Book Haul #1

Last updated on 29 December 2024

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Books in New Zealand aren’t cheap. Stocking up on books at sales is pretty much the only way to go. But here in England, books are so cheap! I can get a brand new book from Amazon or the Book Depository for like £3 – £5, sometimes even less. If you convert that to NZ dollars, then that’s about $6 – $10. You’d be hard pressed to find a book that cheap at home. One of the things I love about England is the opshops (charity stores/thrift stores). Not for the clothes – they are ridiculously over priced, I just want to go to the opshop and find a cute something for 50 cents – but for the books! New Zealand opshops don’t really have books in them, but here, you can whole floors of books in the opshops. It’s brilliant.

Heading home means I have to think about things like this. It may seem silly, but come on guys, you know me. Can’t get enough of books. And sure I have my Kindle, which I will continue getting free books on (what! Awesome!), but I adore book shelves…and book shelves without books on them are just…well, they’re just shelves. Books are essential, funnily enough, to book shelves.

With this in mind, I decided that I needed to stock up on some of the books that I’ve been wanting to read for a while now. Over one week (one week!) I bought 15 books. That’s right, my friends, 15 books. And none of those are Kindle e-books. 15 real life physical books. Some I bought on Amazon, some at Asda, and some I found at the opshop, quite by accident. I thought I’d share with you the 15 books I’ve bought.

Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption // Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Earlier in the year, I bought Beatuiful Creatures, not because the movie was coming out (which I still haven’t seen. Sigh), but becuase I had always had it on my to-read list. I guess that movie announcement prompted me to read it. And I loved it. I really did. So I went ahead and bought the next three, hoping for good things. Bought on Amazon.One Day // David Nicholls
I really enjoyed this movie, and I know that books and their movie counterparts are usually different in some, or many ways, but I’ve heard good things about this book, and though it’s not my usual genre of book, I’m looking forward to reading it. Bought from the opshop.

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Allegiant // Veronica Roth

Oh.My.Goodness I was so excited about this book! You may recall, heading back an entire year now, that I read the first two books in the Divergent series, Divergent and Insurgent, last summer and I absolutely loved them. Possibly even more than the Hunger Games (don’t shoot me). A whole year’s wait for the third and final instalment of this amazing series was one of the longest waits ever! Look out for my review on this book soon! Bought on Amazon.

How I Live Now // Meg Rosoff

Another one that’s been on my to-read list for a little while now. I saw this for super cheap and thought I’d buy it, so I can read it before I see the movie. It’s super short too, at only 211 pages, it should be a nice quick, one-day read. Bought at Asda.

Unbreakable // Kami Garcia

When I saw that the co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series had written a book, I got all excited and added it to my to-read list immediatly. So when I saw it for, again, super cheap, I thought it would be a good book to buy. Looking forward to seeing what Garcia’s writing is like without the help of Stohl, her co-author in the Beautiful Creatures series. Bought at Asda.

Whispers Under Ground // Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London // Ben Aaronovitch

When I worked at the book store last year, these books were rather popular. I wondered what all the fuss was about. I read the backs of these books, and thought they sounded awesome. I’m really looking forward to these books. I believe Rivers of London is the first one, and Whispers Under Ground is actually the third book. I’m hoping I’ll either be able to find the 2nd and 4th ones at the opshops in the next few weeks, and if I can’t, I’ll just get from Amazon I think. Bought from an opshop.

Brisingr // Christopher Paolini

The first in this series, Eragon, was one of my favourite books for years, and it was also one of the books (including Harry Potter) that made 11 year old me want to write a book. I thought ‘if Christopher Paolini can start his novel writing career at age 15, then why can’t I?’. Of course, it hasn’t really gone that well, but at 19 he was already a number one top selling author. I loved Eragon and it’s sequel, Eldest, and I have a feeling I have them both at home. I think I have actually read Brisingr, but I can’t remember…which means I read it so long again I can’t remember what happens. Hence why I though I’d grab it. Bought at an opshop.

Before I Go to Sleep // S.J. Watson

Another book I’ve heard lots of good things about. I actually borrowed it from the library once, but never got round to reading it before it was collecting fines. Bought at an opshop.

A Discovery of Witches // Deborah Harkness – Shadow of Night // Deborah Harkness

You might remember me raving about A Discovery of Witches a few months ago. I loved it a lot and you can read my review of it here. I decided I needed to buy both it, and it’s sequel, Shadow of Night. Looking forward to continuing this awesome story! A Discovery of Witches is the only book in my 15-books book haul that I’ve already read (not including Brinsingr…coz I can’t remember if I read that or not). Bought on Amazon.

Days of Blood and Starlight // Laini Taylor

The first book in this series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone was really awesome. I think I gave it 5 stars, and you see my review for it on Blogger’s Bookshelf. While I didn’t buy it, I’m thinking I might need to so it’s sequel here won’t be lonely. Yes, that’s a perfectly good reason for buying a book. Bought on Amazon.

Insatiable // Meg Cabot

When I was younger, all those years ago, I used to love reading Meg Cabot books. While I never read The Princess Diaries, I did love books like All American Girl, Avalon High, Teen Idol and the Mediator series. I actually didn’t know she had written this one, but discovered it in the many shelves of books at an opshop, and had to buy it. I’m looking forward to reading another Meg Cabot book; it’s been a while! Bought at an opshop.

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So! There we have it. 15 books bought in the space of one week. That’s ridiculous. But I doubt I spent more than about £25 on all of them. That’s right, I’m a bargain hunter. There will probably be more books that I’ll need to think about shipping home in the next few weeks, but I think for now, I have enough books of my own to last until…maybe March?