Used Bookstores Are My Weakness | Q2 Book Haul

Here we are again. Me, with too many books. Me, breaking my book buying ban. Me, posting this an entire month late. None of these should be very surprising.

First, I have my BOTM picks from May and June. I actually didn't spend any money on these because I won a three-month subscription (and got an extra book credit because the customer service is incredible), so now I'll have plenty of books to read for a while, even outside of my supposed "ban" on buying books.

If you've been thinking of joining BOTM, you can use this link and I will get extra credits if you join. (But seriously, no pressure. I just genuinely love this service.)

AMERICAN WAR: This novel is a near-future imagining of America, after its second civil war--this time over fossil fuels/clean energy. I think this is told after the war by a child born during the war, recounting his family's involvement in the war.
EXIT WEST: I was actually waiting to put this post up until I finished this book and man, oh man am I so glad I did. If you take one thing away from this post, it's that YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. 5 stars, my review is linked on the title. Please, please, please read it.
A MILLION JUNES: So, this is apparently a take on Romeo and Juliet? I'm a sucker for anything that is compared to Shakespeare, and I've heard glorious praise about Henry's writing style so I had to grab this one.
AND WE'RE OFF: I don't know much about this. Goodreads compared it to Gilmore Girls and that's all I needed to want it immediately.

where my books were acquired, a guide

* my local used bookstore

** my local indie bookstore, at an author event

*** a giveaway

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY* & CODE NAME VERITY*: These two books are ones that I've heard endless good things about. I don't know much about either except that they take place during WWII. That's all I want to know going into these books.
ALWAYS AND FOREVER, LARA JEAN: I wasn't going to buy this, I never even planned on reading it, but the cover is so pretty and it was 20% off at Target. It was a moment of weakness. I'll read this eventually.
WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI**: People, this is one of my new favorite books. Expect to see this on some sort of list at the end of the year. It was that good. I had the pleasure of meeting Sandhya Menon at her stop in Nashville, so I got to talk with her for a bit and she signed my book! 5 stars
UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED***: Another one of my absolute favorite books so far this year. Incredible, so diverse, better than Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and all around a great and engaging read. 5 stars
THE MOTHERS*: I don't know too much about this, which is my preferred way of going into contemporary novels, but I do know that it place in a black community in Southern California. I definitely picked this up for that setting alone. I also believe it's a character-focused piece, but don't quote me on that.
STRANGE THE DREAMER**: Something about a city called Weep that no one remembers. There's magic and blue people? You all know what this is about. I don't know enough about it to explain. But I did get to meet Laini, and she's fantastic.

WICKED*: I got about halfway through this book ages ago when I was a wee thing in middle school, before I ever saw the musical. I then saw the musical and returned the book to my sister half-finished. I am and always will be obsessed with the musical. It's the musical that got me into musicals. I want to give the book another try, as an adult.
JURASSIC PARK*: If you know me, you know my favorite movie is Jurassic Park. Not only is it a fantastic film, it's incredibly innovative and is the reason we have as many amazing CGI effects in movies as we do today. Anyway, dinosaurs are cool; Kristi @ Melbourne on My Mind loves this book, so I finally picked up my own copy.
QUEENS OF GEEK: People will not shut up about this book, so I picked it up so I could read it for myself.
THIS SHATTERED WORLD*: Amie Kaufman is the reason I now am interested in Sci-Fi. I was surprised how much I loved These Broken Stars, and I am very excited to read the sequel and see what happens next in this series. (Also, this series has the prettiest covers ever. Hands down.)
BRAIN ON FIRE*: This is a memoir that I've heard endless good things about. It was also 75¢ and that's definitely the reason I finally picked it up.
THE COLOR PROJECT: SIERRA HAS A BOOK. LOOK. AHHHHHHHH. CONTEMPORARY BOOK WITH A GEM OF A BOY NAMED LEVI. I'M FREAKING OUT.
DEFY THE STARS***: SPACE. Claudia Gray writes a lot of Star Wars books, so I'm sure this is great. I'm excited to read it.
CITY OF SAINTS AND THIEVES: I actually got this from my friend Trina because she read it and didn't feel the need to keep it on her shelves. This is a YA mystery/thriller that takes place in Kenya. That's all I needed to know.