I love book hauls because I buy so many books and get so excited when I see them in-store, but it’s not very exciting for me to just list books I’m buying all the time. So, I’m trying this expansion of a book haul. My local independent bookstore downtown always has new books that I’ve never heard of. I go there pretty regularly (mostly because they have the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had), so I’ve decided to list some of the books I’ve found there in the first half April that some might not (and will definitely) have heard of.

Booth by Karen Jay Fowler

Release date: March 8, 2022

I read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler years ago and was so enthralled by it. The writing, the story, the characters–it was all so good. This one seems very different but just as strange. It’s a historical fiction following the theatrical Booth family, yes, of John Wilkes Booth. I think this one is going to be weird and wonderful

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

Release date: October 21, 2021

I’m going to be honest, this one was first and foremost a cover buy. I also just love 70s aesthetic anything, so 70s family drama? Sign me up. I don’t know much other than that it centers around a family on one winter day as they face a moral crisis. I’ve heard good things about Franzen’s writing, so I’m excited to get to this 600 page beauty.

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey

Release date: March 1, 2022

I originally wasn’t going to read this. I read the first one in this series, which I loved, but I wasn’t super interested in Fox and Hannah’s story–maybe I felt like I had already read it? It’s been so long since I read the first now, though, that I think I can enjoy this. And it’s been getting rave reviews (obviously) so I did end up picking it up when I saw it on my bookstore’s shelf.

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

Release date: August 17, 2021

I was sitting down, eating my breakfast sandwich, minding my own business, and this cover just called to me. I kept looking over to make sure it was still there. Once I was done eating, I could not ignore it anymore. I haven’t purchased much YA recently, but I took a look at it and I just could not put it back. This is a story told in prose about a young girl dealing with the loss of her family. Pretty much guaranteed that I am in for a good cry here.

Scarlet in Blue by Jennifer Murphy

Release date: March 8, 2022

Last time I went to this bookstore, like, a few weeks ago, I saw this book after I had already checked out. I couldn’t turn back, having already made my decisions. So obviously I looked it up on Goodreads and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. This is a psychological thriller about a mother and daughter, and that is all I want to know going into this one. Very high on my priority list right now.

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard

Release date: May 4, 2021

I took a couple biology classes during the last year of my undergrad, and we read a lot of science nonfiction. My bookstore had a table dedicated to Earth month, and I f*cking love trees, so this one practically leaped into my hands. Not much to say about this one other than it is supposed to reveal the world of communication and complexity within trees and is done so by Simard, a prominent forest ecologist.

She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

Release date: April 5, 2022

This is the one book I went into the store with the hopes of finding. I looked on all the shelves–the romance shelf, trending on BookTok. I almost left without this one, but then I found it hidden in the back of the display table, one lonely copy. I always want to read more queer books, but I often find the popular ones are either YA or straight-up erotica–which is fine, but I want a cute queer wlw romance with fluff AND smut. Something Emily Henry-esque. I think this will be that balance, and one that I am probably most excited to read.

What are some books you’ve recently picked up from your bookstore or library?