December Haul

My December haul, books I bought including book I was given for Christmas. I apologize for the lack of synopsises....synopsi? of some of these books, some of them I didn't want to know a whole lot about.

Her Bodies and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Published October 2017, By Graywolf Press

This book is a short story collection that deals with women. It's psychological realism, comedy, horror, thriller, etc. these stories have no boundaries really.

I am not describing this book with any justice and I apologize. It's interesting and creative, very thought provoking. I had heard great things about this book and snagged it right up.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell

Published November 2017, By Two Roads

Another story collection of modern day fairy tales, with a BEAU-T-FUL cover. I wish I can get my hands on the monochrome cover.

Edit 1/10/2018: Oops! I'm sorry! This one was my pick for Book of the Month

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

Published January 2018, by Crown publishing Group (NY)

This book follows Eddie. When Eddie was young, he and his friends would leave each other messages with "chalk men" but one day one of these chalk men leads Eddie and his friends to something they wont soon forget, a dead body. Years later Eddie refuses to think about that time in his life, now an adult he has better things to think about. Until he receives a chalk man in the mail. He think's it one of his old friends playing a practical joke, until he here's one of them has died. Now he has to face the past and figure out the truth behind these chalk men.

To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin

Published November 2016, by Flatiron Books

This book is set around the time of the construction of the Eiffel Tower. A Scottish Widow and a French Engineer struggle to fall in love, faced with class and wealth constraints.

Mad Miss Mimic by Sarah Henstra

Published May 2015, Penguin Canada

Leo was born privileged. She doesn't lack trinkets or dresses. Living with her married sister, Leo seems a typical ordinary child of wealth. That is until she talks. Leo has a stutter, but can mimic some ones voice, speech patter, and accent to the T. She doesn't mean for it to be rude, she just prefers it to her own voice, however, she scares of suitors that come to her door, leaving the house staff whispering their nickname for her "Mad Miss Mimic" behind her back. Mr. Thornfax, however, isn't scared off. Incredibly handsome, he seems very interested in Leo, but why? And does he have connection with the mysterious Black Glove group? All these questions that Leo wants to find the truth behind while in a city under siege by terror attacks and gripped by opium fever.

I had heard about this a year or two ago, The cover is striking to me, and the summary doesn't sound too bad as well. .

From Uppercase this month:

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Published December 2017, By Henry Holt and Co.

I think this is a contemporary romance read focusing or theme-ing around A Midsummer's Night Dream....That's all I really know about this. The cover is gorgeous, but the synopsis wasn't too interesting to me. This is actually my last Uppercase box just due to the fact I'm getting to the point where I have so many books that I don't necessarily want to pay for random books I may or may not be interested in and probably wont read for a bit coming in.

I finally caved and started ordering from Barnes and Noble mostly because they had better deals on these graphic novels:

Giant Days Vol 1 by John Allison Illustrated by Lissa Treiman and colored by Whitney Cogar

Published December 2015, by Boom! Box

Giant Days Vol 2 Also illustrated by Max Sarin

Published April 2016, by Boom! Box

Giant Days Vol 3 Lettered by Jim Campbell

Published October 2016, by Boom! Box

This series follows three friends in their first semester of college, as they live in the dorms. They get through drunken nights, rumors, discovering sexuality, and the what not as they navigate their way through their classes. It sounded really fun, and I'm missing college right now.

This next one was a sort of gag gift from two great friends of mine, that held a gift card for my favorite local bookstore, Northtown Books, so when I buy a book with that I'll definitely mention them again, but in the mean time I have:

Savage Thunder by Cassie Edwards

Published January 2001, by Leisure Books

I'm curious to read this but sadly this is #15 in the series.....among other things this is making me resist....We'll see though....It's smut....straight up racist looking smut. I haven't looked at the synopsis....

Another gift is the start of a series from my brother and that's:

Gardens of the Moon by Steve Erikson

Published January 2005, by Tor Books

Honestly not sure what this is about.

I got four books from my dad and his wife, one of which was a steampunk book that I consider more of a coffee table book/instructional. One of those ones you don't read all the way through unless you do all the things in it, so I'm not going to "haul" that one, but the other three, I'm super stoked for:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling Illustrated by Jim Kay

Published October 2015, by Arthur A. Levine Books

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Published October 2016, by Arthur A. Levine Books

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Published October 2017, by Arthur A. Levine Books

The next two I'm going to credit my lovely sister for, as she got me the gift card that made them available to me through amazon. Thank you sis!

The first one being one that I've had my eye on for a while now: Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Published March 2017, By Swoon Reads

Charlie is an vlogger and an actress, promoting her first movie at Supacon. She's determined to show her fans she's over the break up of her co-star Reese. When internet-famous cool-girl actress Alyssa is a surprise guess, it seems Charlie's long time crush isn't so one sided.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently so she doesn't like change. One thing she knows will never change is her friendship with guy friend Jamie, no matter how much she wants it to. When Taylor her's about a fan contest of her favorite fandom she starts re-thinking her rules of playing it safe.

I've heard good things about this book. Ultimately I love the cover of it. The play with the font and the hair is really creative. No it's not the main reason why I wanted this book, but it helped.

And second is: Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan

Published September 2016, By Candlewick Press

This book, I had heard about it and loved the concept. Snow White's story set in 1928 New York. We have the King of Wallstreet who survives the stock market crash, only to mysteriously die. We have the Queen of the Follies, a mysterious stock ticker, who keeps giving her wicked words "Another...More Beautiful....Kill!!!" 7 street urchins who will protect a girl pure as snow. And of course Samantha Snow, who's come back after being sent away by her step mother years before.

The art is supposed to reflect dramatic cinematics that is Noir. So I'm pretty stocked about that. The one issue I'm having is that with most the graphic novels I get, I would like to see the art work first....I have yet to do that with this book. I have it in possession, but I think I'll wait and see how this goes when I read it...

And Finally this book.... This book I've also been wanting for a while, it was a month of getting books I have been eyeing too long and wanted here and now.

The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair

Published October 2017, By Penguin Books

This book tells the unsual stories of 72 different and unique shades, tints and hues. From blonde to ginger, these fascinating stories run like a bright thread through out history. Kassia St. Clair has taken her obsession with color and where they come from and turned it into the study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.

I know the publication says it's actually relatively recent, But I heard about it about six months ago from a Youtuber based in the UK. Don't know if she had an advanced copy but it sounded amazing, and I've been biting at the bit to get it and finally have it and can't wait to dive in. One thing I have to say I'm already the littlest....tiniest bit disappointed in is the cover. I was expecting hard back (which it is) but to also have a dust jacket (which it doesn't) that came off and had holes in so you could see that the hard cover was just an array of color. Just my own personal opinion, but I would think that would be extremely creative and fun.