My Latest Book Haul

I’ve never done a book haul here on Tidbits of Care, despite the fact that I love reading. But, I recently went to the book store with the intention of browsing around, because who doesn’t love wandering the aisles in a book store? But, I ended up buying a bunch of books and so, today I’m sharing the gems I found with you. Plus some other ones I picked up a little while ago because I just couldn’t hold off on getting them on my shelves.

To be quite honest, all of these are books that sounded interesting to me, but are not quite my kind of book. I enjoy many genres and story types, but these are all a little different and I like that I branched out in the books that I chose to add to my collection. Let’s dive into the book haul shall we?

Related Post: Classic Book Read Challenge: Classics I Want to Read

The Widow of Pale Harbour by Hester Fox

You might recall that I mentioned this book in a post about books I wanted to buy. Well, I certainly bought this book! I held off for a bit, but then I decided, what the heck. So this lovely and hopefully spooky book now sits on my bookshelves, and that makes me very happy.

A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of witchcraft. Who can save Pale Harbor from itself?

Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor.

But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.

As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales.

The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor

I stumbled across this in the bookstore. Isn’t that a romantic image, stumbling across a book? It is for me. This isn’t my usual sort of read but I am being drawn more and more to ghost stories and magical realism and this book just called to me. This sounds gripping and even a little scary and I’m really excited to read it. Of course it made it into the book haul!

1786, Jerusalem College, Cambridge. The ghost of murdered Sylvia Whichcote has been sighted prowling the grounds by Frank Oldershaw, a disturbed fellow commoner. When his anxious mother employs John Holdsworth, author of The Anatomy of Ghosts– a stinging account of why ghosts are mere delusion – to investigate the sighting, the uneasy status quo at Jerusalem is rapidly torn apart. Holdsworth grows to realise that the sinister Holy Ghost Club governs the privileged life at Jerusalem with a rigour far more effective than anything the Master, Dr. Carbury, could muster. And when Holdsworth finds himself haunted – not only by the ghost of his dead wife, Maria, but also Elinor, the very-much-alive Master’s wife – his fate is sealed. He must unravel the circumstances surrounding Sylvia’s death … or the hauntings will continue.

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

I’m also being called by thrillers lately, and this novel sounds like it’ likely to give us some chills and thrills. Not at all my usual kind of novel, but I’m happy to branch out from time to time and since I’ve been enjoying books by Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell, I thought this might be a great read as well. So with very little impulse control, into the book haul pile went this novel by Peter Swanson.

Abigail Baskin never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. He’s a good guy, stable, level-headed, kind–a refreshing twist from her previous relationships.

But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident–and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name–out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life.

Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears–and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something much, much more. Something special. Something real–and he’s tracked her down to prove it.

Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon–and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.

The Name of the Wind by Peter Rothfuss

Although I love fantasy, it’s not something I usually read. Fantasy novels are dense and require a lot of commitment from the reader I feel in that you have to really be invested in stories with complex world building and a novel that is both plot and character driven. I did read the first few novels in the Game of Thrones series, and I loved them but they were exhausting to read in a way as they aren’t books you simply breeze through. But, when I read the premise for this novel I was hooked. I just had to pick it up. I am excited to read this, but this am also a teeny bit scared. Including this in the book haul might have been a moment of madness, but I am looking forward to this read.

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature–the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man’s search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.

The Secret Diary of Anne Boylen by Robin Maxwell

Now this book is more up my alley. I love historical fiction, especially anything related to the court of Henry VIII. It’s just such a fascinating time in history, filled with people who led such interesting lives in interesting times. Naturally, when I saw this in the bookstore I had to pick it up. Not include this in my book haul? Ha! And of course, I can’t wait to read it. I am so stoked to read so many of these books!

One was queen for a thousand days; one for over forty years. Both were passionate, headstrong women, loved and hated by Henry VIII. Yet until the discovery of the secret diary, Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth I, had never really met. Anne was the second of Henry’s six wives, doomed to be beloved, betrayed, and beheaded. When Henry fell madly in love with her upon her return from an education at the lascivious French court, he was already a married man. While his passion for Anne was great enough to rock the foundation of England and of all Christendom, in the end he forsook her for another love, schemed against her, and ultimately had her sentenced to death. But unbeknownst to the king, Anne had kept a diary. At the beginning of Elizabeth ‘s reign, it is pressed into her hands. In reading it, the young queen discovers a great deal about her much-maligned mother: Anne’s fierce determination, her hard-won knowledge about being a woman in a world ruled by despotic men, and her deep-seated love for the infant daughter taken from her shortly after her birth. In journal’s pages, Elizabeth finds an echo of her own dramatic life as a passionate young woman at the center of England ‘s powerful male establishment, and with the knowledge gained from them, makes a resolution that will change the course of history.

Songs of Love and War by Santa Montefiore

This is a novel more up my alley as well, so it’s no wonder it made into my book haul. Of late, I’m also being drawn to the days of the Great War and the 1920s, so this novel definitely caught my attention. Into my cart it went once I read the premise, which not only is set in a period of time I’m intrigued by, but also deals with the lives and relationships of three women so close they are like sisters.

It’s the early 1900s and Castle Deverill stands staunchly untouched by time, hidden away in the rolling Irish hills. Within the castle walls, three friends have formed a close bond: affluent, flame-haired Kitty Deverill; Bridie Doyle, Kitty’s best friend and daughter of the castle’s cook; and Celia Deverill, Kitty’s flamboyant English cousin. They’ve grown up together, always sheltered from the conflict embroiling the rest of the country. But when Bridie learns of a secret Kitty has been keeping, their idyllic world is forever torn apart.

Later, the three women scatter to different parts of the globe. Kitty must salvage what she can before Castle Deverill and everything she has ever known is reduced to ash. Songs of Love and War is an epic generational saga about the lasting bonds of true friendship and the powerful ties we all have to the place we call home.

Mexican Gothic by Silva Moreno-Garcia

I became aware of this book some time ago, but while I wanted to read it I couldn’t get my hands on it immediately. However, when I saw it was 20% off at the bookstore, I snatched it up because the story sounds amazing to me. The setting in Mexico will make for interesting reading, and the story itself sounds mysterious and gripping. Just up my alley these days.

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find — her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough, smart, and has an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Final Thoughts

I have so many books I want to read! I totally went overboard on this book haul, but what is a girl who loves books to do?? I just hope I can find the time to read them all, because I am really excited about each book I have newly acquired. And many others that I already owned for that matter. Reading is a great form of self care, and one of my favourite hobbies and I cannot wait to curl up with a cup of tea and one of these fabulous sounding reads.

Which of these intrigues you? Let me know in the comments!