I've been spending...

The time for a student loans payment was here again a few weeks ago and though I (thankfully) haven't done much spending, I've bought a few new books.

Candy - Luke Davis
I found this on eBay for £0.99p! I couldn't believe it! This is another one of those books I've wanted to read for ages but have put off due to the import price, needless to say at that price, I was very eager to win the auction and I did! I actually have started reading this as a "daytime" book (as opposed to my night-time book) and I'm enjoying it, quite a lot.

The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick
I saw the adaptation with the incredible Jennifer Lawrence in the cinema last month and have been after the book since, luckily, this one was also a snatch on eBay!

The Crimson Petal & The White - Michael Faber
There was a really great BBC adaptation of this a while back (probably about 2 years ago now) and since then the book has always been in the back of my mind. I found this, also on eBay! Sometimes I just like to look in the book category and see what's ending soonest and when I did this the other day, this little gem was in the "buy it now" section, so I did!

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
I've seen a lot about this book on other blogs, so when I spotted it in a charity shop the other day I thought I'd have a closer look, then I spotted the price tag. £0.50p! For a hardback! I couldn't believe it and of course bought it immediately.

One Day -  David Nicholls
I remember wanting to see the Anne Hathaway film adapted from this, and it was only £1.50 in a charity shop, so I thought, why not?

Girl Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
Another eBay find! Again a book I've fancied reading since seeing the adaptation  and I found a copy too cheap to miss! Now just to wait for the deliveries!

Mini Charity Shop Haul

Charity shops are such a good way of buying new books, actually, second hand books in general - whether it's from a shop, eBay, Amazon sellers or Play-trade - I just love a good book bargain. This week I went to Annan, which is in south west Scotland, and not too far from where I live. There's quite a lot of good charity shops in the area, but I only bought from one this time (it doesn't have a name! but if you know the area it's the one by the Corner House), Plus, books in that particular shop were 3 for £1 that day so it was a total bargain, I saved myself over £16! I picked up:

White Oleander - Janet Fitch

I'm not sure from where - it could have been from a review I've read recently, but I recognized this title when I saw it and it looked quite interesting. Amazon says "White Oleander is a painfully beautiful first novel about a young girl growing up the hard way. It is a powerful story of mothers and daughters, their ambiguous alliances, their selfish love and cruel behaviour, and the search for love and identity.Astrid has been raised by her mother, a beautiful, headstrong poet. Astrid forgives her everything as her world revolves around this beautiful creature until Ingrid murders a former lover and is imprisoned for life. Astrid's fierce determination to survive and be loved makes her an unforgettable figure."

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

I saw the film adaptation on The Reader last year on TV and loved it, such a great story, and Kate Winslet - Bonus. Amazon Says "For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems. Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret."

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

I never really buy war novels, but this is the first time I've bought books in ages and I managed to come home with two! Birdsong was adapted into an ITV drama earlier this year and I was gutted to have missed it because it looked brilliant (I adore ITV drama's, they are the bees knees.) So I was so pleased to see this on the stacks! Amazon says "Set before and during the great war, Birdsong captures the drama of that era on both a national and a personal scale. It is the story of Stephen, a young Englishman, who arrives in Amiens in 1910. Over the course of the novel he suffers a series of traumatic experiences, from the clandestine love affair that tears apart the family with whom he lives, to the unprecedented experiences of the war itself."

I can't wait to start reading these books, have you read any of them? What did you think? And any other titles by the authors I should pick up?