
2020 started very well for my bookbuying addiction. I received a few books for Christmas, my “Black Friday” buys finally arrived, and I also treated myself to some more books from the thrift bookshop. I think I will need to implement a rule soon when it comes to book buying at the thrift shop – to only purchase new books after finishing the ones I bought. Otherwise, I can see my TBR shelf getting out of control very quickly.
As of right now, I have approximately 78 unread books on my physical TBR. Considering that I’ve been reading mostly ARCs and E-books in December and January, and probably will continue this trend in February and March, this will become a BIG problem in 2020.
But let’s not talk about the downsides of book hauls, and instead focus on new and shiny books!
I’m joining the Top Ten Tuesday meme today and featuring the Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.
USED BOOKS

ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by megan miranda
Itโs been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinneโs case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.
The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinneโs boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge… more

elizabeth is missing by emma healey
Maud’s been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she’s made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.
A fast-paced mystery, an unforgettable voice: you will laugh and cry but you’ll never forget Maud… more

the essex serpent by sarah perry
Moving between Essex and London, myth and modernity, Cora Seaborne’s spirited search for the Essex Serpent encourages all around her to test their allegiance to faith or reason in an age of rapid scientific advancement. At the same time, the novel explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the allegiances that we have to one another. The depth of feeling that the inhabitants of Aldwinter share are matched by their city counterparts as they strive to find the courage to express and understand their deepest desires, and strongest fears… more
NEW BOOKS

THE TOLL (arc of a scythe #3) by neal shusterman
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end lifeโand they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scytheโa role that neither wants. These teens must master the โartโ of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own… more

THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH (THE BOOK OF DUST #2) BY PHILIP PULLMAN
Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy…
Malcolm’s father runs an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his dรฆmon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue… more

the song of achilles by madeline miller
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper – despite the displeasure of Achilles’s mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny… more

uprooted by naomi novik
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood… more

the song rising (the bone season #3) by samantha shannon
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into peopleโs minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped… more

a little life by hanya yanagihara
When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride… more

city of girls by elizabeth gilbert
In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal… more

Have you read any of these books? Which one should I read first?
Let me know in the comments below!

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I’ve heard so many good things about The Toll.
My TTT .
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I still need to read ยซThunderheadยป, but now that I own the last two books I don’t have any excuse to not binge them! ๐
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Yaas, I’m loving this list! A Little Life, Song of Achilles, and Uprooted are some of my faaves! I hope that you enjoy all of these reads ๐ Also, I’m currently reading The Toll and I’m almost finished with it. This series is just ๐Great list, Alex!
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Thank you! So glad to hear that you loved some of these books! I feel like Uprooted will be a perfect book for me, as well as the Song of Achilles. And I’m a bit scared of A Little Life – the edition I got is HUGE and has the tiniest font. Lol
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I love megan miranda’s writing style, I still have to read All The Missing Girls, it sounds amazing & I loved The Song of Achilles, I hope you enjoy it once you read it โค๏ธ๐ซ
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Thank you, hun โค I only read one of Megan Miranda's books before, but I really loved it. And I found the "All Missing Girls" in the thrift shop, so ofc I had to buy it ๐
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Some great additions! I enjoyed All The Missing Girls & Elizabeth is Missing. I also have A Little Life & The Essex Serpent on my TBR too ๐
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I heard so many great things about Elizabeth is Missing, so when I saw it and “All the Missing Girls” at the thrift bookshop I just HAD to get these books. ๐ Thank you!
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This is an AMAZING haul! I hope you love all of them Alex. Especially TSoA….oh how I love Madeline Miller :))))))
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Thank you so much! ๐ โค I really need to read my physical books while I'm still excited about them, otherwise, they will end up sitting on my bookshelf unread for years.
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Oh Alex… Iโve so been there. I mean Iโm still there. I am always borrowing library books and reading them instead of the books I actually own ooops!
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i’ve heard so many great things about A Little Life, but I haven’t read it yet. I really enjoyed City of Girls and Elizabeth is Missing.
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ยซA Little Lifeยป is very intimidating tbh. I also heard that it’s very sad, I need to make sure that I don’t read it (and cry) in public ๐
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Iโve heard that too. I think itโs partially why I keep putting it off; I definitely need to be in the right frame of mind for it.
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I need to read Uprooted! I’ve heard so much about it.
My TTT: https://thelastbookontheleft.com/2020/01/21/top-10-most-recent-additions-to-my-bookshelf/
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I hope I like Uprooted, Goodreads recommended it to me as someone who loved “The Bear and the Nightingale” ๐
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I have read All the Missing Girls, and I remember really liking it, but now I can’t remember much about it. ๐ I have The Song of Achilles on my tbr for 2020 too! I hope you enjoy these, and I’ll be anxious to hear what you thought.
My Top Ten Tuesday
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Thank you! We need to get to the Song of Achilles this year! I think I will leave it for summer though, as I’m still working through my ARCs pile. ๐
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Yes, me too! ๐
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Ohhh I loved All the Missing Girls. My vote is definitely for you to try that one first! ๐
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๐ I’ll try to get to it in February! Thank you!
All this positive feedback definitely made me want to read it even more.
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Yaay! It was really unique with it beig told backwards. It took some getting used to since you constantly have to remind yourself that what you just read in the previous chapter hasn’t happened yet in the current chapter. A bit tricky! Once you get into it I think it’s great ๐ Hope you’ll enjoy it too.
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Oh, I love that writing trick!
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Wooof A Little Life was long and heartbreaking, but SO good! I wouldn’t recommend starting it just yet, you really gotts be in the right mindset for that!
I didn’t enjoy Uprooted, but I hope you like it more than I did. I just couldn’t get into it.
The second Book of Dust book!! I still gotta read that, but when I saw the size of it… I was like I’m not ready just yet haha! I hope it’s just as good as the first! ๐
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I still need to read the 1st book of dust ๐ ahah, but it’s so big… Thank you for the tips! ๐
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Uprooted and Song of Achilles are SO good!! Then again, I feel like this list is exclusively populated with great reads, even the ones I haven’t had the chance to read yet (like A Little Life!)
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๐ Thank you! I’m very excited to get to all of them. I think I should participate in one of those yearly challenges to clear my physical TBR, as it’s getting out of control. Lol
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Oh, my. You actually *counted* all your physical unread books. *insert horrified expression here* Why would you do that to yourself?! If I don’t know how many it is, I can totally just tell myself that sure, it LOOKS like a lot, but that’s just because I read big books. Pffft. Surely it’s not as bad as it looks. But when you have a number, it’s kind of concrete and hard to lie to yourself. xD
I really liked The Toll! Hope you do, too. And I really need to read The Song of Achilles. I’ve heard it’s great.
Here’s my TTT post.
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Ahaha, I had this great idea to add all of my physical TBR to one goodreads shelf, so when I want to do some monthly challenges, etc, it would be easier to sort the books out the way I need them to. ๐ But I didn’t add ALL of them, there are still 2 shelves I haven’t gone through, and don’t think I will. Haha
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“Book of Dust” … HIGH PRIORITY this year ha-ha! I was gonna re-read the trilogy, but I think I’m just going to hop into the books … especially since I’ve re-read the trilogy 4 times now?
“Uprooted” has been on my list for quite a bit now, when everyone started posting reviews on it. Might pick that one up this year.
“Song of Achilles” is a book I’ve been volun-told to read because it’s that good ha-ha!
Great list, love!
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Both books in the Book of Dust series are HUGE. I mean… could he write less words??? I’m kinda scared to start them. ๐
Everyone seemed to love Uprooted and Song of Achilles, so my expectations are really high for these two. โค
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LMAO! I know eh? I’m saving them for later in the year … And I know, eh?! I hope the hype matches the content โค
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When I found out that you could get really great books at thrift stores, my book buying got out of hand LOL. So I think thatโs a good rule to have, haha. Great list! I just bought The Toll this month as well and I canโt wait to read it. Hopefully I can get some of these ARCs that I have read and reviewed, so I can start it. The Song Rising was so good!
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Good luck with your ARCs! I try to binge read them all, but sometimes that one ARC will be slower than others, and ruin the whole plan ๐
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Iโm actually having that problem with a really slow ARC right now. And then I feel guilty reading anything else and end up just not reading at all. Ugh.
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I’m exactly the same!
That’s why I already DNF’d two books this year (only one was ARC). And by DNFing the one I wasn’t enjoying, I read another 2 that I really liked, so I think it worked out rather well. ๐
Hope it gets more interesting soon!
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Some great books here! I loved Uprooted the most. ๐
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Thank you! ๐ It’s soo goood to hear that people loved Uprooted. I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice when I bought it, but now I’m 99% sure that I’ll love it!
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City of Girls!!!! I can’t tell you just how much I adored that book!! I wrote a review on it, its easily a 5 star book! I hope you love it, it’s one of my all time favorite novels!
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I’m so glad to hear that! I got it for xmas and my intention was to start reading it immediately, but yeah… that didn’t happen D: Hopefully, I’ll get to it soon!
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The Song of Achilles is so good!! I hope you enjoy it ๐ I also got The Toll recently, and I had planned on reading it immediately because of the cliffhanger in Thunderhead…and then I didn’t. So I think it’s probably going to join the large pile of physical books that are waiting to be read.
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Ahaha, I’m the same! I alays buy books thnking that I’ll read them immediately, and then I don’t… and then they sit on my shelves for year D: How do we get better at this?! Lol
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I have not read any of these but I do want to get to the scythe series.
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I loved the whole idea of Scythe utopia, and the 1st book was very very good. I need to read the remaining books in the series, hopefully this year ๐
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The song of Achilles!!! Please!!! It’s wonderful and I absolutely loved it! Also, it’s really amazing you manage to find cool titles in a thrift bookstore – in Porto, I rarely do ): Good luck on finishing all the books in your TBR ๐
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The thrift bookshop here is actually pretty amazing, but getting the “newer” more popular titles is definitely pure luck. Ahah, you just gotta be there at the right time.
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