June 2017 Book Haul

Hello there!
I love seeing people's monthly book hauls on social media, they always give me so many new recommendations and often inspire me to read more. They're not exactly healthy for my wallet, but I guess a small addiction to books isn't the worst thing in the world, is it? Well, at any rate, I didn't actually buy that many books in June. When I just picked out what I'd acquired this month, I was surprised at how few there were. They are all really cool ones, however, and I'm very excited about all of them! So here are the few books I got this month, enjoy :)


First off, here's a quick shot of all six books I got. That absolutely stunning Gryffindor edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is probably the most obvious one, as this month was the 20th anniversary of this amazing book. I can't believe it's already been 20 years! These house editions were all over the Internet, so I'm sure most people will know what they are. When I got my copy, I was very pleasantly surprised by all the new content, there are very nicely illustrated texts on all things Gryffindor, like the Common Room or the Founder. I think I will eventually get the other three editions as well..Had they only repackaged the book, I wouldn't have been interested, but since there is actually new content in them, how could I not want the others?



via GIPHY

My next favourite of this month is this amazing Folio Society edition of Homer's Odyssey. I have already read this book two years ago or so, but this one has notes AND beautiful illustrations. When it comes to Folio Society, I just can't restrain myself. I found this new on Amazon Marketplace for 40€, so I really couldn't pass it up. Although it is now in their huge Summer Sale for half that much, but well, waiting is not one of my strong points 😅
Just look at these illustrations and the cover, it's the perfect edition of this piece of ancient literature. I'm so excited to reread it as soon as possible!





 


Another piece of perfection: Jane Austen's Shorter Works, by, who would have guessed it? The Folio Society. This one was also very cheap on Amazon Market Place (although not in a really good condition, but I don't mind when my older books actually look their age to a degree). This does have some stains on the spine, but it's such a beautiful book, I don't that it looks like it has a bit of a history. It is from 1975, so I'm very happy with its condition in general. And the smell is heavenly! These older Folio Society copies auf Austen's work are all amazing, I got Mansfield Park last month as well. The formatting is very nice with all these small drawings. I now have a hodgepodge collection of Jane Austen's novels, so I'm hoping to get all of these Folio editions together one day to have one matching set!


And here is one last picture of all of them together. The open book is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I was never interested in getting this rather long book, but since I watched the first episode of the show, I really wanted to read it. The illustrations were a pleasant surprise as well! Has anyone read this book and wants to share their opinion?
I also finally decided to acquire a copy of the Bible, since I was frequently told that, as a student of English literary studies, it is really a must read. I'm not going to read it in one go, but just read certain things that might be important for analyzing other pieces of literature here and there. And last but not least, we have the first installment in The History of England, this one is Foundation by Peter Ackroyd. It's a non-fiction series about, who would have guessed, England's history. So far English Studies has been my minor at university, but I chose to do my Master degree in Anglophone Literature, which I'm going to begin this fall. Also, I'm just extremely interested in England's history, and this is a part of it that I don't know very much about yet. I hear these books are perfect as an introduction, as they offer a broad overview.

So that's it for this month's haul. What are some of the books you got this month and are most excited about? And did you read any of these?
I can already tell that my July haul will be a bit longer. As I already mentioned, the Folio Society Summer Sale is up right now, and I just could not resist. I can't wait for my bargains to arrive!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nineveh and Babylon by A.H. Layard Review

Image
This beautiful book was a bit of an ambivalent read for me, and I ended up rating it three out of five stars. Nineveh and Babylon  is an account of Layard's expedition to said archeological sites in the late 1840s. The book follows his second visit to the ruins of ancient Babylon and Nineveh, and Layard not only describes the process and the results of his second excavations, but also what he experiences while traveling from Turkey to the site of Babylon. Thus, the book is about far more than archeology, it also encompasses geology, politics, history and sometimes even philosophy.  I know you are supposed to begin by saying what you like about a book, but I would like to get the negative out of the way first. As you can see in the pictures, the book is very long. It is pretty much exactly 600 pages and full of information on all the topics mentioned above. At first, I didn't mind that at all, but after the first half, it became a bit too much for me. The latter half
Read more

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry Review

Image
The Essex Serpent  has been out quite a while now, and has received a lot of buzz since publication. It has been listed for, and won, several prizes and was Waterstones Book of the Year 2016. It was also very hyped on booktube, so I was at first not very interested in picking it up, as too much hype makes for very high expectations that are often disappointed. But when I heard, after the hype had died down a little, that this book was about confronting new ideas and discoveries and how to cope with fast changing times, my interest was peaked after all. I love books that not only offer an interesting plot, but also deal with specific topics and attempt to send a message and make the reader think. And this book definitely had me thinking a lot. I am genuinely sad that I didn't pick it up sooner, because it was simply fantastic. So far, I might even say that it is my favourite book of the year (excluding certain re-reads 😁). Well, let's begin at the beginning and tel
Read more

The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves Review

Image
          The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. The most popular and acclaimed version of this myth from antiquity is probably the epic poem The Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, who lived in the 3rd century BCE. Graves took it upon himself, according to his very interesting introduction to this book, to compare and analyze existing versions of the voyage of the Argonauts and compose one compiled tale. His story is not supposed to only tell about the quest for the Golden Fleece, Graves also puts the Argonauts' voyage into a bigger religious and historical/mythological context, telling of how the Fleece came to be and why Jason was ordered to reclaim it from Colchis. So this novel does not start with Jason, but one or two generations before him, and tells of how the Olympic religious system developed. I can't really talk about how accurate all this is, as I am by no means an expert on antiquity and Gree
Read more