i've wanted to read these books for SO LONG!! 🎧📖 tbr cluedo picks what i read! 🔎 may tbr - ep 41

Hello my friends. I hope you're all doing well. Welcome back to Oh god, I almost hit myself in the face. TV. I am as always trying to instill some radical optimism and trying to hope that this TBR will give me an abundance of five star reads. Delusion, convince yourself. So join me as we try and manifest that. Shall we just get into the TBR for May? I'm hope I really need like my average rate for the year has not been great. I need some like fours and fives. I just all I want to read is fours and five fives. I mean, that's all we ever want to read, but I'm really like I'm fed up with threes. I'm fed up with 3.5s. I'm fed up of ones and a one or DNFS. Like, I just want like perfect reading energy. Can you imagine a month where I only read fours and fives? I would cry. I would cry. And I feel like that might be possible for us. So, let's get into TBR Kudo. Okie dokie. It is time for May. May's TBR Kudo. That makes me feel sick. Shall we get into it? Roll number one, which is person number eight, which is blue over in contemporary. Let's see how many. Oh my goodness. Three and a one. Do you know what? I can't resist. I'm going to do the rose prompt as our first thing in this video. So, I am going to go one, two, no. Wait, what? One, two, three, and get the rose prompt. Da's here playing with my pen. Let me see if you can see her. No, she's feeling camera shy today. If you hear weird noises, it's her. Okay, I'm sorry. Roll number one was the rose prompt, which means I need to pick a patron pick. I need to get a new jar. If anyone has any tips on where to get really big jars that are cute, let me know because we're running out of well, we've already run out of space on this one really. Okay, I may have read the book that we pick. If I have, we'll pick another man down. Oh, I've got two. Okay, I'll go for that one. Let's see what it is. What is that? Oh, it was upside down. Sea of tranquility. That's crazy. Wait, that's crazy. I think I'm reading that this month. Anyway, hang on. I need to consult. I That's crazy. Am I reading that this month? Oh my god. Can Discord open, please? I am pretty sure I am. Did I pick that? This is for a vlog that's coming where my patrons will probably know what vlog I'm doing and like the result of that video from like some of the books that are going to be on this TBR. And I've suddenly forgotten, but I think that's I haven't faked that, guys. That's a crazy coincidence. There's no such thing as a coincidence. Did I pick that? I did. I'm supposed to read that this month anyway. What a win. Okay, let's see who picked it. We've got six people, it looks like, who picked it. Julia picked it, Rebecca picked it, Claudia picked it, Brittany picked it, Devon picked it, and Lucy picked it. Now, the only problem is I have no idea where that book is. Where the heck is that book? I need to turn the camera off and go try and hunt it down. Hang on. One eternity later. Okay. Hello. I'm back. What a good coinciding that is. Okay, so this is going to be my third Emily St. John Mandel. Is it? I've read Station 11 and I've read The Glass Hotel. Yes. And I believe this is like semi connected to those. I can't really remember the plot of this. Oh, it's a really weird plot. I remember like not being able to describe this book to anyone when I was like trying to pitch it. Okay, we're following multiple timelines. Perceptive, poignant, and incredibly compelling. Sea of Tranquility is a virtuoso performance, a novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities and plays with the very line along which time should run. That doesn't tell me a lot. Your chat ain't [ __ ] And like I can't I can't stand here and decipher this synopsis. I I I remember like I used to read the synopsis every time I had to speak about it. And then it was just one of those synopsis I I get this occasion very very occasionally. I can't like regurgitate it in a way that's interesting without just read I'm not going to read you out this whole ass synopsis and I just can't do it. We've got like something in 1912, something two centuries later, a detective in the black skies, Night City in another timeline. I don't know. But I'm excited. I really have enjoyed Emily St. John Mand stuff. There's been like a fourst star vibe, you know what I mean? Like a solid fourstar vibe, which I welcome. I can't I'm reading this this week. I was supposed to read I'm supposed to read this this week. That's crazy. That's such good luck for the rose prompt. I promise you I did not fake that. I promise you I did not fake that. Oh, it looks like very short, snappy chapters. And there's something about Emily Emily St. John Mandel's got a very intellectual, clever writing style that I very much appreciate. Wow, what a good pick cuz I was reading it anyway. And I'm super duper excited to see what I think of this one. Roll number two, person number one, which is green over in fantasy. Oh my god, can you see Da? She's right here. Ah, I think you can see her ear. Maybe a bit of face. Okay. Um, roll number one. Green. Okay. Let's see how many row we got. Two and a three. I am just going to go one, two. That is number 25, which is a book I've hauled recently. Roll number two was a fantasy that I have hauled recently. I literally just got my hands on this one. This is another unfortunate one cuz it's another like fantastical. This Well, not sci-fi. That was sci-fi. This is fantasy. I am not good at the plot on this one either. This is unfortunate. I promise you I'm better on the plots for like every other book in this video. Well, most of them. Most of them. We have got Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh. Now, I don't really want to plot this because I have got my hands on this for a specific vlog project that you will see at some point during May. Let's find out together. I'm just going to read out the kind of like description bit. Some desert glory is a thrillingly told space opera. Okay, maybe sci-fi about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and the path you must forge when every choice is stripped from you. There's stuff about space stations. Our main girl is one of the best warriors of her generation. But when command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Okay, interesting. This is very perplexing to me, this plot and this vibe of this book. Cuz what I've read from Emily Tesh is the duogy. What is it called? Is have we got her book titles in here? It's like silver in the wood. Is that the first one? I've read this Jewogy and that was very like soft fairy fantasy woodland fairy not necessary fairy but like that kind of like slow quiet fantasy whereas this feels like bold in-your-face sci-fi sci-fi and I'm like what is how is the same author written both these books like I just I don't I there is something about me that I like to know what I'm getting from an author I feel like there's certain authors who like you know okay even if they're playing with genre if they're playing with vibe you know what you're getting in aura in essence and there is nothing the same about this duogology which I enjoyed. I think I gave them both like four stars. The Jewogy and this I I really don't I don't know what to expect. And like there's a lot of like Oh, there's a lot of names and words. There's a lot of This is not for me. There's a lot of weird sci-fi names and weird sci-fi words. Just scrolling through it and like do I have the best luck with the Sometimes they make it hard for me to like fully engage with a book if I'm like I don't even know how to pronounce your name. Like it's the whole sci-fi words. It's like sometimes that can be too much. Sometimes that can be too much, but I'm interested to see what I think of it. Oh my god. Okay. Okay. Roll number three. Person number six, which is yellow over in Thriller. Let's see how many we roll. Got a one and a five. Okay, that's easy. Let's just go one then. That is number eight. What's that? That is something above 12,000 ratings on Goodreads. Then we have a thriller that is above 12,000 ratings on good readads. Now this author I would categorize the other book I've read from them as a mystery. It's one of those authors that I think switches between mystery and thriller. But this one I would pitch as a thriller. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year that I want to read right now. Are we ready? Famous last words by Julia Mallister. Oh my god. Okay, it's happening. Everybody stay calm. What's the procedure everyone? What's the procedure? Stay calm. I need to take the halfp pro sticker off. Ignore that. I can't believe I'm reading. I'm reading this next. I just want you to know by the time this vlog comes out, I I'll probably be starting this book. I am so excited. I've not shut up about this book as like one of my most anticipated books of the year. Basically following a woman who it's her daughter's first day back at nursery. Her husband Luke is nowhere to be seen. She puts out her mind, drops her daughter off at nursery. Then there's a breaking news. There's a hostage situation in London. Then she finds out from the police. Oh my god, your husband. Your husband's the gunman holding everyone hostage for three years. Wait, excuse me. Did you just say let's talk about the husband? Let's not talk about what you don't want out. I am so excited. I'm so excited. Jenny Mallister wrote Wrong Place, Wrong Time. One of my favorite mysteries. Such interesting book playing with time in a mystery. Like it's like almost like a sci-fi speculative murder mystery. It was amazing. I loved her writing. I've been meaning to get to another one of hers. I also really want to read Just Another Missing Person from her. But I think this is going to be the one I get to next cuz the plot of this, the hook is such a strong hook. It's such a strong hook. Waking up one day, you're dropping a kill nursery, you find out my husband is holding people hostage at a bank and is the gunman. What the ever living [ __ ] Like, what the [ __ ] is going on? This is one of my most anticipated books. This is one of my This is probably like top top two most anticipated books of the year. Like, I I don't even have words. I am so excited, but I'm also scared. But I'm reading this. I'm starting a vlog and I'm reading this first in the vlog so that like I can get over the fear. You know what I mean? Like I'm I'm not letting the fear live in my brain. I'm like gonna just go all in and read this book. And I I feel like it could be a book that I just read in one evening. Like I am so excited. I don't feel like this about books very often. And I just like I am almost like entering a fugue state. Like the world isn't real. And I just am so excited. Like all I'm thinking about is this book and me reading this book and imagining myself sitting there reading this book and what vibe I'm going to have and just like I'm so so so excited. Roll number four. Oh goodness. Person number six again in thriller. Let's see how many we roll. Oh goodness. Two and a six. Okay. Do you know what? I'm going to be crazy. I'm going to be so crazy and go one, two, which is the glasses where I have to scroll on Instagram until I see a book that's on my TBR and then I have to read it. Okay, so I've just filmed the rolls and I've decided I'm going to do the glasses where I have to scroll on Instagram to find a book. I'm going to do it for my book club pick for my patron. So they vote on one round of TB Kudo every month and then that ends up being their book club pick for the month as well. So voting for them and me. So, I'm going to have to find four books on Instagram on my TBR. So, I'm going to cut out all the gump. Like I said, this could take me like 10 minutes, but um we need to find five. We need to find four books that are on my TBR. There's going to be like a lot of Bravo stuff on here. Um Oh, okay. We got our first book, Julia, who is on my patron, but I don't Do I own that book? Do I own that book? Hang on. I don't think I do. Right. No, I don't own that. Okay. Okay. Um, right. Let's just keep scrolling. Just keep I'm going to scoot over here so I can put the thing in easier. Um, yeah, there's going to be a lot of non non-book stuff. It's going to just jump to when I find something. Okay. I might go on stories as well cuz I tend to view more book stuff on stories like the creators I like. So, we may go to stories. There's a lot of home wear stuff on there at the moment cuz I'm consuming a lot of home content. Okay. I own the first Nevermore, but I don't own that one. Oh, there's a stack here from Daytona. Daytona, did you get anything that's on my TBR? No. Oh my god. We've had two patron posts, but none of them are books that's on my TBR. What is that book? It's Mr. Be's. Oh, okay. Hang on. I saw Witchcraft for Waywood Girls. That's a controversial one on my Patreon. Some of them have hated it, but I saw that there. So, that's one. Okay. Reading series I'm in the middle of. Well, I can't give them a book that's in the middle of a series. Do I see anything on the shelf behind this? Not me having to like search on shelves. Oh, I see the end of her by Sharie Lepina. I own that. So, let's put that on the list. I don't think that will win, though. That's like a Sherpina deep cut that I'm only I'm interested in reading. Oh, a lot of great big beautiful lives. I've seen Great Beautiful lives a lot, but I don't own it. Wack with Jenny. YouTube shorts could give me Jenny videos and it's like I've never actually heard that song. Wack with Jenny. Jenny. Every book that I see that I know I've read. I can't Oh, do you know what I see? I see the fall of Whit Rivera. That's going on. I see the spine. I'm trying to make out what books they are by the spine. Okay, Deepend is there, but I am already reading that this month for a video. Otherwise, I think that would be our book club pick. Is there anything over here that's on my TBR? Do I own Midnight is I own Midnight is the Darkest Hour. Midnight is the Darkest Hour is going on there. Okay, interesting selection. There's our four. I don't know what people are going to pick. I don't know if people are hyped for any of them. Well, I think Witchcraft for every Girls is the most like, you know, topical new release, but a lot of people Oh, Da's playing with a ping pong ball. Let me throw it. Um, a lot of people from the Patreon hated that, but that would be like a fun discussion. Anyway, DA's playing with She lost the ping pong ball. I'm going to go play with her and give the people these options. So, we'll see what they pick. Okay, so you will have just seen me uh finding out the books put in the poll for patrons. I thought it would be like newer, buzzier books, but it was like quite an eclectic mix of different genres, different read some YA in there, some older books, some newer books. I put the poll to them and the option that won was witchcraft for Waywood Girls by Grady Hendris. So, this is going to be our patron book club for May if you want to come join us. I am nervous. I love Grady Hendrix. Grady Hendris is probably my favorite horror author. I I really have enjoyed a lot of Greta Hendricks. Southern Book Club's Guide to Saying Vampires and My Beex Best Friend's Exorcism are probably my favorites, but I have heard very mixed things about this book. Scary, rude, frightening, scary. It still has a pretty high average rating. Good readads. It's got like a 4.07 or something, but there's been a few people in my Discord and my patron discord who have hated this, who have really hated it. And I'm like, what is going on? Why does it have this really high rating? But and there's been some people have loved it as well. Don't get me wrong. There's some people have loved it. I am super intrigued to see where I fall on this line. I can't wait to read this. I think this is gonna be such an interesting book club pick because people are gonna have opinions. I feel like maybe this book is love it or hate it. People have strong opinions in my page on this book. So, I am actually really excited for this to be the patron book club. I think it's going to be such a fun discussion. I think it's about these girls who grew up at this house in Florida where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to give birth in secret and put their babies up for adoption. We've got a young girl who arrives there terrified. Every moment of their waking day is strictly controlled by adults who claim to know what's best for them until Fan meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft. And suddenly power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. Oh my god, they're going to burn this place down with magic. I'm excited. I trust Grady Hendrix. I trust him in his horror. I am a bit scared by people's thoughts on it, but I cannot wait to pick this up myself. Roll number five. Person number four, which is pink over in horror. Let's see how many we roll. We got three and a five. I am going to go one, two. Yeah. One, two, three. I was like, is that four? That is number 28, which is a book with an even number of pages. So, it's a different day. I'm in a different place. And that is because I got this prompt wrong when I wrote it down. So I in the prompt DC I rolled 28 which is a book with an even number of pages. For some ungodly reason I wrote down in like the book where I help myself remember the prompt so I then go pick the books odd number of pages which is the opposite of what I needed is actually the diametrical opposite. Oh my god. And so I have a horror on my TBR that I'm I'm planning on reading this month and I remember looking at it and it had an even number of pages. I was like, "Dang, I can't read that. I'm going to have to just put a random book on this TBR, which ended up being Graveyard Shift by ML Rio. You'll see that when I hold the stacks of the books up." But that is not correct. That is not correct. And like I don't have to read that book. I can actually just read the book that I am reading anyway that fits the prompt. So that's what I'm here to do now is to tell you what that book is. So the book that I'm reading for this prompt is Monilio by Geraldo Samano Cordova. I have wanted to read this book for so long. For so, so long. This is a horror where a woman's son dies and she like cuts out a piece of his lung and I believe it grows into this little monster. I have wanted to read this for so long. This has been on my TBR now for over a year and I'm very excited to be finally getting to it. It's like a book that a lot of people have told me that I'm going to enjoy in terms of horror. I think it's really about grief and about love and what it means to love someone and hold on to them. And I'm just super excited to read this one. I'm so happy that that fit the prompt. I didn't think it fit the prompt. I I picked basically the shortest horror on my TBR that fit the prompt because I was like, "Oh god, I'm adding a book that I don't have plans to read, but I have plans to read this one. I'm actually probably going to be reading this this weekend. I'm very excited to see what I I didn't feel like I've read a ton of horror this year and especially the horror I have read, it's been more like campy, spooky, whereas this is like creepy, dark horror. And I don't, you know, I do prefer the lighter horror, but I'm very excited. I've heard great things about the writing. I read this in my 2024 reading first book of the year, first chapter to decide my first book of the year, and I really enjoyed the first chapter. I remember I almost picked it. I probably should have picked it over Emily Wilds. So, yes, I'm excited for a horror that is really about grief. And like I I do enjoy horror when it's like I think horror as a genre uses monsters to explore, you know, deeper human feelings very well. It's it's a genre that really lends itself to like using metaphor to explore deeper concepts. And so, I'm very excited to read this. Glad that I real I was like, I'm editing. I was like, I rolled 28. I say that's even. And then the next I say odd number of pages. So anyways, oh let me tell you how many pages just so you know I'm not lying. I don't know why I'd lie. 324 pages. So an even number of pages. I can't wait to read this. I'm very very excited. Going to read it this weekend hopefully. And yeah, please let me know if you've read this because I'd love to kind of hear everyone's thoughts on this one specifically before picking it up. Okay. And then final roll. Person number seven, which is brown up in mystery. Oh, let's see how many roll. Six and a four. I am going to go one, two, three, four, five, six, and that is number 14, which is Oh, a favorite author. And then our final pick is a mystery that is by a favorite author. Now, for this, I basically will allow anything that I've given like an author given five stars before. And this book I am reading this month for a vlog. And I'm scared because if you have been a regular here for a long time, you'll know that this book I have been meaning to read for a long time. It's been one of my most hyped books for a long time. It is what famous last words to me is last year. I haven't said that right. It is to me last year what famous last words is to me this year. There we go. Took a moment. Dum dum. I'm going to be reading The Last Murder at the end world by Stuart Turtton. I'm really petrified of this one. I'm really scared. I don't want to talk about it. I'm very very very very very very very scared. I have given this plot synopsis 10,000 times because I've spoken about this book 10,000 times and not read it 10,000 times. This island where the whole world is dead. It's been killed by this fog. There is an island that is kept safe by like a dome like a safety thing. And there's like 127 people or something. Is that right? 122. I was so close people. Oh no. How many villagers? Three scientists. So it's 125 people. Sorry. I don't know why I'm getting lost in the about that. They live on this island, but then a scientist, one of the scientists is murdered. It triggers a lowering of that safety. So, everyone's on the island is going to die, but the safety, the security system on the island has also wiped everyone's memory. So, someone is a murderer on this island and doesn't even know it. There's so many layers to this. I have really enjoyed Stuart T in the past. I loved the devil in the dark quarter by him. I didn't love the seven deaths of Evelyn Hard Castle, but I loved Devil in the Dark Water Quarter. I am petrified of this one. I'm really scared. This is like, oh, this is this is scary. This is I have been meaning to read this for so long, and it's like become something in my brain, but this is also a synopsis that I have been so excited to read for so long. And like a big part of why I'm trying to get my TBR down and doing that whole project is like I I don't I should it shouldn't have taken me this long to read this. I should have been forced into reading this at some point last year. The same reason why I'm like, "Okay, I need to read Famous Last Words. It's been long enough. It's been out for a couple months. I need to read it while I'm still hyped." This I should have read a long time ago. I should have read when it it first came out, but I am excited to read it now. But yeah, I'm prepared for twists and turns with Stuart Tarton. You never really know what you're going to get and I'm just going to I'm very excited, but also very nervous. Okay, so there is my May TBR. Let me know what you think of it. Again, if you want to read Witchcraft for Waywood Girls with us, the link to the patron's always down below. We have a book club live discussion about it. We have um discussion sections on the Discord. I am very excited for all of these. We have some like new hyped books, some old hyped books, some books that I don't know a lot about. Um, I think it's a good mix. So, please let me know if you've read any of these, what you thought of them, good or bad. I'd like to know. Also, please let me know what's on your May TBR and what you're most excited to get to this month. And I will see you very soon in another video. Bye.