A Helluva a Haul!

Hello all! So something terrifying happened to me a few days ago… I got another year older (*dun dun dunnnn*) But the good thing about that is I also got a hellishly good book haul- and by that I mean it has a bit of a Halloween-y vibe- what do you think?

Looking at those, it certainly feels like the seasons are turning!

And all of this is to add to my ever-growing physical tbr…

Because some things never change and I will always need a great big pile of books to keep me company!

Plus, I also got the *best bookmark in the world*!

I was enchanted by this wonderfully witchy bookmark years ago- however I completely forgot about it until my sister surprised me with it the other day! Isn’t it just charming? The shop is over on Etsy if you fancy checking it out (notspon)

Also, since this is a haul post (and I am a serious stationery nerd), I may as well go in for a penny, in for a pound and share really cool rubbers my sister picked up in W H Smith (again, nonspon):

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Okay “cool” may be a relative term… but don’t you think they make a splash?

November Haul Thanks to @natysbookshelf

Well, I wasn’t planning on doing another haul post so soon after the last one, but I won Naty @ Naty’s Bookshelf giveaway and I wanted to do a post to say thank you! Her blog is *brilliant*- her reviews are always top notch, I really enjoy her weekly wrap ups the Sunday Snuggle (how cute is that name!) and she has loads of other inventive posts! Her bookish quizzes are so much fun and she even did a round up a while ago of a gazillion quizzes for bookworms. Highly recommend you all check her out!

This was such a lovely package to receive- it really made my week! Not only were there loads of beautiful looking books, Naty also included tea (which, you know, *hello British*, of course I love!), bookmarks (do you see those beauties?) and a really sweet note. Let’s get to the books…

I’m especially excited for Neverworld Wake– since Naty said it’s her personal fave in her note 😀

I loved Wicked Deep when I read it last year and really wanted a copy- especially cos this edition is so beautiful! I’ve already lent it to my sister to read as well and she enjoyed it too.

And I was so keen to read Book of Hidden Things that I instantly picked it up! Happy to say, I really liked it as well- though more on that soon…

I’ve wanted to read Grace and Fury for a while as well.

Shiver of Snow and Sky looks good too.

Remembered is the only one that I hadn’t heard of, but having read the blurb now, I’m really looking forward to it.

All of which make for perfect reading for this time of year! So have you read any of these? Do you recommend any of them? Let me know in the comments!

High Time for a Haul!

I haven’t done a haul post in *ageeees* so I figured why not share all the books I’ve acquired in the last few months?! I’ve been pretty good about buying books in the last few months, so it’s not a huge haul, but it’s still a good one:

Of the ones I bought for myself, I am super excited to try out some Patricia McKillip, after seeing Bookstooge and loads of other people talking about how great her books are. I chose a couple that seem the most wintry- should be good for some cosy reading as the nights get colder! Obviously, I also wanted to finish off the Raven’s Mark trilogy- you all know how much I enjoyed Blackwing and Ravencry– and this seems like the perfect time of year to do that. I also *leapt out my skin* when I saw Malorie Blackman was releasing a new book in her Noughts and Crosses series- which I have loved ever since I was a child! On that note…

I was really lucky to get the next instalment in the Book of Dust for my birthday this year! Plus, I got a couple of books which will be good seasonal reading: Vanishing Stair and Empty Spaces. I absolutely loved the first book in the Truly Devious series, so I’m excited to get to that before the last one comes out this year. And y’all know I can’t keep my mitts off anything Katherine Arden writes!

Also, unbelievably, this is my entire current physical tbr- because I finished all the ones in these old pictures!

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(well, excepting Book Thief, which I’m not counting cos it’s a reread anyway).

So, have you read any of these? Are you a fan? Let me know in the comments which ones you think I should pick up first! (bearing in mind I’m a mood reader and it might not be in my power whether or not I take your wonderful advice- we shall ultimately have to defer to the mighty book gods 😉

Fabulous February Book Haul!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve shared any book hauls (outside of twitter). And since I know we all like a casual bit of book porn (I’m not insinuating we’re all book pervs or anything 😉), I thought that’s what I’d do today!

I’d also like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the marvellous Mim Inkling, who hosted a bookish bingo back in January for Amazon vouchers, which I won… I hope you’ll agree I put my winnings to good use 😉 Mim’s absolutely lovely and runs such a fun book blog with really entertaining posts- I highly recommend you check her out!

Kindle book haul:

I don’t generally share my kindle hauls (I have too much shame generally speaking) but cos I hauled book series this month, I thought it’d be great to show some of those off (and give you some idea of my reading plans for the next few months 😉 )

 

 

Both of these authors are brilliant- I’ve enjoyed all the other books I’ve read by them, so I’ve no doubt I’m gonna love these! I’ve also got some hella exciting ARCs lined up:

Physical Book Haul:

And here’s a totally random selection of physical books…

I’ve read two of these (well technically Of Mice and Men was a reread)- so I can say for certain I made some good choices 😉 Plus, I’m looking forward to finally getting to the Remnants Chronicles (goodness knows how far behind the trend- I’m super with it 😉 ). And then, I also snapped up this beauty cos- well, I couldn’t resist!!

Finally, the pièce de résistance, I received this bad boy from the author!!! Guys- it’s Holy Sister!!! (glory, glory, hallelujah!) If you listen really carefully, you can still hear me squealing! I’ve started it already and it’s wonderful!

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Alrighty then- it seems like even if I make a dent in my physical TBR, it never really changes size- see if you can spot the difference:

 

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And that’s about as close to a TBR as you’re gonna get from me 😉 What awesome books have you hauled recently? Fess up!

SCARY BIG Book Haul!!!

Do you know that feeling where you can never walk into a bookshop/library/book event and not come away with *so many* more books than you planned? Do you know what it’s like to walk past a book you’ve not even added to your tbr, but have a vague interest in, and think “I must have it”!? Well, one side effect of going away for a while is that that crazy, insatiable thirst for new books is SO MUCH WORSE THAN NORMAL! All my former impulse control (pah like I ever had impulse control) went out the window and I just found myself hauling BOOKS, BOOKS and MORE BOOKS. Two days back and I was already showing off an insane library haul on twitter. And you know what? That haul has only grown since then! I mean, I’m not entirely to blame for this- I basically went through my entire physical tbr before I went away, so of course I had to replenish my stocks- right?!?! Plus, some of my hauling was (pretty logically) because it’s *SPOOKTOBER* and I needed wanted some spooky reads. Which is why I got these for starters:

I also thought it would be fun to finally try the Saga graphic novels- I don’t know why but their unusual feel felt right for this month- so I picked these up in the library:

 

Not totally related to this month, I also got a couple of books as a belated birthday present:

 

What’s a little uncanny about getting these books is that I got the first ones in those series last year– oooh! 😉 (also I have already read and reviewed Girl in the Tower if you’re interested- I just wanted a physical copy cos I LOVE IT!) Still, it’s not all freaky thrills. Since I’m a total scaredy cat, I had to get a load of romantic YA books to make sure I don’t get too freaked out this month:

Plus, I also picked out a hefty classic, which, I’ll admit, I’ve been terrified of reading:

 

And I almost forgot about this one, because it’s currently sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read, but it comes back full circle to the *creepy, suspensful* vibe I’ve been trying to get this month:

So as you can see I have plenty to be getting on with! I doubt I’ll be whizzing through all of this any time soon- which is why I want to hear from you about tackling this haul! Have you read any of these? Which ones do you recommend? Let me know in the comments!

Shabby Sunday – Random Discoveries…

Hello all- I just have a quick post for you today, cos my computer has been temperamental all day (it’s called the Mad Hatter for a reason 😉 )

“Shabby Sunday” is a really cool meme about sharing old books, created by the awesome Mischenko over @ReadRantRock&Roll– she does this every week, so I highly recommend checking her out. I don’t normally get into memes, but this one just spoke to me, especially cos I made a couple of exciting discoveries in a pile of old books recently, including this copy of Middlemarch:

Quite unassuming on the outside, but look at the date!

It turned up in some of my mum’s old books, though she has no idea where it came from. Now I’ll admit Middlemarch is not my favourite George Eliot (too many descriptions of provincial life made me dock bananas) but no bookworm can fail to be excited about a book over a hundred years old!

Okay admittedly some people won’t be excited by that, which is why I’m leaving you with some lovely pics of an old copy of Vanity Fair- likewise the cover is quite plain- however inside it has the most gorgeous illustrations!

I’ve not actually read this book yet- though I’ve been meaning to- rest assured I won’t risk reading this copy as it’s pretty fragile (fortunately I have one of those freebie copies on my kindle). Regardless it was a lovely discovery to make cos I just love ogling old books from time to time 😉

And that’s all from me for today! Let me know what you think of either of these in the comments!

Some Casual Book Porn

Okay- before everyone gets their panties in a twist, no this is not actual porn. I’ve just accumulated a lot of books for my physical TBR lately and thought I might share it with you.

So here are the books that have been sitting on my shelf a while…

And then there are the books I got a couple of days ago from the library because for some reason I worried I wouldn’t have enough to read (well I actually went to give some books back, but who has the willpower to walk into a *house of books* and come out with nothing?)And I got these for my birthday yesterday….

Since we’re on the subject I also got the fifth season of Game of Thrones on DVD and this (super easy) guitar book cos I’ve been teaching myself for a few months and my family are bored of hearing me play “Auld Lang Syne” over and over 😉 (plus this just so happens to be my favourite Beatles album cos it’s all their number one hits!)

So there you have it, plenty of bookish delights to get off on (sorry I couldn’t resist!)

Have you read any of these? Did you like them? (I don’t actually want to hear if you didn’t since I’m gonna read them anyway now haha!)

Should I unhaul these books?

Hello all! How’s October treating you so far? Getting in the Halloween spirit yet? Well, I have just the ticket! After all my talk of book-buying lately, I thought it would be good to talk about something that spooks all us bookaholics- and that is the horror of giving books away!

I know, I know- *shudders* all around. This is no easy thing to talk about. But it being the month of scary things, I thought it would be a good time to confront the fear and face this head on!

So recently I was reunited with some of my most beloved books. (But don’t worry I have no intention of unhauling these!!) While I was going through this box of books from teenagehood, I found a few scarily bad books… my copies of the Twilight saga. I was then confronted with a terrifying question I couldn’t immediately answer: should I unhaul them?

 

Now I know what many of you are thinking: “Of course!! Don’t you hate Twilight?!?”

Yup- totally true. (I mean it’s got sparkly vampires and werewolves imprinting on infants- need I say more?)

“Alright,” you say, “would you want to read them again- is that what this is?”

Nope- I’m never reading them again! If I wanted to be bored for a couple of hours, I’d just stare at paint dry (or Kirsten Stewart’s face)

“So,” I hear you ask, “why would you even consider keeping them???”

Well- that’s not the easiest thing to answer. Because while the rational part of my brain instantly went “unhaul!!” the less rational part started feeling super nostalgic. Nostalgic that I had these books for such a long time, nostalgic about sharing these godawful books with equally boy-starved friends (I went to all girl schools) and even nostalgic about waiting for the last one to come out (even though that one inevitably made me throw up in my own mouth a little). Something about them reminded me of my younger self. For a moment I felt like memories, even of bad books, should be cherished.

But maybe that was just cos they were nestled in besides my copy of Noughts and Crosses and Harry Potter. (Yup I might just be confusing this with my nostalgia in general and my usual indecision about giving away books!)

So- what’s the verdict? To unhaul or not to unhaul- that is the question… And who else has trouble unhauling unloved books? Help me out here!

Ode to Used Books

O slightly ruffled books, how I love thee!

Though your creases and stains are plain to see,

And, let’s be honest, you do kind of smell,

The words inside you read just as well-

So three cheers for old books cos let’s be fair

I can’t get a better deal anywhere!

Ok- that’s enough of that- you get the idea! (I suck at poetry!) Point is- I love used books! Sure they may be in bad nick, but it’s the words that count!

PS in case it wasn’t obvious I bought more books! (Ah well they were only £12 and two of them are three books in one- what a bargain!)

Who else feels this way about second hand books? Let me know if you share this love in the comments!

I Didn’t Pay For These Books…

So this doesn’t count as a haul because I didn’t pay for any of these… (And no, I didn’t steal them either!)

I found all these lovely books I’d never read in my garage…

And these I got for my birthday yesterday!

(When I told my family I only wanted books they went a little crazy)

And how pretty are these in particular!!

Okay- this is totally a haul post- but at least I didn’t break my book buying ban- right? Right?!?