Saturday 19 September 2015

Haul of Fame


[laughs interminably at own pun]

Currently in my life I'M REDRAFTING! I am very very excited about this (I've never done it before). It's pretty weird, though, returning to those early chapters. It's summer, and Corrie's not met Jacinthe or Mel or Jem or Freddie ... she is young and innocent. She does not know the pain that I will dole upon her as the book goes on. ~evil author laughter~

I'd love to tell you that this -- editing -- is why I've been absent for a whole eight days; that I've been writing such a feverishly beautiful second draft I've not had time to blog. Sadly, the real reason is that school has been horribly hectic.

I need to make my uni application by October 1st. That is very, very soon.

Yikes.

On another note, my hundred followers giveaways are now closed! Congratulations to my two lovely winners, Megan and Joanna.

So, today I bring you my later summer haul!


This is the last haul post you'll see in a while. At the end of August I went to the Edinburgh Fringe and stopped by Waterstones, and as I handed over £35 for Demon Road and the two Carol Ann Duffy books, I was just like ... this has got to stop. So no more books*, clothes, or any other unnecessary purchases until Christmas!**

*I know that books are necessary purchases, but if you saw the amount of unread ones on my shelves you'd understand. I need to just buckle down and read the books I own.
**I may reward myself with a fandom T-shirt at that point. For good behaviour.



Bought for me by my very awesome friend Joanna (the giveaway winner, yes) from a charity shop. They were 40p each! Sure, the spines are in terrible condition, but that's the secondhand life and I'm proud to live it.
I am so so so excited about my Percy Jackson future. I'm grinning right now considering the prospect.


These six beauties were NOT all bought this summer, but I thought I'd show you the whole lot!
First by accident, now by intent, I am building a very beautiful George Eliot collection.
(Now there even seems to be a colour scheme emerging.) I bought Scenes of Clerical Life in St. Andrews -- it is gorgeous* -- and Felix Holt in Glasgow. I'm so happy!

*The book, I mean, but the town is too.
Also purchased in St. Andrews, following the recommendation of an aunt to read some Amis. If you look carefully it's not in the top photograph because, uh, I forgot to add it in. Sorry, Martin.
It's a WW2 modern classic ... intriguing.
Next St. Andrews purchase: Ptolemy's Gate! That is the trilogy complete, as seen here, and after reading The Amulet of Sarmakand in July (review here) I am very much looking forward to continuing these books.
I've had so many recommendations for Murakami ... this lovely hardback specimen was also bought in St. Andrews. Have you read it or another of his works? What did you think?
Final St. Andrews buy. (We went there on a day trip during camp. I should probably have explained that sooner.) If you're very observant you'll see this isn't my photo -- that's because my sister took the book and now it is somewhere in the dark vortex we call her bedroom. I looked for it earlier, but to no avail. ~stares into the distance~ That room is a scary place.
Anyway, I love The Shadow of the Wind so I'm super excited to read this!

Now that I've got '...And that's when it fell off in my hand' I am 8/10 in my Georgia Nicolson collection! Yay!
I've read the first seven .... I'm going to read #8 very soon. So excited. So, so excited.

Mum: where did that spotty wrapping paper go?
Me: PHOTO OPPORTUNITY!
Also bought by Joanna (I love you ... good old Ur). She's obsessed with has a healthy affection for all things Tolkien. I think she's trying to indoctrinate me. 
(Not that I'm not fully willing to be indoctrinated. I am. LotR is life.)

And THIS I ordered online! I have an almost physically painful longing to continue this series. ~rocks back and forth~

It's a pity about that foul cover, though. I think that's the worst cover model cover I have ever seen. I mean it. Ugh. (It wasn't, incidentally, the cover Amazon said they'd send. Thanks for nothing, guys.)
I READ THIS AND ADSAFDGLKJSDFG!!!!
SERIOUSLY!
I'M SHIPPING CHAOLAENA SO HARD I MIGHT EXPLODE!
Ugh, but really, what a great book. So much better than Throne of Glass, in my opinion. I'm going to review it soon. I'm just a fangirling ball of feels right now, to be honest.

Another Amazon secondhand fail ... the title has been scratched with Biro, see, and if you look closely someone's written Mohsin Ahmed across her cloak. Mohsin Ahmed, this is not the way to treat your books!
OK BUT THESE ARE WHAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT!

As I mentioned, at the end of August I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. My day started not very well -- the train was cancelled, so I missed my performance of Othello, and got very very lost, as I was alone and am terrible at finding my way -- but in the afternoon I went to see Carol Ann Duffy!

(She is the British Poet Laureate, if you don't know.)

Her recital was amazing. There were some wonderful poems. I'm going to link you to Mrs Faust, which comes from the The World's Wife, a collection wherein she imagines the lives of the women behind famous men. (Faust, for context, is a guy who sold his soul to the devil in return for limitless power.)

When she finished it was announced that she'd be doing a signing in Waterstones. I had a train ticket only valid till 4.30pm and it was 3.45, and in my pathetic little brain I was like "ooh I guess I'd better go home now" but when I was halfway down the street I had a sudden flash of light! "SHE'S THE POET LAUREATE!" I screamed to myself, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?!" I accosted a passerby with a cry of "WHERE'S WATERSTONES?!" and followed his direction up the street. "May a fair wind carry you!" he cried after me, waving a white handkerchief.* I burst into Waterstones and with beating heart purchased The World's Wife and Rapture. I waited in the queue, clutching them, as the lady herself entered the shop.

After thanking her, copiously, for the recital, I jumped in there with the question I'd been preparing: I told her I was a writer, and asked her about her editing process. She laughed, told me that editing is an art that takes many years, and encouraged me to read as much poetry as I could, and to treat my drafts as if I'd never read them before. I think this is great advice, and I'm thrilled to have met her.

The books are by my bed, and I still rejoice to open them and see her messily signed name. And I still got the 4.30 train. Which just goes to show, you should always seize the day.

*That not be entirely true. Dramatic effect, yeah?
BUT THIS ONE!

THIS IS THE ONE I AM THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT!

I have had a physical twist of anticipation every time I've glanced and seen Demon Road on my shelf. Derek Landy is one of my favourite authors -- if you're new here, one thing you should know about me is how much I love the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Heck, my url is a Skulduggery reference! Quite aside from the fact that I'm madly in love with the eponymous character, it's a warm, funny, thrilling series with amazing magic and marvellous characters and just ... wow. In my eyes, Landy can do no wrong. I don't know exactly when I'm going to read Demon Road, but it will be soon, and when I do you'll know about it. (Because my fangirl shrieking will be audible across the globe.)

Well! I am very interested to know: have you read any of these, particularly Time's Arrow, Colourless Tsukuru Taziki or Demon Road, and what did you think? And are you a Duffy fan?! Have you ever got a book signed? By whom?

10 comments:

  1. *emily is feeling a lot calmer after making headway with her university application* < *shoots daggers at you* DO NOT MENTION UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS TO ME OTHERWISE I WILL THROW A BOK AT YOUR HEAD.

    ALSO.

    CROWN OF MIDNIGHT *cackles* the pain has not even begun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOOK I'M SORRY OK but don't worry, in a few months we'll have offers and this time will be a bad memory!

      THANKS HAWWA THAT REALLY MAKES ME FEEL BETTER! D: D:

      Delete
  2. AHH! SUCH AN AMAZING HAUL EMILY! ♥ I absolutely adore all of Rick Riordan's books, so I hope you end up loving them as much as I did. And Crown of Midnight is absolutely amazing - can't wait to see what you think about it. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! ♥

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

    (Also, congrats on making headway with your university applications! I know how stressful that must be!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure I will! I mean, I already do! I'M SO EXCITED TO READ MORE OF THEM! :D
      I LOVED IT! Such a good book ... and Chaolaena ... aaahhhh ...

      Thanks for stopping by, Zoe! :)

      PS Haha, thank you ... it is stressful, but I'm getting there!

      Delete
  3. OH THERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS FROM YOUR HAUL THAT I WANT. I'm making an effort to not hoard books since school started and I have less time to read, so this list is very tempting.

    Good luck with your university applications!! Being a high school student, I have yet to get there but maybe a post with some advice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knooow! I have so many unread books ... hence my current buying ban. It's only been a month but it's so hard D: I need to just read the books I own, though, seriously. And I have heaps of reading for school, too >.<

      Thank you! I don't know how useful a post would be from a Brit to a Yank but I'll bear it in mind! If I get an interview at Oxford (my #1 choice) I may well post about it :)

      Delete
  4. woah WoAh WOAH WOAHHH!! SO MANY AWESOME AND BEAUTIFUL BOOKS!! I fully intend to read the Throne of Glass series....at some point..... XD And those George Eliot books are truly beautiful. :O

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Throne of Glass is really good! (I mean, the first book wasn't INSANELY AMAZING, in my opinion, but Crown of Midnight ... wooooow!) My George books are lovely. They have a special place in my heart. (I just need to actually, like, read them. I've read two out of those six ... oops.)

      Delete
  5. That is sooo cool that you got to meet an author!! Eep! That's too exciting. And got your book signed. I've never been to a book signing.

    Stroud's books looks so beautiful!

    I've never read any of these books. But I've heard a lot about Derek Landy. I might have to give him a try.

    Good luck with editing! I love editing. But I'm not at that stage yet. :(

    Also, new bookshelves are the bestest!

    I'm reading Frankenstein right now, and I'm forever misspelling the name. It's really interesting. I'm not normally a fan of long description of scenery, but it's actually really lovely. There's something cozy yet chilling about it all at the same time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knoooow! I love her! It was my first ever, so exciting!

      They are, actually.

      YOU MUST GIVE HIM A TRY! I LOVE HIM! SKULDUGGERY! MY ONE TRUE LOVE!

      Ugghhh it's HARD! Although I'm really not editing right now, I'm redrafting. My early chapters, which I wrote aged fourteen, have basically no usable material so I'm completely rewriting them, so it's just like first draft again only now I feel more pressured >.<

      I know! :D ^_^

      Huh. I've heard good things about Frankenstein -- I should read it, I think!

      Delete

Thanks for commenting! :)