 I generally thought this book haul was gonna have like eight books but I think we've got 25 or something to talk about. So let's just get into it. Today we are doing a winter book haul. So this is one of the books I've accumulated in the past couple months. I think it's a little bit of a smaller book haul than usual but not by much. I'm doing this now because any books that I receive from publishers or from my Amazon wish list, from family, friends or you guys, I'm not opening. I'm not opening any book packages that I get because on Christmas, on Christmas Day, I do a big like unwrapping, unboxing of all the books, like a big Christmas book haul. So I'm saving any book packages that I get now and these are the books that I've accumulated before that. So let's just get into the video. Before we do, I want to say a massive thank you to the sponsor which is Book of the Month. Book of the Month is a super popular and fast-growing book service for readers. You get a selection of books to choose from each month to choose as your book of the month and it's amazing. I love Book of the Month. Their mission is to promote new and emerging authors and I think they do such a good job of it. Often they'll like promote a debut author who's coming out, who then goes on to become a massive author and I think they do such a good job of, yeah, pushing new authors and helping them get success. Their team bets hundreds of books each month so they can find out what are going to be the big releases. You don't have to spend hours researching. Book of the Month is also risk-free. So if there's a particular month where no book interests you, that's no problem. You can just skip that month and there's an amazing offer for December. If you use the code WONDER, you can get your first book for only five dollars. Five dollars, everyone. It's crazy. So make sure you check out the link down below. Use the code WONDER for your first book for only five dollars. A new release hardcover fiction book for five dollars. If you ever thought about trying Book of the Month, now is the time. So the two books that I chose this month. Firstly I chose All the Dangerous Things by Stacey Willingham. This is the author of A Flickering the Dark, who was a debut author that they had last year. So I think that's also something they do really well, is like promoting authors that they've had before. And I just read A Flickering the Dark. I won't say what I thought about it because the vlog is coming out this weekend. But I'm very excited to read All the Dangerous Things. I know it's about a woman whose child I think has been kidnapped. And then I also, when I saw this on the list, I had to do it. I got another edition of Babble. Okay, yeah, this is my favourite book I've read this year. I loved it so much. Absolutely a new favourite. So when I saw the opportunity to get like the US cover, because obviously the UK cover's different, I jumped to it. So I'm super happy with my selection. So yeah, check out the link down below. Use the code WONDER to get your first book for only five dollars. You could get Babble for five dollars. Check it out down below. And yeah, I love Book of the Month. Thank you so much again for sponsoring this video. Definitely go check them out. Okay, so something I thought would be fun for us to do today for the book haul is also to rate each first sentence on a book out of 10. So excited. So let's do it with these ones. So I'm super excited for All the Dangerous Things. Oh, okay. The first sentence this is today is day 364. I like that because it's like, what happened a year ago? What have we, what has our life been like, irreparably changed since? I'm going to give that a seven out of 10. I don't want to start too strong, but I think that's like, that's a strong first line. I can't remember what Babble's first line was. By the time Professor Richard LaValle found his way through Canton's narrow alleyways to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one in the house left alive. This is trickier than I thought. I do like that, but it's not as punchy, but it doesn't want to be as punchy. I'm going to give that a 6.8. So anyway, so for the rest of the books, I've just sorted them completely randomly. So firstly, this one was very kindly sent to me by the publisher is Ophelia After All, which I have heard so many good things about. The author Raquel Marie used to be a booktuber, which makes me very excited to read. I just had a lot of people talking about this and it's like a romance, a YA romance, which I used to read a lot of. I used to read a lot of YA romance via audio, and then I've kind of stopped, but like part of me misses that kind of easy read fun book vibe, you know what I mean? I also think it's bi, which I'm always here for. And I think there's not a ton of YA rep for bisexual main characters. I feel like we get a lot of like lesbian and gay rep in YA, which is great, which is wonderful, but I'm really excited to read a bi romance. So what's the first sentence of this? The fabric of my lilac gown brushes my bare legs, sending shivers of delightful anticipation up my arms. I don't vibrate that. All I can do is be honest with my feelings. By the way, the first sentence has no indication of what book I think is good. I literally gave Babel a 6.8. So like it's just for fun. I'm gonna get that a 4. I don't, that doesn't excite me. Why am I doing this first sentence thing? I don't know. It's just something fun. Then Akiporo's Christmas by Akiporo was very kindly gifted to me by Sarah. I was originally gonna read this, this Christmas, but I've realized I'm reading so many mysteries. Like endless amounts of mysteries in December. So I think I'm gonna save this for maybe next year, but I'm very very excited. I love, I read a lot of Akiporo's last Christmas. So Agatha is definitely like a Christmas, she liked writing Christmas stuff. She was like, oh my Christmas galley. This is in the Akiporo series. Like it does have a place in the series, which I'm like, maybe I should wait and read it at this place in the series. I don't know. I think it's like number 17. But I love these editions. I have lots of them. I'm slowly collecting them all that Harper Collins do for the Agatha Christie books. They're slowly coming out with more. And they've just come out with, I think, the Murder of Roger Atkroyd and stuff. But like if you ever see my Murder on the Yorn Express one, that's in this same series. So I don't really know what it's about. I know it's a mystery set at Christmas with Akiporo. What is the first sentence? Let's go past the introduction. Oh, it's set from December 22nd to December 28th. And they're set in parts. Okay, fun. Steven pulled up the collar of his coat as he walked briskly along the platform. Hmm, I'm trying to be harsh here, guys. I like the kind of like, it tells you that it's cold. Like if he's pulling up the collar of his coat and walking briskly, like it sets like an autumn, winter vibe in the air. So I'm going to give out a 6.5, 6.5 out of 10. So the best one we've had so far is Stacey Willingham's. Then we've got a few new releases that I'm very excited that I got my hands on because I absolutely have to read them. First, I got Legends and Lattes, which everyone's been obsessed with. This is what I came here to do. And I'm just very excited to read it. I'll probably, I won't read this before the end of the year, but sometime in the new year hopefully I will. What I know about this is that I think it's following like an orc who opens a coffee shop to kind of get away from her old life. She's like done being like a fighter. She just wants to make coffee, but someone doesn't want to let that happen. This is like the new UK cover. It does have the illustration. I think it's the illustration that's on the original, on the inside. I am so excited to read this. This is like a five star prediction. I think everyone's been loving it. I feel like this is going to have a great first sentence. Viv buried her great sword in the Scalvate Skull with a meaty crunch. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. What did I give Stacey Williamson seven? I'd give that an 8.5. I think that that sets a good vibe. Like it sets the scene. It sets us in this fantasy world. We've got a fighting orc. I like that. I am very, very excited. I do want to get more into cozy fantasy. I feel like everyone is really into cozy fantasy, but the moment I've only really heard people talking about T.J. Clune, Legends and Lattes, or the very secret side to regular witches. I think that's the only cozy fantasy that everyone's talking about. We need more. Like everyone's like, oh, I love cozy fantasy, but it's literally like four books that everyone's talking about in that genre. So if there are any recommendations, let a gal know. Then we have two books that I'm probably most excited to read. I'm hoping I could get around to maybe one of these before the end of the year, but who knows? Firstly, we've got The Woman in the Library by Solari Gentile. I love the UK cover of this and the US cover, but I feel like over time, originally I was like, oh no, I prefer the US one, but I feel like this UK one has grown on me. It's so cool. So this is a really fun book. So we're following, it's a book within a book. So we've got an author writing a new novel, and I think we've got a fan of hers sending her letters saying, what are you writing? And she's sending him snippets of the novel. How is that confusing? So the novel that's being written is like four strangers meet in Boston Public Library, a murder happens, and one of those four characters sitting around this table in the Boston Public Library is the murderer, but they were all there when the murder happened. So how is that possible? And then we've got the letters. So I think this is I think it's gonna be my kind of thing. I've heard mixed things. I've heard people either love this or find it really boring. I think I'm gonna love it. It's pretty short. And I just have, I love a bit of drama like the book within a book. It gets me a bit more excited like off the bat, you know, than like a stereotypical book does. It's just something different. So I'm very excited to read this. What is the first sentence? Dear Hannah, what are you writing? Oh, I like it. I like it. I like it. It sets the scene. We've got someone asking what she's writing. Oh, I vibe. Oh, I vibe. I'm gonna give that. What did I give? Legislato is an 8.5. I'm gonna give this a 7.5. Okay, I think that's a 7. But I really like that. Dear Hannah, what are you writing? Oh, I think we're like that's a shit first sentence. I think I do quite like like, to the point, first sentences, you know, they're like, keep us guessing that don't give us all the information yet. And then the other one that I'm super excited to read is The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead. Now I read, what's it called? My brain isn't working today. In my dreams, I hold a knife. I read that a couple months ago, last month, October, I think I read it. And I really enjoyed it. I gave it five stars and I'm so excited to read The Last Housewife. I just know it's about a cult. It's about a cult and a podcast and I'm here for it. I've also heard it's a little bit raunchy, a little bit sexy. And everyone like keeps stating that fact and like really trying to emphasize it. So I don't know what I'm letting myself in for, but I'm so excited. I love the cover again. And I'm just so like this and Norman and the Library and Legend of Latté is probably the three books they're most excited to read right now and yet have no plans to read them before the end of the year. They're next year's five star predictions. Okay. What is the first sentence? Oh, oh, these are the stories I tell you to save my life. Hmm. Give that an eight. I'm gonna grab an eight. I really liked it. These are the stories I tell you to save my life. See, I like a first sentence that gives us a bit of intrigue. Doesn't let us know everything. Is it me? Am I the drama? I don't think I'm a drama. Maybe I am. Gives us a shock on the first page. Then one of my patrons, Jenny, very kindly sent me an elderly lady. It's up to no good. I had no idea how tiny this is. This is going to be great for like a 24 hour readathon. I think this is like a very funny, heartwarming book. And this woman who lives a fairly like normal life, this elderly woman in her in her 80s. And it says, but when these detectives are called in to investigate a dead body found in her apartment, will she finally become a suspect? It's tiny, but I think it's just going to be like a funny, you know, laughing, laughing book. Don't talk stupid. Sometimes English just ceases to come out my mouth. It's like, I'm good, you know. But yeah, super excited to read this. I'm holding on to it for like a 24 hour readathon. I think it will be perfect for that kind of thing. I'm actually hoping to do a 24 hour readathon in January with my patrons. That would be a good, a good, a good fit for that, I think. Then recently I went to see my friend Emma from drinking by myself and filmed a video for book break and we filmed like a Christmas gift guide. I'll leave a link down below. There's so many great books in there if you're looking for gift recommendations. And Emma very kindly gifted me the cat who caught a killer by L.T. Shira. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I said when she gives this to me, like I genuinely have a delusion that this book was written for me. Cozy murder mystery with a cat as a detective. Come on. If you know me, I love my cats so much. And just the idea of a cat as a detective, oh my god, I'm obsessed. I think there's like an elderly, extra tired detective who like comes back to solve I think her mother-in-law's murder and the cat helps out. So what's the first sentence? It was a gorgeous summer's day when Conrad walked into the life of Lulu Lewis. No. We had a good run there with some first sentences, but not that one. I can't remember what low ratings I've given other ones. I'm gonna give that a four. Doesn't excite me. Doesn't excite me. Doesn't get me going. But the idea of a cat as a detective does. I genuinely believe this book was written for me. And I also got Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawiguchi. I have read the first, I do not own the second in this series, but I'm very excited to read this. Before the coffee gets cold, which is the first one, actual emotional damage. Actual emotional damage, like actually very, very cruel to make me read that. I thought I was gonna die. I know that this third one is like in a sister cafe. So basically it's these cafes where you can go back in time. You can time travel in the cafe, but only if only you can only stay within the cafe. And they're very much about family, loss, relationships, love, you know, it's these heartbreaking kind of short stories that you read. I've heard that the series just gets more emotional as it goes on. Why are you in Hokkaido? It's the first sentence of this. A little bit of intrigue. I'm gonna give us 6.5 out of 10. Then I bought this book. I probably wouldn't have bought this like this early after it came out, but it was half price. It was half price and more stones. And I was like, okay, it's too good a deal. I have to get it. I got The Lightly Carry by Michelle Obama. So I loved Becoming by Michelle Obama. I read it many, many years ago, obviously. But I really loved it. And I'm intrigued about this. I think it's more of like a reflection on happiness and self-worth and self-belief and all of that kind of thing. So yeah, I don't really know what to expect from this, but I just thought I'll pick it up because I love Becoming so much. And I feel like Michelle Obama writes really well, or at least has someone who helps her write really well. No, I think she probably does. What is her first sentence of this? At some point when I was a child, my father started using a cane to keep himself balanced when he walked. Hmm. I'll give that a 7. A 7 out of 10. You know, I feel like, especially if you've read Becoming, you know that a lot of that was about her family and her family relationship. So it definitely has me intrigued. Then these two, I don't even know whether I should mention that I got them. It was not out of choice. Let's not give away too much, Megan. Sorry. If you've watched this far into the video, I feel like you couldn't be told a little bit. I got Daisy Darker by Aracini, which I was really hoping I would never have to read. But here we are. I don't know anything about this because I wasn't interested. I did not like rock-paper-scissors by Aracini. And I haven't heard great things about this. I know quite a few people have given it one start. Quite a few of my friends who I usually agree with. Let's see what the first sentence of this is. I was born with a broken heart. Hmm. Six. It's about a family going back to her grandmother's house for her 80th birthday on this really isolated rock that it lives on. They haven't all been in the same place for over a decade. They're cut off from the land. Oh, it's going to be and then there were none retelling. I don't like them. Okay. Well, moving on. And then I also hauled All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers, which I don't like this UK cover as much as the US, but that's just the story of my life with UK thriller covers. It's about a murder that I think happened like 25 years ago and a journalist who's trying to like uncover the truth in the present day. It's written by a podcaster, I think, who has like one of the top podcasts. I don't know. I don't know anything about that podcast. I'm just going to say that. He could be walking down the street. I wouldn't know a thing. Sorry to this man. And what is the first sentence of this? Oh, the residents of Rakerusa, Rakerusa, Indiana, could spin gossip faster than a spider spins its web. I quite like that. I'll give that a 6.8 again. It's fine. Bit long. I feel like if it's a thriller, get in there. I could spin gossip fast. I feel like it's a bit cliche. I don't know if I'm just being harsh. Then I received this lovely package from Canon Gate, which I have not unwrapped, but it's got some books in it. It's like a Christmas, Christmas package of Christmas goodies. So I haven't looked at what these books are. So the perfect books to gift this Christmas, they can engage. So okay, I've definitely heard of this one. We've got The Night Ship by Jess Kidd. Do I know what it's about? Not necessarily. One shipwreck, two misfits, three centuries apart. Okay, so we've got a shipwreck in 1628. I have heard about this. We're a young girl, gets shipwrecked, and she I think has to like survive on this island. And 1989, a boy mourning the death of his mother, placed in the care of his reclusive grandfather, their home is a shack on a tiny fishing island. Okay, interesting. This does seem more like literary historical stuff, which hasn't always been my thing. But I am intrigued. I have heard wonderful things about this. The first sentence is the child sails in a crowded boat to the end of the Zyder Z. Seven. What's the highest rating I've given out? Am I being harsh? Is the highest rating I've given out eight? Or have I given out, I feel like I've given out an 8.5, maybe. I don't know. I'm just harsh. What can I say? Oh, what is this? We have poetry unbound. 50 poems to open your world. Interesting. Oh, okay. So this one's interesting, especially if someone who wants to get into more poetry. So this is a collection of poetry that the author has put together, but then gives like a little bit of like a reflection on what the poem is saying or doing or trying to convey or what the author wants to convey. Interesting. Okay, because I want to get more into poetry, but I feel like sometimes I'm too dumb and I just read on the surface. I'm really intrigued by that. That sounds like something that could really help me get into poetry and make it a bit more accessible. Fun. Okay. And then finally, we have the keys to kindness, how to be kinder to yourself, others in the world by Claudia Hammond. That sounds very interesting. I'm not doing first sentences for these because they probably won't have like proper first sentences, but I'm always trying to live kinder to give kindness out to the world. So I'm definitely interested in that as well. Oh my gosh, fun. Okay. Thank you so much, Canon Gate. So yeah, thank you so much for watching this winter book haul. I hope you enjoyed it. Like I said, any book packages I'm getting between now and Christmas will not be getting opened and I'll be opening on Christmas Day. But yeah, let me know if you've read any of these, which ones are your favorites, which ones you really think I should get round to. I think there's going to be lots of you saying legends on last days. And if you got to the end of the video, comment a snowflake emoji. I like the snowflake emoji at the end. I feel like I'm vibing with it at the moment. So comment it down below if you got to end the video. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye.