May Book Haul

So in my last book haul at the beginning of May, I pronounced myself on a book buying ban until I'd whittled down my TBR. That obviously didn't happen, I knew it wasn't going to happen, but it wasn't as bad as I predicted! I actually only procured 7 books last month, 5 were from charity shops (therefore inexpensive) and 2 of them I didn't buy myself, so I think that's pretty good! I'm doing quite well at buying less books, I've successfully managed to stay away from Amazon and the Book Depository for the most part and my TBR is thanking me for it.

It's interesting to note that all of these books were bought whilst on trips with my parents, so really I can blame these purchases on their influence and the fact that we have to go into every charity shop when we go somewhere.

So without further ado, here are the books I bought in May...

My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary by Rae Earl | 50p
I got this from a 50p box at a secondhand bookshop in Halesworth, Suffolk whilst on a trip with my parents. I really enjoyed the tv show of the same name and have been interested in reading the book that inspired it. This is the real teenage diaries of Rae Earl when she was a teenager in the 90s, so there's plenty of Oasis references and plaid shirts. I'm looking forward to reading this because I think it'll be really interesting to have an insight into growing up in the 90s as my teenage years were spent in the 00's.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt | 50p
I was also really excited to find this in the 50p box of the same shop as I've nearly bought it at full price several times. I don't know too much about it except for that it follows a group of students studying classics at University, but I've heard nothing but good things and look forward to getting into it at some point.

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson | £1
As previously mentioned on this blog, I love Bill Bryson's books. I'm trying to collect them all so I was happy to find this in the same secondhand bookshop. This is an exploration into the English language and how it's developed over time. Having studied historical linguistics as part of my University course, I'll be interested to see what Bryson adds to the discussion.

The Reckoning by Edith Wharton | 80p
This is part of the Penguin little black classics collection and when I saw a stack of them in a bookshop in Southwold it was all I could do not to buy the whole lot. I chose this because I haven't read anything by Edith Wharton before, I don't know anything about it but I like the idea of sampling an author's work with these little books.

The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Anderson | 80p
Another little black classic, I believe that this is a fairytale judging by the author but other than that I know nothing about it. I'm excited to pick this up, I think these books work really well as a break between longer books.

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood | 99p
My mum kindly bought this for me from a charity shop on a trip to Norwich, it's not quite in perfect condition but I can't believe I got a hardback for 99p! So, interesting story (well I think it's interesting!) I read The Year of the Flood quite a long time ago and really loved it but was really confused at certain parts. It was only after I'd finished that I realised that it was actually the second in a series that started with Oryx and Crake which I haven't read. MadAddam is the third in the trilogy, so I'm not sure whether I'll wait to read this until after I've read Oryx and Crake or not. It's hard to describe what the series is about without giving spoilers but I'll just say that it's an excellent dystopian that you really should get into.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | 99p
This was another one that was in a charity shop in Norwich, I wasn't 100% sure about it but my mum loved the edition and said that I had to have it, so she bought it for me. I told you she was an enabler! I've never actually read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland so I'll be interested to pick it up at some point, but I'm not in a great rush.

So that was my fairly modest May book haul, I think I did pretty well in that all the books were under £1 each! I think my most anticipated books are the little black classics, I just think they're such an excellent idea!

I'm really going to try and be good this month and I'm not going on any trips with my parents so it should be fairly easy. Although my TBR isn't really shrinking as I keep getting books from the library, I really need to pause that habit for a while!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?