I
decided to begin with August, since it was beginning at the other end
of the week I decided to start doing monthly hauls again. I have
bought/received/acquired/borrowed 49 books this month. There are so many that I won't even bother to put pictures and synopses for them. You'll find those later when I do wrap-ups for the month!
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Book
#1:
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by
Stephen King
We
first stopped at a memorial library and I saw this on the sale shelf.
My mom is a huge Stephen King fan and she lent me her copy of this
last year (or maybe the year before). Naturally the author in me
wanted to keep it forever because, and I quote, “a memoir of the
craft.” I needed my own copy. I found this one for $2 at the
library in the edition that I was looking for and I am so happy. I
wanted this hardback because the cover actually makes me think of my
grandma's house.
Book
#2:
Outlander by
Diana Gabaldon
Prefacing
this by saying I really don't care about the TV show. I really really
don't. Now then...Booktube is losing its collective mind over this
one (and the next) and I wanted to know why. I have to know. Is it
the physical setting, Scotland? Is it the temporal setting, 19th and
20th century? Is it the leading male, James Frazer that's making
literally everybody love it? I normally don't like romance novels,
but I really want to know!
Book
#3:
A Game of Thrones by
George R. R. Martin
Go
on, be mad at me if you want. I'm not caught up nor am I watching this
on...HBO. I don't have HBO! I've wanted to read this one for a while.
I am a lover of high fantasy and people loved this long before the
television series came out. I've heard many great things about this
and I'm excited to read. I got it for $4.98 at a second hand store.
Book
#4: Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks/Anonymous
I
remember the AP English class reading this when I was in high school.
I also remember not being in the AP English class and being upset
over it. They never had it in the school or town libraries and as I
live in a small town (~ 3-5 thousand people), there was no just going
to the bookstore for me. I would hve to go 45min on the interstate to
get to the nearest chain store. I was very excited to find it so
cheap and I am looking forward to when I get to it on the list. It looks like the sort of book I'll get through in a single sitting...probably no more than two hours. I might pick it up soon to push my Goodreads Goal up again.
Book
#5: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I
saw this one a few different times on BookTube. It piqued my interest
with the summary. I read a sample from Amazon and immediately put the
book in my wishlist when I finished. I don't like adding adding books
to my Kindle if I really
want to read them. Anyway, I love the idea of wizards having a feud
and having other people actually doing the fighting for them. Yes, I
know that's likely not what actually happens, but that's the bit I
read. When I saw it I squeed. I would swear this book is brand new.
It looks like the person who bought it, just gave it right to the
book store. Okay. Mine!
Book
#6: War and Peace by
Leo Tolstoy
This
is actually the second copy of this book that I've bought. The first
is a Signet Classics edition. When they first did the printing for
the Signet one, the person in charge of keeping the margins loose for
the center was not doing a good job. They didn't make the margins
wide enough on the inside and the whole middle of the book is
unreadable without tearing it apart. Of course by now I've forgotten
why I even wanted to read it, but yeah. I bought myself a copy that I
can read which makes me very happy. Yay for buying books with no idea
why!
Book
#7: Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
Why
did I buy this? I have no idea! Because it was pretty and I wanted
it? I dunno. Yeah. I've heard of this and it is where we actually got
the catchphrase of Catch-22, which is like you can only do this thing
if you've done that thing, but you can only do that thing if you've
done this thing so really you can't do anything. I liked this edition
the best (because it's a trade paperback). I didn't realize that the
book beside it was it's sequel, so we know what we're getting when we
go back!
Book
#8: Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
I
have a vague recollection of at least making a poor attempt to read
this book back in school. I either couldn't get into it (doubt) or I
simply didn't have the time when I had it. I apparently never picked
up up ever again. No idea why. I've seen bits of the movie and really
liked them and really wanted to read the series. I'm
happy to finally have my own copy so I don't have to go to the
library, which is around a blind turn and there are no sidewalks. Funny story there. I actually found this at the library! They had this one and Eldest (further down) in the sale room for $1 each. So I grabbed them. I had originally purchased this in paperback, but I've been all for the hardback for a long time and I found both volumes one and two. Now to get reading!
Book
#9: A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess
This
is a favorite book of a friend of mine, which I'm sure is the sole
reason why I bought this. I know virtually nothing about it. Yeah
that's...it. I guess because I've seen a lot about it I wanted it. Miri made me let her look at the book before I bought it to make sure it wasn't the first American version which for some reason that I know (but escapes me) has the last chapter missing. I read why they removed it, but now I can't remember.
Book
#10: The Tale of
Despereaux by Kate
DiCamillo
I've
seen the movie and fell in love with the little mouse, Despereaux
Tilling. I guess to be accurate I saw most
of the movie. When I found out it was a book, I nearly lost my mind.
Then I completely forgot about it. Yeah, that happened. I was looking
to bring my book purchase count up to an even-ish number and I saw
this on the children's shelf. Had to have it.
Book
#11: Life of Pi by
Yann Martel
I
wish I could remember where I heard of this first. Probably BookTube.
90% of the books I've seen are from BookTube. I loved the thought of
a boy being stuck on a little boat
with a large tiger. I've seen the movie before and I love reading
books along with watching their movies to compare them. I forgot a
lot of what happened, so this will be fun.
Books
#12-14: Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, and The Power that Preserves by
Stephen R. Donaldson
So
I got all three books in this part of the series? I think this is
like the books by Cassandra Clare where there are several books in
the series that are all in their own individual series. I put these
all together because I bought them as a set. I asked Miri to suggest
something for me to read. She hasn't steered me wrong yet.
I bought these only knowing “it's like Lord of the Rings only the
main guy is a snarky leper.” She definitely wasn't wrong! I started
the first one either the day I got it or the day after. I like it
despite people saying it's bad because he's cynical. He has leprosy,
which was incurable in 1977 when this came out. He's allowed to be
cynical.
Book
#15: The Diary of a
Young Girl by Anne
Frank
I
have been looking for this specific edition for years. Ever since I
saw The Freedom Writers
on TNT or whatever
station it was on. This was also the edition my teacher had in her
room. I never actually
read this. I plan to get to it soon though, now that I own a copy in
print. I have always wanted it.
Book
#16: Les
Miserablés
by Victor Hugo
Another
book I've wanted since ever. I used to collect huge books because I
thought it made me look smart. Then I realized actually reading
the books made me
smart. I wanted to read this for a very long time, but I was hesitant
to take it out of the library because I know it would take me more
than three (or six, rather) weeks to read it and you can only check
it out a second time in a row. Then you had to wait three weeks
before you could check it out again. I couldn't risk it being checked
out. I got the cover I wanted. It's huge! Worse than I thought
because the pages are very thin with tiny font. Here we go...another
book I'll be reading for years!
Book
#17: Black Beauty by
Anna Sewell
I
love horses and I already own a copy of this book. Sadly that one is
a blue velvet one that has fallen apart on me, and while I did manage
to have it fixed, I don't want to read it for fear it will come apart
again. It's important to me. I want to reread this because I love
that it's told from the persepective of the horse. I forgot much of
the rest of the story so I should probably re-read it soon.
Book
#18: Death Comes to
Pemberly by P.D. James
This
has been on my wishlist for a while. I loved Pride and Prejudice and
when I read the synopsis of this one I had to have it. I've always
wondered what happened to the families after the book ended and this
talks about it. I am very excited to get to this one.
Book
#19: The Virgin
Suicides by Jeffrey
Eugenides
I
already own a copy of Middlesex,
though I haven't read it yet. Everybody's been raving more about The
Virgin Suicides though,
so when I saw it for $7 at the shop, I had to get it. I do like the
simple cover. I am putting this one pretty high up on my TBR list. I laughed when I realized the girl on the cover is Kirstan Dunst. I think this is the sort of book that I'm going to read late in December when its the middle of the winter and I don't want to be near people. I bought it because BookTube raved about it a few weeks ago, and while I don't remember what was actually said, I remember everybody liked it and Middlesex so I figured I'd give them both a go.
Book
#20: Looking for Alaska
by John Green
Yeah.
I normally want nothing to do with YA contemporary books. It already
makes me think of Paper
Towns because the
characters are similar. The boy who does/is nothing and the girl who
changes him (maybe not for the better). I enjoyed Paper
Towns and I hope to
enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed that one. There's apparently a few scenes in this book that got it on the challenged/banned list. I'm really excited now!
Book
#21: Animal Farm
by George Orwell
I
saw this and has been on my reading list since around high school I
think, but I was unwilling to pay regular book store prices for it.
When I found a hardcover version of it for a price I was willing to
pay, I added it to the pile. I am interested to see the way he
translated the Russian Revolution into a farm. It will be a good
read.
Book
#22: The Sound and the
Fury by William
Faulkner
I
bought this because I wanted it. That's the entire reason. I've not
heard much beyond the fact that that William Faulkner is a great
author. I enjoy reading novels like this so I am expecting to enjoy
this one as well. The review of this book are mostly 5s with a few 1s
and 2s thrown in. I want to read it for myself. Find out why people
rated it what the did and find out if I concur. I understand why the people rated it a 1-2 did, but seriously that was the stupidest thing I have read. The entire POINT of the story was that the character wasn't fully mentally present!
Book
#23: The Help by
Kathryn Stockett
A
few years ago (2012) I got a Kindle from a friend. He got a new one
and no longer wanted the one he had. He passed it on to me. The
Help was on it, but
the Kindle crashed before I had a chance to read it and as I never
actually bought it there was nothing I could do. It was gone. I
bought this copy so I can finally make it beyond chapter 1. I also
love the cover design of the hardcover copy of this book.
Book
#24: Jonathan Strange &
Mr Norrell by Susanna
Clarke
A
friend, Miri, lent me her copy of
this book, and while I love her to pieces, it was just too thick. I
don't mind mass market paperbacks. Really. However, I cannot be
carrying around something that I can't even open properly. I picked
up the hardcover because, while still small, the font is larger. I've
already started it, though I assume it will take me a while to get
through.
Book
#25: The Glass Castle
by Jeanette Walls
I
have a hazy memory of someone telling me that this was a good book.
I'm not sure if they know the book is actually her memoir? It still
looks really interesting since it opens with her watching her mother
dumpster diving in New York. What? I can't wait. It looks so good.
Book
#26: Mordred's Curse by
Ian McDowell
I
love Arthurian legend and what better than a book told by Mordred
himself? I wanted to know how Mordred would handle talking about his
father. It looks really interesting. Boy I say that a lot. Anyway, I
thought it would be a book that I would enjoy because I do like
historical fiction novels. Yay! This looked really good and I wanted it so very much. I think that I'm going to like it regardless of the fact that I don't really read Arthurian legend. I had a few books that I got rid of because they were roughly numbers 8-14 of series where you can't just jump in wherever you want. You have to read from the beginning or you won't get it. Thankfully for me, this one is the first!
Book
#27: The Complete
Prophecies of Nostradamus trans.
by Henry C. Roberts
I've
checked this out from the library several times and never actually
read it. Every time I would try, my cat would lay down right in the
middle. Every. Single. Time. Now I can really just take my time with
it and not have to worry about having to return it. I am always
interested in weird things normally passed up, so this book speaks to
me. I always watch the Prophecies of Nostradamus shows on the History channel and now that I have my own copy of this book, I'm very excited. I love reading them and seeing what they thought he meant by what would happen and their frantic scramble to lock us into various prophecies that haven't come to pass yet that we know of. The future is like a beach, each prophecy is a single grain of sand....anything could happen. Any vision is only a possible future as each decision you make changes the outcome. You would have to make a very specific set of decisions to reach any seen future, so these are just fun to look at for me.
Book
#28: Blood Ambush by
Sheila Johnson
Not much of a description, huh? I
watch a lot of Investigation Discovery. I mean a lot. I remember
watching one of the many shows that run, probably 20/20 on ID, and
watching the story of Darlene Roberts. I'm curious to see how it does
as a book. It has an average star rating of 2.83, so clearly there is
no love lost here. It makes me wonder about the way other cases may
have been presented. This is the sort of show that I watch when I can actually bother to watch television in the first place. I have no idea what it will be like seeing it all in print, but I'm looking forward to it.
Book
#29: Wild Heart: A Life
by Suzanne Rodriguez
I
suppose I'm technically borrowing this because I don't own it. I'm
borrowing it from my uncle. No idea where he got it. It just showed
up. I was really intrigued because of the content. It's a biography
of Natalie Clifford Barney and how she moved to Paris. She is one of
the most renown lesbian writers of her time. I even considered
changing my TBR to fit this one in right away.
Book #30: Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy
My uncle (from #29) and I rarely agree on anything. Especially when it comes to television. He likes a bunch of stuff that's humiliating or hurtful and I just...I can't. However! We stumbled across Hemlock Grove on Netflix and we both fell in love with it. I got even more excited when I found out it was based on a book. I saw it for $4.99 on BookOutlet and had to have it. There are werewolves, witches, and other paranormal beasties that make this perfect for an October read!
Book #31: Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
All of my friends know I'm crazy about Sherlock Holmes...my dad even bought me something that wasn't on my wishlist because it was Sherlock and I had been raving about it. So when I saw this, I got very excited. I'm not sure if it's actually part of a series or not because it's listed as number two, but it doesn't appear to be remotely related to the first one. I'll find out! This one looks so pretty too!
Book #32: The Ghost Brush by Katherine Govier
Japan. Historical Japan. I am obsessed with Japan. I adore the culture and this book looked so cute. I can't say no to an adorable book about Japan. This one just struck my fancy as it's a story about a famous print maker's daughter being told by her. I can't wait to see how she does with Edo (now known as Tokyo) and it's surroundings.
Book #33: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I've been seeing this book pop up everywhere. It was really popular a few years ago when it came out, then again when the Infernal Devices came out, then a third time with the movie/television show. And now finally with the release of the first book in the Dark Artifices series. I finally decided to buy myself the first book in the overall series to see how I liked it. I'll pick up more if I like them.
Book #34: Under My Skin by Charles de Lindt
I have no idea what this is even about. Shifters I think. I bought it because it was cheap and I liked the cover. I recognized the author's name. I have another book he wrote (that's signed!). I have to admit this was totally a cover buy. It's a YA that looks really funny.
Book #35: A Reader's Book of Days by Tom Nissley
Totally thought this was going to be something else entirely. One of those devotional things. Not so much. I mean, it is, but it isn't? It has a few really cool thing and I want to grab it to read in 2017 before it went out of stock. I really like the design and I've always wanted a daily book thing.
Book #36: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
People have been saying all sorts of things about this book. I've heard it's good. I've heard it's bad. I've heard its somewhere in between. I have no idea which one it actually is. Here's to reading it myself and finding out what I think of it and where it falls on the great vs terrible debate.
Book #37: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A futuristic dystopian retelling of Cinderella. How could I say no to that? Seriously? I am excited to read it and start my journey down the road of keeping up with what's popular and trending (almost). Everybody lost their minds for this one as well as quite a few others that were back in the haul or in other hauls. I need to know why people think these are so good. I need to!
Book #38: Horns by Joe Hill
This is just me turning into my mother. She's a huge Stephen King fan, and as everybody now knows....Stephen King is Joe Hill's father. He announced it. I have also seen this movie already and absolutely adored it. I loved the story it told and I cannot wait. It's so freakin' cute. So yeah. I grabbed it cheap when it was on BookOutlet.
Book #39: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick
Be careful whom you trust! A few months ago this book made the rounds on the big name BookTube channels. I put it right on my
wishlist because it would be the perfect book to read late one cold December night. You know know when the urge to read books will strike though, so I could read it in October. I don't know.
Book #40: Nightfall Over Shanghai by Daniel Kalla
This was totally a cover buy. It's the third in a series, so I do have to buy the first two (
The Far Side of the Sky and
Rising Sun, Falling Shadow) and read them first before this one or I'm sure it won't actually make any sense! I'm currently obsessed with WWII, Japan, Germany...and things that somehow relate to it. They are in my next cart for BookOutlet. I'll definitely get
The Far Side of the Sky but I might have to wait for
Rising Sun, Falling Shadow since they only have one! Anyway, this looks fantastic and I can't wait.
Book #41: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
I know what this book is about. I've known for quite a long time, so you don't need to warn me or anything. I got this. I heard about it back in high school during English class (if you couldn't already guess, that was my favorite, followed closely by Fine Arts). This has been on my Books to Buy list for quite a long time and I am excited that I found it for $1 at the library. It's the pretty 1955 hard bound edition with the little ribbon and it just looks perfect for my leather classics shelf. Yay for pretty books!
Book #42: The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
I remember holding this in my hands many weeks ago. I can't find a copy of it in my room at a quick glance so I guess that means I never got it. I can look better later. It looked really interesting and I have been enjoying books like this lately.
Book #43: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I was told that "if you loved Gillan Flynn's
Gone Girl then you'll love this book!" I've never actually read
Gone Girl. I listened to half of it, and at the same time learned that I cannot do audiobooks. Within seconds I forget what I heard. I saw this one at the library sale nearly brand new for only $1 and I just had to grab it and give it a go. Yeah!
Book #44: Eldest by Christopher
Okay. So when I got this...I was like "I don't know if this is number two or number three and I don't care either!" I already had the first one, and I knew that this was not number four on the list. That one is
Inheritance and green. I couldn't remember if
Brisingr (black cover) was #2 or #3. Turns out that it's #3 and I managed to actually get #2. Wooo! My friend Kae and I love dragons and I've been wanting to get my hands on this book series for a very long time. Hopefully I can soon get the others in the same edition and complete my collection.
Book #45: The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon
This is one I'm borrowing from a friend. She had lent me
The Bone Season a few weeks ago by the same author and if you saw my
Goodreads review of this, you'll understand why I absolutely lost my mind when she told me she had the second one and would lend it to me to read. I got it and actually did squeal loudly. This one is the second volume and the third is set to come out sometime this year I think. I don't remember.
Book #46: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Same friend from book #45 lent me this one. She asked if I'd read it and I was like "No, but I want to." She gave me this to read at the same time she gave me
The Mime Order. I have no idea what it's actually about, but it just looks so pretty and I need to read it and maybe even buy a copy for myself to have it on my shelf to just be pretty (and if I want to re-read it).
Book #47: Fallen by Lauren Kate
This one is actually a library book! I know, right? I don't usually put library books up here. My library FINALLY opened to the public on 8/22 and we went up on 8/25 to check it out. I proceeded to borrow (I got yelled out for saying "rent") three books from there. I've finished this one already and it's in my August Wrap-Up post (previous to this one). I'd seen it before and the cover piqued my interest. I'm definitely picking up
Torment the next time I'm up there and can check books out.
Book #48: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Yep. Two Laurens in a row. This is my second library book. I saw this one around the same time I'd seen
Fallen and the last in this trilogy,
Requiem. The premise was very intriguing. I couldn't believe that they would think that. I had to read it and find out what in the world made them decide that love of all things was a dangerous disease. Can emotions even be diseases? Is that possible? I will be picking up
Pandemonium next library trip!
Book #49: The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Many years ago for Christmas, my dad bought me this terribly expensive (to me), set of leatherbound classics that were all Charles Dickens books. It was the Dalmation Press Classics Library six volume set. There were many that were not included in it, and this was one of them. I saw it at the library and just jumped on it.
I try to limit myself to three or fewer books every time I go, so I wound up only getting this as the very last one for this trip because I know me...and I know that I won't be able to read more than three books in three weeks. If I finish them I can go up early and return them! I love classics and this one just looked right up my alley!