Come Book-Shopping With Me!
Join me as I unbox the biggest book haul of this year with 20 amazing books.
Join me as I unbox the biggest book haul of this year with 20 amazing books.
I recently went to an amazing “Load the Box” sale in Hyderabad, India.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of “Load the Box,” it’s a once-in-a-year book fair where hundreds of thousands of second-hand books of various genres are stocked in a room. You have to pick a box, pay for it, and then fill it with as many books as you can.
There are three different box sizes that you can choose from. And then inside that box, you can fit whatever books you want, irrespective of their cost, size, or genre.
And I have to say this; the collection they have is just incredible.
I ended up fitting 20 books in a box that cost less than $21. Isn’t that incredible?
I hope you’re ready to go book shopping with me. This post is a list of all the books I purchased, followed by a brief insight into why they caught my eye among the thousands of books on display.
If you’d like to watch this in a more candid, vlog-style, you can check out the unboxing video I made:
1. Molly Moon Stops The World by Georgia Byng
This was the first book that caught my eye among the thousands of books stored in the book fair.
I read the prequel to this book, “Molly Moon’s Incredible Book
of Hypnotism” when I was thirteen. I still remember loving it with all my heart.
It is about an 8-year-old girl called Molly Moon, and what happens to her when she finds a book about hypnotism. She teaches herself how to hypnotize people and does incredible things through her newfound powers.
Molly Moon Stops The World is the second book in the series. Before I stumbled upon it in the sale, I didn’t know there were more books in the Molly Moon series.
But I loved the first book so much, that I’m really excited to read the sequel.
2. “Under His Skin” and “Wicked Heat” — Mills And Boon
I picked this because it’s a tiny book, and I needed one book to fill the little space I had left in my box. I had exactly nineteen books before that and wanted one more to fill the remaining space.
I remember reading Mills and Boons back in school because all the explicit content there served as a substitute for the lack of sex education. However, I haven’t read one in a long time now. So, I’m not sure how I will like it.
I’m not really into reading straight people romance. I prefer queer protagonists when it comes to romance as a genre. For that reason alone, I’m excited to see how this one will turn out.
3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
This is a very popular book that I haven’t read before.
I’ve read Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic,” and I loved it so much. Eat, Pray, Love is a memoir of the one year the author spent traveling around the world to recover from a shattering divorce and the subsequent breakdown of what she claims to be a “rebound” relationship.
I always loved Elizabeth Gilbert’s writing and her TED talks. I’m a secret binge-watcher of all the interviews she gave. I think this book is going to be amazing because I adore the author’s style, and I’m a huge fan of honest memoirs.
4. Idris by Anita Nair
I have always followed Anita Nair and I’m a huge fan of her writing.
I have no idea what this book is about and have never heard of it or even seen it anywhere on social media.
But when I saw this book on the shelves, I knew I had to have it.
The cover is so beautiful with a sailboat having multi-colored sails on it. It looks lovely and I’m super excited to dive into this one.
5. R Is For Ricochet by Sue Grafton
To be frank, I haven’t heard of Sue Grafton before.
But this is a mystery thriller. If you’ve been following my book recommendations for a while, you’d know I love mystery thrillers written by female authors. This is because of the unique character development and the amazing emotions they depict in their books.
Mystery books by male authors don’t tend to have very strong characters, even if the plot is amazing. I don’t really enjoy mysteries if the characters are boring and one-dimensional.
I saw a lot of Sue Grafton books at the sale. Interestingly, all her books have titles that go by “A is for Alibi,” “B is for Burglar,” etc. The one I picked at random is called “R is for Ricochet.”
I genuinely have no idea what to expect from this, but I’m hoping it should be good.
If you’ve read Sue Grafton’s books, please let me know what to expect from this book or if there’s any prequel that I should read before actually diving into this one.
6. The Redbreast by Jo Nessbo
I’d never heard of books by this author before. But my friend who was with me during the book fair told me that he writes amazing action-packed thrillers.
So she and I both got The Redbreast with the promise that we’ll read this book together.
It’s been a long time since I buddy-read a book with a friend, and it’s always an interesting experience compared to just reading alone. Needless to say, I’m super excited to delve into this one.
7. The Kept Woman By Karin Slaughter
Again I haven’t heard of this author.
But when I saw the name I was like, “Wow, this sounds interesting!”
I was also assuming the author is female. So, yet another mystery book that’s written by a female author. And turns out, this one had amazing reviews on Goodreads. I knew I had to get it!
8. Geisha By Liza Dalby
Liza Dalby is the only non-Japanese woman to become a Geisha. This book is her memoir. It covers her story of how she got into the unique livelihood of becoming a Geisha. It chronicles her experiences that came along the way.
It has a foreword by Arthur Golden, the author of “Memoirs of a Geisha” — one of my favorite books. It gave me so much knowledge of what life was like in Japan before the World Wars. It also gave a glimpse into what it means to be a Geisha, and everything that’s included in this profession otherwise shrouded in mystery.
Since this book is a collection of real-life stories, I think it’s going to be amazing. The moment I held this book in my hands I knew I had to buy it because of the unique perspective it offers.
9. The Wych Elm By Tana French
I’d be lying if I said this book didn’t catch my eye because of its very interesting cover.
Again, I’ve neither heard of this author before nor of the book. But it’s a mystery thriller written by a woman — my favorite genre. And so I knew, I had to get it.
10. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
I’m familiar with Richard Dawkins’ work and know that he writes really deep thought-provoking pieces. The reviews on the back of the book were really interesting.
It’s about religion, and how the modern world perceives God. This is the first time I’ve picked up something of this genre, and to be honest, I’m a little intimidated.
But it had very powerful reviews from some really credible sources on the back cover. So, I’m definitely looking forward to reading it and learning more about religion, atheism, and what it means to be a believer.
11. The Shadow Of The Wind By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This book was highly recommended by my friend who loved reading it. I acted on her recommendation and got this book. As a reader, I feel when a person passionately recommends a book, there must be something special in it.
As with most other books on this list, I have no idea what to expect from it. I think it comes under the genre of mystery, but I’m not sure if it’s historical fiction or magical realism.
If you’ve read this book or any of the books discussed earlier,
please let me know your thoughts in the comments. I bought most of these books blindly, and I am really curious to hear what you think of my book haul.
12. Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
I recently read a book by Lisa Gardner called “Catch Me,” It featured a detective named DD Warren who I fell in love with. I also enjoyed the final reveal and Lisa Gardner’s captivating storytelling style.
This is the reason I picked this book. It also has great reviews on Goodreads.
And I trust Lisa Gardner enough to know she portrays her characters as so unique and so full of life.
13. Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham
There’s a funny story about why I got this book.
When we were browsing for books, my friend was telling me about a cat book by a Japanese author she loved. Another reader browsing through books nearby overheard our conversation and asked if the book we were talking about was Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
My friend said no and tried to recall the book she was referring to. Amidst their conversation, this book caught my eye. What a coincidence for it to have the word “cat” on its cover! It was almost as if the Universe was pushing me to buy this book.
14. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
This is a very popular book recommended by so many people that I’ve lost count. But I know it’s also been converted to a movie starring Tom Hanks and Halle Barry. With such A-list actors, this book is bound to be nothing short of mind-blowing.
15. Hot Milk by Debora Levi
This was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2016, so I’m assuming it is literary fiction. Or even if it’s not, the language must be really great.
I love reading books that make me appreciate the beauty of English as a language. That’s why I got this book. It’s also a tiny small book barely 100 pages long, and I’m hoping to finish reading it as soon as possible.
Not to mention that smaller books mean more space in my box that I can utilize to fit in even more books!
15. The Dressmaker by Debora Levi
The book cover told me there’s a famous movie based on this book, starring Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth. That fact alone tipped the scale in favor of getting this book.
It’s a story set in Australia and is supposed to be funny, romantic, and heartwarming. I’m looking forward to reading this book soon and verifying these claims for you.
16. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez
I read “100 Years Of Solitude” and “Love In The Time Of Cholera” by the same author and loved them. Going by that, I’m hopeful this will also be amazing.
It has less than 100 pages, so it should not take me a long time to finish the book. The lovely book cover with a woman surrounded by flowers looked inviting. As you might have guessed, I have a weakness for pretty covers!
17. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
This memoir by James Frey talks about his recovery from addiction. Most of it was written in the rehab center.
As the reviews on the back cover claim, the writing style is unique. When I opened a random page, I saw that there were some short incomplete words instead of full sentences. Even the cover has several tiny dots in various colors — depicting a million little pieces.
The imagery had me, and I knew I had to have this book for my own!
18. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Another thriller with a pretty cover that’s written by a woman. I’m hoping this won’t disappoint!
19. Sell by Subroto Bagchi
A book about selling anything that you make — you can imagine the kind of impact this will have on my life as a writerpreneur who relies on digital products for a part of her monthly income.
Among my haul, this is the only business book I got, and I’m hoping to learn a ton of helpful stuff from it.
Final Words
20 paperbacks for $21 — I’ll forever be grateful for this amazing book haul.
I know this was a drastically different article from what I usually write. I hope you enjoyed reading this and going on a virtual book date. Should I write more such stream-of-consciousness pieces about books? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Did you enjoy going book shopping with me? More importantly, have you read any of these books that are in this stack? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Want to know my thoughts after reading all these 20 books? Follow my book journey on Goodreads.
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