Birthday and Christmas Book Haul

So it's been a few months since my last book haul, back in October.  In that post, I shared 4 books that I'd received.  Today, I have 14.  Don't worry - I have a very good reason.  My birthday plus Christmas are both in December, so a lot of these are from then.  There are also a significant number that are not from then, but I don't think I have gone too overboard.


I'll start with the books I got for my birthday and Christmas.

1.  Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

2.  Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

3.  The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

4.  The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

5.  Mug Cakes by Joanna Farrow

Carry On was one I was expecting, because I went to buy it right when it came out, but Mum stole it and said she'd give it to me as a present.  That was bittersweet.  Six of Crows was from my sister, since she's discovered my "would-probably-kill-for" shelf on Goodreads.  That's also where she found The Shadow Society (which I have been dying for because my library doesn't have it).  She also got me The Orphan Queen because she knows I like the Newsoul books by the same author.

Remember how in the Fall Time Cozy Time Book Tag I said that I used to make brownies in a mug?  And I said that I had gone cold turkey because I was having them too often?  Well that's gone completely out the window now because my aunty remembered me making them and decided to get me the Mug Cakes recipe book.  I have already tried many of the recipes in there and I do not regret it!

I also got two Dymocks gift cards, which I used for The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue.  So of course I bought The Raven Boys too.  Also, since I knew that the hardcovers are absolutely beautiful, I decided to treat myself to them.  I've already read these, so I know my money was spent well.

I'd like to say that they're glowing because of how magnificent they are, but it's probably just because my hand was shaking.

Next up are the books that I bought myself.

1.  Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

2.  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3.  The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

4.  All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

5.  Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

6.  The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

I have written a tonne about Illuminae already on the blog (see my Launch Party recap here and my review here), so I won't say any more about that!  I read The Night Circus early last year and have been dying to get my hands on a copy since, so when I saw it cheap at Kmart, I didn't hesitate to buy it.  I got a discount to use on The Book Depository late last year, so I used that to purchase The Game of Love and Death as well as All Our Yesterdays, which were both already pretty cheap - I haven't heard much at all about the former but I have heard great things about the latter.  I couldn't resist buying Rot and Ruin when I saw it at a store for one dollar.  That's right - one dollar.  How could anyone pass that up?!

Now for my story about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.  As you may know, I went on holidays over the new year.  We were staying in Sydney for a couple days, and we did a lot of shopping.  There were quite a few bookstores there that I wasn't familiar with - the only one we went in was called Better Read Than Dead.  It had floor to ceiling bookshelves and a second storey.  Basically, it was beautiful.  Unfortunately, most of the books were more expensive that you would usually find.  Or so I thought until I found the bargain section.  The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was selling for half price and - here's the important part - it was a signed copy!

 

So these are all the books I've somehow got in my possession over the last few months!  Have you got any recently?  Have you read any of these and what should I read first?