Recent Book Haul

Hello! So the last time I did a book haul was at the beginning of October so of course there’s been plenty of books gathered since then, especially since Christmas was last month. Here’s a look at all the physical books, ebooks and audiobooks I’ve recently acquired. First up the physical books, 14 in all!

From the top to bottom

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. I’ve heard a lot about this and almost bought it when I was in Manchester earlier in the month but I held off in case I couldn’t fit it in my bag as I had already picked up 3 books! It’s a YA book about an island where every generation triplet sisters are born, raised apart in different factions and then must battle each other after they turn 16 for the crown.

 

A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax. So by the time I got to the airport it turns out I did have enough room for another book and seeing as this was half price at WH Smith that week I decided to pick it up. It is all about mindfulness, that massive big buzz word, but Ruby promises that well informed and funny so hopefully this’ll be good.

 

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book so I picked this up while in Manchester. This is a contemporary YA novel about Natasha and Daniel who meet unexpectedly a few hours before Natasha’s family is being deported.

 

Casting Off by P.I. Paris. I bought this on a whim, a copy for me and a copy for my friend to say thank you for letting me stay with her in Manchester. I bought mainly because of the knitting on the front! As far as I can tell, when a care home is due to put up prices, the residents get together to try and raise some money. Something for when I want something light to read.

 

Wild Irish Women by Marian Boderick. My aunt bought me this for my birthday, there’s small biographies a few pages long of loads of Irish women over the years and all the interesting and cool things they’ve done. It’s not enough to get an in depth about every woman but it’s enough to spark interest and shine a light on those who may not be well known.

 

The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir by Lesley Allen. I showed this book in my Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards post as the book I got in the goodie bag. One day Biddy Weir rings a day time television show about their topic at hand: bullying. Biddy has a story to tell. I don’t know much else but I’m intrigued!

 

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. The follow up to Illuminae, which I loved when I read it earlier this year. My library is way behind buying follow up books and the likes (and the request a purchase option has disappeared) so I got this as a Christmas present.

 

The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik. I loved Sofia Khan is Not Obliged when I read it last year and so I requested this ARC off the publishers Bonnier Zaffre and they kindly sent it to me.

 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I don’t know a lot about this to be honest, I keep seeing it mentioned on the Rick O Shea book Club though! This was in a box at my local library as free to take and while I had no books at the time to put in, I will next time I’m there to make up for taking it!

 

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The other book I took out of the box at the library and another one I don’t know too much about. But I loved Americanah so I’m pretty happy to go into this not knowing a lot.

 

Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourell Søderberg. My last book haul post had a book about hygge and this one does too! This time it’s one that I won on Twitter and I have high hopes as it’s written by a Dane.

 

Holding by Graham Norton. This is another book I mentioned in the Irish Book Awards post as one I was adding to my TBR after seeing Graham win and talk about the book. My Mum got it for Christmas and passed it on to me (my sister also got a copy, good thing I didn’t buy one for myself!). Set in a small fictional town in Cork, secrets start to come to light after the remains of a body are found on a farm.

 

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. This was one of the books of the month on the Rick O’Shea Book Club but I didn’t get to read it at the time. Then it won Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards so I decided to pick it up when I was in Manchester (good thing too as it’s gone to reprint several times as it’s so popular!). I don’t know anything about it as I’ve heard it’s best to go into it not knowing!

 

The Great British Bake Off Colouring Book by Tom Hovey. My brother got me this at Christmas and it’s beautiful! So on GBBO when the show talks about the bake the contestant has planned it shows a beautiful mock up drawing of the plans. This book has several versions of some of the big favourites over the past few years that you can colour in which is pretty cool!

Now onto the e-books, six in all. All on offer on Kindle

Dark Matters by Blake Crouch. A friend loved this so when it was on offer I bought it. It was also on Audible offer around the same time but after talking to my friend she thought it would be a better experience to read it.

 

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. Yes, this is THE Shona Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy (which I must try get back into. Or maybe I should start it again…?) Anyway, as far as I can tell this is just about saying yes more when all you want to do is say no. I doubt it’ll be as weird and wacky as Yes Man by Danny Wallace but I do like the idea of the book.

 

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. This is a story about a trans girl written by a trans woman, which I think is so important. I’d heard good things about it too before buying.

 

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne. I don’t know much about this tbh, I know it’s a YA book so I’ve seen good reviews from friends on Goodreads so when it was 99p I decided to buy it and give it a go.

 

I Heart Christmas by Lindsey Kelk. I’ve already read this but it was free at some stage over Christmas on Kindle so I said I’d get it just in case I decided to read it again.

 

The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon. Another free book, I don’t know anything about it but I’ve seen that author’s name before and thought I might read it one day when I want something light to read.

 

Finally I have some audio books, all got on offer from Audible.

Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson. I requested this on NetGalley but never got it and my library is super slow about getting this too. So I decided to use a free credit I had to get the audiobook as I figured it would be interesting to listen to Mara Wilson narate it herself.

 

Scarlett Says by Scarlett Moffatt. This was one of the Daily Deal on Audible and I’ve enjoyed Scarlett on Gogglebox so I said why not?! and decided to purchase it. Hopefully it’ll make me laugh, I think it will considering it’s narrated by Scarlett herself.

 

Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed. Another Daily Deal, I’ve seen this book around before, a non-fiction book about success. If a Daily Deal looks any bit interesting or something I’d pick up in a shop I get it which is exactly what happened here!

 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This was free on Audible and I had planned to listen to it over Christmas but never got around to it so I’ll save it for 11 months time!