Book Haul #1

So I went to this amazing book sale (I know, yet again) where they had about 85 percent discount on all books and I got some pretty amazing deals and amazing books. So here’s a quick haul of that.

Ajaya by Anand Neelkantan

We all know Mahabharata has two sides, one good and one bad. And Anand Neelkantan is known for supporting the bad side. Well, not supporting them in literal sense, but telling the entire story from their perspective.

He does the same in this one, narrating Mahabartha from Duryodhana's  view point (eldest of the 100 Kauravas). And the book looks meaty, thick and just waiting to be ripped off of its plastic cover. I cannot wait!

Plus, I met the author at a literary fest and absolutely loved his funny, down to earth, pulling-jokes-on-himself personality.

Leap day by Wendy Mass

It’s a story of a girl who celebrates her fourth birthday at the start of the novel. But technically she is sixteen because she was born on the leap day of the leap year, February the 29^th.

One of my favourite booktubers recommended this book and it intrigued me a lot. So when I saw it just lying there over a stack of books I flipped out. This was the book I started reading the minute I boarded train back home. And so far, it’s really good.

Night in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

A woman moves to live in Rodanthe when her heartless cheat of a husband abandons her for a younger woman. But life has decided to be mean to her, particularly when it decides to hit her new home with a storm.

It sounds like the book will be fun. Besides, anything Nico writes is worth paying for.

Amongst a lot of Nicholas Sparks books lying there I decided to buy this for a couple of reason: it was the only hardback NicoS book. It was cheap. I didn’t own a copy of it. It looked extremely pretty. And it was in a perfect condition.

Water for Elephant by Sara Gruen

This story follows a man and his life at a circus. The book has been turned into a motion picture that was a blockbuster starring Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory of HP and sparkly boyfriend from Twilight).

I had to get it since the book is not only hyped but also looks very promising. And it’s a little different from what I usually read in case of setting of the story.

Dream trilogy by Nora Roberts

I can blindly buy Nora Roberts books. She is one of my ultimate favourite romance novelists and this was one of my best buys of all times. A three books in one edition (Daring to dream, Holding the dream and Finding the dream) this massive book is a trilogy. But you don’t have to follow the order in which they’re written since all Nora books are more or less stand alones.

And now The News. *Drumrolls* it was only for a 100 bucks.

I know. I stopped breathing for a second too.

A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

I have wanted to read this book since the time it was a recommended read in my literature class. It’s one of the most acclaimed Kunstleroman or artist novel and James Joyce’s first semi-autobiographical book. The copy I own is a 2010 edition, but this book first came out in 1916. And coincidentally, it is also an optional read in my next Sem. So I had to get it. 
Interesting fact about the book is Joyce burnt his work in frustration because publishers rejected his story. Later on, it was retrieved and reworked.

Just as long as we’re together by Judy Blume

This book revolves around three or four childhood best friends and there is a lot going on between them. There’s not much revealed in the blurb and I’d rather it stays that way. It just makes the experience all that authentic. And I can’t wait to get into it since it’s written by my darling author Judy Blume.

Lord of the flies by William Golding

This is one those books that you need to buy for college, no matter if you personally want to or not. I am not expecting a lot from it since I have no clue what to expect. And if I just keep it that way, I might actually end up loving it.

But there’re things I don’t like about the copy that I own. The condition, the smell and the font size which is as tiny as it could get. I don’t like books that have weird fonts or fonts so small that you need magnifying glass between your eye and the page to actually read what’s written.

Yellowed pages give this typical smell to the book which some people tend to love, but I usually sneeze if I come in contact with it. sadly, this book just gives me that. Sigh.

The sale was by Ashish book centre in Thane, near station. Check their website here: https://www.facebook.com/ashishbookcenter

And also as a reviewer of Indireads, they let me download one ebook amongst their delicious collection for reviewing. I chose ‘The Perfect Groom’ by Sumeetha Manikandan which is a story of a newly-wed Indian girl who marries an NRI. It sounds promising.

All in all, I’m pleased with the haul and hopefully I’ll complete reading all that by the end of this year.