same universe as The Encyclopedia of Early Earth – probably my favourite graphic novel of all time! XD I read this as soon as I got hold of it, so you can find all my thoughts on it in last month’s wrap-up, but in short, Greenberg’s work is as beautiful and charming as ever.

2) My Ideal Bookshelf. A collection of bookshelves, put together by a variety of people from different walks of life (most of whom I haven’t heard of, though I am familiar with a few of them), made up of the books that shaped their lives. Each section is about a page long, and is accompanied by a hand drawn picture (by Jane Mount) of the books they picked. The collection is edited by Thessaly La Force.

3) Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes. The first book in a series of the same name, which is set in a world where every child grows up with a creature called a darkbeast magically bound to them, which takes in all the darkness inside them before being ritually killed. I’d never heard of either the series or the author before stumbling across this book, but the concept sounds super-interesting, and it was blurbed by Tamora Pierce (my favourite author!), so my expectations are reasonably high. 🙂

4) The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman. The sequel to The Dark Days Club, one of my favourite books from last year! My sister pre-ordered me this as a Christmas present, and I picked it up as soon as it arrived on my doorstep; so far, it’s definitely living up to its predecessor! 😀

November & December Haul

I’ve divided this post into two sections; the first for books that I bought myself, and the second for books that were Christmas presents. That second section, by the way, is almost twice as long as the first, because (amazingly) my book-buying ban (or “book-buying restriction”; I’m allowing myself to buy one book for every five that I read) is going really well at the moment! 😀 Anyway, here’s what I bought in the last two months:

1) Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. The sequel to Illuminae, which I spent the whole of 2016 eagerly anticipating. This is another deep-space survival story told through IM transcripts and data logs and the like, but featuring two new protagonists – Hanna and Nik – and showing another aspect of the Kerenza incident that was documented in Illuminae. I read this book in December, so you can find my thoughts about it in my wrap-up for that month.

2) The World’s Best Street Food by Lonely Planet. Something in-between a cookbook and a guide book, this book was one of the books we had in our new products range at Oxfam this year, so I made sure to snap one up before they all sold out. I haven’t tried out any of the recipes yet, but the pictures are really beautiful, and I love that it includes information about the countries where all these interesting recipes come from.

3) The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon. A re-telling of the tale of Hel, the Norse goddess of death, and Queen of the Underworld. I won’t lie, I mainly picked this book up because it had a really beautiful cover… but it also had an interesting premise. I read this book in December, too, so I’ve talked about it in the same post as Gemina, but I’m also hoping to post a full review of it in the not-so-distant future.

4) The Graces by Laure Eve. A Twilight-esque, but (deliberately) super-creepy story about a teenage girl who moves to a new town, and becomes caught up in the town’s fascination with a local family called the Graces – who are rumoured to be witches. Look out for a mini-review of this book soon, as I finished reading it a few days ago, and have a lot to say.

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These next few books were Christmas presents from various (wonderful) friends and relatives! People don’t often give me books as presents, as it’s difficult to find things that I’ll definitely be interested in, but don’t already have, but everyone seemed to anticipate me really well this time around! I haven’t read any of these quite yet, but I’m super-excited for them all. XD

1) The Dark Volume by G.W. Dahlquist. The second book in Dahlquist’s The Glass Books series, which I know basically nothing about. I picked this book out for myself, & mysteriously found it in my stocking on Christmas morning ( 😉 ), but I will need to get hold of the first book in the series before I can read this one.

2) Hyrule Historia. A thing of beauty, given to me by my friend Chloë (from SSJTimeLord and Her Books), which is all about the history, art and making of the Legend of Zelda series of games. I’ve been wanting this book for so long, it’s kind of hard to believe that I finally have it in my hands… ❤

3) How to Bake by Paul Hollywood. Another beautiful book about bread, which was given to me by my parents. I’ve started making sourdough recently, and this book seems to have a lot of tips that I can learn from (and also some interesting new variations to try). 🙂

4) Wild Lily by K.M. Peyton. I’ve described this book a couple of times before as “a new book about aeroplanes from the author who first made me love aeroplanes”, and I don’t think there’s really any more that I can add to that, except that I’m really, really looking forward to it, and I really, really hope that it’s good. (I’m sure it is.) This wonderful book was a gift from my aunt and uncle, Lucy and Mark.

5) The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman. This book and the next were both from my other aunt and uncle, Catty & David, and they’re completely unknown to me. From reviews, I’ve managed to glean that this one is some kind of magical-realism mystery novel that focuses on the relationship between a mother and daughter… it definitely looks like it could be interesting.

6) Rainforest by Jenny Diski. I know even less about this book, but it did come with a recommendation from Catty, who apparently really enjoyed it. Neither this nor the last book really sound like things that I would’ve picked out for myself, but I am trying to branch out a bit in my reading this year, so hopefully they’ll both be good for that – and getting to try new kinds of books is part of the fun of receiving them as gifts!

7) Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes. Lastly, the fourth book in the Falling Kingdoms series, which was a present from my cousin Laila. 🙂 I’ve been waiting to read this for a long time now, as I didn’t want to buy it before it was out in paperback… and now I have it! (Possibly) Interesting trivia: Falling Kingdoms was one of the first books I read in 2016, and Rebel Spring (the sequel) was the first book I bought. It seems oddly fitting that the latest(-but-one) book in the series should be the last new book I received in the year. 😛

October Haul

October seems to have turned into another crazy month for book-buying, for which I have no defence, except that there’ve been a lot of new releases recently that I’ve been really looking forward to – and I also got really into The Witcher video games, and decided that I needed to read the books that they’re based on, too. 😳 In fact, every time I look at this stack of books, I’m almost paralysed with indecision over which one to pick up next; I’m so excited for all of them!

On a less positive note (was that first paragraph even a positive note? Perhaps, partially), my book-buying ban definitely needs to be re-implemented, which unfortunately means I won’t be getting my hands on Gemina (the other new release that I’ve been wanting) for a little while yet… 😦

1) Goldenhand by Garth Nix. The fifth book in the Old Kingdom series, which I know absolutely nothing about, and don’t want to know anything about, since I still haven’t read Clariel…

2) Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. The fifth book in the Throne of Glass series, which seems to have been on everyone’s most-anticipated lists… I’m excited to read this, though I’m also quite nervous about it, as I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the decisions that were made in the last book. Hopefully this one will be better, though!

3) Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. The sequel to Six of Crows, which I read a couple of months ago and absolutely loved. This is probably going to be the first book I read once I’ve finished my mini-marathon of the Andrzej Sapkowski books that I currently own; my insides have been twisting with anticipation every time I catch sight of it in my TBR pile… Obviously, I have very high hopes. XD

4) Magnus Chase & the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan. The second book in the Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard series. Of all the books I picked up last month, this is probably the one I could most have done without, as I still haven’t read the first book. I do, however, have faith that this series is going to be just as amazing as Riordan’s other books that I’ve read, so I don’t regret it, and I also wanted to make sure that I remembered to get it while it was still available in hardback. The paperback is still a long way off, but I tend to forget about things if I put them off for too long…

5) The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt & Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski. The first five books in the Witcher series, which inspired the aforementioned video games! Interestingly, the first two books in the series are short story collections, while the main saga actually begins with book three (Blood of Elves). I’ve already read the first three of these books (which I’ve talked about in my October wrap-up), and am currently about mid-way through Time of Contempt – so far, they’re really great, and they only seem to be getting better as they go on!

6) A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. An apparently quite spooky paranormal romance featuring ghosts, which I first heard about on a youtube video by ChapterStackss, about her favourite romance novels. I was intrigued, but not enough so to go looking for it… but the very next day I came across a copy at work, and knew that I had to have it. 🙂 Hopefully I’ll be able to get to this before Halloween is too distant a memory. 😛

7) Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick. Another book that I stumbled upon at work, though I know even less about this one than the last. It’s a dark fantasy, and the first book in the Tales of the Kin series, but I can’t tell you any more than that…

8) Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (illustrated edition) by J.K. Rowling. This book needs no introduction. I’ve been looking forward to it all year, and I’m definitely impressed with what I’ve seen of it so far! I’ve already started this, but I’m going to be taking it quite slow, and reading along with the Harry Potter & the Sacred Text podcast, which quite coincidentally started on book 2 around the same time that this was released! XD

Summer Haul

You remember that book-buying ban I was on? Well, it’s failed utterly. I did fantastically in June, and in July I only bought three books (though my birthday was in July, so I also received a few as gifts 😀 ), and then in August I went completely crazy… resulting in the photo above. On the plus side, several of these I’ve read already, so the stack of unread books on my bedroom floor hasn’t grown too much…

1) Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. A birthday present from my friend Grace, who has (among others) been trying to get me to read it for a while now. And I loved it, just as everyone was sure that I would! 😀 I read this in July, so you can see what I thought of it in my wrap-up.

2) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. Another birthday present, this time from my sister. A thought-provoking novel about a Dominican-American boy who has never quite managed to fit in anywhere… I read this during the Booktubeathon, so I’ve also posted a mini-review of it.

3) 1066 and All That by Walter Carruthers Sellar & Robert Julian Yeatman. A tongue-in-cheek history book that was given to me by my friend William. I haven’t read this one yet, but I’m hoping to get to it soon.

4) The Spy’s Bedside Book by Graham & Hugh Greene. Also a present from William, this is a collection of short spy stories and tips, from what I’ve been able to gather. It looks like another super-fun book, so I’ll probably be picking it up reasonably soon.

5) Harry Potter & the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany. The follow-up to the Harry Potter series, in script form! I bought this the day it was released (of course), and read it almost straight away, and despite the misgivings of others, I really enjoyed it. I’m sure that the play itself will be better – and I really want to see it soon – but this was a nice traipse back into the Wizarding World. More detailed thoughts on this are in my August wrap-up.

6) On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher. The new novel by youtuber ItsWayPastMyBedtime, which I couldn’t resist picking up after hearing the song she wrote for it. Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of the story itself (again, reasons why are in my August wrap-up), but I do feel like I should take the time to point appreciate the fact that someone at Little, Brown must have put a huge amount of effort into making this book as beautiful as it is.

7) The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan. The first book in Riordan’s new Percy Jackson-universe series, The Trials of Apollo. I’m not sure when I’ll actually read this, but I wanted to pick it up while it’s still available in hardback, so that it will match the rest of my Rick Riordan books…

8) The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I bought this one solely because it showed up unexpectedly at the second-hand bookshop where I work, and I’ve been looking for a copy for ages. This is another one that I’m eager to read soon, though my eagerness is somewhat tempered by the knowledge that I have no easy access to either of the sequels. 😦

9) A Court of Mist & Fury by Sarah J. Maas. The sequel to A Court of Thorns & Roses, which I liked when I read it, but have had my reservations about since… I wasn’t initially sure whether I was going to continue this series, but so many people have told me that this book is way better than the last, so I’ve decided to give it a try. Also, it (along with the next three books I’m going to list) was buy-one-get-one-half-price at Waterstones, so I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. 😉

10) And I Darken by Kiersten White. An intriguing novelisation of the life of Vlad the Impaler, if he had been a she. This is another book that I read pretty promptly after buying, so my (long, rambling) thoughts on it are all in my August wrap-up.

11) Railhead by Philip Reeve. I’ve not actually read much of Philip Reeve’s work, but I remember really loving his Hungry City Chronicles when I was in school, so of course I couldn’t resist seeing what his most recent book was like. Spoiler: it was fantastic – and I’ve written a full review of it here!

12) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. The first of a new duology set in the same universe as Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy, which I binge-read a few years ago and loved. And much to my surprise, Six of Crows was even better – I’m really excited for the sequel! Once again, I’ve talked about this book in my August wrap-up.

13) Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Volumes 11-20 by CLAMP. And lastly! Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is a series I’ve been reading since it was first released in English, but I’ve always had trouble tracking down any volumes after the first 10 (except online, but I’ve never much liked buying manga online), so when the first 20 volumes all showed up at work, I took it as a sign. 😉 I’m looking forward to catching up (at least partially) on this series soon!

May Haul

May wasn’t too bad a month in terms of book-buying: I bought nine books overall (only eight are in the picture), five of which were part of a box-set, while the other four were second-hand, and therefore not too much of a strain on my wallet. 😉 That said, I am now on a book-buying ban until there’s some more free space on my TBR shelf – as it is, I have a 17-high pile of books in front of it that I need to either read or make room for ASAP.

1) Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. The first book in the Wicked Lovely series… I bought the second book in April, not realising that it was a sequel, so of course I had to go online and seek out (a matching edition of) this one straight away! 😛 I’m hoping to read this soon, so I can move on to Ink Exchange, which actually appeals to me a bit more.

2) The Singing by Alison Croggon. The fourth book in the Books of Pellinor series, most of which I bought second-hand a while ago, but haven’t touched yet. I believe I now have the whole series (except for the recent prequel), so I’ll probably be marathoning these at some point.

3) A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond. One of the more recent novels from the author of two of my favourite books – Heaven Eyes and Skellig. I’ve had my eye on this book for a while, and was debating whether or not to buy it new, so when it showed up at the second-hand bookshop where I work (looking almost like new), I took it as a sign. 😉

4) Dune by Frank Herbert. The first book in the Dune series, which is a sci-fi epic. I’ve actually been listening to (and really enjoying) this as an audiobook, but I always find it difficult to remember names if I don’t know how to spell them, so of course I needed to look at the book, too. Surprisingly, my library didn’t have a copy ( ❓ ), but I managed to pick up this (incredibly battered) edition pretty cheaply.

5) The Stolen Throne, The Calling & Asunder by David Gaider, Last Flight by Liane Merciel & The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes. The whole collection of Dragon Age spin-off novels, which I bought as a box-set from Amazon mainly so that I would get free postage for Wicked Lovely… but also because I really, really wanted to read them. (You thought you’d heard the end of my Dragon Age ramblings, didn’t you? No such luck! I am still obsessed! 😈 ) The Stolen Throne is the one that’s missing from the photo, as I’ve forced my cousin to borrow it, and I’m currently reading The Calling, which is (so far) even better than The Stolen Throne!

April Haul

You remember what I’ve been saying for the last couple of months, about how impressed I’ve been by my self-control? Well… so much for that! 😳 I went a little crazy last month – all but one of these (fifteen!) books was bought on impulse, and while I’ve read a few of them already (and really enjoyed them), it’s still a little embarrassing to see them all together like this… Does this mean that book hauls might be good for me?! Shock therapy, maybe? 😉 But regardless, here’s what I bought in April:

1) Half Lost by Sally Green. The final book in the Half Life trilogy, which I’ve absolutely loved – and this conclusion was well worth the wait! I still didn’t like it quite as much as Half Wild (the second book in the series), but it wrapped up the series really well… and kind of broke my heart. 😥

2) The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman. The first book in the Lady Helen series, which is set in Regency London, and is about hunting demons! (Some of my favourite things! It’s almost like it was written specifically for me! 😉 ) I’ve already read this one, too, and you can read my full review here!

3) Across the Universe by Beth Revis. The first book in the Across the Universe series, which is a space opera, I believe… I don’t actually know much about this book, but I’ve heard that it’s very good, and I’ve been dying to read it for quite a while… It’ll happen soon, I hope.

4) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya & The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa. The entire, ten-book Haruhi Suzumiya series, which is best known in the West for its anime adaptation, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The series follows a high schooler called Kyon, who gets dragged by chance into the chaotic world of his classmate Haruhi, who has (unbeknownst to her) the power to destroy the world if she ever gets tired of it… These books are pretty wacky, but I’ve read the first one already, and they’re also a lot of fun. 🙂

5) Starflight by Melissa Landers. A space adventure following a teenage girl making her way to the outskirts of the known galaxy in order to get a better chance of finding a job, and the former classmate she runs into who hires her as his indentured servant for the duration of the trip, in return for the price of her ticket – but for not-so-noble purposes. Another book that I read almost as soon as I brought it home, and that I really loved. 😀 My book-sense was really on-the-mark in April!

6) Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. Lastly, I also picked up the second book in the Wicked Lovely series (though I didn’t realise that it was part of a series at the time), mostly because it’d been sitting on the shelf at the second-hand bookshop where I work for several weeks, and it was making me sad that no-one else had bought it… This is a paranormal romance series about fairies, I believe, but the summary sounds intriguingly dark. I’m looking forward to reading this soon, hopefully (but first I need to pick up Wicked Lovely…).

March Haul

Self-control continues! It seems I’m on a roll. 😀 All but one of these I bought second-hand, too, which is something that my wallet is surely relieved about. 😉 But now, on to the books:

1) Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell. A short story published for World Book Day this year, about a girl who really, really loves Star Wars, and decides to queue for several days outside her local cinema in preparation for the new film. I’ve already read this one, and it was adorable. ❤

2) The Moon in the Cloud, The Shadow on the Sun & The Bright & Morning Star by Rosemary Harris. The whole of the Ancient Egypt trilogy, which I really know nothing about… I stumbled across the third book at work, and thought it looked interesting, and then spotted the first as well. The second book I bought on Amazon Marketplace, so I wasn’t able to find a copy that was in quite as good condition as the other two, but the words are still there, so all is well. (And, to be fair, it’s still in pretty good condition; the other two books just look almost new.) Hopefully I’ll be able to read these soon, especially since they’re all quite short.

3) Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta by Doris Lessing. Buying this was another spontaneous decision, made mostly because a) it was cheap, b) it’s by Doris Lessing, and c) Doris Lessing writes sci-fi?! Who knew?! Reviews that I’ve seen for this book have been pretty mixed, but the concept (of case files about an Earth that has been colonised by aliens) is fascinating, so I hope that I’ll be on the “loved it” side of things.