Half Price Books Book Haul
It’s an absolute joy whenever I have the opportunity to go to a Half Price Books. I’m always surprised by the amount of gems I find there - and at a great price! I can’t go there often since my closest one is all the way in Des Moines. But as luck would have it, I had a therapy appointment near there so I decided to treat myself. Here’s what I bought in no particular order:
Klimowski Poster Book by Andrzej Klimowski
In the mid-1970s, Andrzej Klimowski's fearlessly original artwork caught the eye of leading Polish theater and film companies, for whom he designed some of the period's most iconic posters. The London-born artist, who moved to Poland at a time when many East Europeans dreamed of going West, went on to create posters for works by filmmakers and playwrights from Scorsese to Altman, Beckett to Brecht.
Drawing on folk art and Polish Surrealism, Klimowski uses techniques including photomontage and linocut to create posters that are filled with metaphor, drama, and originality. (via Bookshop.org)
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova—a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.
For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself. Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world.
The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time, he might lose even more. (via Bookshop.org)
Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz
No one burned hotter than Eve Babitz. Possessing skin that radiated “its own kind of moral laws,” spectacular teeth, and a figure that was the stuff of legend, she seduced seemingly everyone who was anyone in Los Angeles for a long stretch of the 1960s and ’70s. One man proved elusive, however, and so Babitz did what she did best, she wrote him a book. (via Bookshop.org)
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson
An irresistible and bittersweet coming-of-age story in the vein of Stranger Things and Stand by Me about a group of misfit kids who spend an unforgettable summer investigating local ghost stories and urban legends. (via Bookshop.org)
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Vern—seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised—flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.
But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.
To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past and, more troublingly, the future—outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering not only the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history of America that produced it. (via Bookshop.org)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf's fantastical novel about an Elizabethan nobleman who lives for three centuries and transitions into a woman, with a new introduction by Carmen Maria Machado. (via Bookshop.org)
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
A House with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic. (via Bookshop.org)
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s sweeping fantasy debut, full of stolen memories, illicit mermaid’s blood, double agents, and haunting mythical creatures conjures an extraordinary cast of characters and the unforgettable story of a couple striving to stay together in the face of myriad forces wishing to control their identities and destinies. (via Bookshop.org)
Slug and Other Stories by Megan Milks
A woman metamorphoses into a giant slug; another quite literally eats her heart out; a wasp falls in love with an orchid; and hair starts sprouting from the walls. These stories slip and slide between genres--from video games to fan fiction, avant-garde theater to choose-your-own-adventure--as characters cycle through giddying changes in gender, physiology, species, and identity. Collapsing boundaries between bodies and forms, these fictions interrogate the visceral, gross, and absurd. (via Bookshop.org)
Mystical Mushrooms: Discover the Magic and Folklore of Fantastic Fungi by Aurora Kane
Coupled with stunningly depicted artwork, Mystical Mushrooms explores the qualities of over 35 species of mushroom, displaying a range of compelling subjects surrounding the true power of these fabulous fungi. (via Bookshop.org)
The Silence of Bones by June Hur
1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Indentured to the police bureau, she’s been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder of a noblewoman. (via Bookshop.org)
Sunhead by Alex Assan
Rotem is a Sunhead, a fan of the international smash hit Sunrise series of books and films. She’s obsessed with the story’s love interest, Edmund, and no one else gets it. But all that changes when she befriends Ayala, a shy classmate and avid book lover who’s as swept away by the romance as she is. The two become fast friends, but as their deep connection grows stronger, Rotem starts to wonder: What exactly draws her to this story?
Alex Assan’s debut, Sunhead, is an earnest coming-of-age graphic novel that explores how the stories we love help us understand our friendships, our relationships, and ourselves. (via Bookshop.org)
Nevada by Imogen Binnie
Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks more than is good for her, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria into a tailspin, and then onto a cross-country trek in the car she steals from Steph. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self. As Maria finds herself in the awkward position of trans role model, she realizes that she could become James’s savior—or his downfall. (via Bookshop.org)
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles
Gothic scandal meets Bridgerton intrigue in this swashbuckling Regency romance from celebrated author KJ Charles. (via Bookshop.org)
The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween. (via Bookshop.org)
Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch
It’s enemies to lovers in this sexy and delightful holiday mash up that pairs the spare prince of Christmas with the crown prince of St. Patrick’s Day! (via Bookshop.org)
Evocation by S.T. Gibson
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good… (via Bookshop.org)
Ghosts: A Treasury of Chilling Tales Old and New selected by Marvin Kaye
A wonderful collection of over fifty ghost stories not to be read by the faint of heart. Great by the fireside or with a group of young couples. The stories will spur the imagination and chill the air. This description may be from another edition of this product. (via Thriftbooks)
