Book Haul // September-December 2017

The time is here for my third and final book haul of 2017! I decided to share a book haul post every 4 months this year rather than have them at the bottom of my wrap up post every month. I try really hard not to buy too many books, and I find that this is a much more effective way to track my bookish spending. You can find parts 1 and 2 of my 2017 book haul here and here.

Spellslinger by Sebastian de Castell (kindle, unread) - £0.98

Should I have bought this? Probably not. Will I ever get the time to read this? Unlikely. Did I buy it because it was cheap? You bet. I convince myself that impulsive buying isn't that bad if it's all books under £1, but it adds up.

Middlemarch by George Eliot (kindle + audible, read) - £0.49 + £7.99

I couldn't get into Middlemarch in written form (I've found that with a lot of my assigned books this semester) but I managed to listen it all. It was long but I liked it, possibly because I started watching the web series adaptation of it first!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (physical, read) - £5.59

I had an eARC, but I had to purchase one of my favourite reads of the year to hold and cry over and lend to all my friends and force them to love and cry over it too. This book was such an unexpected surprise and I love it to pieces.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (kindle, unread) - £1.49

STOP BUYING BOOKS, @ ME. Although I have to say I did kind of want to read Labyrinth Lost already and I am somewhat motivated to read it. But when you're like me and don't stop buying books it's hard to be motivated to read them all at all.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (physical, read) - £6.31

This one was for an essay #JustifiedPurchase. I didn't like The Wasp Factory very much. I think it could have done more with what the concepts and topics it had, and although I liked the gothic freakiness, I'm not big on gore at this level.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (physical, unread) - £6.29

YES YES YES I'M SUPER MOTIVATED TO READ THIS. I love the edition I have and I can't believe I hadn't heard of this book until recently with the movie news (which already looks incredible). This is super high on my list.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (physical, unread) - free

Thank you birthday money! My friend Willow has only praise for Diana Wynne Jones and says that she basically created modern YA, and compares her a lot to V.E. Schwab (my fave). Who am I to not honour such a recommendation?

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (physical, unread) - free

This has been on my TBR for ages and it sounds weird and unique and just my type of book, so I finally bought it with my birthday vouchers. I've been carrying my copy around, hoping to find the time for it, but no luck.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (audible, unread) - £3.99

 I didn't have any intention of reading this before! But audible offered 2 for 1 on select audiobooks and I am a weak soul. Another book by the same author is on my reading list for next semester, so I guess it might be good to read more of his work.

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli (kindle + audible, unread) - £0.99 + free

This was the free audiobook I got with The Man in the High Castle. Why?, I ask myself. I already got it on a kindle offer. And it's another book I'd not actually planned to read. I'm an actual mess and need to be controlled.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (audible, unread) - £0.99

Audible knows me. They know I am weak for any offer. I'd cancel my subscription but I'm saving my next 2 discounted credits for uni books. I still haven't read any Gaiman, and this would be the 3rd book of his I own. I need to sort my life.

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (physical, unread) - free
My friend Willow got this book for me for my birthday. I haven't heard of it before and I don't know anything about it yet, but I trust her recommendations a lot because we have similar reading tastes, so I'm looking forward to it.

With the £35.11 I spent on books in these final four months of the year, that brings my grand total of book spending in 2017 to £139.29. I got 14 books this month, which brings my total for the year at 39. At least 20 of those books are still unread. Yes, a lot of them are free classics, but many of those are books I got for under a pound on the kindle, and I think that is what is pushing my book spending to higher than I want it to be. I also need to stop buying books that aren't for university, because I just can't justify it when I do not have the time to read anything outside my course (it's been 4 months since I've read something that wasn't required).

My goal for 2018 is to reduce the number of books I buy. I know I can hardly be the biggest spender when it comes to book bloggers, but in the past almost all the books I bought, I read. Now I don't have that kind of time, so I have to stop throwing my money at every book that is recommended to me!

Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts? How many books have you bought in 2017? What are your favourites?