Birthday Book Haul
This year I turned thirty, I am trying to be a strong independent woman about it, but I’m just not there yet and I don’t really want to talk about it. What I will talk about is what I did for my birthday! I commandeered my family and essentially forced them to drive and accompany me to three different bookstores around the Lower Mainland. It was pure bliss. Many books were acquired and I felt very loved and very special. Let’s get into my birthday book haul!
Companion Books
I’ve talked about Companion books before, naturally, they are after all my favourite bookstore. My dad wasted exactly no time before becoming the employee’s new best friend. This is no surprise because the staff here are truly wonderful! Always ready to help you or give you a great new suggestion. I’ve never left without feeling like I’ve made excellent book choices.
I ended up getting five books here, I’d HIGHLY recommend going here yourself but if you can’t I’ll link the books I bought.
- The Plague – Albert Camus
(My dad made me read this in grade 7 and I hated it and also it gave me my first existential crisis. Why am I reading it again? I want to see if I like it now.) - Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher
(This is book 8 in a series I am slowly reading my way through. If you read the Maltese Falcon and thought ‘this should have more wizards’ then this is the series for you.) - Daisy Miller – Henry James
(I read a book that talked about this book so when I finished that book I had to get this book too.) - The Narrow Road to the Deep North – Basho
(I’ll be honest I recognized that the design on this book was sashiko stitches and that is the reason I bought it. Also, it’s beautiful.) - Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
(I know I am not going to enjoy reading this but the same book that made me read Daisy Miller made me read this one. So at some point, I’ll bite the bullet and give it a read.
Book Warehouse
I had never been to Book Warehouse before but it was a lot of fun, rather out of the way for me but I liked their setup. They had shelves with themes so if you wanted a certain type of book like ‘cozy mystery’ you could browse that shelf and pick something.
It was a really fun place to browse around. If you’re not sure what to read next and just want to absorb some bookish inspiration this is the perfect book shop for you. I picked up a few books here and in hindsight, there were a couple more I should have grabbed.
- Winter – Kristeen McSwein
(This is a book from the TATE museum and is a collection of artworks about/of winter. I was feeling the bleak ‘when will this frozen hellscape end’ vibes and just wanted to remind myself winter is also beautiful.) - Persuasion – Jane Austen
(This is my favourite novel by Austen. I already have a copy but I did not care about that.) - Lasting Lines – Jamie Grant
(I’ve been delving into poetry more but it still really intimidates me. This book seemed like a nice little sample course of poetry.)
Indigo
The last stop was Chapters/Indigo to pick up those last books I couldn’t find in the other (cheaper?) shops. I love those hole-in-the-wall places but it’s also nice to walk through the massive Indigo on Granville street.
I’m sure this will surprise exactly no one but I picked up quite a few books from Indigo. I honestly would have gotten more but they didn’t have half the books I was looking for. Perhaps that was for the best.
- A Murderous Persuasion – Katie Oliver
(I love Austen *see my second copy of Persuasion* and I also love a cozy mystery. That’s all I’ll say about that.) - Nocturnal – Wilder
(I’ve read another book by this poet and I loved it that was incentive enough for me but it didn’t hurt that this book looks like magic.) - Crown of Midnight – Sarah J Maas
(I am really really trying to get into this series but it is a struggle. I am using this gorgeous book cover to motivate me.) - Stardust – Neil Gaiman
(I’ve been wanting this gorgeous version of Stardust for a really long time but I always talked myself out of it. After all, I have a mass-market paperback that’s been dropped in the bath. But I talked myself into it since it was my birthday and all. ) - Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
( I am so scared of this book because it is thick! It is a chonky book but I keep thinking about it so I might as well give it a go. Might take me three years to finish.)
Roundup
I adored the birthday book haul and it makes me so happy. I love all the books I bought and I’m looking forward to reading them. That being said I am once again putting myself on a book-buying ban. Time to tuck into the books I’ve got and cool down the book buying.
Happy Reading
Hannah
You can read about my last book buying ban adventure here: How’d No-Buy November Go?
