Multiple bookhauls

Over the past months I kept buying books from different “sources”.

I waited until I reached a stopping point (until I go to Greece in 2 weeks and buy more) before making a post about them. Here they are:

1.The books I bought from amazon.co.uk

• A very Russian Christmas, by various russian writers

A collection of short Christmas stories by famous Russian authors, such as Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Gorky… I haven’t read many Russian’s but I like the style and I want to read more. I am very excited about this book, but I will keep it for Christmas. By the way, it was the reason of this bookhaul. It’s price had fallen about 80% since last Christmas, when I added it in my list.

• The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

There is a big hype about this book. The story of a teenage girl witnessing the shooting of a friend by the police. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this book is a huge deal right now.

• All the birds in the sky, by Charlie Jane Anders

Winner of the Nebula award for best novel and a nominee for the Hugo award, this book is a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. The description mentions two teenagers with magical powers and a time-machine! Sounds amazing!

• I want to kick you in the back, by Risa Wataya

I saw that awesome cover in the bookstore. I read in the back that it is the winner of the Aktugawa Prize. I am a big fan of 1Q84, where a lot was said about this prestigious award for rising writers in Japan. Really, these where the two reasons that made me buy the book, the cover and the award. It is about a high-school girl having troubles fitting in, it is japanese, I already love it without having read it yet!

2. The books I bought used from amazon sellers

These books were way cheaper to buy used and pay the 5 euros of shipping costs than buying them new.

• Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, a tale of love and fallout, by Lauren Redniss

The title is pretty clear, it is the story of the Curies. But how is told is the amazing part: the book is full of drawings, with test written around them. It is a piece of art!

• Gulag: a history, by Anne Applebaum

A book about the soviet concentration camps (gulags), where people were sent as a punishment for various reasons (being educated, being religious, not liking Stalin, these kinds of horrible crimes). I am very interested in learning more about the gulags, I have read some literature that made me realize how horrible it was there. But frankly, the book is way bigger than I expected, so I will have to pressure myself a little bit to read it 🙂

•  Asylum, by Madeleine Roux

I missed the seller’s description that mentioned the dust jacket was missing. Anyway, not important. This is a horror book with creepy photos about some teenagers going into a summer program in a building that used to be an asylum. Spooookyyyyy!

• Fortunately, the milk, by Neil Gaiman

A children’s book by Neil Gaiman, about the story of a father buying milk (and getting into a crazy adventure).

3. The books I bought from people in my city selling on Facebook

 

• Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar ChildrenTrilogy, by Ransom Riggs

I have read the first book of the trilogy and I actually didn’t plan on reading the rest. It was good, but one was enough. But then I saw someone selling the 3 of them for 10 euros and I had it only in an ebook. Big part of these books are the photos, so I decided to buy them. Still I am not sure if I will read the other two.

• The remains of the day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

The famous book by Kazuo Ishiguro, bought for only 3 euros. It is the story of a man going on a trip and thinking about his past. It has been turned into a movie and I have heard only good things about this book.

4. Books I bought from an actual bookstore

I had a super short day trip to Amsterdam and I chose to spent my limited free time in the American Book Center, an awesome bookstore with only books in english. Unfortunately it is super expensive, so I rarely buy anything. I only checked the sales section and found these books that I wanted to buy on offer.

• Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff

Awesome cover! I have seen people talk online about this book and how it will be turned into a movie and I love the cover so much that I didn’t even pay attention to the plot. It is about a young army veteran in 1954 that goes on a road-trip to find his missing father. The book is about racism towards African-Americans in USA and I think it will be an interesting read.

• The color purple, by Alice Walker

A very famous book about the life of African-American women in the 1930s, written on an epistolary form.