Book Haul for April 2020

I supported local business by doing what I do best: shopping for books. Here's what I got.

Titles mentioned:
The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel
A Woman of No Importance, Sonia Purnell
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, Shokoofeh Azar
Ghachar Ghochar, Vivek Shanbhag
My Brother's Husband, Volume 1, Gengoroh Tagame
My Brother's Husband, Volume 2, Gengoroh Tagame
The Man Who Loved Children, Christina Stead
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
Valentine, Elizabeth Wetmore

But wait, there's more!

[louisity]

Thanks for sharing Shokoofeh Azar's book & Lucy Foley's book. I'll add the books in my Goodreads to read list. 📚

[bookwalk]

Yah! Book of the Month. I am glad to hear The Guest List is good. I did get both of these as well as another one. Haven’t read them yet. Looking forward to them!

[hedgiecc]

Hooray for a great haul! I’ve launched into The Mirror and the Light - only just past 100 pages but loving it so far.

[dtmonstage]

I almost missed my own shout out....I was watching this, and heard you talking about Valentine and thought “oh who else liked it? I want to follow them!”....rewind and find out. It’s me. Hahaha. I am so honored to have made it into one of your videos, Greg!

[mradcaqbdb]

A Woman of No Importance sounds and looks great. I have added it to my list. I love pictures in non-fiction. They can really enhance the experience. When I read On Chapel Sands (I think called Five Days Gone over here) last year, the pictures played a great part in the book, even though there were just a few. This was my favorite book of 2019, by the way. I highly recommended it. (The cover is once again dull on our side. I’m happy to have my UK edition.)

And don’t get me started on maps in books! 😁

[sami-booksnmessybuns]

I’ve been so intrigued by Wolf Hall but have been too intimidated to pick it up... great video! Always enjoy your content.

[HalienNation]

Valentine is Brilliant! Hope you will review it. I did not find it difficult to read; so beautifully written and I couldn’t put it down. Enjoyed your video

[joncapps]

A Woman of No Importance is really good!! I read it last May

[lindseysbooklife]

I've been trying to find books by and about people who are not familiar to me and that has been fun!

[myreadinglife]

I need to order volume 2 of My Brothers Husband. The first one was so great.

[drawyourbook]

If you have not read Yoko Ogawa or Ngugi wa Thiongo, I would recommend. Also, I know that Amelie Northumbs is Belgian, but she lived in Japan, and has a memory from when she lived there. I dont know if that counts for your challenge. And also Edurado Galeano is amazing

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

Love the Owl and the Pussy Cat T-shirt.

[robotnic]

I thought Ghachar Ghochar was great. If it reminds you of anything please let me know, I'm always looking for books like it. Hope you enjoy these.

[CourtneyFerriter]

I'm with you on the easing restrictions before it's time. I live in Georgia, where our governor is actively trying to get us killed. He's called for reopening of gyms, fitness studios, hair salons, nail salons, massage parlors, and restaurant seating which began on Friday, April 24 and Monday, April 27. If cases don't spike again here quickly, I'll be very surprised. Glad you are enjoying your recent reading. I'm currently reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse; Toni Cade Bambara's Gorilla, My Love; and Leah Hager Cohen's Strangers and Cousins, all of which I'm enjoying so far.

[KKKJJJ]

The new BOTM is out. So many good books, even in the adds on selection, don’t know what to choose this time lol

[justjuanreader]

I also got the UK edition of The Mirror and the Light, it’s ridiculously beautiful!

[TamaynIrraniah]

I know what you mean about the fear of dequarantining. My husband is a pharmacist here and he told me that even when the country reopens on May 11th, we're still not going to just immediately run out and do stuff. For us, we're going to go out a bit more often, but we won't self quarantine completely until late June most likely.

Really glad to hear you enjoyed the story for My Brother's Husband. I guess it depends on what you like for manga. There are the classic action series like Naruto, One Piece, and Fairy Tail. Theres not real much in terms of story though. I think ging to some of the past classics might be good, even if they're hard to find. Rurouni Kenshin is a fun classic, but his past is more emotional and more interesting too. If you can find Trust and Betrayal, which are actually anime, I can't recommend them enough for the beauty of the story. If you liked Dungeons and Dragons, Record of Lodoss War was really fun, but there's not as compelling of a story. Blade of the Immortal is good if you like Supernatural Samurai Epics. Cowboy Bebop is great if you like Science Fiction. More traditional Japanese historical supernatural is best fulfilled by Mushishi. Monster is great for a thriller, and 20 Century Boys is an interesting supernatural thriller. Seriously, I am terribly excited about your interest in manga, because it's all about your personal taste, and it would be a shame to be turned off by one bad experience.

The Guest List did sound pretty fascinating. I heard it described as And Then There Were None revisited. I have it on my eventually will be read. I am still working my way through fantasy and sci fi classics currently. I got the first part of Asimov's Foundation series, and have almost finished The Dark Tower 6, and starting book 5 of The Wheel of Time. Hope you're doing well, and see you soon!

[sofiareads]

Wow! A Woman of No Importance sounds so interesting! I’m going to have to pick that up :)

[ameliareads]

If you are interested, we could do a buddy read of The Man Who Loved Children at some point.

[the_broken_spine]

I don't have any manga recs, but if you haven't check out Ashley's booktube channel @bookishrealm. She has lots of videos that involve mangas and she's also a librarian.

Stay safe. I think it's a bad idea to start opening things up now. I'm glad my state is not reopening yet it's considered a hotspot. Although cases have slowed the numbers are still growing every day.