Collective Book Haul // January - March

It's already been 3 months since our last book haul, check it out here. If you did see that post we mentioned that 2021 would be different in terms of book buying, with a budget each month...yeah, that went out the window haha! With not leaving the house, going on maybe one walk a month and no end in sight for us why not find some joy in buying books?! Here is what we added to the collection from January to now.

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson  

The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge

A Tangle of Spells by Michelle Harrison

The Forest of Moon and Sword by Amy Raphael

Nightmares! the Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel



The Wizard's Promise by Cliff McNish

The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs

Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket

The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket

The Penultimate Peril - Lemony Snicket

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. Illustrated by Minalima 
 
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. Illustrated by Minalima 

17 new additions to the bookcases for these past 3 months. 4 of which were pre-orders, 8 of which were secondhand and 2 of which are signed copies! I'd say next quarter won't host such a tall stack, though with 3 pre-orders already in and more time at home who knows how many books will add themselves to the collection!

Until next time.

Collective Book Haul // September - December

 

It's been a while! Compared to last year when we were doing monthly book hauls, it's been pretty different to not be compiling these lists regularly. The previous haul here was uploaded back in September and since our book buying has slowed even moreee. Check out the previous haul here > Collective Book Haul // June - August. 

The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends by Peter Berresford Ellis
--
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste 
--
The Art of the Lord of the Rings (60th Anniversary Special Edition) by J. R. R. Tolkien
--
The Disney Studio Story by Richard Holliss

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
--
Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic by Jason Segel & Kirsten Miller 
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone MinaLima Edition
--
Disneyland Paris Phantom Manor Decrypted Attraction Book
--
Disneyland Paris Pirates of the Caribbean: A Treasure of an Attraction Book

Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue by Anna Fargher
--
The Ickabog by J.K. Rowling
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A Middle-earth Traveller: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor by John Howe
--
Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature by Natural History Museum

As I mentioned briefly in another post, we had planned to allow ourselves a certain amount of money per book we'd read this year, to spend next year so that we could stick to a budget and not go crazy. However, circumstances have changed and now we need to save as much money as possible which means buying books will be a rare occurrence.
Anyway, this is what we have bought in the past 4 months. To quickly address the issue I'm sure many will find, books were already pre-ordered and we are very much LGBTQIA+ allies and do not condone any Transphobic attitudes. 

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.

April Book Haul

With the current situation in the world meaning our charity shop book hunting trips have been on hold since the very beginning of March, we assumed April's book haul would be even smaller than March's stack of 9. However, like most people use retail therapy as a pick me up we also use it in book form. Here are the online book purchases we've added to the collection in April!

The Final Empire  by Brandon Sanderson

Paperback

awesome_books_001 via Amazon

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

Paperback

Infinite_Books via Amazon

The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark

Paperback

awesome_books_001 via Amazon

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Paperback

Book Depository

Five Children and It by E Nesbit

Paperback - Puffin Classic

eBay

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

Paperback

Music Magpie

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Paperback

Music Magpie

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Paperback

Music Magpie

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

Hardback

Music Magpie

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

Hardback

Music Magpie

The Return of the King by J R R Tolkien

Paperback - Collins Modern Classic

Music Magpie

The Scent of Magic by Cliff McNish

Paperback

eBay

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
Paperback - Puffin Classics
AbeBooks

Evidently secondhand is our go-to but not being able to see them before you buy them has been a pain. It seems many booksellers have lower standards than we do when describing the condition books are in because we rarely order anything that isn't listed as 'very good' but extremely broken spines don't fall into that in my opinion haha. Beggars can't be choosers though, a book is a book and any that are for special collections can always be replaced.
Also, like I said, we didn't expect to accumulate as many books, therefore, what with that and the fact of an even more limited income than usual, our only luxury will be put on hold for the time being too! That means no haul post next month..boo!

March Book Haul

We're back today with another haul post! And in this haul are actually some exciting books for us add to our collections. We bought 9 books this month including probably the most expensive book that we have bought in a long time.

The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien (Delux Edition)

Hardback

Ebay

World of Christopher Robin by A.A. Milne (First Edition)

Hardback

Ebay

Let it Go by Jen Calonita

Paperback

Asda

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

Paperback

Amazon

Labyrinth  Novelization by A.C.H Smith

Paperback

Book Depository

Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

Paperback

Book Depository

Robin Hood by Roger L.G. (Puffin Classic)

Paperback

British Heart Foundation

The Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling (Hufflepuff Edition)

Hardback

Book Depository

Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson

Paperback

British Heart Foundation

As mention above we got a few books for collections this month. The fist one being the next house edition of the Harry Potter book The Goblet of Fire Hufflepuff edition obviously! Secondly The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Deluxe edition on Indian paper (scarily thin). The third and final "special" book this month is the World of Christopher Robin First Edition!! Along with these we also got 6 other books also pictured above!

February Haul and Un-Haul

A two for one blog post coming to you today! February was a slow month for new book traffic and so we decided to combine our monthly haul with another un-haul of the recent stack of books we've weeded from our shelves ready to take to the charity shop.
Here is what has joined and what is leaving our collection...

5 books in total, but really 3 seeing as the Treasure Cove books are more of a collectible sort of ornament rather a story we will actually ever read. However, I found it funny that all 5 were brand new rather than bought from charity shops or second hand online stores.

A Sprinkle of Sorcery by Michelle Harrison

Paperback

Tesco

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

Paperback

Tesco

Tales from the Perilous Realms by J R R Tolkien

Paperback

Amazon

The Threat of Thanos - Treasure Cove Storybooks

Hardback

B&M

Cinderella - Treasure Cove Storybooks

Hardback

B&M

As for the un-hauling, the pile is considerably bigger and that is for a multitude of reasons.  

The top photo shows a stack of books that we really just have no interest in reading. Some were gifts, some were bought on a whim, though none of them will be finding themselves on any up coming TBRs so they will be better of finding new homes where the will be enjoyed...hopefully.

The bottom photo has three books that are only going because they have been replaced with the same book in either a nicer cover or in a better condition version of itself. Whereas the remaining three should have unfortunately actually been in this months haul. We ordered them from a used book site that we have used multiple times before. They were described as being in 'very good' condition. They arrived is appalling condition and as all three were for part of collections we will not be keeping them. It was a sad experience as I've only ever had amazing books from the company in question and this time even their customer service department lacked care. Never mind! 

It seems it's been almost a full six months since our first book unhaul blog post which you can find here, although we have definitely gotten rid of other books between now and then without documenting.

Take a look at all of our other monthly hauls by clicking here.

January Book Haul

As of now, just be aware that my continued excuse for a large haul of books is 'retail therapy'. We have all heard now how rubbish this year has been so far and it makes us happy to shop for, find, buy, collect, organize, display and read books. So just let us be happy eh? haha.
We said a few posts back that we really should get on top of it and cut the buying out a little but it's not like it's a lot of money, nor do we really spend much money on anything other than the important basics. Overall, it's books really. Not a bad habit to have at all.
Here is what we all bought in January 2020!

The Fire Within by Chris d'Lacey

Paperback

YMCA Charity Shop

The Siren Song by Rob Kidd

Paperback

YMCA Charity Shop

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Paperback

British Red Cross Charity Shop

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Paperback

Far Place Charity Shop

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Wonderful World of Reading

Hardback

Far Place Charity Shop

Prince Caspian by C S Lewis

Paperback

Far Place Charity Shop

Show Stopper by Hayley Barker

Paperback

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

Oswiu: King of Kings by Edoardo Albert

Paperback

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

Malice by John Gwynne

Paperback

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

Paperback - Unwin 50th Anniversary Edition

St Oswalds Charity Shop

The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty

Paperback

St Oswalds Charity Shop

The Houses with the Clock in it's Walls by John Belliars

Paperback

St Oswalds Charity Shop

Lord of the Rings Part One by J R R Tolkien

Paperback - Collins Modern Classic Edition

St Oswalds Charity Shop

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Paperback

St Oswalds Charity Shop

Wizardology by Dugald Steer

Hardback

St Oswalds Charity Shop

Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Paperback

Tesco

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

Paperback

Tesco

The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

Paperback

Tesco

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

Hardback - Signed Edition

Waterstones

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Paperback

Oxfam Charity Shop

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Paperback

Oxfam Charity Shop

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Paperback

Oxfam Charity Shop

22 books. 14 more than last month but 15 less than our biggest buy month of October 2019. A happy medium? We actually bought 4 brand new books in January too which is a rarity, 2 were on the Tesco 2 for £7 godsend, one was only £4 and the other was a special signed edition that we just couldn't say no to.
I think working to a goal worked a couple of months back so if we aim for under 15 books next month, hopefully we'll have a smaller list in February!

December Book Haul

We finally succeeded at something you guys! Not buying a stupid amount of books! In September we bought 13 books, in October that shot through the roof to 37 (sickening, and not in the good sense), then in November it dropped to 23...which was still ridiculous considering we'd set a limit of buying only 3 books for each other meaning 6 total, so thankfully and actually relatively shockingly Decembers haul total has come in at under 10 books!
I'm not saying buying books is bad, on the contrary. If you're going to buy anything, books is the best thing for it to be. Plus over 90% of what we do buy is from charity shops. However, we need to get a grip, start some savings properly and oh yeah, we have a honeymoon to think about this year!
More on that another day maybe. As for now, here is our little December book haul!

The Last Four Things by Paul Hoffman
Paperback - 16 Feb 2012

The Firework Makers's Daughter by Philip Pullman

Paperback - 4 Nov 2004

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Paperback - 8 Feb 2018

Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas
Paperback - 7 Apr 2011

Treasured Tales by Beatrix Potter
Hardback - 25 Mar 1999

Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Paperback - 18 Sep 2002

Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson
Paperback - 26 May 1994

The Bear and the Nightingale by Kathrine Arden
Paperback - 5 Oct 2017

Some cool little purchases in there huh? We don't know right this second what our limit or goal for book buying in the following months is but like I said earlier, a 37 book haul is a joke when we aren't exactly well off and have other things to prioritize. Still, we'll hopefully keep up the monthly posts and until the next one you can click this link to look back at the previous posts in this series.

November Book Haul

The plan for November was a simple one. Spoiler alert, the plan failed.We'd originally decided that due to the monstrous haul list of October we were limiting November's buys to 3 each, which we would buy for each other. Well we did that! It was a fun idea! It just so happens that we can't control ourselves and it was a long, down month that meant book retail therapy was called for. Here is what we all added to our collection.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Paperback – 6 Mar 2018

Bookdonors via Amazon

The Real Middle-Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages by Brian Bates

Paperback – 7 Nov 2013

World of Books via Amazon

Waer by Meg Caddy

Paperback – 25 Nov 2016

Betterworldbooks via Amazon

The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders

Paperback – 5 Jul 2018

 via Amazon

The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Paperback – 9 Aug 2002

 via Amazon

Dracul by Dacre Stoker, J. D. Barker

Paperback – 17 Oct 2019

  via Amazon

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

Paperback - 15 Oct 2019

Book Depository

No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

Paperback - 30 May 2019

WH Smith

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Eratz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

Hardback - 2001

Marie Curie Charity Shop

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Carniverous Carnival by Lemony Snicket

Hardback - 2001

Marie Curie Charity Shop

Breverton's Nautical Curiosities: A Book of the Sea by Terry Breverton

Hardback - 1 Apr 2010

Marie Curie Charity Shop

Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

Paperback – 1 Jan 2015

YMCA Charity Shop

Nightmares! by Jason Segal

Hardback - 9 Oct 2014

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

Huntress: Sea by Sarah Driver

Paperback - 6 Apr 2017

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis (Illustrated by Christian Birmingham)

Hardback - 1 Oct 2001

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop

Disneyland Paris Buffalo Bills Wild West Show

Hardback - Circa 2000?

The Red Cross Charity Shop

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Hardback - 2001

musicmagpie.co.uk

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The End by Lemony Snicket

Hardback - 2001

musicmagpie.co.uk

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Paperback - 2008

musicmagpie.co.uk

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories: And Other Stories by Tim Burton

Paperback – 18 Nov 2004

musicmagpie.co.uk

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [50th Anniversary Edition] by J R R Tolkien

Paperback - 2005

Cancer Research Charity Shop

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [50th Anniversary Edition] by J R R Tolkien

Paperback - 2005

Cancer Research Charity Shop

Straight on Till Morning by Liz Braswell

Paperback - 21 Nov 2019

Book Depository

So yeah, we may not have stuck to our three each rule exceeding that total by no less than 17 books but we 'needed' the vast majority of the others! What collector could leave limited edition or special edition copy of a series/author they collect at a charity shop selling certain books for only £1-2 ?! Exactly. That being said, I will repeat my statements from the previous months and say that December's haul will 100% have to be smaller. We have a honeymoon to think about next year so every penny counts!



💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀