Oh Boy… // Looking Back at my First Ever Book Haul

Posted on by lauren kara

firstever

This post was inspired by the wonderful BooksandLala. She posted a video where she looked back at a book haul she made in 2015 to see what she had or hadn’t read. It’s a brilliant video so make sure to check it out!

Since my blog is now 1 year old, I thought it’d be interesting to look back at my first ever book haul (on the blog) and see what books I’ve actually read.

Spoiler Alert: It’s not pretty. 

the-book-haul

Somebody stop me from spending money

Covers = Goodreads

the-books-i-read

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – Obviously I read this because it’s the reason this blog exists. I’m sure I don’t need to talk about how much I love this book.

The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis – I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It’s such a great Australian contemporary that focuses on friendship and grief. If you love Adam Silvera then I’m almost certain you’ll love Will Kostakis.

Yep, that’s it. 🙈🙈🙈

Image result for shame gif game of thrones

the-books-i-havent-read

 rebel-of-the-sands the-rule-of-thoughts the-elfstones-of-shannara

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton – I was really excited about this book and I started reading it and was enjoying it. Then I read some posts/reviews that it actually appropriated Middle Eastern culture a lot so I’ve been hesitant to finish it ever since.

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner – I haven’t read this because it’s the 2nd book in the series and I haven’t even read the first one. Oops.

The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks – I bought this at Target when I was obsessed with the MTV adaptation. I didn’t realise it was the 2nd book in the series and I haven’t read the first so that’s why this one hasn’t been read either.

firstlife My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Firstlife by Gena Showalter – I haven’t read this because I just haven’t gotten around to it? I don’t know. My thing is buying books and not reading them, okay. It’s my Brand™.

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier – This is the one I’m most mad at myself about not reading. It has literally EVERYTHING that I love. It’s a YA thriller about a boy who believes his young sister is a sociopath. WHY HAVEN’T I READ THIS YET.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken – Another one I’m really ashamed about not having read. Honestly, the size keeps putting me off. It’s so stupid though because when I heard about this book I was SO excited and was counting down until it’s release. Now it’s been a year and I still haven’t read it????

the-iron-trial lady-helen-and-the-dark-days-club zeroes

The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare – I bought this because it was really cheap. I haven’t read it because ??? I don’t even know. Maybe it’s because I’m not Cassandra Clare’s biggest fan. I like Middle Grade though so I want to get to it eventually.

Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman – I’m not normally into historicals, but this really caught my eye for some reason which could have been because the US cover is STUNNING. I still really want to read this one! Who knows when though.

Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Langan & Deborah Biancotti – Not sure why I haven’t read this because People with Powers is one of my favourite tropes. Hopefully I’ll get to it soon??????

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As you can see I clearly have a problem when it comes to not reading the books I buy. Do you have a similiar problem? Or are you a lot better than me.

If you’ve read any of these or if they’re on your TBR I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I hope you’re all having a fantastic day!

lauren xx.png
Find me: Twitter – Goodreads – society6 – RedBubble

61 thoughts on “Oh Boy… // Looking Back at my First Ever Book Haul”

  3. Haha OMG, I think I’m lucky I don’t keep track of my book hauls, because I think if I did then the result would be pretty similar to yours *oops* 😀
    I’m always hauling books and requesting books for gifts but truthfully I still have books I received for my birthday 2 years ago that I STILL need to read. So I’m trying to read a lot of those books now before buying anything new… (the keyword is TRY, not saying I’m succeeding so far)
    I only read Passenger from this list and liked it fine. Except now I don’t remember a lot of it and I don’t feel like re-reading before reading the sequel so not sure what’ll happen there.
    AND I STILL NEED TO READ ILLUMINAE! But first I will probably need to haul it 😉

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    1. Haha, I’m glad I”m not alone!! I have books from like 2011 that I still haven’t read 😂😂 It’s so bad, but idk I just can’t stop buying/requesting books? Haha. I’m gonna try to read Passenger soon! Maybe check http://recaptains.co.uk/? They have really good recaps of books! They might have one for Passenger so you don’t have to re-read. YESSS READ ILLUMINAE IT’S SO GOOD 😍

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  4. I have a slight issue with buying books and not reading them haha. This year I’ve been really on top of it though… although I’m slowly falling behind 😛
    The Iron Trials are a lot like Harry Potter, and, well I noticed quite a few similarities. It’s still really enjoyable, I hope when you read it you enjoy it.

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  5. I think most of us have this serious problem. I haven’t bought a single book for months because I have been focusing on the TBR pile at my room. I don’t think I can resist the urge of buying more books soon though…

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  6. I’m also doing this because of LaLa. But my books are 2+ Years old. There were 60. No joke. So I’m forcing myself to go through them and decide if I will ever read them and give some away.

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  8. Hahaha, wow, that’s a lot of books you haven’t read ahah. I feel the same way about Rebels of the Sand, even if I haven’t bought it yet – I wanted to read it but after reading a couple of negative reviews, I’m not too eager to get to it anymore :/
    I really want to read Passenger – here’s to hoping we can read it soon 😀

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    1. Ahahaha. I knowww. This isn’t the half of it either though. Just my first “recorded” haul. I books on my shelf from like 2011 😂

      Ooh, hopefully we’ll both enjoy it! I’ve heard mixed things, but I loved The Darkest Mind series, so fingers crossed.

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  10. This is a great idea for a post Lauren, and it must have been interesting going back to see your first book haul on this blog (there is a reason I tend to not go too far back in terms of what I post on my blog, mainly I’m too embarrassed to see what I might have written way back when).
    Also I have the same problem, I keep buying books even though I still have tons on my bookshelves I haven’t read yet. Bookworm problems right? Still hopefully you’ll be able to get around to some of these one day soon. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Beth ♥ Haha, yeah. I don’t think I could deal with looking at some of my earlier reviews 😂 I figured a haul would be relatively safe though. Turns out not because I didn’t realise just how many I hadn’t read haha. Riiiiight. I haven’t bought books in a few months, but I keep requesting them. I have no control.

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      1. That’s all right! 😀 ❤ We should just avoid our earlier reviews all together, seems like the best way to go. It would probably be the same if I looked back at my first book haul. In fact there are probably books I got from before I started blogging that I still need to read! 😀

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  12. I’m guilty of doing this too! I’d have 10 books lined up from a previous book haul and STILL buy more books. One good thing to come out of it? I have a pretty, pretty bookshelf, albeit one filled with books that I never got around to reading.🙈😂

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  13. Ah, so relatable. I don’t do book hauls on my blog, but if I did, it would be full of shame. My husband’s friend was over a couple weeks ago and looked at my shelves, asked how many of them I’ve read, told him, then we started talking about more books I wanted and he said “why do you need more if you haven’t read the ones on your shelf?”. DO NOT QUESTION ME, DAMN IT. LET ME DO MY THING. hahah

    Molly @ Molly’s Book Nook

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  14. My Sister Rosa is still on my wishlist! And while I put Passenger on it when it first came out, I realised that I only did it because of the hype and that I don’t actually care to read it. 😅
    Ohhhh I really want to read Zeroes as well!
    And read your damn books, Lauren! 😂😂😂

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  16. This is so me! And exactly the reason why I’m not letting myself buy books anymore unless I’m going to read them soon after buying them. I have a haul from when I first started blogging where I’m pretty sure I’ve only read one book from it and it’s 10+ books. 🙈

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      1. Same! I’ve actually ended up un-hauling quite a few recently because I knew I wasn’t going to read them and needed the shelf space.
        And I can relate on the no self control with requesting. I keep trying to ban myself from NetGalley but it never works. 😂

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  17. OH MY GOSH, this is such a fun idea, hahaha. I totally understand buying books and not reading them – it’s not just you! Such great, fascinating-sounding books release every single week that it’s impossible to halt buying them. Really, this is SUCH a fun idea – I might go ahead and steal it (with credit, of course). ♡ Great post, Lauren!

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    1. Ahh, thank you Aimal ♥ Riiight. There’s just way too many books out there and I want to read (and own) ALL of them, haha. Ooh yes, I’d love to see your post 😀 And technically it was BooksandLala’s idea, so you don’t need to credit me 😊

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  18. Hahahahahahaha, I am so NOT DOING THIS!! I’ll scare myself!!! Or maybe I should… Well, it’s easy, I have more books on my TBR than on my “read” shelf… xD Oh god!!! I need to read those books!!!!!

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      1. I’ll try.. I’ll probably cry but I’ll try, hahahahahaha! Nice! I think the oldest book on my unread shelf is 2011 too! Never got to read Never Let Me Go!

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        1. Don’t worry, judging by the comments on this post we’re definitely not alone 😂 Ooh that one is my GR shelf, but I don’t have a physical copy haha. I gotta start giving my backlisted books more love. I’m so caught up in the hype of new releases.

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  19. Hahaha this looks like it’d be so much fun to do – I think the first ever haul I did was on my channel just under 2 years ago & I’m pretty sure there are books in that pile that I STILL haven’t read yet *coughRedQueencough* I used to swear I wouldn’t let my TBR shelf get any bigger than 1 full shelf…ah, I was so young & innocent then xD

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    1. I’d love to see your take on it 😀 And ahahaha, I feel you. Even now I tell myself that 😂😂 Also, I’m glad I’m not the person who hasn’t read Red Queen. These books were from a March haul and I bought that in my April haul and it’s still unread.

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  20. Worry not, Lauren. For I have the very same problem as you ‘^^
    It’s a curse, really. I just buy books I want to read and then… I don’t actually read them.
    Why?
    I honestly do not know.
    It’s a total mystery ‘^^

    Out of all these books, I only read Illuminae (which I absolutely obviously LOVED).
    I want to read: Rebel of the Sands and My Sister Rosa.
    I tried to read but couldn’t get into: Firstlife, Passenger, and very sadly The Iron Trial.

    You… you are not a fan of Cassandra Clare?
    *gasp*
    Sorry, I just love her books *so much*. It emotionally hurts to hear a blogger friend say they don’t like your favorite author (:

    I can’t even consider looking through my older posts.
    I fear I may faint. Or quit. It would be *that* embarrassing <__<

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    1. “I just buy books I want to read and then… I don’t actually read them.” STORY OF MY LIFE!!!!!!

      So happy you loved Illuminae ♥ I’m hoping to get to My Sister Rosa this month! I’m on a bit of thriller kick so fingers crossed. Ahh sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy those! I have heard lots of mixed things so I’m a little hesitant but trying to stay open minded.

      Awww, I’m sorry!! I totally respect and understand people’s love for her and her books, I just feel like it’s not my thing. To be fair, I have only read City of Bones but I almost DNF-ed it. I am trying to read City of Ashes, but I’m struggling. I want to get into it though because I feel like I’m missing out on something by not having read the series.

      Haha, nooo. I’m sure it’d be fine 😀

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  21. Okay for The Shannara Chronicles, you totally do not need to read the first book! I actually read The Shannara Chronicles (TSC from here on out) having no idea it was book 2 in a series, and I managed to understand everything fine.

    To be honest I’ve since tried to read book one of this series and I couldn’t, it was so different and I couldn’t connect with the main characters at all. With TSC though I loved it, I loved the main characters, the writing was suspenseful, just everything about it was great! I definitely think you should just skip the first book altogether, maybe try and find the main points of book one, then pick this up to actually read. TSC felt like a standalone book to me.

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  22. Oh wow Lauren this is such a neat post idea, I may have to do it sometime as well! I have a feeling it will be the same as yours because I’m also awful when it comes to reading all of the books I buy and instead of reading them I just go out and buy more. I’m currently not letting myself buy any new books especially new release until I get my TBR down by a significant amount!
    I also have Passenger, My Sister Rosa, and Rebel of the Sands on my TBR although My Sister Rosa is the only one I don’t own. 🙂

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    1. Thank you ♥ I’d love to see your take on it 😀 Also for selfish reasons because it helps me feel less alone 😉 I bought my first book today since November, but I keep requesting them from publishers and Netgalley because I have no self control 😂 I’m trying to slow down a little though.

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      1. I know how you feel , it’s definitely nice to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t get around to reading things right away! I haven’t bought any new releases yet this year until I get around to my already large TBR pile, even though it’s killing me! I have been requesting quite a bit too but only for titles I really want so I don’t get swamped! 🙂

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