Thrift Books book haul!

So today's post is a book haul from ThriftBooks! I have used them a couple of other times before today and so far, I have loved using them for used books. This has been my.... Third order so far. I ended up ordering 10 books, each book averaging $3.29 or so. And they have really good deals on the website as well called ThriftDeals (2 for $7, 3 for $10, 4 for $12 for example), a tell a friend program that gets you and the person you refer a 15% off code for your next order, and reading rewards (which seems to be $5 off for every $50 spent). I may have spent enough money so far between three separate orders to earn two reading rewards. I used the first reading reward I had earned on this order. So for 10 books under the ThriftDeals section plus the reward, I spent all of $25. And who is gonna complain about spending $2.50 a book? Not this reader. They are definitely worth checking out, at the very least! I will be linking the pages to the GoodReads pages to the each book as well, so if a book looks interesting, feel free to take a look at the description for it!

I have never read The Catcher in the Rye and it was never something that we did in my high school. At least not in the English classes I was in. This has been on my "need to buy" list for quite some time, so what better time to read it when you have a ridiculously good deal for books? From what I've read of the description of the book, it follows a boy in his teenage years who spends a couple of days in NYC's underground. I love this from the GoodRead's description of the book: "Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it." I am super excited about this book and get to know young Holden just that much better.

Life of Pi came out when I was still in high school (if that doesn't date me at all) and I remember hearing all sorts of good things about it from those who had read it within the first year of its release. By the time I graduated, I had completely forgot about this particular book until I was looking through the books on ThriftBooks and saw it. It immediately went into my shopping cart. The description of the story intrigues me and reminds me of Tom Hanks' Castaway. But with a young kid and a tiger instead. Cannot wait to see how Pi manages to spend his time on a deserted island with said tiger.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West will be a reread for me. I first read this series in my late teens/early twenties and loved this series. This series may be my absolute favorite retelling of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Wicked starts us off with the birth of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West herself and takes you through her life, including when Dorothy makes her way through Oz. Cannot wait to revisit this Oz.

Gonna be honest here, I may have judged Island of Lost Girls by its' cover.The look on the little girl's face caught my attention immediately and I had to have it. Didn't matter what it was about. But description of the book just reaffirmed my need to buy this book: A woman named Rhonda sees what turns out to see a crime in action. Guilt overcoming her, she joins the forces to right this wrong and gets closer and closer to another crime that had happened years before with her best friend's disappearance. I just had to get my hands on this book and see how the two were connected.

I love a good story about other countries and Anil's Ghost covers Sri Lanka. I don't get my hands too often on books that take place there or usually anywhere farther East than England. This will be a nice change of pace in that regard. The plot sounds so interesting: A woman who was born in Sri Lanka but raised/educated in the US and England goes back as a forensic anthropologist. According to description on GoodReads, she "returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island." Sold. Need to read this book yesterday.

I've been eyeing Gone Girl in the book aisle of Wal-Mart for a while now. Saw it on ThriftBooks and said nevermind on buying it at the store. Since I basically paid $2.50 for it, I got a huge deal on this book and it's in not too bad of shape. The description on GoodReads describes it better than I can: "On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?" And who doesn't love a case of Whodunnit?

This book I remember reading my junior year of high school. And I cannot for the life of me remember if I ended up liking Their Eyes Were Watching God or not. This story follows Janie, whose grandmother catches her kissing a boy at 16 and marries her off. She's married twice before essentially meeting the love of her life, who has nothing more to give her than a packet of flower seeds. I do remember enjoying the fact that he window framed her life, so to speak. At the beginning of the book, she's gotten on in years. And at the end, we've caught up to where we started at. This should be a good reread.

I, for the most part, enjoyed the adaptation of this series as a television show. I didn't get around to see it while it was airing on Showtime but binged the whole thing on Netflix instead (which I am not very happy with the ending of season eight). When I found out Dexter was based off of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I started looking at prices for it. Online was way too much, as was the closest bookstore at the time. Which was Barnes and Noble. I was stoked when they had the first book on ThriftBooks and immediately added the book to my shopping cart.

But for those that haven't seen the show or heard about it from those who have, Darkly Dreaming Dexter follows a blood spatter expert for the Miami PD who just happens to be a serial killer. Of serial killers. His golden rule when it comes to killing: he only gets the bad guys. In this book, someone is imitating his style. While he's flattered, he's also frightened. Hoping to be able to pick this one up soon.

The Thriteenth Tale is another book where the cover caught my attention. Not gonna lie. The book  cover is of books! How could it not catch my eye as a book lover. This another one that seems insanely interesting. When biographer Margaret Lea comes home one night, there's a letter from an infamous writer who wants to tell Margaret her life story. She's never read Vida Winter's work, nor does she know Winter. GoodReads again explains so much better than I can from here: "Late one night while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.

As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. 

Both women will have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets... and the ghosts that haunt them still."

The title alone for The Ishbane Conspiracy would have been enough to get me to read this book. Combined with that cover, it was hard to resist. This book follows four college students who come from very different backgrounds: "Jillian is picture-perfect on the outside, but terrified of getting hurt on the inside. Brittany is a tough girl who trusts almost no one. Ian is a successful athlete who dabbles in the occult. And Rob is a former gang-banger who struggles with guilt, pain, and a newfound faith in God. These four college students will face the ultimate battle between good and evil in a single year. As spiritual warfare rages around them, a dramatic demonic correspondence takes place. Readers can eavesdrop on the enemy, and learn to stave off their own defeat, by reading The Ishbane Conspiracy"

That is everything I got from ThriftBooks this time around. Hopefully you've gotten a book or two to add to your TBR lists! Also, let me know in the comments section if you've read any of these books and what you've thought of them. Also leave any book recommendations that you may have as well for me!

Kindred bookmate,

Cassie