You know how I said last week there was a bookalanche? Well, it seems to have… set off another? Plus I got some review copies. And I joined a new library. At least I read quite a lot too?!
Books to review:
Between being a fan of Ada Palmer’s work with Sassafrass and Jo’s praise, I couldn’t resist picking up the latter, and I’ve seen so much enthusiasm about Passenger, so I thought I’d give it a try. And Demon Road, well, the hardback from the library is a beast so glad to have the ebook. Thanks Tor, Hachette and HarperCollins!
Library books:
Grabbed the Stiefvater books since it’s the first time I’ve seen them both on the shelves, and I don’t know when I’ll next swing by that library. The Alastair Reynolds books are for my epic reread with my sister; we’re starting with Century Rain, which is the book we both started with way back when (and the book which got my sister to read again after years of refusing). A Natural History of Dragons is for a reread and Saturn’s Children because I don’t feel like reading in ebook lately. The other two I was just randomly curious about.
Books bought:
Um. My only excuse is that some of these were secondhand and thus very cheap or free, and then the novellas were from my partner via our Valentine’s Day agreement (for me: £10 ish for books, no questions asked, each month; for her: at least one nap, no pouting allowed, each month). You can see four distinctive sections — romance novels, fantasy novellas, Alastair Reynolds, and kickass ladies in comics. And then an Ilona Andrews one tacked on that I almost forgot to list.
Books read:
Reviews this week:
–Tolkien: An Illustrated Atlas, by David Day. Mostly worth it for the art included. 3/5 stars
–An Earthly Knight, by Janet McNoughton. A reread I appreciated more than I did the first time, based on the ballad of Tam Lin. Lots of historical detail. 4/5 stars
–The Last Enchantment, by Mary Stewart. It felt like Stewart tried to see the best in all the traditional characters, which didn’t always work. 3/5 stars
–The Paper Menagerie, by Ken Liu. Interesting collection of stories, and my only real problem was something about the tone. Probably very idiosyncratic! 3/5 stars
–Murder in the Dark, by Kerry Greenwood. One of the weaker entries in the series, I think, with a weird cult thing going on. 3/5 stars
–Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Morally dubious superpeople and a fun story structure. 5/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson. Fairly typical amnesiac thriller, and rather predictable too. 2/5 stars
Other posts:
–Spoilers! A post on why I like spoilers and why I might not be alone in that.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Characters Everyone Likes But I Just Don’t Get. Apparently it’s unpopular opinions time again?
OK that is quite a pile! I find that if I deprive myself of books for a while, when the willpower crumbles, it goes big time and takes a while to get plugged! A bit like a crumbling dam I guess! I just can’t seem to stop finding new books-I have about 100 still to be added to tbr but I’m doing it as I add them to each STS so I can pretend things are under control…!
That’s exactly it! I’m catching up with three months of not buying! Hopefully I’m done for now, though — my TBR just ballooned! And oh, wow, at least your acquisitive tendencies make me feel better: I’m totally going to tell my family your totals to make them feel better about mine!
SQUEE!!! DEREK LANDY IS MY FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER. Have you read his Skulduggery Pleasant series? It’s PHENOMENAL! Demon Road is horrific and mesmerizing and page-turning and ahhh – hope you love it!
Enjoy your new books! 🙂
Kyra @ Blog of a Bookaholic
My Book Haul!
I haven’t! This’ll be my first book by him. I’ve heard so many good things, though! Thanks for dropping by.
A bookalanche… LOL! At least you got some great books this week 🙂 Happy reading!!
Danielle Meek recently posted…Stacking The Shelves {Week 30}
Yeah, like avalanches can set off other avalanches! …Any excuse, right? Thanks for dropping by!
Looks like quite a haul here. I always give myself excuses that it’s okay to buy more books when it’s really cheap, like how can you resist cheap books?? 😀
Sya @ Bookish Sya recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #5
Yeah, exactly! Haha.
I love the phrase Bookalanche! It’s perfect! You had a great haul this week. I hope you enjoy your books this week! I loved Passenger, but quite a few people didn’t like it at all. I think it one of those you either hate it or you love it books, but I loved it and hope you do to!
Hmmm, good to know! I’m not sure where exactly it is on the reading list, but I do need to start it soon…
I really want to get my hands on A Natural History of Dragons. I’ve heard the images in the book are fabulous. I’m behind on my Ilona Andrews. Only two books. I’ve been hording them for a rainy day when nothing grabs my interest. I’m curious to see what you think about Maggie Stiefvater’s books.
Great haul. Happy reading!!
Stacey Brutger recently posted…Stacking The Shelves [39]
I love it — it’s a reread for me. The fourth book is due out soooon. Gotta be ready for it, right?
Great choices. Maggie Stiefvater is an amazing writer. My STS
I liked Shiver, so I’m hopeful!
Whoa this is huge! I really want to read The Raven Boys. I still haven’t read the series! I know I need to but I really want to have the books in physical form. I hope you enjoy this great haul!
Genesis @ Latte Nights Reviews recently posted…Weekly Latte Rewind ~ 3.12.2016 | eARC Haul Edition!
I’m not 100% sold on the idea, since it takes a real Welsh hero and moves him to America, but we’ll see! Thanks for dropping by.
Wow, amazing haul! And hey, I can’t resist good deals and cheap books either, so no need to explain to me 😉
I also recently got an ARC of Too Like the Lightning, but I’ve never read her books before. Hearing that you’re a fan makes me optimistic I’ll like her too, since many of your reviews and ratings resonate with me!
Yeah but my family read this blog!
I haven’t read anything by Ada Palmer, but I know her work on Norse mythology in the Sundown song cycle Sassafrass did. Amazing interpretations of the stories and subtleties in putting together the story. Between that and Jo’s recommendation, I’m hopeful!
Oh this is a great haul! I just picked up The Passenger in audio… and I didn’t realize Watch the Wall My Darling was being re-released! I am going to have to pick that up for one of my Throwback Thursday posts! And I love love love the Kate Daniels series. Hope you enjoy!
Bambi’s StS
Bambi Unbridled recently posted…Audiobook Review: Phantom Evil by Heather Graham
It looks like a lot of Joan Aiken Hodge’s work is now available as ebooks on Amazon — and quite cheaply, too! So I thought I’d explore.
Wow, that is a beast of a book haul! I think it would take me the better part of a year to read that much. I LOVE the Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater. I can’t wait until The Raven King comes out in April. Have a wonderful week.
Luckily, I’m a speedy reader, but even so, I imagine this’ll keep me busy for a while!