Ah, isn’t it a lovely Tuesday? Of course it is! Because Tuesdays mean it’s time for TTT *dramatic music plays in background*. I tell ya, I’ve been having an awesome reading week and have read so many books that have been fantastic! Of course, it’s all well-deserved binge reading in between slaying essays for uni, bleh.

This week’s theme is:

 Top Ten Books I Picked Up on a Whim

So for today’s topic I’m going to look at all the books that I bought because I went WHY NOT. Because money is not meant for food, children, it is meant for books. And beautiful books they are. I actually think that this is usually when I do my biggest hauls of books. There’s a book fair that happens at a local market once a month and I’ve found myself wandering down a few times and nabbing all these beauties – the books are so cheap there, like $2 (AUD) a pop which is CRAZY. So you might say I’m the queen of buying on a whim.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over @ The Broke and the Bookish and each week there’s a different theme that we get to make a list about featuring ten related books. It’s so much fun and the topics are always great! It’s also a fabulous way to learn more about people’s reading adventures and I recommend heading over to the official page to do some exploring through the link up.

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#1

 All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

I wanted to buy this one because it was pretty looking and then I told myself at some point that I deserved to buy a book (as if I don’t buy them on a regular basis) and so I bought this book. I have since been told by friends that it’s absolutely fabulous and that I should get on to reading it, so maybe I should do just that sometime soon.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#2

 Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

So this is actually the only book on this list that I’ve read (typical, huh?). I loved this to pieces though. I distinctly remember walking into the bookstore, looking at the cover, and going SOLD. At that point I actually hadn’t heard of Hobb before (I know, do I live under a rock or what?) so was all like phwoah – who is this goddess of writing? Because this book just gets better and better as you turn the pages.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#3

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Why did I buy this one? The cover. 100% the cover. However, I do think that the blurb sounds fascinating. It’s like The Hunger Games had a baby with The Fault in Our Stars, or something crazy like that. The main character is going to compete in a deadly competition to win the prize – whatever she asks for – and get a cure for her sibling who has cancer. Or at least that’s what I remember from it. As a side note, these books have an alternate cover and it literally scares the bejeebies out of me, *shudders*.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#4

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

I was meant to read this last week as part of a read-a-thon but unfortunately didn’t quite get around to it, dangit. Hopefully I will get the chance to actually pick this up soon because it does sound reasonably FANTASTIC. I mean, it’s all sword fighting and just generally awesome things. This better live up to expectations.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#5

Symphony by Jude Morgan

I bought this one at that second hand fair because it had a cool cover and a very interesting description. As it turned out, it also had abysmal ratings on Goodreads. It’s since gone up a bit so I’m crossing my fingers that maybe it’ll be just right for me . . . but it’s not looking good. It genuinely does sound very cool though – an Irish actress going to England to partake in a production of Shakespeare to perform in Paris (whew!) so I recommend giving it a chance and reading up on it on Goodreads.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#6

 The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

I definitely think that this one also sounds interesting. I’m not really sure at all why I picked this up because I don’t like this cover. I think it must’ve been the title. I’m undecided as to whether I think I’m going to enjoy this or be creeped out by it. But it does seem to be a relatively popular read with fairly decent ratings . . . *ponders the mysteries of the universe*.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#7

The Illumination by Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori

I picked this one up because I thought the cover was cool (if a little ugly), it was heavily discounted, takes place in a museum, and the protagonist is a museum curator. Which I was quite interested in becoming at the time. And still am, sort of. Another reason was that the blurb vaguely reminded me of another book called The Akhenaten Adventure which was wildly fun.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#8

The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas

So I’ll give you all one guess as to why I picked this up. DRAGONS. Well, more specifically there is a dragon on the cover. And it’s shiny and pretty. So bah! I stood no chance. This was also from that pesky second hand fair so I flung my money away and stashed this on my bookshelf. When I finally sit down to read this I have very high expectations that I will love it. I’m also quite pleased with myself because it’s really difficult to get your hands on this edition of the book which is far prettier than the other editions, *blows raspberry*.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#9

The Aware by Glenda Larke

This just looked like such a fun little fantasy adventure that I couldn’t not pick it up. Again, from the second hand fair I managed to nab both this and the next book for next to nothing. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this but I think this might be a read for during a study break when I’ve got time to completely immerse myself in this world. It’s also quite tricky to get your hands on this book online full stop. Or at least seems so from my brief searching, *more raspberries*.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#10

Roma by Steven Saylor

This book is about Rome, covers 1000 years, is by Steven Saylor who seems to know what he’s doing when it comes to historical fiction, and is gloriously big. It’s also purple, *squee*. How could I pass this one up? I think this will take me a while to get through but I think when I do read it it shall be a time of magnificent lounging around and chortling to myself. Obviously.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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#11

 The Madness of Hallen by Russell Meek

I have to admit, I had no intentions of buying this book. I had no idea what it was about when I bought it either. You see, I was at Supanova (a geeky event like Comic Con) and was taking a stroll through the author section (dangerous move) when I caught Russell Meek’s eye and he goes, “do you want to read about my book”, and I go “NOPE I MUST NOT BUY MORE BOOKS” in my head, but aloud I say, “ahem. Sure thing”. Except the blurb on the back was long and in small font he was watching me so I couldn’t concentrate so in the end I spent the right amount of time staring at the words, nodding, and then bought the book. But I don’t regret it! He actually signed it for me which is super cool and the book does sound fabulously fantastical – tribal wars and sword swishing, etc.

 // GOODREADS // BUY //

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#12

Archangel by Robert Harris

So this is the final book I want to share with you that I bought on a whim. I’m fairly certain this also came from the fair but I can’t quite remember. One of my friends I was ‘browsing’ with thrust this at me and raised an eyebrow, so I raise one of my eyebrows, glanced at the blurb, and added it to my pile of books. Why? Because the word Russia was on the back. How’s that for reasoning.

// GOODREADS // BUY //

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 I’m actually really excited to read all of these books but I still can’t see myself getting around to the ones I haven’t read any time super soon. These are some of my books that I know I’ll probably enjoy but I’m in no hurry to dive into. And if you see a fun sounding book for next to nothing then of course the answer is always YES to buying it.

Which of these books should I be getting on to?

Let me know in the comments below!

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~~ Kirstie ~~

 Follow @ozbooksnail