Past hauls: have I read them?

Hello, friends and book readers! In the past, I’ve done posts where I looked at my past anticipated release posts and past TBRs to see how many of the books I’ve read. And I thought it’d be fun today to do that, but for books I’ve hauled since having this blog.

This isn’t a complete list of books I’ve bought or received since having this blog, but it’s fairly close as I (a) rarely buy books and (b) tend to talk about it when I do. There are some I bought around this time last year that I never posted on the blog, and I quite frankly don’t remember which books they were, so they’re not on this list. Also, these are books I’ve received over the last five years. I don’t tend to buy that many books throughout the year, and rather get a bunch at Christmas and then one or two per month during the year. So it looks like a lot of books, but this is spread out over several years.

But without further ado, here are the books I’ve hauled, which I’ve read, and which I still have to read!

Some stats

Read: 50 books
Currently reading: 2 books
Still need to read: 35

Overall, I’m decently happy with this breakdown! I’ve read more books than not, so that’s exciting. A lot of the books I haven’t read yet are books I’ve received recently and just haven’t had the time to read, or books that weren’t on my TBR before receiving them. There are, though, definitely a few on my “still need to read” list that I was super excited to read when I received them, and a few that are on my top TBR. I also have a couple on my 2021 TBR, so hopefully I’ll get to those soon.

There are also a couple I honestly don’t know whether I’ll ever read. There’s at least one I received as a gift that I tried to read and wasn’t loving, but it has sentimental value for me. There are a couple I have where I probably won’t read the physical copy of them, but will try to get the audiobook instead. But, overall, looking at the list of books I still need to read, there are a ton I’m so excited to read.

But anyway, here are the books I’ve read and still need to read!

Read

• The One by John Marrs: read this fairly recently, and loved it. Highly recommend if you’re looking for dumb fun.
• Night by Elie Wiesel: also read this recently and thought it was great and well-done.
• Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang: this book is criminally underrated, and I need more people to read it ASAP please.
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: this is one of the most hyped books, and with good reason. I started reading this the day I bought it.
• Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami: these books were really my introduction to Murakami, and they’re very good.
• The Measure of my Powers by Jackie Kai Ellis: I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and read it soon after. Definitely recommend.
• The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson: super interesting, highly recommend if you enjoy thrillers.
• We Were Liars by E. Lockart: wasn’t as wowed by this as everyone else is.
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: read this on summer vacation and loved it.
• Slide by Jill Hathaway: this was a very average YA novel. Not terrible, not amazing, not offensive.
• The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney: this was a really great middle grade novel that had been on my TBR for far too long.
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt: THE dark academia book. It took me forever to read, but I get the hype.
• Broken Things by Lauren Oliver: another relatively inoffensive YA novel. Wouldn’t reread, but am not mad I read it.
• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand: ditto here. Definitely recommend, but won’t be rereading.
• A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott: the best essays I’ve ever read, and I think everyone should read this.
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline: so good, highly recommend.
• Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko: I also didn’t love this as much as everyone else, but I do think it’s brilliantly written and it’s 100% a me issue rather than an issue with the book.
• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: so good, obviously.
• Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney: my first Rooney, and definitely not my last!
• The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson: this was so interesting and I loved it a lot. Definitely recommend.
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: one of my all-time favourite books, everyone should read it.
• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See: I thoroughly enjoyed this! I just love Lisa See tbh.
• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard: super interesting, definitely recommend if you like true crime.
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado: as perfect and amazing as everyone else says.
• The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao: very fun, very interesting but with a bad ending.
• Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese: so so so good, Wagamese is a gem.
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: top-tier idea, not my style execution.
• Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim: amazing, 10/10, everything I could ever want in a YA fantasy novel.
• The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates: unfortunately, I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to. I really struggled with the writing.
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice: I loved this book, and it was really something to read during the first lockdown.
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: such a good short story collection, everyone should read this.
• The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton: this was such a fun read, and I’d definitely recommend it.
• Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: I didn’t love this book as much as everyone else does, but I still really enjoyed this.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: I loved this book as much as everyone else, it’s so good.
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: this book was made for me in a lot of ways, and I loved it.
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne: I liked a lot of this book, but I hated how Boyne wrote women (he’s also a transphobe so there’s that).
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: my favourite book of all-time.
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: not as good as I was hoping.
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: as good as I was hoping, I loved it a lot.
• The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake: everything about this book was good, except the ending.
• Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman: I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to, but I can appreciate it.
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: I loved this book so so so much, and will read anything Ng writes.
• The Power by Naomi Alderman: I really admire a lot about this book, but don’t think it’s as brilliant as the awards seem to think.
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: I really enjoyed this book when I read it, but haven’t thought about it much since I read it.
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: I loved this book when I read it, and I have thought about it a lot since I read it.
• The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis: this book was a really great YA read.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: this book was fun, and nothing more.
• milk and honey by Rupi Kaur: this book is not as good nor as bad as everyone likes to pretend.
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates: this book is fantastic, and all white people should read it.
• Sabrina by Nick Drnaso: this graphic novel was made for me in a lot of ways, and I loved it.

Still need to read

• The Project by Courtney Summers: currently reading 
• Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
• The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz: 2021 TBR
• Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers: 2021 TBR
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong
• Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon
• The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh: top TBR
• Asking For It by Louise O’Neill
• Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan 
• Beyond the Trees by Adam Shoalts 
• Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: currently reading
• Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor: 2021 TBR
• The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
• The Tattooist of Aushwitz by Heather Morris
• Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
• The Paris Hours by Alex George
• The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
• Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
• Women & Power by Mary Beard
• A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara
• Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
• Keeper’n Me by Richard Wagamese
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
• A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby
• Truth be Told by Beverly McLachlin
• Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft
• Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

So there are all my past hauls, and which books I’ve read and which I still need to read! Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? Do you also have a lot of physical books you want to read? Let me know!

Ally xx

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