Friday 26 December 2014

Holiday Book Haul

   I arrived home for the holiday break last Friday, and the first thing on my to-do list was to go visit the bookstore, natch! I walked away from the bookstore that first day with quite a heavy load. A few days later, my mom took my brother and me out for a mother-and-offspring bonding session at the mall. While they checked out health stuff (ewww), I drifted off in the direction of the bookstore. Surprise, surprise, I rejoined my family with a huge grin on my face and a paper bag filled with books. Then on Christmas Eve Eve, my mom and I finished up some last-minute Christmas shopping. Well, she did. I wasn't feeling too well, so I camped out at--yep, you guessed it--the bookstore. I told myself "Dude. Do not get anything. You do not need more books. Seriously. You could drown in your pile of unread books. You're just going to the bookstore to sit and rest. Not to shop." But theeeeen....I found one of my December #RadarReads on the shelf! And not just any Radar Read. The one I was most excited about!!! So I scolded myself via a smack on the head, but eventually bought it. Now, I promise I am done with buying books for this season. If I break this rule, my dear followers, you are welcome to hunt me down and shove my head into said pile of unread books until I stop breathing. 

Without further ado, my holiday book haul!


Salve's idea of a Merry Christmas.


Lullabies by Lang Leav

   I've been meaning to get this for quite some time, but I wanted to get it and actually read it, and not just toss it onto my bookshelf for future purposes. I felt like the holidays were a good time to thaw my frozen heart and let some emotion in, so I finally got Miss Lang's book of poetry. 


Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

   This is it! This is the book that made me cave one more time and buy a book! It was one of my Radar Reads for this month, but I honestly wasn't expecting to get it anytime soon, because we all know how long it takes for a book to make it to the Philippines. As if finding it wasn't exciting enough, a blurb on the back of the book says, "Take The Princess Diaries and add magic, murder, and mystery, and you've got Suspicion." Now you're just toying with my fragile emotions.


Staying Strong by Demi Lovato

   I wasn't the biggest fan of Demi when she was still a Disney baby, but by golly if she didn't break free. I love her music, and her advocacy to stop the stigma of mental illness. At the time she went to rehab, I was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and spent quite some time in hospitals as well. Then she released "Skyscraper" and it was one of those songs that you just felt was meant for you. That song got me through one of the hardest periods of my life: dealing with my diagnosis and trying to graduate from high school. I'm so glad that she published this book and I hope that it helps other kids now who might be going through the same thing we did. While I'm 100% okay now, I'll enjoy reading Demi's everyday affirmations in this book. #2015Goal



Just Like The Movies by Kelly Fiore

   Like I said before, I felt like the holidays were a good time to have that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart. So yes, I did the unexpected and picked up...a contemporary romance.  *Le gasp!* I know, it came as a shocker to myself as well. The clincher for me was the synopsis: "Two girls bonded over Titanic and decide to recreate famous movie moments". Sign me up for that, please!!!



Falls The Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

   This was a complete impulse buy. It's one of those books whose summaries just grab you by the ankle and won't let you go, because it's so darn intriguing. Falls The Shadow is about a society that replaces dead people with clones to soothe the grieving relatives. With all the dystopian/sci-fi novels under my belt, I have yet to read one about cloning, so I'm really excited to read about this world!


Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

    I know, most of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, "How is Salve just buying this now?!" And for that, I bow my head in shame and accept all your virtual hate. This has been on my TBR for a long, long time, but I wanted to get it in hardcover. Unfortunately, all the bookstores I visited had it in paperback. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that I gave up all hope of ever finding a hardcover. But lo and behold, last week, I finally found ONE. LAST. HARDCOVER. The literary powers that be must be in a gift-giving mood!


Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

   This is my CR right now, and I am loving this tale of a southern belle-gone-Black Widow.  Like Daughter of Smoke & Bone, this is a book I've been eyeing for a while, but unlike DoS&B, I was on the fence on whether or not to get it. PolandBananasBooks helped me make up my mind when she named it as one of her Favorite Books of 2014, though! And y'all know that when Christine Riccio says something, it's truth (man, I am doing some major ass-kissing).


Zodiac by Romina Russell

   Augh, another Radar Read!!! December has been very generous in terms of shipping books to my country, and fast. Like I said in my December Radar Reads post, this sounds like one crazy rollercoaster of a space opera.



Empire of Shadows by Miriam Forster

   Oh, am I excited to read this one! I absolutely adored Miriam Forster's first Bhinian Empire book, City of a Thousand Dolls. I thought it was a standalone, so imagine my excitement when I found out that Forster would be writing more Bhinian books! I want to reread Thousand Dolls before I read this one, so maybe I'll save this book for summer. Or maybe I won't be able to control myself and start it tomorrow!


Falling Kingdoms: Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes

   This was yet another one of my Radar Reads for December, and I'm so happy I got to cross 3 Radar Reads off my list! Like Empire of Shadows, I'm going to save this one for summer break, or for a time when I can reread the first books in the series to refresh my memory. While I remember the characters and where their loyalties lay, I honestly could not tell you anything about what happened in the first two Falling Kingdoms books. This is in no way a criticism of Rhodes' writing; it's just what happens when you hop back and forth between too many high fantasy series! 



Throne of Glass: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

   Last, but certainly not the least, is Sarah J. Maas' Heir of Fire! This book has been out for quite some time, but due to some glitch in the shipping industry, did not reach Philippine shores until now. When I saw it in the store, I yelled. Legit yelled. And then I tweeted this little anecdote, which a certain author favorited! *Commence fangirling*


   This was also my Christmas present to myself: not to buy it, but to read it. Do you know that feeling when you're so excited for something that you don't do it, just because you want the timing and everything to be perfect? That's how I felt about Heir of Fire. I couldn't even look directly at it, man. It was like looking into the sun (for my loyal followers, this shouldn't be a surprise to you. I've been drooling over SJM's Throne of Glass books since the inception of this blog, as seen here, here, and here). 

  But I woke up Christmas morning and decided, you know what? I'm going to give myself a bookish present and let myself start reading it! I'm only a couple of pages in, but I'm already pulled back into Cel's world. It's almost like I never left. #TeamChaolForever


And that's it for 2014 book purchases! I mean it. I was at a bookstore earlier (to pee, sorry, when you gotta go...), and I walked away purchase-free. Now that's what I call self-control.

Enjoy your holidays, my beautiful bookworms!

xoxo,
Salve

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