Book Haul #33: Birthday Edition

It’s been a while since the celebration of my birthday and many of these were bought way before it came; but, since no one got me any books, I’ll count all these as my presents. 🙂

National Geographic: Wonders of the World

Scientific American MIND: The Mad Science of Creativity

Grammar Girl: The Ultimate Writing Guide for Students

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

— This batch is a Barnes & Noble haul. I banned myself from purchasing magazines since last year because I’ve yet to read the ones I bought, but I couldn’t pass up these National Geographic and Scientific American MIND issues, though I do have a similar issue of the Scientific American MIND magazine and I wonder if the articles will be the same.

— I need to work on my grammar, hence the grammar book. I’d love to try another Hosseini book (I loved The Kite Runner) and I’m buddy-reading Hobb’s Mad Ship.

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

— This is an ARC I won from Berkley, part of Penguin Random House. George is known for her biographical historical fiction novels on people such as Cleopatra and King Henry VIII. I’ve never read her novels (though I do own The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers), but I look forward to this one because I read the first couple pages and liked it. Plus, I’m curious about Nero. The Confessions of Young Nero is in stores now.

Klaus: How Santa Claus Began by Grant Morrison, illus. by Dan Mora

— After mentioning this comic book in a Wishes for My TBR Post, I immediately placed an order for it. I didn’t expect the book to be that big or have hardcovers or gold-leaf tipped pages. It’s so beautiful. I just hope the story inside is good too.

A Land Called Tarot by Gael Bertrand (illus.)

— My favorite comic book shop had this on display and I was so tempted to get it that…I…did…ugh! I really tried not to but, oh, the illustrations are so great and it’s a story told without words, which made me think of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, and then I couldn’t prevent myself from buying it.

The Witch’s Market by Mingmei Yip

The Devourers by Indra Das

— So when I picked up A Land Called Tarot, I found it impossible to leave without also getting The Devourers, which I’ve wanted since forever but avoided purchasing because it was in hardback and in the U.S. you have to wait a year and change for the trade paperback to be published… Finally I got it! The Witch’s Market sounded interesting and it was cheap so I got it too.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold

— As soon as I completed The Curse of Chalion, I immediately placed an order for all three books in the series. I’d read an e-book of The Curse of Chalion that I’d borrowed from the library, so I wanted to own a copy. I look forward to reading the other two books sometime this year. My only complaint with these books is that I wish they were all the same size.

The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla

The Wingsnatchers by Sarah Jean Horwitz

Warren the 13th and the Whispering Wood by Tania del Rio, illus. by Will Staehle

— I’m looking forward to reading The Someday Birds, an ARC I received from HarperCollins. It’s a contemporary middle-grade novel that’s in stores now. It sounds like it will be a good read and probably an emotional one too.

— The Wingsnatchers is the first novel in a middle-grade fantasy series that seems like it will be a lot of fun. The novel will be published by Algonquin Books on April 25.

— Warren the 13th and the Whispering Woods, which was published on March 21 by Quirk Books, is the second novel in a middle-grade fantasy series. I received a copy of the beautiful, brilliantly green book from the publisher.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones

— These three are from Book Outlet, which had a sale on green books, hence A Green and Ancient Light. It just sounds like a book I might enjoy. I also got Everfair because I’ve wanted it since first hearing of it, and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland because…why not?

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill

— I hardly use the B&N Readouts feature on the Nook app, but the other day, I used it to read the first page or so of The Lonely Hearts Hotel and 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster and I immediately placed both books on my TBR. I debated getting both because they are hardbacks and I don’t like hardbacks and hate e-books even more so I decided to get just one of the two books. After a game of eenie, meenie, miney, moo, I settled on The Lonely Hearts Hotel. (But I really, really want 4 3 2 1 as well.)

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, narrated by Rob Inglis

— I tried holding out on getting Born a Crime, but the waitlists for electronic and physical copies at my library are crazy long! I was so impatient to get it and start reading that I bought the e-book. So far, so good, but it seems that I’m not in the mood for it.

— I also got the audio book of The Hobbit from Audible and so far I don’t like how it’s narrated. Inglis throws me off sometimes by pausing in the middle of sentences, which throws off the rhythm. It’s either he pauses or the recording is messed up and causes weird pauses in the middle of sentences.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve acquired lately.

What have you recently hauled?

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