Late October Haul

I am well aware that these are late, and I apologize, the beginning of this month has and emotional rollercoaster and I just haven't had it in me to blog. But here we go with my October Haul, which turned out bigger than I expected.

This first one I actually found at Costco

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Published September 2017, by Harper

Three years ago, Madison Oliver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon's Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now, assuming she survived. Certain that someone took their daughter the Culver's turn to Naomi, a private investigator with a talent for locating lost and missing children, having been one herself, once upon a time. Known to the police as The Child Finder Naomi is the Culver's last hope. But as Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison's disappearance, Naomi's defenses start to crumble as she is reminded of a terrible loss she can feel but can't remember.

So I know thrillers are typically for "Halloween" reads, but I'm excited and hope to get to this by December. That's one thing I tend to enjoy is when an atmosphere in a book is reflected similarly to what I experience in my own. If it's cold in the book it's more relatable to me if weather is making it so I'm cold. If it's fall in the book I'd like it to be fall when I'm reading it, etc... That's always hard especially with books with longer time lines, or ever unnatural environments (fantasy books) But this looks like a good December read.

This next book I snagged at Northtown Books

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Published September 2017, By Simon Pulse

So this was mostly a cover by. I remember Kayla from BooksandLala talk about it on her youtube channel for a cover reveal...I think. But I just marked it as "to-read" because I thought the cover was gorgeous. Reading a little bit of the synopsis it's about a Japanese-American girl who has anxiety and stress. She doesn't end up getting into her dream art college and finds herself living with her abusive uncle. So when a friend invites her to the west coast to tour art colleges, she jumps at the idea, despite her worries and anxiety. So it sounds like a personal growth book, and it's about art, so I'm all for it.

The next three books I actually found at this place called the Book Legger, it's a second hand book store that has the occasional new release, but I was able to find a couple that have been on my radar for a while.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Published September 2012 by Atom

Honestly I don't know jack about this book. It's supposed to be a little fantasy, a little paranormal, and the trilogy is supposed to be amazing. So I wanted to give this one a go.

Every Day by David Levithan

Published August 2012, by Young Readers

So this one seemed really really interesting, and trippy. So everyday this person/consciousness wakes up in a new body, a new life. There's no warning about where it will be or who it will be and this consciousness has made peace with that. But then one day this consciousness wakes up in the body of Justin, and meets Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon. From that moment on the rules no longer apply to this consciousness, because finally it has found someone it want's to be with, day in, day out, day after day after day.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Published October 2010, by Harper Perennial Canada

This one I don't know too much about either. Since reading Lily and the Octopus and having it be compared with this book I've been looking to find it. I actually had heard about it before I got Lily and the Octopus but wasn't able to find it. My boyfriend has read it and says that if Lily and the Octopus or Marley and Me made me cry, then I will definitely cry at this one. That and the cover is just adorable.

The next two books I got in my Book of the Month Box for October:

my selection for the month was Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

Published October 2017, by Scribner

Anna Kerrigan is twelve years old amidst the Great Depression. Her and her father go to a house of a man she thinks is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles. Years later, her father disappears and the country is out war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider of her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a night club she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her fathers life.

This one stood out the most to me, I love historical fiction, and the others just seemed kind of meh. But I'm glad I took the chance with this one, because it sounds very entertaining and thrilling.

I also was able to get (as an extra book for $9.99)

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King

Published September 2017, by Scribner

What might happen if women disappeared from the world of men? In the so real future, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and violent, and while they sleep they go to another place. The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devises. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain? Set in a small Appalachian town who's primary employer is a women's prison.

I had a co-worker reading the new release of Stephen King's It and there was an excerpt of this book on the back that I read, and it sounded really intriguing. And the cover is very lovely.

The next four books I got from Bookoutlet

the first being Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Published August 2016, by Thomas Dunne Books

From what I know about this book, a girl joins a school for assassins to avenge her father. I didn't really want to know anymore about this book. I'm very attracted to both the covers.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer

Published 1996, by Random House Bullseye Books

This I wanted to re-read, I think I remember reading it in fifth grade as an assigned reading? But I remember it being fun, and I remember loving the movie. Milo thinks life is a bore and when a phantom tollbooth appears in his room, he drives through because what else is there to do?  From what I remember there's fun play on words and fairly funny.

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Published October 2011, by Simon Pulse

This book follows Chelsea, who just wants to gain experience as an ice cream connoisseur over the summer, and forget about her ex Ezra. But when she starts her new job and finds Ezra is also working there, she feels forgetting is going to be a challenge

I love this cover, it's adorable. Just a cute fiction. 

Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard

Published April 2015, by Disney Hyperion

This one is another one I'm not aware of what it's about, I just thought the cover was gorgeous.

This next one I got in my Uppercase box. One thing you may have noticed is that I stopped showing pictures of what I get in said box. That's because I found that I can lower my payment and just receive the book. Not that I don't love Uppercase's swag, I just find that all I really want is the book, and there's usually a 50/50 chance that I'll actually use/like that stuff that comes with it.

This box was a book that wasn't even on my radar:

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Published September 2017, By Margaret K. McElderry Books

In this world, Fey can't create something with out it crumbling to ash and dust, so human craft is well sought after. Isobel is a portrait painter and well demanded through the Fey Kingdom. When she's commissioned to to do her first Royal Portrait of Rook, the Autumn Prince, Isobel finds herself in hot water when she portrays human sorrow in the prince's eyes, a weakness that could cost the prince his life. Isobel is cast to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime but her and the prince are waylaid by the Wild Hunt's ghostly hounds, the tainted influence Alder King. Rook and Isobel must rely on each other for survival, but will they cross the laws that forbid them to be together?

I am not a big fan of people being on the cover of books, but this one is really entertaining to me, the one thing that irks me is actually the font color, I feel that is get's lost in her hair and wish it was all as bold as Ravens is in contrast.

The next three I got through another Book outlet buy. I'm blaming my boyfriend on this one, he wanted me to order something and I felt like just buying one book was weird, so I got two more to accompany it.

The book my boyfriend had me get is actually a sequel and that's:

Rip Tide by Kat Falls

Published August 2011, By Scholastic Press

So this is the sequel to Dark Life, which I'm not going to talk about much here but you can read what I thought here. Boyfriend already read this book, and loved it as much as the first. I'm a little apprehensive because it's a sequel.

The two book I got along with Rip Tide is

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke

Published August 2016, by Dial Books

So this is actually an Anthology, so there's multiple stories by multiple authors. Thrillers, horrors, etc... I don't own anthologies, and haven't read any since middle school, and that was Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. I figured it was a good Halloween buy. Still haven't read it and it's November but I'll get to it.

AND

Mosquitoland By David Arnold

Published March 2015, By Viking Children's

In all honesty this was a cover buy. I thought it looked cute and was kind of hoping for a graphic novel...no such luck....no just check again to be sure too.

This book follows Mim Malone. Mim's family has fallen apart and she find herself being dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the "wastelands" of Mississippi with her dad and new Step mom. Before the dust can even settle in the new town, Mim learns that her real mom is sick back in Cleveland. So she ditches her new life and catches a grey hound back to her real mom and her real home. Going on a journey where she'll meet a cast of travelers, will have to face her demons and re-define love and loyalty.

Alright these next two book are I actually won from Goodreads giveaways. So that's pretty exciting.

The first being:

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Published April 2016, By Penguin Press

I had seen this book in my local book shop but wasn't sure if I would actually read it nor did I want it for full price, so I figured "why not" when I entered the giveaway. After reading the synopsis I figure it's going to be similar to Kraken by Wendy Williams: A non-fiction delving into some research about birds and how intelligent they are and just kind of summarizing research of a variety of different specialists. Which was fun with the Kraken in terms of Octopuses. Plus I'm a sucker for scientific illustrated covers

The last book I received I also got in a giveaway and that's:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Published January 2017, By Del Rey Books

Ok before I even get into the synopsis of this book, I am in love with the title. Not so much the content of the title, though it's cute, but the filigree and the font and how strong it is. HOWEVER I feel like it takes away from the image itself. That title sticks with me, the image doesn't.

Ok I lied this is another I have no idea what it's about but I'm hoping it'll be a good winter read.


Alright and there you have it. I apologize I didn't know what some of these were about but I'm sure once I read them I'll let you know how I felt.

Until next time

Litta