I promised to show you guys my birthday book haul, but after getting a Barnes and Noble gift card and ordering a book, I thought I would wait until I had ALL THE BOOKS, at least that I was planning to get for now, before showing the complete haul.
Birthday gifts: Behemoth and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Book order: Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Impulse “it was on sale” purchase: To Live is Christ to Die is Gain by Matt Chandler
Purchased with Barnes & Noble gift card: Echoes of Us by Kat Zhang and The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Needless to say, I think I’m in good shape until Christmas! (Except I will need to buy my next book club pick, The Young Elites before then, unless I can borrow it from the library…)
So about Shadows Beneath… one of my regular podcasts is/was (unfortunately, I just don’t get to listen to them liked I used to) called Writing Excuses, and features the authors who contributed to the anthology. So I was listening to one of their podcasts from like June (because I’m hopelessly behind) and they talked about this anthology now being available. Included in it are a new short story by each author, the first drafts of each of these stories, as well as critiques/notes/behind-the-scenes of the crafting of each story. Basically, it’s perfect for aspiring authors who want to see someone else’s writing process and the end result (which of course was the whole point). Oh, and apparently if I ordered it for Brandon’s store website, I could get it signed by him and a free e-book version. For less than $30, it sounded like a bargain; sign me up! So I ordered it pretty quickly after hearing about it! It took a while to process but only a day or two to ship out! I’m really looking forward to going through it!
And really, I’m looking forward to reading all these (well, except Behemoth, but only because I have already read it and enjoyed it :))! I’m so glad to have rediscovered my love for reading because new books give me such a warm happy feeling. 🙂
What’s been your latest book haul? What from my haul should I read first (or next, since I’ve already read Behemoth)?
I just finished The Infinite Sea last night, and it was surprisingly emotional in the end! Lots of twists and turns as well 😀
I’m actually starting that one tomorrow! Yay and yikes for twists and turns and emotions! 🙂
I read The Bell Jar quite a few years ago, and I adored it. I am a huge fan of Sylvia Plath, so that was no surprise. I hope you like it!
I finished The Infinite Sea a few days ago, and I must say I was a bit disappointed, overall, which was unfortunate :/
I’ve seen mixed reviews of The Infinite Sea, so I guess we’ll see how it goes. It seems everyone loves The Bell Jar though!
I like the bell Jar but it was definitely a dark read! I haven’t read the rest..a lot of my bloggy friends love westerfield!
I’m hoping The Bell Jar will help me with book I’m writing, since I feel I’m struggling to really encapsulate depression and such, having never experienced it myself.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY. What a horrible friend I am. I don’t think I ever tweeted you or commented, but I remember SEEING it and thinking about it. I do that a lot, apparently. You already know how I feel about one of those books in your pile 😉
That’s fine, Summer, thanks for the belated wishes! And yes, clearly I do! 🙂
Woohoo, what an awesome book haul. I’m not a writer, but I do love the sound of Shadows Beneath and do think that’s an awesome book for aspiring writers to look at. Hopefully it will inspire you! And of course I’m excited to see those Westerfeld books. I’ve only recommended that series on like half of our Bookish Guides on the blog 😛 I haven’t read any of the other books so I don’t think I can really say which you should read. I guess Goliath? Might as well finish that series 🙂
After Behemoth I was pretty ready to read Goliath, but so many sequels have been calling out to me! I’ve started to with The Infinite Sea, we’ll see where I decide to go from there…