*Stacking the Shelves* 23 September 2017

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Stacking The Shelves is a feature/weekly meme created by Tynga’s Reviews in which you share the books you are adding to your shelves, both physical and virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Now, I already have a monthly post I do featuring the books I get in the mail (and it's a lot because I have a serious Goodreads First Reads giveaway addiction), and I'm going to try to start posting my monthly Read-A-Thon posts again too (even if none of the Platypires will be joining me), which will cover the books I receive through Netgalley. But I also go to my thrift store at least once a week, and often leave with a bag full of books. It's such a common occurrence that I'm known as The Book Lady to the frequent volunteers (and I suspect that they've started scheduling their $1 bag of books sales for Thursdays simply because that is the day I usually visit.) So my Stacking the Shelves posts are going to focus on my thrift store hauls, because this is my blog and I do what I want. 

On that note, here are the books I picked up this week.

Aztec by Gary Jennings - I have been eyeing this book for about a month now, I might have bought it sooner had I realized it included a post-it note with some random phone numbers on it. Think I should give them a call?
The Holiday Gift by RaeAnne Thayne - I picked this book up with my 12 Books of Christmas Challenge in mind. You can see more details about that by clicking on the name. I'd love to have you join.
Frozen Heat by Richard Castle - My husband and I enjoy watching Castle together occasionally (or at least we did, we haven't watched it in a couple years now), so I'm intrigued by the idea of the books at least. 
Little Bee by Chris Cleave - This cover called to me. And the synopsis is rather uninformative and that apparently appealed to me this week. 
Marco Polo by Laurence Bergreen - I believe that anyone who has spent even a small amount of time at a public swimming pool knows this man's name. I can honestly say that I don't know a whole heck of a lot about why it's so famous though. Maybe this book will change that. 
Whose Baby Am I? by John Butler - My daughter asked for this book because she is obsessed with baby everything. She even wants me to have another baby and I keep telling her that ship sailed the day she was born (I had tubal ligation done following a c-section). 
Jules Verne Collected Novels by Jules Verne - So I have only ever read Around the World in 80 Days, but this seemed like too good a deal to pass up. 
Presidential Trivia by Ernie Couch - When I was in school, I was in Scholar's Bowl/Quiz Bowl (because I've always been a nerd), and this book contains some of the types of questions that can be asked during those meets. I'm hoping my kids will be equally nerdy and find this book interesting. 
Beyond the Valley of Thorns by Patrick Carman - I am pretty sure I got the first book in this series a week or so ago (the cover art looks very familiar) so I figured I ought to get the second book when I saw it. 
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - I'm pretty sure this book appears on some of those lists of books everyone should read that I so love...Either that, or the name just sounds super familiar to me because I come from a musically inclined family and bel canto is an operatic term. 
Only Twice I've Wished for Heaven by Dawn Turner Trice - This cover really intrigued me. 
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan - I'm like 98% positive I already bought a hardback copy of this book, which means I need to find that to take it back to the thrift store because I much prefer paperbacks like this in my collection. 
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - I hear this book is soon to be a major motion picture, or is a major motion picture by now I suppose. I haven't read it yet though, but at least now I have a copy in case my husband wants to watch the movie. 
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason - Historical fiction, and like I mentioned before, I come from a musically inclined family. I grew up in a house with a piano room (that's what we called it) that housed my mother's Steinway grand piano (or maybe it was a baby grand, but I'm pretty sure it was just a standard grand). 
The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward E. Baptist - This book is about the legacy of slavery in America, I think. I mean, I'll have to read it to figure out for sure how I would describe it. 
Mud Soup by Judith Head - My son asked for this level 3 beginner reader. A part of me wanted to say no because he should be reading chapter books fairly exclusively at this point, but then I remembered that I'm a 33 year-old woman who sometimes enjoys the ease of reading a middle grade novel. Plus, my daughter can read this as well. 
I'm So Grumpy by Hans Wilhelm - This is a level one beginning reader that I bought for my daughter to read. It should be relatively easy for her, but that helps to inspire reading confidence in my opinion.
Meet Kaya by Janet Shaw - This is a book from the American Girls collection about a Native American girl. Definitely the kind of books I want my kids reading. 
Kaya and Lone Dog by Janet Shaw - This is book 4 in the Kaya collection. 
Kaya Shows the Way by Janet Shaw - This is book 5 in the Kaya collection. 
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham - I'm building myself a rather sizable collection of non-fiction books about America's founding fathers. 
Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden - Another non-fiction book about an early influential American. 
A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic by John Ferling - It's becoming quite clear to me that a political science major is preparing to PCS out of here. At least that's the way it seems based on the books I've been picking up lately. 
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters - Not going to lie, I was intrigued by the old-timey naked ladies on the cover. Apparently this is a historical lesbian romance, so that should be interesting. 
You Can't Scare Me by R.L. Stein - I found another Goosebumps book so I had to buy it. 
Athena the Brain by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams - This is the first book in the Goddess Girls series. I haven't read any of these books, but I like the idea behind them and think they may appeal to my daughter in a year or two. 
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria - I have wanted to get my hands on a copy of this book since the controversy surrounding former President Obama reading it. I mostly remember a whole lot of "He's trying to sabotage America" from a bunch of people judging the book purely on it's title. It made me curious to see what was on the inside. 
The Riverside Chaucer edited by Larry D. Benson - I am actually surprised that I wasn't supposed to already own a copy of this book. You see, the last semester I was in college (before I dropped out) I took a Chaucer seminar (I was an English major). You would think a book about Chaucer's life and writings would have been required reading for something like that, wouldn't you? Oh well. I got it MUCH cheaper this way than if I'd had to buy it through the University Bookshop.
Crippled America by Donald Trump - I already own a copy of this book (thanks to Jude and Bekah of Platypire reviews), but I'm pretty sure there is going to come a time when I can repay their "kindness" with a promised reviewed, and this will come in handy. 
Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer - More non-fiction about American history. 
John Adams by David McCullough - So when I went to get the link for this on Amazon, the cover looked awfully familiar to me, but maybe that's just because old white dudes in wigs all look alike. It's also possible I bought a different copy of this book at the thrift store somewhat recently. If so, one will be going back. 
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow - This book has some underlining, and also an airplane pass for someone heading to Kansas City airport from Georgia (KCI happens to be the airport I'm most familiar with as a native Kansan. I just thought that was a strange coincidence.) 

So that is all the books I picked up this week at my thrift store. This haul only cost me $1.50 because the books were on sale for 50 cents a bag (and several of these were hefty books so I required three bags). It's still a super good bargain and I've got some great educational materials in this haul. 

What I just said in the previous paragraph is a lie, and while this is still just a draft and I could just delete it, I'm choosing to leave it because I do what I want. I made a second trip to my thrift store this past week, because I have a standing date with the Jehovah's Witnesses on Thursday afternoons that I like to avoid being around for, so I went to base for some more thrift shopping and picked up another bag of books (as well as a Dr. Who ice cube tray and what I would call a cathedral shaped bundt pan). So here are the rest of the books that I got this week. 

Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter - So this book is actually available on Amazon which makes it not quite the same as my beloved church cookbooks, but it is over 65 years old, which means the recipes will be of the caliber of recipes found in church cookbooks, but with a bit more organization probably. 
Ghost Game by Marcia Thornton Jones & Debbie Dadey - This is from the Ghostville Elementary series and is by the authors of the Bailey School Kids series, which I really enjoyed as a child. 
Cruel Kings and Mean Queens by Terry Deary - This is from the Horrible Histories series, which is history for kids that doesn't necessarily gloss over the negative aspects, apparently. I don't know for sure, but I think they look fun and will probably read this myself. 
Pirates on the Chesapeake by Donald G. Shomette - It's a non-fiction book about pirates, and pirates are fascinating. 
Too Great a Lady by Amanda Elyot - This cover fascinated me. 
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson - This books tagline is "Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" and the cover features a few swastikas. You know I had to buy it considering my fascination with WWII era books. 
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf - This book has some highlighting, so hopefully I will find it at least a little bit thought provoking. 
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo by Michela Wrong - I confess I do not know a lot about the history and politics of the African continent as a whole, let alone much about any of the countries in particular. This seems like a fascinating and informative read though. 
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch - I imagine this will be a rather intense book. 
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - I wrote a fake review of this book on my other blog, Whose Review is it Anyway, because a friend had mentioned that there was an excessive use of italics in the book, and we decided it was all part of a secret code. I bought the book because I immediately noticed it at the thrift store simply because of that review. 
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels - This book at least starts during WWII, in Poland. I had to buy it for that fact alone. 
A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan by Nelofer Pazira - It's a big week for non-fiction books for me. This one sounds pretty interesting and relevant with current events. 
My Giant Dress-up Doll Book - My daughter asked for this book. It's used and most of the pieces have been pressed out, and while some of them are almost definitely missing, the previous owners very clearly took care to keep most of them with the book. There are also little stories in it, so that's a bonus even if pieces are missing. 
5,000 Awesome Facts About Everything by National Geographic Kids - My son asked for this book. Considering my recent purchases of yearly almanacs for kids, I was thrilled to say yes to this request. It at least lends plausibility to the fact that some of those almanacs may see use as well. 

And that's it. That is absolutely all of the books that I picked up this week at the thrift store. This bit of my haul cost me $2.50 (because the Mennonite Community Cookbook was $2). So my entire book haul for the week ran me $4. 

So what books did you add to your shelves this week? - Katie 

*If you're stopping by from the link-up, please be sure to leave a link to your post so I can stop by and see your list.*