It’s been a minute since my last haul–holy moly, since October! I didn’t end up posting a haul for my December books since I got literally everything that I asked for on my Christmas list. (This is not surprising considering I was the one who ordered them.) But I’ve gotten a few books sporadically here and there, as well as a whole bunch for Black history month, so here we are, in the second week of March, where I will definitely be posting another haul post at the end of the month, whoops!

Have I already read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo? Yes, of course! I’m the worst, and I don’t usually read books soon after buying them, but I’ve been itching to read this for a while, and I’m so glad I did as soon as possible. It was absolutely heartbreaking in all the most poignant ways, and it just solidified Acevedo as an auto-buy author for me. I love her writing immensely, whether in prose or poetic form, and I’ll continue to read literally anything she publishes for the rest of time.

I’m so intrigued by Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown! It’s listed as part fiction/part memoir, which is really fascinating considering there’s magic, and honestly sounds like such a fun way to write a memoir. The concept of it immediately caught my attention, too, and I’ll admit that it’s a big reason behind why I bought it.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender was the kick-off for why I ended up buying books this month. I’d already intended to, but I just kept floundering about, trying to decide which books to buy, and then I reread Felix Ever After, remembered how freaking amazing it was, and realized I still hadn’t read Callender’s backlist, so there I was, making split second decisions on what to read so I could finally buy this. I haven’t read it yet, but I definitely want to soon, so fingers crossed!

At the same time, The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna was the reason I bought these when I did because that cover is impossible to ignore, and I knew that I wanted to include it on this list of books for Black history month, so I waited until it released to buy these. B&N is weird about their preorders, and they’ll never ship them at the same time as other orders, even if they’re all due to arrive at the same time, so the second Tuesday arrived, it was an add to cart and purchase kind of morning.

I started writing a book that begins in classical Greece, and it occurred to me that I didn’t have any Homer on hand, and then I fell down a spiral of which translation was better, which meant that I was aggravated at midnight randomly, so I woke up and decided to buy Circe by Madeline Miller instead. That seems fairly predictable for me, though, because given the choice between old white dude and modern retelling by a woman, I’m almost always going to go with my fellow ladies.

And yes, I bought The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, as well, for two reasons: Greek & gay. I have no idea if I’m going to like her writing, so I should have stuck with my usual rule of only buying one book per author until I know if I like them, but it seems kind of redundant that I wouldn’t? I mean, I generally like everything, with a few very small exceptions, and I almost always like what everyone else is hyping up, and it’s gay, so that’s an automatic win.

I am so excited is probably not the right word, given the content of The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, but I am excited to read it, even if it’s definitely going to make my heart race and break all at once. This seems like one of those books that’s just going to hit me square in the jugular, though, like Tyler Johnson was Here or Dear Martin, and while there’s a small part of me that dreads what I know is going to happen, it’s also so important to listen to these stories, and I’ll never pass up an opportunity to support and learn.

Am I the only person on the planet that hasn’t read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas yet? Probably, especially considering even my sister has read this, and she reads about three books per year. This came highly recommend from her (and every single other person in existence), and I know that I’m going to love it, so this was definitely a no-brainer as far what to buy this month.

Have you read and loved any of these?