Book Haul: 2017

Do y'all like book haul posts? It doesn't seem like bragging, does it? I always enjoy seeing other people's hauls, it gives me new books to look for and I just like seeing the pictures. So since I haven't done any posts all year, I've got quite a few hauls to share. Although not nearly as many as you would think. It's been a pretty quiet year, book-wise, for me. Mostly due to lack of money lol. So let's get to the pics and if you have any questions on a specific book, please ask!!

I've been really into collecting the classic books lately and getting multiple editions. They're just so pretty!!

I know I've gotten way more graphic novels than this, but I haven't been keeping up with my haul pics that well either. :( I have been getting the monthly single issues of Terry Moore's Motor Girl and Cecil Castellucci's Shade, the Changing Girl and definitely recommend both of those!

On my Kindle (actually my phone app, I hardly use my Kindle anymore), I binge purchased and read twin sisters Krista & Becca Ritchie's Calloway Sisters/Addicted series this spring. I won't say much here, because I do plan on reviewing it later in the month, but I will say it is definitely worth it!

My first haul pic at my new apartment! :) I've got some interesting backgrounds to work with, so excited to use them in future pictures. And that's my hauls for the year so far! See anything you like or have read? Want to share your most recent haul pic? Comment below!

Book Haul: Summer/Fall Edition

There's a lot of pics, so let's just get right to it, shall we? Comment below if you want details on any specific books, I'm going to breeze through them pretty quickly. In July, I hit up the Half Price Books sale, Amazon for a few must-buys, and the local comic book store for some funsies (that I just read this past week on my vacation oops).

In August, I had some more luck at Half Price and of course, had to pick up Harry Potter & The Cursed Child. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to review that one or not. It's kind of unreviewable, if you know what I mean.

 

September was fairly quiet, with a couple of good finds at HPB, some new comics from Amazon (Jem!!), and a small library haul, in which I accidentally got a book I'd already read and pretty sure I own oops.

October has been big for books so far and it's only the middle of the month! I blame the Half Price Books clearance sale of course and a week of vacation time. :) This is the most I've ever gotten at a HPB sale (also got 3 movies); I found some really great things. Some graphic novels, classics, holiday reads, a few random finds, and a TON of 80/90s children's books. I say this every time, but my sister is so good at helping me find these! She goes thru and looks for Sweet Valley High (only one this time boo) and any with the apple (publisher) on them lol. Then I go thru and look at everything else. There was a LOT of young adult books this time, I think we were there close to two hours. (Did I mention she's semi-patient too?)

My sister also found me these gorgeous vintage children's books, 5 of them total. The covers were falling apart (I don't know how they still had them on even) but it was okay, because the naked books were just as pretty. I am going to use the covers for bookmarks probably and I would love to make a cute little display on my shelf with the books.

I was on vacation last week (hated coming back to work!!) and got out of the house one day (yep, just one lol) to enjoy the sunshine at a botanical garden (and read) and then hole up in bookstores. :D I hit every bookstore that day, but I only bought at my local comic book store. I didn't realize the 6th Saga book was out, so of course I had to pick that up. I had a stack of single issue comics at first, but put a few back since I did find Saga. Excited about the ones I did get though.

I'm going to wrap things up with my Kindle cloud because I realized I haven't been including it regularly in my haul posts. I've gotten 30+ books since my last update in July 2015 oops. I find it really hard to pay for eBooks, so most of these were free or less than $3.00.

Review: "Haunted"

Haunted by Eileen Maksym
4 out of 5 stars

A very good Twitter friend suggested this book to me...it is a first novel written by a close friend of hers and she thought I might enjoy it and be able to pass it on to my few loyal followers here. :) (Thanks to those sticking with me still btw! I'm trying my hardest to get back into the blogging thing.) I have to say, starting out, I wasn't sure about the story but I am very glad I kept reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think Maksym has a talent for telling spooky, hair-raising tales. This is definitely a good read for around Halloween.

There was a distant rumble of thunder. Paul stepped beside her. "Yeah, nice of the weather to cooperate with a haunted house investigation."

Haunted is a quick read, only around 120 pages, and leaves you wanting more. And as always, if the biggest problem you can find with a book is that you want it to be longer, than that's a pretty darn good book. We don't get a lot of back story on the three main characters: college-aged friends Steven, Tara, and Paul. And Maksym makes us want that back story. How did these 3 kids start hunting ghosts? How and when did Paul get his special talent? What is the full story about Tara's family?

The 3 ghostbusters find out about an empty house in the area that has supposedly been haunted for 40+ years. They get in touch with the homeowners and get permission to do some investigating with their paranormal equipment. And sure enough, there are some ghosts there, but not the ones they were expecting. Someone from one of their pasts shows up and they are not Casper the Friendly Ghost. And seriously? I got a little freaked reading that part. And also the real story on the house's ghosts that they find after a little digging in the library. Okay, actually there were several times that just wigged me out lol...I'm a bit of a weenie.

So if you're a weenie like me, you can still read this book. Just do it in the middle of the afternoon when the sun is shining and there are plenty of (living) people in the house, but make sure they can't sneak up on you! Oh and watch out for jumpy cats who like to stare at the wall behind you until you're sure there's a giant spider hanging over your shoulder. Yeah, don't read this with them in the room. But do read it! :)

Books Book Haul

Alright y'all, I'm back with the second half of my book buying frenzy. (Graphic Novels here) This is a pretty eclectic mix, even for me! And...I forgot about my eBooks, so I'm going to add them in here too. But let's start with the physical books: all but 2 were bought at HPB.

First up is Travels With Charley, to save up for my Summer of Steinbeck part 3. :) I didn't realize this was an autobiography of sorts, so that should be an interesting read! I also (re)bought the first Wayside School book and am reading it right now. I'm going to do a (hopefully) fun different thing for my review of this series soon.

Backward Compatible by Sarah Daltry & Pete Clark was one that I won on Goodreads and I'm super excited to read it! "A YA gamer geek romantic comedy in the vein of Scott Pilgrim and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.  WARNING: There is no sex in this book. Your Kindle or other device will remain at a pleasant room temperature. At no point will your panties drop. Your significant other will be allowed to snore in peace as you read." Sounds fun right? And the authors even signed the inside and a matching bookmark for me! :)

I finally got the 4th Bloodlines book, The Fiery Heart. I am really looking forward to it, the series has really picked up for me and I almost like it more than Vampire Academy right now. I think it all has to do with Adrian, I just love him so much more than Dimitri. (I know, blasphemy!) And last, 2 impulse buys...The Meanest Doll in the World, part of a super cute series by Ann M Martin and my first reviews on my blog! It was in the clearance section, so I had to snatch it up. The Very Picture of You was on my to-buy list, although I don't remember why (don't you hate that?), but it was cheap so I bought it.

And here's my Kindle eBooks I've gotten in the last month or so...all were $3.00 or less!

Haunted by Eileen Maksym -a good Twitter friend asked me to read this and review it for her friend, so I'm ready to be spooked! :)

The Boys of Summer #1 by CJ Duggan -I've been wanting this one since last summer and I think it might fit the Summer Romance Formula, so I will probably save it for hot temps and sunshine in July!

Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell -after reading North & South, I really wanted to try another of Gaskell's books and this one looked good.

The Moment Before by Suzy Vitello -another Summer Romance? Maybe with a dark twist?

The Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir -I just heard of this book the other day and I can't remember where now, but how cute is that cover?!

(e)Book Haul!

It's January 26th and I have purchased/gotten 13 books this month already. O_O Whoa. I blame this on my shiny new Kindle though, because 10 of those are eBooks and I got 6 of those free. Do other Kindle/eReader users have this problem? I'm not the only one, right? (I'm guessing not.) So I decided to do a quick (not quick at all, my bad) haul post of what I've gotten this month. (Full reviews of the read books will be coming soon, hopefully.) Let's start with a mosaic of all the pretties and then get into the physical books and then the eBooks.

First up is one that my sister "forced" me to buy at HPB one day (we were there looking for gift books), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & the Undead by Don Borchert. She's always fascinated with the horror remakes, even though she never reads them (or the originals), and is constantly trying to get me to buy them. Well, she saw this one on two different trips and insisted I get it. So I did. :)

Next are two that I bought new last weekend: Just One Day by Gayle Forman (duh, like you haven't already heard of it) and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (longest title ever). I finished Just One Day last night and loved it, but am super mad at Forman for making us wait so long for the second one lol. (Not that long, I just want it now!!)

And now into the eBooks, the first 4 of which I've already read. :) Also, the first 3 are the ones that I paid for, the rest were free and found either just browsing on Amazon or on their Free Kindle Books & Tips app. Sophomore Switch was one that I had started reading at B&N several months ago and it was cheap, so I picked it up. The Son of Neptune is the 2nd Heroes of Olympus book and I loved it and can't wait to get #3. I'll probably get it after I get my (massive) to-read shelf down some again. Going Too Far is a Jennifer Echols contemporary romance that seemed pretty popular, so I got it. I liked it, but didn't love it. And then there's Troll or Derby by Tash Red...this was...interesting. I'm not sure what else to say about it right now lol, so I'll wait for the full review.


I also picked up several classics, for my monthly challenge. I'm currently in the middle of Wuthering Heights and this may get me severely flogged (do people flog anymore?) but I'm not seeing the huge deal with it yet. :/ I like it, but it's not like "OMG this is my favorite classic ever, I've read it 23 times" like Lennie in The Sky is Everywhere, which is why I decided to read it in the first place. And I got Little Women because it was one of the first books I found lol and Twelfth Night because of Just One Day and She's the Man (which has become my late-night movie that plays over and over on the weekend).

And finally, a few randoms: The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher, recommended to me by my favorite aunt-who-isn't-related-to-me. :) I think I paid for this one too. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back and The Secret of the Missing Locket, both I just got today and free on that Kindle app thru tomorrow I think.

So, to summarize this extra long haul post:

13 books
3 physical books
10 ebooks
5 bought ebooks
5 free ebooks
5 1/2 books read
5 1/2 books unread