October Book Haul – 2018

Hello Everyone!

It is the end of October and that means it is time I told you about all the books I bought int October. I successfully didn’t buy any books in September like I wanted to, but my book buying ban is lifted because it wasn’t really working for me and I think it was one of the causes of my reading slump, so I allowed myself to buy some books this month and I definitely bought a fair few! I don’t regret it at all though because it has inspired me to start reading again and I have got so many exciting new releases as well as some older books that I have been looking for for ages. As I said though, I did buy a lot of books this month, so we had best not waste any more time on the intro and just get into it!

Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton

This was the first book I picked up in October and it was bought courtesy of my amazing mother! We wondered into Waterstones one day while we were at the city doing some errands because I am incapable of simply walking past a bookstore and she said she would buy me a book and this is the one I chose. A brief synopsis of this books is the main character wants revenge against the race of people who murdered her mother and she has been training her whole life for this, but she then fins out that she is apart of this race of people in some way. She then has to come to terms with this an decide what she is going to do next. It sounds amazing, but I actually didn’t even read the synopsis until I got home. The 2 things that drew me to this book were one, the cover which is absolutely stunning and two, the quote on the back written by Stephanie Garber (who is the author of Caraval) describing the book as “A fantastical feminist fairy tale.” She said some other things too, but I didn’t read past that first sentence because I was already sold.

The Mortal Instruments Original Book Covers (books 2,3,4,5)

Most of you know by now that I adore all of Cassandra Clare’s books, so of course when I found the original book covers in of the middle 4 books in the charity shop for only £1 each I had to buy them! I already have the first one in this edition, which I found in the same charity shop several years ago, so now I have all but the final book, which I am sure I can easily find somewhere else.

Dear Evan Hansen the Novel by Val Emmich

I have been anticipating the release of this book for several months now since I first listened to the soundtrack for the Dear Evan Hansen musical during the summer and I am thrilled to finally have my hands on it. I squealed when I saw it in the store and I think it is going to be my next read once I have finished the series I am currently reading. In fact by the time this goes up I may have already read it! If you don’t know what Dear Evan Hansen the musical is, then I highly suggest you go and listen to the soundtrack. There are only about 10 songs, so it isn’t a huge time commitment like some musicals are. This musical means a lot to me though as it discusses mental health and suicide, but in a way that makes me feel hopeful. I suffer with depression and anxiety myself, so the songs and the message of the musical make me feel so understood and like I matter. I can’t wait to read the book, so I will likely be doing a book review on it, so subscribe to my email listing (at the bottom of the page), so you get a notification when that goes up.

Are we all Lemmings & Snowflakes by Holly Bourne

I am a huge fan of Holly Bournes writing and I haven’t read a single book by her that I haven’t loved, so when I saw her new book on the buy one get one half price table last week, I got very excited! I don’t really know what this book is about because I haven’t read the blurb and I kind of want to keep it that way. Knowing Holly Bourne though, it will likely be about some sort of weird and quirky female character who is also badass, feminist and little messed up. If you want to know what it is about though I will leave a link to the goodreads page here:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39297840-are-we-all-lemmings-and-snowflakes?ac=1&from_search=true

Turtles all the way down by John Green

I know that John Green isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I think the general consensus is that you either love his work or you hate it. I would say i am definitly leaning more towards the love it side of things, but it isn’t my favourite. I do really like his books though because I find them funny and endearing and even though a lot of people hate the insanely knowledgeable teenagers in his stories I actually find them to be one of my favourite things about his books. I, myself am more intelligent than average and am very different from my peers because I am autistic, so I actually find myself being able to relate to some of his characters because of that. Despite loving his books I actually haven’t yet read Turtles all the way down and I didn’t own it until this month because I have been waiting for it to come out in paperback. I am one of those people that is very particular about the way my bookshelves look and what editions of books I buy, so, since all of my other John Green books were in paperback, I had to get this one in paperback too. I don’t know much about the synopsis of this books, but I think it has something to do with finding a missing billionaire? I will leave the goodreads page here again:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35504431-turtles-all-the-way-down?ac=1&from_search=true

Magnus Chase: 9 from the nine worlds by Rick Riordan

If you read my auto-buy authors post (https://www.samanthadrage.co.uk/2018/09/21/auto-buy-authors/), then you will know that Rick Riordan is one of those, so I obviously picked up his latest books, which is a little collection of novellas from the world of Magnus Chase. The Magnus Chase trilogy ended last year, but I still felt that there was so much more to the characters from those books, so I am really glad that we get these few short stories to delve into a few of the other character’s lives.

The Trouble with Perfect by Helena Duggan

I read ‘A Place Called Perfect’ by Helena Duggan during the summer as part of a week-long readathon and in an attempt to get more into middlegrade and I adored it. It was funny, fast-paced and action-packed as well as very different from anything I have ever read before. ‘The Trouble with Perfect’ is the sequel, so of course I picked it up! I really hope the second book holds up to my expectations and I hope the series continues as well.

‘Two Dark Reigns’ and ‘Queens of Fenbirn’ by Kendare Blake

I’m sure most of you have heard of the three dark crows series by now because it was hugely popular in the book community when it first came out and the new releases have continued to be hyped up. ‘Two Dark Reigns’ is the 3rd book in the series and ‘Queens of Fenbirn’ is the prequel to the series where we get to see the main characters’ origins.I haven’t yet started this series as I prefer to binge my series, so since all the books aren’t out yet, I haven’t yet been able to start it. I am positive I will love it though and I have heard amazing things about the series and the author, so I am collecting the books in anticipation for when the series is finished.

Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

I will admit that this book was a complete impulse buy! I saw the gorgeous cover and the book related title, so I had to see what it was about. I loved the sound of the synopsis: (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25890355-paper-and-fire) and so I just bought it without a second though. I found out when I got home that it is actually a second book in a series, so I am going to have to buy the rest before I can start reading them. I believe it is a trilogy called ‘Novels of the Great Library’, which is an amazingly bookish name. I also believe it is completed and all the books are out, so I will be buying the 1st and 2nd books soon enough, so I can read this magical sounding series.

A Chapter Sampler of Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

This next thing is technically not a book, but I thought you would be interested in it anyway. I am sure you all know by now that I ADORE Cassandra Clare’s writing, books and everything she does. I would read her shopping list if she put it up for sale, so was of course incredibly excited (I actually squealed) when I saw they were giving away free chapter samplers for ‘Queen of Air and Darkness’! I actually haven’t started the Dark Artifices trilogy yet because I want to binge them, so I can’t actually read the chapter sampler, but it is more about saying I have one and owning it to display on my shelf than anything else!

Queen of Air and Darkness (Normal and Collectors Edition) by Cassandra Clare

Receiving the chapter sampler for Queen of Air and Darkness renewed my excitement for the release this December, so I decided to pre-order not one, but two copies of the book! I bought the normal paperback edition, so it will match my other two books and I bought the engraved hardback collectors edition because you get entered into a contest to meet Cassandra Clare in London if you pre-order it from Waterstones, so I obviously had to do that. I won’t be receiving these books until after they have been released on the 4th of December, but I decided to include them in this haul anyway because December’s haul will be long enough as it is with the books I will likely be getting for my birthday and Christmas. I will surely be posting about them when they arrive on my Instagram though, so go and follow me there to see them! https://www.instagram.com/theoriginalbookdragon/

The Collectors Edition of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I have been waiting for this gorgeous collectors edition of Six of Crows to come out for months now and I am so happy that I finally have my hands on it! I am sure you all aware of my obsession with everything Leigh Bardugo, so buying this beautiful book was a no-brainer. It has amazing artwork in the back, red sprayed pages and red-tinted maps and adore it! I can’t wait to re-read the duology in this beautiful edition.

Crimes of Grindelwald: the screenplay by J.K.Rowling

The last book I purchased in October is also a pre-order and that is, of course, the screenplay for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film. I love Harry Potter and so many other people do, so I am so happy that I finally got around to pre-ordering the screenplay. I pre-ordered the first fantastic beasts screenplay 2 years ago and then went and saw the film for my birthday with my friends and we are all doing the same thing this year! I may even vlog the experience, so keep an eye on my YouTube channel for that! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd81vyr9In6f0Z5Kd9jgHyQ?view_as=subscriber

And that is it! Congratulations if you made it this far because I know that was a lot of books to read about. I bought 17 books this month and got a free chapter sampler, so I would definitely say this has been a successful month for my book collection and my happiness, but not so much for my bank account (oops). I don’t regret a thing though and I am so excited to read all of these books! What books have you bought this month? Have you ever been on a book buying ban? I’d love to know!

Goodbye for now!

Over and Out