Hey guys, I'm Gavin, welcome back to my
channel. I am doing a book haul because I already have 32 books to show you in the
first 6 days of January so I really want to try and keep on top of my book haul
videos, so this one is coming at ya! These are all books that I've acquired
since January 1st, this could end up being a really long video so I'm gonna get
straight into it. One of the first books that I have is The Binding by Bridget
Collins and it has these nice purple sprayed edges. I do have this in hardback and
I read it, it was one of the first books I read in 2019 and I really love The
Binding, I think it's great. It is a story about a boy called Emmett and he goes to
live with this woman who binds books but these books are people's memories and
the memories that get bound into these books are forgotten by the original
owner of those memories. So that's why people go to her they want to forget
things, so she binds those memories into books, but Emmett comes across a
book with his name on and he doesn't know why it's there and it leads into
this whole kind of mystery thing and it's just great. It is just great. There's
so much that goes on and so much that I don't want to say to spoil for you but I
really enjoy the Binding and I do have the hardback, it is first edition signed
with purple sprayed edges again, but I couldn't pass up on the beautiful
paperback version of it as well. I'm sorry. I am a sucker for a paperback
sometimes. I need to stop buying books that I have in hardback as well
because it does add to my collection and it takes away space from the bookshelf,
but at the same time look how pretty it is. And maybe one day when I reread it I
will read the paperback version instead. But this book does have my heart, yeah,
this is the one of the first books I hauled in 2020.
Another one you will have seen on my channel before is The Girl Who Stole
an Elephant by Nizrana Farook. This is the first book for Middle Grade Monthly and
I wanted to buy the Waterstones exclusive edition of it
because it has this like blue foil effect on the cover, whereas the original
version has pink, I believe, which I also have and I also have the proof copy so I
have three copies of this book. This is the Waterstones Children's Book of the
Month as well. I just had to get this version of it because it is pretty and
this is about a young girl called Chaya, she steals the Queen's jewels, she gets her
best friend into trouble, and she has to sort of
save the day but it just leads into this jungle adventure, and I have just
finished reading and I will let you know what I think about it in the live show
for Middle Grade Monthly which will be on January 25th 10:00 p.m. UK time. Stay
tuned for more information, and yeah I had to get it. I also picked up the
Truth Pixie by Matt Haig, mainly because it's signed by the author. It's
also signed by the illustrator, Chris Mould. There's Chris's signature, and
there's Matt Haig's signature. It was appropriate to get this because I did
just read A Boy Called Christmas over the Christmas period, and this is part of
that Christmas book series that Matt Haig has written. I believe it's kind of like a
big poetry thing but, it is about a truth pixie, she was a character in A Boy Called Christmas, she can't tell a lie and she gets people into trouble, and
things like that. So I'm looking forward to reading this, I think it'll be
nice and cute and short, which is always a win, but I did mainly pick this up
because it's signed. Next I picked up a book that I forgot to put on my 2020
middle grade releases in the first quarter that I'm excited about, because
that is The Boy Who Fooled the World by Lisa Thompson. Lisa Thompson writes really good
contemporary middle grade fiction, she wrote The Goldfish Boy and The Day I Was Erased, also The Light Jar which I saw on the back. So I have to read the back
because I don't really know what this one's about. Cole is the odd one out at school, the
other kids have the latest gadgets and trainers while his family struggles
to make ends meet. Until the day one of his paintings is talent-spotted and
sells for thousands of pounds at a posh London gallery. Suddenly Cole is the toast
of the international art world starring on live TV, rich beyond his wildest
dreams, hailed as a boy genius - being famous is fantastic. But Cole has a
guilty secret that if exposed, will bring everything crashing down around him. A
story of fame and fortune, making mistakes and learning to be true to yourself.
Look at this sprayed edge, look at that sprayed edge. That hasn't been sprayed but I
like a good sprayed edge. So a book blogger who I adore, Karen, she gave this a
really good review and I will link her blog down below. I just think it looks so
wonderful and I just can't get over the sprayed edge. And then the next one did
make it onto my 2020 middle grade excited books list and that is The Mask of
Aribella by Anna Hoghton, this one just came out. Again, I absolutely adore the cover, I just think it's so wonderful. On the eve
of her birthday, Aribella discovers she has a secret power. When angered, flames
shoot from her fingertips. Frightened, she runs away only to be rescued by a
magical organization of masked heroes with their
own special skills. Aribella and her new friends have sworn to defend Venice but
can they defeat the evil rising from the Island of the Dead? Again, this premise
just screams to me, it screams 'read me now' but I don't know
when I'll be able to have a chance to read this, it needs to fit into my TBRs,
otherwise I would just read it right now. Another middle grade I picked
up was because Polarthon is just around the corner, so I picked up The
International Yeti Collective by Paul Mason and Katy Riddell. I think Katy
Riddell is the illustrator, related to Chris Riddell, I believe, or maybe his wife.
Let's check that. Yeah, she is Chris Riddell's sister, beautiful illustrations, that runs
in the family apparently. But this one just screams Polar fantasy to me. I have
seen it around for a couple of months, just never really felt the need to
pick it up until now. Ella's on a Yeti hunting expedition in the Himalayas with
her Uncle Jack, a celebrity explorer. She's expecting an amazing trip and
nothing more, everyone knows that Yeti don't exist.
Tick is a young Yeti who can't help but ask questions: what is beyond the mountain
he calls home? Are humans really as bad as everyone says they are? When Tick's
curiosity sets off a chain of events that threatens the entire Yeti
community, Ella is swept up in the adventure. Can the unlikely pair work
together to protect the Yeti before it's too late?
They're going to need help - help from the International Yeti Collective. This will
be honestly great for Polarthon. There's a new film out, or at least it was a
couple of months ago, called Abominable, which I haven't seen yet but it looks
really good. This gives me those sort of vibes.
And the last book I bought myself was actually a collection of ten books and
the entire ten books set is only seven pound fifty in the Works, for all ten
books. That works out at 75 pence per book, and I'd be wanting to get these
books for such a long time and that is the entire Demonata series by Darren
Shan, and just look. All of this for seven pound fifty and I believe I've read
maybe the first two when I was younger - Lord Loss and Demon Thief - but I never
made it past any more. This is a children's series I think is sometimes classed as
young adult but I, I read this as a child, at least the first one I read as a child.
It is about... I'll have to read the box for this. When Grubbs Grady first
encounters lord loss and his evil minions, he learned three things - the
world is vicious, magic is possible, demons are real. He thinks
he will never again witness such a terrible night of death and darkness - he
is wrong. Experience the entire terrifying story of the Demonata with
this full 10 book collection and get ready for a whole new dimension of fear.
But I do love the covers of them, I kind of don't really want to take them out the box. These are like new-ish covers, they came out with different covers. That's the second book,
Demon Thief. Third book, Slawter. Bec. Blood Beast. Demon Apocalypse. Death's
Shadow. Wolf Island. Dark Calling. And Hell's Heroes. Like, I still can't believe
I got this entire set for £7.50. Oh it just blows me away. I really want Darren
Shan's other book series, the Saga of Darren Shan I believe it's called. With
Cirque de Freak. I'm dying to re-read the first one, and two, I'm sure I read the
second one. You know when you really second-guess yourself about what you've
read as a child? Definitely read the first one but I'm excited to read the entire
series. I'll start from the beginning again. Ooh, it looks so cool. So now getting into
the books that was gifted to me, the first book I was gifted was from Codie,
and that is We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix, so excited to read this. I love
My Best Friend's Exorcism and Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. I buddy-read Horrorstör
with Codie, think this is the last Grady Hendrix book I need to read?
Every morning Chris wakes up in Hell. In the 1990's, she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk -
don't know if I pronounced that right because it has the symbols above the u. A heavy
metal band on the brink of breakout success, until lead singer Terry Hunt
embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his band mates to rot
in obscurity. Now, Chris works as night manager at the Best Western - she's tired,
broke and unhappy. Then one day everything changes, a shocking act of
violence turns her life upside down. She begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged
more than just the band. Chris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and
confront the man who ruined her life. The journey will take her from the
Pennsylvania Rust Belt to a Celebrity Rehab Center to a satanic music festival.
A furious power ballad about never giving up, We Sold Our Souls is an epic
journey into the heart of conspiracy crazed pill-popping
paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul. Oooo, that is a mouthful, and I
haven't heard many people talk about this one in fact I've heard nobody talk
about this one, so thank you so much for sending me this one Codie.
Codie also sent me Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita. And this is one of
the Disney twisted tales, what if the Evil Queen poisoned the prince? This will
look very nice in my Disney twisted tales collection that I need to
start reading! Following her beloved mother's deaths, Snow White's kingdom falls
into the hands of her stepmother commonly referred to as the Evil Queen by
those she rules. Snow keeps her head down at the castle hoping to make the best of
her situation, but when a plot to kill her goes awry, everything changes for
Snow. With the help of a group of wary draws ... with the help of a group of wary...
with the help of a group of weary draw... oh my god! With the help of a group of
wary dwarves, a king Prince she thought she'd never see again, and a
mysterious figure from her past, Snow embarks on a quest to stop the Evil
Queen and take back her kingdom. But can she stop an enemy who knows her
every move and will do anything to hold on to power, including going after the
ones Snow loves. Sounds very Snow White and the Huntsman. Loved the cover and I'm
excited to read these Disney twisted tales. The next four books were gifted to
me from Paige, who has spoiled me absolutely rotten for like, literally a
year. One of the books she sent me was Tilly and the Book Wanderers which is the
first book in the Pages & Co. series by Anna James, right I'll not read
synopsis anymore because this will end up being like a really long video, but I
believe this is about a young girl who has the power to wander into books and
kind of take part in the story, and I believe that characters can come
out of the books as well. And we have Alice in Wonderland on the front there
and maybe Captain Hook? No because he's got both hands so that can't be
Captain Hook. But yeah, she can go through their worlds and book wander,
which is something that I would absolutely love to do. Me and Paige are
gonna be buddy reading this in February so my thoughts on this will be coming very
soon. Another book she sent to me was Winter Magic, which is a collection of
short stories that was compiled by Abi Elphinstone who wrote
Rumblestar. This also features a story by Michelle Harrison, who I absolutely
love! Piers Torday, Lauren St John, Amy Alward, Katherine Woodfine, Geraldine
McCaughrean, Berlie Doherty, Jamila Gavin, Michelle Magorian, Emma
Carroll and Abi Elphinstone herself. So it just seems like it's gonna be
filled with wintery short stories maybe could be another good one for Polarthon
if I fancy reading a short story collection, it would be perfect for that.
Yeah it's very beautiful. She also gifted me Twister by Juliette Forrest which I saw
randomly online. I'd never heard of this before but I saw it and the cover and
everything just looks so good. You know I'm gonna have to read the back of here.
She's curious, she's courageous, she's a riddle, she's a rebel, she's Twister.
This is a story of a brave, bright girl, a witch who lives in the woods, a necklace
that turns you into a wolf, a rainstorm or a rushing river and, a spine chilling
villain, ooo spine chilling villain, who will stop at nothing to seize it. There
is magic and danger in these pages, adventure and thrills to be found,
follow twister inside if you dare. It just sounds so good. And finally, she
gifted me the Pearl in the Ice by Cathryn Constable, and this I've also
been wanting to read for Polarthon. 12 year old Marina feels an irresistible
pull to the sea despite the strict wishes of her father, a naval commander
who's kept her away from water all her life. when she's sent to boarding
school, Marina instead stows away on her father's ship
unbeknown to her it's the eve of war and she's embarked on a stormy voyage through
icy seas to where a great secret lies in wait. I remember talking about this
one with Jade and Priss saying how much we would really love this one
because we saw the cover and we were like, yeah, we need it. But yeah, thank
you so much for the four books you sent me Paige, genuinely, you need to stop. And
finally the last person to send me something was Krystin and I got home
from work yesterday and there was a box, and it was quite heavy.
What I thought was 8 books in that box turned out to be 10. Krystin, thank you
so so much for so many these I don't know your socials please leave a message
in the comments or send me a message I am genuinely I need to thank you so so
much because like honestly coming home from work to this just absolutely put a
smile on my face, thank you, thank you! I just, I still can't believe you sent me 10!
10 books and, aw, I'm just overwhelmed like seriously, thank you so much, I really
appreciate it! The first book that Krystin sent me was Winterhouse by Ben
Gutterson. Orphan Elizabeth's malevolent Aunt Patty and Uncle Burlap ship her off
to the ominous winterhouse hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon
arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that winterhouse has many charms, most
notably its massive library. It's not long before she locates a magical book
of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister
family, but as she uncovers the hotel's secrets,
Elizabeth starts to realise that she is deeply connected to winterhouse, as
dangerous as that may prove to be. I saw this on someone's channe,l I'm trying to
remember whose it was now. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm quite excited to read this
one. Again, Winterhouse, perfect for Polarthon and this is also the first in a
middle grade series so I'm excited to see what the
second one is gonna be like, The Secrets of Winterhouse. Next Krystin sent
me The Star-Spun Web by Sinead O'Hart, this is one of Jade's favourite books, I
must also mention, and I did get the hardback version from OwlCrate Jr. in
November, but I really wanted the paperback version to match my paperback
version of The Eye of the North, so I can keep Sinead O'Hart's series together.
Tess D'Sousa is no ordinary orphan. When a wealthy stranger appears at Akabee's
Home for Lost and Foundlings, claiming to be her relative, she embarks on a new life with
him, she takes nothing more than her pet
tarantula, Violet, and a strange device that she was left as baby. But far
from providing answers to Tess's mysterious past, it becomes clear that
her guardian's interest in her is part of a terrible plan. With a future and
more than one world at stake, it's up to Tess to stop him. I'm so excited to read
her books, so many great things said about her work.
And then we have a book by one of my favourite middle grade authors, Michelle
Harrison - The Other Alice. Mitch loves riddles, his cat Twitch, and most of all,
stories, especially because he's grown up being read to by his sister Alice, a
brilliant writer. When Alice goes missing and a talking cat turns up in his
bedroom, Mitch searches Alice's stories for a clue. He soon discovers that her
secret book, the Museum of Unfinished Stories, is much more than just a story.
In fact, he finds two of its characters wandering around town. But every tale has
its villains, and with them leaping off the page, Mitch, Gypsy and Piper must use
all their cunning to work out how the story ends and find Alice. If they fail,
a more sinister finale threatens them all. Ooh, it does sound so, so good, and I'm
trying to read all of Michelle Harrison's works in 2020 because she's
written quite a few things before A Pinch of Magic, which is again a
middle grade book I absolutely adore, so excited to read, so, so excited to read.
And then Krystin also sent me the entire spell... I showed you that the wrong way,
and then Krystin sent me books
two to five of the Spellslinger series. I have book one that was gifted to me from Paige.
I can't believe I now have the entire series, apart from book 6 which isn't
out in paperback yet. But these also have the beautiful sprayed edges and we have
Shadowblack, which is book 2. Charmcaster, which is book 3. Soulbinder, which is
book 4. And Queenslayer, which is book 5. And I know this is, again, some of
Jade's favourite books and one of her favourite series of all time.
the Spellslinger series, can't really tell you what it's about so I'm gonna have to move
on, like I can't believe, I can't believe. I...
I was just stunned when I saw I had all of them. And Krystin, finally, also sent
me the rest of the Raven Cycle series, Ashleigh sent me the Raven Boys a few
months back, and I now have, what order do they go in? Is it the Dream Thieves, book 2?
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, book 3? And the Raven King, book 4, I think it goes? I
can't really tell you what the Raven Boys series is about.
I'm just dying to read them, absolutely dying to read them, and it is a series
that I think is really important for me to read in 2020,
it was very hyped and it's a lot of people's favorite series, so 2020 is a
year to read those hyped series and get to these books that have been gifted to
me. Thank you, thank you so much! So Krystin please, PLEASE send me a message
I just want to thank you personally because it just made my day, like thank
you, you didn't have to. And also huge, huge thank you to Paige and Codie for
sending me stuff as well, like seriously, six days in, 32 books
acquired. But I've read one of them so that's good. I don't even think I can
pick them all up! That was my first ever haul of 2020, I
want to keep on top of these book hauls so I can tell you what I got and
hopefully there'll be some great recommendations in there for you as
well. I hope you enjoyed the video, please like
if you did and subscribe if you haven't already,
leave a little comment, tell me what books you acquired in 2020 so far and if any
of these books you would recommend to me as well, thank you so much for watching, I
so appreciate it, and I will see you in the next video. Bye! I don't know if I can even try to pick this up!
Oh my god, oh god, oh god, oh crap! I swear I'm gonna do my back in.
I can't, I literally can't! Oh, oh, okay, okay. It's the wrong way around, isn't it? It is
the wrong way around. I need this for my thumbnail. I wanna keep some surprise. Okay I want to
try and turn, I'm gonna try and turn these around, but, I don't know how. I
could put them down and start again but we're in too deep lads,
we're in too deep! Right, let's try it, oh god they're so heavy! Okay, no I'm doing
this wrong I shouldn't be doing this! [grunting] Yeah, okay, maybe I can do it like this?
Right... [grunting] [evil laugh]
