Book Haul #60: Birthday Haul!!… kinda

I got books! 😀 I’ve also ran out of space, so I have no idea where I will place the overflow. I hate stacking them on the floor. For the rest of the year, I’m going to try my hardest to stop buying new books and instead read the ones I already have and get rid of any I absolutely hate and will never read to free up some space.

There.

I said it.

I MUST do it.

(hopefully)

Purchases

Physical

Already Dead by Charlie Huston

A customer recommended this book to me because I told him how much I enjoyed The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (vampire apocalypse that begins in NYC as a mysterious virus), so I got it. Can’t wait to start (but probably not the best book to be reading now with COVID-19 cases increasing and all).

Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother’s Love by Zack McDermott

I attended an event hosted by the Pen/Faulkner Foundation where authors Zack McDermott and Esmé Weijun Wang spoke about their experience with mental illness. I learned a lot and got my book signed. Unfortunately, I left my copy of The Collected Schizophrenias at home and couldn’t get that signed as well.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I had to buy this book when I saw the updated cover, which is way cooler than the original cover. My excuse: It’s my favorite in the series and I’ve never owned a copy so I MUST get this one with the beautiful cover. There seems to be two covers for each of the books in the series, and I prefer this one with Cinder just chilling. The covers were designed/illustrated by Tomer Hanuka.

Hansel and Gretel, transl. by Sallyanne Delvino, illus. by Matteo Gaule

I love the colors, illustrations and cutouts in this children’s picture book. Had to get it.

Beauty and the Beast: Retold from the Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont Original by Agnese Baruzzi (illus.)

Another beautifully illustrated children’s picture book with cutouts that I HAD to get.

E-books

Some of the Best From Tor.com 2019

An anthology containing 24 of the short stories that were published on Tor.com in 2019. It was free. Authors include J.Y. Yang, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Seanan McGuire.

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

David at FanFiAddict compiled a list of free and discounted SFF e-books that I couldn’t resist checking out. I got Hollow Kingdom because I couldn’t find it at the bookstore when I went shopping earlier in the week AND it was only $2.99. Both Mogsy and Tammy have convinced me to check it out.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Another one from the free and discounted list. It was $2.99. I’ve seen mixed reviews on it, but most lean toward loving it.

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Birthday Gifts

They gave me gift cards to bookstores — a most wonderful gift! 😀

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Alex at Whimsy Pages convinced me to give this middle-grade fantasy novel a try, so I placed it on my TBR and just now got around to buying it. I might read it for the OWL readathon.

Winterhouse by Ben Guterson, illus. by Chloe Bristol

I love the cover AND it was on sale. I believe it is a middle-grade mystery.

Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus

I loved Shape of Water, which Kraus and Guillermo del Toro wrote together, so I’ve always wanted to try a novel written by Kraus alone and FINALLY I got one! 😀 I’m really looking forward to this.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The first novella in the Murderbot Diaries, a scifi series about an android. I owned the e-book, which I either got free or discounted, so because I loved the story, I got the physical copy because GIFT CARD and SALE!! 😀

The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

I’ve wanted this book for a long time because I really admire Bickford-Smith’s work. I also own her The Worm and the Bird, which is just as beautifully constructed.

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Borrowed

Friends/Family/Other Folks

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Micheal Zapata

I kept seeing this novel in the bookstore and became convinced that if I read it, I’d love it; but because it’s in hardback, I was able to resist the temptation to buy it right now. Luckily, Debbie from Debbie’s Book Nook offered to lend me her copy! 😀 I gladly accepted and am currently reading it, but my reading experience so far has been slow because I’m battling a reading slump that I hope will lift soon as life becomes a little less stressful.

Library

Spot & Dot by Henry Cole (illus.)

I had to pick this up when I saw it at the library. It’s the second in a children’s picture book series, and I really liked the illustrations in the first book, Spot, the Cat.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

I’ve always been curious about this book whenever I saw the cover. It’s a middle-grade fantasy novel that has Black American gods/folklore characters. I’m looking forward to reading it.

The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen

I borrowed this book sometime last year but didn’t get around to reading it. After completing The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I got curious about it again, so that’s why it’s here…again.

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ARCs

The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer

Thanks to the publisher (Tor Books!) for sending me this ARC. 😀 It’s a historical fantasy that will be published on April 7. I’ll most likely read it for the OWL readathon.

Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy, illus. by George Ermos

Thanks to the publisher (Norton Young Readers!) for giving me access to this ARC through NetGalley. It’s a steampunk middle-grade novel that I’m currently reading and really enjoying. The book is in stores now.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh

Thanks to the publisher (Tor.com!) for giving me access to the ARC through NetGalley. It’s the second novella in the Greenhollow duology. I read the first novella Silver in the Wood last year and liked it. Drowned Country will be published on June 16.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Thanks to the publisher (Amulet Books!) for sending me this ARC. It’s a debut YA fantasy novel inspired by West African mythology that will be published on April 14. I might read it for the OWL readathon too.

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That’s it! 😀

Let me know if you’ve read any of them.

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