More books

Wohoo books! No? Well it's my blog, so yay, books! I went to Turun Kirjamessut aka a book fair, they have both new and second hand books. I'm used to having a lot of money saved up but since I just bought a dress (I'll talk more about it once it gets here) so I had only 60€. Which is very little to spend on books. :( Oh well, I prioritized the dress. So I took my Mum with me this year so she'd keep me in check, though I did make her buy almost as many books as I did myself ^^' 

On to the actual books! The pile on the left is what I bought at the fair, the one in the middle I got for free at the fair and the pile on the right is what I've bought within a month. I've skipped showing some books I got after my last book post, but I don't remember everything so we'll go with these.

Let's start with non-fiction. Yes, I read these too, remember my books about ancient Rome and Japanese / Korean culture? So here is Wild Swan, a book of three generations of Chinese women. And a book from Gulag survivors. For some reason North Korean camps interest me so I thought I would give this a shot. 

A book about women of the Italian mafia. I've started reading it and it seems really interesting. More about Samurais, I have one in English and it was good. This one has really awesome period illustrations.

Teeny tiny book of AC/DC and a happy helper Oliver. The title is "let there be rock". It was cheap and I've listened to their music as long as I can remember since my Dad was a fan and he passed it on ^^

Onto non-fantasy fiction. I've been meaning to get books by Mo Yan for a while now, so I had to get this one. His style of writing seems really interesting, I'm exited to read it! The one on the right caught my attention with it's cover. The back says it's about circus life in the 1800's so it's no wonder it found it's way to my bookshelf. 

And then fantasy, my main focus :D I've read the Earthsea stories but wanted to own them, so this volume has the first three books. I also love the time travel and altered past in the Stravaganza series; I've read them all and now own three of them. I pitched them to sister as well, and I think she'd love them too. I'll have to remember to bring them to her.

The third book in the Witcher series! I have the first one and my boyfriend read it and said it's good, so I got this one too. I'll have to order the second one too now. And the one on the left was only 1€ = basically free, and it's a horror thing with real vampires (no glitter please, no romance either) so I had to get it.

 I got the scifi magazine for free when I bought this book, it's The Twelve and opens a post-apocalyptic trilogy. They invited me to attend a f/sf club and as a massive fantasy fan who slowly expands to scifi I was tempted, but I don't know anyone there. So socially awkward me probably won't go. :/ I can be social when I have to (work / school) and I've arranged lolita meets on my own, but somehow I find it really hard to go to things like this. Maybe some day.

I always swear I won't buy manga / manhwa, but I was lacking these two final volumes of Les Bijoux so I had to get them. But I won't buy any new manga since I don't have room for them! Plus it seems too expensive to spend 7-13€ on a volume I'll read in 15-20 minutes. I'll borrow it from friends but I'm more into anime than manga nowdays anyway. So somehow that logic makes sense?

My "don't buy manga, you'll get hooked" applies to Western comics as well. I've always been a collector at heart who wants to own things, so these two got a special permission to enter my shelves. Neil Gaiman goes without saying, and I love V for Vendetta so I got that one too.

Though I would prefer to read comics in any language other than Finnish, it just seems odd :/ I prefer to read manga in English as well. Don't know why, but it seems better. I'm weird sometimes.

By the way, we went through the whole fair and all seller (new & old), and I didn't find a single Goblet of Fire! Finnish Potters, yes, and every other English Potter, but not the only one I'm missing! Argh. I want it second hand, because all my Finnish ones I've bought new; I wanted to buy English ones second hand. And now I have six out if seven, but have difficulties finding the last missing one. By the way there's an illustrated version of the first Finnish one coming out, and I'll probably have to buy that one too. Because I collect Potters. *sigh*

I got these two for my libristi studies. The one on the left I've read already and looove it: it's about violence / mass shootings and social exclusion. In the end (spoiler) the son shoots people from atop a building, and it also wonders: the families of victims get therapy and peer support, but the family of the shooter gets none of that and is "selfish and horrible" if they cry out since it was somehow their fault. Which of course it's not. Anyway, it as a very well written book from the perspectives of the whole family through over a decade. I recommend it to my Finnish readers but very few Finnish books get translated.

The one on the right is more light hearted and I haven't read it yet, but I've only heard good of Koch. I'm really loving my studies by the way! ^^

... And now that I bought a bunch of new books, where will I put them?  I don't have space for a new bookshelf either! Luckily the ones in the living room have a bit of space, but I want all my fantasy in this one. We'll see how I manage it.

PS I love having a cat. "I can help!"

"You've read enough. Now feed me." 

Purchases

Hello, no video this week... I wanted to make an unboxing video of the Btssb skirt, but it hasn't arrived yet ^^' For some reason I didn't make a plan B and didn't want to just "wing" one, so no video, sorry... But in other news, I got a bunch other stuff! I got my "holiday money" (I don't know if it's an international thing and don't want to google; here you get extra pay for summer holiday and it has a fancy calculating pattern but basically it's half a month's pay + the pay you'd normally get) so what do I spend it on? Aside from saving some of it, I got a dress and a bunch of books, of course! I haven't decided on the dress yet, but I put the money away and stalk Lacemarket pretty much daily, plus I'll buy some blouses and shoes as well to fill my wardrobe. I'll show them once they arrive, I haven't even made all the purchases I'm planning to do. As for books, I snuffed the second hand book stores and ordered some new, here's some of them ~ 

Mistborn trilogy has been recommended to me so many times now that I decided to get it :D I still have no idea what it's about (and I like it that way, zero spoilers or prejudices), but we'll see if I like it as much as I've been told I will. As for Maze runner, I haven't seen the movie (is it even out yet?) but I've read two out of his four 13th reality books, and they're really good! I have a box set of them as well, and will soon finish the remaining two. 

This box is hilarious!! A good friend of mine got one of these books as a gift, and after reading a bit, I needed them all :D The cover art and super wide poster (which is folded next to the box) are so beautiful...

... and did I mention that these are in Shakespearean English? In a play form? Yup. I love it to bits.

New additions from second hand places to series I gather. I haven't read any of the Eragon books because I don't have the first one yet... But I have other things to read before them, so I have time to hunt it down.

Classics. Though in a way these are very different, they both tell a short(ish) story through the eyes of a young child going through unpleasant things. While Coraline is scary, A Monster Calls is one of the very rare books that I actually shed a tear reading. Actually, multiple tears. I cried like a little girl and felt like one, and I an _not_ prone to tears. So damn. Feels.

Random books about ship cats and a neighbourhood granny who kills kids. Light reading ~ I don't exactly know what the Miniaturist is about, the cover looks pretty and has "magical" and "haunting" on it, so maybe it's good? I find both thrash and gems this way, I'll find out which one this is once I get around to read it.

Sci-fi(ish) books, recommended by a co-worker. I'm still trying to branch out more from fantasy to sci-fi.

Japan and ancient Rome. The Gladiators one (with a massive glare, sorry) seems really interesting, I'm about half-way through. My Roman collection keeps expanding.

And to wrap things up, a board game I found at a flea matker / thrift store! It's really old and the price sticker didn't come off so it has a white thingy on it for forever, but this is massive fun to play ^^ Easy to learn, but has tactic elements that you can keep honing. I had a bunch of friends from work over to play board games, and they liked it too. Plus the box art is awesome, that's always a plus.

Next week I'll have lolita content for you, new skirt or not, I promise! ^^

Holiday~

I have next week off! So much time to do all kinds of things ~ A JSK tutorial for one thing. And I want to read! I've bought so many books but haven't really had time to read all of them (maybe an hour a day, I prefer to read for hours so I get really immersed to the story) so I have catching up to do. I bought the Mazerunner box because I've read the 13th Reality from Dasher as well, and they were awesome. I hope these are too. Maybe I'll take photos and list everything I've got lately but for now I'm too tired ^^'

And lastly, our tickets to Animecon have arrived! ^^ My cosplay (or character inspired outfit, I'm not even trying 100% accuracy) is going along nicely, I ordered the shoes I'll need so they'll be here on time :D I still have to plan my lolita coord, or maybe wear kodona? Luckily there's still time!

Just books :)

I haven't talked about books for a while :D I have a small story, so bare with me. Recently I bought a huge pile of books at once (I think 12 books?) for reasons. I put them in a bag and it was really full. I then put the bag on the foot area of the backseat of my car. I drove to my destination, and when I got there, I got out of my car and opened the backseat door. Now, while I was driving, the book on top of the pile had come out of the bag and on to the bench. So when I opened the door, it fell from the bench - in to a puddle of icy water. MY NEW BOOK. IN TO WATER. Not to mention it was indeed dirty, sandy car park puddle. So now the pages are all crinkly and some still have a bit of sand in them. And it was the book I wan most exited to get... Robin Hobb's & Megan Lindholm's (who are the same person, but two pen names) Inheritence, which has two cats on the cover and was the last missing book. It was to complete my Hobb collection and it's ruined... It wasn't expensive so I could just get a new one but since it's still readable it would feel awfully wasteful to do so. So, I kept it as it is and tried to get it as straight as I can, but it's still wobbly. Oh well. At least it now has a story to it :D I already read the Hobb novels and loved them, and read the first Lindholm novel and it broke my heart. Lavender <3

As for what other books I got? I've read a lot of Terry Pratchett books (Dodger and Amazing Maurice and educated rodents being my favourites) but never really delved into Discworld. I felt I had to rectify that, and decided to start from the Death novels. So I got them all, convinced I'd like them and so far, I have. His choise of words and style of writing is so compelling and entertaining. I bet that I could read a 1000 page analysis about rocks if he wrote it. Plus the hard covers looks amazing! Too bad some were out of print so I only got four. The slightly banged up paperback is from a second and book store, I have to research where it belong in the Discworld timeline but it was 3€ so I got it ^^ I'm so sad he's gone now, there won't be any new books from him...

I have the first book, Lies of Locke Lamora in Finnish and had hoped to continue reading them in Finnish but since the apparently won't be translated, I had to change language and got the second and third books in Englsh. I mean I prefer to read fantasy in English, but I hate changing language in the middle, especially in fantasy; a lot of the places and herbs and other "made up words" are translated (like quidditch is "huispaus" in Finnish) and I dislike having them change in the middle of a story. So I like to stick to a language I've started with, but alas, it was impossible. And again since I had the first one in Finnish it felt wasteful to get it again in English.

Here's a random pile of Stephen Fry and Roman emperors :D Rest are books about samurais, North Korea and China. Asian countries intrigue me so I have quite a few books about them. I also studied Japanese for quite a long time, but I have to admit that I've forgotten a lot of Kanjis since I don't use them anymore. I keep my Japanese book with my cooking, sewing, art books and Western comics in the living room so they're not in the photos.

Stephen King is still one of my favourite authors despite some of his newest books being so-so (especially with endings). I'm halfway throurgh Revival and had to stop, because it didn't intrest me. Way too much talk about God (one character is a priest), Bible and sermons until it starts talking about heroin and old American musicians. I don't know if they're real or imaginary since I have no idea abut past American music. But, the Kennedy time travel book was recommended by three people with similar book taste so I'll give it a shot :) I also got some classics, It and Pet cemetery. That and Misery, Doctor sleep and Salem's Lot are my favourites.

I've wanted to read Wheel of Time but since it's so long, it's kind of intimidating to begin but when I saw this prequel I had to get it. We'll see it I like his writing style :) The first one of the Demon Wars trilogy is at work, I read it during lunch and coffee breaks (we only have one person on a break at a time so I always read a book while I eat) and I have to say I like it so far. As for the Pullman books, I've always loved them so when I saw this all-in-one it was MINE :D The movie was super awful, but I've come to accept that it's how it goes. The only book that was better as a film that I can think of was Stardust, though I also love Neil Gaiman's work and plan on getting them on my shelf (Coraline is on it's way).

I'm a big fan on Harry Potter books. First movies are good for nostalgia, but the last ones I had to make myself watch. But the books <3 I have them at my parent's place but thy're in Finnish (and the cover art is awful) and I'd want them in English (because of what I said earlier about translated names and places). However getting them all in hard covers with the cover art I want would be quite expensive and since I already have them in another language, it would (again) feel a bit wasteful. So I made a compromise - I would buy them second hand, only for 5€ per book and with whatever cover art or format is available. It won't look as pretty on the shelf but I'll still have them. I found these three at my usual store, and now I'll have to remember what parts I already have ^^'

My last new-ish purchases are sci-fi. I've read some sci-fi and liked most of what I've read, so I want to read more of it :) I'm not so into post apocalyptic scenarios or "space pew pew stuff" (description by a friend and it's perfect) but love alternative realities (I've read the first two of 13th reality by James Dashner and loved them a lot) and alien-human societies and interactions. There are a lot of sub genres that I'm still unfamiliar with but plan to fix it.

Anyway, I also mentioned I got a new, small book case but didn't show it yet, so here it is! It has most of my non-fiction, detective and murder stories and biographies. The bottom shelf has mostly books I'm not in a hurry to read and few of my boyfriend's books, plus the huge dragon story book that didn't fit anywhere else ^^'

So this is what the Wall of Books looks like at the moment. I keep my jewelry boxes on the small one, and on top of the big ones are some of our board games, art supplies and more books :D Behind the doors are my boyfriends books, photo albums and stuff like that so no photo ~

Here are my Kera magazines and some paperbacks. Fantasy in Finnish and English, and the small size means they stand up well between board games and the stopper.. My sister gave me that book end and from the weight of it I would guess it's a door stopper(?) but it works perfectly! In the side it says "The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul... Books". I love my sister <3 

Robin Hobb, my all time favourite writer. I can't wait for the second and third book of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, the first one was so good and Fool brakes my heart! No spoilers but Bee is awesome and I love Molly and I was pleasantly surprised. I hope the next one comes out soon <3

The second shelf has my Big Name Books, such as Tolkien, Pullman, Lovecraft, Pratchett and Eddings. I don't know if Scott Lycnh is a Big Name yet but he is for me, so his books are here as well.

First shelf has my dragon fantasy, Stravaganza, Salvatore and Martin. The Random Books are here as well, as well as the Haven't Read Yet.

Second shelf has my Death Gate Cycle and other Weis & Hickman books (Mathew from the Rose of the Prophet <3). Bartimaeus trilogy is still very high on my favourites list and I got the first Redwall novel for nostalgia.

Top shelf is Potters and sci-fi, bottoms is horror. It has mostly King and books from his son, but I have some others as well. And yes those are VHS tapes, and yes we still watch them.

The book case in our living room has mostly games on it xD Some movies, decorative items and the bottom shelf has a box full of house things and papers.

Here I keep my cook books (since I'm allergic to a ton of things, I can't eat ready food), sewing, drawing, Japanese and Kanji learning books plus some comics.

Wow that was a wall of text... I just love my books and reorganize them and plan what to read next and what to buy, where to expand ^^ I just keep running out of room! And we're running out of wall space so I probably can't get a new book case unless we get rid of something else... Luckily I now have a good storage of unread books so I'll try to control the "must have" urge!

And to wrap it up, here's something that I found beautifully true. Have a nice day. 

Update: coord and books

Blogiin kirjoittaminen on tuntunut lähiaikoina vaikealta. Ei vain tule kirjoitettua. Olen ottanut kuvia ja miettinyt että "teen tästä ja tästä postaukset" mutta sitä ei tule tehtyä, ja kun aikaa vierähtää tarpeeksi, jätän sen kokonaan pois. En tiedä onko videoiden tekeminen hauskempaa vai missä tökkii? 

Writing here has seemed a bit hard lately. I just don't do it. I've taken photos and thought "I'll make a post about this and this" but then I don't, and when enough time passes, I leave it out. I don't know if making videos is much more fun or where's the problem?

No, tässä on asukuva jonka otin jonkun aikaa sitten kun harjoittelin talven varalle xD

Well, here's an outfit photo from a while back when I practiced for winter xD

Ja sitten kirjoja! Osa ostettu reilu kuukausi sitten, osa kirjamessuilta, osa sen jälkeen. Tarvitsen näille uuden kirjahyllyn, mutta mihin sen sitten pistää...

And then books! Some I bought over a month ago, some from a book fare and some after it. I need a new book shelf, but then where to put it...