Welcome back to another Stacking the Shelves book haul! My last one was a little bit untraditional, as I paired my Korea book haul with a bit of a bookish travelogue (including lots of great bookshop and sightseeing recommendations if you’re planning your own holiday) from my Korea trip in May last year. This week is a much more basic post just going over the books I bought this May.
I’m linking this up to the Stacking the Shelves meme hosted by Marlene @Reading Reality, which allows us to share the books we’ve acquired (either bought, gifted or borrowed) each week – even though I don’t post each week, I enjoy being able to see what other people are excited about. Please see my first post for a discussion of why I don’t participate weekly/my concerns about book hauls and over consumerism.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at all the books I bought in May.
I have included links to purchase the books without supporting Amazon! If you’re based in the UK, please use the Bookshop.org UK affiliate links and support independent bookshops (where not available on Bookshop.org, I have included an alternative independent bookshop you can buy from directly). If you’re international, Blackwell’s ship all over the world and the cost of delivery is included in the listed price, so no nasty surprises. And of course, you can always request a book from your local library instead!
Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuangzi
May, 1938: The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko sails from Japan to Taiwan where her interpreter proffers tantalising glimpses of island life and helps her to taste as much of cuisine as her larger-than-life appetite can bear. A bittersweet love story between two women and an exploration of language, history and power.
I bought this book before it was announced the winner of the International Booker prize simply because I like travel writing (this is disguised as a translation of a rediscovered travelogue) and I also lived in Taiwan for a bit. It’s very exciting that it won, so hopefully I can get to it soon and share my thoughts with you.
Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe.
Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower.
Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls.
The June instalment of the Imperial Radch Readalong (which I call the Imperial Radchalong) includes reading the short stories set in the world, three of which are found in this collection.
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
This is book 2 in the Emily Wilde series. [Book 1: A professor of faerie folklore travels to a small, wintry town to investigate the local Folk and is joined by her charming, irritating colleague and only friend, who’s hiding a secret of his own.]
I finished book one at the beginning of the month and bought this intending to read it in July… I ended up finishing it already. (Funny side note: my autocorrect keeps changing Otherlands to Motherlands…)
Under the Oak Tree (Novel) Volume 1 by Suji Kim
Translated from the hit Korean webnovel about an arranged marriage between the daughter of a powerful Duke and a low-born knight turned war hero.
I’ve heard some really interesting things about this, and since I’m always hoping more Korean fantasy/sci-fi will be translated into English I thought I would check it out.
Under the Oak Tree (Novel) Volume 2 by Suji Kim
I finished volume 1 and then immediately went out and bought volume 2, which I then also finished on the same day (these two books are responsible for my having a day with over 1000 pages read this month). I can’t wait for volume 3, after which I will do a series review.
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Novel) Vol. 1 by singNsong
Struggling office worker Dokja Kim”s sole joy in life is an online novel so obscure that he’s it’s only reader. When horrific monsters from the novel suddenly spawn on earth and Goblins gleefully stream the carnage to a celestial audience, Dokja must use his knowledge of the story to survive to the end.
When I was in the bookshop buying Under the Oak Tree 2, I saw this book as well and picked it up as something fun to read since one of my uni friends really likes it. (Spoiler: I will be continuing the series.)
Flick: A History of Female Pleasure by Dr. Kate Lister
Sex positivity is not a modern invention: a journey through history exploring how women’s pleasure was controlled, understood, and enjoyed.
This was one of my preorders and it just came in on Wednesday, so I definitely haven’t read it yet. I’m good at buying nonfiction books and less good at actually reading them (although for now I’ll be blaming that on my nonfiction energy needing to go towards my dissertation research).
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Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you think below!
Keira's Bookmark 