Saturday, February 2, 2019

Book Haul: Trash To Treasure


Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I get to show off all the books I’ve gotten recently. The weeks after Christmas are the best time to hunt for cheap used books. Everybody’s rejected Christmas presents become my treasures. Here are some used books I found last month.





Trash To Treasure








The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss



Adam is a stay-at-home dad who is also working on a history of the bombing and rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral. He is a good man and he is happy. But one day, he receives a call from his daughter's school to inform him that, for no apparent reason, fifteen-year-old Miriam has collapsed and stopped breathing. In that moment, he is plunged into a world of waiting, agonizing, not knowing.


















Wolf Winter (Svartåsen #1) by Cecilia Ekbäck



Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackåsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.

While herding the family's goats on the mountain, Frederika happens upon the mutilated body of one of their neighbors, Eriksson. The death is dismissed as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain that the wounds could only have been inflicted by another man. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbors' strange disinterest in the death and the fate of Eriksson's widow, Maija is drawn into the dark history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on Blackåsen. Young Frederika finds herself pulled towards the mountain as well, feeling something none of the adults around her seem to notice.

As the seasons change, and the "wolf winter," the harshest winter in memory, descends upon the settlers, Paavo travels to find work, and Maija finds herself struggling for her family's survival in this land of winter-long darkness. As the snow gathers, the settlers' secrets are increasingly laid bare. Scarce resources and the never-ending darkness force them to come together, but Maija, not knowing who to trust and who may betray her, is determined to find the answers for herself. Soon, Maija discovers the true cost of survival under the mountain, and what it will take to make it to spring.












Gather The Daughters by Jennie Melamed



Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers—chosen male descendants of the original ten—are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires.

The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly—they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers' hands and their mothers' despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.

Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing.












Leah On The Offbeat (Creekwood #2) by Becky Albertalli



When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.












Almost Midnight: Two Festive Short Stories by Rainbow Rowell



“Midnights” is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time.

“Kindred Spirits” is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.











Have you read any of these? What did you think?









41 comments:

  1. Great haul! I have Leah and need to read. Love Rainbow Rowell but haven't read those short stories yet. Happy reading!

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    1. I love Rainbow Rowell, too. I haven’t tried her short stories, though.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. I've not read any of these, but they all sound compelling!

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  3. I've seen mixed reviews for Leah on the Offbeat, so I've been hesitant to pick it up. I adore Rainbow Rowell (her Runaways comic is something I get every month), but I haven't had a chance to read Almost Midnight! I'm sure it'll be amazing. Good luck with these!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. I’ve seen mixed reviews, too. I hope I fall into the “love” camp. I loved Simon Vs, but felt very meh about the author’s other books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. Hi! I'm new here! Hoping to join in every Saturday!

    Gather the Daughters looks a fab read!

    Here's my Saturday post. Happy Weekend!

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  5. I read the short story "Midnights" and I liked it a lot.

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  6. Leah was ok for me. I wasn't a fan of the love interest and how Albertalli made it happen, but I loved catching up with Simon and Blue. Almost Midnight was a great short story. I was really impressed by how complete it felt.

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    1. I’m mostly excited to see Simon. I loved that book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. I didn't realize Rainbow Rowell had a new book. I guess I'm out of the loop. I read a few of her earlier books and liked them.

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    1. I’ve read almost all of her books. I hope this one is as good as the others.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. Interesting books, and I'm curious about the Rainbow Rowell. I still have one of hers unread (Eleanor and Park). I think I should finally read it this year.

    Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.

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    1. I liked Eleanor & Park, but it’s not my favorite by her. I hope you love it!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  9. I haven’t read any of those. I hope you enjoy them all!!!!

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  10. I have seen quite a bit about Leah on the Offbeat for a while, hope you like it. I also must confess that I absolutely cannot stand Rainbow Rowell's books. I feel like I am in the minority on that one, though. Enjoy your new treasures!

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    1. Sarah, I tried Rowell's books and they just weren't to my taste either! You're not alone!

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    2. I really liked her YA books. I didn’t love her adult ones.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. I haven't read any of them but I hope you enjoy them!

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  12. I hope you love Leah on the Offbeat because I have seen some readers love it :D

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    1. It got a lot of hype when it first came out. I hope it lives up to it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  13. Great haul! I have Leah on the Offbeat sitting unread on my shelves as well. I hope you enjoy them all.

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  14. Leah on the Offbeat is one that I read and enjoyed. I haven't read it yet, but I've heard really good things about The Tidal Zone. Hope you enjoy all of your new reads!

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  15. I haven't read any of these, but they sound like good choices! Happy reading!

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  16. Gather the Daughters sounds brilliant! 👍✨

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  17. Dang, you got all these cheaply and used? I am impressed and also jealous that there are no used bookstores (or really new bookstores, for that matter) here. Leah on the Offbeat and Almost Midnight are two I am interested in. I read one of the Almost Midnight stories and it blew me away, so I hope you love it too!

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    1. Yep, they were all between $2 and $4. I usually don’t find used books that are this new. Used bookstores tend to just have 1000 copies of celebrity memoirs and Dan Brown books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  18. Leah!! I LOVE LEAH!! And it's always the best when we get good second-hand scores. We're like adopting these little books and saving their lives <--- what I tell my TBR when it starts yelling at me.

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    1. I did feel like I was adopting them! I hope they don’t hate me when I read them and then trade them for new books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  19. I haven't read any of these but I really want to read Leah on the Offbeat! I hope you enjoy these.

    Mary

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  20. Hahaha I love this! Recently a book blogger unhauled a bunch of books and I took them all in for free so that made me happy. I read Leah on the Offbeat last year and felt mixed but I hope you enjoyed it more than me! Sarah Moss is a professor at my university so I always fine it interesting when I see it on someone's reading list. :)

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