Yay For Free and Used Books // July Book Haul

July was a pretty decent book buying month for me! I acquired 14 physical copies of books this month! The best part is that 3 of them were free and the other 11 only cost me $20. I’m so happy used books are a thing that exist. I love them.

Giveaway

I was lucky enough to receive some more books from Hachette Australia and their YA hub Date a Book and I could not be happier or more grateful. They’re all so pretty! You can’t see it in the photo, but The Loose Ends List has foil all through the cover and it’s honestly stunning. Also, does anyone else get excited when they get free bookmarks? I opened The Loose Ends List and this super cute Date a Book bookmark fell out and I was ridiculously happy.

The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone – Originally I wasn’t planning on reading this, but how can I not now? I might find it hard though considering it’s about a girl whose grandmother is dying so they go on a cruise as one last family vacation. My nana’s death is something I’m still trying to come to terms with it so I’ll have to see if I can deal with this.

In the Dark, In the Woods by Eliza Wass – aka The Creswell Plot. I’ve spoke before about how much I’ve been anticipating this. I’m definitely going to try and read it next month. It’s about a family with a cult-like dynamic.

The Hawkweed Prophecy by Irena Brignull – Admitedly, I don’t know too much about this. Just that it’s a YA/MG (Goodreads lists both so I’m not sure) about two girls who are witches which is enough for me to be interested tbh.

Library Sale

I went to my first ever library sale this month! It was AMAZING. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much because I live in a really small town. However, I was SURROUNDED by books. There was probably about 20 tables and each table had a box with at least 30 books in it.

The best part?

No book was over $2.  

I bought 10 books for $12!!!! Or well, 9 for $11 because I bought The Bane Chronicles for my younger sister. TWO OF THOSE NINE BOOKS WERE HARDCOVERS. I could have gone a lot crazier, but I didn’t want to buy books just for the sake of them being cheap you know? I wanted to buy ones that I knew I’d read.

And okay, so they weren’t all in pristine quality but I don’t even care. I LOOOVE when books look used. Like, they’re all still readable and a couple looked almost brand new and they were $1?? I was in HEAVEN. I can’t wait for the next one!!!

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth – This is a LGBT+ book about a girl who has to move in her with “conservative” aunt and “old-fashioned” grandma who insist on “fixing her”. I feel like this book is going to make me angry, but I’m excited to read a LGBT book that has a female MC. Lots of people I trust have rated this highly!

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood – I heard about this from Jean and it’s about Odysseus’ wife Penelope. I think this is from her perspective whilst Odysseus is fighting in the Trojan War. I’m all for Greek mythology and I trust Jean’s opinion so I hope I love it as much as she does.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – This was one I hadn’t heard of, but I couldn’t resist picking it up to read the blurb because the cover is gorgeous. It’s about an ad that questions “are you a gifted child?” the kids who respond are set a series of tasks and only four succeeded for a secret mission.

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton – An Australian historical set in the 40’s that I mentioned on my Australian Books post. This is about a family trying to pick themselves up after a disaster and it’s set  in my state’s capital city, Perth!

The Passage by Justin Cronin – I’ve heard lots of mixed reviews about this, but it’s been on my TBR forever. This is an Adult Fiction horror about vampires. I think there’s three characters who are linked together somehow. Hopefully it’ll be interesting!

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – I am super ashamed to admit that I have never read this. I know. I’m a terrible human being. I am going to change that though, I promise! I know this won’t be an easy read, but I also know that it’s super important and hopefully I can get to it soon.

(Yeah, I already know some people are going to be in tears that these covers have a piece cut out of them but I honestly don’t care and the 3 of them cost me $1.50 so)

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colter –  I had instant primary school flashbacks when I saw this so I knew I had to buy it. I loved this series when I was younger and I can’t wait to reread it and experience the nostalgia. This a Middle Grade fantasy about a boy genius whose a criminal mastermind.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott – This has been on my TBR for so long. I don’t even know what this about the summary is that vague. It sounds like it’ll be creepy and it’s short so my aesthetic. Yay! I actually plan on reading this for the 7 in 7 Readathon this week.

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta – I’ve heard so many amazing thing about Melina Marchetta and this sounds super interesting. It’s set at a boarding school and a girl goes missing and all the MC has to help her is a manuscript about 5 kids that stayed at the school 18 years ago.

Used Book Store

I picked up a couple of books from the used bookstore in my town too! There are honestly thousands of books there, but most of them are ones I’m not really interested in or already own. I managed to find 2 though.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – I’m really trying to get into classics and especially ones with feminist tones so I’m really looking forward to this one! The fact that it’s a Dystopian makes me really intrigued too. I feel like it’s another one that will make me angry, but will also be really important.

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn – This is a short story about a woman who is a fake psychic that is “helping” this woman with her haunted house and weird stuff happens. I hated Gone Girl, but I really want to like a Gillian Flynn book. I’ve already read this for Booktubeathon and unfortunately I wasn’t a fan, but more on that in my Books I read in June post which will hopefully be coming soon. If you love Gillian Flynn’s other books you’ll probably definitely love this too.

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Like always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the books I hauled this month!

Feel free to link me to your own Book Haul/Wrap Up posts so I can drop by.

Hope you’re all having a Potter-tastic ⚡👓 day ! I’m going back to reading The Cursed Child now (or hopefully I’ll have it finished by the time this post goes up) xx