House of Lavender

(The packages for the second and third haul.)

I had a huge haul coming the last two days.  I am pretty sure the Pos Laju guy cringes everytime he sees a package with my name.  Not only do I buy a lot of things online, my house is also pretty far from the Pos Office in our county. 

(The first haul.)

The first package arrived on Friday.  It was a set of books written by Kiera Cass.  I bought this from Facebook from a very friendly seller ( I am going to stalk her Facebook to see if she is selling more books after this) and was so pleasantly surprised to see them in great conditions.  They were almost like new, I was so happy.  There were no wrinkles anywhere, her daughter took really good care of her books.  Most of the books are from ‘The Selection’ series which had piqued my interest from the first time I heard about it.  The set entails the entire ‘The Selection’ series (‘The Selection’, ‘The Elite’, ‘The One’, ‘The Heir’ and ‘The Crown’), two after-stories (‘The Selection Stories’ and ‘Happily Ever After’) and a novel that is not part of the series, but sounds interesting just the same, ‘The Siren’.

Synopsis:

“For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.”

The synopsis gives a dystopian Cinderella-ish vibe, though it is technically not a fairy-tale retelling.  I am already around half-way through the first book. 

(The second haul.)

The second and third haul came the next day, on Saturday.  The second haul was a set of children’s classics that I bought from another seller from FB, one that I am a regular customer to (in fact, this is the seller that I bought from the most!) I was so excited for this because I really love reading children’s books whenever I am in the mood for something light and uncomplicated.  This set contains 41 hard-cover books!  My room feels like a library now.

(The third haul.)

The last haul was comparatively smaller than the first two.  I only bought 6 books from another seller, also from FB.  This is my first time buying from that seller, and now that I know she is legit, I am going to frequent her page even more.  She has a lot of interesting books in her collection, but my budget was tight back then, so I could only buy these 6!  Interestingly, this Harry Potter book (The Goblet of Fire) marks the completion of my Harry Potter collection.  Yay!

 

I am a big fan of books and usually buy them through sellers on Facebook.  That doesn’t sound like a very smart move on my part, but out of all the times I have been buying books from strangers, I have never been cheated even once, even when the prices seemed too good to be true, so yay! 

Anyway, this haul is not an extremely expensive one, cause the books are all second hands.  The shipping is a pain though.  The books had to cross through seas to get to me.  Some people may say that it is better for me to buy things offline, but there are no second hand book stores here where I live.  If I have to buy them new, I can only buy less than 10 new books for the price that I spent on this haul.  Such a big difference.

Titles:
1.       Louis Sachar’s Holes
2.       Daisy Waugh’s The New You Survival Kit
3.       Lilian Harry’s The Bells of Burracombe
4.       Silverfish’s New Writing
5.       Robert Rankin’s The Brightonomicon
6.       Sweet Valley High’s Power Play
7.       Chris Manby’s Girl Meets Ape
8.       Joan Bauer’s Thwonk
9.       Claudia Gabel’s Sweet and Vicious
10.   Catherina Clark’s Maine Squeeze
11.   Mary-Ann Tirone Smith’s An American Killing
12.   Sarah Lovett’s Acquired Motives
13.   Sarah Hylton’s Fragile Heritage
14.   Hannah Montana’s True Blue
15.   Peter Mayle’s A Year in the Provence
16.   Joanna Rossiter’s The Sea Change
17.   Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Don’t You Dare Read This Mrs. Dunphrey
18.   Elvira Woodruff’s The Magnificent Mummy Maker
19.   Tales of the British Isles:  Ireland
20.   Bratz Clued In!  Recipe for Disaster
21.   Winx Club:  A New Friend
22.   New General Knowledge Manual
23.   Collin’s English-Malay; Malay-English Dictionary
24.   Sally Gardner’s The Red Necklace
25.   Sara Shepard’s Wicked
26.   Cate Tierman’s The Night’s Child
27.   Nancy Holder and Debby Viguie’s Wicked
28.   The Wizard’s Apprentice: School of Wizardry
29.   Roget’s 21^st Century Thesaurus
30.   Geraldine McCaughrean’s Theseus
31.   Tamora Pierce’s Cold Fire
32.   William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
33.   Barbara Trapido’s The Travelling Horn Player
34.   Joanna Trollope’s The Brass Dolphin
35.   Angel: Stranger to the Sun
36.   Kristy Crawford’s Other Women
37.   Diana Wynne Jones’ Mixed Magics
38.   Luanne Rice’s Angels All Over Town
39.   Christopher Pike’s Final Friends:  The Dance
40.   Robert Rankin’s Knees Up Mother Earth
41.   Longman’s Active American Idioms
42.   The Farringford Journal of Emily Tennyson
43.   Susan Fletcher’s Oystercatchers
44.   Nina the Fairy Ballerina: New Girl
45.   Kieron O’Hara’s The Enlightenment
46.   Philip Ardagh’s The Heir of Mystery
47.   K.A Applegate’s The Ellimist Chronicles
48.   Almond Blossom’s Mystery
49.   Sara Shepard’s Heartless
50.   Cornelia Funke’s Ink Death
51.   Jenny Moss’ Shadow
52.   Berlie Doherty’s The Company of Ghosts
53.   Diane Stanley’s Bella at Midnight
54.   Oliver Potzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughter
55.   Nancy Werlin’s Extraordinary
56.   Alexandra Potter’s Me and Mr. Darcy
57.   Wendy Holden’s Marrying Up
58.   Alan Jolis’ Love and Terror
59.   Joanna Bourne’s My Lord and Spymaster
60.   Michael Cox’s The Meaning of Night
61.   Julianna Baggott’s Pure
62.   Ian Crofton’s Brewer’s Cabinet of Curiosities
63.   Avi’s The Traitor’s Gate
64.   Tamora Pierce’s Terrier
65.   Michael Scott’s The Alchemyst
66.   Lindsey Leavitt’s A Farewell to Charm
67.   Lauren Kate’s Torment

So far, I have finished reading two books from this list: Fragile Heritage by Sara Hylton (5*) and The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty (4*).