New books in my collection

Black Friday Aftermath

Amazon Kindle had fantastic discounts yesterday! Some books were being sold for just a couple of euros! I’m picky with books even on Black Fridays, so I didn’t end up with too many, but I’ve found some really good ones. Here’s what I got:

1. The Dry by Jane Harper

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It’s the first book in the crime series about a Federal Police investigator called Aaron Falk. I read Force of Nature, the second book in the series, and I really liked it, so I have high hopes for this one.

2. Daughters Of the Lake by Wendy Webb

It’s something dark and gothic. ❤︎ There’s a drown woman, some scary dreams and some mystery. I’m SO excited!

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3. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

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I already have a beautiful physical copy of Novik’s newer novel called Spinning Silver, but I’m waiting for wintery days to read it. I was told that Uprooted is even better. I was captivated by the writing and the story from the very beginning. Even though it’s obviously a fantasy, I think I might like it.

4. Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn (yes, all FIVE of them!)

I simply had to get the collection because …

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Apparently, there’s already a TV show where Benedict Cumberbatch played the protagonist. Here’s the trailer (it’s awesome, do watch it!):

https://youtu.be/JQh36eStMqk

I saw the trailer and bought the novels immediately! Novels are usually much better than movie adaptations so I’m in for SUCH a treat!

I tried the first several pages and I can say that the writing is amazing! Besides, I now hear the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch when I’m reading the novels. It can’t get better than this.

5. Complete Poems and Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

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Are any comments even needed?

6. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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All I know is that the book is about a bookstore, and that the first few pages made me giggle. I think it might be a lighter read, but not a primitive one.

7. Novels of Beryl Bainbridge, Volume one

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There are three novels there: An Awfully Big Adventure, The Birthday Boys, Master Georgie. Two of the novels, An Awfully Big Adventure and Master Georgie, were shortlisted for Man Booker Prize. An Awfully Big Adventure tells about a teenage girl who joins a theatre in postwar Liverpool. Master Georgie is about a surgeon during the times of the Crimean War. The Birthday Boys is about Captain Robert Falcon Scott travelling to the South Pole in 1910.

Can you believe I got all these three gems for just 3 euros?! Dear Black Friday, you are better than Christmas.

I’m slightly overwhelmed by the choice now. I think I will focus on Patrick Melrose novels first, while continuing reading this beauty:

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

Would you read any of these books?

48 thoughts on “Black Friday Aftermath”

  1. Nice haul!
    I only read The Dry, but liked it a lot.
    Bitter Orange is on my list as well, but prolly won’t get it till next year. Unless it will be included in the xmas sale 😁

    1. Thanks Norrie! Btw, I think I saw Claire Fuller offering to send her book with a card if it’s someone’s Christmas present, but I don’t know the details. She posted about this on Tweeter and Instagram.

        1. Norrie have you seen, it’s for 0.99 today on Amazon Kindle (please check the price, just in case but that’s what it’s showing to me right now and that’s what Claire Fuller has tweeted too)

    1. I hoped to get some physical copies too from Book Depository but they didn’t have any noticeable discounts. Their usual daily discounts are about the same. What did you get?

  4. I didn’t do any shopping on black Friday…. I have more than enough books already and my shelves are actually full now!
    Good haul, I hope you enjoy them 🙂

    1. Thank you! I think I will enjoy them. I already started going through them. I think, if I stick to reading all my books without purchasing new ones, I’d probably be finished in 2-3 months. So I think I can still purchase some more 🙂 Besides, Black Friday discounts on some titles were insane! That collection of 3 novels, for example – it’s around 30 euros now, and it was just 3 then.

      1. You grabbed some great bargains! I’m trying to cut back on buying/reserving/requesting new books now. But I got a good bargain last black friday, bought my first smartphone with a free tablet 🙂

  5. I’ve JUST finished reading Spinning Silver, which I loved. But I’ll agree that Uprooted is every bit as good and probably a tad cleverer in the whole idea. But I’d rather not have to pick apart which book is the best, because they are both wonderful reads. I look forward to hearing what you make of Uprooted… Didn’t you do well, yesterday??

    1. Thank you! I just thought about you, about your comments and our talks here, and then you wrote, and I was also reading Uprooted at the moment. I didn’t even know it was possible to enjoy a book so much! Also, all these coincidences again! I AM a witch! 😁

      1. Yessss… and I am definitely bespelled by your awesome readerly skills:)). I’m delighted you’re enjoying this one so much – I loved it, too!

    2. PS: I can never get to your blog from my phone. If I click the link next to your name I end up on your site. I can only enter your blog separately from a computer browser if I type your blog’s name. Is it supposed to be this way?

      1. If you end up on my site, you should get to Brainfluff by clicking onto the blog button on the top menu bar. Can you let me know if that works? And thank you for letting me know there is an issue…

        1. I investigated a bit. So, if I press the link from the phone it gets me to a mobile version of the site that doesn’t have any menus on the top, but there’s a list of your recent blog posts if I scroll all the way down to the page. If I follow the link from my computer it all works as you said. I’m following your blog, but I get recognised only if I open it from my computer browser. The WordPress App on my phone for some reason tells me I’m not following you, asks me to log in (although I am, while doing it), and the same goes if I want to leave a comment on your blog from my phone. Thus, it looks like the last one is an app bug. But even without the bug, the interface of the mobile application doesn’t show the blog button as it is, but only the links to recent posts in the very bottom of the page. I hope I explained it well. Let me know if I can check for anything else.

    1. We have different tastes in covers. 😄 Had I not known about Uprooted, I would have never bought a book with such obvious fairytales/dragons/other fantasy stuff proclamation. But that’s because I normally don’t read such things. Spinning Silver, my first purchased fantasy, looks much quieter in this matter. Anyway, I can tell you I’m immensely enjoying both, Uprooted and Patrick Melrose, although they are very different, of course, and I’m more used to books like Patrick Melrose and not to fantasy. I still occasionally giggle at all the “potassium-sorbidium” and other “abracadabrium” exclamations or whatever it is they are saying there in Uprooted that’s supposed to be magic spells. I’m still not used to the style. Did you get any new books? Will you post about them? I really liked your newest post about Blog Marketing!

      1. Throw me anything fairytale and I’ll devour it 🙂 (unless it’s full of clichés, then I’ll probably rip it to shreds.) Ugh, I need more time in the day just to read. These two are now top of my TBR for the holidays, I can’t resist Benedict Cumberbatch.

        I did get some new books! I still can’t let go of my physical copies (I know, I know, I should switch to Kindle) so I’m thinking of doing an Instagram story unboxing them as they come in

        1. I love watching books being unboxed! Yes, I couldn’t resist Cumberbatch either. I think the narrative really suits him. I never insist on one medium, Kindle or a physical copy. I once posted about it. The short conclusion is that physical copies are actually a better choice – they are forever yours, they cause more trees to be grown but to me it’s just physically uncomfortable to be holding a real book for hours on end.

    1. I’m getting close to the middle of Uprooted. As I said before, I am very new to reading fantasy and still find it challenging (I have yet to form it into words what exactly can be challenging about reading a fairytale), but I can already see that it’s a good book, at least when it comes to writing and imagination.

  9. Love Wendy Webb! I read Daughters of the Lake last month and really enjoyed it! (http://www.wellreadtart.com/2018/10/25/book-review-daughters-of-the-lake/)

    I need to read Uprooted. On Thanksgiving, my cousin was telling me all about Novik’s works, and it turns out my husband is actaully reading her dragon series (my cousin loaned the books to him), and she says great things about Uprooted and Spinning Silver. Of course, I thought about your recent references to Spinning Silver because of its cover! So now I think I need to read something by this author.

    1. You do enjoy fantasy, right? Because to me, it’s the genre that slightly gets on the way (and enhances the enjoyment at the same time, crazy!) I’m still reading Uprooted and still not sure whether I can read such books or not, BUT it’s definitely a good book, definitely very well written and I hope that overall story will be nice and completed too. I’m looking forward to reading Wendy Webb. As for our talk about Bitter Orange, I finally read it and reviewed it already. … Well… I can see why you disliked it :)) I’m off to read your review of Daughters of the Lake now.

      1. I like some fantasy, but I think I’m selective in what kinds. I love mythology, and that often gets lumped into fantasy; but I don’t think I like the more hardcore fantasy novels, like the dragon series by Novik. I usually look at the plot of a fantasy book, then decide if I want to read it. Going to read your review on Bitter Orange! I haven’t read that one yet, but since that guy who wrote My Absolute Darling blurbed it, I am staying away. 😉

        1. I like mythology too, and I like magical realism. You are right, it’s this “hardcore fantasy” that doesn’t work for me. This Novik’s book makes everything about magic, even most of the characters are not interesting because, I guess, magic is supposed to be the most appealing element of this book.

  10. You made quite a haul of interesting titles. I met you on Twitter and am new to your blog. I’ve had fun tooling around, reading your honest reviews and the comments from followers. You have a great site.

    Would you consider adding my novel to your pile? I’m afraid it’s no longer an ARC but it’s still pretty new, since it only went live Nov. 17. It’s women’s fiction with an older female MC who goes to Africa. You can get more information here: http://www.eafournier.com and see if the story resonates with you.

    No pressure. If you’re interested, great. If not, that’s fine.

    1. Hello Eugene, thanks for stopping by! Of course, I remember you. Thank you for your trust. I need to look into it to be sure I’m the right reviewer for your novel. That sounds interesting, both the character and Africa 😊 I’ll get back to you about it.

    1. Thank you! I like the name too, very much, although now I understand it might be misleading. I don’t read much fantasy or any paranormal but the word “witch” seems to be associated exactly with this in the reading world. Although I meant it differently 🙂

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