Hanna Gets Lots of Nice Books For Her Birthday v. 2016

This year really has taken the cake for 'lots of nice birthday books' though. I just can't believe how lucky I've been and how much I'm dying to read any one of them.

The top two books are from Laura, bless her heart. The tiny little blue book on top is The Drugs Don't Work: A Global Threat by Professor Dame Sally Davies, who is the Chief Medical Officer for England. I recently read Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good by James Davies, which refers to medication and its effects on quite a large scale, so I'm really excited to read another opinion.

The book underneath that I can never remember the name of, and I keep referring to it as That Book With Those Tampons On The Cover. Occasionally I make a rough guess as to the title but invariably get the day wrong. Anyway, this is The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton and those tampons are actually, apparently, sticks of dynamite. I admit that makes slightly more sense but in my defence, everybody I spoke to KNEW WHICH BOOK I MEANT, SO THERE.

The blue book in the middle of the pile is Adventures in Human Being by Gavin Francis, bought for me by the lovely Katie. Another medical-ish non-fiction. I think I'm going through a bit of a phase at the moment!

Charlotte also outdid herself this year and sent The Darker Shade of Magic, The Super Mutant Magic Academy and Invasion of the Tearling. I think The Darker Shade of Magic might be the first one I read out of this pile, even though it has some seriously tough competition. I think I first found out about it from Charlotte's wishlist anyway, so it's probably a fitting beginning.

The Super Mutant Magic Academy is a graphic novel that's been on my wishlist for ages. It's somewhat like X-Men, but much younger and full of high-school drama and boyfriends... and also tentacles. I'm also excited about Invasion of the Tearling. Somehow Charlotte knew I liked the first in the series (even though I didn't get round to reviewing it - stalker lady!) and now I have the second book to jump right into it!

Ellie though... Oh Ellie.

Ellie bought me a copy of Jane Austen: Cover to Cover, which is essentially a beautiful hardback of lots of the different Jane Austen covers that have been around over the last two centuries. There are sections on foreign language translations, Austen for younger readers, etc. as well as just the simple but beautiful covers we all know and love.

If you've ever set sight on this blog before, you know that I collect different editions of Pride and Prejudice - 74 at last count. This is essentially a beautiful looking catalogue for me. Whilst I already possess more than I thought I would, there are several earmarked (not literally, obviously!) to actively search for.

These are two of my favourite editions and they're both in the book! The Pulp Classic on the left Charlotte bought for me from WH Smiths after getting all excited and the one on the right (I know it's Persuasion, but I do have the Pride and Prejudice) is so pretty and was only the second edition I bought, before I even started collecting.

I'm getting so excited looking through this to see which I have and which I still need to collect. Is this the world's most Hanna book or what?

  Have you read any of these books? Which books are you hoping to get for your birthday?

In My Mailbox #40 - Birthday Edition!

So I've been a bad person lately - all these people sent me lovely, thoughtful birthday presents and cards and I couldn't be arsed to thank them in a blog post. Well, no. It's true that I couldn't be bothered, but I'm in the middle of exams that I didn't know I had to sit until recently and I'm struggling with a range of health problems from the merely inconvenient to the downright humiliating.

Add to that a mild dose of depression (although whether chemical or circumstantial, I haven't figured out yet) and uhh... you don't get a blog post.

To all those people who sent me nice things and got a mumbled text/Tweet in response - I'm sorry. I really did appreciate everything you did for me. I look at that pile of goodies and it makes me smile that I have friends online who actually know me better than most of the friends I have in the 'real' world. Thank you for putting so much effort in.

And I'm crying.

Awesome.

Anyway, this is what I got for my birthday.

Ellie, from Musings of a Bookshop Girl, sent me the most thoughtful package ever. It was all neatly wrapped up, with a card and an actual non-book present! She'd bought The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (and the DVD to match!) and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Food Critic by Ruth Reichl, which is fitting because I think I found out about it via Ellie's wishlist in the first place!

The heart-shaped plaque in the image above was an Ellie-present as well. Two books, a DVD and a shoe related present. That girl knows me well!

For the Ninja Book Swap last month, Laura from Devouring Texts actually hand-crafted me an owl that was reading a copy of Pride and Prejudice. I'd show you a picture if I wasn't typing this at the Law School. That should give you an idea of who this girl is - someone that would sit outside in the horrible Summer heatwave, stitching together tiny bits of fabric as a present.

No owl for my birthday, but she did send me two books! She must have delved quite deep into my wishlist because Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was very, very close to the bottom. I love getting books that I'd forgotten about completely - makes it even more of a surprise when I open the package! 

She also bought Relish by Lucy Knisley. Her last graphic novel-y thing, French Milk, was really interesting, so I'm really looking forward to reading her next food-related installment. 

Oh Charlotte. How do I love thee; let me count the books.

I bought The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry a few months ago but naturally hadn't touched it since. As you do. But when I read the plot of Rachel Joyce's new book, Perfect, I was desperate to read it immediately. I have actually read the first book now (despite wanting to shake the characters so hard their eyeballs rolled out), so I feel justified in starting the newer one that Charlotte was lovely enough to send!

She also also also sent (three 'also' = very excited) Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey. This arrived separately and a little bit later, which made it an even better surprise when I opened the package and this fell out. I adore this series; it's just proper, adult fantasy that's written perfectly with a completely unique system of magic. See Reserved for the Cat and Unnatural Issue to understand just how thrilled I was to receive this.

As if that weren't enough, she also put a great deal of thought in and chose something that wasn't on my wishlist - a Moleskine book journal! Look how pretty! It has even sections for comments and if you've lent the book out to somebody, all organised in nice, alphabetical order (yeah, I'm a purist).

 Nearly there!

Bex from An Armchair by the Sea is not only a wonderful person, she's a wonderfully talented crafter too. She's sent knitted bookmarks to me before and even has her very own Etsy shop. This explains why, upon opening my birthday present, I found hand-made wrapping paper with frogs.

How thoughtful do you have to be to decorate wrapping paper with the recipient's favourite thing!?

Bex, I ironed this and folded it and it now lives on my shelf until I can find a use for it. I don't know what yet, but god damn it, I will.  

Oh, and there was a book. Which is also excellent, obviously. This is So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabriel Zaid, and it's such a cute little thing. I love books about books, but I'd forgotten about this one until it arrived on my doormat. It's the perfect thing for picking up for a few minutes between exam revision.

 I had a great birthday, so thank you to everybody named above and everybody else that texted/Tweeted to wish me a happy birthday.

I should also mention that I got £80 in book vouchers from various relatives, as I'm that rare creature that actually likes such things. I then also filled in the last stamp on my Waterstones card, so I got a £10 voucher there as well. Funnily enough, when I've spent my £80, I'll also have filled in another card, so I'll get another voucher.

Ha. I see a lot of books coming my way in the future! I haven't touched them yet, as I'm dangling them in front of my face as motivation for finishing my exams. Watch this space for a huge influx very shortly!

Thank you again everybody. Not just for the books, but for your effort and thoughtfulness.