Spring 2021 Book Haul

Hi friends 👋🏻 We’re now at the end of spring and about to go into summer (pray for me because I hate summer) so I thought that today I would share all of the books that I got in spring with you all! At least I think these are all of the books I bought, there may be more that I forgot about.

I’ve been in a huge horror mood since October last year and that definitely shows in this haul. Instead of going to the YA section of the bookshop I’ve been going to the horror section instead 😅

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix - I’m not the biggest fan of things to do with exorcisms or demonic possession because they can become overwhelmingly Catholic, but I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book because I love cheap 80s horror movies, and I also have a ton of nostalgia for VHS tapes. Which is weird because I had both videotapes and DVDs when I was a kid.

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave - One of my favourite books ever is Dracula, and I’ve always been fascinated by the three vampire brides that show up once in the book but are everywhere in other Dracula media. I’m not that keen on retellings of things that aren’t folklore (books that used to be copyrighted, like Dracula or Frankenstein) but I am willing to give this one a chance. I can’t say no to vampires, after all.

Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr - This is the only regular contemporary book that I bought this season, and I bought it because I have heard this is book has the best Autism representation as it was written by an Autistic author. And that’s all I ever ask for from books about Autism!

Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw - Back to the spooky books! Naturally, this one is another vampire book but we have even more points because this is a UKYA horror book with vampires and a protagonist from the North of England. And another VHS inspired book cover so that makes me a very happy bunny 🥰

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power - I’m not exactly sure what this book is about but I liked Wilder Girls and how mindfucky that was, plus this one has queer characters too, so I’m excited to dive in 🙂

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus - I have been craving a good YA mystery thriller for a long time, and all of my mutuals on Goodreads have given this good reviews so my expectations are a little high at this point.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland - This is another book that I picked up because of the cover, but I’ve been in such a huge horror mood for months now that I couldn’t just leave it in the bookshop. I like how the blurb is kind of vague because I like going into these kinds of books without knowing anything.

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu - I’ve wanted to read this book for the longest time because queer classic books can be difficult to come across if you don’t know where to look, and now I finally have a copy! I also didn’t realise how short this book is 😲 However, the blurb of my copy has my biggest pet peeve ever: which is calling it “the original vampire story” when it isn’t! The original vampire story (as we know it and outside of folklore) is The Vampyre by John Polidori and was written on the same night as Frankenstein was. Someday Polidori will get the recognition he deserves.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix - My fourth vampire book! I will never apologise for being hyper fixated on vampire media because it doesn’t hurt anybody and makes me happy. The Goodreads summary for this one describes the plot as Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula and that means absolutely nothing to me because I haven’t seen those movies, but I’m still interested.

talk to me!

What books have you bought recently?