January 2017 Haul 📚

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson here and I may be a tad late to write this post. But I wanted to show you guys all the books I bought in the month of January. Since it was my birthday month, I thought that it was time to treat myself a little bit and buy the books that I've been eyeing on for awhile. I bought 13 books this month, so without any further ado, let's get into the haul. 

The first book I bought was Another Day by David Leviathan. This is the second book to the Every Day trilogy with the first book being called Every Day. I read the first book back in August and I really enjoyed it. Since reading it, I've been wanting to get this book (in paperback) so I can finally find out what happens next. Every Day is about A who wakes up in a different persons body all the time. But when he wakes up in the body of Rhiannon's boyfriend (who does not treat this girl kindly), A ends up falling in love with her and Rhiannon may feel the same about A. The story continues from there as they try to navigate their relationship (with A being a different person every day) and trying to make it work. This second book is pretty much like the previous book except it's in Rhiannon's perspective. So, I'm really excited to read this soon when I get the chance.  

The second set of books I picked up were the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. The first book is Shadow and Bone, the second book is Siege and Storm and the final book is Ruin and Rising. I've heard mixed things about all these books and some people have even said that there not worth reading. But I'm still going to give them a chance after reading the Six of Crows duology. If I don't like them, then I will happily get rid of them and never read them again. I've read the synopsis (for the first book) so many times, but I still wouldn't be able to tell you what there about. But it's something about a girl named Alina Starkov whose city gets attacked which results in her friend getting injured. She then develops this power that could save his life (and the cities), and she ends up going to the royal court to be trained to become a Grisha. Anyways, I'm intrigued to read this trilogy sometime this year. 

The third book I bought was Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum. I've heard great things about this stand alone contemporary and I'm so excited to read this in the summer time. It's about this girl named Jessie who moves from Chicago to LA to go to this prep school after her dad gets remarried to a much younger woman. In order to cope with this new transition, she starts messaging this boy known as "Somebody Nobody" (SN for short). SN offers to help her navigate the crazy situations in her prep school. But then Jessie starts to depend on SN and they become her closest ally. But when she wants to meet him in person, that's when everything starts to become complicated. I'm so excited to read this in the summer time, and you know I love me my contemporaries in the summertime. 




The next book I bought was Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley. I've read another book by her called As I Descended and it was such an amazing book. And since I've heard great things about this book in particular, I thought I would pick it up. This story is about two girls living in 1959 Virginia, and one is black is the other is white. Sarah (who is black) goes to the previously all white school and she gets alienated and discriminated as a result of going to this school. Linda (who's white) is the daughter of an authority figure. When Linda and Sarah get paired up to do this school project, they end up developing a friendship that could possibly lead into something more. Anyways, this book deals with the hardships of race and what it was like back then (with the Civil Rights movement and all). I'm so looking forward to reading this very soon. 



The seventh book I bought was Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. I've been eyeing this book so such a long time now and I'm so glad I finally have it in my possession. I've heard some really good things about this book. And it's about a girl who ends up writing letters to famous dead people as an assignment for her English class. But she never turns them in. She first writes a letter to Kurt Cobain because they have one thing in common. Her sister loved the artist and she died young, just like Kurt Cobain. So she ends up writing other letters in order to cope with the situations going on in her high school and what has happened to her sister. So, like I previously mentioned, I've heard great things about it and it seems like such a moving and wonderful read. 




The next book I bought was On The Fence by Kasie West. I haven't read anything by this author in such a long time and so I thought I would pick this one up. It seems like such a cute contemporary read that's perfect for the summer. It's about this girl named Charlie who has always been like the guys. She doesn't really know how to act like a girl. However, when she gets a speeding ticket, she has to pay it off by working at this girly-type boutique which introduces her to this whole new world that she's never been exposed to. She also meets this boy who she may or not have feelings for. Then there's her next door neighbour Braden in which they have these "fence chats" and she knows she's falling for him hard. So, I definitely see a love triangle vibe going on here and hopefully it's done well. Therefore, it seems like its going to be this really sweet, fluffy contemporary perfect for the spring/summer months. 


The ninth book I picked up was Replica by Lauren Oliver. I've read books by this author before and I really enjoyed them. But I haven't read anything by her in awhile so this seems like a great book to get into. There was a lot of hype when this book was first released, but I was so hesitant to buy it. And since it was my actual birthday when I got this, I thought I would treat myself to a book. What's so cool about this book is that it's in two different perspectives but you can read one side (which is Lyra) and then flip the book over to read Gemma's side. I thought this was such a unique concept to any dual POV book I've ever heard of. This one is kind of a complicated plot to explain but it has a lot to do with these two girls (Lyra and Gemma) who cross paths with one another, as one escapes and the other is on a quest to find out the truth about her life. This also has a ton of science fiction elements which is really cool because I've been meaning to read a lot more sci-fi this year. 

The next book I bought was The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the first book to the Raven Cycle saga. A lot of people have been talking about this book all over Goodreads and in the book tube community so I thought I would give this book a try. This author also wrote the Shiver series which I've heard good things about, but I'm way more intrigued to read The Raven Boys to be honest. I'm gonna go into this series not knowing a lot about this book and we'll see how I like it. This was also an impulse buy but it has been on my radar for a little while now. 

The next book was The You I've Never Known by Ellen Hopkins. This is her newest YA novel and I'm actually really excited for this book. I didn't even know this book existed until I saw it at the bookstore (on the day it was released, which I had no idea until I got home). I've read Tilt and Rumble by her and they were such amazing reads I highly recommend them. This book is in dual perspectives about two girls named Ariel and Maya. Ariel has been raised by her dad moving from place to place, and when she's finally settled down at her new home and school, Ariel finds out some very shocking news about her childhood. Meanwhile, Maya is pregnant with her child and she runs away from her abusive mother. So, Ariel and Maya cross paths and everything changes. Ellen's books are usually written inverse, but this time around she's also adding in journal entries. Maya=journal entries and Ariel=inverse. I feel like I'm going to really enjoy this book and it will be a super quick read despite it being over 500 pages. I am reading this book this month so hopefully I'll really enjoy it. Also, can we talk about how creepy this cover is?! She looks like Natalie Portman from The Black Swan. Or is that just me?! 

 The second last book I bought this month was By Your Side by Kasie West. This book just came out earlier this week which I already started reading it and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's about this girl named Autumn Collins who ends up getting locked in a library for the long weekend. But she's not alone. A boy named Dax, who also goes to her school, is locked in with her. Dax has a bad boy reputation but Autumn realizes that there is more to him than meets the eye. The two develop a friendship which ultimately leads into a romance. This is honestly the perfect contemporary to read in February since it is the month of love and it talks about books. I'm more than halfway through and it is amazing. Nice romantic development and there's depth to the main characters and the overall story. I'm excited to finish this one and see how it ends. 

The last book I bought this month was Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This book has been getting a ton of hype when it was released and even before it was released. Which means I have heard such amazing things about. The fact that it has movie rights attached to the film, the book must be that good. Anyways, this book revolves around a girl who wants to go to Caraval, an interactive show very much like a circus, and her sister manages to get tickets. But when they go to this show, her sister gets kidnapped and that ends up becoming part of the show. Its whoever finds the sister first wins, or else she's gone forever. This honestly sounds like such an intriguing, mysterious and whimsical book that I'm looking forward to reading very soon. 




So that is it for this very long haul, I hope you all enjoyed  What books did you end up buying this month? Let me know in the comments below. Once I'm done with the books By Your Side and The You I've Never Known I will have full reviews up. Happy reading and until my next post, goodbye for now.