Lauren's Boookshelf

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

November 2024 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

November was an interesting month. I did get to read a bunch of fun books. Every book this month I enjoyed, even if I didn't love it. I read a total of nine books in November, dedicated a ton of time to Stardew Valley since the 1.6 update dropped on console, and hauled some exciting new titles. Let's dive in!

Title: The Scent of Us: Part One

Author: Eliana Lee

Rating: 4 // 5 stars

Title: The Scent of Us: Part Two

Author: Eliana Lee

Rating: 3 // 5 stars

Title: His Tesoro

Author: Emilia Rossi

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Title: The Spellshop

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Title: A Pack for Autumn

Author: Emilia Emerson

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review TK

Title: The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 1: The Faust Act

Contributors: Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, Cowles

Title: Omega Concealed

Author: Elizabeth Dear

Rating: 3 // 5 stars

Title: Omega Revealed

Author: Elizabeth Dear

Rating: 3 // 5 stars

Title: Knight Owl

Author: Christopher Denise

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

October 2024 Wrap-Up

October 2024 Book Haul

I picked up four books this month, one of which was free. I'm pretty happy with the haul this month. It was a lot smaller which I'm happy about and all the titles are ones I'm really excited to have on my shelves. Three of them I've read already and loved (and just didn't have copies). Let's dive in!

Up first, my stepsister gave me her paperback copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. She picked up a hardcover in October whereas I'm working on collecting the paperbacks so she handed it off to me. Now, don't come for my reader card for what I'm about to say next...I've actually not read the entirety of the series. I read The Hunger Games in middle school but had to return the sequel before I finished it. I just...never finished the trilogy after that. With a new book coming out in the spring, I figured it's time I finally read the rest of the series since I do love the movies.

Then I picked up Lights Out by Navessa Allen. I've seen this book around a lot and it looks so good. The hold on Libby is several months, though, and my local library doesn't have a physical copy. So I decided to grab this one so I can read it ASAP. All I know is dark romcom? Like the subject matter is dark but it's written in a comedic way that everyone keeps raving about.

I also picked up two Ali Hazelwood books: Love on the Brain and Not In Love. I've read and loved both of these through Libby. I knew I wanted to eventually pick up copies for my shelf but I wanted to wait until I saw a good deal on these. I found coupons for both books that made them 50% off which I'm quite happy with. I'm one step closer to owning all of Ali's books. She writes a lot of predictable but fun romances that I eat up every single time. I love them.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Monday, November 4, 2024

October 2024 Book Haul

October was definitely a big month for hauling books. I will say I didn't expect to get this many books and I am definitely not looking to get this many books in November. I have been rather happy with my smaller hauls lately but that does not negate the excitement for the 12 books I got in October. Let's go ahead and dive right in!

The first six books I got were actually from a local used bookstore that I've been shopping at for ten years now. The books were already a good price and I was able to use my store credit for 50% off on top of that which is rather exciting. The first of these books was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. This is one that I've been meaning to read for years. When I moved back to the US, I had to leave my copy behind. When I saw the floppy paperback in perfect condition the bookstore, I knew it was meant to be.

Then I picked up Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman. This is a novella set in the Heartstopper world. I love Heartstopper, both the show and the books/comics. I've had this on my wishlist for about a year now so when I saw it in the store in perfect condition in the edition I wanted, I knew it was fate. These characters are so special and I'm thrilled to have more adventures to come with them in this one.

I then grabbed a copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Believe it or not, I've only read the first Hunger Games book and I never owned a set of the books. I love the movies and the story, so it's wild to me that I didn't already have them. It's my mission to get a set of the trilogy now, though, so that I can finally read it in its entirety. It's a pretty popular series so I doubt I'll have any issues finding affordable secondhand copies.

Up next for the used bookstore was a boxset of the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy by Holly Jackson. This consists of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Good Girl, Bad Blood, and As Good as Dead. This series has been on my radar for ages and I had to leave my copy of the first behind in London when I moved. That worked out, though, as the different countries have different versions of the story. Anyway, I figured for such a good price I could grab the set and give it a read and then my siblings could borrow it since they were also wanting to read it.

A little bit later into the month I stumbled across The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz on TikTok. I was just scrolling and all of a sudden I saw the cutest, most beautiful little art about a dragon who learns to bake. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days so I decided to give in and get a copy. If I want an excuse, I can say I'll read it to my nieces when they visit but, really, it's for me. And it's absolutely stunning and such a cute story.

Then I grabbed the 10th anniversary edition of The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. The Bone Season is a book that I read ages ago and loved. I'm not 100% caught up on the story but that's okay as they just released these rewritten versions of the series! The core story is the same, I believe, but with lots of editing and changes now that the author has grown with her writing. I consider it the perfect time to reread the new versions and get caught up on the series before the next book comes out in 2025.

I picked up a copy of Stacked: The Art of the Perfect Sandwich by Owen Han. This is a cookbook entirely dedicated to sandwiches, wraps, etc. I've followed him on TikTok for a while now and when he dropped the news about this cookbook I was so excited. I have already bookmarked a ton of recipes that I want to try. Sandwiches are so delightful and definitely something I overlooked a lot in my college years so I can't wait to dive into some amazing new ones.

I then picked up copies of The Emotion Thesaurus and The Urban Setting Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman. I stumbled across these writing resources and immediately knew I needed a set. It's an entire series of these reference books that offer examples and advise on writing about particular things in a book. The Emotion Thesaurus, for example, has hundreds of emotions listed out with definitions, physical movements a character could do to express it, internal feelings, examples of it in a sentence, etc. I started out with just these two from the series, though, as I felt they were the most relevant to my current writing projects.

Lastly, I picked up a copy of The Stardew Valley Guidebook: 1.6 Edition. I love love love Stardew Valley. It's probably my favorite video game at this point, which is wild to say as I hadn't even played it a year ago. It's a fun, cozy, addicting game. I play on the Switch, however, so I haven't been able to play the 1.6 update yet. However, that's coming in just a few short days (the same day this post with go live, I believe) and I am stoked! I figured it was then time to upgrade my guidebook with the updated information as I used my previous guidebook a lot on my first play throughs.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

You can follow my bookstagram here for more bookish content!

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Friday, November 1, 2024

October 2024 Wrap-Up

This year has been flying by. I cannot believe we're into November already! October felt like it flew by and I was so busy I didn't get much into the Halloween spirit (shock, I know). However, I am fully embracing just the general autumn vibes and plan to until Thanksgiving.

I read 10 books in October with some rereads of past favorites and some new favorites discovered. I am feeling hopeful for November in regards to getting through some of my immediate TBR books as well as a couple releases I'm looking forward to. But before I put my sights to the new month, let's take a look at the past one.