The past couple of weeks have been good for books. After a trip to Borders, I realized that I didn’t get all the books I’d wanted, so I headed to Amazon and then I headed to Bookcloseouts. Not only that, I also received a few titles from publishers. All in all, I can’t complain.

From Borders

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Having enjoyed other Gaiman novels, I decided it was time to give one of his grown up books a try and I’ve heard so many good things about this one that when I saw it, I had to buy it.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz: There’s a 99% chance that I already own an older version of this book. I read a great deal of R. L. Stine and Alvin Schwartz when I was a kid, so this is going to be a nostalgic reading experience for me.

Tales from the Odyssey (Part 1) by Mary Pope Osborne: This was a book I couldn’t resist—Greek gods, goddesses, and a cursed Grecian king? I’ve already finished it and must say, what an excellent retelling of Odyssey for a young audience. Already looking forward to the second part. (See the Amazon section.)

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke: The first thing that caught me was the cover: Dark and mysterious. Then I read the back cover and knew that I wanted to read this. It would probably be a good R.I.P. challenge read, but I don’t know if I can hold off on it that long.

From Amazon

Tales from the Odyssey (Part 2) by Mary Pope Osborne: When I got home and got halfway through the first book, I realized I’d made a mistake by not snagging the second book. (Plus, Borders didn’t have it in stock.) So I hunted it down on Amazon and was glad to find it in stock and on special, 4 for 3, which meant I needed to get another three books to take advantage. (Yes, I know there are 6 books, but technically the last 2 were bargain books.)

Soulstice (The Devouring, Bk 2) by Simon Holt: I don’t know how long this book was sitting in my shopping cart just waiting to be bought. Finally, I thought about The Devouring and how badly I want to find out about Ebon which broke me down. I’m trying to save this read until October, but I don’t think I’ll make it. Maybe.

Song of the Wanderer (The Unicorn Chronicles, Bk. 2) by Bruce Coville: I absolutely adored Into the Land of the Unicorns, which was the first book in this series. I was elated to see that the second book was also on special, so I snapped it up. It will make a lovely light fantasy read.

Uninvited by Justine Musk: The title turned me off. I’d already tried a book titled Uninvited and the memory of reading it still hurts. But I read the back cover Musk’s book and the storyline just sounds so intriguing, plus (as far as I can tell) there aren’t any vampires, which is a good sign.

Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart: I don’t know if I’m emotionally ready to read this book yet, but I’ve seen so many people mention the beautiful writing that I just can’t resist. I’ll just steel myself and dive in…one of these days.

Kiss & Blog by Alyson Noel: Some time ago I saw this title mentioned on a blog (sorry I can’t remember it now so I could give some credit) and forgot about it. Then Amazon recommended to me, I saw that it was a bargain book and figured why not? From the description, it feels like it’s going to be a fun read.

From Bookcloseouts

The Tarot Café Vol. 5 & 6 by Sang-Sun Park: I enjoyed volumes 1-4 (well, 1-3 more than 4, but…) and I’m trying to figure out why it took me so long to get the final two volumes. As an aside, I’m a bit sad that book 6 is the final in the series, but all good things must eventually come to an end, right?

The Tarot Reader’s Daughter by Helen Dunwoodie: Pure impulse buy. This may come as a surprise, but I love tarot cards—primarily the artwork. When I was doing a search for the Tarot Café books, this book popped up in the search results. It was cheap, it looked interesting, so it was another why not? moment.

From Publishers

Empty by Suzanne Weyn: When I opened up the package and saw this book inside, I got chills. There’s a soft spot in my heart for dystopian reads and this one was especially unnerving because it deals with the depletion of fuel. What will happen when there are no more fossil fuels? What will people do? What will we become? Can’t wait to find out! (Um…not in real life though.)

Solitary by Travis Thrasher: Let me be honest and say that I have no idea what to expect from this book. I received a nudge from someone who said it would be up my street and the publicist was kind enough to send me a copy. I’ve already read the first couple of chapters and I have to admit, I like Thrasher’s style so far.

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford: The back cover made me laugh. That, my friends, is a really good sign (usually). Rich grannie declaring that she’s about to die and that she’s changed her will to exclude the whole family unless the culprit of a crime comes forward and offers her lawyer a written confession…oh I can just imagine the confessions now.