Second Hand Book Haul With Rumage.com
This is a paid Ad for Rumage but all opinions are my own - I genuinely think they’re fab)
I love buying second hand. Not only is it great for the environment, but it’s also brilliant for your wallet, and I’ve saved so much money over the last few years by buying used instead of new.
Any of you who follow my Instagram will know that I love buying new books and I adore bookshops, but I also love the website Rumage (my kind sponsors of this post!). Rumage is a search engine that scours the internet for second hand goods, whether that’s clothing, toys, homeware, books, or anything else. Unlike other places on the internet, Rumage will search only for second hand products, which is perfect if you’re specifically hunting for something pre-loved.
Book lovers, there’s good news. I found loads of fab books from my wish list using this website, and treated myself a little book haul. All of these titles were purchased individually from Ebay via Rumage, but my sources tell me that they’ve just added Oxfam Books onto the site too. It was super easy to sort through and I managed to pick up all of the following used books for a total of £30!
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
First on my list is a title that I’ve wanted to get my hands on for years now. I read and loved Salt to the Sea a long time ago and I’d just never gotten around to reading another of her books. Recently however I’ve been on such a such a historical fiction kick and now it feels like the perfect time to pick it up.
Synopsis
‘One night fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother and young brother are hauled from their home by Soviet guards, thrown into cattle cars and sent away. They are being deported to Siberia. An unimaginable and harrowing journey has begun. Lina doesn't know if she'll ever see her father or her friends again. But she refuses to give up hope. Set in 1941, Between Shades of Gray, is an extraordinary and haunting story based on first-hand family accounts and memories from survivors.’
Hold Sill by Nina LaCour
Another book by an author I love, Nina LaCour is just fantastic and I can’t wait to read this book. It’s really short too at just 272 pages so should be a quick read!
Synopsis
‘That night Ingrid told Caitlin, I’ll go wherever you go. But by dawn Ingrid, and her promise, were gone. Ingrid’s suicide immobilizes Caitlin, leaving her unsure of her place in a new life she hardly recognizes. A life without the art, the laughter, the music, and the joy that she shared with her best friend…. But Ingrid left something behind. In words and drawings, Ingrid documented a painful farewell in her journal. Journeying through Ingrid’s final days, Caitlin fights back through unspeakable loss to find renewed hope.’
Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story by Leah Hazard
I love a good medical memoir, and this one has come highly recommended! I’ve read books by doctors, nurses, psychologists and more - but never a midwife. I can’t want to have a peek into Leah Hazard’s world and to learn more about the field of midwifery.
Synopsis
‘Midwives are there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives. From heart-wrenching grief to the pure joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all. But life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine.’
No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler
Here’s another memoir, but one written by a patient rather than a medical professional (although people can of course be both!). This book sounds both powerful and insightful, and I can’t wait to give it a read.
Synopsis
‘Hailed by Glennon Doyle as 'the Christian Joan Didion', Kate Bowler used to accept the modern idea that life is an endless horizon of possibilities, a series of choices which if made correctly, would lead us to a place just out of our reach. A beach body by summer. A trip to Disneyland around the corner. A promotion on the horizon. But then at thirty-five she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, and now she has to ask one of the most fundamental questions of all: How do we create meaning in our lives when the life we hoped for is put on hold indefinitely?
In No Cure for Being Human, Kate searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom (and absurdity) of our modern 'best life now' advice industry, which offers us exhausting positivity, trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn and out-perform our humanness. With dry wit and unflinching honesty she grapples with her cancer diagnosis, her ambition and her faith and searches for some kind of peace with her limitations in a culture that says that anything is possible’
The Fire Never Goes Out by Noelle Stevenson
Last but not least, here’s the latest graphic novel by the author of Nimona! I love comics and graphic novels but they’re always pretty expensive, so I was thrilled to pick this up second hand at a lower price.
Synopsis
‘In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of his young adult life, author-illustrator ND Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world. Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at his art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for his debut graphic novel, Nimona, ND captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with a wit, wisdom, and vulnerability that are all his own.’
Have you read any of these books? Let me know!
Go book shopping yourself on Rumage here.
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