January 2021 book haul

Hello bookworms!! Welcome to the January 2021 book haul!! It’s a new year and a new way for me to break my new book buying ban!! Ummm… huzzah?!!

Not that I’ve posted it yet… *cough* but my plan for book buying this year is similar to my one from last year. Last year it was no more than 10 books per month. This year I’m saying no more than 5 books PURCHASED each month, which will include book boxes. However, if a book box has 2 books, then it’s counted as extra because I can’t control that. Unless I’m buying a set, in which case I’m probably screwed (especially when Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes FairyLoot set arrives).

January 2021 book haul

Book haul categories are as follows:

• subscription boxes
• book purchases (book mail, in-store and ebook*)
• review copies (book mail, digital and gifts)

* Not counting Kindle Unlimited

I subscribe to three monthly boxes: OwlCrate, FairyLoot and the book-only subscription for Illumicrate. I also subscribe to the quarterly book-only option for LitJoy. I’ve also heard rumours that FairyLoot are looking at a book-only subscription too… so watch this space!! Last year I discovered that I can swap the OwlCrate boxes for OwlCrate Jr boxes each month!! So… maybe I won’t skip as much?!! (Oh woe is my bank balance…)

So, here is where I’m up to as at the end of January (YES, that is an August box that I thought I had skipped, but turns out it was just hiding in the great unknown warehouse of lost international shipping somewhere):

• ? = arrived in a previous month
• ✅ = arrived this month
• ? = in transit
• ➡️ = skipped
• ?️ = parked (not out yet)
• ❌ = confirmed that it was lost to the mail gremlins (but thankfully refunded)

Which means, the following books arrived in January:

• August’s Owlcrate had Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
• November’s OwlCrate Jr had Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann, and included bonus book Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• December’s FairyLoot had Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett
• December’s Illumicrate had The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige, and included bonus book The Cousins by Karen McManus

Ok, so I’m super conflicted (and I’m sure it’ll just take time to adjust…). See, on one hand I technically only bought 5 books in January. YAY ME!! But on the other hand, once you add the 4 (or really 6) books above, that already puts me back at 9 (or 11). Which is basically double my limit. See my confliction?!!

Now that Alysha King’s The Rose Chronicles are finished, it’s the perfect time to jump in and read them!! Expect them on a TBR soon.

Not only did I get review copies of books in January, HarperCollins sent me an ARC AND a finished copy of The World Between Blinks. They’re pretty similar in looks, except for the back and the spine.

I was also sent some unsolicited kids books (ages 5-8), which were well outside my reading zone (check here if you’re interested), but I have donated them to a local library.

As you may have guessed from yesterday’s WWW Wednesday (on Friday), I was halfway through The World Between Blinks. I think I might actually finish it today. But in case you’re wondering, YES, it spans ALL of the genres. And it does it in such a uniquely creative way. I’m so glad that I picked this one up!!

Did you get any new books in January?