Book Haul | June 2023

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Hello Hello! How are you today?

Another week has already started but thankfully it’s still my weekend since I work on Saturdays!

I’m slowly making my way through my physical book collection to unhaul some I don’t fancy anymore and reorganise my shelves a little (so all the books fit a bit better!) and since I’ve removed a load, a few more somehow found their way into my cart and onto my shelves. Don’t ask me how….

In June, I added a total of 11 books to my physical TBR… nearly as many as I added the three months prior, whoops. Keep on reading to find out which books I bought myself, and which ones were gifted to me!

BOOKS I BOUGHT MYSELF

Murder in the Mews and Appointment with Death (#16 and #19 Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie

I’m continuing my read of the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie in order of publication and I actually realised that I missed Murder in the Mews, since the last book I read was #18 in the series… As soon as I get around to it I’ll backtrack and read #16 and then go back to the next one in the list, so Appointment with Death. I also actually realised that I already owned Murder in the Mews so that was a bit stupid of me, but I’ll unhaul it when I get to that particular shelf. I absolutely love the Hercule Poirot series so I’m excited to continue with it hopefully in July.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I also bought a third book by Agatha Christie in June since I’m buddy reading And Then There Were None with a few friends this month. I’m going to pick it up sometime this week as it’s not very long and I’m sure it’s going to be a quick read. I love this author and have already read a retelling of this book and liked it, so I can’t wait to read the real thing. I have a feeling it’s going to be a firm favourite.

 

A Deadly Education (#1 The Scholomance) by Naomi Novak

As I mentioned in my previous haul post, while I was on my honeymoon in Scotland in March, I picked up The Last Graduate — the second book in this series) because I could have sworn that I already had the first book, and I apparently don’t… So I purchased this one in June otherwise I wouldn’t be able to start reading this series anytime soon!! I love the sound of it and I wanted to wait for most of the buzz around this book to die down so my opinion wouldn’t be changed, but I think I’ve waited long enough so I’ll try to pick it up soon. I’m thinking this would be a great series to read in October with all the autumn vibes I usually get from dark academia!

Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone (#1 Ernest Cunningham) by Benjamin Stevenson

In June, I brought and buddy read this book with Candyce from The Book Dutchesses and gosh did I love it! I didn’t really know what I was expecting going in since the blurb was about how this narrator’s family had each killed someone, but other than that, I wasn’t sure where it would go. Right from the first pages I was hooked and enjoyed it so much, I didn’t have anything bad to say about it at all. I loved the way it was written and the narrator’s voice was perfect. I gave it 5 stars and I’m hoping to get a review up on my blog during the month of July, so stay tuned!

 

La légende d’Hellébore (#0 La Passeuse de mots) by Alric & Jennifer Twice

My husband took me to my local bookstore last month while we were walking around our town during some festivities they had on and I was immediately drawn to this book on the shelves. I bought the first book of this series last year and still haven’t read it yet but when I saw that there was a prequel I decided to get it and start there. If I remember correctly, the whole series is about how the power of words are a kind of source of magic in this world/civilisation and how the characters all use different kinds of word magic. It sounds incredible so I need to get to it as soon as I can!

Himilce by Emmanuel Chastellière

And the last book I brought myself in June is another French fantasy but this time with a mythological basis and specifically about a woman called Himilce. I hadn’t heard of her before, but apparently she was Hannibal’s wife (Imilce in English) and I feel like this is very much in the Jennifer Saint, Nathalie Haynes (and others) vibe of women in mythological retellings. I purchased this book while on a scouting book buying adventure at work and couldn’t resist the cover or the blurb. I’m really looking forward to this one, so I hope it lives up to my expectations and all the mythology retellings that are currently buzzing in the book community!

 

BOOKS MY MUM GIFTED ME

In May, I finally finished and handed in my Master’s thesis on Disability in anglophone literature and presented it in early June, so my mum decided to treat me to a few books as a “congratulations on your degree” present! It was so hard to pick out of all of the books on my Wishlist, but I managed to narrow the list down to 4, so here they are!

 

Fourth Wing (#1 The Empyrean) by Rebecca Yarros

OMG! This book! I have literally seen it all over Bookstagram and Book Twitter every single day for weeks and could not put off buying it any longer! Just the cover and the blurb were enough to win me over but when I started seeing loads of mood boards and memes and quotes I knew I needed to get my hands on it straight away! As I mentioned above, when a book has a TONNE of buzz, I usually wait a few months for it all to die down so my opinions are influenced, but I could not wait any longer to be honest. I’m currently reading Crave by Tracy Wolff and it has my whole attention, so I’m going to wait until I finish it before diving into Fourth Wing because I have a feeling I’ll binge it in one single day and be a wreck for weeks afterwards… We shall see, but I’m massively excited for it!

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

This was a book I had on my 2023 releases list and I’ve been really enjoying this kind of cosy mystery story a lot lately. I’ve also heard some good things about it, and it’s not a very long book, so I thought it would be a good idea to stock up on cosy books with great vibes for the coming autumn season. Let me tell you, I’m already thoroughly fed up with the summer and the heat we are getting in France, so I just keep thinking about autumn and trying to manifest cool weather, although it’s not working at all, haha! I think this one will be a cute, funny and quick read and I also really like when cosy mysteries feature older characters, such as in The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman which is one of my faves! I’m hoping to read this one in a few months and I have a feeling I’ll really enjoy it!

Daughter of the Moon Goddess (#1 The Celestial Kingdom) by Sue Lynn Tan

Stephen from Stephen Writes recommended this book to me a few months ago and I kept forgetting to get myself a copy. I remember him telling me how good it was and how much I wanted to read it, so I’m really happy I finally have it on my shelves. I love the cover so much, it is stunning and I can’t remember all the blurb but I know it seems like an adventurous and whimsical story which will probably also be quite unique. I also love that there seems to be a bit of a romance trope in this as I really like some fantasy with romance in, so it’s ticking all the boxes so far and I just hope I’m going to enjoy it as much as Stephen did, fingers crossed!

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (#1) by Garth Nix

 

And the last book I hauled in June was this beauty that I have also been seeing about all over the place. And no… I still haven’t read (nor gotten my hands on) the other books by this author but I really want to. I thought this one would be a good place to start and I really fancy the plot. I think it will be the perfect book lover’s story and I really can’t wait to dive into this world and see what Garth Nix is all about!

 

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Even though I’m trying to sort through my books and get rid of those I don’t want to read anymore, without filling all their spaces straight away, I’m super happy with all the books I hauled in June and I know I’ll read them all soon! As I mentioned above, I already read one, so that seems like some good progress already!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx