birthday book haul!

Confession: the top two books on this stack were bought at Barnes & Noble with a non-birthday gift card. But I did buy them on my birthday, after a special birthday dinner of burritos eaten in a park by the lake (and Ben & Jerry's ice cream cones from a serendipitously found scoop shop). Anywho, the stack:

Dragondrums (Harper Hall of Pern #3)
by Anne McCaffrey
I don't have book two, nor have I read it, but Dragondrums was the only book in this trilogy that Barnes & Noble had in stock. This is very sad, because I adored Dragonsong (book one) and was very much looking forward to Dragonsinger. I suppose I'll just have to go back another time. Oh darn.

I Am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai
Since I rarely buy new books, I often go into bookstores with a list carefully selected (read: hastily thrown together at the last minute) from my Goodreads TBR so that I have some idea of what books I might want to drag home with me. I Am Malala was not on the list I took with me to B&N, but I've been wanting to read it since it came out. No more excuses.

The Lost Art of Real Cooking
by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger
This was a gift from my grandmother, whose former neighbor's daughter is the co-author. Feel free to read that sentence another three times or so until it makes sense. It's a bit unusual as far as cookbooks go, in that the recipes are written in paragraph form (no lists of ingredients), and it includes such recipes as yogurt, ghee, and beef jerky, alongside the more familiar bread, salad, and soup.

Samara's Peril (Ilyon Chronicles #3)
by Jaye L. Knight
The Ilyon Chronicles is one of my favorite Christian fantasy series, so I was really excited to receive Samara's Peril! My husband even had it signed by Jaye L. Knight, who wrote a birthday message in my favorite color (a happy coincidence, apparently). I have to wait a few weeks to read it, though, because I'm re-reading the first two books and still haven't made it through book one just yet.

Update! (6/23/16)
I just received this gem in the mail as a belated part two to the gifts from my parents:

Associated Press Stylebook 2016
Practical gifts are sometimes just as exciting as fun ones. Especially when you're a nerd. On a somewhat related note, keep your eyes open for an exciting announcement on the blog! (It'll make more sense when you see the announcement post; I promise...)