Hello everyone, this is my first book haul post! I thought I’d share what books I purchased in this past month of June. I definitely hit up the second-hand bookstores hard this June. There’s a little area of where I live called Steveston Village, and they have a few old bookstores in town. One of them is really cute and is now combined with a cafe, so you can get coffee or snacks and also donate old books there. My family and I cleaned out our storage unit last month as well, so frequent trips were made to Value Village, and of course I had to sneak in and look at the book section. 🙂
So here we go… Oh!- I was also thinking of doing a colour system so you know which books I bought new, which are second-hand, borrowed, or from the library. Also just wanted to add that all of the book summaries are from Goodreads
♥New♥
♥Secondhand♥
♥Borrowed/Library♥
♥Room – Emma Donoghue♥
Found at: Village Books & Coffee House
Synopsis: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.
- I watched the movie, then heard it was based on a book. Now I have to read it!
♥Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton♥
Found at: Value Village
Synopsis: A billionaire has created a technique to clone dinosaurs. From the DNA that his crack team of scientists extract, he is able to grow the dinosaurs in his laboratories and lock them away on an island behind electric fences, creating a sort of theme park. He asks a group of scientists from several different fields to come and view the park, but something goes terribly wrong when a worker on the island turns traitor and shuts down the power.
- One of my favourite movies when I was little, re-watched it many of times. I have a friend that has read a few of Michael Crichton’s books and recommended them to me, so when I saw this on the shelf I had to grab it. Nostalgia!
♥Hiroshima – John Hersey♥
Found at: Village Books & Coffee House
Synopsis: On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey’s journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic “that stirs the conscience of humanity” (The New York Times).
Almost four decades after the original publication of this celebrated book, John Hersey went back to Hiroshima in search of the people whose stories he had told. His account of what he discovered about them is now the eloquent and moving final chapter of Hiroshima.
- I’ve always had an interest in history growing up, and learning/hearing about the tragic event that happened at Hiroshima really struck me. It scared me but at the same time I’ve always been curious to learn more about the personal accounts from it. I was surprised to find this book, and love the old feel of it.
♥The Road – Cormac McCarthy♥
Found at: Value Village
Synopsis: A searing, post apocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
- I’ve heard about the movie based off of this book, but have yet to see it. I don’t know much about the story, but I’m definitely drawn to the setting and I’m curious as to how it will play out.
♥The Diary of A Young Girl – Anne Frank♥
Found at: Village Books & Coffee House
Synopsis: Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.
In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
- I borrowed this book from a friend, started it, and then misplaced it. 😦 Fortunately I just found it again recently and I’m giving it back to her right away since I’ve had it for quite a while! Anyways I do really want to read this book, and have for a long time, and now I finally have a copy of my own.
♥Peter & Max: A Fables Novel – Bill Willingham♥
Found at: Village Books & Coffee House
Synopsis: The critically acclaimed first-ever prose novel published by DC/Vertigo — now in trade paperback.Set in the imaginative realm of the award-winning comic book series FABLES, the book takes place long ago, in the deepest dark of The Black Forest. Two brothers — Peter Piper and his older brother Max — encounter ominous forces that change them both irreparably. Thus begins an epic tale of sibling rivalry, magic, music and revenge that spans medieval times to the present day, when their deadly conflict surfaces in the placid calm of modern day Fabletown.
PETER & MAX: A FABLES NOVEL features the prose of award-winning comic book writer Bill Willingham and the lush ink drawings of FABLES artist Steve Leialoha. The novel also reveals secrets of some of the regular FABLES series cast members including Bigby Wolf, Frau Totenkinder and Bo Peep. Also included is an 8-page sequential story by Willingham and Leialoha that serves as a bridge to the FABLES titles.
- So Fables is probably one of my favourite comic book or graphic novel series. A friend introduced the comics to me, and I remember reading through the first volume super fast. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to like it at first, but as soon as I started reading it, I instantly loved the series. I’m sill searching for the second volume because my local hobby/comic store has all of the other volumes except the second one. ugh. I’ll probably have to venture downtown and see if I can find a copy there. Anyways when I saw that there was a novel based off the comic series that even included some of the reoccurring characters, I had a mini oh my gosh moment! eek.
♥Dark Places – Gillian Flynn♥
Found at: Value Village
Synopsis: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice” of Kinnakee, Kansas. She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.
- Loved this movie! When I found out that it was a book, I knew I had to get a copy and read it. I love scary thrillers, mysteries, horror, and psychological mystery/crime, but I tend to not read a lot of crime/mystery books for some reason. The story has to have a twist or be different somehow, I personally cannot just sit down to any detective based book. The writing easily loses my interest even though I love the genre. I’m hoping that I will enjoy this book though!
♥Otherland – Tad Williams Volumes: 1, 2, 3, & 4♥
Found at: Value Village
Synopsis: City of Golden Shadow – Renie Sulaweyo, a teacher in the South Africa of tomorrow, realizes something is wrong on the network. Kids, including her brother Stephen, have logged into the net, and cannot escape. Clues point to a mysterious golden city called Otherland, but investigators all end up dead.
- I’ve heard about this series for a while. One of my best friends used to own a few older copies back in the day, and she said that I’d love the story. The premise has always interested me, but I forgot the title for the longest time and who wrote it, so it wasn’t all too easy to find. Finally came across it last week, and was super stoked that all the volumes were there! I’m not super big on book series, but I will definitely be reading this one. I hope to crack into these bad boys soon.
Much love,
Shantel ♡
Unraveling Literature ♥ 