Here in the UK the last week has been half term for students and teachers alike. Normally I have a really lazy week but I’ve certainly kept myself busy this week! I’ve been to London twice, spending 3 days there in total. My first trip was over the weekend to visit Uxbridge for YAShot 2016, organised by the lovely Alexia Casale. I was back to London on Tuesday for the WorldsCollide event with Leigh Bardugo and Rainbow Rowell and it was amazing. I still can’t get over how hilarious and charming both of these fantastic authors are. I had a great time! During these travels, I seem to have accumulated quite the book haul…. Woops! Check it out below, all titles lead to the Goodreads page for the summary.

In total I have (somehow) managed to haul 18 books in the last 7/8 days. I’ve acquired these in a variety of ways and will go into more detail about those below. There are SO many great titles in this list and some of these books I’ve been pandering after for quite a while and half term seemed like the perfect time to spoil myself! (I think it’s safe to say that I should have my bank card forcibly removed ASAP!)

Book Trades

I had seen a lot of people using the #booksfortrade on Twitter but had personally not used it until the last week or so. I realised that I had a few duplicates of books that I needed to find new homes for and thought this would be a fun way to give them a new home as well as acquiring some new stories for myself.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – I had not heard of this title until I was talking about a trade with the lovely Daphne (@wingedreviews). As soon as I read the description on Goodreads it sounded like something I needed to read and this is a beautiful hard cover. It has an overall rating of 4.29 on Goodreads so I expect good things from this!

Front Lines by Michael Grant – I had heard rumblings about this book a little while go but had thought nothing of it at the time. When discussing trades with Zahdia (@theGigglingBookworm) she offered this brand new paperback and I couldn’t say no. I am SO looking forward to reading this WW2 book with a female perspective.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – I am possibly the only person left on the planet who has never read a book by SJM (I know!). I do own ACOTAR and ACOMAF but I’ve not read them yet. I’ve been curious about the Throne of Glass series as it seems to be SO incredibly popular so I traded with the wonderful Sofia (@accioreviews) for this copy.

Book Depository

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden – I think this is the book which has been on my ‘To read’ shelf on Goodreads for the longest now. I’ve always been intrigued by this book but for some reason I’ve never picked it up. I found it for a good price on BD so thought it was about time I gave myself a kick up the bum to read this classic!

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I have been dying to read more by this author since I read her essay ‘We Should All Be Feminists‘. Something about her words really struck a chord with me and I’ve heard that her novels are must reads! Also, how beautiful is this cover? I love it!

Oxfam Books

For anyone who already doesn’t browse their local Oxfam stores for books, you really must! I can’t count on both hands the number of incredible finds I have had from my local Oxfam Books store in Cardiff. This copy of The Yellow Room was found in an Oxfam Books in London.

The Yellow Room by Jess Vallance – I saw Jess in a panel at YAShot and I really enjoyed hearing her speak and something about her personality resonated with me, so I knew I would need to read her books. I bought one of them immediately (coming up!) but whilst browing in Oxfam I came across this beauty for only £3 and I’m sure it’s brand new. It doesn’t even look like it’s been opened. Excited for this one!

YAShot Book Stand

I couldn’t walk past the Waterstones pop-up stand at YAShot without buying something and I ended up buying two books I’ve been eyeing up for a while.

Seed by Lisa Heathfield – According to the booksellers I spoke to, this book will break my emotions completely. I’m willing to forgive this based on the fact that I have been in love with this cover for so long now. I really don’t know why I didn’t own it before!

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood – Just the name of this book has always intrigued me and I’ve been meaning to read it for a really long time. I saw a panel with Harriet whilst at YAShot and it was one of my favourites. The talk was about feminism and also featured Holly Bourne, Holly Smale and Rachel McIntyre. I was so interested in what they all had to say and I really admired Harriet’s way with words and the way in which she expressed herself. I’ve become a big admirer.

Waterstones Piccadilly

My first stop was to the Classics section to expand my small but precious Jane Austen collection. This has become a bit of a tradition whenever I visit London now as the Waterstones in Cardiff rarely has any editions I don’t own. These are both super gorgeous and are now happily at home with my other Austen books.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman – I love Alice Oseman’s writing style (and general being to be honest) after reading Radio Silence and falling in love with it. I had wanted to buy Solitaire for a long time but after seeing Alice in a panel at YAShot I had a rush of need for this book. I met Alice after her panel and she signed my copy of Radio Silence, she was super lovely and easy to talk to. I’ve heard great things about Solitaire so I have high hopes!

Unboxed by Non Pratt – I’ve seen a LOT of people on Twitter talking about this gem and when I saw that Waterstones had one signed copy left I couldn’t resist. That’s right, I found a signed copy of it. I’m sure this is all fate tempting my money away from me…

Birdy by Jess Vallance – As I mentioned previously, I saw Jess talking at a panel in YAShot and really liked the way she came across. I knew I had to read something by her and Birdy sounds so interesting.

Me & Mr J by Rachel McIntyre – This book explores the student/teacher relationship and as a teacher myself I am super interested to see what Rachel McIntyre does with this. I saw her speaking at a feminism panel at  YAShot and loved what she had to say about feminism and also what she said about her reasons for writing this book. It seems different to anything else I’ve read so I’m looking forward to this one.

What Light by Jay Asher – Gorgeous cover alert!! I love it – and it’s sparkly! I don’t think I will ever forget my first experience of reading Thirteen Reasons Why and I knew as soon as I saw this was upcoming that it would creep its way up my highly anticipated list.

Daunt Books

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – I read this wonderful story a while ago now but I realised I don’t own a physical copy. I really love this cover and this story is just so adorable that I think it may be work a reread at some point!

WH Smith

The new Zoella book club titles have been released and I just love the covers of most of them. They are super gorgeous and very wintery!

The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan – This will definitely be a Christmas read for me. I love this cover too, it looks like the perfect gift! I enjoyed Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares and think this has the potential to be another good read.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – I have wanted to read this book for such a long time. With the movie coming out soon, I really have to read this before I go and see it. There are lots of different covers of this book out there but this has been my favourite that I’ve seen so I knew I had to own it!

Phew! That finally brings me to the end of what has been a bookalicious half term! I’ve also spent a fair amount of my time reading and have read a whopping 12 books this month – I’m not entirely sure how!!

Which books on my haul have you already read? Are there any you want to pick up yourself? Let me know in the comments below! 

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