Hi! So, I've been reading, which is
different for me considering the last
couple months. It's been actually pretty
amazing to get back to reading. It's a
nice change of pace and I'm really
enjoying it. So I have quite a few things
that I read in May that I will be
discussing with you, and a lot of things
that are not really in my typical genres,
or they haven't been for a very long
time. So that might be a little exciting
or worrying depending on your tastes. The
first thing I read this month was
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and this was
actually through the New York Public
Library. They were doing a live reading
with four different people. It was Neil
Gaiman, Levar Burton, Rosario Dawson, and
Dakota Fanning who are reading two
chapters or so every day for a week. So
it was like, a live-ish audiobook
reading. I think you can still watch the
videos, they're on YouTube on the New York
Public Library YouTube. I can link it. And
they basically just read you the story,
which was just so much fun. I have
watched Coraline many times and I've
also read the graphic novel, I think last
October around the Halloween time, but I
never read the story so far. So this was
my first time experiencing the actual
words that Neil Gaiman wrote, and it was
so much fun.
Coraline is about an adventurous little
girl who sort of feels like her parents
are ignoring her. She ends up going
through a door in her house to another
world that looks almost exactly like her
world, except her parents pay much more
attention to her, they're much nicer, they
cook her good food. The only difference
is that they have buttons for eyes and
they want to sew buttons on Coraline's
eyes too. This is a middle grade,
but it sort of leans a bit to horror,
as Neil Gaiman does. It's very whimsical
and magical, but also who kind of creepy
at the same time. I was already in love
with a story. I've experienced it many
times at this point, and so it was just
really nice getting to hear the actual
words of Neil Gaiman's writing, because I
felt like the one thing I was missing
from the graphic novel was that a lot of
it is visual, so you don't get all of the
words that Neil Gaiman wrote.
And so I knew I wanted to read it at
some point. I was planning actually
to read it in October, but then they had
this live reading so I was like why not?
I might as well just listen to them read
it to me because that's an amazing
experience in itself. And I did really
enjoy it. I love Neil Gaiman's writing
and I love this story, so I just had so
much fun. And it got me back into a
reading mood like, very slowly, a step at
a time, because they only read a couple
chapters a day and I had to wait a whole
week to get the whole story, even though
I wanted it basically immediately. But I
think it was actually really good for me
and it slowly eased me back into wanting to
read again.
Why did my light go out?
Oh, it overheated.
That is really hot.
Okay. We'll see how long this lasts, if it lasts at all. Okay.
Oh no. Oh god. Okay this is not gonna work.
All right, um. Let's try a different light.
Wow, that looks really
bad. I was trying to do something
different with the light because I
haven't liked how it's looked in the
last couple videos, but apparently this
light can't handle it.
So it's going to kind of look like I am filming in a dark cave, which I kind of am because it's
raining outside and there's no light, so
I'm sorry.
We can just pretend that it's a cozy evening atmosphere where I just talk about books. Let's just go with that.
Anyway, if you wanted to listen to this
version of Coraline, I will try and leave
the link below. I would highly recommend
it. It was a lot of fun. It's very short
as well, Coraline is a really short book.
It is a middle grade so it takes
literally no time to get through it. I
think it ended up being eight days of
30-minute sort of chunks. So it's not
really that long at all, and it's very
worth it.
Next, I finally finished Fortress in the
Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh. I've been
reading this since February, I think. It's
taken me a very long time, but I'm so
glad I stuck with it and I read it,
because I really ended up enjoying this
a lot. I did a real crap job explaining
what this is about in my
last video where I was updating my
reading, so I'm going to try and do
better this time, hopefully. So, this is
about a wizard who lives in an isolated
tower, and he has a lot of mystery around
him, he's kind of a recluse. And he ends
up bringing to life a Shaping in the
form of a man.
But the Shaping isn't quite what he
expected him to be. He's a very naive and
almost like a child in a man's body. And
this book follows that Shaping's journey
as he enters into the world and tries to
accomplish what this wizard wanted him
to accomplish. This is full of politics
and ancient magic and legends and
centuries of history, and it's so deep
and so good. It is a very confusing read.
The syntax in this is not usual. It's not
straightforward at all. It's written in a
really odd way that the sentence
structure is just weird and it doesn't
really make sense. And the descriptions
are like, really long and lush and kind
of convoluted. So it is that sort of
fantasy. It's that old, like, high English
but not high English, just like, really
confusing descriptions and run-on
sentences and things that start with
"Came the wind" and yeah, that. So it's not
really a straightforward read. It's not
what we normally see, it's definitely--
it's like the complete opposite of
Brandon Sanderson. His straightforward
writing style of fantasy, that's not what
this is at all. It is very detailed and
descriptive and convoluted, really. It
took me ages to get into it, just because
that writing style made it really hard
to understand what was actually
happening. But after a little bit, you get
used to the writing style. It's the same
as when you're reading like a classic or
Shakespeare. In the beginning, you're not
going to understand anything. But after a
couple pages of reading it, you get more
into it and it makes more sense and it
flows much more naturally. In addition to
the writing just being kind of hard to
get into, the beginning of the story is
also really hard to get into. The first
chapter is just a name drop of a bunch
of different things over two centuries
of history, with countries and buildings
and empires and people that you have no
idea about whatsoever. So it is very
intimidating
to get into, but it was definitely worth
it. The story, once you start getting to
know the characters and once people
start exploring the world and trying to
figure out what this old wizard's motives
were, is just so fascinating. There's so
much mystery, there's so much intrigue.
And there's a lot of both human politics
between different countries and also
like, this darker magic and old magic
coming back. It's so good, it's interwoven
so well, and it really just makes you
want to keep reading it. After a certain
point, I did not want to put it down. I
wanted to know what happens, and I never
thought I would have said that in the
beginning. I actually DNFed this book
years ago, and it was just recently that
I picked it up again, and I am so glad
that I did. It's not a book that I've
heard anyone talk about ever in my life,
and it doesn't have that many ratings on
Goodreads, even though this author is a
Hugo winner. But I am really glad that I
picked it up at the used bookstore in
September of 2013, and I will be
continuing with a series. I think it's a
five book series, or four because I think
the fifth book is technically like years
after the events of the first four books.
I don't really know, but I plan to read
them all because it's just a really
fascinating world that I want to get
back to. The characters are very complex
in their motivations and sort of their
reactions to things and their actions
and how they interact with the other
characters. The growth of the Shaping
throughout this story is just incredible.
You literally see him going from this
really naive little boy inside a man's
body to being something else entirely
which I'm not going to say. But it was so
fascinating and so believable watching
that story arc. And there's just so much
happening with this mysterious magic and
with how the human countries are going
to interact with each other-- I guess
they're kingdoms-- how the kingdoms are
going to interact with each other. It's
so fascinating and I am very excited to
read the next book. If this sounds like
something that won't be too intimidating
for you, if you like really high
fantasy, if you like a lot of magic, a lot
of politics, and you don't mind a really
descriptive, old kind of writing style-- I
think this was written in
like the 80s-- then I would say definitely
pick it up please, because I would love
to have someone to talk to about this,
because no one has read this book and I
am just so impressed by it. So if you
have any interest at all, please pick it
up. I really enjoyed it. So after that, I
went back into the Discworld with Lords
and Ladies by Terry Pratchett. This is
the fourth book in the Witches series
and the 14th in the Discworld series.
Normally, you can pick up Discworld at
any point, but this specific Witches
series should be read in order. And this
is actually one of the only subseries
in the Discworld that I've seen that
actually does continue the story on in
subsequent books, not really as one like,
overarching thing, but the events of
previous books definitely impact the
next book. But this one is about elves
that are trying to come back to the
Discworld, only these elves are sinister
and evil, and completely not like elves
we are used to seeing in fantasy. I actually
thought that the elves in this were much
more tied to how fantasy normally
portrays fairies. They're that really
just cold, calculating sort of people, and
they talk in riddles while not actually
straight-up lying to you. So that's
something that I normally see reserved
for fairies, which would make sense
because this is also a sort of retelling
of A Midsummer Night's Dream by
Shakespeare, which does have fairies. It
doesn't really follow the plot of
Midsummer Night's Dream at all, it's just
like, they have the different groups of
people. There's a royal wedding, you have
the fairy people who are actually elves,
and then you have the motley crew of
stage performers who are actually just
like, village workers. So it's generally
set up the same way, but it's its own
story completely. And I really liked this
one. The witches are just a really
fascinating group of women to follow.
They have such distinctive personalities
that get them in a very particular
situations. And yet, they're also so
clever and they figure a lot of things
out. There are so many ties to like,
quantum mechanics in this book. That's
something that Terry Pratchett really
likes to play with, but it came up a lot
in this book, how different parallel
universes and everything sort of tie in
to his Discworld universe. It's very
interesting. I will say this is one of
the cruder books of his. There are a lot
more references to not very savoury
things, so if you don't really like any
of those, I would probably stay away from
this book in general. But otherwise, it's
a lot of fun. The plot definitely kept me
engaged and it was, I think, one of the
better constructed plots that I've seen
in Discworld so far. So I really enjoyed
it. I like how the Discworld series is
going on this upward trend recently, so I'm
very much looking forward to continuing.
Which, I did, sort of, because I read the
next book technically, which was a short
story called Theatre of Cruelty. It's a
little short following the city watch in
Ankh-- I don't know how are you supposed to
actually say that. Okay, if I try it with
a British accent, is it Ankh-Mor-- Morpork? Morpork? Ankh-Morpork? The city in
Discworld that you always read about, it
follows them. And it's sort of a parody
of a particular form of English theatre,
puppet theatre, that I can't remember the
name of right now. Is it Judy and Todd or
something? It's very short and simple, but
I definitely had to look it up afterward
in order to get the reference, because I
am not British and I don't have that
sort of theatrical background. But it was
fun, it was cute. It's just a little short
story. It's not something that you
definitely need to read, but it's a nice
little addition to the Discworld. And
then after that, I went completely into
left-field and I started craving
historical fiction, in particular,
historical romance. Which, if you have
watched my channel for the last year
that I have been uploading videos, I have
never once read a historical romance
in the past year and a half. But I did
used to read a lot of it when I was
younger and I just haven't in a long
time and I don't know why. So I went back
to it because that's what I was craving,
and I have had a very fun time binging a
lot of historical fiction. So, before I go
completely out of my normal genres,
I did read a book that is a historical
fiction fantasy sort of blend, and that
was The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith.
This is set in early nineteen hundreds
France, I think, but witches are common. In
particular, in this book you're following a
vine witch who works in a vineyard in
order to create amazing wine. At the
beginning of the book, she is in form of a
toad because she's been cursed, but she
quickly breaks out of her curse and vows
to get revenge on the person who cursed
her. But when she goes home, she finds
that her vineyard and her home have been
bought by a stranger. I fell in love with
this world, it is so amazing. The
descriptions of the vineyards and
everything is just so lush and so
atmospheric. It has such a calm,
provincial atmosphere that is just so
amazing to lose yourself in. The world is
incredible. There are witches who do a
bunch of different things. There's a
baker witch, there's vine witches, there's
so many things and I love it so much. The
descriptions are beautiful, and even
though I kind of really hate wine, I
really enjoyed reading about it. You can
tell that the author really enjoys her
wine. And the world is just so
beautifully written. Unfortunately,
everything else kind of fell a little
bit flat. The characters didn't have
really any chemistry at all. There is a
sort of romance that came out of nowhere,
because these two characters didn't
really interact very much at all that
you saw in the book. There were time
skips where you assume they interact, but
really what you've actually seen on page
is them talking maybe twice and then
suddenly they're in love with each
other. So that was not really great. The
plot, I felt, sort of overstretched itself.
There was a lot happening that it didn't
really feel like it was fleshed out as
much as it needed to be in order to be
satisfying. So while I overall enjoyed
myself, I don't see myself continuing in
the series. I really, really loved the
world. I wish we could just get more of
this world and just, like, having a calm
peaceful life. I would read a
slice-of-life book in this world because
it's just so interesting. There's so many
facets to, like, the witchcraft, and just
how the world functions in general with
all these witches, and it's so cool. But I
think the characters definitely need a
lot of work and the plot just needs to
be refined a little bit. I would still
recommend it for the world and this
really interesting take on witches, but I
would just say, you shouldn't expect too
from the character relationships. And
then going completely into historical
romance, I picked up Courtney Milan.
So I started her Brothers Sinister
series with The Governess Affair, which
is a little novella. It's a prequel to
the series and it's available for free
on the Kindle Store if you would like.
It's about a governess who shows up at a
Duke's mansion and demands a retribution.
I can't say too much, just because it's a
novella and it's also a romance, so you
know how pretty much it'll go. But it was
a really good introduction to Courtney
Milan for me, and to her series because
the series is about the following
generation. Obviously, I enjoyed it enough
to continue into the main series, so I
picked up The Duchess War, which is about
a Duke and a lady who has a lot of
secrets to hide. This is very tactical
and very political. There is a lot of
chess involved and, like, tactical
strategy. So it's really very interesting,
as well as just being an amazing, fluffy
romance as well. The two characters
definitely have a lot of learning to do
with each other, and you can see them
grow in their relationship throughout
and it was so beautiful to watch. The
hero definitely isn't perfect and he
makes a lot of mistakes, but what's
really great about the story is you see
him accept his mistakes and learn from
them. The drama and intrigue is
fascinating and it made me read the book
in two days. The characters are very
clever and I enjoy them a lot. There is a
friend group that is just so hilarious
together with all of their banter. And
it's so much fun and I just really
enjoyed the book. I don't really know how
to review romance books, it is not
something that I am used to doing, really.
Actually, I think it's the first adult
romance that I have ever read. Normally
when I was younger, I would read a lot of
like, YA historical romance, so this is
my first time actually venturing into
adult romance and I'm really enjoying it.
So I ended up reading the next novella
in the series, which is A Kiss for
Midwinter, and this is following a friend
of the first girl in the first book, and
it's also very cute. All of these books
have a sort of deeper subject matter.
There is definitely a serious vein
through it also, it's not completely just,
like, light fluffy romance, but it does
also have that.
It's just a really good balance between
the two, actually. You have the fluffy,
like, swoony romance on one side, and then
some actual, like, serious trauma problems
on the other, and I think that it was
handled really well. It was interwoven
really well, and I just really enjoyed
it. I didn't like that novella quite as
much because the hero is kind of an ass,
but it was still really fun and I'm
still continuing to read the series. I
actually also read another novella from
her that's not related to the Brothers
Sinister series, and that was A Right
Honorable Gentleman. It's also very
short. It's about another governess and a
master. It's very good,
they're all very good. It puts you right
into the perfect, like, historical time
period, and the romances are so cute.
They're progressive, definitely. It's not
something that would have happened in
that time, but it's just adorable to read.
And I have already started the next book
in the Brothers Sinister series, so I'm
having a lot of fun on my historical
romance kick. It's not something I would
have thought I would pick up this year,
but I am very glad that I did because
it's been very distracting and just very
warm, fuzzy and perfect and comforting. So
I very much enjoyed it and it's making
me read really, really fast, which I have
not done in a very long time. So, those
are all of the books I read in May. I
have been on a reading kick, even though
I did not get to The Dragon Republic. I
said I was going to participate in the
Asian Readathon and I didn't end up
reading the one book that I set myself
for that readathon, unfortunately. I do
have it checked out from the library,
it's literally sitting on my phone right
now. It's an audiobook and I've had
access to it for, like, the past week, and
I just haven't started it. I'm just so
intimidated by it. I'm so scared about
what's gonna happen that I just don't
start it because I'm stressed and I
don't want to be stressed. So I don't
know when that's gonna be read. I'm
definitely gonna read, it I'm very
excited to read it, it's just I am in the
mood for something much lighter right
now, and that is why I turned to
historical romance because it is very
light and fluffy, even though it does
have a lot of darker tones. I mentioned
that already, I'm just repeating myself. I
have been enjoying reading---there is an
annoying siren outside. I have been
enjoying reading, even if it's not
what I normally read. I am just having a
great time. My battery is going to die,
and I need to go now.
If you have any recommendations for a
historical romance because that is what
I'm feeling right now-- I know I am
planning to read some Tessa Dare very
soon, but there are more holds on my
library for that, so we will see when I
get to that. If you have anything else
that you think I would like, please send
it my way. I am completely new to the
whole romance genre, adult romance genre,
so that would be very much appreciated,
and I will see you later. Bye!
