Book Haul #82: From a Variety of Places

Almost three months have passed since I last did a book haul. Since then, I’ve bought a bunch of books from a variety of places, including indie bookshops, Book Depository, and Book Outlet, which I “rediscovered” since it’s been a while since I made a purchase there. But if you’re looking for a place to buy a bunch of books all at once that are in great condition and for a cheap price, check out Book Outlet.

Anyway, here’s what I got.

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PURCHASES

PHYSICAL

I was so surprised when I saw Never the Wind listed as one of the best books of 2022 so far over on the Quaint Book Nook. I’ve been on the lookout for whatever Dimitri novel would drop next but didn’t know this one had been published. So immediately after reading the review of it on the Quaint Book Nook, I placed an order. I also ordered Dimitri’s debut English novel, The Book of Hidden Things, which is a favorite of mine, but I’d read a library copy. Dimitri is an Italian author. I think he translates his books himself.

Since I already own The Goblin Emperor (a favorite) and The Witness for the Dead, I thought I may as well get these other two by Katherine Addison — The Grief of Stones and The Angel of the Crows. One of these days, I’ll read through them all. I certainly would like to return to the world and characters from The Goblin Emperor.

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Wyrd & Wonder 2022 Wrap Up

Wyrd & Wonder is all done and won’t be back until next year. But there are other events to possibly look forward to in the fall, like Spooktastic Reads and SciFiMonth. But in the meantime, here’s my wrap up.

Wyrd & Wonder is a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy where participants can participate in any way they like, whether reading books, watching shows, playing games, anything. Thanks to the hosts — Imyril, Lisa, Jorie, Ariana, and Annemieke — who kept us abreast of everyone’s posts, we had a fun, interactive event. Shout out them!

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Here are what my plans were and how I did.

Read ONLY fantasy books in May.

This was easy and is the only goal I managed to accomplish, but I only managed to complete one book and that’s Charmed Life, the first book in this anthology of Diana Wynne Jones’s Chrestomanci middle grade books. Other than that, I started many books and have a buddy-read on going.

Charmed Book Tag

It’s the last day of Wyrd & Wonder, the monthlong celebration of all things fantasy, and here I am with the second book tag I’m doing for it. I really thought I’d have done more for the event but… Making plans this year is just not the move.

I’m doing the Charmed Book Tag, which was created by booktuber Just Me & My Books. This is perfect for me. I was a huge fan of the Charmed TV show as a kid and still enjoy watching it whenever it’s on, although now I think some parts of it are quite cheesy, but it’s still entertaining and a pretty good show.

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In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient powers. Bring your power to we sisters three. We want the power.

Give us the power: A book or series that started you off on the magical journey of reading

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This classic children’s fantasy novel is one of the books that started me on my journey toward becoming a fan of fantasy. I just loved the feeling of wonder I got while reading and kept hoping that I too would wander into a new world through my wardrobe.

Fantastic Top Five — Fav Fantasy Subgenre

Fantastic Top Fives is a meme for Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy.

This week’s topic:

Top Five From a Favorite Fantasy Subgenre

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I’ve decided to focus on middle grade fantasy books for this week’s topic. I know middle grade is an age category and not a genre, but it certainly has its own flavor. These fantasy stories are often light, fun, fast-moving with loads of zany adventures, often with no parent or other responsible adult around. Kids often have to rely on their own abilities because adults are either evil, unaware, unavailable, or unreliable, and it’s up to the kids to save the day.

Other than the Harry Potter books, the Narnia series, whatever Rick Riordan writes, and the Tea Dragon books, here are a few others I enjoyed.

Tolkien Character Book Tag

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into Wyrd & Wonder and haven’t yet done a book tag! Things have been too busy lately. Anyway, I’m hoping to do some tags over the next few days and get some blog-hopping in as well to see what everyone else has been posting.

Well, I’ll be doing the Tolkien Character Book Tag, which was created by booktuber Things Lucy Reads. I’m not a fan of the Lord of the Rings series (blasphemy! I know), but I enjoyed The Hobbit and prefer the movies to the books. I’ve toyed with the idea of trying the core trilogy again, but… I’ve yet to act on that and doubt I will. However, I do appreciate Tolkien’s creativity and all that went into creating this story and world. And, of course, I enjoyed the movie adaptation as well as many fantasy stories that are inspired by Tolkien’s work.

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Aragorn: A book that ended up being everything you wanted it to be

DCeased by Tom Taylor, illus. by Trevor Hairsine

It’s the first in a comic book series set in the DC universe about a zombie apocalypse and how the superheroes try to save the world and stop its spreading. I’ve always wanted a superhero, zombie apocalypse story, and this delivered. I enjoyed seeing how certain superheroes react and spread the virus based on how their power works. It was a very entertaining story for this zombie-apocalypse-stories fan.

Fantastic Top Five — Single-Serve Fantasy Reads

Fantastic Top Fives is a meme for Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy.

This week’s topic:

Top Five Single-Serve Fantasy Reads

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Now I know this calls for short works such as short stories and novellas, but I really want to talk about picture books because I love them and think more adults should give them a chance. Plus, they fit the category — being books you can read in a single sitting — and these will be great recommendations for your kids.

Book Haul #81: The Wyrd & Wonder Edition

The last time I did a book haul was back in March, and since then, 99% of the books I bought were fantasy, which makes this the perfect book haul for Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy! So let’s just call this the Wyrd & Wonder edition.

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PURCHASES

PHYSICAL

Kicking things off with this bunch, all of which I got because bloggers I follow read and loved them and inspired me to get them.

Reviews from Mogsy and Mayri, the Bookforager, made me add Mordew to my TBR and eventually buy a copy. The Summer Tree is one of the read-along books for this year’s Wyrd & Wonder. Obviously, I got it because I intended to participate in the read-along, but life/work demands are getting in the way. I’ve only ready two pages so far. 😩 I’m working my way through Abercrombie’s novels with Emily of Embuhleeliest, and Best Served Cold will be the next one we read. As for Legends & Lattes, I’ve been seeing it everywhere and unfortunately, I forgot which blog made me add it to my TBR.

Top Ten Tuesday #51: Fantasy Books I Haven’t Read Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic:

Books I was excited to get but still haven’t read

The Wyrd & Wonder monthlong celebration of all things fantasy is still going, so I’ve decided to make this Top Ten Tuesday post fantasy related by listing only fantasy books below.

There are many books I could have included on this list because my unread TBR is large, but these are among the top ones I’d love to prioritize.

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Fantastic Top Five — Forest Fantasy

Fantastic Top Fives is a meme for Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy.

This week’s topic:

Top Five Forest Fantasy Recs

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Since wood is symbolic of fifth anniversaries, a theme for this year’s W&W is forest fantasy. For this topic, we can choose books that have “woodland settings, forest creatures, a particular focus on trees — or maybe even important wooden items and artifacts.” It’s totally up to you.

I’ve decided to focus on fantasy books that either have a forest setting or in which the forest has great significance. (Kinda went overboard and chose 7 🙃)

Fantastic Top Five — Fantasies

Wyrd & Wonder has begun!! 😀 That means, no matter what, May will be a fantastic month.

If you want to know more about Wyrd & Wonder, the monthlong celebration of all things fantasy, see my previous post. But to get things started, I’ll do a Fantastic Top Fives post, which is a meme the Wyrd & Wonder crew created in honor of W&W’s fifth anniversary. There’s a different topic each week.

This week’s topic:

Top Five Fantasies Since Last Wyrd & Wonder

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To get my five below, I went back to books read since April last year. So here are the top fantasy/fantasy-related books I read since then.