I'm trying to get out my final videos of 2019, so bare with me ;-D
This is the first of my reading challenges for 2019. There are only two rules for the Big Book Challenge:
must come off my TBR shelves
must be over 1000 pages (although anything over 980 will be considered)
That's it! They can be of any genre, hardcover or paperback, and published last year, or 300 years ago.
This challenge started in, I want to say 2015 (?), and I found this to be a great way to get those hefty tomes I kept overlooking, or ignoring, off my overflowing TBR pile. This year I chose two translated classics - a complete coincidence I assure you ;-D
Let me know in the comments if you have read either of these books as I think I'll need the encouragement. I'd also love to hear what your reading goals are for 2019.
Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time,
I can't believe it's only days until 2019! The older I get, the faster the year seems to fly by.
Today I'm talking about my Goodreads stats. This is just an overview, and not an indepth discussion on any of the titles mentioned. I had a lot of fun with my reading this year - which I will discuss in my Best & Worst Reads of 2018 (coming soon!) - and have already planned out some of my 2019 challenges, so finger's crossed.
I hope you have a wonderful holidays, and a fabulous New Year. Thank you for watching, commenting, liking and subscribing, and until I see you next time,
Well, it's that time of the year, again! The tree is up, the presents are wrapped, and it's promising to be a mild sunny day for Christmas.
Thank you to everyone who has liked and commented on my videos, or subscribed to my channel. It means a lot to me, and I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or Happy Holiday's if you don't celebrate Christmas). I look forward to making more videos in 2019.
Really. Yes, I had to check my email twice, but it's true - I have now reached the milestone of 100 followers ;-D
I can't believe that I achieved even this small goal. BookTube is just something I do for fun, and to connect with other book lovers. To know that you are reaching other people who love books, and don't mind listening to completely unscripted ramblings is amazing!
Thank you (for the 100th time!) for watching, and subscribing to my channel. I hope to be talking about all the bookish things for a quite awhile ;-D
Hello, my lovelies. Sorry, but this is just going to be a very short post today.
Yes, I am taking part in the Cloak and Dagger Christmas readalong - and I am sooo excited! Plus, being a glutton for punishment I am also modifying this TBR for the 12 Days of Cozmas readalong as well. Thank God everyone decided to do cosy mystery readalongs otherwise I would be royally screwed ;-D
Let me know in the comments if you are going to be participating in either (or both?) readalongs, and what you will be reading.
Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time...
Yes, I am now coming to you with the Canon EOS 200D, and I am beyond excited about finally owning a DSLR. I've been wanting one for years, but could never justify the expense (soooo expensive in Australia!), however when my old trusty Nikon Coolpix started to fail I decided I needed to invest in a quality camera that was versatile and would allow me to use it for various projects.
Do I love it? YES! Am I freaked out by spending so much? YEEESSS!
Anyhoo, it will take me a little while to get myself sorted out with a filming setup, so don't worry if a few video's look funky, I'm working on it.
Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time
It's been a bit longer than I'd anticipated. Things are just all over the place here. At the beginning of last week I undertook the massive task of scrubbing all the floors in the house - and promptly started paying for it with my Achilles troubles flaring up, as well as my back issues roaring back to life... and we won't even talk about what happened with my carpal tunnel.
Results... clean floor, but I was stuck in bed for a few days.
This did, however, lend itself to getting some more books read. I had already earmarked an Agatha Christie or two to pick up, and with some of my most anticipated books coming out, well I was perfectly content to become a hermit for a few days ;-D
Luckily, by the end of the week I was feeling pretty good, and was able to resume normal day-to-day activities. Picked up some boxed sets of Poirot (series 4, 6 and 7&8 which are combined), and had a great weekend just flaked out on the couch with the AC running (mini-heatwave here in QLD), while I enjoyed revisiting with Poirot. We won't even talk about the new remake of Murder on the Orient Express, because I just can't.
Anyway, I have some plans for future videos that I'm trying to nail down at the moment. Still, there's always time to pick up a book, and I have quite a few I'd like to get read before the end of the year - but that's another video ;-D
Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time
Hi there, my lovelies! This is only going to be short so I can get hurry back to the AC in the living room as it's getting very very hot and muggy. Seriously, what's up with this weather?
Anyway, I don't have any hauls planned for the next couple of videos, but I'm hoping some Top 5, or perhaps a bookshelf tour might be on the cards. Let me know below if there is a specific video you would like me to do, and I'll put it on the list ;-D
Okay, I'm roasting in this room. Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time...
Yep, I'm calling it. October was a dud of a reading month. I only got one book from my Halloween Reads/Victober TBR read, Jane Eyre, and that was it until the last two days of the month when I picked up Trail of Lightning and The Palace Job.
What happened? I had such plans... well, Netflix happened. Yes, I joined the Netflix cult and became engrossed with all the Halloween goodness that was on offer. I binged Ghost Wars, Superstition (great premise), The Haunting of Hill House and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when they dropped, and whatever spooky movies or series that caught my eye. Let's face it, Netflix is addictive.
Thankfully, I seem to be past the first flush of the Netflix thrill, and have already read a few more books since I filmed this on the 2nd of November. Perhaps I'll even pick up a King book this month? ;-D
Anyway, with a heatwave on the horizon here in QLD (predicting 37°c today) I should be able to get a bit more reading done while I sit in the comfort of my lounge room and bask in the wonder that is the AC. The weather is just all over the place at the moment. Usually not this hot until end of December, start of new year.
Is anyone else finding the weather unseasonable? Let me know below if you are, and until I see you next time,
When I went up to the post office this morning, I didn't expect to get a pile of Stephen King stuff. It makes me so happy when I can add more Kingly items to my collection ;-D
Although some of the items mentioned in the video were bought from Amazon (US), they were actually ordered through Amazon AU as Amazon still won't let Australians order from any of the international Amazon sites. I've got to say, being geoblocked from all the other Amazon sites sucks severely. The small pool of items Australia has access to from overseas on the site is very frustrating - especially when an item is available on just about every other site, but Australia's!
Anyway, that's a rant for another day.
Of the film adaptations that arrived in the mail today, I'm most excited to watch 'Salem's Lot (1979), and Silver Bullet (with Corey Haim). I've now read both the books that these movies are adapted from and I'm intrigued to see how the adaptations used the source materials.
There are still more items winging their way to me, but I just couldn't wait to tear into the packages so there will be another haul towards the end of October, early November.
So that's it for today. Let me know what your favourite Stephen King movie is, or what book would you most like to see adapted. I always love to hear what fellow Constant Readers think about any screen adaptations.
Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time...
Hello, and welcome to my newest Kingly book mail video!
Sorry this will be quite short. There are some major storms brewing so I need to get off the computer ASAP. All of these items arrived in the last few days, so I just had to film a book mail video - so I could get them off my desk! I have left links for all the editions mentioned in the video in the description area.
So, my October TBR is coming along pretty well. I am taking part in #Victober this year, as well as my own Halloween Reads challenge.
Victober
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell
Halloween Reads
Thornyhold - Mary Stewart
Pet Sematary - Stephen King
Four Past Midnight - Stephen King
Of these five books, I have so far completed Thornyhold and Jane Eyre - both on the 1st of October - but since then I have not picked up anything else from my set TBR. I did read Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness (which I bought on the 28th September), and one historical romance on my iPad, but since then I signed up for a trial of Netflix, and I have been hooked! ;-D
This weekend I am planning on starting one of the four short novels from Four Past Midnight, maybe Secret Window, Secret Garden?, anyway, I won't be missing out on any Stephen King because I can now watch Gerald's Game and 1922 movies that they adapted for Netflix.
A proper review video for Jane Eyre, Thornyhold, Time's Convert and whichever Stephen King I finish, will be up later in the month. Until then, I'm heading back to catch up on some Netflix.
It's taken a little longer than I'd hoped to film, edit, and finally get around to uploading this.
As I was editing this I was struck with the thought that I'd bought way too many books. Do I really need all of these? Probably not, but they make me happy so I'm going with that.
I really do need those new bookshelves ASAP, especially now that I have this haul to add to my ridiculously large TBR pile. I've got the name of a local carpentry place, and I'll bite the bullet soon and ask them for a quote to turn the spare rooms entire wall into built-in shelves. It won't be cheap, but at least I won't have to worry about how the hell I'll fit in a new bookcase.
Anyway, I'm off to go and finish Day 2's haul video. Wish me luck. Finger's crossed I can get it up over the weekend.
Yes, I have decided to toss my tiara into the ring and join #Victober 2018.
My plans were to start slowly and in Jane Eyre I found a book that actually fulfills all five challenges set by the hosts.
A book by a hosts favourite Victorian author - check ✔︎
Read a Victorian novel with a proper pronoun in the title (persons name/place name) - check ✔︎
Read a book published in either the first or last decade of the Victorian era - check ✔︎ Jane Eyre was first published in 1847
Read a novel written by a woman under a male pseudonym or published anonymously - check ✔︎
Read a novel and watch a screen adaptation - check ✔︎
Victober was created by Katie Lumsden over at BOOKS AND THINGS, and is co-hosted this year by Ange from BEYOND THE PAGES, KATE HOWE, and Lucy from LUCY THE READER, who all have Victober Announcement video's up on YouTube and I have linked them above if you are interested in watching them, or if you would like to participate this year.
So, as well as reading Jane Eyre, I will
also be attempting the book chosen for the readalong which is Wives and
Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Like
Jane Eyre, I have been meaning to read this for years to no avail.
Looks like Victober is the kick in the butt I need to finally start
these classics.
Finger's crossed that I can complete both books. I'll be updating my reading progress as the month goes along. These won't be the only books I'll be reading in October. I also want to get in some Halloween Reads and a little bit of Kingoween as well. Looks like I'll have a lot on my plate for next month.
Yes, the annual book sale held in the town hall has been and gone. As per usual, I went both days - although I always pay for it in the following few days. Today, Monday, my feet and ankles are extremely tender, thank to achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis, and I have a sneaking feeling that my back will register a complaint by the end of the day. However, it was worth it as I found so many great books (book haul to come).
Today I thought I'd put together a little vlog style video of my weekend at the book sale. This is my first attempt at something like this, but I enjoy watching other booktubers vlog their bookish journeys so here goes nothing ;-D
Bonjour, mes amours! Yes, I have acquired some more translated French literature. Why do I keep doing this to myself? They have all been massive chunkers, but oh well, at least I have a few options for my Big Book challenge for 2019 ;-D
Today Les Mystères de Paris byEugène Sue arrived, and I swear I thought it was a multi-book package when my post lady, Rosie, handed it to me. She even felt up the package asking if it was more than one book. I had ordered this a couple of weeks ago, and wasn't expecting it quite so soon. As you know AbeBooks can be a little on the slow side when it comes to estimating the arrival date of the parcels.
Les Mystères de Paris was first published between 1842-1843 as a serialized novel - think Dickens - and inspired a whole new genre of mystery, the city mystery. Novels in this genre include Les Mystères de Marseille by Emile Zola, The Mysteries of London by George W. M. Reynolds, Les Mystères de Londres by Paul Feval, Les Mystères de Lyon by Jean de la Hire, there are many more, but you get the drift. It also, according to WIKIPEDIA, inspired Alexandre Dumas (at the prompting by his publishers) to write his masterpiece of revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo.
Anyway, I am in no rush to tackle this just yet. I might wait until there is a readalong, perhaps? But until then, this book will now go onto my ever increasing Classics TBR bookcase.
Thanks for watching, let me know in the comments if you have read Les Mystères de Paris, and if you have, what did you think of it - no spoilers please ;-D.
Yes! I have finally come to the end of this rather large (and if I'm honest, a pain in the arse) book haul. Remind me not to do this again any time soon ;-D
As you can see, my collection of classics is growing steadily. Enough so that I now need a large bookcase to keep them all together - they are scattered around various locations in the house at present - and with 3 very large bookcases crammed into the spare bedroom I feel the time has come to perhaps call a cabinet maker to make some custom shelves that cover a whole wall. Expensive, I know, but there is so much wasted space in using standard bookcases that I think it will be worth it in the long run... maybe?
Anyway, I have more video's to edit, including a bit of bookmail from this morning, that I want to get up asap. So I will leave you here, and until I see you guys next time,
It's been a few weeks since I've felt like filming, or editing, a video. However I have bought so many books during August that I really needed to get my butt in gear and film something, so welcome to the first of three book haul videos!
Today's video is just the new books I bought. These either came from Book Depository, Booktopia, or from my local shopping centre.
Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these, and what you thought of them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on these classics. And until next time,
Well, this is odd. Who would have thought that I'd get Part 2 of my August Book Haul up so quickly? ;-D
Thankfully I was able to film this on my small camera instead of the webcam (why are they such poor quality?) and after a bit of editing, voila, Part 2 is up. This video includes the romances I found, some miscellaneous titles (dystopian, non-fiction, horror/fantasy, etc.), and concludes with the small stash of cosy mysteries I was able to find.
Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on them, and until I see you next time,
Just keeping it short today. It's been almost 2 weeks since I even turned on my computer, so getting it filmed and edited in a few hours was tiring. I haven't read as much as I would have liked to, but what I did read I enjoyed, so that's a bonus.
I will be continuing on with my The Green Mile read-a-long next week. Almost half way through and I'm loving it. Will definitely have to watch the movie afterwards. It's one of the few Stephen King film adaptations I've never watched - even though the blu-ray has been gathering dust on the dvd bookcase for nearly 18 months *hangs head in shame*
Anyway, I hope to start The Palace Job this weekend, or perhaps next week, and I have to film an unboxing because some bookmail arrived after I had edited this video. Isn't that always the way? But I might start one of those books first. Decisions, decisions....
So that's all for now. I hope you're enjoying your reading and until I see you next time,
Apparently June was my reread Nora Roberts month! Yep, once I hauled myself out of my reading funk with Shelter in Place, it opened the floodgates for rereading all my favourite NR novels from the last few years.
Birthright, Black Hills, The Search, The Witness, The Obsession. . . and Come Sundown? I don't know how that snuck in there, but I didn't hate rereading it so. . . ?
However, this was only the first stop in my rereading binge. Next I moved onto Ilona Andrews and had so much fun reacquainting myself with her Hidden Legacy books as well as the delightful characters in the Innkeeper Chronicles *sigh* Then it was onto Anne Bishop's A Novel of the Others series as I devoured all 5 books in two days - as well as ordering book 6, Lake Silence - so I will have the complete set.
I think I've gotten the rereading urge out of my system (for the moment), and have moved on to some new reads. Last night I read Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer and found it to be a fun fantasy of manners book. It's been sitting on my tbr shelves for at least 18 months, but I just haven't had the inclination to read it until yesterday. So I struck while the iron was hot and read it while indulging by eating dinner in bed (yum!) and found it charming and sweet, in the nicest way possible. Will definitely be looking for books 2 and 3 to add to my collection.
The weather here has been cooperating marvelously. It's been very cold and foggy, with a couple of rainy days, which has lent itself to staying indoors and snuggling up on the couch with a couple of blankets - or making a nest in bed and whiling away the hours with a guaranteed comfort read, a couple of cats and a hot cup of tea. Heavenly.
Anyway, that is all I have at the moment. I need to get lunch in to oven so I'll say cheerio for now, and until I see you guys next time,
It's been a boring couple of weeks where I just have not had the inclination to pick up a book. This does not happen often, but when it does, it's a real problem. Thankfully, my mum lent me her copy of Nora Roberts new book, Shelter in Place, and that did the trick. Roberts is an almost guaranteed good read so... 'Thank You, Mum!'.
However, I only picked this up after finishing The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. I don't know what it was about this book, but it took me three reading sessions to get through this teeny, tiny, little book of 192 pages. I know, right. I've read three books in a day (1000+ pages worth) and done it again the next day! Yet, trying to get through this Poirot was like pulling teeth. Which is silly considering I actually liked it, and I can't wait to see the new BBC adapation.
Yes, April to mid June has just been the pits.
Thankfully it looks like that slumpy, grumpy, not-reading time is over and I've been enjoying rereading some old favourites which I will be talking about in my next video.
It's been a hot minute since I got my butt in gear and got a video edited and up, but everyday life - and not having read much - might have had something to do with it ;-D
I'm still working on Mansfield Park which is kind of strange since I plowed through the first two volumes in two days, but for some reason the final volume just has me procrastinating. I've binge-watched both seasons of Wynonna Earp - and started rewatching Charmed! Anything but pick up MP and finish it. Grrrrr, very frustrating.
However, I am enjoying the book more than the adaptation. Edmund is a dick, Fanny is very bland and wishy-washy, and the Crawford siblings are actually not as shitty as the adapations make them out to be. Maybe Fanny will grow a spine soon because the big fight about her not wanting to marry a certain caddish gentleman has yet to happen, so finger's crossed.
I also mention the couple of new books I have acquired and a great new bookmark that I just could not resist buying.
Anyway, my fingers are freezing off at the moment. It's the first day of winter and boy, has it arrived right on schedule. I had all three cats hogging the bed with me last night, and since it's still really cold at the moment I will be heading straight from the computer to the couch and my blankets while I watch some more Charmed (baby W just born), and warm up with some chilli con-carne.
