Tagged: new books
Discussion: Finding New Books
One of the things I’ve never struggled with since becoming a book blogger is finding new books and new authors to read. I mean, I’ve had to close my submissions twice in order to catch up with the absolute deluge of requests that have flooded in. In addition to that, I of course find new books from the recommendations of other reviewers, book tours companies, NetGalley and general Goodreads browsing. But I’m curious: how do you personally come across new books?
Do you mostly find them when you’re browsing online or in a bookstore? Are they mostly recommended to you by friends? Or are you a fellow blogger and find lots of interesting books from the reviews of other book bloggers?
Let me know in the comments below!
Look What Just Arrived! (#18)
On Sunday and up until about 8:00pm Monday I was in the city for a business trip. I had some time to myself so I was lucky enough to find both an Indigo store and a used book store so I didn’t entirely blow my budget. Since I didn’t have enough time to read some and I’m exhausted there will obviously be no review today. So let me distract you with pictures of the books I picked up!
- Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody
- Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith
- Wake by Lisa McMann
- Fade by Lisa McMann
- Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice
- Switched by Amanda Hocking
- Torn by Amanda Hocking
- Ascend by Amanda Hocking
- Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
- Dust & Decay by Jonathon Maberry
I already read and reviewed the Trylle trilogy by Amanda Hocking but I had to borrow it from a friend. So when I saw the trilogy in the used bookstore I decided to pick it up. They’re sort of a guilty pleasure type of read like Vittorio the Vampire but for a couple of bucks they’re worth it.
Dust & Decay is the sequel to Rot & Ruin, a zombie story by Jonathon Maberry that I thoroughly enjoyed almost a year ago. I’m so glad that I finally found the sequel! In every single bookstore I’ve looked there has only ever been the first book so when I saw the second one I snapped it up.
Most of the others were huge impulse buys because the covers either looked interesting or I’d heard some good things about them in the blogosphere. I’m not an impulsive sort of person but it’s hard to pass up cheap books in a used bookstore when you get the chance. I’m going to be going on a reading binge, so you can probably look forward to some reviews of these books later this month!
Have you read any of these books? If so, how were they? If not, do you see anything that catches your eye?
Look What Just Arrived! (#17)
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts and some of you will recognize that I’ve already reviewed Crystal Deception and In a Treacherous Court but I haven’t had much of a chance to get new books lately. Since this is a truly awful picture here are the titles from left to right:
- In a Treacherous Court by Michelle Diener
- Keeper of the King’s Secrets by Michelle Diener
- After the End by Amy Plum
- Crystal Deception by Doug J. Cooper
- Along the Watchtower by David Litwack
- The Lion and the Rose by Kate Quinn
- The Exiled Queen by Cinda WIlliams Chima
- Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
- Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
- Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
All of the books you see on the top level were sent to me by both authors and publishers. After reading and loving In a Treacherous Court I can’t wait to start on the second book, Keeper of the King’s Secrets. It promises to be exciting now that John and Susanna are married! After the End was sent to me by HarperCollins Canada after I requested it and I’ve actually read it already even though my review won’t be posted until April 30th. Of course I’ve already read and reviewed Crystal Deception but Along the Watchtower just arrived today! Since I did enjoy David Litwack’s previous work I’m very excited to see how he’s improved.
All of the books on the second layer are ones I ordered online from The Book Depository. The Lion and the Rose is the second book in Kate Quinn’s Borgia Chronicles and I can’t wait to see how Giulia’s story turns out. The Exiled Queen has me excited too because of the huge cliffhanger at the end of The Demon King. Dreamless was sort of disappointing because I really, really, really hate the cover of this edition. I much prefer the North American cover, but the story is the same and I can’t wait to start it. The only book out of a new series I ordered was the last one, Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. I love her Borgia Chronicles so I figured I’d see how she is at writing about ancient Rome. It should be exciting.
So what are you guys reading lately? See anything here that you like?
Look What Just Arrived! (#16)
This is not the best of pictures but I did have to fit ten different books into it. Here are the names if you can’t read the titles:
- Stork by Wendy Delsol
- Frost by Wendy Delsol
- Flock by Wendy Delsol
- Evermore by Alyson Noël
- Blue Moon by Alyson Noël
- Caesar’s Women by Colleen McCullough
- The Wise Woman’s Tale by Phillipa Bowers
- Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
- Crewel by Gennifer Albin
- Altered by Gennifer Albin
As I mentioned before, my local bookstore is going out of business. So I’ve been stocking up and you may notice that I bought way more books than I usually do. This is because my last trip was likely the last time I’ll set foot in the store so I dropped around a $100 on books. I wanted to get the full series of books as much as possible because I know I won’t be buying books for a long time.
Anyway, I read Daughters of the Nile pretty much on the same day I went shopping. It’s much longer than the other books in the series but I absolutely loved it. Caesar’s Women is the fourth book in Colleen McCullough’s First Man in Rome series and I can’t wait to start it! Crewel is the first book in Gennifer Albin’s Crewel World trilogy and I was thoroughly impressed with it. It was so different from most YA with an entirely unique premise that you can’t help but love it. I’m now reading Altered and have a hard time putting it down.
As for the Stork trilogy I can honestly just say I picked them up for the covers. They’re beautiful and interesting but the blurbs intrigued me. It sounds like Wendy Delsol has a great premise on her hands and I want to see how she carries it out. Evermore is yet another book that’s floated around in the blogosphere forever and I never got around to it. So when I saw it and Blue Moon in the used section I couldn’t resist. I have some high hopes for this one! The same goes for The Wise Woman’s Tale.
Well, these are some of the things I’m reading. What are you guys reading lately? See anything you like here?
Look What Just Arrived! (#15)
As I mentioned my local independent bookstore is closing, so I’ve been stocking up on books. They’re having a big sale so I decided to go to the city yesterday and snap some books up while there’s still a bit of selection. Here’s what I bought:
- The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
- The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn
- The Secret Eleanor by Cecelia Holland
- Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
- Penelope’s Daughter by Laurel Corona
- Alchemy by Maureen Duffy
- The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
- Mordred’s Curse by Ian McDowell
Out of all these awesome books I bought the other day, I think the one I’m most excited about is The Demon King. I’ve seen it and the other books in the Seven Realms series all around the blogosphere so I figured I’d pick it up. The premise is certainly intriguing and the excerpt I read sounded good, so why not?
Most of the other books I’m not very excited to read, but I’m looking forward to The Serpent and the Pearl as well as The Secret Eleanor. Both are historical fiction and although I’ve never read either author before the blurbs sounded good. I’ve read only one book about Eleanor of Aquitaine and that was a couple years ago, so it will be nice to get a little more detail about her life. And while I’ve read books about the Borgias, seeing their world through the eyes of an outsider will offer a little more perspective.
When I picked up Red Riding Hood I had no idea it was the companion novel to the movie. I’ve never even watched the movie, so we’ll see how things go. Mordred’s Curse sounds interesting because I’ve always felt there was a little more to Mordred’s story than we get in the traditional Arthurian legend. Penelope’s Daughter was a no-brainer for me because I do love Greek mythology and Xanthe is a character I’ve never really encountered before. Alchemy was more of an impulse buy because I thought it had the potential to be good and in all honesty I just bought The Crown because it featured a nun. That’s definitely not the traditional heroine of a story.
So, do you see anything you like? Have you read any of these books?