Yeahie!! Here I am with the first official book haul for 2017!! Woohoo!!
I am so proud of myself that I haven’t bought much so far. Let’s hope I keep this up for the rest of the year.
Books I bought:





The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
I got this as soon as it hit shelves in the store. I wasn’t playing around. My plan is to read it in February. I don’t have high hopes for it, but I do think it’s one I’ll love, or at least like.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
I initially borrowed this from the library as an e-book, but didn’t like that format. I got the physical book from the library, but I marked so many pages for quotes and such that I decided to just get my own copy.
Sky High by Germano Zullo, illus. by Albertine
This is an illustrated children’s book and that’s all I know about it. This one caught my eye when I was in Kramerbooks. I thumbed through a couple pages and so liked the illustrations that I decided I must get it. So I did.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Okay, so I didn’t like The Life of Elves much, but I LOVED the writing in it so I’m willing to give Barbery another shot. I hope this one works out better.
The Describer’s Dictionary
I need to get back in my creative writing groove and expand my vocabulary and general cache of words and descriptions and such, basically stock my toolbox. This should help.
Books I got for free:



Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan, illus. by Fiona Staples
Got this one from my lil bro. Yeahie!! 😀 I need to get caught up.
Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice
Now I’m regretting getting this, though it was free, after reading and DNFing A Quest for Heroes. Maybe the writing in this will be better.
The Doll by J.C. Martin
This was featured in a roundup post featuring quick reviews of short stories on Books, Books, & Baubles. I was told it’s free so of course I got it! Plus, I liked the review of it. It seems like something I’d like. The e-book is probably still free on Amazon.
ARCs requested from NetGalley:


Gilded Cage by Vic James
This is a YA fantasy story set in the present day about people with magical powers enslaving those without it. I requested it because the mixed reviews I’ve seen made me curious. The book will be published on February 14 and my review will be up soon.
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
A historical fantasy novel that will be published in August. I’ve started it, but am not very far in to be able to say what it’s about.
Library books:



I was on a waiting list for all three of these books, but I didn’t expect them all to become available at once!
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I watched part of the movie and liked it so now I’m reading the book. I like it so far.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I actually own a copy but I lent it to my uncle and now I have to borrow it. I think I’ll get the physical book instead though. I didn’t know it has footnotes, which makes reading on an e-reader tricky.
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
I like the title so I borrowed it.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is fantastic! How is The Bedlam Stacks so far? I have an ARC I’m due to start soon.
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Unfortunately, I gave up on Bedlam Stacks soon after starting it. I couldn’t get into the story. But I plan to return to it and try again. I was in a weird mood back then and the formatting of the e-ARC I received was weird too.
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Yeah I’ve had to do that a few times but usually when I return to the book after my funk passes I enjoy it more. I have s tough time with them too if they aren’t the Kindle format
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I hope you enjoy it though.
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OMG you got SAGA for freeeeee. Freaking awesome lil bro. I still need to get my hands on volume 5. This makes me want to reread the whole series. 😛 Also pretty cool you’ve got (again) Ready Player One. I have to read that one soon (or maybe Armada first). Looking forward to see how you’ll love it! Oh, and Gone Girl (the movie) was absolutely BRILLIANT. I’m a sucker for David Fincher’s movies though. I’m waiting to forget a little more about the story before reading Flynn’s book. Hope you enjoy that one as well! 🙂
– Lashaan
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Lol! I’ll need to reread the Saga series too. I think I got to volume 4 before I got distracted by other comics.
I had so many books going at once that I had to stop reading Ready Player One. I didn’t get far in it so if you plan to read it soon-ish, lemme know and we could buddy read it.
And I caught the Gone Girl movie in the middle so now I’m wondering if the book is way different from the movie. So far, I like it.
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Looking for the Describers Dictionary right now. Thank you.
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Check BookOutlet.com, if you’r in the U.S. or Canada. I’m not sure if it ships to other countries.
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Oooh, I’d really like to hear your thoughts on The Bear & The Nightingale once you’ve read it! Other reviews of it so far have been really positive, so I’d like to check it out at some point.
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The reviews I’ve read of it make me think I’ll love it. And Arden also wrote somewhere that her fav authors were Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley, which made me really excited. It made me instantly like her, actually. Lol!
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ooh great haul!! Hope you enjoy gone girl! And I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about ready player one!
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Thanks. I’ll have to get the physical copy of Ready Player One. I didn’t know there were footnotes.
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You’re welcome! Ah I didn’t know that either- I’ll have to bear that in mind!
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The Bedlam Stacks caught my eye the other day. I wasn’t sure I would like the subject, so I held off on requesting, but I would be very interested to hear your thoughts!
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Well so far it’s meh, but I hope it gets better later.
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I’m thinking of reading Cheryl Strayed’s book too
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Yea, def give her a try. You could check out the Longreads podcast episode with her too. Her personality there was reflected in Tiny Beautiful Things.
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That was nice of your little bro!
Hope you enjoy vol 6 😉
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Thanks! 🙂
Yea, it was randomly sweet of him. Random sweetness is always good.
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Too true,
random and sweetness are two of my favourite words 🙂
Although ‘random’ always makes me think of a kingdom where you need run all the time 8-}
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Lol!
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The Bear and the Nightingale is still on my TBR. I am so fascinated with learning more about Russian folklore since Vassa in the Night. I hope you enjoy 🙂
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I hope we both enjoy it whenever we get to it.
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Definitely! Although, at the way my pile is going here, it may be a while.. sigh.
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