A (2:29)

I know. Well, our last. Yeah, our last episode was on a on the 30th it was like the very last day of the month. And so our first episode of the month is happening later in the month than it normally does. I feel like it.

B (2:42)

It's correct. And I feel a little thrown off. No, it's the seventh, actually, when you're hearing this in real time, because this is so stupid. The. The new release Tuesday. Tuesdays are the 7th, 14, 21, 28th. And I was like, oh, that's nice. Like, made my brain happy. Yeah, yeah, it's, you know, it's the seventh. But at any rate, I have been looking at some of the October new releases and planning my TBR for the month. I had a good time trying to find books for this episode on BookTube, but of course, predictably, I overthought it. And I swear to you, I had to finally just force myself to sit down and just. I'm like, okay. I was getting ready for work, and I even said, I'm like, I just. In this half hour, you're picking your next book. Because it was Monday when I was doing that. Like, you need to read it by whatever day. You know, you need to read it by the end of the week, so just decide. And I did, and I'm very happy that I found one.

A (3:39)

I had a similar experience where I was overthinking it and I was like, well, I should. I should watch a Booktubers Best books of All Time or I should. And I was just overthinking it, and I did the exact same. I did the exact same thing. And then on top of it, I mixed up a couple of our episodes personally and had to replan accordingly. So I'm going to bring an oldie, but a goodie, but it is. Well, you'll. You'll find out more later, but I've got a couple of really great books to bring that I got from YouTube recommendations, and I'm excited to share.

B (4:10)

It's so funny that you say that, because I had that same thought. Like, surely I couldn't just pick a random book that somebody recommended. I was like, the best book ever. I, you know, I had a playlist going, relaxed. Oh, I know, I know, I know. All right. But we did ultimately get there in the end, and we are bringing some books that we got as recommendations from BookTube. For mine, I actually have two horror novels to kick off October. One is a novella, which is totally not like me, and the other is one I initially DNF'd, so you'll have to see what made me pick it. Back up and whether or not I liked it. But before we do that, I will go ahead and hop into what I've been loving lately. And Hannah, I know you're familiar with this, but what I've been loving lately are Studio Ghibli movies. Are you familiar?

A (4:54)

Yes. Tell me more.

B (4:56)

Yes. Yes. And I have to thank my husband Jonathan for these because I would never have discovered this. And these are wildly popular, so I'm not uncovering anything that's new. But what Studio Ghibli is, is they are an animation studio based in Tokyo and they were founded in 1985 and have something like 20 plus movies that their studio has produced. And what I love is they are animated and they are cozy. Cozy. Cozy. Cozy is the best way I could describe it. They are comforting, they're beautifully illustrated, and they have these just interesting storylines for the whole family, but it's not cheesy. Like, the one that I think is probably our favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service, which is like this little witch that goes around and basically delivers things and gets into shenanigans with the local townsfolk. Then there's this other one. I can't remember the name, but there are little people, they're like minis, miniatures, and they like live under the floors in this house and they go exploring and it's just the most satisfying thing. And apparently Spirited Away is the one that is widely considered to be the best movie from the studio. Do you have a favorite one, Hannah?

A (6:10)

Yes, I do. My personal favorite. Well, I say, yes, I do. I would say that my. Previously, my answer has always been my neighbor. Totoro is my favorite. But our kids have really fallen in love with Ponyo and it's so sweet. And so I really have a soft spot for Ponyo. But I also love Howl's Moving Castle. It always, like, kind of rotates between those three. It's really hard to pick.

B (6:35)

Oh, my gosh. I am. I'm like frantically writing these. I mean, as though I. As though I won't be able to listen to this episode back. But I'm frantically writing these down because we've only watched a few of them so far. I think also, if you're like, this sounds great, it's on hbo, Max, so just know that. But I think this for us is the perfect thing to watch as a family. In the evening when we're getting ready, before bed, after dinner, during dinner, whatever, you know, whatever works for your family. And all of us like it. You know, from the two year old, all the way through me, the eldest member of the family. And I just think it's so fun. They also have great lessons. And so it's really fun to ask, you know, the kids, like, what do you think they're doing? Or why are they afraid? You know, and it's just so. I cannot say enough about these animated movies. And I'm not a movie girl at all. They're also like the.

A (7:23)

I know. I'm so excited.

B (7:25)

No, I'm shocked. Trust me. They're the perfect length. So, like, you're not sitting there for two hours because Lord knows your kids don't have that attention span. Nor do I, but I have been loving it. So if you are somebody that has been looking for something to watch with your kids or for you that feels cozy for the season, I think some even are more, you know, Halloween themed, if you're into that. I highly recommend it. It is the Studio Ghibli movies. I don't know that I'm saying that word right. Is that how you say it?

A (7:52)

I have said Studio Ghibli before. I also say Studio Ghibli. I don't know if they're. I've never looked up what the proper pronunciation is for it, but we're close. Yeah, it's one of the two, I think. But Dustin's favorite is Princess Mononoke, which is not kid friendly.

B (8:12)

Oh.

A (8:12)

It is probably the most violent of the movies that I have seen. There's. That one's scary. Like, it's actually scary. So if you're wanting to watch one of the. Those, like I say, scary, it's not like spooks and haunts. It's like war, you know, so there's like some violence.

B (8:28)

So intrigued.

A (8:29)

And magical creatures in that one. Yeah, it's. It's a little. There's actually some spooks and haunts in that one too, so.

B (8:35)

Nice. All right, well, good. Thanks for that recommendation because I will certainly catch up.

A (8:40)

Yeah, tell me about. I want. I want a tier ranking when you're done.

B (8:44)

Oh, my gosh, don't you know, I love a tier ranking. You know, I love a list.

A (8:50)

Well, I love to oblige because I like hearing about your lists. My loving lately is a creator that I am really excited about and I actually found her because of our episode that we are doing on Booktube. And this is a new to me creator. And it's. Erin reads everything and she really does read everything, which is one of the reasons why I love her videos. I also am someone who does not shy away from many genres or topics and so. So it's really hard to find other creators that read similarly. I follow a lot of different creators who read romance or historical fiction or fantasy and those are the people that I go to for recommendations within those genres. And I love doing that. But it's also really fun when you can find someone like you and I, Tina, who read across like a wide variety of genres. And on top of that it seems like we have pretty similar taste, which so far I'm feeling is the case with Aaron. She doesn't post very frequently though. So like she had a post last month and then two months ago and then, you know, five months ago. So she posts consistently but not like every week or anything like that. But she has some great videos, including top dark fiction books from the last quarter, five historical fiction book recommendations, which I added several books from that video to my tbr. I almost brought one today but I did not finish it in time. So hopefully I'll be bringing it soon. And if I do, I'll be sure to mention where I got the book recommendation from, which is her video. But anyway, I've just been loving going through her backlog. A lot of her videos are very evergreen and they're a great length between, you know, six and 15 minute videos, which is kind of nice. I love a long YouTube video, trust me. I love like an hour long vlog. But it's not always something that I can listen to in the morning before work because I don't have time. So it's nice to have a shorter video every once in a while which Aaron reads everything provides. So that is my loving lately.

B (11:09)

I love it. I will definitely be checking them out because. Oh, oh, I. This creator, I'm gonna subscribe right now. I love her from TikTok. I recognized her immediately. Yeah, because she's so good at delivering her recommendations. Like she's really concise about it.

A (11:30)

Yes.

B (11:31)

It's something that I admire in people because, you know, I'm a yapper and I just, I like ultimately I know that I'll get to the point eventually, but like I really admire people that are able to be concise with it.

A (11:41)

And say a lot.

B (11:42)

It's a skill and still say a lot more than like I really liked it, you know, which is great. But like, yes, no, I love this creator. Good.

A (11:49)

And probably is why her videos are not super long because she's able to just be really concise in her recommendations. But I'm still able to pick up a book and Be like, I'm picking this up because she said X, Y and Z about it. And I know that's what I like. So still successful in the delivery of the recommendations. Just, yeah, very concise about it.

B (12:08)

We can talk about this in a minute when we're into the book talk portion of this podcast, but I would like to talk a little bit more about how YouTube wants people to be in silos. Like, it's very fascinating to me and I'll tell you what I do. I. I'll tell you what I think about that. But before we dive in, speaking of readers who read everything we as a book talk, etc. Community. Finished. Catabasis or Catabasis. How you ever. However you want to say it, which.

A (12:34)

RF Kong has said, you can say.

B (12:35)

It however you want, which I love in a creator. You know what I'm saying? And obviously it's a Greek word. And so I feel like, you know, there's probably a way that there is a right way to say it, but for all intents and purposes, you know what I'm talking about. It's this book here that I'm holding. It is a book that had been everywhere on the list, like one of the buzziest books for fall season. And what it's about is Alice Law. And Alice has only ever had one goal in her life. She wanted to become one of the brightest minds in the field of magic. So she's studying to be a magician. And in this world, magicians are real and they're people that are very well trained. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality. Her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, because he is the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. So what is a girl to do but literally travel to hell to get him? Because she wants to rescue this dude and make sure that she can successfully defend her dissertation. And she feels like she wants to graduate from him and can't do so if he's like, you know, not alive anymore. And on her way down, her rival Peter sees what she's up to and he was under Grimes as well and decides, no, baby, we're going together. So together they go to hell. And that is literally the setup of the story.

A (14:07)

I love your additions to the synopsis there. Really, really good job. I liked that a lot.

B (14:12)

Well, because I feel like this book has been. People have been intimidated, myself included. I literally was like, how am I going to read this book and successfully run a book club conversation about it. Because for our community reads, we read them. But also, I like to, you know, we like to have something planned and, like, facilitate the conversation instead of just going on and being like, we liked it or we. You know what I mean? Like, we have to have thoughts about it.

A (14:37)

Yeah.

B (14:38)

And I was very intimidated when I tell you I ate this book up. This book has, I think, 550. Yeah, it's a little chunky pages. I couldn't read it fast enough, which shocked me because I thought it was going to take me forever. How did you find the reading experience?

A (14:57)

My reading experience was a little different. I gave it a 3.5 after finishing it. I did feel the length a little bit. I will say I really enjoyed our community discussion, as I typically do, but. But everybody had such smart and clarifying things to say. I will say I listened to this on audio, and I think that the narrator did a really great job. But I don't know if that was the way to go for me as a reader, which is wild because I'm primarily an audiobook listener. But it sounds like there were diagrams and things that really said a lot about the story. And I missed out on that because I didn't have the print book with me at all. And I'm kind of bummed about it.

B (15:43)

I feel you and I 100% agree that the narrator did a good job, but I wouldn't recommend it in that format. I've been recommending this as a tandem read, which I know is not tenable for everybody, but because like you said, there are these graphs and I'm going to show a little bit of them on screen here. But I don't want to show too much because they're. You'll learn about them in the book and I don't want to spoil anything, but you can see. So at the very end, there's these drawings, and they are very relevant to what's going on. So what I don't think I expected from this is when you get down to hell with the two characters, they are going through the many layers of hell together. And there's sort of these different tasks that they're doing in each, and they're meeting these different people. I loved that. I loved. It felt like a quest. I loved the characters we met. I had a good time trying to figure out, okay, who is this person? Why are they important? Are they important? Or are they just here because they're a part of this layer of hell? What's going to happen I also loved that this book is funny. I didn't think it was going to be. I had no expectations that this book would be. Would be funny. I was cracking up because she talks a lot about academia, which I'm very intimately familiar with. I also have a doctorate. I did my dissertation. You know, no offense to my chair. I don't think I'd be traveling to hell to get her. But it was just so funny, tongue in cheek. The way that the author was able to just make remarks on. Some of it was funny remarks on academia. Some of it was very serious remarks on being a woman and sort of the things that people do and the relationships that some students end up having with their professors and why that's good and why that's bad. I obviously loved this book. I. I gave it four and a half. I might change it and bump it up, but I just loved it. And as I'm saying this again, I'm like having a good time revisiting it. What I also loved is that Alice is your main character, but Peter is right there with you. And I love that as the story went on, you got more and more information about both. You don't know who they are in the beginning. And I was kind of jarred a little bit. I'm like, who are you? You know, normally you get like. They were eight. Like, you get the backstory in the beginning. This doesn't do that. Which I love. They just drop you right in and you're literally going down into hell in the first, I don't know, 15 pages. And I'm like, what do you mean? It might not even be that many. It literally might be the first six pages. Yes. They're like already descending. And I'm like, this is rad. What do you mean they're already getting into it? I didn't think it was too dense. I'm sorry, I'm talking a lot. I'm just. Just excited. And I really liked this book, Hannah.

A (18:28)

It's so. I love that you liked it so much too, because it's not even a book that I would have pinned as a Tina book.

B (18:34)

I agree that this doesn't sound like one that I would have really enjoyed, but I think something that worked for me, that might not work for some readers is I. That the author is, like, showing her big brain in this. She is showing that she's really frickin smart and bringing up all of this stuff that I was like, I don't know what that is. It pushed me. It almost felt like I was Researching again for my dissertation. Not because it's dense, so don't hear me say that, just more so. I was activated. My brain was activated. And I love that experience. I love that feeling. I did a tandem read again. I would recommend that because I was literally listening to it and just going through the pages. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I think this was great for book club. By and large, I think we enjoyed it. So I would say if you're at all curious about this and want a book that is different, that will entertain you, but also maybe teach you some things, don't be intimidated. Just give it a whirl.

A (19:34)

Yeah, I agree. And. And I definitely want to continue to co sign the print copy. I will say too now, I think that now that I know more about the plot, that this was intentional. But a lot of the writing felt very like circular and very repetitive where she would explain something and then kind of, you know, like go down this explanation and then circle back to what she said at the beginning when she'd already explained it to us. Which now in knowing a little bit more about the plot, I'm like, well, she probably meant that, you know, circular again, if you've read it. It's kind of like an if you know, you know, kind of a thing.

B (20:10)

Yeah, yeah, but.

A (20:12)

But listening to that on audio felt very circular and repetitive. Whereas I don't know if I would have felt. Yeah, because you're hearing it. And I don't know if it would have felt the same way on paper. I think on paper it would have been more just like, oh, I see what you're doing here. So, yeah, I really think that I probably would have had a better experience in print. However, the narrator, like, the narrator was good.

B (20:40)

Yeah. And it's so rare that you have that. Normally, if I don't recommend something on audio, it's because the narrator wasn't good for me.

A (20:46)

Right, exactly.

B (20:47)

The narrator was great. They weren't the problem. The problem was I don't know how to. I just had to see it with my eyes personally. So I guess this was just one for my processing. I needed to see some of it because I hear what you're saying about the circular circularness. Circular, circularity, circleness. What do I say? Circular. I see what you're saying. I got there. See, I need my big brain to be activated or else it will atrophy. I see what you're saying about some of the points being circular, but I for me, needed that. I think, like, I needed Those sort of reminders, because as I stated in the beginning, you don't exactly know who these characters are. But she did a really good job of giving you something. You're in the plot. And then, oh, let's pull it back a little bit and give you a little bit of the characters before, a little bit of their backstory. Oh, now we're back into the plot. And it was just. It was a good freaking time. And I loved it. I did.

A (21:42)

I have one other positive thing to say about it, and that is that it had chronic illness representation. And I think that it did such a good job reminding you, too, that you can have a really probably negative perception about someone out there in your life about them not showing up or not doing things the way you would or maybe getting off easy for academics or at work or whatever, and just knowing you might not have the full story of why someone is showing up the way they are. And it could be for something that they don't want everybody to know about. And it could possibly be a chronic illness or, you know, something or some kind of disability of some capacity that might be private to them, and it might also be invisible, but it is real, and it affects the way they show up.

B (22:31)

100 and that's what I was going to say. Could be invisible. And I imagine, you know, we just don't know what's going on with a lot of people. I think that's a really, really good call out. I felt the representation of that was well done. Would you say the same?

A (22:43)

Yeah, I would agree.

B (22:44)

Okay. Yeah. I thought she. I mean, honestly, I now am like, oh, I get it. Like, I did read Yellowface, but I had not read any of her other books. Would you. Did you read the Poppy War?

A (22:55)

I read the Poppy War, and I loved the Poppy War.

B (22:58)

Is it a trilogy?

A (23:00)

Yes. And I haven't read the other two books in it, but I loved the Poppy War.

B (23:03)

Okay. Okay. That was my going to be my question. I hear from folks that I need to read the Poppy War if I really liked Kitabis. So I'm going to. Yeah, I might actually just buy it right now here on Pango, since I have it pulled up. But overall, loved it.

A (23:18)

I was gonna say I've read that one and I've read Babel.

B (23:20)

Oh, yeah.

A (23:21)

But I didn't. I don't think I've read Yellowface.

B (23:25)

No. Yeah. I hear it's a departure. That was one of our community reads whenever that came out. And it was a good and polarizing conversation.

A (23:36)

But another one That I did read Yellowface, I think.

B (23:38)

Did you read it with our community read? Were you here yet?

A (23:40)

I wasn't here for the read, but I do think I read it. But it didn't.

B (23:44)

Okay. I didn't stick.

A (23:46)

It didn't stick. Clearly. I remember Battle.

B (23:49)

Yeah. Do you think I like Poppy wars or Babel better?

A (23:52)

I think that you would like Babel better because it's an academic setting, and I feel like it's way more similar to Katabasis if you really enjoyed it. Poppy War is high fantasy and it's war fantasy.

B (24:04)

Never mind. Although I say this.

A (24:07)

Have.

B (24:07)

As somebody who's read the entire Game of Thrones series, so I don't know what my problem is exactly.

A (24:11)

I feel like you. You have some wild car out there that are, like, pretty wild. So who's to say? Maybe you should try both.

B (24:18)

Maybe I should try both. Thank you for. I'm so glad that I asked you because I was thinking it was Poppy wars people told me to read, but it's Babel. You're absolutely right.

A (24:27)

That's the one that's the most similar to Katabasis. You know, it has that academic setting. There's also a lot of etymology in it. Like, kind of the whole first part of the book is all about etymology. And she just is such a smarty pants. I think you all really like that.

B (24:41)

I love smarty pants. Okay. That sounds like a fantastic time, and I will certainly be giving that a whirl. But that's our review on Catabasis. We would love to. Listeners, if you've read it, let us know what you think about it. Fun talk, because it's a good one to discuss.

A (24:57)

Agreed.

B (24:58)

I'm sad. I don't want to put her away, but I guess I. I guess on.

A (25:02)

Your desk for a day.

B (25:04)

I don't really have enough room. Okay, well, they gotta go. You know, once they get red, they gotta go up on the red shelf, lest they get lost in the abyss. This all right, but I think we are ready to talk a little bit about BookTube. Me too. I think you suggested this topic, and I'm glad that you did because it gives me a chance to think about it and, you know, sort of nerd out a little bit about this platform that I've now been on for almost a year, which is kind of weird.

A (25:34)

Well, yeah, I wanted to hear kind of about your experience as a creator and obviously as a consumer, too. But it's been fun getting to watch you grow and, you know, listen to your videos and Watch your videos and stuff. And I'm curious, too, as a creator, how that experience for you has been different from these other platforms.

B (25:56)

That's a great question.

A (25:57)

I mean, sorry if I took you off.

B (26:00)

No, no, no, no. Not at all. Because it is different. And it's. It's almost. I like science and I like a good ex. It's not an experiment, but I do like experimenting with different platforms because I feel like different things work in different areas. And thank goodness I started with Renee, this podcast years ago, because I found during doing that, I like talking about books, like, verbally talking about them much more than I like writing about them. I initially had the blog and Instagram, and that's all writing. At the time, we didn't even have reels. But I, from the podcast, discovered I like talking. And then I thought, you know, we. Why not have the visual aspect of it? I remember exactly where I was when I created my header. You were actually on your way to my house, and I showed it to you, and I was like, hannah, what if I, like, got on BookTube? You're like, go for it. Like, hey, whatever. You like it. I love it. Yeah. And so I created my page on my birthday last year, and it was more of a. Do I have time for this? I don't know, but let's find out. And I feel like I've done a pretty good job of being consistent. Think it's fun to grow and. Yeah. See what works and doesn't. And what I was saying earlier about Silos and how YouTube, I think is different from other platforms is YouTube wants you to read one type of book. Like, I find that I learned pretty quickly that YouTube, at least my reviews of mystery and thrillers, that is what people want from me. They love that. So when I'm doing a book review or, you know, a list of X amount of thrillers and this and that, those always do better. Like, I think my best mystery, thriller, suspense and horror. There's that word again.

A (27:39)

Say it right, Tina.

B (27:42)

It's in my head forever. I think that my video of my best mystery thriller, suspense and horror from last year, that is my most popular video, and it has 60,000 views.

A (27:54)

That's awesome. So is it YouTube that pins you as a thriller reader at a certain point, or is that just the genre in general that does the best?

B (28:06)

I think it's the genre that does the best. I mean, I'm looking at my first. Okay, so the first five videos are all straight thriller recommendations, the ones that are the most popular.

A (28:17)

Right.

B (28:18)

And so of course, as you're doing that, I'm like, okay, you know, you guys want to hear about thrillers? Great, I'm going to keep feeding that beast. And then when I do ones that are a little bit more niche or not thriller, like just general, you know, whatever. Books that made me cry, for example. No good. No one wanted to read books that make you cry, I guess because they want from me.

A (28:36)

There's no hope for me on BookTube then.

B (28:39)

Right. I. And that's why I got excited when you mentioned Aaron because I find that I see a lot of people that have their niche and that's what they talk about and I, I could see why they do it because you get rewarded from that. So I don't know if it's the platform.

A (28:54)

Yeah.

B (28:54)

Us making videos we think people want to see or a combination of both. But that's sort of what I was saying about the silo.

A (29:01)

Yeah. TikTok is similar in the siloed aspect, I think. Maybe not as much as YouTube because I don't know, I'm not a creator on YouTube, but I know. I also think that thriller is just a really sought out genre. I would say thriller and romance are probably the biggest ones. And because you what those fantasy and.

B (29:26)

Fantasy or romantasy or whatever, like the fantasy girlies, boy, I'm like, no, it's true. You're right. Any. Anytime I see somebody that has a. I mean making. They're making big, getting big views. I'm like, you must be talking about romanticity.

A (29:38)

That's very, very true. Because I have some videos on again on TikTok and I know this conversation is about BookTube, but I've had some videos there blow up that were not even like my normal type of video. It wasn't something people were expecting to see from me. It was just kind of an experiment. And it was just a straight thriller recommendation video and then a romance recommend video. They're not great videos. They're like very boring. They're fine. But they've got like 200,000 views on them.

B (30:12)

Oh my God.

A (30:12)

And whereas like the ones that I put so much effort into.

B (30:17)

Yeah.

A (30:17)

You know, it's like, oh, you got 200 viewers.

B (30:21)

Yeah.

A (30:21)

Which is fun.

B (30:22)

It's funny. I find one thing too. If we're looking at TikTok versus YouTube, for me at least YouTube is much more consistent with views. And I can pretty much much. I can. I've only been surprised twice with how little a video got. I can usually tell when a video is going to hit or not.

A (30:39)

That's nice.

B (30:39)

Whereas TikTok, I'm like, who knows? As good as mine, babe. I'm sort of over TikTok. I might actually close my page over there. We'll see if I do or not. But I'm very much over it for some. A lot of reasons, but we'll see if I stay over there. But I find I. YouTube is quickly. Obviously podcast is always going to be number one folks, but YouTube's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

A (31:00)

What types of recommendations do you get on YouTube? If you do, Are there any creators that you look to the most for recommendations?

B (31:11)

You know what, it's so funny you ask. And I want to get to know you and Your history of BookTube in a little bit here, but I have to be honest and say I don't watch a lot of it. And this is something that's been consistent for me, you know, throughout my journey in book recommendations is I can't consume because I'm always making something. And if I. I once I hear somebody say something about a book, it gets in my head and sometimes I don't want that. So really, so far, I only regularly watch three. It's books in Lala, what Michaela reads in the pastel bookshelf. Those are my three. And I've recommended. I think I've mentioned all of them before, but. But I also find for me on YouTube, it's hard to find booktubers. I don't know why I couldn't find like a reliable, like, not even list, but, like, it didn't. It wasn't recommending them to me, probably because I don't watch a ton of it. So I sourced and boy, oh boy, did you all show up. So I asked on Instagram and YouTube for people to recommend Booktubers to me. And this list, I think, has over 70 people on it.

A (32:17)

I think I gave you like six.

B (32:19)

Yeah, listen, and that's what I wanted. Good. Aaron reads. Everything is on here. But yeah, I sort of tried to include a lot of people because I wanted to share the love. And if I thought, okay, if people are having a hard time finding creators, they're not going to fall in love with the platform like we have, right. From a creation and watching standpoint. So I will link to this in the notes here on the podcast. Take a look at that. I should say Hannah will link to.

A (32:44)

It, but yeah, no, that's perfect.

B (32:47)

So for you, I know you have a longer history with BookTube because I've only Started watching within the last year myself. Tell me a little bit more about how you, I guess, found it and why you love it.

A (32:57)

Yeah, so I started watching BookTube back in 2015 when there were not that many creators on there and I had just moved for the first time, like out of Michigan. I had gotten married. It was the year that Dustin and I got married and I didn't have a ton of friends and because. Because I had never been away from home before and I was kind of starting this new life and Dustin encouraged me to actually start a Bookstagram account back in 2015 after I started watching YouTube videos BookTube. And I was like, I love watching BookTube, but I don't wanna talk. I want to do more Instagram, but I don't really know any Instagrammers, which at the time there was really only Folded Pages distillery, which I don't know if her account is even active anymore. I loved her account, but her account was stunning. And I was like, I can't do that because she has like these massively like propped and curated beautiful photos that she did. And he was like, well, you can do whatever you want. And so I started my Bookstagram kind of from my viewership of YouTube, even though it was a different platform, but it was technically the first online book platform that I became a consumer, like a regular consumer of. And at the time there was only, well, books and Lala. I. I think that she came on in 2015 so when she first started doing videos, which is so fun to have been watching her videos this whole time, especially because this year she's doing a series like her 10 years of BookTube and she's going back to like the first videos that she's made and creating videos now from that, which is really cool. And Peruse Project was one of the other first people that I watched that I is still active and still makes videos. I watched a lot of booktubers from the UK randomly. So like Savage Reads, Simon Savage, Jen Campbell, who is an author, illustrate illustrator. She's an author, she's. And then she's a book reviewer and she does BookTube and then Jean's thoughts. She has her PhD in and like Antiquity or something like that. She's super smart and she recommends a lot of classics and fantasy and things like that. So those were my original favorites that are still creating videos now that I still watch regularly. And it's been fun to follow them over the past 10 years.

B (35:31)

Yes, how I love that I have creators. I And it's so funny. I never got into BookTube because I watch beauty YouTube. I've watched that since like, like 2012, I want to say even 2011. I don't know whenever it started. And so it's so funny that I never. I still have creators that I watched from back then that are still around. But at any rate, I love being a fan of other people's work and I do intend to get more into BookTube. I'm so glad that I put together that list because it's been fun. I subscribe to nearly everyone and like I'm sort of going back and like, okay, let's watch. So for my choices today day, I picked two that I haven't already read from because I wanted to spotlight some other folks. So if you are ready, we can go ahead and get into our picks.

A (36:17)

Let's get into it. What have you got for us?

B (36:20)

So my first book that I am bringing is you should have Left by Daniel Kelman and it's translated from German by Danai. And I got this recommendation from the book Castle on YouTube. Do you know?

A (36:35)

Yeah, I do.

B (36:36)

I mean the coolest vibes I've ever seen.

A (36:39)

I was like, she's got like really curly blonde hair.

B (36:42)

Yes.

A (36:43)

She has been around for a really long time too.

B (36:45)

White, blonde hair, just gorgeous makeup. And I'm like, you are just a cool person. Here's a great background. But anyway, the this is a book that I got from her and okay, I don't even remember what made me get it. I think she had said it was creeping dread and this isolated house. And I'm like, that is always something I'm going to be interested interested in. And it begins with it's basically in a writer's emotional collapse. That's what you're following in this book. And it's the beginning is it's fitting that I'm beginning a new notebook up here. New surroundings and new ideas. A new beginning, fresh air. These are the opening lines of the journal kept by the narrator of Daniel Kalman's new novel. The record of the seven days that he, his wife and his four year old daughter spend in a house they have rented in the mountains of German. A house that thwarts the expectations of his recollection and seems to defy the very laws of physics. And this person that you're following, he is a screenplay writer and he is writing a book called Marriage and it's supposed to be a sequel to the movie that launched is his career, but something he can't put his finger on is really undermining his ability to write this thing. And he's basically processing what's happening to them, them, to them and to him in this journal as he tries to understand what exactly is going on. And this is pretty. It's a Nolla. It's 113 pages. And I didn't realize this until later, but it got made into a movie starring Amanda, Se, Fred and somebody else. I don't know actors, but it's. There's a movie of it. So if you like the sound of that, you might look that movie up. I enjoyed this. I don't read a ton of novellas for no real reason other than I just don't think to grab them. This one worked well for me, though, because it felt complete. Though I will say I did Google it after, because I'm like, let me just make sure I. I got it. I'm understanding what. I am picking up, what they're putting down, because I was not 100 solid in my understanding of it, but I did enjoy it very much. This one is a little bit meta because you're getting the journal and you're getting this author writing out what he thinks is happening, and then, like, insert his wife. Like, she'll, like, come into the scene, real life in the book, and, like, interrupt him, and he gets mad about that. And, you know, they're having this contentious marriage. They're having, like, internal conflict. And then he's kind of a bad daddy. Like, although it was relatable the things he would say about his kid, because he would be like, yeah. And then she's just going on over there about something, and I just keep nodding and, you know, pretending like I'm listening, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. And so it just made me laugh because he's, like, remarking on being a parent as he's trying to work on this project. It also had the elements of something's wrong with this house. Or is it mental illness? Like, what's going on here? Is he having a mental breakdown? What is happening? Overall, I liked it. I had a good time reading it. I do think it's great for the beginning of Spooky season. If you need a quick read to get under your belt. I think the vibes are right. I liked the story, and I appreciate where the author went with this. I thought it was very interesting, and that is where I'll end it. I'm glad that I read it, and I will add it to my list of unsettling houses recommendation list. This one is you should have left by Daniel Kelman.

A (40:05)

I've never heard of this book. Yes, I love it when that happens.

B (40:10)

I had not either.

A (40:11)

Good. Well, you know, I love a good novella. So true the sound of that. My first book that I'm going to bring is the one that I alluded to earlier when I said I was going to be bringing an old favorite. So I am bringing a book that I did read a while ago around my first years on Bookstagram and booktube and that is the Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and no way. Wait, did you bring this too?

B (40:39)

No, I didn't bring this too, but that's exciting. I'm so excited that you're bringing this. I had no idea what it would be. I know of course all about this. Well, I should say I know nothing about this other than I know Kayla from books and Lala loves it. Loves it. It's her all time favorite and I always hear her talk about it and I'm like I don't know what it is.

A (40:55)

And she is who got me to read this book alongside many other booktubers during kind of that 2015 era. This was the the book series at the time. You know, I'm trying to think of a good comp and like not Acotar cause it's a different genre but you know, it was like the series at the time.

B (41:14)

It was the thing.

A (41:15)

Yeah, the thing. But I personally think it is worth the hype and I will tell you about it. This is a story about Blue Sargent. And every year she watches the soon to be dead walk past with her clairvoyant mot. Though she is never the one to see the soon to be dead herself. Until now. And this time one speaks to her. It's a boy named Gansey. Gansey is a Raven Boy, one of the wealthy magnetic students Blue has sworn to avoid. Trouble always follows these boys. But she can't help being drawn into Gansey, to his friends and to the dangerous quest that soon consumes all of them. There's just one problem and that is that Blue has been warned her whole life. If she kisses her true love, love, he will be fated to die. She'd never thought that it would matter until she met the Raven Boys. I love these characters so much and they have stayed with me over the years while they have some mess. You know, this is young adult, so it's young adult messy. This is a series that just has characters that you are going to fall in love with. I have heard this book pitched as a series for weirdos and I could not agree more. Blue is strange. She gives creep by Radiohead vibes. Gansey is so sweet and wonderful, but a bit broken. Ronan is this tough guy, but you know he secretly watches the Great British Baking Show. And of course there is Adam who must be protected at all costs. Such good characters. They have great banter. I love seeing them work together as a team, but I also loved their individual relationships and conversations that they would have as well. This first installment in this series is exciting, magical, nostalgic, and one of those transportive books that will. That will remind you why you love to read. This is such a good book to just get lost in. While there is a love story, it's a longer series, four books total. So some of the romances don't fully develop, I'm sure until later on in the series. Series. This book wraps up nicely, but definitely gets you excited to keep going. I have actually not fully completed the series. I have read the first two books and I would like to go ahead and read the final two so that I can share my complete thoughts on the series overall as a whole. I don't even think that I will need to reread the first two because even though it's been a decade since I have read them, I remember even minute details because of how much this story has stuck with me. The characters, the magic, the unique, unique plot line this series has held up. Well, I guess I should say this book has held up because I haven't read the final two. Please give it a try. If you enjoy books like these and want a backlist series that is complete and ready to marathon through, and that is the Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

B (44:14)

I want to read this so much.

A (44:16)

I genuinely think you would love it.

B (44:18)

I knew nothing. I didn't know there was a girl.

A (44:21)

In it because her name is Blue, which I love.

B (44:24)

Her name is Blue, which is such a. Blue, which is such a great name. I'm like just sat. I swear to you, I'm like sitting on Pango over here trying to make an order as you're talking to me about it.

A (44:34)

Some, like super cheap ones.

B (44:37)

Yeah, no, the one that I. Yeah, the one in my cart is only $4 for the radio. Oh.

A (44:43)

And I actually. I actually did bring it. I just forgot to show it.

B (44:47)

Oh, there she is. How long is it?

A (44:50)

Turn it on aside. 300 something. Let me look.

B (44:52)

Oh, okay.

A (44:53)

Yeah, 300. It's almost 400 pages. So the first book is 390 something.

B (44:58)

390 crazy.

A (45:00)

399.

B (45:01)

I am down. I want to read it.

A (45:04)

Yes.

B (45:05)

I. So I have something very different for.

A (45:08)

Hey, I love it.

B (45:09)

Yeah. Yeah. So I. Maybe not. I'm gonna go ahead and bridge the gap because you said your book is a book for weirdos. I definitely think my book is a book for weird adults because the book that I read based on someone who recommended it from BookTube is Mary by Nat Cassidy. And you know that I'm a Nat Cassidy fan girl. Like, I will read anything he writes. He's an auto read author. And this is my last book of his and I even read his novella. So I'm fully complete with Nat Cassidy now. Mary is about Mary. I know. Amazing. And Mary is a woman that is going through transition. She works at a bookstore in New York. Everyone overlooks her. She is a woman entering her 50s and she feels like everyone is just dismissing her. She goes to the doctor and is having these weird symptoms, are like, yeah, it's menopause. Or, you know, they just kind of. It's perimenopause. And they sort of disregard her. And like, they barely even give her the time of day. She ends up getting fired from this job. And she's like, well, what am I going to do now? And she's very lonely. So she has these little ceramic figures that she calls her loved ones. They're like these precious moment type things. And she talks to them. That's like her biggest companion. She gets a phone call from her Aunt Nadine, and she is really mean, obviously a very mean woman. And they do not have a relationship. But she decides to go ahead and go back to Arizona for a bit to take care of her, because Aunt Nadine needs help. And why. I dnf this the first time I had a hard time with Auntie Dean. She's so mean to Mary. And it, like, really bugged me. And I thought, I don't think I can do this. Mary's in her 50s. Nadine's in her 70s. Why is this woman so mean? I will say kudos to the author because by the very end, Aunt Nadine was one of my favorite characters. One of them. Like, I had a great. She had a. I don't know that she had a great character arc. I think I came to understand her better. So she now is in Arizona and she starts. She actually gets this job and starts to put together things. And I don't think you need much more than that. She's. She's working with this other girl who works at this job and the other girl that works there is a teenager, and she's sort of obsessed with serial killers. And it turns out there used to be, like, mysterious things that are happening in this town. So the town itself is creepy and a character in the, you know, American Southwest. And then essentially, Mary works with this girl to figure out what all is going on. That's sort of correct, but it's also a wild story that I think only Nat Cassidy can tell. This one had, I would say, the Vibes of the Bright Lands by John Fram, if you've read that book. Very different main characters, very different happenings, but sort of, if you know the ending of that one. Whoa. And it's all about the town and how they come together and that sort of thing. You get that vibe with Mary, and that's about where I'll end it. I didn't love this one. Like, I loved when the Wolf Comes Home and Nestlings. Nestlings is still my favorite, but I really. I gave it a three and a half stars. I felt its length. This book is 400 pages long. And I was like, I can tell. But I. I kept saying to myself, like, I wish he'd land the plane. Like, go ahead and just make your final descent and tell me what it is you wanted to tell me. I did. Okay. So I didn't even say this in the beginning. The creator that I had gotten this recommendation from, her name is wicked reading, and she had made the recommendation that you do this on audio. And she's totally right, because the narrator who does Nadine's voice is so flipping funny. I can still hear them in my head. This was very well narrated, and I'm very glad that I went for that format because I wouldn't have done this in print myself. Overall, I. It's a lukewarm recommendation. You might like it a lot more than I did. I thought it was good, but not my favorite of this author. I will also say Nat Cassidy's forwards, if he has one and afterwards are not to miss, never to be missed. He talks about. Yes, he talks about. In this one. He is a man writing about menopause, essentially. And he's like, I know this is going to give you pause because why. And then he talks about all the research he did and, you know, he talks about his inspiration and he talked about, about. And it actually does make sense as to why it's a good thing that he's one of the ones that he's telling this story. You don't I can't say more than that. He also comptist. He was inspired by Carrie. So this was his novel. He'd been writing ever since he was like a young person. And so I'm very happy that he has continued his writing career. That was Mary by Nat Cassidy.

A (49:43)

Oh, so he means it was his Carrie, as in it was like his first baby for a book.

B (49:46)

No, he was literally or it was inspired by Carrie by it.

A (49:49)

Okay.

B (49:50)

Yeah. And you see the. You see the inspiration as you're reading wasn't.

A (49:55)

Wait, was Carrie Stephen King's first book?

B (49:58)

Yes.

A (49:59)

Okay.

B (49:59)

His first novel. Yeah.

A (50:01)

Yeah. So it's kind of cool that this was the book that it is. You were saying. Wait, was this also the first with the book that Nat Cassidy had been kind of like dreaming of? Since he's kind of like.

B (50:12)

Exactly.

A (50:13)

Comparison.

B (50:14)

It is because he. Nat is younger than Stephen King and he. He was, you know, introduced to Carrie from his mom, I think, when he was young. And he was like, oh, my gosh, I just love that underdog story. I love, you know, he loved that arc and sort of Mary came about as inspire inspiration from Carrie. And you'll see that it's very loosely inspired. It's not a direct retelling or anything like that, though. You get that same misfit who's beaten up until they finally break type person.

A (50:42)

Yeah. Cool. Well, you know, when you are working through completing an author, not all of them are going to be 100% banger, so at least not usually. I guess it happens sometimes, but I.

B (50:55)

Just noticed that this. So I'm holding the physical copy in front of me and I never really looked at it. There is an arm that's grabbing Mary that's coming out of the bathtub, which is.

A (51:03)

It's creepy.

B (51:05)

It makes sense actually, now that I've seen that. Yeah, you'll get. You'll get bathroom hauntings in this one.

A (51:10)

Okay. Good to know. My. My next book that I'm bringing, I am so excited about. This is my most recent. Like, I just finished this one and I feel a high coming off of finishing it. It is Enter Ghost by Isabella Hamad. And I got this recommendation from a booktuber that I have very recently started listening to, watching, really enjoying. Her handle is Plant Based Bride.

B (51:38)

I don't know. Of course.

A (51:40)

I mean, just an.

B (51:41)

I got a Plant Based Bride.

A (51:42)

Yes, Plant Based Bride. I. I think she's a bigger creator, but one that I had not come across yet. And so I just recently started watching her videos. She's Also another smarty pants. She reads a lot of literary fiction and reviews them really well. And her review on Enter Ghost, I was like, sold. I mean, actually my shelf edition came from one of her recommendations from her favorite videos.

B (52:06)

Love that.

A (52:06)

Yes, I'm very excited to share that one as well. This one is about Sonia, and we are following her. After she had a failed marriage, she'd been living in London, and she is finally returning to Haifa to visit her sister Haneen. This is her first trip back since the second intifada and the loss of their grandparents, and she feels both, both connected to and estranged from Palestine. And then when Sonia meets Miriam, a bold local director, she is swept into an ambitious staging of Hamlet in the West Bank. And soon she is rehearsing in classical Arabic, spending her days with the cast and navigating the clashing egos and shared passion of a troop determined to bring Shakespeare past, past the wall. As opening night approaches and obstacles mount, Sonja is forced to confront not only the realities of her life under occupation, but also the possibility of rediscovering herself in a place that she has always left behind. This was such a stunning story. This is definitely one of those books where, as I was reading it, I was. I've, like, marked some of the pages. I really want to go back and highlight some of this. The writing itself was just, just beautiful. It is set in contemporary Palestine. And while my life experience is quite different from that of our main character, this was such a beautiful way to learn about this country, learn about the conflict that was happening at the time on the West Bank. It is, I will say, set before the current war and conflict that is happening now, but there is still a lot of history there, and you're really getting drawn into the setting and her life. She is really a conduit to being able to immerse yourself into contemporary Palestine because she is someone who, while Palestinian, has never lived there full time. And so she herself is feeling like this imposter. And it kind of makes her just a unique conduit to being able to share that experience with the reader. And I really appreciated that. I also just love, loved being with a cast again. She builds such a beautiful relationship with the cast. And I was once a theater girl, and I just know how much a cast can start to feel like family. And I feel like the author must have had that experience as well or just done a lot of research on theater, because she just described that feeling of. It wasn't really a feeling, but she just describes, you know, what it's like to be in a cast and be in theater really well. And it made it feel really nostalgic and I loved that part of this book. I just loved this and I would highly recommend it. And it's not one that I see a ton of people talking about. So I would put this on your radar if you love historical fiction or literary fiction. And that is Enter Ghost by Isabella Hamad.

B (55:13)

I love that you found it. It sounds like a perfect book for you. I also have a. Not heard of that one.

A (55:18)

Yeah, I hadn't either. And when she talked about it, especially because, you know, she talks about Plant Based Bride, the creator that I got this from also talks about her loving the theater aspect of it as well, which was partially what drew me in. And yeah, I just loved it.

B (55:37)

I am glad you found that one. I was not clever like you and I didn't bring a recommendation from a booktuber for my shelf edition, but I do have books. This book that I'm holding, it's called Keep this for Me by Jennifer Fawcett. This one is a thriller that comes out on October 7th. And this sounds really good to me. Okay. So basically the one sentence selling point is a woman is attempting to uncover the connection between a notorious serial killer and her mother's disappearance. A mystery that has spanned generations and returned to haunt her once again. And it takes place in 19. The beginning of it takes place in 1993, 3, when a young couple's car breaks down. They're picked up by a truck driver and the woman was never seen again. She was abducted. And that woman is our main character's mom. So then if you find out that the guy, the truck driver was a serial killer, he gets put away. But now it's 30 years later, he's on his prison deathbed and he insists that he didn't kill her. And so Fiona finds herself back in the small town where her mom disappeared and fighting demons of her own. Because now there is a woman who has disappeared in a very similar way that her mom did. And the primary suspect is Eddie's son. So the serial killer's son. Do you know what I'm saying? So it was a serial killing and an abduction in the 90s, and now 30 years later, it sounds like it's happening again. Yes. And so this is basically the reason I am excited for this. It sounds good. It's also comped to Bright Young Women by Jessica Noel.

A (57:11)

Loved that one.

B (57:12)

Yeah. Notes on an Execution by Dania Kaka, which another one I really enjoyed and so I'm like, well, obviously, obviously. This is in my wheelhouse. Hopefully this can hold up. And I'm excited to give it a shot. This book is Keep this for Me by Jennifer Fawcett.

A (57:26)

I can't help it. A serial killer book.

B (57:28)

It just calms me too.

A (57:31)

I should say. I feel kind of gross saying I.

B (57:33)

Know we are who we are.

A (57:36)

You know what? I can't help it. It blows my hair back.

B (57:40)

My hair is blown.

A (57:41)

My hair is blown. Okay. My shelf edition is In Tongues by Thomas Grattan. And amazing.

B (57:50)

Immaculate.

A (57:51)

It's immaculate. I don't have any notes.

B (57:53)

Describe it.

A (57:54)

This is set in 2001 and we have 24 year old Gordon who is leaving Minnesota for New York. Chasing the only place that feels possible for any young gay man. He lands a job walking dogs for Manhattan's wealthy. But everything changes when he steps into the orbit of Philip and Nicola, a powerful pair of gallery owners. Owners drawn into their glittering world. Gordon discovers both desire and danger as he shifts from employee to nurse to something a little bit more complicated. His hunger for belonging takes him from New York to Europe, all the way to Mexico City. But ambition and charm can only carry him so far before everything in his life starts to unravel. It says that this is a emotionally charged novel about art, sex, class and the messy pursuit of self discovery. And that is In Tongues by Thomas Grattan.

B (58:49)

I love it. It's a picture. Is that a dog with his mouth open? Yes. And his top of his head is cut off. And then the title is just on the top. It's really cool.

A (58:57)

Yeah, it is really cool. It kind of reminds me of. I mean, it's a little bit different, but there's something about this cover. Well, it's very different. Something about the COVID reminds me of night.

B (59:07)

Got you.

A (59:07)

I feel like maybe it's just because they're both animal related maybe.

B (59:10)

Right? No, I get what you're saying with that. It's subversive. That's how I would describe it. By the way, I already made my pango order. So we've got Babel and the Raven boys on its way, on their way to my house. Yay. But everyone, thank you so much for chatting with us. That was a very fun conversation. We hope you think so too. But that's it for today and we thank you for spending a part of your day with us. Links to all the books mentioned can be found in the show notes and if you enjoy enjoyed today's episode, you can help us by following wherever you listen and by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps us get our show out to new listeners and grows our audience. And don't forget, if you'd like access to exclusive bonus content in the community. Like we said at the top of the show, you can join us for $5 a month on patreon.com booktalk Etc.

A (59:57)

If you'd like to connect with us, you can email us@booktalk etcmail.com you can also connect with us both at BookTalk, etc. Etc. On Instagram and Tina TBR etc and Hannah at HandpickedBooks. Talk to you next week. And in the meantime, remember, everything's better with books.

B (60:14)

I've never heard weed whip once in my life.

A (60:17)

We whip. That's what he says.

B (60:18)

I don't spend a lot of time outside, though, so don't, don't, don't.

A (60:21)

Certified indoor girly.

B (60:23)

Certified indoor ch.