So last month I went a little crazy, buying more than I have in a while (especially in just one month). And as I’ve always loved seeing people’s book hauls, I thought it was a good time to start showing off my hauls as well! I had some good paychecks for a couple weeks, and that combined with some amazing deals (one of which being the discovery of BookOutlet thanks to a friend—new favorite site!), I just couldn’t resist buying these. Not to mention the fact that I work at B&N, and am surrounded by books all day—extremely dangerous for someone like me! (it’s really, really hard to not buy something every single day)
October Book Haul
Trigger Warning, by Neil Gaiman – AudioBook. The first of many acquisitions from BookOutlet. If you know me at all, you know I’m an unabashedly huge fan of Neil Gaiman. So, read by Gaiman himself, and only $10? No way was I going to say no. Also, it’s probably my favorite collection of short stories by him; while I prefer his novels, it’s still great to finally have one of his audiobooks.
Children’s Collection, by Neil Gaiman – Box Set Illustrated by Chris Riddell. I’ve had my eye on this for literally the longest time. What kept keeping me from buying it was that I already have all of the books in one version or another, and I already have an edition of Coraline that’s illustrated by Riddell. But I’ve been dying to get Fortunately, the Milk, by Riddell, and I love the boxset in general. That, coupled with having just read the Riddell-illustrated Odd and the Frost Giants (see below), and just experiencing that gorgeousness, pushed me over the top. Not to mention it was under $9 due to online prices plus a B&N coupon.
Jerusalem, by Alan Moore – Paperback Box Set. As a huge comics fan, I obviously also have a huge amount of respect for Alan Moore. Watchmen is literally one of the greatest comics of all time. Yeah it’s “cliché” to say that, but there’s a reason it’s cliché—it really is utterly amazing (not to mention V for Vendetta, The Killing Joke, etc.). So when I heard about Jerusalem coming out, I really, really wanted it. And again, online price + coupon made it an extremely good value. I also love the paperback box set idea, and the presentation itself is beautiful.
Redshirts, by John Scalzi. So, I’m not the biggest Star Trek fan. Not that I have anything against it, I just haven’t seen much of the universe (but I have liked what I’ve seen, and plan some day to watch all the TV series). That said, I’ve heard this book is amazing, and I found it for $1 so figured why not.
The 13 Clocks, by James Thurber. So, Neil Gaiman’s going to come up a lot in this post. I had seen him talk about this book before, and it’s been pretty high on my to-buy list for a while now. And, as you’ll see below, this was a very productive month for me for my Gaiman collecting (I almost have every book he’s written, though I also hope to someday have all the books he’s even written the intro for, etc. [yes I’m that obsessed, don’t judge]). And because of that, and after re-reading his incredibly high praise for this, I decided to order it into the B&N I work at. Definitely not disappointed.
The Stand, by Stephen King. Y’know, I’m not really a King fan. I didn’t like The Shining all that much (though I read it right after seeing the movie, which I loved—I feel like I should have either read it first or let some more time pass so I wasn’t biased), and I thought The Gunslinger was just okay. But people keep praising the heck out of him, and I keep being interested to give things a try. The Stand in particular I’ve heard is great, and since it was only $1 I figured I may as well give it a try (I also recently bought Under the Dome, because that too was only $1. So with these two, as well as the other 2 books collected in the B&N Leatherbound version [and also It, because I’m interested to read that], if I don’t like any of them I’ll finally put my King curiosity to rest, and simply be okay with not being a fan). So we’ll see.
Dangerous Women, Edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois. I’ve been wanting to get all of GRRM’s anthologies for a while now (recently picked up Rogues) because I love the idea of cross-genre anthologies (and the fact that GRRM had a hand in the selection/editing helps), not to mention it was only ~$5 (thanks to BookOutlet).
The Odyssey & Iliad, by Homer – B&N Leatherbound Edition. So I love the B&N Leatherbound collection. In fact, to say love might be an understatement—I’m a bit obsessed. I can’t wait to someday collect them all and have them displayed in my future home. That said, this one definitely wasn’t high on my list, but I found it for under $7 and in like-new condition, so I couldn’t resist.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling – Jim Kay Illustrated Edition. After discovering A Monster Calls a few years ago, Jim Kay instantly became one of my favorite illustrators. So when I found out he was doing the illustrated Harry Potter books, I instantly wanted them—but the price kept me from getting the first until now. I think it’s working at B&N and seeing all of the Harry Potter stuff we have (and there’s a ton…) that just sort of made me nostalgic for the series as a whole, and so when it was already like 40% off online and I had a coupon, I decided to make this the time to get it, especially with the second one having just been released—if I wait too much longer, then I’ll just get behind, but this way I’ll now only have to buy one a year for the future.
Fables Book 10, by Bill Willingham – Deluxe Edition. Another amazing BookOutlet pickup, only $10. I only have the first deluxe edition otherwise, but what I’ve read of the series so far has been amazing, so I want to collect all of them someday. Couldn’t resist this price, as I know I’ll never get a better one.
Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, by Jill Thompson. I’ve been so excited for this the past few months, so I made sure to pick this up as soon as I could—and it was great!
Animal Man, vol 5, by Jeff Lemire. I’ve actually never read this series, but again it was a BookOutlet deal and I trust the people who have recommended it to me (plus, I have the first 4 volumes ‘cause I found them used for super cheap). I figured that if I do like the series (which I feel like I will, both because of recommendations and because of my faith in Lemire, not to mention how much I loved the crossover he co-wrote in Swamp Thing), I’ll want the 5th volume and just end up paying more for it later, so may as well take a slight risk.
American Vampire, vols 4, 6, & 7, by Scott Snyder. Again, BookOutlet is awesome. Snyder might be my favorite comics writer currently working (not counting Gaiman), and I loved the first volume of American Vampire (and have the 2nd and 3rd)—I’ve been meaning to get all of these, so figured I’d grab ‘em while they’re cheap.
Crazy Hair, The Wolves in the Wall, Blueberry Girl, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, & Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman. I have almost every book Gaiman himself wrote (not counting stuff that’s OOP and extremely rare). I have all his novels, I have all his short story collections, and I have pretty much all of his graphic novels. The last book format I needed to collect were his children’s books, and once again thanks to BookOutlet, I was able to make huge progress this month. Now I only have a few left (two more Chu books, Dangerous Alphabet, and Instructions). Can’t wait!! Then it’s on to collect books he wrote the introductions for, etc…
DC Universe, by Neil Gaiman – Deluxe Edition. Just good luck that, in the same month I made huge progress with my Gaiman collection, a few more books of his are released. Even though I already have some of the stories here (such as his Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, etc.), I’m genuinely excited to have his DC work collected in one deluxe volume—I think it’s just a really cool idea.
Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman. A new Gaiman short story adaptation? Of course I had to pick it up. I really, really hope Dark Horse never stops adding to its “Neil Gaiman Library” line of graphic novels, as they’re so amazing and beautiful.
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman. Been meaning to get this ever since Gaiman teased it on…Instagram, I think? Whichever place it was, I’ve been dying to get it for a while and finally did! The artwork and presentation is so utterly amazing here…Review probably to come.
Make Good Art, by Neil Gaiman – Hardcover. Another BookOutlet pickup, and yet another Gaiman book I’ve been meaning to get for a while. I love how they made a book just for one of his speeches—that’s amazing.
Six of Crows Duology, by Leigh Bardugo – Box Set. So I had finally bought Six of Crows (been meaning to since I first saw it in B&N a year ago) after reading the first few chapters. I read the rest quickly, fell in love, then realized a boxset was coming out. So I exchanged it for the boxset because boxsets are beautiful, and especially this one. Honestly, whoever designed these books needs a raise and needs to design like every book ever. They’re just so beautiful!! (also, as a side note, I recently finished Crooked Kingdom and I just can’t. It was so amazing! Gonna get to a review sooner or later…)
A. Page in the Stacks 