 However, I would die for them. I would die for them. Like I literally would give up my life for these girls. They are amazing. Why are you so in love with me? Welcome back to my channel. I hope you're well. And today is time for my November rap. Okay, I don't know why I'm so nervous for this. I'm really nervous for this rap, but it's gotta get a sip of water. So in November I actually read 11 books, which is much more than I thought. I thought I read nine and I was really sad about it. And then I put all my books in that I'd read and I'd read 11. So we're really happy about that. I had a pretty big reading slump. No, I'm actually not reading slump. I just didn't have time to read. uni got really busy. So I read loads. I read loads in the first week with a thousand dollars readathon. And then I did not read much the rest of the month. And I read 3164 pages in total, which I think is about 106 pages a day, which is fine. Like it's fine. As long as my page count is over 100 a day, I'd say that's pretty successful. Okay, so in terms of genre, I read two fantasy, one graphic novel, one historical, four mystery, and one romance. So obviously a lot of mystery, 36% mystery. That's all pretty much because of my reading murder mystery vlog. Whenever you do like a video that's entirely based on one genre, like the books you read that month are going to be incredibly skewed towards that. I'm really happy to have read them because typically I struggle sometimes to get around to murder mysteries and they're one of my favorite genres. So I'm very happy about that. Something that's super interesting is audience. I read eight adult books and three young adult books. Usually that's 50-50, but adult is 73%. That's so upsetting. I feel like I'm craving young adult now. Like I want to read more young adult, but I don't even know if I'm planning to read much of it. In December, it depends what I get in my unwrapping series that I'm doing. Why I Miss You? In terms of format, I read two audiobooks, one ebook and eight physical books. Some of the books I've categorized as physical, like The Bare Nightingale and European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman. I listened to an audiobook for a good chunk of these two. Just if I own the physical and I did read a lot by the physical, I tend to categorize it as that. I really like using audiobooks to speed up my reading of my physical books. Oh, we haven't done rating. Rating's an interesting one. I read two five stars, one 4.5, three four, one 3.5, one 3, two 2.5 and one 1.5. So I actually feel like I didn't have that great a reading month this month in terms of ratings. One of those five stars was a reread and the other one was the first book I read this month. So I feel like for the rest of it, I was kind of like wanting a five star that I didn't really get. Oh, you poor cow. My average rating was a 3.59, which I think last month it was like a 4 over a 4. So I definitely want to have a better reading month in December. And then in terms of author race, I read from one black author, three Asian authors, six white authors and one Middle Eastern author. My white author percentage is just over 50% at 55%. I've always said I kind of want that to be 50% or lower, but I'm pretty happy with that overall. Okay, that is the stats all over. So let's chat about the books that I read this month. So almost half of it is the first five books are all books that I read for the Thousand Doors readathon. I will link my vlog up above. But the first book that I read this month was European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodore Regas. Now this bitch, this bitch. Okay, so this is the second in a series. The first is the strange case of the Alchemist daughter, which I don't own. I do one day want to own it so I can have the full set because I just listened to the audiobook for the first one and I fell in love and I knew from then on I had to just own the physical copy because it makes me so happy. But the audiobooks for these are incredible. Like if you're going to read them, go on the script and read the audiobook along physically or just read the audiobook. But like I like having it physically because I love it so much. I think if you need, if you're going to read these books, you have to read the audiobook as well. Like it's non-negotiable. Like it's not even a choice. Listen to what I have to say because I'm right. In the first book we are following Mary Jekyll as she discovers that she basically has a half-sister called Diana Hyde. It's the story of them meeting other girls who either their fathers or they're linked to famous men in Victorian classical gothic fiction. So you have Catherine Morode, you have Beatrice Frankenstein, and you have Justine Rappuccini. And these girls, it's like a found family with them. And they are basically trying to solve or uncover what the associated are commits are doing. They were like these dodgy scientists that a lot of their dads belong to that society and they were doing shady shit. And so it's just a story of them coming together and going on these adventures and like loving each other but also like hating each other and relying on each other. And I just love these girls so much. I said in that vlog, I never give a shit about characters. Like I, sorry I need to put that down because I'm going to take my eye out. I never, I can never, I, I never give a shit about characters. Like characters, I could care less. However, I would die for them. I would die for them. Like I literally would give up my life for these girls. They are amazing. I just love the relationship that they have with one another. Catherine is writing the book. And so I've talked a lot about how something I love is that the girls will cut in to comment on something that she said. It'll be like in script format. Diana will be like, I didn't say that. And the other ones will be like, yeah, you did. She's like, so what if I did or something? That's how Diana speaks in my head. She said something a lot more witty than that. I'm, I'm no comparison to Miss Diana Hyde. So if you want Victorian mystery with slightly fantastical elements with a found family with these incredibly strong, unique individual girls with such interesting characteristics and backstories, like please read it. This is the second in the series. I'm hoping to get my hands on the third one ASAP and read it because I just need to. I say this again and again. Stalking Jack the Ripper wishes she was her. She looks at her and she's like, that's what I meant to be. And this is like, yeah, bitch. Yeah, I'm you, but better. Or what? I'm you. They face off and this loses. And this comes out supreme every time. Best atmosphere, best cast of characters, best plot, best imaginative way of telling a story. I can't wait to read the last one. It's gonna slap. So the next book I read was Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman. This is a really short novella. If I show you the font, you will see it's absolutely mehusev. But this is about Nick and Charlie from the Heartstopper graphic novel series, aka my sons, aka my favorite graphic novel series at all time. But it's true. I'm the best one. Soft, perfect, wonderful, loves of my life. These three here are kind of the story of them coming together, starting to date, falling in love. But this is set, I think, about a year after Heartstopper Volume 3. So there's a lot of stuff that is hinted at that's going to happen in the graphic novel series in the future. Nick is going away to university, he's going to University of Leeds, aka my university. We rep. And Charlie is a year younger at school, like he's in the lower year. And he's basically just really scared about what it's gonna mean for their relationship. But I just loved being with these boys. I gave it four stars. It didn't feel quite as special as the graphic novels, just because their facial expressions make up such a big part of the graphic novels. I felt like I was missing that aspect a little bit. But I just love their relationship so much. They are so soft. And it was just really fun to read this. I think if you are a fan of the Heartstopper graphic novel series, definitely pick this up. But I wouldn't pick this up as your introduction to the characters. I would read the graphic novels first. Next, I read Empress of Sword and Fortune by Nevo. So this is a story about a cleric is kind of cataloging this area, I think. I'm not sure if I'm right on that. I'm hoping I am. I know a lot of things, but I don't know about that. I'm not sure why. But they come across this servant to an old Empress who had a very close relationship with the Empress and basically tells the story of what happened when the Empress was shunned by the Emperor. I gave it four stars. It's this high fantasy about women in exile, women coming together, learning about this history that has been kept secret and learning about the resilience of these women. It starts off very much as like a core intrigue and then it kind of progresses into this isolated story of resistance against those who you can't openly resist. If that makes sense, it was a really beautifully written book. I can't wait to read more from Nevo in the future because I loved the writing style. This was very, very kindly sent to me by a subscriber called Madeleine and I am so thankful for that. The second in this series is coming out, I think either at the end of this year in the next couple weeks or at the beginning of next year and next year I believe they also have a full length novel coming out and I'm so excited. Like I'm going to be getting that straight away. That's going to be one of my most anticipated releases of next year. I can't wait to continue on this series if you're looking for a short book that packs a punch. That is beautiful, fantastical. Sorry, that was... Didn't mean to hurt you. Go for this, trust. Next I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. So I am reading the Hercule Paro books in order. This is number four. God, there's a lot, isn't there? There's a lot of Hercule Paro books. Roger Ackroyd, it's been complicated, isn't it? The kind of premise of this. So basically his girlfriend killed her husband. She told him someone's been blackmailing me. They knew this and then she dies and then he dies. Basically you think whoever was blackmailing her has killed Roger Ackroyd and Paro and this local doctor team up to solve the case. The thing with Agatha Christie books is like you don't know what you're gonna rate it till the end. So there was like a point where I was like okay I like this kind of small setting in this town where everyone chats shit about each other behind each other's back but like it's not quite there for me. It's probably gonna be a three star and then I read the end and let me tell you you won't see the end coming. Like you won't. And then when the end happens you're like how did I not see that coming? I'm dumb. Dumb dumb. And the ending of this just completely bumped it up to a 4.5. Like straight away I was like dang, dang you played me. And I just love how she plays with like time where people were like alibis really well. I'm excited to read more Hercule Paro. The next book I read was Kim Ji Young Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo. I think I'm actually giving this 2.5. I think I gave it 2.75 on Goodreads but I think I'm just gonna give it a 2.5. This I barely remember. I've kind of forgotten it if I'm honest. Basically we're following Kim Ji Young from when she's born up until she starts impersonating women from her life both dead and alive and then she kind of forgets that she did that and then we go back in time throughout her life. It reads to me as non-fiction in a way. She is used to show what it's like for a woman in South Korea. This sexist constraints that exist in society and I just felt like I wanted more from the story. I don't know. I did like what it taught me. There was a lot it taught me about work in South Korea for women, schooling, family expectations. So I like what it taught me. I think in some ways I would have preferred to read a non-fiction book about it. I think I struggle with that kind of literary fiction in that kind of like distant look at someone's life over a long stretch of time to kind of like teach you a lesson. So I think like if that doesn't bother you this would be a great book. Like I think it's a book. I can completely understand why someone would give it five stars. Next I read Ghosted in LA Volume 4 by Cina Grace. This is a really short graphic novel book about this girl who has stumbled across this house full of ghosts essentially in LA. And this is going to be the last time I read from this series. This is not for me. No. I gave this 1.5 stars. I could not tell you what the fuck happened in the... I could not tell you what the fuck happened in this volume. Like I don't know the foggiest. Like I didn't have the foggiest while reading it. I remember reading it and being like well what's actually happening. There was some big fight. I could not tell you who was fighting who. I could not tell you who won. I cannot tell you what happened in the fight. And the thing is this is a graphic novel. Like it's pictures. Like I could not tell you what the pictures were doing. And I think I rated them all like a 3, 2.75 but I just carried on in the series because I just wanted to love them. I love the idea of this kind of like old Hollywood ghost vibe. I just gotta stop reading them even though they're only 25 pages and only take me 10 minutes. That 10 minutes can be better spent reading something else. I'm just not enjoying them. So that's going to be the last time that I read from this series. Next I reread The Bear and the Nightingale by Catherine Arden. I have spoken about this so much so I will not speak about it very long here because I've got a whole vlog on it and I did a live yesterday discussing it. But this is one of my favourite books of all time. I am co-hosting a read-along for this series. We just had our first live show for it but there's still time to catch up or maybe we've already read this one. The next one will be The Girl in the Tower and we're reading that throughout December. The Bear and the Nightingale is one of the best books named to man. Like it's so good. So we follow Vasya in kind of old Russia in her house in the middle of the woods in a snowy desolate part of old Russia as she discovers that she can speak to the house spirits. The spirits of old magic in Russia and it's her story of her growing older and discovering more about herself and her powers and it's the story of the Winter King Morozko. It's the story of old Russian folklore and fairy tale and it's just magic. Like if you want to read something that reads like a fairy tale, this is it. I love it. I love it. Some of the best family members, some of the best like writing atmosphere, it feels like you're being read. A story from your childhood that you loved. Like that's generally what it feels like. It's such a magical story. It's generally God's gift to the world. I love it so much. I love it so much. It's so special. So needed this to say I gave this five stars but it was a reread and it was always going to be five stars. I should never doubt it. So the next book I'm actually going to talk about was actually the last book I finished in the month but I want to chat about it now and then talk about the last three books together. The next book I read was Pride by Ibiza Boy. This is a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in New York and it's a story of these two black kids falling in love and hating each other like Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett hate each other. It's a story of family. They're called the Benitez sisters in this for the Bennett sisters and their relationship and just like the feeling of family and community I think has done so well on this. The feeling of family in a location. Like family isn't just your parents and your siblings. Like it's where you are. It's where you come from. It's home and that was something I really really loved about this. I did give this, what did I give this? I gave this 3.5 stars. I very rarely rate Young Adult Contemporary is really high. The two authors that I've rated really highly from are Elizabeth Acevedo and Angie Thomas and I did actually listen to the orgy book on this and it is narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo which is really cool but 3.5 is like I really enjoyed it. You know what I mean? I think it's a really lovely Young Adult Contemporary. I just felt like I was actually a bit short. I never really felt like I was able to fully get attached to the characters because it happened so fast and like I can really admire the way that it retells the story but at the same time you knew it was gonna happen. Yeah I just didn't like rate it super high because of that but I think the writing was incredible. I really want to read more from Ibiza Boy. She has just co-wrote Punching the Air which I've been eyeing up and I would really recommend this. I think it's a fun story. It's a fun lighthearted contemporary. You can't really go wrong with it. Like it's so much fun and I think it remixed the original story in such a cool way. Okay we've got three more everyone. We're almost there. I've gone tired while filming this. I hope my like low energy isn't showing. I feel like I'm like The level of unprofessionalism far too much. So the last three books are all books that I read from my Reading Murder Mystery books vlog. Murder Mystery is one of my favourite genres in the world. I love reading it and I got you to send me in what your favourite Murder Mystery books are and I read them. First book I read you all fucking love it. It's and then there were none but Agatha Christie. In my reading vlog I said I was going to give us a 3.5. I think I was just feeling a bit generous this month like in the vlogs and then like I feel the need to lower it. So it's a three. There's nothing wrong with my views or beliefs because I have freedom of speech and everything I'm saying is true. This is a story of 10 individuals who get invited to this island and when they get there they all get accused of murder. They all start getting murdered themselves one by one. And I just think the main problem for me with this was the pacing. Like all it does is lead up to each murder. I want some clues. I want something that makes me suspect this person. Like I want on murder 4 to find out something about murder 2 that makes me go oh shit it's that person. It just led up to murder after murder after murder and it just got really repetitive. I struggle to know who the fuck these people were. Who is she? Who is she? Where did you find her? There's too many men that you'll blur into one. I could not tell you the difference between General MacArthur and fucking Dr Armstrong. Like what is the difference between all these people? And lastly my last gripe with this is I hate at the ending. It's one of those endings that I think is convenient. I didn't think it made sense and like it says how everything happened but there were no clues for that right? When I read the murder of Roger Ackroyd when the end is revealed you can go oh shit yeah it was all right in front of me. I didn't have that feeling. I have to feel like I can see the clues you laid after I finished the murder mystery. In this I was like well isn't that convenient? Isn't that nice for you? Isn't that all very convenient? I still love the writing because I still love Agatha Christie's writing however on the whole could have been better. I don't understand why it's one of her most popular books. I don't get it. Then I read Widows of Malibu Hill by Sujata Massey and I gave her 2.5 stars. Oh no this has now gone downhill. I saw a comment on the video that said someone enjoyed it more because they went into it thinking it would be a historical novel with murder mystery elements and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I went into it thinking that but I thought I was getting a murder mystery. Had I read it the other way perhaps I would have read it higher. In this we are following Paveen as she works as the only female solicitor in Bombay with her father. To set in 1920s India one of their clients dies and all of the wives all of his widows want to give their inheritance up to charity and Paveen doesn't think that this will leave them in like a good economic position so she goes to try and talk them out of it. It escalates to murder but one of my major problems with this is I don't think I like books with two separate timelines that don't relate to each other. I like books with two separate timelines that like affect each other and reveal things about each other. Fuck yeah I love that and a lot of this was about Paveen's marriage and how that went wrong and how women in India at the time were really vulnerable in marriages but as much as I liked that story it wasn't a story on its own. Do you know what I mean? Like it couldn't be a book on its own and in the same way the murder mystery of this couldn't really be a book on its own. I think it was bulked out between the two because neither one of them was strong enough on its own. I really sad about it. I really wanted to love this and I loved the setting. I loved being in 1920s India. It was such a cool location to be in and to learn about and I loved learning about women's roles in that but like that's where it ends for me. I thought the writing was okay but the murder mystery wasn't even good like there were no clues. There was nothing. Let's just move on. The last book. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm sorry. I'm a bit delirious today. What's wrong with me? So the last book I read was An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapina. So why did I say it like that? I'm so excited. It's embarrassing. I gave this four stars. I think this is a very solid murder mystery. Some people go to this holiday at this inn. It's kind of like a vintagey couples holiday hotel inn and they get snowed in and then a body is found and then we find out it was probably murder and it's just the story of these characters being stuck together in this place. They all have secrets but they're very realistic secrets like PTSD or a difficult marriage. Rather than in some murder mysteries I feel like when everyone has secrets they're like I kill 10 people. Oh it scammed 20 million out of someone. Do you know what I mean? Like I feel like it's not realistic stuff whereas these characters felt real to me. Them being in the dark with no power, no lamp, not being able to see shit and knowing there's a killer I was so scared. The reason I didn't give this five stars was because I didn't feel like the killer reveal was particularly good. It was kind of convenient again. It was kind of unrealistic and for something that felt so realistic the whole time I was like I can excuse it but it prevents it from getting a 4.5 or a 5 but on the last page there's a little twist and that little twist oh my god it brought the flavour. It brought the flavour. It was so good. It was so good. So I really liked that last final twist and I just thought it was such a strong murder mystery. Really great claustrophobic vibes, great cast of characters, great dynamics between them. Some really fun scenes do you know what I mean? Like really scary fun scenes in it. So yeah I would really recommend it and I cannot wait to read some more sherry lapina in the future but that is all the books I read in November. Hang on I'll hold these up that's only the physical ones and I am so excited for my reading in December. Make sure you check out my wrapped up series that I'm gonna be running throughout December. I have just got so many fun videos planned you guys. I'm so excited for everything I'm gonna be reading this month. Like it's gonna be fire. Like we're gonna have a great month. I'm gonna be posting a lot this month so I'm so excited to like hang out with you all and I just think we're gonna have a lot of fun. So thank you for watching. Let me know your reading plans for December and I will see you very very soon in another video. Bye!