Birthday Bookhaul

Hi everyone

January 24th was my birthday! I had a lovely day celebrating with my husband and our two daughters. The weekend after my birthday, we gathered with my parents, my brother, and his wife to continue the festivities. My husband’s birthday was on the 12th of January, and we celebrated with his family the day after his birthday.

The best part? Everyone (except my husband) gave me money for books! They all know how much I love to read, and honestly, it’s the perfect gift for me.

So, I bought myself some very anticipated new books! I ordered all of them from Bol and they arrived over the last couple of days. 
Here's what I got.

- James S. A. Corey: Memory's Legion

- Eowyn Ivey: Black Woods Blue Sky 

- Rachel Joyce: Miss Benson's Beetle

- Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Before the Coffee gets Cold

- Stephen King: Firestarter

- Stephen King: Needful Things

- H. P. Lovecraft: Cthulhu Mythos Tales

- Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Poetry

- John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley

- Andrea Stewart: The Bone Shard Daughter

- Xiran Jay Zhao: Iron Widow

Have you read any of these? If so, which one should I read first? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Edgar Allan Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales

Hi

I finished this collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
This beautiful edition has 320 pages and I got it at the Fnac.

Reading a bit of Poe’s work has been on my To Do list for a very, very long time.
Now That I finally did read some short stories, I can tell you my thoughts on experiencing Poe for the first time.

Poe’s stories should be read slow and thoughtful. Sometimes the horror is barely there! And if you read too fast you just missed why the character is running/afraid/crying out/… It all happens so, normal almost. In just a few sentences it has happened. And then the story has ended. And you didn’t even realize what went wrong. Where the horror in the story even is.

Most of the stories in this collection were rather slow in my opinion; the interesting turn of events only happening in the last few pages after a quite boring journey or description of the character’s life.

I’m glad I finally did read a small part of Poe’s work. Though I’m not inclined to read more. 

Enjoy your weekend!
Helena