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book haul

April Library Book Sale Haul, Part 1

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There were book sales at three of the main libraries in my city this month, which made my April book buying absolutely out of control. I’m lucky to live in a city with this many libraries and this many sales (my favorite 2 libraries have sales every 4-6 months, and occasionally I’ll hit another library sale if I’m in that area). Usually the sales don’t all fall together like this, and usually all the library sales aren’t this good! Sometimes I’ll walk out of a sale with nothing, or only find one or two tempting titles. But this time…this time I struck gold at not one, not two, but three sales!

Here’s what I picked up at Book Sale #1:

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins: I was totally shocked to find this at a used book sale, since it just came out last September. I added it to my TBR pretty much instantly after hearing about it, and feel like this is the book I’ll end up picking up first. It’s a near-future scifi set in Southern California, and it’s an ARC, and I’ve never read an ARC before. If anyone has, how much do they tend to differ from the final book?

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward: this won the National Book Award in 2011, and centers on a pregnant teenager and her family in Mississippi; it sounds like it will be heartbreaking.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: this is sort of a sci-fi classic (although it was published in the 80’s) and I’ve heard it referenced so much that I need to experience it for myself.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende: Generational saga with magical realism that sounds like it’ll be completely absorbing.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I got really into Marquez senior year of high school when I read both One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, and then somehow have not picked up one of his books since then.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll: total impulse purchase, but for $1 it’s hard not to give in! It was sitting next to Gold, Fame, Citrus and then suddenly it was in my hand. It’s gotten Gone Girl comparisons and that’s enough of a temptation for me to try it. Has anyone read this? Would you recommend it?

And I’ve already read these two, but I like to buy books that I loved if I see them at library book sales so that I can reread them or refer back to the stories:

Euphoria by Lily King: highly recommended short novel about anthropologists in New Guinea

Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson: mystery surrounding a murder that delves into racism against Japanese-Americans in the WWII era

 

 

Parts 2 and 3 of my library book sale buying binge to come! Try not to judge me too hard for my excessive book purchases 😉

 

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Library Book Sale Buying Binge, Part 3

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I found eight gorgeous hardcovers at a local library book sale recently. I love that I never find anything I expect at library book sales, but the books I do find are always an amazing surprise.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis: I read Doomsday Book, Willis’s work about a time-traveling historian accidentally transported to the Middle Ages at the height of the Black Death, last fall. It was interesting, but extremely dark in tone–this book is supposedly lighter, while keeping the time traveling concept consistent.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: I don’t really know much about this book, but I had seen it talked about on Goodreads and thought it might be a good end-of-summer read. From what I’ve heard, it’s a romance that induces copious amounts of tears. I feel like nothing could possibly make me ugly-cry more than The Fault in Our Stars, but I’m up for the challenge.

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith: I haven’t read any of J.K. Rowling’s post-Harry Potter books yet, but I think this will be a good start. I like a good mystery every once in awhile…just not too often, or I get tired of them.

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway: I don’t remember how I heard about this book, but I’ve been looking for it at bookstores and library book sales for a couple of years now and I never find it. Sure, I could just buy it online, but I like the thrill of the chase! It sounds delightfully weird and I can’t wait to start it.

The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt: I recently read Byatt’s Ragnarok, and it was one of the best books I’ve read all year (review coming soon!). This book, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker, centers around a children’s book author in Victorian/World War I-era England.

What I Didn’t See by Karen Joy Fowler: Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was one of the best-written and most emotional reads for me this year, and her collection of earlier short stories is supposed to be wonderfully weird.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh: I found this in a used bookstore a few years ago, but at the time thought it was too expensive to buy (it was maybe $8…haha). I held off and found it for $0.50 at this sale, so I guess the wait paid off!

The Round House by Louise Erdrich: Erdrich is coming to speak in my city later this year, and I’d like to get more familiar with her writing before she comes. This won the National Book Award a few years ago.