January Book Haul 2019

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Books bought in January

1. "Utvald" ("Reached") by Ally Condie
2. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
3. "Skuggan över stenbänken" ("The Shadows Over the Stone Bench") by Maria Gripe
4. "...och de vita skuggrona i skogen" ("...and the White Shadows in the Woods") by Maria Gripe
5. "Rör mig inte!" ("Shatter Me") by Tahereh Mafi
6. "Pojken på bron" ("The Boy on the Bridge") by M.R. Carey
7. "Hemligheternas rike" ("Bitterblue") by Kristin Cashore
8. "Eliza och hennes monster" ("Eliza and Her Monsters") by Francesca Zappia
9. "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead
10. "Spirit Bound" by Richelle Mead
11. "Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel" by Richelle Mead
12. "Kisses From Hell" by Kristin Cast, Alyson Noël, Kelly Armstrong, Richelle Mead, Francesca Lia Block
13. "Soundless" by Richelle Mead
14. "Högt spel" ("Six of Crows") by Leigh Bardugo
15. "The School for Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani
16. "I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You" by Ally Carter
17. "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy" by Ally Carter
18. "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
19. "The Power" by Naomi Alderman
20. "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders
21. "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockheart

Main source of books
Definitely secondhand. 19/21 of these books were bought from secondhand store in Stockholm, Malmö, and Lund. 1 was ordered from Book Depository and 1 from Bokus.

Do I reasonably have space for these new books in my room?
YES shut up. I made new space by rearranging in my box shelf and my putting book on top of my box shelf. It looks very dashing and I'm very pleased.

Best find
It's hard to say, seeing as I'm very happy I found a lot of these books on secondhand. However, I must say I was most happy to find the books by Maria Gripe, although a bunch of other finds have me equally excited.

Most expensive book
Gotta be "Spirit Bound" by Richelle Mead that cost me about 125SEK, paperback, from Book Depository.

Best bargain
Probably "Soundless" by Richelle Mead (paperback) that I bought for like 26SEK (plus shipping) from Bokus. They must've listed it for the wrong price, because as soon as I'd ordered it they raised the price with 100+SEK.

Most excited to read
Right now, I'm looking forward to the books from the "Gallagher Girls" series by Ally Carter. I never thought I'd actually purchase these books, but luckily I found them on Erikshjälpen! I think they'll be fun and quick reads. I'm also excited for everything I've bought for the "Vampire Academy" series!

Most likely never to be read
Unfortunately I also bought some books that'll most likely collect a good amount of dust before I read them (not literally, I keep my shelves and books pretty spotless, unlike the rest of my room). Two of them are "Utvald" (or "Reached" in its original form) by Ally Condie, and the books by Maria Gripe. "Utvald" is the final book in the "Matched" trilogy and I've read the previous two books a few years ago, but my feelings towards them are mild to say the least. The first book was alright for a dystopian YA novel, but the second book was just dull af. This last book is a bit chunky and I can't say I'll be picking it up anytime soon.
When it comes to Maria Gripe, I'm always excited to find her books secondhand, since I loved both "Agnes Cecilia" and "Tordyveln flyger i skymningen", but I'm not seeing myself reading anything else by her soon. I have a lot of respect for her as an author, but these books will have to wait.

Books I (kind of) regret not buying
I saw "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff in Erikshjälpen and wanted to buy it so I could shit talk it at home, but I ended up prioritising other books. It was only 30SEK and in good condition. I've read it in school and kind of hated it, and I like having books I hate at home. However, it was not meant to be for me and this book. Maybe in another time, or another life, or another dimension. I've also wanted to order "Illusions of Fate" by Kiersten White from Book Depository (the hardback is only like 126SEK) but I'm saving my money for Feburary's book sales.

New series

1. "Skuggserien" by Maria Gripe
2. "Gallagher Girls" by Ally Carter
3. "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
4. "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi
5. "The School for Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani

Total amount of books
According to my latest calculations, I now have around 347 books on my shelves. When it comes to bind-ups, I've either counted each book included as an individual (for example my bind-up of "The Hunger Games"), while some I've just counted as one (for example "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare").

Overall thoughts
I... might have gone overboard this month...

January Wrap Up 2019

PART 1

PART 2

Books read in January

1. "City of Heavenly Fire" by Cassandra Clare
2. "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton
3. "En olustig början" ("The Bad Beginning") by Lemony Snicket
4. "Dream On" by Kerstin Gier
5. "Fruset blod" ("Frostbite") by Richelle Mead
6. "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead
7. "Löftet" ("Blood Promise") by Richelle Mead
8. "Giftet" ("Poison Study") by Maria V. Snyder
9. "Magin" ("Magic Study") by Maria V. Snyder
10. "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell

Star of January
The best book I read this month is without a doubt "Poison Study" by Maria V. Snyder, although in it's Swedish translation, "Giftet". This book had so much to offer; a medieval inspired world, deep characters, interesting politics, magic, a gripping romance, and an astounding premise. I am so amazed at what this single first book managed to perform. I, of course, gave it a full 5/5 star rating. I gave the second book, "Magin" ("Magic Study" in English) 5/5 stars as well.

Biggest disappointment of January
It's no secret that I thought "City of Heavenly Fire" was a bit of a flop. As the final book of "The Mortal Instruments" series, I'd expected more than a 500 page drag followed by 200 pages of anticlimax. It had it's good parts as well, but overall I just wasn't impressed.

Surprise of January
Two books share this spot; "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton and "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead. I didn't expect "The Outsiders" to be what it actually ended up being, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The same goes for "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead. Being the third book in the "Vampire Academy" series, it really brought the plot and characters to another level; something I hadn't expected it to do. 

Series started

1. "Syskonen Baudelaires olycksaliga liv" ("A Series of Unfortunate Events") by Lemony Snicket
2. "Poison Study" by Maria V. Snyder
3. "Simon Snow" by Rainbow Rowell

Series finished

1. "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare

Oldest on the shelf
I'd guess "Giftet" ("Poison Study") by Maria V. Snyder has been living on my shelves, unread, for the most years. However, "Fruset blod" ("Frostbite") by Richelle Mead has also been hanging around for a while.

Overall thoughts
I had a good reading month! It's the start of 2019 and I'm working towards my goal of reading 30+ books this year. I'm happy that I gave the "Vampire Academy" series a second shot, because I've thoroughly enjoyed reading most of the remaining books this month.
Might do a video for this? We'll see if I get the time.