ADVENT CALENDAR PICKS MY TBR | Reading Vlog [CC]

What’s up, friends? Happy Holidays! Welcome back to another video. If you’ve been following my channel since the beginning of the year, I set out to do “TBR Games” where I would do a game picks my tbr sporadically throughout the year. And here we are in the last month of the year… and I have only done two. (crickets chirping) In January, I had Bookopoly pick my tbr and I made a whole video about how I made my Bookopoly board. And in March, I did one of my favorite videos of the year where I had Beer Pong pick my tbr.

00:35 - sipping drink (I love College by Asher Roth playing) So, the first cup! (glitch sound effect) (Sneaky Snitch by Kevin Macleod playing) Last December, I came up with today’s idea while I was watching a YouTuber, Derek Gerard who focuses on challenges related to food. He was also inspiration for my video, ‘Books Control What I Eat for 24 hours” and so he had a video where he had an advent calendar pick what he was going to eat for 24 hours. Derek: I’m gonna be letting this advent calendar decide what I eat for the next 24 hours and just like in my previous videos, I have asked my lovely mother to put a bunch of different comments and dms from you guys saying what your favorite meals that I ate of this year were. So I will link his video if you want to go and watch it but he just had prompts pick what he was going to eat for 24 hours. So I went on to Instagram, my community tab, and I also asked in the comments of one of my videos for you all to send me reading prompts and some of them were nice but some of them were just really naughty.

01:54 - I thought it’s the end of 2020, everyone was just going to be nice to me because it’s been a shit year but no. Some of them are very challenging. So what I did is I printed out your comments and challenges and put them in this advent calendar and so through the whole week I am going to be opening a door reading a book based on the prompt and then I have to read the book in order to get another door and I’m hoping to read four books this week. Today is December 6th. Let’s get started with an advent calendar picks my tbr. (We Wish You A Merry Christmas instrumental playing) I just finished my current read an hour ago so let’s open the first door. I’m going to have a number generator pick the door and let’s find out what my next read is going to be and start this reading vlog. Siri, pick a number from 1 to 24. Siri: “The answer is 16”. Okay, door number 16. I’m I’m I’m just a little nervous. Okay, here it is. Here we go. Here’s 16. I’m just-just a little nervous.

I’m more nervous because I just want to be able to like pick a 03:34 - book right away and not have it be a prompt where I have to go out and do something because there is one like that and i’m probably just going to jinx myself. “Read a genre that you don’t normally read”. (crickets chirping) (Deck the Halls intrumental playing) My first book is The Silence of Bones by June Hur, a historical fiction thriller and this is by an author who was born in South Korea and raised in Canada. I’ve been meaning to get to this one so why not start out the video with this? (Jingle Bells instrumental playing) (page flipping) (Home for the Holidays by Chris Haugen playing) What’s up friends, it is Thursday and I have just hit the 100 page mark of The Silence of Bones. I am determined to finish it today so I can get back on track with this reading vlog i am just a really slow reader and when it comes to genres that I don’t typically read I’m going to be slower at reading which is totally fine because I can then enjoy it and not just be rushing through it but I would like to continue this vlog. I am really enjoying this.

I’m going to retract my statement from the beginning 08:31 - where I said I was going to read four books and I’m gonna change that to three books. (ding) That’s the goal because it’s Thursday and I would like to finish this on Sunday. So, I just don’t think that four books is going to work out I am going to attempt to finish this today. I just hit 100 pages and I think it’s going to fly by. This is a debut novel and I am enjoying it so much the writing is really well done especially for a debut and this is a young adult historical fiction mystery/thriller about a 16-year-old girl living in Joseon, Korea in the 1800s.

Seoul is in the social class called damos which is under slaves 09:10 - she’s living in the police bureau. In this story she is tasked with assisting a young inspector when a nobles man is murdered and so they’re trying to find it out and it is very politically charged but it’s also about religion. In the 1800s Korea, Catholicism is forbidden. So all the Catholics are being wiped out. There’s even a line that says “but I believe their persecution is a double-edged sword it will wipe out the catholics whom the kingdom despises for being different”. So basically if you are a catholic you are going to wind up dead. So they’re trying to find out who the murderer was and who killed the nobleswoman but there is a lot of talk about religion and how you were seen as different if you were Catholic and you did not practice what they were telling you.

um This is a very gruesome book it is not the perfect read for the holiday season. There’s a lot of beating there’s a lot of abuse, there’s a lot of blood, there is just a lot and it’s very just it’s just really hard to read at times. I would just wince and be very caught off guard and it’s just a hard read but it’s really enjoyable. I’m really liking it um Seoul is a great character she’s very confident, witty, and honestly she does not care as much um for what her consequences are and I think that’s very real for a 16 year old um but she is very fierce and she also is very self-conscious and insecure. She feels that because she’s a damos that her word doesn’t matter and she is learning that it actually does.

um She is growing confidence and I’m really enjoying this 10:52 - like as a debut novel it’s really good. I’m also going to link some reviews down below The Quiet Pond blog has an interview with the author June Hur. So I’ll link that down below. I always like to read interviews before I’ve read or after. I’m always looking up reviews and stuff just because I want to be able to just resonate with what I’ve read. And for Koreadathon, BookwithChloe also read this book so I’ll have her vlog down below as well as any other reviews I can find. I really couldn’t find many.

11:23 - That’s what’s hard with 2020 releases is because there’s not many reviews for it yet and this came out in April but I’m really enjoying it I’m excited to finish and just fly through because the mystery element is really interesting um there are some suspects and I’m hoping that it doesn’t wrap up with someone that was talked about in the beginning because I’m like I have some suspicions but for me personally with thrillers I don’t want to just know at the beginning because then I’m not going to be shocked but I am really enjoying this and now I am going to bake some cookies. I’ve been wanting to make M&M cookies and I’m going to make them and we’re going to have a great time. I wanted to do some Christmas related things in this vlog. It’s only Thursday, I have till Sunday but I did go and see some Christmas lights which was really fun and I watched more of the Netflix show Sugar Rush Christmas. I love Sugar Rush. It’s a great show um and so I was glad I got to do that and so I’m going to make some Christmas cookies.

12:26 - I’m very excited! I made some last week but today I’m going to be making M&M cookies and I’m very excited so I will show you that process and then get back to reading bye. (We Wish You A Merry Christmas instrumental playing) (glitch sound) (glitch sound) Hello, friends! It is Friday and I finally finished The Silence of Bones. I’m going to be giving this a 4.5 out of 5 stars it was so good this was such a great debut. This was so good for a debut and as I have only read a couple historical fiction in my lifetime. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed getting to know more about the history of Korea in the 1800s and our main character was so confident and I just loved the drive that she had.

Instead of just being complacent with the rules 15:07 - that she is given, she goes out of her way to try and figure out whodunit and I just really enjoyed it. My only minor complaint was just that it felt a little slow. That could be a me thing where I’m just not used to this genre um but also it was very gory for a YA. Definitely felt like an Adult [fiction] as I was reading it um there are so many times you’ve probably seen me in the reading clips of me just kind of grimacing and like being disgusted because there’s just so many scenes that are very graphic. So if you can’t read graphic books that show blood or talk about death and execution.

I do not recommend this for you it was a very hard read but overall I really enjoyed it 15:49 - and then I’m going to pass it off to my friend Sarah and I hope that she enjoys it. I forgot about that while I was highlighting everything so she’s going to have some highlighted things. The writing was so great and her next book is going to be in the same genre and I am so excited the cover is stunning and so I will be picking that up next year. I really, really enjoyed this and now let’s pick my next book. So now it is time to pick my next read.” Siri, pick a number from 1 to 24. This better be good. Well, I found the one that has chocolate in it.

So that is just going to be a freebie 16:41 - (Deck the Halls instrumental playing) So that really works out for me because I know exactly what I’m going to read. I’m very happy with that (laughing) It’s just a little cupcake and I’m going to read the graphic novel, New Kid. I don’t know who the author is but I know it is a middle grade graphic novel and so I am very excited about that. So I’m gonna go and get that book on Hoopla or Overdrive and then I will let you know my thoughts (glitch sound) (Around You (O Christmas Tree) by Dylan Rockoff playing) (bells ringing) Good morning, friends! It is Saturday and I finished New Kid last night. I loved it so much! It was so good. It is about a boy named Jordan who starts at a new school. He is biracial he’s Chinese and Black.

It’s all about him experiencing classism, microaggressions, and learning to 18:08 - accept those around him and he’s also learning to stick up for himself and he makes friends. He plays Xbox. It’s amazing. I loved it so much. The sequel came out this year called, Class Kid [Act]. um this book came out last year and that book is in one of the perspectives of his friends Drew and this was just so great. I think this is a middle grade graphic novel everyone should read. This is set during Jordan’s seventh grade year and he had great friends and I think that this was just a really great book and I really enjoyed it.

He also loves comics and he wants to 18:49 - make his own graphic novel and he wanted to go to art school but his mom wouldn’t let him and so that is another problem in the story and there’s a point in the story that he’s at school in art class and he is saying how he doesn’t really like it and one of his friends says what could be worse and he says that he could be blind and that just kind of rubbed me the wrong way um it just felt a little ableist to me and then there’s another point where one of the mothers of one of his friends she refers to one of the other characters as chubby and so there was some fatphobia there um that’s just only two things that rubbed me the wrong way but overall this is such a great book. I knew I would love it. I loved the art style. It was just so fun all of the chapters were like a play on different movies. There was um The Hungry Games um there’s a Star Wars thing and I just really really enjoyed this so let’s knock out the rest of this vlog and pick what my next book is going to be. Alright, I’ve got my advent calendar here. Let’s get the next book. Siri, pick a number from one to twenty-four. Siri: it’s eight. Eight. Alright. I see seven, nine. Here it is. Here’s eight. I’m a little a little nervous all right. Ooh, a book you predict you’ll love.

Perfect 20:42 - (Deck the Halls instrumental) I’m gonna go with From the Desk of Zoe Washington and this is a middle grade that came out in January and I never got around to it, it is about a girl whose father goes to prison for a crime that didn’t commit and she writes letters to him and she’s also trying to get on to the Kids Baking Championship. I love baking competitions and Food Network and that was why I was really interested in this book and it is on Hoopla so I think I’m going to give that a try. So here is From the Desk of Zoe Washington on Hoopla, I am going to borrow it right now and I will start reading. This is one of my most anticipated middle grades of the year and I saw it was on Hoopla and have been wanting to read it and I think I’m really going to enjoy it.S So I’m going to go read and I will come back later.

21:34 - (Carol of Bells instrumental playing) What’s up, friends! It is Sunday and I’m going to end this vlog here. At midnight I finished From the Desk of Zoe Washington giving it a 5 out of 5 stars. This was excellent. It is about a girl named Zoe who gets a letter on her 12th birthday from her father who she’s never met. He has been in prison and he was convicted for a crime that he didn’t commit but her mother has just forbidden her from ever seeing him and has moved on with her life and she has a stepfather now and so she’s really confused of why she’s getting this letter and she’s inquisitive and so she decides to explore more and start writing to him and she loves baking she wants to be the first Black girl to win the Kids Bake Challenge and she just loves baking she’s always in the kitchen and I could relate to that a lot. I love baking and so that is why I love this book. The only minor complaint though is just that it does talk about the Kids Bake Challenge but there are some spoilers there but the whole book is not surrounded around that and that is what I thought going into it but I still really enjoyed it.

She gets an internship at a bakery and learned some tips that actually 23:00 - helped me that’s why I love middle grade because it actually teaches me things that I didn’t know and so this was really fun and just made me want to bake. I want to make some chocolate cupcakes now or try out the ones that she makes in the book. I would love to do that so maybe one day I will but I loved this book so much it talks about systemic racism. It talks about microaggressions because she is a Black girl and her stepfather is white she does talk about the racism that they experience and just seeing looks from white women just confused of why they are together which is so ridiculous! but it does happen and they do talk about The Innocence Project. It also talks about Black men being in the majority of those who go to jail for crimes that they didn’t commit.

23:49 - Her father Marcus is in jail for a murder that he didn’t commit and the whole book is about her trying to seek justice for him and there are just adults around her that are just not listening to her and she is just trying to get down to the bottom of this. She’s very inquisitive and I just really loved her character. This book has so many important topics and I think this would be a perfect book to read with your child and this was just so great I can’t wait to pick up more of this author’s work. I read this so quickly. Overall, I just really, really enjoyed this book I knew that I would and I did read it for a book that I predict I will love. It happened! I did really love it and I would recommend it and I would recommend all of these books that I read.

24:32 - I can’t wait to pick up more of this author’s work. On the author’s Goodreads page it does show that she has another book coming out but there’s no other details than that. And I’m excited to pick it up when it does come out. I heavily enjoyed this and I flew through it. So much character development in this video because I said at the beginning, “oh I’m such a slow reader” and then I read a book in a day! um granted this was a middle grade and it was only roughly 300 pages so there’s that but I did enjoy this if you’re looking for a quick read and an impactful read, I highly recommend this and I recommend all of the books that I talked about in this video. So, let’s wrap it up really quickly. (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies by Tchaikovsky playing) First, I read The Silence of Bones by June Hur giving this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

25:18 - This is a historical fiction set in the 1800s Korea and it is also a murder mystery. New Kid by Jerry Craft, I gave a 5 out of 5 stars. This is a graphic novel about a boy named Jordan who is starting at a new school and there is a lack of diversity. It is basically a rich white kids school and he feels very out of his element and his father also expresses that he says that he feels like there’s probably not going to be a lot of diversity. He deals with microaggressions, classism, racism, and bullying but he does end up meeting some really great friends and I really enjoy the conversations in this book and the characters.

This was just so fun and I really loved it 25:59 - and last I read From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks giving this a 5 out of 5 stars. Like I already said it is about a girl named Zoe who gets a letter from her father who is convicted for a murder that he didn’t commit and she is trying to find out what happened and get justice for him as well as working on her baking skills and trying to convince her parents to let her audition for the Kids Bake Challenge. and this was just so great. I’m going to link resources down below. The author has an interview and she talks all about why she wrote this book and I was really interested in that because she actually said that she was watching the Kids Baking Challenge and she decided to write a book about it and I love that because like I said I love that show it is so fun and I’ll also be linking own voices reviews for all of these books down below. So that was an advent calendar pics my tbr. If you enjoyed this give it a thumbs up and share this video if you enjoyed it.

26:54 - It really helps when you share these videos that you enjoy because then I get the feedback and then other people get to enjoy this video. I had so much fun filming this and if it does get a good response I will try and make this a tradition. I had so much fun with this so please let me know what you thought down below. I have another secret tbr in the works that i will probably be filming after this one. So hit subscribe if you haven’t, if you enjoy videos like these. I also have a creative videos playlist down below if you want to see more videos like this. So that is it for me today. I do have a Patreon if you’d like to support me there for only one dollar. I post exclusive videos there and early access and this month’s exclusive video is going to be me building a gingerbread house and answering some holiday tags. So, if you can I would appreciate it. But, if you can’t, I understand. I hope you’re all having a great day, staying safe, and happy holidays! Bye. (Around You Oh Christmas Tree by Dylan Rockoff playing) .