Book Haul: May 2013

If you read my April Reading Update and remember how I said I would go all of May without purchasing a book, you're probably wondering why I'm posting a haul.

All these books listed are books I purchased within the last week (to week and a half) of April. However, as online purchases usually go, some orders took a while to arrive at my doorstep.

Some purchases are still not scheduled to arrive for a few weeks. But I figured I'd get on with the haul anyway since a significant percentage of them have showed up and I am eager to dive in.

Judging by the pile you can see why I am trying to go all of May without any new purchases (aside from one new release that would only be painful to put off). I have a book buying problem.

Like I did with my April Book Haul, I'll include a photos of the books so you can see their covers as well. I recommend enlarging the photo since there was quite a large number of books to fit in one photo...


Top Row [L-R]:
Treasure Island, Something Wicked This Way Comes, A Wizard of Earthsea, Squirrel Meets Chipmunk

Middle Row [L-R]:
Romeo and Juliet, A Farewell To Arms, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls

Bottom Row [L-R]:
The City of Dreaming Books, Prodigy, Unnatural Creatures

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare (supposedly)

• purchased from: local independent bookseller
• reason for purchase: I have actually never read this book entirely. In high school we only read select scenes and watched the film. I've been wanting to explore some Shakespeare to read his use of dialogue and thought I'd go with his most famous work.

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

• purchased from: local independent bookseller
• reason for purchase: This book was purchased on a whim. I had no intention of buying it when I stepped into the bookstore. It was one of those books that was laying on the shelves so I could see the cover (as opposed to just the spine) and it caught my eye. Bantam classics are so nicely priced that I couldn't resist. 

Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls - David Sedaris

• purchased from: Barnes & Noble
• reason for purchase: I haven't read any pieces by David Sedaris in nearly a year and couldn't resist when I saw this book plastered all across multiple booksellers. I have been meaning to read more essays and this is the perfect starting point. David Sedaris is hilarious.

A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin

• purchased from: Barnes & Noble
• reason for purchase: This will be my first book purchase based solely off of a Goodreads recommendation. Even though I'm aware this book is very popular, I had yet to hear of it until Goodreads recommended it to me (due to my high rating of The Hobbit). I'm excited to start this fantasy series.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk - Davis Sedaris

• purchased from: Barnes & Noble
• reason for purchase: When I picked up Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls I couldn't resist picking up another Sedaris piece as well. 

Prodigy - Marie Lu

• purchased from: Amazon
• reason for purchase: Even though my review for Legend (predecessor to Prodigy) wasn't exactly raving, I found myself curious to know what happened to Day and June.

Unnatural Creatures - Neil Gaiman

• purchased from: Amazon
• reason for purchase: This is a collection of short stories SELECTED by Neil Gaiman. I was very intrigued by this book especially to see what sort of books Neil would select himself.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

• purchased from: local independent bookseller
• reason for purchase: I have been meaning to read another piece by Ray Bradbury aside from his most famous Fahrenheit 451 and went with this one based on ratings on Goodreads. 

The City of Dreaming Books -Walter Moers

• purchased from: local independent bookseller
• reason for purchase: My eye caught the title on the spine of this novel on my browse through an independent bookseller. I read the description, which sounded really cute and quirky. And even this book was free of blurbs from well-known book reviewers on the front/back covers, I thought I'd splurge and try something completely new. The description made it sound delightful.

A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway

• purchased from: Amazon seller
• reason for purchase: My boyfriend and I enjoyed reading Escape From Camp 14 together last month and thought we'd turn it into a monthly thing. We individually listed books we were interested in and Hemingway was a common interest so we went with a Hemingway piece neither of us has read, A Farewell To Arms.

The scariest part of this whole haul is that it's not even my entire purchase from the last week and a half. There's about five more that won't be arriving for quite some time. So, you can why it is necessary for me to try to restrain myself as much as possible. Hopefully, with this lovely pile of treasures, I will be able to keep my mind off purchasing more, at least for a few weeks. (;