Book Haul #68: First of 2021

Here we are with my first book haul of the year. Hopefully, I will post less of these this year, which will mean that I’m buying less books — because I’m SERIOUSLY running out of shelf space. I just unhauled some AND bought myself a book cart just to give myself some wiggle room. Anyway…

(NOTE: If the layout below looks wonky, it’s most likely because you’re viewing this on your phone in the WordPress Reader app which, for some reason unknown to me, keeps messing up the layout when I use certain gallery settings to format image layouts. If you view it on the website instead, it will show correctly.)

PURCHASE

PHYSICAL

Ambush by Hongcheng Yu (illus.)

A beautifully illustrated children’s picture book based on Chinese history. I learned about it from Let’s Talk Picture Books. Visit the blog to see some of the illustrations.

OAK FLAT: A FIGHT FOR SACRED LAND IN THE AMERICAN WEST by Lauren Redniss (illus.)

Redniss’s book on the weather, Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future, was such a good read that I didn’t hesitate to purchase Oak Flat when a friend recommended it to me and I saw that it’s by Redniss. This is an illustrated nonfiction book about “three generations of an Apache family struggling to protect sacred land from a multinational mining corporation.”

THE ROOTS OF RAP: 16 BARS ON THE 4 PILLARS OF HIP-HOP by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Frank Morrison

Morrison is one of my favorite artists. I love his paintings, which focuses on Black life and culture; so when I saw his name on this book, I quickly grabbed it. It’s a children’s picture book about Hip-Hop origins.

THE RUTHLESS LADY’S GUIDE TO WIZARDRY by C.M. Waggoner

I love the cover of this book! I buddy-read Waggoner’s debut fantasy novel, Unnatural Magic, with Milliebot Reads and really enjoyed it, so we plan on buddy-reading this one soon too. It’s set in the same world as Unnatural Magic.

JIM CURIOUS AND THE JUNGLE JOURNEY: A 3-D VOYAGE INTO THE JUNGLE by Matthias Picard (illus.)

This is a silent children’s picture book that I HAD to get once I realized that you have to wear 3-D glasses to really experience the art. How cool is that?! I can’t wait to read it! I believe it was first published in France.

THE GREAT PRETENDER: THE UNDERCOVER MISSION THAT CHANGED OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MADNESS by Susannah Cahalan

I really liked Cahalan’s memoir, Brain on Fire, and don’t mind trying more of her writing, so I picked this up. It sounds very interesting.

Kushiel’s Chosen and Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

These are books two and three, respectively, in the Phèdre fantasy trilogy, which begins with Kushiel’s Dart. I participated in a readalong for Kushiel’s Dart last year that was hosted by the Wyrd & Wonder crew. A readalong for the second book will begin in February.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illus. by Adam Simpson

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite classic novels. I’ve read it twice: hated it the first time, loved it the second time. I think I need to read it again, and I plan to do so with this beautifully illustrated edition by Adam Simpson.

The Wanderer by Peter Van den Ende (illus.)

I learned about this silent children’s picture book from Jen Campbell’s booktube channel. I believe it’s about a little paper boat sailing around the world…? I just had to get it. I believe it was first published in the Netherlands.

E-books

Some of the Best from Tor.com 2020

I download this every year. It’s a free anthology of stories published on Tor.com in a given year. The 2020 edition features authors such as Charlie Jane Anders, Stephen Graham Jones, Tamsyn Muir, C. L. Polk, and Sarah Pinsker

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LIBRARY

E-books

EVA EVERGREEN, SEMI-MAGICAL WITCH by Julie Abe

Loved the cover and was curious about the story but ended up returning it the library without completing it. I wasn’t feeling the protagonist, but the world was interesting. It’s middle grade fantasy about a girl who needs to past her novice test to become a witch.

Blythewood by Carol Goodman

Another one I returned to the library without completing. It was a huge bore for me, unfortunately. It’s YA paranormal, historical fiction set in the early 1900s about a girl who grew up poor and later learns she’s from a wealthy family whose tradition is for its young women to attend a boarding school where they learn to protect the world from fairy creatures.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

I just finished this one. It’s contemporary romance about a young Black woman who has fibromyalgia who falls for her apartment’s sexy handyman. It was a fun read.

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Other Loan

Physical

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

I borrowed this from a friend to read for a book club and was surprised that it’s a book of short stories. I really thought it was a nonfiction book about churchgoing women, lol! Silly me.

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THAT’S IT FOR NOW.
LET ME KNOW IF YOU’VE READ ANY OF THESE.