In My Mailbox OR... Hanna cringes with shame

As previously mentioned here, I've recently rediscovered the literary joys of my local library and came away with six books. Well, today I went a step further and found the YA section which for some reason is housed in a completely different building. So I thus found myself staggering home with a further nine (six of which were hardback) books, causing a Lupus flare-up and a slight feeling of guilt at such a large addition to my already awe-inspiring TBR pile.

Observe the borrowed beauties -



Mm, pretty.

Here we have, from top to bottom:

The Shoe Queen by Anna Davis
I'd never heard of this before, but it's supposed to be 'sophisticated chick-lit' about a 1920s woman with a shoe obsession. A girl after my own heart.

Why Men Lie And Women Cry by Allan and Barbara Pease
I've always been interested in gender differences and this book is supposed to explain away the differences between the sexes.

The Life and Death of Harriett Frean by Mary Sinclair
Another book I've never heard of. It looks short and sweet and regards a Victorian woman repressed by her strict mother. It's amazing what you'll pick up when there are empty spots on your library card...

Who's Afraid of Jane Austen? by Henry Hitchins
Although a book that instructs you on talking about books you haven't read goes against all my principles, I've read most of the novels it discusses and I love reading other peoples' opinions of classic books.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
This is one of those books that I've always been vaguely interested in, but not enough to go out of my way to obtain it. It did surprise me that it was in the YA section though.

The Natural History of Unicorns by Chris Lavers
I love that this book even exists. How could I not borrow it?

Veronika Decides To Die by Paulo Coelho
A decidedly cheerful book about a woman that tries and fails to commit suicide. I saw the film with Sarah Michelle Gellar not so long ago and really enjoyed it so the book has been on my wishlist for a while.

Rumours by Anna Godberson
I really wasn't a fan of The Luxe, the first book in this series, but those damned empty library card spaces struck again.


Enemies of the Heart by Rebecca Dean
I saw this in Waterstones a while ago and liked the look of it, but I never got around to buying it. It's the story of a German woman during the War who discovers her husband's family is manufacturing weaponry and flees to England.

Library Confidential by Don Borchert
A topic close to my heart, as I'm constantly checking to see if my local library is hiring. The author describes his brief period as a librarian, complete with gangsters, porn and tax-evaders.

The Deep by Helen Dunmore
I randomly grabbed this from the YA section, although now I look more closely at it I think it might be the third in a series. Ah well, I'll give it a go. Maybe.

Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve
My best friend has been hitting me over the head with the Mortal Engines series for years now, telling me to read them. I never did, despite having the first two on my TBR for a good while now. This is the third book, and hopefully it will influence me to finally start the series.

Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathon Stroud
I freely admit to squealing a little when I saw this one. I was amazed the library even had it. This is a prequel to the Bartimaeus series I read years ago and that I wasn't aware even existed til last week. I'm so excited!

Leviathon by Scott Westerfield
This has been on by wishlist for so long that I can't even remember what
it's about. I've never read any of the author's works, but I know he's supposed to be an excellent dystopian YA author.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
I have a weakness for bright, positive books about changing the world one smile at a time. This one promises to help you increase your positivity by reading Aristotle, singing in the morning and other mundane activities.

So those are the books that I've lugged home from the library, but there are there more additions to my permanent library, all swapped on Read it Swap it.


Let's just pretend the image is the right way round, shall we?

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
I've wanted to read this for a while, simply because I'm a sucker for interesting titles (although it doesn't always work out - take the disaster that was If On A Winter's Night A Traveller. Now there's four hours of my life I'll never get back...).

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
Looks like this week is distinctly Coelho themed. I've never read any of his work before, and now I have two to read! Life is good.

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff
I'm aware that Ms. Huff has written quite a lot of fantasy novels, but this will be my first foray into her work. It involves a work experience student behind the counter of a magic shop.


So yeah, I might have gone slightly crazy this week. Still, looking at them does make me smile, if in a Lupus-induced-from-dragging-them-all-home Fog.