Quarter 3 Book Haul: Jul-Sep

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

I have come to the conclusion that I have a serious book buying problem. Last quarter I said I wanted to maybe put myself on a book-buying ban since I had purchased so many books in those months, and yet...here we are, with another haul of 25 books. Seriously, a problem! And I can't even pretend that the ban will happen in the last quarter of the year, because that's when both my birthday and Christmas are, and we all know the only things I ask for gifts are books and the means to buy books. So. I think I just have to accept that 2024 was the year of the book haul, and maybe 2025 I can finally put myself on that ban.

Anyway...so yeah. 25 books. Let's just get into it.

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July

Horses of Fire by A.D. Rhine

"Behind the timeless tale you know is the captivating story you never heard: a sweeping epic in which Troy's strong, yet misunderstood women take center stage in the most famous war in history. Andromache is cast as the doting wife of Prince Hector, yet her Amazon warrior name means "battler of men." The only one with the cunning to outwit the invading Greeks, she must gather a band of outcasts and become the military commander she was born to be before the life she and Hector have built is reduced to ashes. Rhea is a war refugee and a horse whisperer who finally earns a place and sense of belonging in Hector's stables. To save her new home, she must become an unlikely spy and face down a forbidden love that will test all her loyalties. Helen is blamed by all for starting the Trojan War, but no one knows her real story. To escape her tormentor and foil a plot to undermine Hector, Helen must risk everything by revealing her true face to the one who despises her most. Set in the wider landscape of the late Bronze Age collapse, this realistic and immersive Troy is a perilous battleground for warriors and politicians alike, not a playground where the fate of men and women make sport for gods and goddesses. It's a harrowing novel of palace intrigue, the transcendent bond of female friendship, and the everyday bravery of invisible heroes in times of war."

Another Greek myth retelling! Are you guys getting tired of these yet? Well, too bad, because it's never going to stop. This is a retelling of the Trojan War. I've read quite a few of these (The Song of Achilles, The Silence of the Girls) but I can never get enough, really. I think this was published either last year or early 2024. 

Watership Down by Richard Adams
Read November 2021

"Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society."

I know this says I read it three years ago, but I actually DNF'd it about 70% in. Not for any bad reason, my library hold simply ran out and I never got it back, so I had to admit defeat. But I was really enjoying my time with it, and I knew I wanted to finish it eventually. It only took me three years to get around to purchasing a copy for my own. This to me screams a summer read, so I'll probably pick it up back up next summer.

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

"The Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range--from the hilarious to the truly horrible--and power as a storyteller."

Who else had to read The Lottery in high school and was subsequently traumatized by it? It's been fifteen years since I had read this short story, and I still remember everything that happened. I kind of want to do a blog post about every short story I read in school that deeply affected me. The Lottery would absolutely be in there. I've read two of Shirley Jackson's novels/novellas, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Never Lived in the Castle, but I haven't actually read any of her short stories, The Lottery not withstanding. This is my chance to rectify that!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

"A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other. The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation."

This was inspired by Olivia from Stories for Coffee, when she was reading books that reminded her of The Last of Us. Something about the way she described this book immediately pulled me in. I don't know much about it, other than that it's about a father and son as they are walking across the US in the wake of some sort of apocalyptic disaster. Considering this won the Pulitzer Prize, I'm assuming that it's a very good novel, and I'm excited to read it! I'm hoping to get to it before the year ends, because it feels like a darker Fall/Winter read to me.

Bunny by Mona Awad

"Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other Bunny, and seem to move and speak as one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled Smut Salon, and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus Workshop where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision."

I feel like I'm super late to the hype train with this one. It seems like everyone in the bookish sphere of the internet has read and loved Bunny. For a while I was rather put off by it, because a lot of people said the narrator was super unlikable and unreliable like the narrator in My Year of Rest and Relaxation which is famously one of my least favorite books ever, so I figured I wouldn't like this, either. But since it's been many years since I read that book, I decided that I should try my hand at the "unsound woman" trope once again, and Bunny seemed to be the highest rated of that trope. Wish me luck!

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

"Meditations is a compendium of ruminations and reflections by the second-century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, a staunch adherent to the Stoic philosophy. It is a spiritual journal of the author’s philosophical exercises and a chronicle of the paradox of the philosopher-king."

I feel like it's so hard to describe why I get certain books. Like, I bought Meditations because this is...what I studied in college? Except I have no real reason to buy it because it's been four years since I was in school and I never even got my degree? Whatever. I bought this because I wanted to. Let's just go with that. I will say that the Stoicism movement is something I've been interested in for a while, mainly because I can't relate to it. But I feel like Marcus Aurelius will still manage to drop some truth bombs on me while I read this, which I can always appreciate.

The Complete Poems by John Milton

"Milton devoted much of his adult life to defending the cause of Cromwell's Commonwealth. His later poetry, produced after Charles II's Restoration led to the defeat of his hopes, reflects his understanding of politics and power. In this edition of Milton's poetry, John Leonard has modernized spelling, capitalization and any punctuation likely to cause confusion. He calls particular attention to words invented by Milton and provides full notes to elucidate biblical, classical and historical allusions, many of which complicate or even conflict with the plain sense or moral implications of the text."

I bought this purely because it has Paradise Lost in it, and that's one of my top priority books of this year. I'm sure I'll read the rest of this collection, but right now I'm really just focusing on Paradise Lost. It's one of those books/poetry collections that I can't believe I haven't read yet. But no more! This is the year! When I was younger I stayed away from Paradise Lost on moral principle, because I was a moody teenager who had beef with Christianity (don't ask, it's a long story). But I have since reconciled my feelings with religion, so now I'm ready to tackle this epic poem!

We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire by Joy McCullough
Read February 2021

"Em Morales's older sister was raped by another student after a frat party. A jury eventually found the rapist guilty on all counts--a remarkable verdict that Em felt more than a little responsible for, since she was her sister's strongest advocate on social media during the trial. Her passion and outspokenness helped dissuade the DA from settling for a plea deal. Em's family would have real justice. But the victory is short-lived. In a matter of minutes, justice vanishes as the judge turns the Morales family's world upside down again by sentencing the rapist to no prison time. While her family is stunned, Em is literally sick with rage and guilt. To make matters worse, a news clip of her saying that the sentence makes her want to learn "how to use a sword" goes viral. From this low point, Em must find a new reason to go on and help her family heal, and she finds it in the unlikely form of the story of a fifteenth-century French noblewoman, Marguerite de Bressieux, who is legendary as an avenging knight for rape victims. We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire is a searing and nuanced portrait of a young woman torn between a persistent desire for revenge and a burning need for hope."

Blood Water Paint by this author was one of my favorite books of 2020, and this was one of my favorites of 2021. I definitely liked Blood Water Paint more, but I still highly recommend this book. Joy McCullough effortlessly blends prose with poetry in a stunning novel about survival, teenagerhood, and revenge against those who've wronged you. It's super cathartic, honestly.

August

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett
Read January 2023

"Sancia, Clef, and Berenice have gone up against plenty of long odds in the past. But the war they’re fighting now is one even they can’t win. This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites, or even an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe—a ghost in the machine that uses the magic of scriving to possess and control not just objects, but human minds. To fight it, they’ve used scriving technology to transform themselves and their allies into an army—a society—that’s like nothing humanity has seen before. With its strength at their backs, they’ve freed a handful of their enemy’s hosts from servitude, even brought down some of its fearsome, reality-altering dreadnaughts. Yet despite their efforts, their enemy marches on—implacable. Unstoppable. Now, as their opponent closes in on its true prize—an ancient doorway, long buried, that leads to the chambers at the center of creation itself—Sancia and her friends glimpse a chance at reaching it first, and with it, a last desperate opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe. But to do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins, embark on a desperate mission into the heart of their enemy’s power, and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted."

This took me absolute ages to find. Every time I looked up the paperback of this book, websites either said it was published at the very beginning, or it hadn't been published at all. I was very confused. Not to mention I couldn't find a copy in stores. All they ever had was the hardcover, if they had a copy at all. I finally discovered a copy at a Barnes & Noble in another city, and what do you know, it doesn't match my other two books in this series! I hate when publishers change the books mid-series. My copy of Locklands lacks any spine decor (which the other two books have) and on top of everything, it's about a centimeter taller than Foundryside and Shorefall. That's the most frustrating thing for a book collector, truly.

Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
Read August 2024

"Using the framework of tarot and conversation, Mateer approaches myth through a witchcraft-inspired lens and uses it to explore timeless issues like burnout, survival, trauma, and the restorative power in taking control of your own lore. Artemis speaks to what is wild and untamed in all of us, and in this new collection, she asks for a moment of calm."

I know I read Persephone Made Me Do It earlier in the year and found it lacking, but it felt weird to not have the complete collection, so I caved and bought Artemis as well. And you know, I liked it more? I feel like the themes were a bit stronger, and so the collection as a whole felt a bit more uniform and whole. I don't know if I'll read any more of Trista's poetry, but if she makes another goddess collection, we'll see.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Read May 2024

"Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before. As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground."

Well I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you all, since I haven't shut up about this book since I read it in May. As of right now, this is my second best book of 2024, right after The Count of Monte Cristo. I knew I needed a copy for my collection, it was just a matter of finding one out in the wild. It only took me three months!

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption."

Ladies and gentlemen, in my defense, Bella made me do it. Having read The Brothers Karamazov earlier this year, I knew I wanted to read more Dostoyevsky, and Bella has proclaimed far and wide that her favorite novel by him is none other than Crime and Punishment. So naturally I followed her blindly and bought myself a copy. I don't know if I'll end up reading it this year (my 2024 TBR just keeps growing and logically I know that some books will fall to the wayside) but I do want to read it soon so I can have a more direct comparison in my head between this and The Brothers Karamazov. 

Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull

"In the hidden dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost, Celebrant the Just, King of the Dragons, plots his revenge. He has long seen the sanctuaries as prisons, and he wants nothing more than to overthrow his captors and return the world to the Age of Dragons, when he and his kind ruled and reigned without borders. The time has come to break free and reclaim his power. No one person is capable of stopping Celebrant and his dragon horde. It will take the ancient order of Dragonwatch to gather again if there is any chance of saving the world from destruction. In ancient times, Dragonwatch was a group of wizards, enchantresses, dragon slayers, and others who originally confined the majority of dragons into sanctuaries. But nearly all of the original Dragonwatch members are gone, and so the wizard Agad reaches out to Grandpa Sorenson for help."

This is a continuation series of one of my childhood favorites, Fablehaven. I was completely and utterly obsessed with Fablehaven when I was a kid. I think I read the first book when I was fifth grade, so nine or ten years old. I even met the author, Brandon Mull, a few times at Borders book signings, and he came to my school once on tour. I had a rather embarrassing crush on him, but I think it was just the "wow I'm actually meeting someone famous" starstruck feeling instead of a full blown crush. Anyways, I never read beyond the first series, but I knew he wrote much more in the Fablehaven world. I'm excited to see what this next series has in store for the Sorenson kids!

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

"With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop. At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through. When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, with nothing to do but wait, the trio—an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes—are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they are, or could be, to each other."

Book four in the Wayfarers series. I got book three a couple of months ago, and even though I haven't read it yet, I decided to grab book four and complete the series. I know that there's a novella that's also set in the same series, but I'll probably just get that from the library, and if I really like it then maybe I'll purchase my own copy.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Read November 2022

"In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. From Sauron’s fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion. When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom."

In my last book haul I mentioned I found The Hobbit in this same illustrated edition, and that it was now a goal to have each illustrated edition of the three books made. Well, I have made progress in that goal! Now I have The Lord of the Rings, with beautiful red sprayed edges and stenciled elvish across the pages. I don't really care about sprayed edges that much, but I'm absolutely in love with these. Now all I need is The Silmarillion and my collection will be complete! 

The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare

"At the heart of the Sultan's vast empire stands the mysterious Palace of Dreams. Inside, the dreams of every citizen are collected, sorted and interpreted in order to identify the 'master-dreams' that will provide the clues to the Empire's destiny and that of its Monarch. An entire nation's consciousness is thus meticulously laid bare and at the mercy of its government..."

I got this for Emma's World Tour Book Club for August, which I find very ironic now considering this book was just edged out as the pick by another, so I bought this book for a book club that didn't actually end up reading said book. But I'm telling myself that it's okay, because I've been eyeing this book anyway, and I had the interest to read it even without the incentive of the book club.

September 

Witch King by Martha Wells
Read July 2023

"After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He’s not going to like the answers."

I really enjoyed this when I read it, and I knew that I would want to reread it in a few years. This was the book that really sold me on Martha Wells as an author, more than the Murderbot Diaries. I knew I wanted to read the rest of her fantasy books, which makes the next book in this haul extra exciting.

City of Bones by Martha Wells

"The city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working in the bottom tiers of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors. When Khat is hired by the all-powerful Warders to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients' arcane engines, he, and his party, begin unravelling the mysteries of an age-old technology. This they expected. They soon find themselves as the last line of defense between the suffering masses of Charisat and a fanatical cult, bent on unleashing an evil upon the city with an undying thirst for bone. That, they did not expect."

I know absolutely nothing about this book other than it's written by Martha Wells. This feels like the blindest buy of the year, actually. From the description, it sort of reminds me of Castle in the Air, the Studio Ghibli movie. But honestly any time an ancient technology is mentioned, that's what my brain goes to. I'm expecting more of Martha Wells's signature humor, and some fantastic worldbuilding.

Medusa by Jessie Burton

"Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love, betrayal, and destiny itself."

Another Greek myth retelling, wheee! This is an older work (as in, not published in the last few years) so I'm interested to see if there are any major theme differences in this compared to the newer retellings. The last Medusa retelling I read was The Shadow of Perseus by Claire North and I really enjoyed it, so I'm excited to kind of compare and contrast the two. I never get tired of Greek myth retellings, so just keep them coming!

An Oresteia by Anne Carson

"In An Oresteia, the classicist Anne Carson combines three different versions of the tragedy of the house of Atreus — Aiskhylos’ Agamemnon, Sophokles’ Elektra and Euripides’ Orestes. After the murder of her daughter Iphigeneia by her husband, Agamemnon, Klytemestra exacts a mother’s revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytemestra’s actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father’s death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes is driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family. Condemned to death by the people of Argos, he and Elektra must justify their actions — or flout society, justice and the gods. Carson’s translation combines contemporary language with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up this ancient tale of vengeance to a modern audience and revealing the essential wit and morbidity of the original plays."

I've read all of the plays in this collection, but I haven't read Anne Carson's translations and interpretations. I'm especially intrigued by how she wove each play together, since they were all written by different playwrights and all have a unique style and voice. Anne Carson is one of my favorite classicists, but her books are very hard to find out in the wild.

How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino

"How Do You Live? is narrated in two voices. The first belongs to Copper, fifteen, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable and enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and offering advice on life’s big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live."

This book, while apparently a beloved classic in Japan, was only on my radar because it was Miyazaki's inspiration for his "final" Ghibli film, The Boy and the Heron (I put final in quotation marks since it has lately come out that Miyazaki has un-retired and is making another movie? This man just doesn't know when to quit and I love it). That's quite literally the only reason I bought it. I'm looking forward to reading it, though!

Greek Myths by Charlotte Higgins

"Here are myths of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens. There are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, fantastical creatures, resourceful witches and the origins of birds and animals. This is a world of extremes, and one that resonates deeply with our own: mysterious diseases devastate cities; environmental disasters tear lives apart; women habitually suffer violence at the hands of men. Unlike in many previous collected myths, female characters take centre stage - Athena, Helen, Circe, Penelope and others weave these stories into elaborate imagined tapestries. In Charlotte Higgins's thrilling new interpretation, their tales combine to form a dazzling, sweeping epic of storytelling, and a magnificent work of scholarship and imagination."

I feel like there needs to be a drinking game specifically for my blog and Greek mythology. This is more of a backburner, an acorn book if you will (thank you Books Unbound for coining that phrase), something I'm not looking to read right away but rather a book that I know will fill out my collection of Greek primary sources. I always like reading a new interpretation of the myths I know so well.

Galatea by Madeline Miller
Read November 2022

"In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece — the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen — the gift of life. Now his wife, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, Galatea is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost..."

This was an excellent thrifted find. This tiny little book is sold at Barnes and Noble for like, 25 dollars! I refused to buy it on pure principle. However, I managed to find this at a thrift shop for only three dollars. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I sure snatched it up quick! I'm glad to have it, I love Madeline Miller's writing and have read this story many times in the past. Now I have my own copy!

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline
Read November 2023

In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the Sea Peoples invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy defeated them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, famine, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life a vibrant multicultural world, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires of the age and shows that it may have been their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse. Now revised and updated, 1177 B.C. sheds light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and eventually destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age--and set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece and, ultimately, our world today.

I read this last year and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately the sequel didn't quite live up to the experience of book one, but I'm happy to have this in my collection nonetheless. I actually found this at a library sale and snatched it up real quick. There was no chance that someone would take this from me! I will probably reread this sometime soon anyway, because I first read this through audio, and the physical book has pictures and diagrams that I missed out on the first time.

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now the goddess Hecate has offered Percy another “opportunity”—all he has to do is pet sit her mastiff, Hecuba, and her polecat, Gale, over Halloween week while she is away. Piece of cake, right? Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Hecuba and Gale escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

Book seven in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I feel like this book is pretty self-explanatory. Rick Riordan is an auto-buy author for me, and anything set in his Percy Jackson world, I will buy and read and most likely love. The first book in this spin-off, The Chalice of the Gods, wasn't my favorite (though that might just be because I've grown out of being the target audience) but I've seen a lot of people saying that Wrath of the Triple Goddess is a lot better than that book. I'm excited to pick it up in October!

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Unhaul

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomohiko Oda

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (an extra copy)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (an extra copy)

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran (an extra copy)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

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And that's it for this haul! Now I beg of you, don't tell me what books you bought for yourselves this quarter, because I need to stay away from any and all recommendations. It's so bad, guys...

At least my physical TBR is still under 100 books. I think right now it's at 85 or something like that. Still way over my preferred number of 50 books, but I'll cut myself some slack since I've been reading so much from the library this year.

I don't know how I'm going to get through the final quarter of the year, what with my birthday and Christmas coming up...wish me luck!

Until next time, friends!