Dark Tower issue resolved

Well, hello there.  Hope you’ve had a wonderful day.  My day was pretty average. It was a beautiful winters day with a painfully blue sky that makes you think if summer - but it was way too cold to even consider leaving the house!

Okay, enough of the social pleasantries. You’re here for the book stuff 😁  Here we go...

As you can tell by the title of this post, my issue regarding a used book I purchased from AbeBooks was resolved... but I’m not sure how I feel about it.  As previously discussed on both my IG, and BookTube, I ordered what should have been the reissued edition of The Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 05) by Stephen King. I particularly wanted this book because on the matching covers that form a larger landscape image when put together. But anyhoo, when the book turned up in the mail on Thursday, 18/07/19, it was not the right edition.  Yes, I know that sounds shallow and smacks of consumerism, but I want the edition that I’d paid for.

Seeing the error, I emailed the seller. They were lovely to deal with (so this isn’t a drama queen post about shitty customer service) and after me supplying them with the details they requested, I woke up to an email stating I was being refunded the full cost of my order (inc. p&h).  Now, while this was expected, I would rather have received the correct edition.

So, the hunt for The Song of Susannah begins anew.

Wish me luck, and on that note I’ll bid you a fond adieu, and until I see you next time,

Really late bookmail

What the hell is going on with the postal service at the moment?  I finally received some mail today that was as much as 6 weeks overdue (Misty's letter) and my order from Awesome Books was 2 weeks late.  Even my Funko and Booktopia order (in the flat oversized parcel) were late.  Is it the pre-Christmas postal panic?  I don't know - and I don't particularly care.  I am only worried about my orders getting to me in a reasonable amount of time!

Okay, now that that mini rant is out of my system - I actually didn't indulge in a hissy fit in the video - I will say that for once, all of the used books I ordered from Awesome Books arrived in very good condition.  There is always one item that looks like it's been dragged through the bushes backwards, but today, not a problem.

So out of everything that I opened this morning, the biggest surprise came with the green Harper Perennial spine you can see above on the video titlecard, it is sooo floopy and very much smaller than other editions of the book I own.  I'm trying so hard not to go into video spoilers, but if you've read the book you'll know how much of a chunker it is.  On the plus side, I now no longer have to worry about emailing sellers asking for refunds (and then quibbling about the refund of postage as well) so that's a huge plus.

I was also going to haul the books I discovered at a local thrift shop last week (and I have been posting images on IG) but that would have made this video super long so I might just leave for now.

Anyway, so happy to finally have all my missing orders here, I'm only waiting on two books I won on Twitter comps over the past two weeks.  I'm now going to clean up this mess around my desk and try to find a spot for them on my shelves.  Wish me luck ;-D

And until I see next time,

 

Stress buying is a thing

I would say it's been one of those weeks, but in truth it's been worse.  On Monday morning my mother called me to let me know that our neighbour of over 20 years had passed away during the night.  For people who don't talk to their neighbours you may not know how close you can get to a person you see every day, or at least a couple of times a week, for decades.

Coral was a lovely lady and I would often chat over the fence with her for an hour or two.  Towards the end, before we knew about how sick she really was, I would often talk to her where she would stand on her balcony and chat to me as I stood near the garden that separated our yards.  I saw her back in June/July when I went home to get my new glasses, never thinking that would be the last time I would speak to her....

So.  Today was her funeral.  I couldn't go (medical reasons), but that didn't stop me from stressing out about my mother and aunt who were going.   And you can tell what happened from the title.  I got on my handy dandy mobile phone and bought more books that I should have... but at least it wasn't chocolate!

So, Dallass (you might be asking yourself), exactly what did you buy?

Well, I splurged.  Seriously, I spent over $100 dollars (a lot for me) and I have to admit that although I feel a little guilty about it, I'm not sorry.  First indulgence came via Book Depository - and it was all that 10% off codes fault!  This order includes the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (which I still haven't read, but didn't want to miss snapping up a special edition of), Devonshire Scream by Laura Childs and The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths are two books that are from series that I'm following, Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews because I need some more from her since I found out that Magic Triumphs is the final Kate Daniels book!, and finally Vigil by Angela Slatter as I haven't read a book that is set in Brisbane (QLD) before - and an urban fantasy at that ;-D

Even using my 10% off code it was still a pretty penny, but when I swung my attention over to Awesome Books early this evening to see if the books in my cart were still there I realized that I needed to snap them up asap as I had a few items that were "1 of 1" in stock.  After a few tense moments when I couldn't get the stupid website to accept my payment (which resulted in me firing up the computer), I was the proud owner of seven more books!  Seven!  Okay, it's really five because I bought two that my mum was after, but still - that's a lot of books.

I can now add The Making of a Marchioness by Francis Burnett Hodgson to my shelves, as well as two books by Marisha Pessl, Night Film and Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  Should be interesting because I have never read anything by Pessl.  Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly will do nicely for the historical paranormal craving I've been having ever since I reread Shadow of Night, and Villette by Charlotte Bronte was available in the PEL edition, so of course that was coming home to me.  Finally there were the two books that I was getting for my mum, and they are MacKenzie's Legacy by Linda Howard.  I really adored the first of the two stories in this bind up.  MacKenzie's Mountain is a wonderful story.  And alongside that, mum will be getting Born in Flame by Nora Roberts.  Hopefully this order will get here a little early, otherwise it'll be early November before I can haul them.

I tell you, when you're clicking on buttons with your phone, it doesn't seem like this many items...

So that was how I spent this Friday the 13th.  Avoiding all thoughts of a funeral and the lovely neighbour I will never see again, and stress buying more books - because that really is a thing.

I think I'm going to go get a hot cup of tea and destress some more, but with YouTube this time - and until I see you next time,

 

Pre-birthday splurge

Yeah.  So, this was a thing over the weekend.  Money has been a little tight - still have to pay my electricity and telephone bill this week - but with my birthday coming up I wanted to treat myself to a book or two since my family don't buy me books because they are never sure what I've got, or want to read.  

Enter the smart phone.  I was browsing the Book Depository and Awesome Books websites on Saturday night and after about an hour of idle searching it was a shock to discover that I had 10 books heading my way!  Okay, two were for my mum for Mother's Day, but daammmmn!

Sunday afternoon.  I'm online again and poddling about Awesome Books - again! - adding books to my wishlist (and the cart) when I hit on the 'genius' idea of buying up some more Penguin English Library (PEL) editions to add to my collection.  Yeah, really bright idea.  Bought a further 8 books, and then jumped on AbeBooks to find some OOP PEL editions and ended up spending more money as I found two (and bought a third book anyway)!

So, here is a list of what I bought on this birthday binge of shame...

As you can see, I must have lost my mind for a few hours!  In truth, these are books that I've wanted for a long time - and that I will be reading in the future - so I don't feel too guilty about buying them as a majority of them are used books in great condition.  However, I probably could have timed this splurge better ;-D

In the meantime, I have not been reading as much as I would like.  Everyday chores like laundry, mowing the lawn, gardening, cooking, etc., have been a priority.  Hoping to read Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen this month.  I read Emma last May and loved it, so finger's crossed I have the same reaction to S&S.

Since I've spent way too much recently on books, I'm going to concentrate more on my massive TBR pile (300+ books I think) and get a chunk of that read before I allow myself another book order.  I'll settle for reading 20-30 titles.  It will be a challenge, but with winter only a few weeks away, and the colder nights, I'm hoping to snuggle up with some good books over the coming weeks - there's nothing on TV anyway ;-D

Have you had a huge book splurge?  If you have, let me know how many books you got so I don't feel so bad ;-D

Until next time,

This time I let my fingers do the walking

As if my Big W blow-out wasn't bad enough, I then let my fingers do the walking after yesterday's splurge and visited two of my favourite online places to buy books.

First port of call was Booktopia.  I already had some amazing specials in my cart.  Bought The Swan Gondola for $9.90, and Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch for $6.35!  They also had a copy of Steal the Dragon by Patricia Briggs - to complete the Sianim Quartet - which seems to be either Out of Stock (OOS) or Out of Print (OOP) at Book Depository.  Every time I browse Booktopia I find so many great titles with great discounts.  Great for my bookshelves, bad for my wallet.

About half a hour later, my fingers got itchy again, so it was off to Book Depository.  I caved and pre-ordered Dead Ice by Laurell K. Hamilton.  This is book 21? in the Anita Blake series, and from the sample I read in the back of the novella, Jason, it sounded pretty good.  We're back into the zombie raising aspect of the series, and I hope to see some of the RPIT characters that I have been missing for the last 12 books or so ;-D

So, in all Friday was just a book-fest of a day.  I spent way too much money.  Will have to tighten my belt for the next couple of weeks and ban myself from browsing the online book sites. . . maybe?

Until next time,

New books delivered!

I love the postman!  Well, not really.  But I do love when they bring such pretty books to my door ;-D

Today's parcels arrived a while ago, however in the rush to get other stuff done I forgot to show you my new books!

Swallowing Darkness is the 7th book in the Merry Gentry series.  I have an ugly UK trade paperback (seriously, have you seen those cover designs... UGLY!) and I have the others in these lovely hardcovers.  So when I happened across this one while browsing on AbeBooks.com I had to get it.

The second parcel was a copy of the Breeds series by Lora Leigh that I did not own yet.  Aiden's Charity comes somewhere after Jacob's Faith.  I have only just started it and although these books include some very sexy times, they are one of my guilty pleasure reads ;-D

Let me know if you'd like to see an overview of any of these series.

Until next time, my lovelies.

Huge Book Order for April

Yes, I know that I really should be used to this by now.  However I was not technically on a book buying ban - wouldn't even delude myself by trying to attempt one - so I can take some comfort in that.

I have ordered more than a few books from my favourite online retailers (my local chain store bookshop has a poor range) and I had two discount vouchers to use as well which made the damage done to my wallet slightly less.

My spending has been reasonable so far this month, but today I went a tad overboard.  I couldn't go down to celebrate ANZAC Day as I'm sick, and I didn't want to either a) give it to anyone else, or b) catch something that will make me feel worse, so naturally I ended up online.  Today wasn't supposed to be about buying books.  I just wanted to catch up on some YouTube and do a few other bits and pieces.  But did that happen?  NO!  Last night my mother asked me to get a book for her so it all started from that request. 

Today I managed to order...

The Hobbit - Tolkien

The Return on the King - Tolkien {both these Tolkien books are beautiful cloth-bound editions!}

A Darker Shade of Magic - V. E. Schwab

The Winter Sea - Susanna Kearsley

Heraclix & Pomp - Forrest Aguirre

MOAB is my Washpot - Stephen Fry *

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides *

Lady Audley's Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon *

Cut Throat - Sharon Sala {this was mum's request!} *

On Thursday I went a little mad and ordered,
A Blight of Mages - Karen Miller
Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle {Barnes & Noble leather editions!}
The Arabian Nights
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

and earlier in the month I ordered - and am still waiting for mind you - these titles;

The Shining - Stephen King *
Tennant of Wildfell Hall - Emily Bronte
Shirley - Charlotte Bronte
Hounded - Kevin Hearne
Wolfsbane - Patricia Briggs
Air Bound - Christine Feehan

And I am still waiting for The Dragon of Despair* by Jane Lindskold to find it's way into my post box as I ordered it over 4 weeks ago!

* AbeBooks {I can now finally find my OOP editions, God bless them!}

Amongst this rather large amount of books that will be winging their way to me during May I have tried a few new editions.  There are some Penguin English Library books.  I just love the spines and the lovely almost suede feeling of the covers!  As mentioned, the Sherlock Holmes volume is one of those gorgeous B&N leather bound editions with the gilding.  Today I seemed to have a thing for hardcovers, so I hope that they have that they have dust jackets, and there is also a smattering of my usual mass market paperbacks.  Yes, I know that they're quite delicate as the spines almost always break, but they are reasonably priced which matters a hell of a lot when books cost so much in Australia! 

I could tally up all the money I've spent on books this month, but I think I'd keel over in shock.  Thankfully I was able to use some 10% off vouchers - thank you Book Depository! -  and Booktopia always has some amazing bargains.  Even op shops have some great titles.  I found my The Fry Chronicles - hardcover! - at a local thrift shop for $4 last year! 

Speaking of thrift shops, I nearly forgot to mention the great books I found yesterday when I went looking for some cheap bowls {I use them for plant saucers - they look nicer and are easier to keep clean inside!}.  As soon as I walked in the door I was sidetracked by the books.  I haven't been to my local St. Vinnie's in months, and I'm so glad I went because I found a couple of books that I've been meaning to get - as well as one that I'd just put in my wishlist!

As per usual, I spent more time and money on the books than I did on the items I actually went for.

Well, I think I've spent enough.  Have to leave you all as I'll just want to start compiling another cart full of books if I keep thinking about them for much longer ;-D 

Okay, must go watch a DVD to take my mind off this dead tree purchasing ...

Until next time,

 

Mystery of the late book order solved!

 

Just a quick update as 2 boxes arrived in the mail just a few minutes ago... however one of them - the late Book Outlet box - had been violated by Australian Customs!  Yes, that's right my lovelies.  Customs has deprived me of a true unboxing as what arrived on my doorstep was a battered box held together with sticky tape and extra stickers ;-D

I know that for the security of the country items are screened, x-rayed, sniff tested by dogs, blah, blah, blah.  But I really don't like it when my books arrive in even a slightly battered condition (mainly around the top/bottom of the spine as you can see).   There is nothing I can do about this however -  but if they'd been truly damaged though?... grrrr

On a happier note, the second box was from Book Depository and contained a boxed set of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (US Hardcover!) that I've been lusting over for ages now.  It arrived in perfect condition, nestled amongst the new chunky bubble wrap they're using, and I've already put them up on my shelves to be admired by all {grin}.  Now I just have to find room for the other new books on my already cramped shelves.

I'll have better pics up when I review them, so watch out for them in the near future ;-D

 

My Big Fat (EPIC) September Book Haul

OMG!  I have spent soooo much money over the last month on books.  Really, I need help... mmm, perhaps some free ARC's would help {hint, hint ;-D}.  Anyway, my postie has been a regular visitor to my place and today she dropped off the last of my September orders.

New to the party is Booktopia, where I've had two recent orders thanks to no P&H specials {always a plus}.  They have a great range of books and some truly amazing bargains (The Demon King was only $3.35!).

Literary Lusts - Stella Hyde

Oscar Wilde Biography - Jeff Nunokawa/Amy Sickels

The Demon King - Cinda Williams Chima

Love Letters of Great Women - edited by Ursula Doyle

The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz

  Another Book Depository order fulfilled

The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton {this has the most gorgeous cover}

Wickedly Dangerous - Deborah Blake

Copper Beach - Jayne Ann Krentz

Demon Child - Kylie Chan ---- still not published yet!!!!!!

Slightly Shady / Don't Look Back / Late for the Wedding - Amanda Quick

The Hot Zone - Jayne Castle

A Matter of Magic - Patricia C. Wrede

When Day Breaks - Maya Banks {for mum}

and today's mail brought me the items I'd been waiting for from Basement Books;

Unbreakable - Kami Garcia

Replica - Jenna Black

Wayfarer - C.E. Murphy

A Cook in Time - Joanne Pence

Vanished in the Night - Eileen Carr

The City's Son - Tom Pollock

 Then on the home front I went and raided all the shops that had even a hint of a book section...

Local discount chain store

different local discount chain store (4 for $10)

Big W (box set $30, others $12 ea)

local grocery store

local bookshop (3 for $14.95)

Big W bargain books $3.47 ea

And sadly this is still not all the books as I was given Dorothy Must Die by my mother.  

So much reading to do with the 20 plus other books I've bought locally (above pics) - I'm not even going to go into all the books I've bought from the local charity shops in September - and then there was the big Bookarama Booksale at the Town Hall where I bought about 45 books.  Then yesterday what did I do?... I went and ordered some books from Book Outlet.  Thankfully they were so cheap (for hardcovers) that I didn't mind paying the outrageous postage.  Luckily I managed to snag the last copy of Queen of Kings, as well as hardcovers of

First Grave on the Right / Second Grave on the Left / Third Grave Dead Ahead - Darynda Jones

River of No Return - Bee Ridgway

Quiver - Holly Luhning {paperback only I'm sorry to say}

I'm so happy with the books that I've got heading my way, but as with all book addictions, as soon as my shopping cart was empty I was in there refilling it with books I'll get next time.  Why aren't books cheaper so I can afford to get the all? ;-D

In the meantime, I hope you've found something fabulous to put on your bookshelves and until next time,

 

July Book Order

Hi! It's been a few days since I've been online.  I've just been so busy lately spending money on books ;-D

In the last week I have spent more money than I should have - nothing new there - but most of my books were based on recommendations from YouTube reviews.  *Gasp!*  I know!  Odd, huh.  But every review I checked out (The Readables, gingerreadslainey, polandbananasBOOKS, Ariel Bisset, and abookutopia) made these books sound sooooo good that I just couldn't help myself from adding them to my shopping cart!

So what did I get?  Well thank you for asking.  I have 8 books winging their way to me from Book Depository (so much cheaper than buying in Australia!) 

• Ghost Seer - Robin D. Owens
• Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas
• Cast in Flames - Michelle Sagara

 

 

• The Line - J.D. Horn
• Graceling - Kristin Cashore
• The Masterful Mr. Montague - Stephanie Laurens {a guilty pleasure}
• Concealed in Death - J.D. Robb
• Going Once - Sharon Sala {for my mum's b'day}

 

and the last complete season of Doctor Who - again, way cheaper from the UK (included p&h) than in Australia! 

I can't wait for the postie to start knocking on my door when each new book arrives.  Sadly, I already have my eyes on about another 10 books as they are scheduled to be released in the next few weeks.  I'll need a bigger house soon...