BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in September 2020 » The Novel Hermit

BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in September 2020

October 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

September is here, what are the books people bought?

During the last week of February 2018, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of!

And that’s what this post is—seeing the top selling books of September 2020!

FICTION

Dune by Frank Herbert | Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson | The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell | There There by Tommy Orange

Reviews

REVIEW • A Myrtle’s Afoot (Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce)

October 5, 2020 Comment : 1

Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle has a passion for justice and a Highly Unconventional obsession with criminal science. Armed with her father’s law books and her mum’s microscope, Myrtle studies toxicology, keeps abreast of the latest developments in crime scene analysis, and Observes her neighbors in the quiet village of Swinburne, England.

When her next-door neighbor, a wealthy spinster and eccentric breeder of rare flowers, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtle seizes her chance. With her unflappable governess, Miss Ada Judson, by her side, Myrtle takes it upon herself to prove Miss Wodehouse was murdered and find the killer, even if nobody else believes her — not even her father, the town prosecutor.

myreview

I received this book for free from Algonquin Young Readers for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

First sentence: “‘Correct me if I’m wrong.’ My governess, Miss Judson, strolled into the schoolroom, her sharp bootheels clicking like a telegraph.”

Move over Sherlock Holmes, there’s a new detective in town! Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle is making a run for his money, and she will not let any stones be unturned until she gets to the truth behind the murder! And the the murder she’s investigating? Well, it’s her wealthy elderly neighbor—Miss Wodehouse—who supposedly died in the bath. Did she though, or was there a sinister reason for her death?

Holy Mother Cover

HOLY MOTHER COVER! • Full Name Basis

October 1, 2020 Comment : 1

You know what’s even better than a book with a good story? When that book has an awesome cover!

This is not your typical YA anthology-type post where I tell you these are the books that you should get on your TBR list, no siree! (There are plenty of posts for that, so I don’t want to recycle what has already been said.)

I will present to you something that I haven’t done before—a mix of themes, so to speak. Book covers, BUT also books that have a full name in the title! I wanted to see the different titles with a full names.

Behold!

Reviews

REVIEW • The Beauty of the House Is Immeasurable; Its Kindness Infinite (Piranesi by Susanna Clarke)

September 17, 2020 Leave a Comment

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

myreview

First sentence: “When the Moon rose in the Third Northern Hall I went to the Ninth Vestibule to witness the joining of three Tides.”

Beware: Don’t read too much about the world of Piranesi. You’ll want to go into this blind because it’s a wonderful journey full of magic and beauty about a weird majestic House with endless wonders. (This goes without saying, don’t expect another Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.)

Piranesi is a hard book to describe, if only because anything I want to say about this book feels like a spoiler that readers need to unveil themselves. How can people even understand the breathtaking magic you find in the House with its infinite Halls and Vestibules with marble statues and the waves crashing around like you’re near the seaside?

There’s something very dreamlike about this world that Susanna Clarke created. This surreal house has a way of hypnotizing you with its beauty. It’s no wonder Piranesi falls.

(If you haven’t read Piranesi, stop reading this and read the book now if you want a weird, dream-like story!!!)

Discussion

BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in August 2020

September 3, 2020 Comment : 1

Annnnnnnd we are back with another Books in Hand!!

It has made a return after taking a few months off due to the pandemic.

FICTION

Dune by Frank Herbert | The Promised Neverland Vol. 1 | The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett | Circe by Madeline Miller | My Hero Academia Vol. 1

Comics

FROM PANEL TO PANEL • Not That America (All-America Comix)

August 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

All-America Comix (One-shot) by Joe Casey and Dustin Nguyen • July 1, 2020 • Image Comics

Website | Goodreads | Midtown Comics | Comixology | LCBS

Her last name is VASQUEZ! Her first name…says it all! And when confronted with the hidden secret of the universe, you won’t believe the cosmic truth she uncovers! Brought to you by the Wildcats Version 3.0 team of JOE CASEY and DUSTIN NGUYEN—reunited for the first time in fifteen years!

myreview

Is that America Chavez—? Oh no, it’s actually America Vasquez—an alternate America Chavez, but…not? She’s familiar with the same attitude, the super strength, and the ability to fly and travel through dimensions. All-America Comix has similar characters you’d find in Marvel works—both in personality and visuals—but with very, very small differences. Almost like bootleg versions. It doesn’t read as a ~poke fun at these characters type of story, instead it’s like a ~what could’ve been~ that takes readers absolutely nowhere.

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