October 2013 Reading Update

It's November! I hope everyone celebrating had a safe and fun Halloween. I, personally, had work yesterday. So I came home, did some Halloween-themed reading and watched the vampire episode of Doctor Who.

I didn't get to as many Halloween-themed books as I wanted this month. But the beauty about Halloween is that it comes every year. So when next year rolls around, I'll have a slew of books to choose from.

This month was mostly composed of 3 different elements:

• Halloween reads
• Allegiant!!!
• reading more books off the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Keep reading to find out which books I loved, which books I didn't, and which ones fell in between. Oh yeah, and no spoilers.

(all photos below are courtesy of Goodreads)

Book Haul (Library Edition): May 25, 2013

Second visit to the library this month. This time, I really could've used Matilda's wagon.

In my last library haul, I checked out 8 books and was able to finish 5 of them in three weeks. I found it was especially difficult because I also have purchased books that I want to get to as well. This faces me with the dilemma of library due dates versus what I actually feel like reading.

I recently went back to the library and checked out 15 books (plus 1 e-book and 1 dvd).

As I walked out of the library with my plastic bad loaded to full capacity, and several books in arms, I realized I have reached the highest level of book hoarding. There is no way I can finish all 15 (in addition to the ones I renewed from the last haul) in 3 weeks. But I'll admit, when I unloaded the bag on my bedroom floor and spread them all out, I was filled with great zeal at all my choices. I really got a great selection this time and it's going to be so much fun getting to decide which ones get read first.

I'm going to start this haul by including what I renewed/returned from my last book haul.

Book Haul (Library Edition): May 10, 2013

Yes! The library doesn't just supply AC, internet, and DVDs.

If you read my last Book Haul then you know I've been going ever-so-slightly overboard with the book buying. And since I told myself I wouldn't buy any more books in May (which I broke already, but hey, it was a fairly priced first printing international copy of Harry Potter) I thought I should really hit up the library.

When it came to finding what books I wanted to borrow, it was mainly the question of: which books do I need/want in my collection immediately, and which do I not care to own (at the moment)? That became the deciding factor.

I ended up getting quite a lot of YA that I see often but don't know much about (Maureen Johnson and Sarah Dessen), in addition to friend recommendations and children's book.

Oh! I completely forgot to include 1 e-book! It was my first time ever borrowing an e-book on my kindle and it was an overall pleasant experience. I borrowed Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. Unfortunately, they only allow e-books to be "checked out" for a week. Which just means I'll probably stick to picking shorter/easier reads for my kindle from now on.

Book Haul: April 2013

Over the past few weeks I have been going crazy (more than normal) with the book buying. I thought it'd be fun to share my insanity so here's my first book haul post. Hope you enjoy!

I purchased all these books within a span of 1.5 weeks. Unfortunately, since I ordered some online and one was shipped at a painfully slow rate,  I already read a couple (I couldn't help myself).

However, aside from 2, the rest are completely new and have not been opened except maybe to read the first paragraph because that's just something I do with all my new books when I purchase them. 

Let's get into the haul!