 Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. I hope you're good. It feels like it's been a little while. It's been a week. I don't want a week without uploading or doing live shows, but I'm back. It hasn't been that long. Hi, how are you doing? We're back and we're ready for it all over again. Today we've got a book haul, which is very exciting. Book hauls are always one of my favorite kinds of videos. I don't know how this has happened, but I think this is my biggest single book haul I've ever done. I always try to do book hauls at about like 20 books. We've got 28, and here's the thing. I last had a massive book haul on my birthday at the end of January. So it hasn't even been like, it's like a month and a half. So it's my birthday. And I have accrued 28 books in that time. How is that even possible? I don't even understand how this happened. How do I explain it? I actually haven't bought that many of them. We have got four categories, books that I bought myself, books that were gifted, books that were sent to me by the publisher, and books from book boxes. So I've got a little spinning wheel, and we're gonna spin them to decide an order. We're gonna talk about them in. And yeah, before we get into it, make sure you subscribe if you haven't already. And also make sure you're following me on all my social media, like Goodreads, Instagram and Twitter. They're all linked down below always. And quite a few of my videos that are coming up, I may be asking you on social media for things, so make sure you're following me on there so you can be part of the videos. Okay, without further ado, let's get into it. Tap to spin. Oh, it's spinning, it's spinning. Okay, publisher. Okay, so first we're gonna do books that have been sent to me by the publisher. So I've got two January releases here. The first is An Arc of the Burning Girls by CJ Tudor. But this is a thriller about this town that basically has this history of death. So on the back it says, 500 years ago, eight innocents were burnt alive. 30 years ago, two teenage girls vanished without a trace. Two months ago, the vicar hung himself. Welcome to Chapelcroft, a village with a dark past and a dangerous present. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I love, oh my God, I love it so much. Like small village English murder. Like that kind of early Agatha Christie vibe where like you're just in this like quaint English village, I'm like, I just, there's a certain, if you haven't experienced it, I don't know if you understand what I'm saying. Like there's like, there's flowers everywhere and like these quaint thatched cottages. And there's murder. Who are you smiling at? It's all the drama, Mick, I just love it. I have read The Chalkman by CJ Tudor. I read that last year and I did enjoy it. I think I gave it like four stars. So I'm intrigued to read this and I believe it has got pretty good reviews already. And then I haven't actually heard many people speak about this yet, but this is If I Disappeared by Eliza Jane Bresier. But I have to like be real with you. Like just look at the US cover. Just look at it. I'm upset for my own reasons, which I'm not gonna discuss now. But this is about a woman who loves true crime podcasts and the woman who hosts her favorite true crime podcast goes missing. And so like this woman, the one who is like the protagonist decides to go to that woman's town and like try to find her. Like go what? Like that's kind of weird. And she finds out another woman has gone missing and has vanished from that area. So I don't know, it sounds good. I love true crime podcast vibes, like things like Sadie have done that really well. So I am excited to read this, but I haven't heard a lot of people speak about it. Then I have already read this, Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean. This is about a boy he finds out that his father is gay and it's just about their relation. Oh, she fell. She fell hard bitch. It's just a really touching story. I gave it four stars or 4.5. I loved it. It's really cute. You should go read it, but I've already done a whole vlog with it in. An amazing middle grade. If you're wanting to get more into middle grade or you're looking for middle grade recommendations, this would be like my favorite middle grade I've ever read. Then I got A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Nouvelle. I've had such mixed things about this. I have read the first in the Themis File series by Sylvain Nouvelle and I loved it and I've got books two and three and I can't wait to read them. I have given a book by Sylvain Nouvelle five stars and I also gave the test. I think it was like a 3.5 or a 4. So I've had fairly pleasant experiences with this author in the past, but all I know about this is that it's about a family trying to stop some kind of space race, but it's really strange apparently and it's about the hidden history of what was happening at this time and I've just heard it's a bit too weird and the writing style's a bit too weird. What it wants to do is good, but it doesn't quite get there. But all the same, I'm still really excited to read it. This is one of my most anticipated releases of this year because I have loved stuff by Sylvain Nouvelle. So I'm hoping to get to this soon. I really like this cover as well. I think it's just really sleek and classic. I haven't had anyone say they love this. Like I haven't had anyone say they love this, but I'm sure there's people out there and I'm still holding out hope that I can be one of them. So then I got sent The Islanders by SV Leonard. I believe this has just come out or it's maybe just about to come out. And this, oh my God, this is so exciting. So exciting. So I haven't really had anyone speak about this, but this is a murder mystery where basically, so you know the show Love Island, where like all these people go to this island to fall in love. Our gal thinks she's going on that. She gets there, she's mingling, they're drinking, someone dies. That would be like illegal. An announcement comes, one of The Islanders is a murderer and she must work out who. For every hour it takes her, one more person will die. What? When you think you're going on TV to find love, but you're actually in some messed up murder game situation. This isn't part of the deal. This isn't fun. This isn't a challenge. There's like a game murder set in the sun with all these like, you know, Love Island-y people. I can't think of an adjective that's not, you know, unfair, but you know what I mean. It's like everything I've ever dreamt of in a thriller. It's everything I've ever wanted. And I'm so excited. So thank you so much to the publisher for sending this to me. Okay, we're just going to pretend. Yeah. I was angry. I was angry. Then I received The Wolf and the Woodsmen by Ava Reid. And this is a beautiful arc. This comes out on the 8th of June. So quite a while away. So this is apparently a dark, evocative and unforgettable fantasy debut, steeped in Hungarian history and own voices Jewish mythology. It reminds me kind of like of Bear in the Nightingale vibes. I don't know why, The Wolf and the Woodsmen, The Bear in the Nightingale. Like it just gives me similar things. Obviously that's Russian inspired and this is like Hungarian and Jewish inspired. But I'm hoping for that kind of like atmosphere, that kind of magicalness. I think it's set in like a similar time period as well. A unique blend of fairy tale adventure and fantasy. I mean, come on. Isn't that like what I love? So I am so, so excited to get to this. And then the last book that I have been sent by publishers is one I hadn't heard of, but it is The Savage Instinct by M. M. DeLuca. This is set in England in like the 18 somethings. Basically it is about a woman who is sent to this asylum for women who, you know, in that time period, women were sent to asylums for like anything, you know? Like their husbands wanting to get rid of them. They were sent there for anything that didn't adhere to kind of society standards. And she goes there and she meets this female serial killer and kind of becomes inspired by her and strikes up a friendship with her, I believe. And I think it's been compared to like Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, which I haven't read, but I do own. Yeah, it just sounded very interesting. And like it kind of would go into the harmful ways that women's mental health has been treated throughout history. So super excited for this one. This comes out, I think in May. Yeah, May 18th, this comes out in. So super excited. Hopefully I'll get to it around that time. Next, let's spin the wheel again. Okay, we're gonna talk about books I bought myself. We're gonna talk about the books I bought myself next. So I have actually bought one, two, three, four, five, six books, which isn't that bad. And I think they were all pretty much with vouchers as well. I did say to myself I wasn't allowed to buy any books unless they were new 2021 releases. Like a lot of this book who is. There's two here that aren't 2021 releases, but the rules don't apply. One of them was like on sale for a pound. So how could I say no? And the other one, the other one I bought with a voucher. So we're not counting it. Okay, let's talk about this first. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. I'm so excited to read this. I need to fit it into a reading book somehow. If you've heard of the hate, well, obviously you've heard of the hate you give by Angie Thomas. Basically this is based on the father from the hate you give. And it's about him becoming a young dad and like dealing drugs and just his history. I just love Angie Thomas's writing. This is gonna be so good. I've heard such wonderful things about it. So hopefully I'm gonna get to it soon. But that's how I feel about all of my books. And I'm just not reading. I'm not reading like at all. That's concerning. Then I got Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. This is about a woman who wakes up in Vegas and finds out that she has married. So her and her wife, I think go, they go away for the summer to kind of learn about each other and see if they can make this work. It's not really a romance from what I've heard. It's much more like heavy hitting about this character and looking at kind of the life they have built for themselves. They're like hardworking high achiever who's suffering from burnout. And I've just heard like everyone who's read this said they cried, say that they were so emotionally impacted. So I don't know, I'm just super excited for this. Then one of my favorite covers so far of 2021 releases is Fat Chance Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. It is just like this color. It's just so gorgeous. So all I really know about this is that it's like a YA company of age story about this fat girl living in, what does she live? Connecticut suburbs. Like in white Connecticut suburbia. This guy asked her out but she finds out that her best, he asked her best friend out first. No, man. No. Pretty cute and wholesome but also dealing with like topics like weight as well which I don't think I read enough about. So I'm really excited for this. I haven't heard many reviews actually now that it's come out but I like hard hitting YA contemporaries and I just love the covers so much. Like it's just like one of the most gorgeous covers ever. And then another one of my most anticipated 2021 releases is The Project by Courtney Summers. So this is the author of Sadie and this is about a cult where we have two sisters, one who is in the cult and the other sister is trying to get her sister out of it and to like do some research to kind of expose the cult. I just, I'm so excited. I've really loved reading books about cults recently. I think that kind of like power dynamics and the people being trapped is just like a very interesting topic to read about in fiction and nonfiction. I just can't wait to read Courtney Summers writing again. I've heard some things. I've heard some people give it like three stars. I've heard some people give it five stars. I'm hoping I'm gonna be leaning more towards five stars because Sadie was so wonderful. And just like the back, like, oh my God, just the cover, the vibes. It takes me back to Far Cry 5 which is my favorite cult media ever. And then I have two books that I bought that aren't 2020 releases. The first is The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This was like on sale for a pound. I don't know when I'm gonna work up the courage to read this. I'm scared. But Aaron from Bookton Busy told me that she thinks I'd like this. So that bodes well. All I know about this is like it's a guy called Fitz. He was supposed to be, he's like the king's illegitimate child, I think. And so he's like raised in like the stables or trained as an assassin. I'm not sure which. I don't really know. But a lot of people have been reading this recently on reading Robin Hobb's stuff. I don't know. I feel like it's something I'm gonna pick up and really enjoy one day, but that day is not now. I'm not in the next couple months. And then the other book I bought was Take a Hint, Danny Brown by Talia Hibbert. I recently read Get a Life, Chloe Brown, and I really, really liked it. So I knew that I wanted to pick up the next in the series. It's just a romance series about these sisters. And I've just heard such good things about this one. This is a lot of people's favorite. Okay, are we gonna talk about gifts or book boxes next? Let's shuffle again. Oh wait, shit, I'm not screen recording. Ah! Oh, oh my God, it's gonna be so tight. Oh my God, that was so tight. We'll go through book boxes really quick because some of these I have unboxed on this channel already. Thank you so much to Fairy Loot and Aluma Crape for sending me these. Just like thank you to the publishers for sending me the books. Like I feel so lucky that I get sent these books. I can't really believe it. So honestly, we've got Law by Alexandra Bracken. I just know this is kind of like a Medusa retelling. I mean, look at that, look at that, look at that. Look at it, look at it, look at it. Fashion meets, it's fashion, it's, excuse me, it's fashion. Wait, what is it, fashion? It's fashion. It kind of gives me like Percy Jackson vibes and I've actually heard a lot of good things about this. I've heard that it's not what you would expect going into it, but I've heard some really, really good things. So I'm super duper, duper, duper excited to get to this. Then we've got Winter's Orbit by Evarina Maxwell. I don't know a single thing about this book. I am not even gonna pretend. It's a space opera with high stakes, multiple politics, and irresistibly engaging characters. Perfect for fans for giddy in the night and long way to a small, angry planet. Okay. It's giving me Star Wars vibes. That's all I can really tell you. You are pathetic. You are pathetic. Then we have got A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth. Everyone can all shut up about this book. Like everyone has been chatting about this book. All I know is that it's like kind of like the Cruel Prince vibes. Like it's like Faye. I think it's got a lot of queer characters and queer relationships in this. I know that all these is they, them pronouns. So I think there's a lot of like sexuality and gender representation in this book. The cover is like fit. Let's not lie. That's like a cool cover. Everyone's been talking about this. So maybe I should read it. I mean, it does scare me because it's quite long. Like it's 500 pages and it's like a tall book as well. And then lastly, we have got This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria. I know this is about like orphans and fate and like some kind of like family history. I don't really know. Listen, the thing with book box, book box like books is that I don't really know much about them going into them, but I'm definitely very excited to own it. I feel like this kind of fantasy is always good to have on hand because it's the kind of fantasy I love. So very excited. I've heard some good things about this one too. Lastly, let's get into the books that have been very kindly gifted to me. The first one is the book I need to read next. And I like, I don't even want to talk about it. I don't. Lord help me. Let's see what happens. It is House of Leaves by Mark Z Daniel Wooswowski. Daniel Wooswowski? Kayla, why have you done this to us? So basically I am co-hosting a Literary Dead Book Club for March, which is Books and Lalas Book Club. So this came about on a live I did. Kayla was watching it and me, Aaron and Molly were on it. And we started talking about House of Leaves and we agreed that we should all read it and it's now Literary Dead Book Club. It's 700 pages long. There's some pages of it like this and you think, OK, right, I can do this. But then there's like pages upon pages. There's like things in boxes. There's things upside down in the mark. Like, what are you even saying? That's just a list of names. Like, what the fuck? OK, I'm done with this. No, no, no. Sorry, no. Do you know what, that's pathetic. You can track him, maybe, not my stuff. No, no, no, I'm being so... Sorry, can't do this. This is absolutely diabolical behaviour. So I'm going to try and start this today. It's probably going to take me like the rest of March. Like, I'm literally going to give myself the rest of March to read this. I'm going to be vlogging it. Who knows? I may read it in like four days. I might be obsessed. But like, I sincerely doubt that. Oh my God, this is just terrifying. I actually can't. I actually, I actually can't. Part of me thinks I'm going to love it. Like, some weird shit. I just feel like it could be my vibe. Is I feel like I'm over going to give it five stars or one star. Then, Keras from Library of Keras very kindly gifted me Cinderella is Dead by Kaelin Bayrun. I know this is about... There's this bull where girls have one chance to be chosen by a man. Or are they killed if they're not? I don't really know. I don't know. But I heard a lot of good things about this last year. When it first came out, a lot of people were reading it. I think it would be like a nice, easy YA read. I've heard it's quite heavy on the romance though, which a lot of people didn't expect. Then my Aunt very kindly sent me the Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. This is such a beautiful cover and the sprayed edges. It's just like so gorgeous. This one is also signed. On the back it says are we girls or are we demons? Are we going to die or are we going to survive? In this bold and immersive fantasy, a young heroine fights to save a world that would dare tame her and discover she is her own fiercest weapon. So I've heard this compared to things like Children of Blood and Bone, but the cover just like screams to me. Like this is one of the most gorgeous covers of this year. Let me know if you've read this and what you thought about it. Cause I actually haven't heard a ton of reviews. So let me know if you've read this. Then I recently put on Instagram about how I'm sad. I'm ready to go home, Babs. I'm knackered. It's been a hard couple of weeks. I've really struggled with uni and just balancing everything and like being happy. And some of you are very kindly sent me some books which you by no means needed to do, but it's so incredibly, incredibly kind of you. So Lauren sent me two books, which is super kind. Firstly, she sent me Tyler Johnson was here by Jay Coles and we'll talk about these both actually in tandem. She sent me Tiny Pretty Things by Sonia Cherry-Prottra and Danielle Clayton. These are both authors that I read in Black Enough recently, which is a short story anthology. And they were my like authors are some of my favorite short stories. So I put like I chose a book to put on my wishlist of each of the authors I really liked in that anthology. So this is about a boy whose twin brother is shot and killed by a police officer. And I think it's very much around trying to get justice for what has happened to his brother and about like race in America and the relationships with police and young black boys in America. So it's got a gorgeous cover. And I think the, like the inside of it is going to be very hard-hitting but also like a very necessary read. And then this is about, I think like Palais I just wasn't expecting that. I can't say I've ever read a book about Palais but I'm going to try. I really loved Danielle Clayton's short story and I think it's quite an older book, isn't it? Like I think it's like 2014, 2015. So it's a bit of an older book. So I'm interested to see like how it's aged because I think YA of that era was like particular. Do you know what I mean? But I really loved Danielle Clayton's writing so, so much. So I'm really excited to give it a go. Then Rachel sent me two books which is so kind. First she sent me a Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, which I'm actually so excited for. I've recently been reading, I've read the Trudivius murder mystery series but this is another YA murder mystery series which I've had some really good things about. And one thing I didn't realize was that some of it is multimedia. So we've got like production logs, interviews, web chats, emails, which I didn't know. So I'm so excited for that. I know this about a girl who's like doing, I think she's kind of doing her EPQ which is like when you're in sixth form it's like this project you can do. I think that's what it is. And she wants to do it about this girl that was murdered in her hometown and someone was sentenced but I don't think she thinks that was who actually committed the murder. So it's about trying to uncover that. So this is like one I kind of wanna read right now. Like you know when you receive a book and you're like, maybe that's the vibe right now. And Rachel also got me Moxie which I've heard so many good things about. The Netflix film for this has just come out and it's like basically about this girl who's fed up with all the sexism in her school and in her life that she has to pop with like as a young girl and her mom led kind of like this like really like she was a very punk rock feminist which is younger. And so it inspires the girl to start up a like a newsletter or magazine called Moxie in her school all about feminism and about like women's rights and stuff. And I have just heard such good things about this. I've heard that it's like surprisingly good. Like it's surprising me just so like interesting and fun and like just a great read. So I'm so again, this is one I'm super excited to get to soon. And I really wanna watch the Netflix film. Hopefully I'll get to it soon so I can watch it. And then lastly, Tony very kindly sent me the black flamingos and thank you so much Tony. This I know is about a like a drag queen and it's told in verse and I've just heard it's really impactful. I really love stuff Tony told in verse but the only thing I've ever really read is stuff from Elizabeth Acevedo. So I'm really excited to try more stuff out. I think it's just about being free and expressing yourself and having fun. And I've just had a lot of good things. So I'm so excited to read it and it's great to me right now in a reading slump. I mean, listen, I'm in a reading slump and I'm having to read this. Why bring it up now? Why bring it up? But if I wasn't, this would be great for me right now. So maybe if you're in a reading slump too, this could be something great to pick up because it is told in verse. So there we have it. That is all of the books that I have got my hands on recently. I feel so lucky that I have been sent books by you guys, by publishers, received them in book boxes. Like it's pretty crazy. So thank you so much for all your support on my channel. I'm so excited for what the rest of this year is gonna hold for this channel. If you've gotten to the end, comment the Flamingo emoji. That seems pretty fitting. So comment the Flamingo emoji if you've gotten to the end. Let me know if you've read any of these books and which ones you would recommend. And I will see you very soon in another video. Bye.