Hello Everyone!
I have been doing a lot of shopping lately and of course that means I have bought a lot of books! There have been several exciting new releases this month, so of course I had to go and buy those the day they came out, but I have never left the bookstore with only the book I went there to get, so I have bought just a few more than I planned. I’d say I deserve it though because I have mock exams coming up, so I have been working really hard – Any excuse to buy books!
I am going to be changing up the format of my book hauls a little from now on, so let me just explain that quickly before we get into the books. In the past I have simply given you the titles, authors and synopsis of the book and I will still be doing that, but I will also be telling you a bit about the circumstances I bought the book in, how excited I am to read it and when I think I am likely to get around to it. I feel that this way my book hauls will be a little more chatty and it will tell you a bit more about me and my reading and book buying habits.
Now that that has been said let’s get into the books because I know that is what you all came for!
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K.Rowling (20th anniversary Hufflepuff edition)
I am sure you have all heard of Harry Potter by now, so I am not going to spend 10 minutes of my life typing it up for you, but if by some strange twist of fate you haven’t heard of Harry Potter then I would suggest googling it or maybe just try going outside because I don’t think I have ever been anywhere and not seen someone wearing Harry Potter Merch. As you may or may not know I am a Slytherin and I do already own the Slytherin edition of the Philosopher’s stone, but I love Harry Potter so much that I feel it would be sacrilege to not own all of the four houses. I told myself when the new editions came out that I wouldn’t be one of those people to but each different house in paperback and hardback; however, that clearly didn’t go to plan. I also own the Gryffindor version and am still in search of a Ravenclaw version that isn’t damaged. I guess after that I will move onto collecting the paperbacks as well because I have absolutely no self control, which will become even more evident as you read on!
The witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace
I was planning on writing out a blurb for this book for you all, but I cannot find one on the book and I don’t want to google it for risk of spoilers. I am sure you have heard of Amanda Lovelace and her poetry collections though because they are everywhere in the book community. As you may have guessed ‘the witch doesn’t burn in this one’ is a collection of poetry. I read Amanda Lovelace’s first book ‘the princess saves herself in this one’ and I really liked it, so I thought why not pick up the next one? I like poetry collections because they are short and easy to read and make a nice break from more heavy fantasy series.
The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan
Next is one of my most anticipated reads of the year – the next book in the Trails of Apollo series! I love all of Rick Riordan’s books and I will buy literally anything he writes, so I went out and bought this the day it came out. I also got it at a discounted price, so that was even better! There is not much else to say other than I am so excited to read this and by the time this goes up I will have probably already finished it and it may be in my May wrap up, so you’ll have to wait and see. I will give you a synopsis for this one though (may be spoilers as it is a third book in a series), so here you are:
I was a god, once. Until I was cast out by my father Zeus. Now I’m an awkward mortal teenager called Lester. Bound to a difficult and dangerous demigod called Meg. Thanks a lot Dad.
My way out? A series of scary and dangerous trials, of course. For my third mission I must:
Journey through the labyrinth to free and Oracle who only speaks in riddles.
Defeat a bloodthirsty Roman emperor – the most vicious of three very vicious and bloodthirsty emperors.
Is that all? I have to do everything without any of my godly powers. Wonderful. Looks like I’ll be needing all the help I can get. From new friends and old…
War Storm by Victoria Aveyard
This was also one of my most anticipated releases of the year! I read ‘Red Queen’ when it first came out and I adored it! I was devastated that I had to wait a whole year for the next book, but I did and then I devoured that one as well. I bought the third book when it came out, but I haven’t yet read it because I know it is going to destroy me, so I decided to wait until the last book was out, so I could be destroyed in one sitting instead of prolonging my suffering, which is probably the only rational decision I have ever made when it comes to reading. Because I have not read the third book in the series yet I am not going to give a synopsis for this book because I don’t want to spoil myself by reading it in order to write it. I am sure you could just google it though because google is useful like that. I am so excited to start reading these though and I think I am going to do a readathon with them in the summer and start reading them from the beginning, so that I can be emotionally destroyed in the proper fashion.
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
I am sure a lot of you have heard of this book since the new movie Love Simon came out (which I have yet to see). I read ‘Simon vs the Homosapiens agenda’ earlier this year because I knew the movie was coming out, so I thought it was the perfect time to read it and I fell in love! Becky Albertalli is an amazing writer and I adored Simon and his world. When I found out that ‘Leah on the Offbeat’ was coming out in only a few short months I was practically jumping off the walls with excitement. I bought this on the same trip that I bought ‘The Burning Maze’ at because I saw it and I just couldn’t put it down. I swear one day I will be able to just buy the book I went there for, but clearly that day didn’t happen this month. I will give you a blurb for this one as well, but there are a few small spoilers in it, so I might not read it if you haven’t read ‘Simon vs the Homosapiens agenda’ yet:
When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually right on beat – but real life is a little harder to manage. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends she is bisexual, not even her openly gay BFF Simon. So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friendship group starts to fracture. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high, and it’s hard for Leah when the people she loves are fighting – especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended…
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah.J.Mass
This was another new release this year that I was excited about. I own all of Sarah.J.Mass’s books, but I haven’t actually read them yet. A lot of people think I am crazy because I buy a massive series like the ‘Throne of Glass’ without knowing if I like them and people worry that I will be wasting my money if it turns out I don’t like them and they are all very valid concerns, but they don’t bother me. There is technically a small chance I won’t like the series, but even if I don’t particularly like a book/series I ALWAYS finish it. I am incapable of starting something and not finish it, so they will all be read eventually and I keep everything I read even if I didn’t like it because I am a very sentimental person. I am also just very good at picking out books I like. There has only ever been one occasion where I have bought a book and not liked it and seeing as I was 11 when that happened I am not that worried. I understand my taste in books very well and I am also quite easy to please.
With all that in mind I heard that Sarah.J.Mass was releasing another book, so I snapped it up immediately when it was released. Let me tell you though I had a hard time choosing what edition to buy because on the one hand I wanted the normal paper back edition because I like them better and it would match all of my other books in the series, but the hardback had fanart on the end pages. I was considering buying both, but I though that might be a little excessive even for me, so I went with the paper back to match my other books.
Because I haven’t yet started this series I’m not going to give you a blurb for this book either, so that I won’t be spoiled, but if you really want to know I am sure that google will be happy to help you out again!
The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green
We are now down to the penultimate book, so well done if you have read this far! I read Sally Green’s Half Bad trilogy as it was being released and I loved it to pieces! The last book completely destroyed me and I don’t think I am ever going to get over it and so of course when I found out that she had a new book out I had to go and buy it! I heard about it whilst watching booktube and went and bought it the very next day (the same trip as ‘the burning maze’ and ‘Leah on the Offbeat’, but nothing was full price, so I don’t think it counts). I will give you a synopsis for this as it is a first in a series, so there will be no spoilers. I do highly recommend Sally Green’s other books though because they are amazing!
In Brigant, Princess Catherine prepares the marry a man she’s never met, while her true love, Ambrose, faces the executioner’s block.
In Calidot, the downtrodden servant March seeks revenge on the prince who betrayed his people.
In Pitoria, Edyon stands at a crossroads: family and fortune, one way; destruction, the other.
And in the barren northern territories, Tash is facing her demons – literally.
As the kingdoms alliances shift and shatter, these five young people find their futures inextricably linked by a mysterious bottle of demon smoke, and by the unpredictable tides of war.
Who will rise, who will fall, and who will unlock the secrets of the smoke?
The Periodic Table of Feminism by Marisa Bate
The final book in this haul! This is a bit of a different buy for me because I don’t usually read non-fiction at all, but I am trying to delve into it more and learn about things that I am interested in outside of the school curriculum. This book caught my eye as I was walking by and it looked interesting (also the cover is gorgeous), so I bought it. I am really interesting in learning more about feminism and famous women and this looked like a good place to start. I can give you a blurb for this book, so here it is:
Feminism is a political, social and philosophical movement that has transformed and revolutionized women’s lives.
From fearless women campaigning for the right to vote, to pioneers in fields of medicine, politics and business by way of pop-culture heroines, writers and creatives, ‘The Periodic Table of Feminism’ explores the journey of feminism featuring over 100 inspiring and engaging international figures who have helped shape it.
This is an essential guide to feminism and a place to turn for courage and inspiration form history’s heroic women.
That is it for my May 2018 book haul! I have bought quite a lot of books this month, but I did expect that because there were 3 new releases this month and of course I can’t just buy one book, so I had prepared my bank account for it. I do apologise for the lack of synopsis’s in this book haul, but a lot of them were sequels or simply didn’t have blurbs and I didn’t want to spoil myself. I am really excited to read all of the books I have bought this month and I actually feel like there was quite a selection of different genres: YA fantasy, poetry, middle grade fantasy, YA contemporary and some non-fiction! For someone who usually only reads YA fantasy with a bit of contemporary that is pretty impressive. I hope my book collection continues to expand into more and more genres. Thank you for reading!
Goodbye for now!
Over and Out
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