Indulgence Insider is our version of Stacking the Shelves, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged and the Sunday Post, bringing you this week’s haul, bookish news and discussion posts from around the blogosphere!
Hello clouds, it’s been a while since I’ve done a Sunday post due to various things happening last month but it feels good to be back! Jenna visited me last weekend and I bribed her to join my October wrap up video, we celebrated our 1 year co-blogging anniversary and I’ve been incredibly obsessed with Gemina (in case you haven’t noticed my constant tweets about it).
I’ve already re-read it once and I’ve even downloaded the audiobooks of Illuminae and Gemina so I can experience it in a different format. IT’S SERIOUSLY SO GOOD GUYS. Like I’ve reached SJM levels of obsession with it which is pretty scary (to everyone around me). Anyway, you can check out my spoiler free review here to see what all the hype is about!
I’ve also been at my new job for about a month now and I’m really loving it so far. It’s amazing how a good culture and environment can do wonders for your mental health and wellbeing outside of work. Oh, and I watched Dr Strange which I absolutely LOVED! The special effects and sorcery were amazing plus I low key kind of love that the book is focused around knowledge.
Current giveaways:
- Win The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid (Australians only) – ends 13 November 2016.
Book Haul
My favourite book release month of the year!
Review Copies
These book covers are so beautiful! Not pictured are a few review copies which I passed onto Jenna.
Replica by Lauren Oliver
Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – which I somehow forgot to picture. Must’ve been hugging it.
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
A Shadow’s Breath by Nicole Hayes
Hexenhaus by Nikki McWatters
Someone I Wanted To Be by Aurelia Wills
Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – Review here.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows – Review here.
The Fever Code by James Dashner
Agent Nomad by Skye Melki-Wegner
The Unforgettable Whats His Name by Paul Jennings
How Writing Works by Roslyn Petelin
Thanks Penguin Random House, Pan Macmillan Australia, Walker Books Australia, Allen & Unwin, Scholastic, Hachette Australia and UQP for sending me these review copies!
Purchased
A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated edition
The Walking Dead Book Thirteen
Also some cute Chaol, Rowan and Dorian bookmarks I got from Hello Happy Art and Six of Crows mug I got from Cait’s Society6.
Borrowed
I went crazy with reserving a whole bunch of books at the library in an effort to curb my book spending. It seems to have worked. But I don’t know where to start! Any suggestions?
Also I am too lazy to drop all the links here because this post has already taken me over an hour 😀
Discussion Posts
- Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight talks about whether social media competence equals blogging success.
- Lauren @ Wonderless Reviews shares the signs of blogging burn out and what can be done about it.
- CW @ Read Think Ponder talks about issue books, happy stories and why we need both.
- Congratulate Nick & Nereyda on one year of co-blogging awesomeness.
- If you’ve always wanted to co-blog, join the lovely Ali and Inge on their search for a new co-blogger.
- Cait @ Paper Fury shares some hilarious and truthful book blogging confessions.
OZYAY on Air – 6 November
Not only do I get to fangirl about Gemina on social media, but now I get to share my thoughts on radio on this month’s OzYAY on Air! Tune in tonight on Rhianna Patrick’s show at 7-8pm AEST on your local ABC radio station, the ABC radio app or at radio.abc.net.au!
Listen to our last episode: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley & Special by Georgia Blain.
Author Interview: Cath Crowley’s interview here.
Subscribe to the show on iTunes!
Bookish News
- Johnny Depp has been cast as Gellert Grindelward in the next Fantastic Beasts movie. I don’t think there are fans.
- The November edition of the Aussie YA Blogger & Readers Newsletter is out, with all the latest releases, news and events. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. If this is the first time you’ve heard about it, we’re a group of Aussie YA bloggers & readers on Facebook and Goodreads. Join us, it’s fun.
In Case You Missed It
- The hype is real with The Sun is Also a Star, which Jenna LOVED!
- I celebrated Halloween with an Aussie psychological thriller, The One Who Got Away by Caroline Overington.
- Aila shared the top 5 things she loved about The Diabolic, with a guest post on the Author’s favourite sci-fi gadgets.
- I roped Jenna into her first booktube video in our October wrap up, where we fangirled and had opposing opinions lol.
- Gemina Gemina Gemina spoiler free thoughts – SERIOUSLY GUYS JUST READ IT NOW
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Minds x More Happy Than Not, what is this miracle book?
- A review on Flashfall, a new science-fiction dystopian has me sold.
How was your bookish week?
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The Illuminae audiobook in on my TBR for November. I can't wait to get to it.
Sunday Summary #28
I can\’t wait for you to listen to it, it\’s sooo good! I\’m still listening to it and it\’s riveting.
I had a massive October haul too! lol, I love how excited book bloggers get when they share their hauls and the reactions from other readers/bloggers are so wonderful!
The Chamber of Secrets illustrated edition is sooo gorgeous. I really need to add it to my Xmas wishlist. <3
Oh, and I'm happy to see you checked out More Happy Than Not from the library. 😀
Yessss book hauls are my favourite post hehe. Please add it to your wishlist, it’s soo soo pretty! If I love MHTN which I’m expecting to, I have to buy this version. It’s sooo pretty.
What a great book haul! I am jealous that you gave Gemina. I need that one soon! I absolutely loved Illuminae and I have heard great things about the sequel. I have Heartless by Marissa Meyer and I can't wait to dig into it.
Yessss I can't wait for you to read Gemina! It is one of my favourites ever!
So,,, I think what you're trying to say is that I should read Illuminae and Gemina? AMAZING haul! I'm glad you're loving your new job, loving what you do it's so important 🙂
YES YOU SHOULD LIZA especially if you like sci-fi and space. Thank you, I'm so lucky and thankful about where I am at the moment!
OMG how did you know Cait! YOU MUST BE PSYCHIC. Please read it ASAP and tweet me all of your feelings because OMG it is SO SO GOOD. and like I've read it twice and each time I picked up something new about it! ANYWAY. Crooked Kingdom omg amazing. I just read Every Heart a Doorway, it was a quick read and so good! My review is up on GR, but I might migrate it over here some time because it deserves it. YOUR MUG THOUGH <3 SO PRETTY.
Congrats on the co-blogging anniversary, and glad to hear the new job is coming along well! Having a positive, supportive work environment can really make such an impact, not only on your job but on your entire mindset as well!
Thank you Jane, having somewhere where I\’m happy has done such wonders!
This is seriously amazing. What a HAUL!!! SO many books. AAAh. I am going mad
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Thank you Resh! YES there are so many books I just don\’t know where to start!
OMG I loved Doctor Strange! I cannot wait for the Avengers Infinity War movie because I've heard he's supposed to be in that one! It's going to be epic in every sense of the word. Also, great book haul! That's a lot of books! I'm not sure how to feel about Johnny Depp cast in Fantastic Beasts… but you never know it might turn out good. I have a lot of trust in the casting people for the Harry Potter movies so yeah
Yessss how good was he? I liked how he went from an arrogant doctor to someone who could save the world, and that sorcery was amazing! Yeah, not too sure how it\’s going to be but I guess I don\’t want to assume it\’s going to be bad.
Oooo, happy blogoversary! Here's to many more years to come. For whatever reason, I was so sure that you've been blogging for years and years on end. o_o I'm really happy to hear that your job is going well! It sounds like a change of pace was exactly what you needed. =)
I adored Illuminae and Gemina as well! Though, I think you like Gemina a smidgen more. 😀 That's a great series to be obsessed with. I also adored Flashfall. That book needs and deserves all the love! I can't wait to read the sequel.
Have a lovely week, Jeann!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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Hi Alyssa, lol yes I\’ve been blogging for 4 years so our blogoversary was earlier this year but it was our co-blogging anniversary! Yeah, I\’m so happy I\’m in a place where I\’m happy. It makes a world of difference. HAHAH YES everyone knows my love for Gemina, I\’ve been shouting it from the rooftops lol. Ohhh, I know Aila loved Flashfall, I might have to check it out cos it sounds completely up my alley.
Holy crap, that is one HELL of a haul, Jeann! That is amazing — and also thank you for sharing our quest to find new co-bloggers. We've found two incredible ones and we can't wait to introduce them. ♥ I've also got Heartless and Gemina coming my way! And I should really get the illustrated Harry Potter editions because they are so, SO beautiful.
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Yeah, I usually wait until it piles up before I do one of these posts because it takes so long to photograph and everything lol. No problems, YES I am so glad you have found some fantastic ones! I\’m looking forward to meeting them Inge, that is great news! Please tell me your Gemina feels when you read it.
Gemina is one I am looking forward to, why haven't I read it yet?? Ack too many books… glad to hear it's living up to the first one though. I liked the first one but didn't love it, but I'm so curious to see what happens next. Plus space station lol. I love how the physical copy of Replica looks too- I read it as an ebook so I don't have the physical pretty in my hands lol. I may have to get a copy.
Congrats on your co- blogging anniversary! And I'm so glad to hear Dr. Strange was good, I was wondering how that would turn out.
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That’s a great question Greg! You should drop everything and read it ASAP! It’s sooo good, but be warned, you might be in a post Gemina haze that lasts for weeks. It’s sooo good though being set in the space station and wormholes, omg. Replica is so pretty but it’s a massive book! Thank you, some people didn’t like Dr Strange because of BD’s accent and the cheese but I liked it.
Your library's really fast with getting new releases! Feels like Three Dark Crowns was just released last month and you can already borrow it. It usually takes mine a couple of months, haha. Hope you like it though – it's not action-packed at all and quite slow at times, but it's got an interesting world.
Great haul, Jeann! <3
I know, they\’ve got so many new releases preordered it\’s awesome seeing what they have every now and then. I\’m looking forward to Three Dark Crowns! Yeah, I don\’t mind slow fantasy as long as it takes time to build up the world. There\’s nothing worse than fantasy that doesn\’t bother with world building. Thank you Reg!
Your book haul basically has EVERYTHING that I've been seeing on Twitter for the past month.
Maybe I should start doing bookhauls too, although I mostly get ebooks. Although I'm sure there's a way around that. It's just so awesome to show off your excitement.
Hope you enjoy your new beauties.
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Pretty much, I get most of my TBR from Twitter and other social media hehe. With eBook book hauls, you can just put the covers of the ebooks you received! Book hauls are so much fun. Thank you lovely!
I loved Gemina too! I am still using the Illuminae wallpaper on my phone Jeann! Glad you liked up and congrats on one year celebration. I've been collecting the illustrated HP book too they are so gorgeous!
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OMG the Illuminae wallpaper is so gorgeous! I\’m using a Gemina one that she made on her blog (onewayoranauthor). Thank you Kimba, it\’s such a great way to re-read the HP series!
That is some post today. And all of those books. Holy cow! I'm still waiting for my copy of Gemina to come in the mail. Just can't wait! Have a lovely week and happy reading. I wouldn't know where to start with all of those beauties:)
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I know, this is meant to be a weekly post but I just wait until my book haul gets massive before I put it together lol. I can\’t wait for you to read Gemina, I loved it so much! Yeah, I need some help deciding lol. I\’ve picked up Girl Against the Universe now.
Woah! That is a really awesome book haul, Jeann! There are lots of great titles there that I'm eager to read myself. And I'm loving your library haul as well. Start with I'll Meet You There. It was amazing and made me feel all the feels. And I need to pick up Gemina ASAP.
I hope I love it just as much as you did.
Happy reading, Jeann and have a lovely week!
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I know, hopefully I can read most of them because SO MANY AMAZING BOOK RELEASES. I'm not requesting any more books for the rest of the year so I can get through my backlist and books I want to read for leisure. I have started I'll Meet You There but I need to gear up for it – it sounds like it will take my emotions on a ride! I can't wait to hear what you think of Gemina! Have a lovely week Nick <3
I have Gemina sitting on my shelf, after I brought it home from BEA last spring. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much!
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2016/11/im-loving…
Yay, I hope you enjoy it! I think the finished copy has more complete illustrations too which makes the full effect even more exciting!
I have yet to read both Illuminae and Gemina, but hearing the way you talk about them makes me so incredibly excited to pick them up!
Have a great week!
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Thank you Laura! I love sci-fi so they are pretty much my favourite thing ever. Happy reading.
So happy to see that you are doing well! All of those books look wonderful!
Join in this week’s Book Photo Sundays!
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Thank you Tonyell!
I'm so happy your new job is making you happy both at work and outside of work, Jeann! Work environment is so important, and it's scary that there are places of work where people who treat others with disrespect and bullying ways continue to exist.
Your new books look awesome! And I need to completely unplug and disappear for a couple of days so I can read Illuminae and Gemina and just enjoy 🙂
Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading.
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Thank you Lexxie, it's been a while since I've felt content and to have enough energy to pursue things outside work (like blogging and reading!) Yeah, it's really sad that that sort of behaviour continues. I can't wait to hear what you think of Gemina, I thought it was absolutely brilliant! Happy reading!
I still need to read Illuminae but have Gemina on my Christmas wishlist. SO glad to hear your job is going well. So many books!! They all look great and I hope you enjoy! Have a great week!
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YES I can't wait for you to get Gemina on your wishlist Grace! I loved it so, so much. I'm slowly, slowly getting through them! Just as soon as I finish my Gemina obsession. Have a lovely week ahead Grace!
ACK all the pretty books! I WAAAAAANT Crooked Kingdom and Gemina but le me is broke so *sadface*
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OMG they are such great reads! I hope you get the chance to pick them up sometime!
What a wonderful book haul! Also, so great to hear your new job is going well 🙂
I can't wait to know how you feel about Replica, I am currently reading it -almost done with it – and I love it so much. Also…I'll read Gemina, I promise, just as soon as I read Illuminae, haha. I know, I'm a bit late to the party 🙂
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Thank you Marie! I just picked up Replica so I'm keen to see how it is. How are you reading it? I started off interchanging chapters but it's just too much to get my head around, so I think I'll read Gemma first. YES please read them both and tweet me your LOVE
Oh gosh, I'm so jealous of all of the books you managed to obtain! I've been on a book buying ban recently because I've got way too many books on my bookshelf that I haven't read. Plus I'm moving, so getting new things would just make the job a hell of a lot harder for me. Loved the haul!
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Oh man, if you're moving you probably don't want more books to move lol! Moving books was the hardest for me, there were lots of tears shed. Good luck!
First, I am SOOOO happy that your new job is going so well! This is AWESOME news! Second, I need you to steal that green cover of Three Dark Crowns for me, okay? Great 😉 Tell your library I'll send them the US one for their trouble? Hahah, I also LOOOOVE the not-US cover of Replica SO much. I need it in my life. And the paperback of More Happy Than Not, actually. See, I need ALLLLL the things. I am reading Gemina right now, then I will have to listen to your show about it! And THANK YOU for linking to my post! You are the actual sweetest ♥♥
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I KNOW, I hadn't seen the green cover before, just the red one and it's pretty cool! IT's got a snake on the front though lol. Hahaha Yeah, I am loving my Replica ARC, it doesn't have a barcode on it so it makes it look so keen. I'm so keen on that MHTN paperback I think I might buy it for myself. I had fun fangirling on the show!
Also, wow, I totally forgot to say thank you for sharing my post!
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Oh my gosh, all the beautiful books! And I highly recommend you picking up MHTN from your library haul first, Jeann. It's so good (but somewhat heartbreaking) as well. Hope you enjoy what's left of the weekend, and happy reading! 🙂
Ohhhh it's definitely high on my TBR, I have heard so much about it and omg this edition is so gorgeous. Thank you Summer, happy reading (and studying!)
I just picked up my copy of Gemina!! So excitedddd. And I recently finished Crooked Kingdom and it made me so happy (and and little), seriously so gooood! Love the bookmarks and I can't wait to get my hands on the new HP illustrated book! Lovely haul, hope you have a wonderful week!
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YESSSS I can't wait to hear what you think of Gemina! Please let me know all of your thoughts because OMG it was so good and I'm still obsessed. The new HP book is so gorgeous! Thank you Cyn, happy reading.
it sounds like that i will enjoy Hexenhaus. I quickly read the synopsis. Have a great weekend and upcoming week. Happy reading
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Yeah, I love books about witches so I hope you enjoy that one!