Recent Book Grabs # 3!

You would probably know by now I've been blogging irregularly the past two months. I'm still trying to figure out how to cope up with all the work and reading and blogging! I've read books but haven't been able to review them yet. *sigh* I'm just hoping I can do a lot better soon. Anyway, the funny thing is, I tend to get a lot more books than I normally do when I don't have the time to read them! Seriously! You just need to take a look at the books I got in the past month. These include books bought, borrowed from the library and those received for reviews. This time I bought books that have been recommended by people, rather than going for my own preferences. Though, I'm super duper happy with the loot! Now I actually need a real bookshelf to accommodate them. ;). (The books at present, are stuffed into the study table racks).

Anyway, ta-da!

(Click on the titles to go the book's Goodreads page)

I know it's not a great picture, but I've included a better pic below!

Bought

1. The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Recommended by a fan of Russian literature. This one will be on the shelf for a while unread, though. I'm anyway hardly getting the time to read and I need to start with the ones received for review first. 

2.  Dracula, by Bram Stoker: Recommended by the same person, too. And yes! I'm very much interested in reading this. I mean, the first, real vampire story ever written, first published in 1897? I so want to read that! And just look at the cover!  

3. The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi: Recommended by a lot of people, actually. The first book in the Shiva trilogy, based on ancient legends and set in India.

4. The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi: The second book in the Shiva trilogy. The third book hasn't been released yet. (And I'm hoping to read these two before it comes out :P)

5. Gagged and Bound by Natasha Cooper: Welllll, it so happened that I went to the library just to return and borrow books (obviously) and guess what? It had this mega sale, giving out old (and some new, too) books the library doesn't need, at very low prices! I bought four books from there, one of which is an academic book (Operations Management. I figured it wouldn't look good among these beauties ;)) and one other that I left at my friend's place my mistake.

6. Earth and Heaven by Sue Gee: Another one from that library sale! :D Total impulse purchase. 

7. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain: Just thought an introvert like me should read this book. I've read just a few pages, but it does seem very interesting. :)

8. The Secret of Teams by Mark Miller: This is a forced purchase! Okay, that's too harsh. We need to do a book review on a management book and our group chose this one. I just might get to keep it afterwards. 

9. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead: Okay, I was gifted this one. My brother thought I'd like books as a gift on the festival of 'raksha bandhan' (he knows me so well!). And so he saw the list of 'books I want' tacked on my study table and went to a bookshop. However, he got confused (courtesy my clumsy handwriting) and ended up getting book 4 and 6 from the Vampire Academy series. But hey, I'm not complaining! Now I have a solid reason to purchase the other 4! ;)

10. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead: Book 4 from the VA series. I know I should have read this sooner, but it's never too late. ;)

Borrowed

(from the library)

1. Handle With Care, by Jodi Picoult: It's just amazing. I had read My Sister's Keeper by this author and after this one, I'm a fan! :D

2. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume: I had heard so much about this book and the author, but I haven't gone past half of the book. I guess it's because it's just not my type of book.

3. Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L Jones: Seemed interesting so picked it up. Haven't read it yet.

4. Jump by Elisa Carbone: I picked this one up on the basis of the cover. Kids climbing mountains! And I just love mountains and thought I'd read a book that would give me an idea of the experience of mountain climbing. Just stared reading this, seems interesting. :)

Received for review

1. When the Snow Melts by Vinod Joseph: A thriller about the al Qaeda, diplomats, spies, IAG! Interesting book. Read review here.

2. Love, Peace and Happiness: What more could you want? by Rituraj Verma: Received today. Hope to read and review soon!

3. Legally, Lovingly Yours by Abhishek Bose: Received yesterday. Hope to read it soon too!

Won

1. "Chosen" Dark Passage by ML Wooley: It's an e-book, haven't read yet.

There were some freebies from Amazon.com too, which I'm not posting. Anyway, it's a good enough haul. I just need to find out enough time to read them. Good luck to me! ;)

PS- Amazon Kindle is now available in India too! (Croma stores!) Can't just wait to get one!! 

Recent book grabs!

A few books have again been added to my reading shelf! I'm including those I've got in the past three weeks, either bought, borrowed or received as freebies! It has been a pretty good three week period, especially since those exams are over and I am enjoying full liberty when it comes to reading! (The only bad spot being those glasses I've to wear for a while for my eyes now. It's hugely irritating and I really want them to get off a-s-a-p!).

Anyway, here's the haul:

Don't mind the books in the background....

Bought: (Click on the title to go to the Book's Goodreads page)

1. Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson : Impulse purchase, but since I love Iva Ibbotson's writings, I guess I'll like this one as well.

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth : So, SO excited to read this one! If I could, I would have done that as soon as I got my copy, but I have some library books with their due dates near, so I'll be reading those first.

(The pictures for the book covers have been taken from Google, since the ones I took are apparently not willing to get themselves posted vertically! :|)

                                          

Library stuff:

1. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta: This is supposed to be my 'currently reading' read and I've started, but stopped for a while because the names, of everything, are kind of confusing and difficult to pronounce. But I've read great reviews about it, so I guess I'll read more and maybe find out the real gem! 

2. The Bright Forever by Lee Martin: It seemed to be a simple read and I picked it up since I think I've been reading heavy books for some time.

3. Glamour by Louise Bagshawe: This one is a best seller and I was looking for a chick lit book, so I got this one! 

4. Dashing through the Snow by Mary and Carol Higgins Clark: Mystery! My all time favorite, so picking this one was natural ;) 

5. Cook Simple by Diana Henry (Non- Fiction): Those tempting easy-to-make dishes were enough to make me grab this one! Though I got it for my brother, he's the one who likes cooking. I'm just interested in eating. ;)

6. The Art and Craft of Papier Mache by Juliet Bawden (Non- Fiction): It's the vacations and I had to have something interesting to do! This book made me remember the good old school days where we did all sorts of art and craft, especially papier mache! And all kinds of techniques have been explained beautifully in this book, with easy to understand illustrations and writing style! 

                                   

Received for review: (by blogadda.com)

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino: An amazing Japanese murder mystery! Thrilling, engaging, some parts utterly unpredictable and an ending we couldn't have imagined! I loved it whole! Read my review here . It's a must read! :)

Won!!!

Thank you HT Education!! :D

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health by Mark Bunn  (Non- Fiction): It came at a time when I was told by the doctor to concentrate on my health! And it is written so well! I mean, it's not at all boring, like the kind of boring you would think a health book would be! :D

E-books

(These are all freebies from Amazon!)

1. The Changelings (War of the Fae #1) by Elle Casey: Read it already. Watch this space for the review. Hint hint: The concept was good, but was a bit similar to a famous book.

2. Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer: It's a small book, about 50 pages, kind of like a long prologue for the main books. Will review soon!

3. Entangled (Spellbound # 1) by Nikki Jefford: SO excited to read this one! It's the next e-book I'll be reading. I mean, look at the cover! :D

4. Dimension Shifter (Dimensions saga) by T.M. Nielsen: Again, the cover and the description looked interesting and since I'm really experimenting with fantasy and YA and loving them, I've been getting these books like crazy!

5. Fateful (Fateful series #1) by Cheri Schmidt: Got this because of the wonderful description, seems like an interesting story (it's in line after Entangled).

                                                   

             

Well, to be honest, there are more e-books, but I'm just including those that I'm really excited about! (That doesn't rule out the reason being the tedious task of linking and putting pictures. You guys better use them!). 

That's all for now. I've got another trip to the library due and maybe I'll buy some more, so I'll post again when I get a few! :) What books did you recently get?