{Book Haul} April 2017

So I know I said in my Monthly Wrap Up for March that I was probably going on a book-buying ban for the month of April, but who are we kidding? Plus, I’m extraordinarily lucky to have the best partner in the world. Mr. Bastion knows I’ve been pretty stressed out lately, between work and school, and considering that books are like my one hobby he lets me indulge from time to time. I’m very blessed. ❤

I’ve found some great deals this month and scooped up some books that I’ve always wanted to read, but haven’t yet got my hands on, and I’m excited to share them with you! Oh, also, while I’m thinking about it. I’m trying to incorporate more insta photos of my books in this blog. If we’re not already following each other, feel free to follow me on instagram @bookbastion.

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Ruin and Rising
by Leigh Bardugo

Finally, I have completed my collection of the Grisha Trilogy. I read and reviewed Six of Crows back in January, as one of my very first reviews on this blog when I started! I really enjoyed the inventiveness of the series, and I loved the characters. I can’t lie though, I felt lost for a lot of it until about 70% through the book when I found out that there was an entire first series I had missed! So I made a new goal: buy these books, read through them, and then cap out the adventure with Crooked Kingdom. I’ll be reading this series in a couple of weeks!

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Crooked Kingdom
by Leigh Bardugo

Speaking of Crooked Kingdom… I’m so glad to have bought this in hardcover! It looks gorgeous on my bookshelf next to its counterpart. I love the way the colors play off of each other. And the black and red dipped page edges are totally gorgeous. I’m in love and I’m dying to find out what happens to my beloved characters (especially my babies Nina and Matthias!)

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A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab

And thus begins the collecting of yet another series – and another series that I am desperate to crack into! I read and reviewed Vicious on my Goodreads account (which I am just now realizing I never posted here! I will be fixing that shortly!) and I absolutely loved it. This author is super talented at creating characters I come to care about really quickly, and I love the way she moves her stories through their plot points. I’m really looking forward to starting this series soon!

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Hunted
by Meagan Spooner

I said it on instagram, but I’m going to say it again: this cover is gorgeous! Also, a re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast?? Sign me up! I might squeeze this one in really soon. Like most self-respecting young homosexual men who love to read, I feel like Belle was always my spirit Princess and even though I know the book won’t really align with the Disney version at all, I still am feeling compelled to crack into this one sooner rather than later!

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Kindle Deals

The rest of the books I’ve bought this month have ranged between .99 and 2.99 through my Kindle. I carry my kindle everywhere with me, and when I’m not reading ARCs on it you can usually find me power-reading novels while doing cardio at the gym. Thus far this month, I’ve bought:

Sleeping Giants
by Sylvain Neuvel

I feel like I’ve been seeing this series everywhere lately. The plot premise really intrigues me: giants hidden within the earth? I’ve sort of heard it’s a bit more philosophical and lighter on the action so I’m trying to prepare myself accordingly. All in all, I’ve heard good things about both the books in this series.

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Openly Straight
by Bill Koninsberg

This is really awful of me to admit as a gay man, but I’ve got to be straight with you: I have never read a book with gay lead characters before. I’m determined to rectify that this year though, and when I saw this one on a Kindle daily deal, I snatched it right up. YA Contemporary is really not within my wheelhouse, but I want to get to know some strong gay characters and this seems like a good place to start.

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Clean Sweep
by Ilona Andrews

Urban Fantasy / Paranormal novels are also outside of my wheelhouse, but something drew me to this one. Clocking in at 235 pages, it’s relatively short and I’m sure I can breeze through it. Wish me luck!

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The Queen of Blood
by Sarah Beth Durst

Last week, my buddy-reading friend and I finished I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo. Well, we weren’t done there! We quickly found another book to buddy-read together and settled on this one, because it was so cheap as a Kindle deal. We’ve been reading about 10% a day. I’m 30% in so far, but I’ll save my opinions for the full review. 😉

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So that’s it! Those are all the books I’ve bought so far this month! Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? Do you know of any book-buyers anonymous groups I can join? 

xoxo