Collective Book Haul // June - August

A haul!!! Woohoo!! Finally, a book haul. It has been since the 19th of May when we posted our April book haul and it definitely feels it. We aren't big shoppers nor do we spend much money on things other than the basics/essentials, so our little trips to the charity shop picking out books has been a big miss. 
In March and April, we bought 9 and 13 books respectively all online and although the majority of this collective haul was also purchased online, we did actually get to go back to a book store at the end of July...more on that after the haul.
 

The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher
Amazon

The Well of Ascension: Mistborn Book Two by Brandon Sanderson
Amazon

Frostheart by Jamie Littler
Amazon

The House of One Hundred Clocks by A.M. Howell

Amazon

Tolkien Boxed Flexibound Set  by David Day
Amazon 

The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis
Amazon 

Tales of the Greek Heroes (Puffin Classics) by Roger Lancelyn Green
London Bridge Books via Amazon

Myths of the Norsemen (Puffin Classics) by Roger Lancelyn Green
Amazon

A Brief History of the Vikings by Jonathan Clements
Amazon

The Scent of Magic by Cliff McNish
eBay

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Music Magpie

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Music Magpie

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
Music Magpie

Bilbo's Last Song by J R R Tolkien
Music Magpie

Letters from Father Christmas by J R R Tolkien
Music Magpie

Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge 1-22 [Not pictured]

eBay

Redwall by Brian Jacques
Far Place Animal Rescue Charity Shop

The Witch of Lagg by Ann Pilling
Far Place Animal Rescue Charity Shop

The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evens
Keel Row Books

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Keel Row Books

A Wonder Book of Beasts

Keel Row Books

Farmer Giles of Hamm by J R R Tolkien
Keel Row Books

Eighty Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson
Keel Row Books

Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris
Keel Row Books

24 books! (Technically 46 if we count the WWoK series separately). That seems like a lot and is way more than we have gotten in a long time, but being over a three month period it's not that bad really haha. Two-thirds of what we bought were still shopped for online, and only one third we're brand new. The following third bought during our one and only venture to an actual in-person shop, which will not be repeated for a long time because it was the most hellish experience. We popped out one day with our masks on to check out a new book store that an animal charity we support had opened, but the general public are the most disrespectful, ignorant, non-rule-abiding idiots that it gave me panic attacks and I haven't been/won't be going anywhere again for the foreseeable future!

That hopefully won't stop us buying the odd book online of course, but that does mean monthly hauls won't be back for quite some time.

What Mr Hallow Read This Quarter [April - June]

Halfway through the year!! and what a quarterly post this is as I've read... a huge 15 books! being in lockdown was great for extra reading time. Unfortunately towards the end of the quarter I was back at work and found it hard to keep up with reading.

April

The Odd Sisters: A Tale of the Three Witches by Serena Valentino

⭐️⭐️

I think two stars says it all, I found this book very hard to read and it seemed to go on forever. There are a few different books in this Disney series and I don't think I will read anymore. 

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book days after it got delivered I'm waiting for the third installation of the King Killer Chronicles so this was a great little read to get a little of Patrick Rothfuss's unique writing style. I loved this short story anybody who enjoys fantasy needs to read some Rothfuss. 

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was great to read the next installation of the parculiardom, I like how this book has progressed the series it reads a little more grown-up than the previous books. I was apprehensive to read this as it brings the story into modern times but it adds depth to the story and I cant wait to see where this goes.

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was one of my favourite Narnia books, I loved the underground element to this story thinking back now I'm writing this I'm thinking why didn't I rate this book 4 stars?? 

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wasn't planning on reading this at first but after Mrs H loved it so much I decided to give it a go. It did not disappoint although the romance side of the book wasn't my favourite I loved how the element of Norse mythology has been brought into the modern aspect of the story.

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had been planning on buying this for a while and I think its the best book I've read this year so far, I couldn't put it down I enjoyed everything about this book. I have read good things about Brandon Sanderson and cant wait to read more of his work.

The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth by Meredith Rusu

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought this was a great little book to read, it was fast-paced and an interesting story. I enjoyed the astrology aspect of this book and the characters fascination with the stars.

May

The Last Battle by C.S Lewis 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was great to finally get through the whole of the Narnia series, I enjoyed reading every book with that being said I think this was one of my least favourites. I didn't like the character of Shift and what he brought to the story.

Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well as we love all things Disney and Marvel in our house, I was so excited when Mrs H surprised me with the book one day. I couldn't wait to read it so put it on the top of my TBR for the month. I wasn't sure at first about the book being set in mainly in London but that worry disappeared quickly and this book left me wanting more! I hope Disney brings out more Marvel tales.

The Doomspell by Cliff McNish

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this on the recommendation of Mrs H as she loved it, and the world in this book had me hooked straight away. This is the first installation in a trilogy and I think I'm thoroughly going to enjoy reading more! As I write this I currently have the second installation on my TBR for next month so make sure to check out the next what read this quarter post to see how it progresses.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Again this was a recommendation form Mrs H and I actually enjoyed this book far more than she did!! I loved everything about it, dragons and a fantastic high fantasy world,  I just can't wait to read more! This was another book I just couldn't put down!

Myths of the Norsemen by Roger Lancelyn Green

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well what can I say about this... I was already familiar with most of the nordic tales in this book but wow the author made something I'm hugely interested in boring as hell! I love to read about the gods but I think this book was written just as something to sell and not written for enjoyment.

June

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

⭐️⭐️⭐️
So we have owned this series for a long time but I just had never got round to staring it. Mrs H actually got round to reading this first. I really enjoyed this book, I think the story was great but I just found it quite a slow read hence the three stars, thinking back maybe it should have been 4? I loved the deamons in this and I'm really hoping I find the other two books a bit easier to read.

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Again another 4-star book for Ransom Riggs! I thought this book was great full of action and suspense, there was quite a bit of character development in this book and I'm excited to see where the peculiars end up next? 

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was a little apprehensive to read this as its more of a sci-fi book and as you know I 100% gravitate towards fantasy, having said that I actually really enjoyed it. It was fast-paced and well written the characters were great and I have the second instalment on my next TBR and I can't wait to see how the story develops.

What a list of books! I can't believe I got 15 in three months that's half of my yearly goal. I found it quite hard to write this post as I've left it so long since I've actually read the books to write about them. I've told myself that I need to keep these posts updated from now on so I can review the books better. 

Pages Per Day // July

It's time to look back at our 'Pages Per Day' that we read throughout July.
Our TBR page totals were 1,063 for Mrs H and 1,003 for Mr H so check out below to see how we did!

Days 1 - 7 =  275

Days 8 - 14 = 289

Days 15 - 21 = 341

Days 22 - 28 = 198

Days 29 - 31  =  164

Monthly total = 1,267 

Oooh, see that little rubbish week I had at the end there?! I dunno what happened there. I was only reading in bed at night as opposed to during the day too and obviously was too tired to read more than a small pinch of pages. I made up for it on the 30th though haha! 
Comparing to previous months, it does seem that my average lies at about 1,200 pages per month which in turn means I read around 38 pages per day. Could be better, but also could be a lot worse!

Days 1 - 7 = 212

Days 8 - 14 = 210

Days 15 - 21 = 254

Days 22 - 28 = 192

Days 22 - 24 = 70

Monthly Total = 938

Yes, I had a terrible month. I didn't even get to finish two books in my TBR but I'm well ahead of my yearly goal on the number of books I want to read so it's okay. Hopefully, I will have a better month this month, but as its already close to a week into the month and I haven't started my first book who knows what will happen...

August TBR Lists

How do I start off a monthly TBR blog post without mentioning what month it is and how is it already that month? I can't! It's impossible! It's August and 2020 is dwindling...probably thankfully to be honest but there are still lots of books to read and we've less time to get them read in. Mr H is very busy at work meaning even less reading time for him too, but I need to 'pull my finger out' (what does that even mean?) and spend more of my free time flipping pages rather than wasting time.

Anyway, here is what is on our reading lists for this month!

Mr H's TBR List

The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty - 266 pages

Nocturnes by John Connolly [TBR Jar Pick] - 486 pages

Tales from the Haunted Mansion, Volume IV: Memento Mori by Amicus Arcane [Mrs H's Pick] - 219 pages

- Page Total = 971

Mrs H's TBR List

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente - 328 pages

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor [TBR Jar Pick] - 324 pages

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne [Mr H's Pick] - 291 pages

- Page Total = 943