Lately, I have been completely and utterly hooked on used book stores on Instagram. After discovering a bunch in the past couple months, I find myself unable to stop purchasing from them. In total, I’ve bought 9 books by this means—and I still want more!
It’s been good to go low-waste on my book purchases, cutting down on my carbon footprints and supporting local businesses. That being said, the books have definitely piled up and taken up quite an amount of space in my room. I thought, to remind myself, I’d put the books here, so they can no longer be ignored—in the hopes that you guys will hold me accountable to reading them.
Of course, if you feel the need for book inspirations, feel free to note down some of the titles in this post to add to your own TBR.
Three Sisters, Three Queens
Philippa Gregory
I am a huge fan of Philippa Gregory. Ever since I watched The Other Boleyn Girl—available now on Netflix, by the way—I was hooked on her works. There are a total of 5 books of hers that I’ve read previously—The Constant Princess being my favourite one thus far. Her books taught me a lot about English monarchy history and the whole scandal with Anne Boleyn, especially—most people would probably know her better as the English version of Marie Antoinette. She is definitely the first most hated woman in the nation that I knew of.
It has been a while since the last time that I read one of her books, but I decided to snatch this from Fat Chicken Books. Her books had always given me a historic pleasure, transporting me to the age of the renaissance. Can’t wait to dive back in!
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
Dorian Gray is one of those classic characters that I’ve been intrigued by for so long, especially after I found out about the 2009 movie starring Ben Barnes. For years I’ve put off buying this book, for some reason. But when Fat Chicken Books—my usual haunts, so you will see this name pop up often throughout this list—posted this book for sale, I decided to grab it.
The cover isn’t necessarily to my liking—the woes of buying secondhand, you know—but it sums up the whole plot of the entire book. It was really cheap too—only around 30K, if I’m not mistaken, which is equivalent to today’s US$2.12!
Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie
Here is the book that took 2019 by a storm! Or was it 2018? I’m not quite sure. I do remember how numerous booktubers rave about this book for the greater part of a year—at least 5 that I follow have given it such high ratings. I don’t remember the story very much, to be honest, but as I recall, it is written by a BIPOC author and has been nominated for a multitude of awards—so I’m definitely game.
For a while, I’ve tried to get my hands on one—used, of course—but it has always been snatched by someone else. This time, however, I was lucky enough to get it from, again, Fat Chicken Books—and on their clearance sale too!
Animal Dreams
Barbara Kingsolver
If we’ve been looking at books I bought from online used bookstores, this one is different—I actually bought it over a year ago from an offline bookstore. Barbara Kingsolver is also one of my favourite authors, despite having only read one work of hers—Flight Behavior. Having explored the climate crisis meticulously through the eyes of an unlikely protagonist—who is neither an activist nor a scientist—she made the issue feel incredibly humane.
Ever since then I’ve always wanted to read more works of hers. When I saw this at the used bookstore, I quickly grabbed it—despite the hideous cover. However, to this day, I haven’t even tried reading it once. Not going to lie: the hideous cover plays a major role in this lack of interest. Any tips on how to get over it?
Life of Pi (Kisah Pi)
Yann Martel
When we moved to a new office and I got my own space, my former supervisor gave me this book to add to my corner of books. This is a translated version of the famous Indian book-turn-movie in Indonesian. I’ve watched the film myself, and, although I didn’t hate it, it didn’t speak to me in any particular way.
I have since, however, been reminded by an alarming fact of the story that I missed completely in the film—or, at least, in my memory—so I’m piqued to try and read the source material. I suspect, however, that my former supervisor has an enormous pile of books at his home himself, so he deliberately dumped this in my care. How convenient.
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
Here is another book that I’ve been wanting to read for so long. There are two covers for this title that I adore—this above being one of them, and this being the other one. As usual, I’m not sure what the story is about, but I haven’t been disappointed by a cover that I love so far—let this not be the first one. I’ve also never read any work by Anthony Doerr before, but I’m so excited to try.
This one was bought on a whim from Buku Kaki-kaki, which is another Instagram-based local used bookstore. When the book arrived, it turns out to be much thicker than I expected, albeit being incredibly light in weight alone. I might save this one for much, much later, due to size alone. We shall see.
Tirai Menurun
Nh. Dini
One of two birthday presents my beloved Agung got me—the other one is Lalita, which I devoured quite early on. Both these books were requested by me, because I’m very particular about books and I will not like to be disappointed. This one is by my favourite Indonesian classics writer, the legendary Nh. Dini. I thought, upon picking up this book, that this was her last work before her passing the previous year.
However, after making a quick search on Goodreads, it turns out to be a newer edition of her 1993 work. Never mind, I’d still pick it up as I love her work so much. The new cover design certainly gives it a fresh, modern look. I can’t wait to flip through!
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
After reading The Uninhabitable Earth earlier this year, I was intrigued to try and read some of Harari’s famous works, including Sapien, Homo Deus and this. Personally, I would’ve picked Sapien to read first, since it is quoted multiple times on the aforementioned book—and have been hyped up several people whose tastes I trust completely. But my friend bought me this book and I couldn’t possibly be picky, so I suppose this one first then.
As I understand it, the book will deal a lot with the topics of mankind and their relationship with the environment, as well as each other. You may notice that these are topics I hold so close to my heart. Super excited to read this one!
Never Home Alone
Rob Dunn
Okay, saving the best for last, this book is truly the star of the whole pile. I bought this book off the discounts section of a local bookstore—not used, I’m afraid. The title alone incredibly intrigued me, not to mention to gorgeous cover and illustrations. Oh, my Lord! The topic in an of itself is quite unique and one that I’ve never dove into—and can you tell the irony in this self-isolation period of human history?
I love the concept very much and cannot wait to get into it. I’ve never heard of Rob Dunn before, but if I like this one, I might want to look for his other books. Sadly, this book is large in size—as you can see—and hardcover to boot, so it’s quite impractical to carry around. We’ll see when I’ll be able to squeeze it into my bag out and about.
BONUS: Currently Reading
The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein
The title of this book is incredibly apt, not only to uncover the horrifying method used to control the world’s economy around mid ’70s until, I suspect, well into the ’90s, but it is also appropriate to describe how I feel reading each and every page of it. Several jaw drops were had, even only shortly into the first chapter. If you’re a citizen of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Indonesia, you might have the same experience, because this book definitely goes above and beyond in analysing the most traumatic periods of our respective human histories.
For Indonesia, it uncovers the shocking truth behind the infamously bloody coup d’etat of 30 September 1965—swiftly, in one paragraph early on, that left me with a heartache and my jaw permanently dropped. It also revealed, to me, why Thatcher is such a controversial figure in the UK. But that was only the beginning—there are more shocks to be had.
Well, that’s a peek into my TBR pile thus far. While there are quite a number of books here, I actually only need to read one more exemplar to reach my reading goal this year—woohoo! If I look back to the start of the year, when I lamented for not being able to read as much—due to thesis and work—it seems silly now. I managed to comfortably and swiftly close in on my reading goal, almost without much fuss.
Not only that, I also get to read as many amazing books as I possibly can. There were plenty of 5-star books in my read-list this year too, which, of course, is always a welcome prospect. I wonder if this has anything to do with my improved psyche. It may not be much, quantity-wise, but, if you had to choose, you should always choose quality, right?
Lately, I have been completely and utterly hooked on used book stores on Instagram. After discovering a bunch in the past couple months, I find myself unable to stop purchasing from them. In total, I’ve bought 9 books by this means—and I still want more!
It’s been good to go low-waste on my book purchases, cutting down on my carbon footprints and supporting local businesses. That being said, the books have definitely piled up and taken up quite an amount of space in my room. I thought, to remind myself, I’d put the books here, so they can no longer be ignored—in the hopes that you guys will hold me accountable to reading them.
Of course, if you feel the need for book inspirations, feel free to note down some of the titles in this post to add to your own TBR.
Three Sisters, Three Queens
Philippa Gregory
I am a huge fan of Philippa Gregory. Ever since I watched The Other Boleyn Girl—available now on Netflix, by the way—I was hooked on her works. There are a total of 5 books of hers that I’ve read previously—The Constant Princess being my favourite one thus far. Her books taught me a lot about English monarchy history and the whole scandal with Anne Boleyn, especially—most people would probably know her better as the English version of Marie Antoinette. She is definitely the first most hated woman in the nation that I knew of.
It has been a while since the last time that I read one of her books, but I decided to snatch this from Fat Chicken Books. Her books had always given me a historic pleasure, transporting me to the age of the renaissance. Can’t wait to dive back in!
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
Dorian Gray is one of those classic characters that I’ve been intrigued by for so long, especially after I found out about the 2009 movie starring Ben Barnes. For years I’ve put off buying this book, for some reason. But when Fat Chicken Books—my usual haunts, so you will see this name pop up often throughout this list—posted this book for sale, I decided to grab it.
The cover isn’t necessarily to my liking—the woes of buying secondhand, you know—but it sums up the whole plot of the entire book. It was really cheap too—only around 30K, if I’m not mistaken, which is equivalent to today’s US$2.12!
Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie
Here is the book that took 2019 by a storm! Or was it 2018? I’m not quite sure. I do remember how numerous booktubers rave about this book for the greater part of a year—at least 5 that I follow have given it such high ratings. I don’t remember the story very much, to be honest, but as I recall, it is written by a BIPOC author and has been nominated for a multitude of awards—so I’m definitely game.
For a while, I’ve tried to get my hands on one—used, of course—but it has always been snatched by someone else. This time, however, I was lucky enough to get it from, again, Fat Chicken Books—and on their clearance sale too!
Animal Dreams
Barbara Kingsolver
If we’ve been looking at books I bought from online used bookstores, this one is different—I actually bought it over a year ago from an offline bookstore. Barbara Kingsolver is also one of my favourite authors, despite having only read one work of hers—Flight Behavior. Having explored the climate crisis meticulously through the eyes of an unlikely protagonist—who is neither an activist nor a scientist—she made the issue feel incredibly humane.
Ever since then I’ve always wanted to read more works of hers. When I saw this at the used bookstore, I quickly grabbed it—despite the hideous cover. However, to this day, I haven’t even tried reading it once. Not going to lie: the hideous cover plays a major role in this lack of interest. Any tips on how to get over it?
Life of Pi (Kisah Pi)
Yann Martel
When we moved to a new office and I got my own space, my former supervisor gave me this book to add to my corner of books. This is a translated version of the famous Indian book-turn-movie in Indonesian. I’ve watched the film myself, and, although I didn’t hate it, it didn’t speak to me in any particular way.
I have since, however, been reminded by an alarming fact of the story that I missed completely in the film—or, at least, in my memory—so I’m piqued to try and read the source material. I suspect, however, that my former supervisor has an enormous pile of books at his home himself, so he deliberately dumped this in my care. How convenient.
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
Here is another book that I’ve been wanting to read for so long. There are two covers for this title that I adore—this above being one of them, and this being the other one. As usual, I’m not sure what the story is about, but I haven’t been disappointed by a cover that I love so far—let this not be the first one. I’ve also never read any work by Anthony Doerr before, but I’m so excited to try.
This one was bought on a whim from Buku Kaki-kaki, which is another Instagram-based local used bookstore. When the book arrived, it turns out to be much thicker than I expected, albeit being incredibly light in weight alone. I might save this one for much, much later, due to size alone. We shall see.
Tirai Menurun
Nh. Dini
One of two birthday presents my beloved Agung got me—the other one is Lalita, which I devoured quite early on. Both these books were requested by me, because I’m very particular about books and I will not like to be disappointed. This one is by my favourite Indonesian classics writer, the legendary Nh. Dini. I thought, upon picking up this book, that this was her last work before her passing the previous year.
However, after making a quick search on Goodreads, it turns out to be a newer edition of her 1993 work. Never mind, I’d still pick it up as I love her work so much. The new cover design certainly gives it a fresh, modern look. I can’t wait to flip through!
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
After reading The Uninhabitable Earth earlier this year, I was intrigued to try and read some of Harari’s famous works, including Sapien, Homo Deus and this. Personally, I would’ve picked Sapien to read first, since it is quoted multiple times on the aforementioned book—and have been hyped up several people whose tastes I trust completely. But my friend bought me this book and I couldn’t possibly be picky, so I suppose this one first then.
As I understand it, the book will deal a lot with the topics of mankind and their relationship with the environment, as well as each other. You may notice that these are topics I hold so close to my heart. Super excited to read this one!
Never Home Alone
Rob Dunn
Okay, saving the best for last, this book is truly the star of the whole pile. I bought this book off the discounts section of a local bookstore—not used, I’m afraid. The title alone incredibly intrigued me, not to mention to gorgeous cover and illustrations. Oh, my Lord! The topic in an of itself is quite unique and one that I’ve never dove into—and can you tell the irony in this self-isolation period of human history?
I love the concept very much and cannot wait to get into it. I’ve never heard of Rob Dunn before, but if I like this one, I might want to look for his other books. Sadly, this book is large in size—as you can see—and hardcover to boot, so it’s quite impractical to carry around. We’ll see when I’ll be able to squeeze it into my bag out and about.
BONUS: Currently Reading
The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein
The title of this book is incredibly apt, not only to uncover the horrifying method used to control the world’s economy around mid ’70s until, I suspect, well into the ’90s, but it is also appropriate to describe how I feel reading each and every page of it. Several jaw drops were had, even only shortly into the first chapter. If you’re a citizen of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Indonesia, you might have the same experience, because this book definitely goes above and beyond in analysing the most traumatic periods of our respective human histories.
For Indonesia, it uncovers the shocking truth behind the infamously bloody coup d’etat of 30 September 1965—swiftly, in one paragraph early on, that left me with a heartache and my jaw permanently dropped. It also revealed, to me, why Thatcher is such a controversial figure in the UK. But that was only the beginning—there are more shocks to be had.
Well, that’s a peek into my TBR pile thus far. While there are quite a number of books here, I actually only need to read one more exemplar to reach my reading goal this year—woohoo! If I look back to the start of the year, when I lamented for not being able to read as much—due to thesis and work—it seems silly now. I managed to comfortably and swiftly close in on my reading goal, almost without much fuss.
Not only that, I also get to read as many amazing books as I possibly can. There were plenty of 5-star books in my read-list this year too, which, of course, is always a welcome prospect. I wonder if this has anything to do with my improved psyche. It may not be much, quantity-wise, but, if you had to choose, you should always choose quality, right?