A couple of weeks ago I received an email…
Happy day! I had filled out a survey from the Edinburgh International Book Festival newsletter a few weeks before, but I only vaguely remember doing so. Score!
The gift card arrived the next day.
… and I didn’t waste any time. I decided rather than spreading it out that I quite fancied having a proper splurge. It only took 3 bookshop visits to shift the lot.
Unfortunately Book Tokens are only valid in UK bookshops and not online (else I’d have probably bargain hunted my way to an extra 4-5 books). But it was the perfect excuse to have a proper browse in a few shops, practically uninhibited. After a long walk around Waterstones, an unexpected opportunity to have a peek around Blackwells in Edinburgh, and a quick visit to the EIBF bookshop, I came out with all of these:
Drown by Junot Díaz
(which I’ve already read and hope to have signed on Saturday!)
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
A Storm of Swords pt 2: Blood & Gold by George R. R. Martin
(part 1 is also on my to-read pile)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
(greatest name ever?)
…and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The grand total came out to £50.48 (including 5p for a bag at Blackwell’s whose sign condescendingly reminds us that “actions speak louder than words). A Monster Calls and A Storm of Swords were on buy one get one half price, and the 3 Penguin Classics were £6 each and on 3 for 2.
A big thank you to National Book Tokens and EIBF for making me a very happy bookworm!
Which books would you buy if you had £50 to spend? I’d love to hear your recommendations.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do…
Click here for my 52 Books Challenge list and capsule reviews.