Hello guys! I am just on my way to work
right now but it is Sunday, the first day
of the queer lit readathon. I have
decided to start out with The Seven
Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I have been
listening to that audiobook this morning,
and last night a little bit before bed
because it was after midnight. And so
technically the readathon had started. I
am enjoying that book so far. It's pretty
much what I expected it to be...it's like,
the old Hollywood story. We're kind of
flipping back and forth between present
day and the past. I'm really enjoying the
character Evelyn Hugo. I'm enjoying the
story, I am intrigued to find out why she
has chosen Monique to write this
story. And, like, the deal that Monique has
been offered is so ridiculously good
like I... it's like... it's unbelievable.
Like literally not believable. I just don't
get... I don't know. It's just like
this fantasy situation. Like, I would kill
to be in her shoes. I feel like this book
was so hyped I'm slightly
disappointed so far. It's really hard to
go into a book that has received the
amount of praise that this book has
received. I personally am not loving it
to the point of like... this is 5 out of 5
stars! Oh my god I am blown away! This is
the most amazing thing I've ever read!
Best book of the year! That's definitely
not where I am with this book. But I am
enjoying it so far. I decided to start
out with that one because it's my
longest book on my TBR. I do have two
other books I'm in the middle of that
are expiring in this week so I do need
to finish two books that don't have
anything to do with queer literature.
Because I am almost done with Rebecca by
Daphne du Maurier and then I'm like
maybe like a third of the way into
Fahrenheit 451 right now. But that book
is pretty short so I should be able to
finish those books pretty easily. And I'm hoping that they
won't take up too much of my time that I
get--like, that it detracts from all
of the queer books that I have on my TBR
for this week. Today I didn't get as much
reading in as I wanted to because I
usually spend Sundays with my
family so we were playing a lot of games,
listening to Christmas music, and just
having a lovely Sunday afternoon. So I
don't regret doing that because it was a
really nice time. But I do need to super
hardcore focus on my reading. But I am
going to work now and I will not be
reading unfortunately. But it's Sunday so
I'm not going to be at work super super late. I'm hoping to get a lot
of reading in after work and then in the
morning on Monday and then all day
Tuesday. So I will just update you guys
when that happens. That's pretty much it
for Sunday. That's pretty much all
that's happened today so talk to you guys later!
Well hello. It is Monday, day 2 of the
readathon. I'm happy to say that I am
making progress. I'm almost done with
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and this book is so good for a readathon. I was
worried because it's the longest book on
my TBR but it is so, so addictive. This
book has gotten very juicy. It's
kind of steamier than I thought it
was going to be. And it's also like... a lot
more romantic than I thought it's gonna be too!
It just has so many different
elements. It's also super dramatic. It's
very, very engrossing and I'm really
liking it. I'm dying to know how this
ends. I'm so, so curious to see where this book is gonna go. Really, really happy
with this as a start to the readathon.
And it is so focused on the relationship
between these two women and it's oh so
good and I love it. And I also am weirdly
loving the historical and Hollywood
aspects of this book. I do not usually
like books that include fictional famous
people but it actually works in this
book really well because it's about old
Hollywood. It's not like I would have
grown up with these characters if
they were real. It's a lot easier for me
to feel like it's real because it's from
an era that's so far removed from my
upbringing and my knowledge. You know? So like, it doesn't feel so tangible. And I
really enjoy how these characters are experiencing different points of
history through their lens. And it's so
so good. I have also started Hurricane Child
and The Spellbook of the Lost and
Found. Both those audiobooks have very strongly
accented narrators. The Spellbook of the Lost and Found has three different
narrators and there's actually like a
large cast of characters because all
three different characters--they have
their own worlds that they're existing
in. So I'm a little confused by this book
so far. And the Irish accents are very
strong but I'm enjoying it. But it is
beautifully written so far and it's very
magical and so I'm liking that. And then
Hurricane Child is also really good so
far. The narrator of the audiobook does
have a very strong Caribbean accent.
It works for the book. And I really, really
like the main character. She's really
fascinating and she just has so
much going on that I'm enjoying in her
life. I'm going to work in like an hour
so I think I'm gonna film some videos
and that's about it. Today I pretty much
just have taken Hazel out on a very, very
long walk and so I was listening to The
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo the
whole time. And so I've just been
listening to that book pretty much all
morning, making breakfast and walking my
dog. And that's about it. I'll check in
with you guys later. It's my day off
tomorrow so that's really exciting.
Oh hello! It is currently Wednesday so we're
kind of like halfway through the
readathon. I don't even think I updated
yesterday. Yesterday was Tuesday and I
had all these plans to do productive
things yesterday. [whispered] And I just didn't do them.
What did I do yesterday??? Not much!
I look like a mime.
But I do need to update you on my
reading because things have been
progressing, which is good. Monday night I
finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
and it was so good. I feel like I've
already mentioned most of the things I
really did like about it. Overall it was
just such a good story. It was
interesting and rich and I really did
love it. I do feel like this book
was overhyped just in the sense that the
level of hype that it had... I didn't love
it THAT much. But I wouldn't say it
disappointed me. I don't really think I
expected to love it as much as people
have been saying they've been loving it.
I just didn't feel like that was gonna
quite happen for me. In terms of
negative things, I don't know if I fully
connected to the story emotionally as
much as I probably should have. And I
just feel like it was kind of
disconnected in terms of the protagonist
who's the journalist who's learning
about Evelyn's story. Her story never
really came to fruition for me and the
whole, like, explanation of why she was
chosen, I honestly was just like....not
that into. It was just a bit much. So I
feel like the book didn't fully connect
those stories as well as it should have.
I just was feeling a little bit
dissatisfied with that aspect of the
story. But overall I gave this a really
strong 4 stars. It was really good. There is a reason that people are
gushing about this book. It has so many
things going for it so I'm really glad
that I finally read it. And I loved it, I
really did. I started reading Reign of the Fallen
and I got like, maybe an hour into
the audiobook and I've decided not to
read this book. It just... I don't think
it's for me. I might give it another try
maybe another time. But really the only
thing that's pulling me to it is the
knowledge that there's a female/female
romance. It's just so high fantasy
and the world building was just so
much for me. I just was not feeling it.
I'm not usually a fantasy person. And
reading other reviews of this book, I'm
realizing that it actually has, like, a
lot of dark topics. It's a really heavy
book and grief is one of the main
focuses of this book and I just was
not in the mood to read something like
that
super quickly during a readathon.
I sent that book back to my library.
I'm not gonna be reading it. Maybe someday, but it's just....I don't think it's for me.
I also finished Sugar Town. So this
graphic novel, I read the whole thing
last night. I'm honestly not sure if this is like...
nonfiction or if it's supposed to be
semi autobiographical because the main
character of this book is a comic artist
named Hazel. And obviously it is written
by a comic artist named Hazel. So I'm not
sure where the line is drawn with this
book on fiction and reality. But it's
mostly about this girl who's kind of
exploring an open relationship that she
has. And she's away from her boyfriend
and is kind of exploring a new
relationship with this girl. And it was
really sweet and cute. I ended up liking
this more than I expected to. I really
loved Hazel Newlevant's art style. I think
it's so, so adorable and so, so.. just like..
easy on the eyes. I really love it. The
story itself was, yes, simple and short.
But it had more depth than I honestly
was expecting because it was so short.
I liked the adorable little romance in
this, I liked the musings that our main
character kind of has, and the growth
that she has. And just the stumblings
in her life and just, kind of... her
introspection. And it was really cute and
funny and sweet and I really enjoyed it.
Would recommend. I give this like 3...
3.5 stars. Somewhere in there. Another
book that I finished is Rebecca by
Daphne du Maurier. I did mention that I
needed to read that book during this
week because my hold from the library
was expiring so it doesn't really count
for this readathon but I just want to
mention that I did read the end of that
book during this week. So that took up
some of my reading time. I'm not going to
wrap that book up here but I just wanted
to mention it. And then I also started
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing last night
and oh my goodness I'm loving it so far.
It is so good. Like... SO good. I think that
it is really smart and witty. It's super
funny, super charming, really really quick.
It is fascinating. Like, the mystery
is totally getting my attention. It's
really moving the plot forward quickly.
I'm super super enraptured by the plot
of this book. I think it's very
philosophical and the musings that
the main character is having are so
fascinating. It has so much commentary
about fame and the internet and the
world and society and I'm loving it. I
love it.
It has Hank's DNA all over it but
I'm really enjoying that because I feel
like I'm getting to know him in like a...
odd sort of way. And it's just really
good so far. Oh and I also started The
Lotterys Plus One. So right now I
think I've, like, started everything. I'm
just in the middle of all my books
at the moment. I just need to finish them. And The Lotterys Plus One I'm liking.
But I'm not absolutely loving it so far.
It's just kind of overwhelming because
it's about this huge family and it is so
many characters to keep track of.
It's really, really fast paced and
in-your-face, lots of information. I think
it's fun and like, definitely a good
middle grade book but I don't know.
It's just to the point of me not loving
it where I almost feel like it's a
little bit of a chore to read it. I'm a
little bit disappointed by it to be
completely honest. I was hoping that I
would love it but I'm just like...
I'm liking it and there are enough elements
for me to think that it is a good book.
But not enough for me to completely love
it. There are really good messages, though.
And the family that it's portraying is
really, really nice because it is two
sets of gay parents and then they have a
very multicultural family. And so, like,
there's a lot of nice stuff in this book.
I'm just not totally connecting to it so
far but I'll finish it. And that is it
for now. I'm think I'm probably gonna
film some more videos this afternoon and
then I am going to work tonight. That's
about it. I'm currently making a banana
bread for one of my co-workers and well,
that's pretty much my entire day. And
since I mentioned the banana bread, why
don't we do a food montage now. So here
we go guys. Food montage
for the entire week. Enjoy! I'll talk to
you guys later.
[music]
Today is Friday so there is one more day
of the queer lit readathon and I let
this week get away from me. Yesterday I
was feeling kind of listless. I didn't
feel like going out and doing stuff but
I didn't feel like staying in really.
I wanted to be productive but I didn't
feel like reading. It was a weird mood.
So I ended up listening to a lot of music
and doing a lot of tidying up in my room.
So, want a really long cleaning montage?
You could have that right here.
[music]
As far as my reading goes, I finished An
Absolutely Remarkable Thing last night.
You guys. I'm like really, really
impressed by that book. I just loved it.
It was so good in every way. And like, for
me, it just totally worked on every level.
I have no complaints. I loved it. I gave
it five out of five stars which is a
really big deal for me. I do not give
five star ratings very often at all.
I usually only give like a couple five
star ratings every single year so like...
hoo. Big deal. I'm just over the moon about this book.
I really loved it. I loved everything about it. It made me so happy.
I thought it was so good. I'm really
excited about the sequel. I'm just so
excited to see where it goes.
But I feel like the book, although it
kind of ends on a note where you
definitely want to keep going--I feel
like if that was the whole book, it had a
really good full circle arc for me.
The kind of cliffhanger ending that it
had was justified. I was really
happy that it told the story that
it set out to tell and it wasn't
just this big set up for like a huge
long series. It worked really well on its
own. But also as a first in a series. The
only criticism I have of this book is
that the plot sometimes gets like... too
weird. There are points that I was like..
This is too much. It just gets a
little weird. But I still liked it and
that wasn't enough for me to
really budge on anything else.
I just really liked the characters. Every single character in this book, I really enjoyed.
I really enjoyed the voice, the story, the
messages, the themes, the ponderings.
And it just... it really, really was so good. It was funny, made me think, it had really
good things to say. It was so good.
5 out of 5 stars. This book was pretty
much flawless and I loved it.
I didn't do too much today,
I got unexpectedly called into work so
that really sucked. I had to go into work
and I wasn't planning to. My night kind
of disappeared because of that. I have
gotten really into Skyrim this week so
I've just like, been playing that and it
is so addictive. I cannot stop, it's
really really bad. Like, I cannot stop.
So that's been taking up my time. I also
finished The Lotterys Plus One today.
I'm giving that book 3 stars. It's to
the point where I liked it overall.
I think that the content of that book was
really good. I want more books like this
to exist. But I also found aspects of
this book irritating and--not gonna lie--
there were elements that I didn't
love that I think just had to do with
the storytelling and the plot and the
characters. It was just like, a little too
quirky, a little too hipstery for me? I
don't know. If this family existed in
real life, I would fully support them and
I think that they're great. But reading
about them was somehow kind of
irritating. And then I've been reading a
little bit more of Hurricane Child
tonight and will maybe get through a bit
tonight and maybe finish it tomorrow.
Maybe will get to Jem and the Holograms as well. I'm not totally sure. But I'm pretty sure
The Spellbook of the Lost and Found
I'll finish later. Definitely not during
this read-a-thon. I just didn't fully get into that book. I liked
what I read in the beginning but it's
not capturing me enough for me to like,
fly through it and marathon that book.
Ideally I will finish it and review it a
little bit later down the line. I'll see
you guys tomorrow on the last day of the
read-a-thon. I wish it just lasted
forever honestly.
Well hello again. Welcome to my car. I'm pretty sure that we started this vlog with me driving to
work and we're ending it with me
driving to work.
Today is Saturday, the last day of the
queer lit read-a-thon. I wish it was not
over but I guess it is. I know I updated
you last night with kind of where I was
with most of my books. Today I woke up
and I read the rest of Hurricane Child.
So I'm very happy to have finished
another book on my TBR on the last day
of the read-a-thon. I'm gonna give that
book a really strong 3.5 stars. There
were elements of it that I loved and
other elements that didn't work as well
for me. I feel like the plot.... there were
just parts of the plot that felt really
dissatisfying especially in the end. The
magical realism element was really...
it was more of like a very small
supernatural piece of the story that
just was not very important to the
overall plot and it didn't end up
impressing me as much as I wanted it to. But I really enjoyed our protagonist.
I loved the island setting of this book--it
was such a strong atmosphere being in
the Caribbean, which I really loved. I
thought the writing was really good.
I really really did like the fact that
this was a middle-grade book about a
girl figuring out that she has feelings
for another girl. It was really sweet.
There are some trigger warnings in this
book for homophobia and bullying, though.
Just to let you know. I did start reading
Jem and the Holograms today and I'm
liking that a lot. I'm not super far into
it and I know that technically I'm not
gonna be able to finish the first issue
or the first volume before the end of
the day because I'm about to go to work
and I'm gonna be at work until like 1:00
in the morning probably. But I did want to
check in with you guys on the actual
last day of the read-a-thon. As you can
tell with most of my readathons, my life
is not that eventful. I go to work, I walk
my dog a lot, I like cooking and eating a
lot of food, and that's about it. Mostly I
just did chores today like cleaning the
bird cage and taking out my dog... playing
some more Skyrim because that addiction
is just... it's gonna happen. So yeah. I'm
happy that I finished another book today.
And I would for sure recommend Hurricane Child.
I just didn't love it as much as I
wanted to. Like, I was hoping to super
super super love that book. But I still
really liked it and oh my goodness there
were some fantastic elements of that
story. It was really good storytelling, it
was really interesting, so many good
points of that book. So like, I do still
very highly recommend that as a middle
grade book as a piece of queer
literature, for sure. I feel like I didn't
give it a super glowing review just
because my expectations were really high
with that one. But it was still really
good. But yeah I have to go to work now and I
think that's it for now. I will talk to
you guys later.
Hi guys the queer lit read-a-thon has been
over for a while now but I felt like I
wanted to put a little end clip just
wrapping up the whole read-a-thon,
reminding you all of what I read. So to
quickly go over my TBR, I was hoping to
read The Lotterys Plus One by Emma
Donoghue, which I did read and I gave
3 stars. Next was Sugar Town by Hazel
Newlevant which is a graphic novel which
I read and gave 3.5 stars. Another
graphic novel on my list was Jem and the
Holograms which I started during the
read-a-thon. Really enjoyed it but it
definitely didn't get finished during
the read-a-thon, so we're not wrapping it
up here. Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn
Marsh
I started and quickly realized was not
gonna be for me, at least not at the
moment. So I decided not to read that
book. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid I did finish and
really enjoyed. I give that like 4
stars. I also read An Absolutely
Remarkable Thing by Hank Green which I
adored and gave 5 out of 5 stars.
And then I also read Hurricane Child by
Kheryn Calender and I gave that like
3.5 stars, I think. So all in all, it was a
pretty good read-a-thon. I got lots done.
I was really really happy to have two
books in there that I, like, really
really loved. And I got to most of the
stuff on my TBR. So I would say it's a
pretty successful readathon.
Oh hi. Karen after editing here again to tell you I forgot two things. I forgot to mention
that The Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley Doyle was on my
TBR and I started it and I did not
finish it. I thought I would maybe finish
it after the read-a-thon but I just kind
of lost interest and I might pick it up
again someday but it's not on my
immediate to-do list. I also just wanted
to follow up on how I mentioned that I
had been planning to read Rebecca by
Daphne du Maurier and Fahrenheit 451 by
Ray Bradbury during that week. And I did
finish Rebecca because my loan was
expiring. I tried to finish Fahrenheit
451 and I could not do it so I actually
DNF'd that book. And I think I'll be
talking about all my DNFs of 2018 in a
different video but I just wanted to
kind of wrap up all of those loose ends. NOW this is the actual end of the video.
Thank you so much for watching! BYE.
