May 2019 Book Haul

Posted On May 24, 2019

Hey everyone! Welcome to my haul! I just received a huge box of books I bought on Book Outlet (which is one of my favorite online bookstores ever), and I also have a bunch of other books to show you that I’ve bought over the past little while. All total, I have 15 books to share with you today, and I don’t want this post to be too long, so let’s get started with the book I preordered!

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Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

This is probably one of the books I’m most excited about out of this whole haul. Christine is one of my favorite BookTubers, and one of the very first BookTubers I ever watched. I’ve watched every single one of the writing videos she made as she was working on this book, and even though I don’t normally like/read very much contemporary, I’m making an exception for this one because, well, it’s Christine’s book, and I want to support her.

Plus, it’s about a socially inept girl who goes on a semester abroad in London as an attempt to right the mistakes she’s made in college. I also happen to be a somewhat (*cough*) socially inept girl who is in college and who just got back from my own semester abroad, though mine was in France, not the UK. Let’s just say that even before reading very much of this book, I see a lot of myself in the main character. I hope I love it.

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

It may not seem like it, but this book is kind of an… odd… purchase. I’ve already read and loved this book (and its sequel) in e-book form, so it’s not that weird that I would want to have a physical copy of it. What is weird is that this copy is a German copy. Yes, I knew it was in German before I bought it, and no, I cannot read German.

So why did I buy it, you’re probably asking yourself? Well, partly because I was in Germany and I thought it would be cool to buy a German book. But also because I’m hoping that maybe someday if I want to, I’ll be able to use this book to help me learn German. Maybe that’s a stupid idea, but I like it.

Also, the cover is beautiful. I couldn’t not buy it, regardless of what language the actual book was in (that’s what I tell myself, anyway).

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

You see that Italian blurb on the cover? No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you—similar to The Crown’s Game, I bought this book in Italian while I was in Italy, even though I don’t speak Italian. And I bought it for a lot of the same reasons I bought the last book.

I do hope that maybe someday I’ll be able to learn both of these languages, and when I do, well… I’ll be ready with reading material, I guess.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

I bought this book the other day when my mom and I went to Barnes and Noble. I don’t really know much about this book other than that it’s the first book in an adult fantasy series, that Regan from PeruseProject loves it, and that when I read the first few sentences in the store, I was hooked.

So I bought it. And I’m really excited to read it.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This is the other book I bought in Barnes and Noble. All I know about this book is that it’s sci-fi and it’s by the same author duo that wrote the Illuminae Files, which is one of my favorite sci-fi series. That’s really all I needed to know to want to buy it, but it also helps that everyone on book Twitter has been raving about this book since it came out.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Here starts the giant Book Outlet order I received. This is a fantasy book, and I think it’s about a girl who has the ability to time travel, but I don’t know much else about it. Regan from PeruseProject has also recommended this book before, though, and she and I have a lot of similar tastes.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

This is an old BookTube fave, and I’ve never read it because of my aversion to contemporary books in general, but everyone loves it so much that when I saw it on Book Outlet I decided why not, and I bought it.

I am genuinely excited to read this book, though. I want to see what all the hype is about.

Instructions for a Secondhand Heart by Tasmyn Murray

I’ve wanted this book for a long time. I think it’s a contemporary romance, but I don’t know anything else about it.

I’m really trying to get over my aversion to contemporary, so I’ve been buying more contemporary books recently.

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody

In-keeping with the trend of me trying to branch out from reading only fantasy, I believe that this is a YA contemporary romance that takes place in an airport on New Year’s. I don’t remember who it was, but one of the BookTubers I like read this book and really liked it, so I decided I’d give it a try. Maybe I’ll try to read it when we get closer to Texas’s idea of winter.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

This is supposed to be a dark retelling of the Little Mermaid, which is the kind of thing I’m a sucker for—not just a fairytale retelling, but a retelling of one of my favorite fairytales.

Okay, full disclosure. I’ve never actually read the original Little Mermaid fairytale, but I know what happens in it more or less, and, well, thanks to Disney, since my name is Ariel, I feel naturally connected to anything that has to do with the Little Mermaid, whether it’s based on the Disney version or not.

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

I’m going to be honest. I have no idea what this book is about. I just saw the beautiful cover and recognized the author’s name, so I bought it.

I’m normally not the kind of person who buys a book without knowing anything at all about a book, unless I’m already familiar with the author, so I don’t really know what came over me with this one, but I’m excited to have this book in my collection nonetheless.

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

This is a sci-fi book by the same author who wrote Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl, both books that I have not but really want to read. I don’t really know what this book is about, though, other than that it’s sci-fi and I think it might be a romance? I don’t know, but it’s beautiful, and a while ago on Twitter I saw the author post pictures of a copy whose edges she had painted galaxy to match the cover, and I fell in love. (Here’s the Tweet if you haven’t seen it.)

So I guess this is also a book I bought without really knowing anything about it, but I’m okay with that.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Finally, a book I actually know things about! I believe that this book is about a mysterious lost city called Weep—or at least, everyone thought it was lost, until they receive a message from this lost city. Our main character travels to Weep wanting to figure out what exactly happened that cut the city off from the rest of the world.

Everyone raves about both this duology and Laini Taylor’s other series, the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, but I’m really only interested in this duology. Though who knows? Maybe if I really love this book, I’ll give that other series a try. We’ll see.

In any case, I’m excited to see this beautiful writing everyone talks about.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This is another old BookTube fave, a YA contemporary romance, and another of the rare contemporaries I’m actually interested in reading (mostly because this book is set in France). I know this book has two companions that go along with it, but unless this book absolutely blows me away, I’m only interested in this one.   

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This is the first book in a fantasy series that I have already read and loved. It’s set on an island where every generation, triplet queens are born, each with a different power, and when they come of age, they have to fight until only one of them is left alive, and then that queen rules until she has her own triplets, and the cycle continues.

I originally read this book through the library, so although I own copies of both the second and third book in this series, I didn’t own this first book. When I saw it on Book Outlet, I had to buy it.

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Okay! That’s all the books I’ve bought over the past little while. What are some books you’ve bought/rented/acquired recently that you’re really excited about? Let me know down below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

-Ariel