Book Haul: February 2017

I did pretty well this month when it came to book buying. And this can probably be attributed to my reading slump. But I did receive a lot of books this month so let’s get into the haul.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) – V.E. Schwab
• Wires and Nerve, Vol. 1 – Marissa Meyer & Douglas Holgate
• History is All You Left Me – Adam Silvera
• Starfall (Starflight #2) – Melissa Landers
• Outrun the Moon – Stacey Lee

Some of these were preorders and others were just books that I’ve had my eye on for a while. I can’t wait to get into them and hopefully they’ll be able to get me out of my massive reading slump.

RECEIVED

• Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair – Steven Herrick
• A Place Like This – Steven Herrick
• Letters to the Lost – Brigid Kemmerer
• Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver
• Love May Fail – Matthew Quick
• Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman
• We Were on a Break – Lindsey Kelk
• Windfall – Jennifer E. Smith
• The Edge of Everything – Jeff Giles
• Defy the Stars – Claudia Gray
• The Secret Science of Magic – Melissa Keil
• How to Think Like Sherlock – Daniel Smith
• Caraval (Caraval #1) – Stephanie Garber

I received a few books from publishers this month. Thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for Windfall, Bloomsbury for The Edge of Everything, Allen & Unwin for Defy the Stars and Hardie Grant Egmont for The Secret Science of Magic. Looking forward to reading and reviewing all of those books. I also received a pile of books from Jeann that I’ll be reviewing on Happy Indulgence at some point. Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair and A Place Like This were from University of Queensland Press. Thanks to Bloomsbury for Letters to the Lost and Walker Books for Wing Jones. Jeann also sent me Before I Fall, which I want to read before I see the movie.

In February I also won a copy of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology in a giveaway. And I picked up  two books from ‘pay for postage’ sales on the Aussie YA Readers and Bloggers group: We Were on a Break and Love May Fail. I also included the two books that came in the February Fairyloot in this section, even though they were purchased and not received. The box came with Caraval and How to Think Like Sherlock.

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Book Haul: January 2017

I was pretty good this month and didn’t buy too many books. This is probably due to my intense planner sticker addiction. I spent way too much money on stickers from etsy stores and that left less money for books haha.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• The One Memory of Flora Banks – Emily Barr
• Furthermore – Tahereh Mafi
• Wayfarer (Passenger #2) – Alexandra Bracken
• Windwitch (The Witchlands #2) – Susan Dennard

I was pretty restrained when it came to Book Depository this month. Wayfarer and Windwitch were both preorders so I didn’t technically buy them this month haha. I picked up The One Memory of Flora Banks and Furthermore because I noticed that they were both really inexpensive when I went through my wishlist.

KINOKUNIYA

• Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe #1) – Rosamund Hodge
• Crimson Bound – Rosamund Hodge
• Blood for Blood (Wolf by Wolf #2) – Ryan Graudin
• The Walled City – Ryan Graudin

You might be wondering why I bought new copies of Blood for Blood and The Walled City when I already own copies of them. Well, the reason is because Ryan Graudin visited Australia and left signed copies in many of the major cities. I went to Kinokuniya and grabbed copies of them ASAP. I also wanted to get Wolf by Wolf as well but it was a shorter paperback that didn’t match Blood for Blood so I decided to check out Dymocks to see if they had signed copies of the tall paperback. I also bought copies of Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound, both of which I’ve read and reviewed.

DYMOCKS

• Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf #1) – Ryan Graudin
• Lisette’s Paris Notebook – Catherine Bateson

I went to Dymocks to search for a signed copy of Wolf by Wolf in the tall paperback edition but they didn’t have any in stock either. I ended up picking up a copy anyway. On a separate trip, I fell in love with the cover of Lisette’s Paris Notebook and picked up a copy.

RECEIVED

• Lady Helen and the Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen #2) – Alison Goodman
• Beware that Girl – Teresa Toten
• Four Weeks, Five People – Jennifer Yu

I requested three books in recent months and received them in January. Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for Lady Helen and the Dark Days Pact. I’m super excited to see how the story continues with Lady Helen and Lord Carlston. Thanks to Allen and Unwin for Beware that Girl. I loved Teresa Toten’s The Unlikely Hero of 13B so I’m super keen to check it out. And thanks to Harlequin Teen for Four Weeks, Five People. I don’t know much about it but it kinda sounds right up my alley!

PTA SHOWCASE

• A Shadow’s Breath – Nicole Hayes
• Good Me, Bad Me – Ali Land
• Idaho – Emily Ruskovich
• The Girl in Kellers Way – M.C. Goldin
• The Girl Who Was Taken – Charlie Donlea
• The One Memory of Flora Banks – Emily Barr
• Valentine – Jodi McAlister
• Before You Forget – Julia Lawrinson
• Penguin Teen Australia Super Proof 2017

I attended Penguin Teen Australia’s PTA Showcase in mid-January and had the most wonderful time. I’ve written a full recap on Happy Indulgence. But long story short, we all received a Super Proof on the night, but I won that stunning boxset of new/upcoming releases! On the night, there were books for sale and I picked up copies of Valentine and Before You Forget. Jodi McAlister, author of Valentine, was present on the night and I got my copy signed.

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Did you pick up any exciting books in January?

Book Haul: December 2016

I was actually more restrained this month when it came to buying books. I still acquired a sizeable stack but it was much better than other months when I had absolutely no self-control.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Mark Salisbury
• The Smell of Other People’s Houses – Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
• Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock – Matthew Quick
• The Nest – Kenneth Oppel
• One True Loves – Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Forever, Interrupted – Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Second Chance Summer – Morgan Matson

All of these were actually books that I ordered in November but didn’t receive until the first few days of December. I own paperback editions of The Smell of Other People’s Houses and Second Chance Summer but I loved them so much that I wanted the hardcover editions too. The rest are books that I’ve wanted to read for a really long time.

KINOKUNIYA

• New York: Through a Fashion Eye – Megan Hess
• A Monster Calls: Special Collector’s Edition – Patrick Ness
• The Gentleman Bastard Sequence (Gentleman Bastard #1-3) – Scott Lynch
• Freedom Swimmer – Wai Chim

I picked up Freedom Swimmer to read for the #DAReadathon so hopefully I can get to it soon. I couldn’t resist the cover and the rose gold foiling and rose gold painted pages on New York: Through a Fashion Eye so I snapped it up immediately. It was also signed by Megan Hess. On Boxing Day, Kinokuniya had a 20% off sale so I picked up the special hardcover edition of A Monster Calls and also the paperback boxset of The Gentleman Bastard Sequence, which I’ve wanted to read for a while.

DYMOCKS

• The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily (Dash and Lily #2) – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay – J.K. Rowling

I only picked up two books from Dymocks in December and I got them during the same shopping trip. I’d been lusting after the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay since it first came out. I was in North America at the time and didn’t want to lug it back home so I wanted until I was back to pick it up. I was also in the mood for a festive book so I bought The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily.

RECEIVED

• A Girl Called Owl – Amy Wilson
• Windwitch (The Witchlands #2) – Susan Dennard
• A Quiet Kind of Thunder – Sara Barnard
• Freeks – Amanda Hocking
• An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters & Denizens of Downworld – Cassandra Clare & Cassandra Jean

I received a bunch of books from Pan Macmillan Australia in December. I’m part of the blog tours for A Quiet Kind of Thunder (January 8) and Freeks (February 5) so keep an eye out for my posts on those. I also requested Windwitch and they kindly sent me a copy. And I received A Girl Called Owl unsolicited. My coblogger Jeann @ Happy Indulgence sent me An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld as a Christmas gift because she knew I really wanted it and omg the book is stunning!!

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What exciting books did you pick up or receive during the holidays?

Book Haul: November 2016

My monthly hauls are always really massive but I feel particularly bad about it this month because I was away for two weeks and did barely any reading, so it feels as if my TBR has grown immensely with all the books I’ve hauled in November. It’s only a few days into December and I’ve already got a sizeable haul for the month. I think I’ll be on a no-buy until the end of the year!

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Once Was a Time – Leila Sales
• Eleanor & Park Exclusive Edition – Rainbow Rowell
• Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys
• The Sun is Also a Star – Nicola Yoon
• Maybe in Another Life – Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy – Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson & Robin Wasserman
• Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) – Neal Shusterman

A few of these were preorders that I made a few months ago: Scythe, The Sun is Also a Star and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. I’m super keen to jump into Scythe and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, but because I’m 20 books away from hitting my Goodreads goal for the year, I might leave these two bigger books until 2017. When I visited Jeann @ Happy Indulgence in October, I went with her to the library and saw Once Was a Time, which I immediately had to get for myself because I really enjoyed Tonight the Streets Are Ours. I ended up buying the exclusive special edition of Eleanor & Park that was recently released because it has fanart as its endpapers. And finally, I ordered about 10 books off my wishlist and Between Shades of Gray and Maybe in Another Life arrived In November!

DYMOCKS

• The Universe of Us – Lang Leav
• Under Rose-Tainted Skies – Louise Gornall
• A Million Worlds With You (Firebird #3) – Claudia Gray
• The Road to Winter (Winter #1) – Mark Smith
• Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Dymocks had a ‘spend $75 and get a Harry Potter tote bag’ offer, so I spent quite a bit of money in November. I also bought some Aussie YA books for overseas friends, so my total was actually over $150 (whoops!). I went to the monthly YA Bookmeet at the start of November, where Mark Smith was the guest, so I ended up purchasing a copy of his book to be signed, and picked up everything else on the same day.

BARNES & NOBLE

• We Are the Ants – Shaun David Hutchinson
• Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler
• Children of Eden – Joey Graceffa
• Lab Girl – Hope Jahren

When I was in Boston for my work conference, there was a Barnes and Noble pretty much right next door to  the conference venue (thank you conference organisers!). I was tempted to buy a lot more but was limited by suitcase space T_T.

INDIGO

• Still Life With Tornado – A.S. King
• Tell Me Three Things – Julie Buxbaum
• The Female of the Species – Mindy McGinnis
• The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson

When I visited Toronto at the end of November, Jesse @ Books at Dawn took me to many different bookstores and I ended up buying four books at Indigo. I’ve been wanting to read The Sky is Everywhere for a really, really long time since I’ll Give You the Sun is my favourite YA novel of all time. But I haven’t been able to find the edition I wanted… until now! I snapped this one up so quickly! I’ve also been eyeing Still Life With Tornado since before it was released so I’m happy that I now have a copy. Tell Me Three Things and The Female of the Species were recommendations from Jesse.

RECEIVED

• The Light That Gets Lost – Natasha Carthew
• Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) – Morgan Rhodes
• The Unexpected Everything (ARC) – Morgan Matson
• Irena’s Children: Young Readers Edition; A True Story of Courage – Tilar J. Mazzeo

Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for sending a copy of The Light That Gets Lost. Jesse @ Books at Dawn gave me Falling Kingdoms, which is his favourite series. I’ll definitely be picking it up soon, now that I have a copy. The ARCs of The Unexpected Everything and Irena’s Children were given to me by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts. Thanks Joey!

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That’s all for this month. Hopefully my December haul will be much shorter!

Book Haul: October 2016

My October book haul is coming to you a little bit late because I’ve been super busy at work and I’m on a semi-hiatus. By the time you read this post, I will be in sunny California visiting a colleague before I head over to Boston for my work conference. Let’s get into the haul!

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Everyone We’ve Been – Sarah Everett
• This Adventure Ends – Emma Mills
• Frost Like Night (Snow Like Ashes #3) – Sara Raasch
• Tales of the Peculiar (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #0.5) – Ransom Riggs
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition – J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay
• Radio Silence – Alice Oseman
• Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) – Veronica Rossi
• Through the Never Night (Under the Never Sky #2) – Veronica Rossi
• Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) – Veronica Rossi

Half of these books were actually preorders that I made months ago. Everyone We’ve Been, This Adventure Ends, Frost Like Night and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition were all preorders. I also picked up Tales of the Peculiar and Radio Silence, both of which have been on my wishlist for a while. Finally, I was talked into buying the Under the Never Sky trilogy on Twitter.

KINOKUNIYA

• Girl in Pieces – Kathleen Glasgow
• Blood for Blood (Wolf by Wolf #2) – Ryan Graudin
• Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell

I spent a lot of time in Kinokuniya this month because I was waiting for Blood for Blood to be available. I pretty much went every day to see if they had stock and ended up picking up the other books.

RECEIVED

• Something in Between – Melissa de la Cruz
• Metaltown – Kristen Simmons
• China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2) – Kevin Kwan
• Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
• Mistletoe and Mr Right – Lyla Payne
• It Looks Like This – Rafi Mittlefehldt
• The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me – Michael Gerard Bauer
• The Thing About Jellyfish – Ali Benjamin
• Moon Chosen (Tales of a New World #1) – P.C. Cast
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (movie tie-in edition) – Ransom Riggs

I went to Brisbane in October and stayed with Jeann, so naturally I went home with a whole bunch of books to review on Happy Indulgence. I brought home It Looks Like This, Somewhere in Between, Mistletoe & Mr Right and The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me. Jeann also gave me the movie tie-in edition of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children because I love the trilogy and I’m so happy to have it. I received three books from a friend as a late birthday gift: The Thing About Jellyfish, China Rich Girlfriend and Everything I Never Told You. These were all on my Book Depository wishlist. Metaltown technically wasn’t a ‘received’ book. I got it in my October Fairyloot box so I did purchase it. But I’m also too lazy to put it in its own category. Finally, Pan Macmillan Australia sent me Moon Chosen.

EBOOKS

• The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli
• The End of Our Story – Meg Haston
• By Your Side – Kasie West
• An Improper Bride (Billionaires’ Brides of Convenience #4) – Nadia Lee
• The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) – Sarina Bowen
• The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years #2) – Sarina Bowen
• Blonde Date (The Ivy Years #2.5) – Sarina Bowen
• The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3) – Sarina Bowen
• The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years #4) – Sarina Bowen
• The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years #5) – Sarina Bowen
• Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1) – Sarina Bowen

There was a Harper drop on Edelweiss and I have three books to review for Happy Indulgence: The Upside of Unrequited, The End of Our Story and By Your Side. I bought An Improper Bride because it’s the second part of a story and I needed to know how it ended (only to read it and find out that there’s a third part…). Most of my month was spent reading new adult books because I was in a big reading slump so I kind of became obsessed with Sarina Bowen’s books. Totally waiting for her next release!

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Hope you guys had a great month!

Book Haul: September 2016

I think I was much more restrained this month than in previous months when it comes to my book haul. Even though I acquired lots of books, I only bought 14 of them! Which is still a lot… but it was my birthday this month and I didn’t buy as much as I thought I did. Book haul justified.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) – Leigh Bardugo
• The Thousandth Floor (The Thousandth Floor #1) – Katharine McGee
• Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur
• P.S. I Like You – Kasie West
• Phantom Limbs – Paula Garner
• The One Hundred Nights of Hero – Isabel Greenberg
• The Encyclopedia of Early Earth – Isabel Greenberg

I love how Crooked Kingdom and The Thousandth Floor have the same pretty black and gold colour scheme! It’s soooo pretty. Half of these purchases from Book Depository were preorders. I preordered Crooked Kingdom, The Thousandth Floor and Phantom Limbs. Milk and Honey was a book that I picked up on a bit of a whim but I’ve since read it and absolutely loved it. I purchased P.S. I Like You because I love Kasie West’s fluffy contemporary romances and this one was just as good as her other ones have been. Finally, I picked up The Encyclopedia of Early Earth (which I used to have a copy of but gave it away to a friend who I thought would also love it) and Isabel Greenberg’s new graphic novel, The One Hundred Nights of Hero. I can’t wait to read it!

KINOKUNIYA

• Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green & David Levithan
• Are We There Yet? – David Levithan
• Embrace (The Violet Eden Chapters #1) – Jessica Shirvington
• Swarm (Zeroes #2) – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti

On the first day of September, I went to the #YAFanFest, hosted by Allen & Unwin, to preview some upcoming titles. There were also some amazing Aussie YA authors there and books for sale by Kinokuniya. I ended up picking up a copy of Swarm 4 weeks before release at the event and got it signed by Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti. I also bought a copy of Garth Nix’s Goldenhand before release at the event too, which I gave away to a friend. The following day, I went to a Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan event at Kinokuniya and I picked up two David Levithan books that I don’t already own, Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Are We There Yet? Finally, for my birthday, I bought myself Embrace by Jessica Shirvington because I’ve really enjoyed the three books of hers that I’ve read so far, Disruption duology and Between the Lives.

DYMOCKS

• Graffiti Moon – Cath Crowley
• The Best of Adam Sharp – Graeme Simsion
• Words in Deep Blue – Cath Crowley

I’ve been saving up my Dymocks credit points since July so that I can spoil myself on my birthday. However, when I went to the store, there weren’t actually that many books that I wanted to buy. I ended up picking up Graffiti Moon and a finished copy of Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley. I also bought Graeme Simsion’s new novel, The Best of Adam Sharp, which was signed. Funny story, after I bought this book from Dymocks, I went to Kinokuniya to browse, and 5 minutes after I left Kinokuniya, I checked my Instagram feed and saw a picture of Graeme Simsion signing copies of The Best of Adam Sharp at Kinokuniya, posted 15 minutes ago. Totally could have gotten my copy personalised if I was paying more attention!

RECEIVED

• Frogkisser! – Garth Nix
• Open Road Summer – Emery Lord
• Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) – Sarah J. Maas
• The Diviners (The Diviners #1) – Libba Bray
• Witch’s Pyre (Worldwalker #3) – Josephine Angelini
• Replica (Replica #1) – Lauren Oliver
• Swarm (Zeroes #2) – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti
• Cooper Bartholomew is Dead – Rebecca James

At the #YAFanFest event that I went to, there were goodie bags for all the attendees. In my bag, I received The Diviners and London Belongs to Us. Because I’ve already read and reviewed London Belongs to Us, I ended up swapping with Emily @ The Loony Literate for Cooper Bartholomew is Dead. At the event, I also won an ARC of Garth Nix’s Frogkisser! in a lucky dip that he was running. It sounds hilarious and I’m so excited to read it. From publishers, I received Swarm from Allen & Unwin, Replica from Hachette Australia, Witch’s Pyre from Pan Macmillan Australia, and Empire of Storms from Bloomsbury Australia. Empire of Storms actually came last month but I didn’t include it in my book haul last month. My coblogger Jeann @ Happy Indulgence sent me Open Road Summer for my birthday and I’m so happy to now have it in my hands!!

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Phew! All done! Which books did you purchase in September and what are you most excited to read?

Book Haul: August 2016

I went slightly crazy this month with my book buying. There were a lot of events and that prompted a lot of book buying. Whoops?

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Shatter Me trilogy boxset – Tahereh Mafi
• Confess – Colleen Hoover
• It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
• Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Bone Gap – Laura Ruby

You might be thinking “Jenna, didn’t you buy Bone Gap a few months ago already?!” And the answer is yes, I did. I got a paperback copy when I was in Florida because the book isn’t published in Australia. However, I wanted the hardcover edition. So when Jeann @ Happy Indulgence mentioned that she wanted to buy the paperback of the book, I offered my copy to her in a heartbeat so that I could buy the hardback. And here it is! This month, I also received my preorder of the Shatter Me boxset. It’s a series that I’ve wanted to read for a really long time but the Australian covers are hideous and I couldn’t justify buying the series in hardcover. I saw some of Colleen Hoover’s books with large discounts so I bought Confess and It Ends With Us, which are the two that I’m most interested in. And finally I also bought Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Americanah, using the BooktubeAThon discount.

KINOKUNIYA

• Uprooted – Naomi Novik
• The Walled City – Ryan Graudin
• Breathing Under Water – Sophie Hardcastle
• Twenty Boy Summer – Sarah Ockler
• Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales – Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant
• Saga Vol. 1 (Saga #1-6) – Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
• Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening (Monstress #1-6) – Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda

August 13 was National Bookshop Day in Australia and of course I had to visit Kinokuniya. I ended up buying Uprooted, The Walled City, Breathing Under Water, Twenty Boy Summer, Saga Vol. 1 and Monstress Vol. 1 that day. I’m super excited to pick up those novels!! I also received a free book that day for spending over $30 (I’m kicking myself for not splitting up my purchases because I could have received 3 free books with all the money I spent). I ended up getting Queen of Shadows, which I already own a copy of so I gave away this copy on Twitter. A week later, I was at Kinokuniya again for a panel that Jeann was moderating and during a quick browse of the YA section, I picked up Monstrous Affections, an anthology of beastly tales by some wonderful authors that I’ve read and lots of others who I’ve never heard of.

DYMOCKS

• The Memory Book – Lara Avery
• The Protected – Claire Zorn
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – J.K. Rowling
• Newt’s Emerald – Garth Nix
• When Michael Met Mina – Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Between the Lives – Jessica Shirvington
• The Hating Game – Sally Thorne

Dymocks had a 2 for $30 sale on select Aussie YA books this month so I bought Newt’s Emerald and When Michael Met Mina. They also had a double points sale one day in August, which prompted me to buy The Memory Book, The Protected, Between the Lives and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Finally on National Bookshop Day, I bought The Hating Game and I’m super excited to read it. I read Sally Thorne’s fanfiction about 7 years ago and have been following her on Twitter since then. It’s so exciting that she now has a published novel and the synopsis sounds right up my alley!

angus & Robertson BOOKWORLD

• Fangirl Collector’s Edition – Rainbow Rowell

I already own the original green hardcover edition of Fangirl but because I was getting the opportunity to meet Rainbow Rowell, I decided to buy the pink collector’s edition too. Angus & Robertson is an Australian online retailer and they just happened to have free shipping when I decided to purchase this book so I took full advantage. The book arrived the day after I ordered it!!! I was sooo pleased. The book itself is lovely. It isn’t that much different from the original edition but it has lovely Cath & Levi and SnowBaz fanart as its endpapers and a cute coffee cup on the naked cover.

RECEIVED

• #SaveOzStories collection
• Our Chemical Hearts – Krystal Sutherland
• Stealing Snow (Stealing Snow #1) – Danielle Paige
• The Devil You Know – Trish Doller
• Words in Deep Blue – Cath Crowley
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) – Laini Taylor
• Heartless – Marissa Meyer

I’m a very lucky girl and received lots of wonderful books this month. My Happy Indulgence coblogger, Aila @ One Way or an Author sent me her ARC of Heartless!!!!!! I’m still internally screaming. Like I haven’t stopped screaming enough to find time to pick up the book. I also did a trade with Angel Reads for Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The book was signed by Laini Taylor and I’m still internally screaming about that too. Jeann sent me copies of Words in Deep Blue and Our Chemical Hearts to review on Happy Indulgence. Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Penguin Teen Australia for those. Bloomsbury Australia sent me Stealing Snow and The Devil You Know. And finally, I got a copy of #SaveOzStories, which is a collection of short stories by a whole bunch of Australian authors. This book is a response to the proposed changes to the book industry by the Australian government. The two main changes proposed are the reduction of the copyright period from 70 years to 15-25 years and the abolishing of parallel importation restrictions to create an open market.  These will both have a detrimental effect on authors and the publishing industry in Australia.

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What was your favourite book that you acquired in August?

Book Haul: July 2016

At the beginning of this year, I told myself that I wasn’t going to go on book buying bans or force myself not to buy books. But I wanted to limit my book buying so that I’d read more books each month than I bought. That has completely gone out the window in the last few months and July was no exception. My terrible book buying habits are still in full force. So let’s just get into it.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Soppy – Philippa Rice
• Golden Son (Red Rising #2) – Pierce Brown
• Furiously Happy – Jenny Lawson
• The Great American Whatever – Tim Federle
• Starflight – Melissa Landers

Aila @ One Way or an Author has been telling me to read Starflight since she read it and I finally got myself a copy! It’s beautiful and I’ll be reading it really soon. I read Red Rising a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so when I saw Golden Son majorly discounted, I picked it up so that I could continue the trilogy. I’ve been wanting to read The Great American Whatever since it was released and I’m happy that I finally bought it. The other two books, Soppy and Furiously Happy, were books that I bought using the BookTubeAThon discount. I have two other books that I ordered along with them but were shipped out late so they’ll be in my August haul at the end of this month.

KINOKUNIYA

• The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
• The Problem with Forever – Jennifer L. Armentrout
• How They Met, and Other Stories – David Levithan
• You Know Me Well – Nina LaCour & David Levithan
• Every Word (Every #2) – Ellie Marney
• The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You – Lily Anderson
• Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Alex + Ada, Vol. 1 (Alex + Ada #1-5) – Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
• Alex + Ada, Vol. 2 (Alex + Ada #6-10) – Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
• Alex + Ada, Vol. 3 (Alex + Ada #11-15) – Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn

I was a little naughty this month and went to Kinokuniya multiple times to browse… which obviously led to some book buying. I’m going to a few David Levithan events in late August and early September so I’m making my way through his books that I haven’t yet read. Obviously I had to pick up his newest release, You Know Me Well, and I also couldn’t keep my hands away from How They Met, which is a short story collection. I’d been wanting to check out a Jennifer L. Armentrout novel for a really long time but I was never really that interested in her Lux series or any of her other books. But The Problem with Forever sounds right up my alley! And it also has a beautiful cover

Kinokuniya had a 14th birthday 20% off storewide sale at the beginning of the July, so I bought a few books then. I purchased The Outsiders, which I’ve always wanted to read. Every Word is the second book in a trilogy and I picked it up because I own the first and third books. I also picked up Between the World and Me and The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You because I’d heard some good things about them. Finally, I got the Alex + Ada volumes because it’s been a series that I’ve been eyeing for a while and I liked that it was a completed series.

DYMOCKS

• Maggot Moon – Sally Gardner
• Seven Ways We Lie – Riley Redgate
• Where Things Come Back – John Corey Whaley
• Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) – Jay Kristoff
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter #8) – J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is finally here! I preordered it and picked it up on July 31st because I was so excited about it! The book itself is so beautiful. The naked hardcover is stunning, as are the end papers. I try to go to #YABookmeet each month, hosted by Emily from Dymocks Sydney, and the theme for last month was disability. She recommended Maggot Moon and I snatched up the last copy. I also did a bit of a browse and bought a copy of Where Things Come Back, because I loved John Corey Whaley’s Highly Illogical Behaviour. Emily also convinced me that I needed a copy of Seven Ways We Lie, which she special ordered for me. In July, I also went to the Sydney launch of Nevernight and got myself an early release copy. It was absolutely amazing!

RECEIVED

• With Malice – Eileen Cook
• Saving Jazz – Kate McCaffrey
• London Belongs to Us – Sarra Manning
• Trial by Fire (The World Walker Trilogy #1) – Josephine Angelini
• The Boundless Sublime – Lili Wilkinson
• Maggie’s Kitchen – Caroline Beecham
• Arena 13 (Arena 13 Trilogy #1) – Joseph Delaney
• The Other Side of Summer – Emily Gale
• When Michael Met Mina – Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Whisper to Me – Nick Lake
• Nothing Tastes as Good – Claire Hennessy

I was really fortunate this month to receive lots of books from publishers and from my coblogger, Jeann @ Happy Indulgence. Jeann moved house in July, so she sent me a package of books to review on Happy Indulgence before she packed them all away. She sent me her extra copy of When Michael Met Mina, and review copies of The Other Side of Summer (thanks to Penguin Random House Australia), Whisper to Me (thanks to Bloomsbury Australia) and Nothing Tastes As Good (thanks to Allen & Unwin). I received Arena 13 as a trivia prize at the #YABookmeet.

From Allen & Unwin, I received for review The Boundless Sublime, Maggie’s Kitchen, With Malice and London Belongs to Us. Fremantle Press sent me Saving Jazz and I received Trial by Fire from Pan Macmillan Australia. Thank you to all these wonderful publishers.

EBOOKS

• Unicorn Tracks – Julia Ember

The author of Unicorn Tracks, Julia Ember, asked if I wanted to review her book and of course I said yes because UNICORNS. BABY UNICORNS.

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Check out the books I read in July and what I thought of them in my July Wrap Up!

Book Haul: June 2016

Whoops. I bought way too many books this month again. Like why do I even bother pretending that I’m going to be good next month? Cos I’m probably not going to be.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Underwater – Marisa Reichardt
• How it Feels to Fly – Kathryn Holmes
  I’ve written a review of this book.
• Something Real – Heather Demetrios
• A Season for Fireflies – Rebecca Maizel
  I also have a review for this book.
• Girl Against the Universe – Paula Stokes
  Here’s my review of GATU.
• My Lady Jane – Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows
• Adulthood is a Myth: A ‘Sarah Scribbles’ Collection – Sarah Andersen
• The Infernal Devices boxset – Cassandra Clare

I finally did it! I bought the boxset of the new covers of The Infernal Devices. Omg the spines are so beautiful and the gold detailing is stunning. I’m dying! I saw really great review of Underwater so I decided to pick it up too. How it Feels to Fly, A Season for Fireflies and My Lady Jane were preorders that were finally released this month. I bought Something Real, which has been on my wishlist since I read I’ll Meet You There and Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios. I bought Girl Against the Universe after Aila @ One Way or an Author raved and raved until I caved. And of course I had to get Sarah Andersen’s collection of comics, Adulthood is a Myth.

KINOKUNIYA

• Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy – Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters & Brooke Allen
• A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls – Jessica Spotswood
  Check out my Top Ten Tuesday post where I outlined 10 reasons why you should read this book.

I bought the first volume of Lumberjanes because I really enjoyed Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. And when I saw the beautiful hardcover edition of A Tyranny of Petticoats, I just had to have it! It’s an anthology that includes short stories by some of my favourite authors. And from what I hear, the print run has already ended?!

DYMOCKS

• Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories – Stephanie Perkins
• Stitching Snow – R. C. Lewis
• Kissing in America – Margo Rabb
• How to be Bad – E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle & Sarah Mlynowski
• One Would Think the Deep – Claire Zorn
• The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B – Teresa Toten
  I’ve written a review of this book.

I picked up some exciting stuff from Dymocks this month. When I saw Summer Days & Summer Nights, I had to bring it home with me. It has beautiful yellow sprayed pages ❤ . I also bought One Would Think the Deep because Jeann @ Happy Indulgence absolutely loves Claire Zorn. The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B was one that I picked up to fulfill a reading challenge but it’s now one of my all-time favourites. I bought Stitching Snow because Aila really enjoyed it and recommended it to me. Finally I found Kissing in America and How to be Bad in the sale section! They were $4 and $5, so I picked them up because I’d been eyeing them for a while.

RECEIVED

• Hold Me Like a Breath (Once Upon a Crime Family #1) – Tiffany Schmidt
• Burning – Danielle Rollins
• Disruption (Disruption #1) – Jessica Shirvington
• Corruption (Disruption #2) – Jessica Shirvington
• Sophie Someone – Hayley Long

I requested the Disruption duology from HarperCollins Australia and they were kind enough to send it to me. The new editions are absolutely beautiful (as were the old covers)! I received Sophie Someone and Hold Me Like A Breath unsolicited from Allen & Unwin (on behalf of Hot Key Books and Bloomsbury). Bloomsbury also sent me Burning unsolicited.

EBOOKS

• Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet – Charlie N. Holmberg
• The Improbability of Love – Hannah Mary Rothschild
• Akarnae (The Medoran Chronicles #1) – Lynette Noni

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet and The Improbability of Love were both review copies that I got via NetGalley. I first saw Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet on Cait @ Paper Fury’s blog and it sounded so intriguing that I had to check it out. It was a ‘read now’ on NetGalley. I also saw The Improbability of Love on NetGalley and because it’s been catching my eye every time I walk around Dymocks, I decided to check it out. I didn’t really have any intention of reading Akarnae but it was a free ebook on the Kindle store, so I thought I’d get myself a copy anyway, in case it tickles my fancy one day.

Book Haul: May 2016

I went a little crazy again this month with the book buying but I do have a couple of excuses. First, I went to Florida and there were so many beautiful hardcovers that I couldn’t help myself. Second, there were some highly anticipated releases that I had preordered and they all arrived this month. And third, I went to Teen Con and the Sydney Writer’s Festival with other bookish people, including my coblogger, Jeann @ Happy Indulgence, and Aentee @ Read at Midnight, which led to some book shopping. So in total, I ended up with 34 new books this month. Yeah, whoops.

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #1) – Maggie Stiefvater
  I’ve written a review for this book.
• The Unexpected Everything – Morgan Matson
  I also have a review for this.
• The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) – Rick Riordan

These three books were all preorders. The Raven King is one of my most highly anticipated series finales of the year and I’m happy to finally have it in my possession. The cover is so beautiful and I can’t stop staring at it. The Unexpected Everything was also highly anticipated. Anything by Morgan Matson is an autobuy book for me. And I preordered The Hidden Oracle because Apollo is probably my favourite of all the Greek Gods and I had to buy this. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the Heroes of Olympus series yet and I’ve been advised to read that first. So I’ll probably be marathoning those books really soon (though, I’ve been saying that for months).

KINOKUNIYA

• The Crown (The Selection #5) – Kiera Cass
• Yellow – Megan Jacobson
• First & Then – Emma Mills
• Nimona – Noelle Stevenson
  I have read and reviewed Nimona on Happy Indulgence!

I found myself in Kinokuniya this month on Free Comic Book Day. They had 20% off comics, manga and graphic novels, so I decided to pick up Nimona, since I’d been thinking about getting it for a while and had been deterred by how pricey it was. But because the comic book section was so crowded, I found myself wandering around the YA section instead, and ended up picking up First & Then, which was a book that I had been wanting to buy for a while but couldn’t find a copy anywhere. I also bought Yellow to read before an event that I attended with the author. I found myself in Kinokuniya a second time during Sydney Writer’s Festival, when I went with Jeann and Aentee. I couldn’t resist getting a copy of The Crown. I’m not a fan of The Selection series at all but I’d read the first four books and needed to know how it ended.

DYMOCKS

• The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl – Melissa Keil
• Summer Skin – Kirsty Eagar
• Every Breath (Every #1) – Ellie Marney
• Every Move (Every #3) – Ellie Marney

So this month, I ended up with a nice little stack of Aussie YA books from Dymocks and they were all signed by the authors as well. I went to Dymocks with Jeann and Aentee and pretty much bought most of these on a whim. I’ve been interested in the Every series for a while because it’s a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes and I love anything that’s Sherlock. I was only intended to get the first book to try out but I saw that Every Breath and Every Move were signed so I snapped them up thinking that they were the first two books. Turns out, Every Move is the last book in the trilogy. My bad. Jeann also kind of convinced me that I needed The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl and I agreed because the blurb mentions baked goods and superheroes. Finally, I bought Summer Skin because Jeann loved it and it’s also one of the books that she’ll be discussing on the #ABCRhi #OzYay radio segment. Basically, I bought all of these books because of Jeann.

TEENCON GOODIES

• Penguin Teen Australia SuperProof 2016
• The Next Together (The Next Together #1) – Lauren James
  I’ve reviewed this one on Happy Indulgence.
• Since You’ve Been Gone – Morgan Matson
• Inbetween Days – Vikki Wakefield
• The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1) – Samantha Shannon
• Zeroes (Zeroes #1) – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti
  I’ve read and reviewed this one.

I went to TeenCon at the Sydney Writer’s Festival this month and got a whole bag of goodies. But… I’ve read most of these already so I’ll probably be giving some away. Thank you to Jaz for giving me her copy of Since You’ve Been Gone. I already have a hardcover edition of the book but I wanted the paperback too (cos I’m greedy) and Jaz was nice enough to give me the copy she got in her bag.

RECEIVED

• The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1) – Roshani Chokshi
• Kindred Spirits – Rainbow Rowell
• The Unexpected Everything – Morgan Matson
• Star Struck (Ladybirds #4) – Jenny McLachlan
• The Things I Didn’t Say – Kylie Fornasier
• Ruined (Ruined #1) – Amy Tintera
• The Smell of Other People’s Houses – Bonnie Sue Hitchcock
• A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) – Sarah J. Maas
  I have written a review of ACOMAF.

I received a couple of books from publishers and from friends this month. When I met with my Happy Indulgence co-blogger, Aila @ One Way or An Author, she gave me this beautiful hardcover edition of The Star-Touched Queen, as well as a highly coveted copy of Kindred Spirits. From my other co-blogger, Jeann, I got Star Struck to review on Happy Indulgence (thanks to Bloomsbury for that). Jeann also gave me her spare copy of The Things I Didn’t Say because she knew how much I wanted to read it. From publishers, I received The Unexpected Everything from Simon & Schuster Australia, Ruined and The Smell of Other People’s Houses from Allen & Unwin, and A Court of Mist and Fury from Bloomsbury Australia. And yes, I now have hardcover and paperback editions of The Unexpected Everything.

FLORIDA HAUL

• Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
• Bone Gap – Laura Ruby
• The Start of Me and You – Emery Lord
• When We Collided – Emery Lord
  I have a review of this on Happy Indulgence.
• Every Last Word – Tamara Ireland Stone
• Salt to the Sea – Ruta Sepetys
• Highly Illogical Behavior – John Corey Whaley
• Hearts, Fingers, and Other Things to Cross (Broken Hearts & Revenge #3) – Katie Finn
• Disney & Dali: Architects of the Imagination

I went to Florida earlier this month for a research conference and got to meet Aila @ One Way or An Author. She took me to some really cool places, including The Dali Museum and an indie bookstore called Haslam’s. At those places, I ended up picking up the Disney and Dali: Architects of the Imagination book, which is pretty much the exhibit that we saw in book form. I also ended up picking up Salt to the Sea and Spark Joy at Haslam’s. I’d previously read Marie Kondo’s first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and thought it would be interesting to follow it up with Spark Joy. On a separate day, I ended up at a Barnes and Noble and couldn’t resist getting some books there too. They had a small selection but I still managed to pick up a combination of new releases that I’d had my eye on, some older releases that I haven’t been able to find in Australia and a finished copy of When We Collided.

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So yeah… I had a pretty eventful month and ended up with a lot of books. It’ll take me a while to make my way through them all but I’ve read 15 of the 34… which is a good start? I have some preorders coming in next month and I’m sure it’ll be another big haul in June.