Good news, I finally have a fridge and... probably only have a sinus infection XD Do you agree with these unpopular opinions?

You should do a video “books I wish were stand alones” (aka, first book is good, rest of the series is meh or bad)

I dont know if this is actually unpopular: as an adult, it makes me really grossed out to read sex scenes between characters i know aren't adults. I know it happens, but once I hit that "feeling like an adult" mode I just cant do it anymore

i’m okay with the consumerism as long as we keep pushing for the buy local/secondhand thing. i don’t like when booktubers buy a 100 books and they’re all from amazon

My stance on problematic authors is similar to problematic makeup brands. If you already own the book, you might as well read it and enjoy it. You've already spent your money on it and given them your money so there's no point trashing something you've already spent your money on (which i think is almost worse).

I hate genre shaming. I love historical romance and some of my friends make fun of me without having read a single romance book. I think the problem is that romance books are generally associated with female readers and therefore seen as "less" than books centered on male readers. And I have read so many briliantly researched and beautifuly written histrom books. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel that people were super fast to cancel any author for anything, until it touched Harry Potter - now suddenly the same people swearing to never read Orson Scott Card are jumping on the "separating books from their authors" band wagon ...

I think people who say that we overreact to sexism in books or that it doesn't mean the author is sexist underestimate how hard it is to write a book. Writing is an intentional activity, and to publish a book you have to edit your book through multiple drafts. When there are multiple lines that are sexist when they have no other reason to be there, it's reasonable to think that the author just didn't see anything wrong with including it.

"Not every character needs to be likeable." Agree, but! I still need a reason to care about what the characters are doing, and unlikable characters who aren't compelling are frustrating.

Lately I've been buying new books because I don't want bookstores to die in a time where almost everyone is broke.

I LOOOVE my kindle. Don't get me wrong I love the feel of a physical book but the kindle is just so much more practical. It doesn't take up any space in my house, it's super light and you dont have to worry about catching the pages on a blanket when turning a page, you can read at night, highlight passages that you can reference in one place on goodreads, and you can STILL get library books. I absolutely love my kindle. I will say I agree an Ebook should be like 75% of the price or lower than the physical copy since you're obviously missing out on the physical book.

For the comment where booktubers just buy books to haul, but don't seem like reading them, I totally agree with that comment, but certainly not directed at you! I know of at least 1 booktuber who consistently hauls books once a month, but yet never seems to finish A SINGLE BOOK in a month. :/ And yes, people can be in a slump, they can be busy at work, etc., but this person's JOB is booktube and whatever side gigs come with it. I guess it's just time to unfollow them if it irks me so much!

I can separate the author's beliefs and their works if the belief was expressed in the past or if the author does not live in the current time period, because I don't expect anyone to always be ahead of their times. I'm sure in 20 or 30 years later, we will realize that some of the beliefs we hold right now are wrong, or the future generations will after we are gone. I mean, just look at consumerism, many people are just starting to come to terms with the fact that it is destructive after years and years of being conditioned by marketing, peer pressure to have new things, or poor financial habits taught by parents who didn't know any better. There is nothing wrong with being capable of reading problematic scenarios and fully acknowledge that they are wrong. It's like you don't forget that violence is wrong after you play violent video games.

People unhauling books without having read them trigger me. So much wasted money!

The most obvious female author that I can think of that has her books mis-categorized is Sarah J. Maas. She herself has said that her books *are not* YA books, regardless of the age of her characters. The publishers took it upon themselves to market ACOTAR and ToG as YA.

‘The lies of Locke Lamora’ has a great friendship. One of the best I’ve personally read!

My two biggest problems with romance in books is 1.) When I didn't sign up for it. I wanted to read Fantasy or Sci-Fi and suddenly a romance is a huge part of it. 😒 2.) Very often the two characters who end up together don't really fit together imo. There is zero chemistry between them but they find each other attractive so they end up together... 🙄

Pleaaase make a video about good standalones. I basically only read standalones cause I think one book is enough lol (with exceptions). If I have to choose any amount its basically always 1 or 3. Not 2, not 4, not 55. If a standalone randomly get a sequel I just wont read it. Probably very unpopular?

Unfortunately genre bashing happens a lot and not just for romance and YA. I've seen it for sci-fi and fantasy (or even subgenres within them such as hard sf fans looking down on soft sf), for popular "women's fiction", and occasionally even for crime & mystery.

I have no problem with LGBT characters or representation in books but I do when it's contrived or seems like virtue signalling. I think it's not a good idea to start setting social quotas for authors. Pierce Brown did a fantastic job of believable representation in the Red Rising series. I also don't think we have to 100% reject works by people with problematic views. Especially when it comes to the classics, as long as we acknowledge them.

Yeeeeees Emily, pleease!!! Do a best stand alone books video!! That would be so so so so highly appreciated!!!!

About buying several copies of the same book or better editions it’s like I feel like I’m supporting an author that I like. And I never keep two physical copies. If I really like a book I might buy a collectors edition and donate my original copy. But most of my reading is done on my kindle anyways I tend to mostly buy physical very nice expensive copies of books that I’ve already read and know I love because to me my book collection is a collection something I like to look at and showcase. Otherwise I would just read everything on kindle and not clutter my house with books. But it brings me joy and I don’t collect nothing else so whatever some people spend to much money on shoes or clothes or makeup I spend on books and there’s nothing wrong with spending your money however you see fit

I do agree with you in that it's hard to separate the book from the author, but, personally, I think it's not necessary to unhaul books after learning about the author's problematic opinions, because the book being on my shelf doesn't directly support the author and I can't take that money back either. As long as people don't recommend books or rave about books by those authors, I think keeping books after learning that the author is problematic shouldn't be a problem. I do support doing some research on authors before buying a book from them though.

Definitely agree that male characters in female empowerment stories tend to be really lackluster. Just because women are being written better doesn't mean that men should be boring, I want to see more equality in character writing.

I feel like the people that say that just because a book has LGBT rep it's not necessarily good are reacting to people that are recommending books based solely on how many "rep points" it has and not whenever the book is actually good or not

I honestly could never get rid of my HP books, they’re too big a part of my life growing up. I’ve never given a damn about J.K. or her opinions, so it would be weird to allow her ignorance to affect whether I kept my books or not. I don’t really get why people don’t just keep their books but stop talking about HP on their channels, if they really grew up loving HP, but then again, I don’t know the pressure of being a booktube channel, as you say.

I also leave the dust jacket on when I read a hardcover book. I like the messy, mismatched look for bookshelves and I am a monster that will break up a set/collection because I sort my books alphabetically by author surname. And I love me some mass market paperbacks, especially horror and sci-fi. The cover art is either really good or laughably bad.

"I dont want these kind of people feeling comfortable on my channel" Yas queen !

I can't believe you read my comment haha the one about consumerism. I just want to say that I wasn't talking about you! I absolutely adore your channel and like you say, you read tons of books so you're actually reading most of what you buy, and you don't only buy paper books, you read ebooks and listen to audiobooks, I love that! Your channel, paperbackdreams, readwithcindy, and Noelle Gallagher's channels are the only ones I'm subscribed to because I just love your and their content. I used to be subscribed to other channels but I got annoyed at them just making hauls all the time and talking shit about ebooks and audiobooks :/ I can't buy tons of books because they're pretty expensive in my country, so I just read ebooks and listen to audiobooks instead! That's why I like to watch readers who read in all formats and don't focus too much on the aesthethic that paper books have! And about buying books, OF COURSE I LOVE BUYING BOOKS!!! When I buy them I usually buy them in English (because surprisingly they're cheaper than the ones in my native language) and I'm happy for daaays!! If i know I'm going to a bookstore, the night before I can't sleep because I'm too happy and can't wait haha I think I just would like for booktubers to say "hey, if you can't afford books and don't have any second-hand bookstore near you, it's totally cool for you to read ebooks and listening to audiobooks if that's only available to you". But anyways, I love your channel and I loved all your reactions!

I feel like dominant, oppressive culture tries to infantilize women, so as a result books get marketed as YA because they know women of all ages will read them.. I also think it's an easy trap for female readers themselves to fall into, which is why there's so much YA on BookTube. not that I hold that against anyone, of course; clearly people are enjoying both making and watching videos about YA books! I'd just like to see publishing as an industry try and expand beyond that role for the thousands, prob millions, of women writers with something to say

Honestly, the topic of separating books from their author is very tricky indeed. I think that with classics it´s easier because you can "blame" the time period and the author is dead anyway . But I agree that it is more complicated with more modern books and authors that are still writing. However, I tend to dissociate the author from their work, because I don´t think that just because you like a book by that author necessarily means that you support them personally.

Without consumerism (in regards to book buying) we would not have as many fabulous books, not to mention physical bookstores.

yes! standalone! i would love a video on the best standalone books!

The consumerism thing is complicated... I like using my library and buying used books because its better for the environment in the same way I mostly buy used clothing but I also know buying new books can support indie bookstores and authors, especially preordering an author's new book.

Your comment on homophobes: “I think I’ve made it clear... I don’t want these kinds of people on my channel.” I am LIVING for this comment, Emily!! Thanks for putting homophobes in their place 🌈🌈🌈

I agreed with almost everything you said. On the consumer issue I have maybe too much to say. Suddenly just want to be a booktuber and talk about it. Do not feel that you need to read all of this. A girl just kept typing. I think people fail to realize when it comes to getting books that a lot of Booktubers don't buy them or do the same things you do when it comes to Library use. I watch a lot of BookTubers and many get arcs, do sponsored unboxings, buy from places like thriftbooks or get as gifts. This is ignoring those who buy for challenges, like BooksandLala. It looks like they are buying a lot of new books when many aren't paying as much as you think they are. We also need to realize that books are their passion. If you are into art you buy journal after journal when you haven't filled up one. If hair supplies is your thing you buy a ton to try. If its your passion, you are going to consume a lot of it. This is also, for some, their job. So of course they are going to get more books than you (business write off). I just don't understand this complaint. There's also deep reasons why some consume more or less. ReadwithCindy has a past of financial trauma and thus can't see herself diving into buying a bunch of books even if she loves it. I have similar financial issues, always have, and I get caught up buying it because it is an escape that is accessible and I love it. I hate the "you'd have more money if you stopped investing in what you enjoy" that is often said poor people because it's not true. Also hyperfixation is a thing. This is such a passionate conversation to me and I didn't even know lmao. The idea of being mad at people for indulging a lot into their passion, when it isn't harmful in the least bit to anyone, especially us, is silly. And yes...I too read with covers on. It's hard for me to mess it up, so its fine. And due to my autism I hyperfixate on a series and buy multiple additions of Rick Riordan books. I used to judge others on this but then I was like "Oh its me." People would be shocked at how being neurodivergent or some disabilities effects reading. From textures, format, consumption, etc. It's a lot. Why I write all of this?

When it comes to separating the book from the author I agree with you. I can't. There is certainly a scope of how someone can be problematic in their personal lives and also how someone could write in transphobia or sexism into a book. For me, if you buy the book you're giving money to and financially supporting someone problematic and 2. It's often people with privilege who can "overlook" problematic authors (i.e. people who aren't having their identities threatened and rights challenged/removed).

Thank you for not judging me for buying books during quarantine, haha. From the start of quarantine until now I have probably bought 25ish books and I have felt really bad about it but that's how I made myself happy! And to be fair I have read more than half of the books that I have bought so not too bad, haha!!

I get genre shamed for reading YA at 36yo. I mean, if it makes you happy to criticize someone for something that irrelevant...

I really don't love the desperate need for romantic relationships in books.

I will always love Harry Potter, no one is gonna pressure me into dropping them because of the author.

I see a lot of people saying that the whole problem with supporting problematic authors is a slippery slope, but I really don't think it is: as long as you're not financially supporting that author, or promoting them so that other people financially support them, then there really isn't a problem with continuing to consume their work. You're allowed to read any books of theirs that are already on your shelves, or you're allowed to obtain their work second-hand or through libraries. As long as you aren't adding to their bank account, and as long as you acknowledge any problematic aspects of the work itself, you shouldn't feel bad about reading it. I'm never going to get rid of my Harry Potter collection. They're already on my shelf, me continuing to own them isn't causing any harm. I'm never going to buy any more books or merch brand new, and I don't have any social following so me re-reading them isn't promoting it to anyone, it's just for me. I collect editions of the books, and if I continue to do so I will be getting them second-hand. I'm never going to visit any of the parks or pay to watch any of the movies. While reading, I understand and acknowledge all of the problematic ideologies from JK Rowling that seeped into the HP universe, they don't go over my head. I can clearly see that "Cho Chang" is racist, that the goblins were written as anti-semitic caricatures, that the rhetoric surrounding slavery is extremely problematic, that the whole "Dumbledore is gay" was purely pandering and isn't actually part of his character. I see these things, and I discuss them, and I agree that those are valid reasons for other people to want to stay away from the books. You can absolutely still love a work whilst simultaneously criticizing the problems of said work. Just like people still love Colleen Hoover's books even though all the relationships in her books are extremely toxic and abusive. Just like people still love the Throne of Glass series even though it has piss poor diversity. Just like people still love Cassandra Clare's books even though she has a huge incest fetish and started her career through plagiarism. You can love what you love as long as you're calling out all the shitty parts. I've been seeing sooooo much animosity going towards people who are choosing to still love Harry Potter (especially on twitter) and I think it's getting ridiculous and people are going way overboard. If someone is still going out and buying brand new editions of the books and going to the parks and seeing her movies in theaters? Absolutely criticize them for it. But the people (like me) who are simply choosing to continue owning the books they have and loving the story in private? Literally just leave them alone. The books are already bought, the damage was done a decade ago. If you choose to get rid of your HP books, good for you, pass them on so that someone else can read them without supporting Rowling. But no one can harass other people for not making that same choice. I'm seeing comments on youtube videos that say shit like "I see in your background that you still have the Harry Potter books on your shelf, why haven't you gotten rid of them yet??? So you support a transphobe??", I'm seeing people be straight up harassed and pressured into getting their HP tattoos removed or covered up, I'm seeing people be bullied for still wearing their HP merch (even if it's just in their own home??). I just.... I think it's gotten ridiculous. I'm a Harry Potter fan who also condemns JK Rowling, it is really that simple.

I don’t like what JK Rowling is for but I love HP series. It’s a part of my life. I will continue to go to Universal just for WWHP. HP was there to bring my family together therefore I will continue to love the series.

I love it when Emily waves at the camera to remind it not to focus on snow globe Emily!

Canada prices are shocking omg, in the uk a paperback is like 8 or 9 pounds average

I always love how honest you are !

I do own two or more copies of some books, but then aside from being a book reader, I'm also a book collector - I love books that have beautiful covers (or illustrations), are old and rare, are first editions and/or are signed by the authors. So some of my very favourite books I do own multiple copies because, for example, I have the chance to get a signed or special edition of the book but don't want to get rid of the first edition. Occasionally I might also buy a kindle version to read in order to keep the print version in good condition. However I don't have either the money or the shelf space to buy multiple copies on a regular basis! Just a few absolute favourites.

I dont know if this is an unpopular opinion or not but I enjoyed VE Schwab's a darker shade of magic series much more than Brandon Sanderson's Mistbon series. Admittedly, I did only read Sanderson's first book and read all of Schwab's. Does Mistborn get better? Should I continue reading it? I just couldn't get over how insta lovey Eland and Vins relationship was. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the book, especially Kell and Vin's relationship, the rest of the gang and even the plot line was great, I just wasn't as good in my opinion.

Cancel culture is the eventual death of all things. To read or purchase things based only on the moral character Of the creator, is to pretend that a perfect person exists. How can we purchase anything then? Do we look into the history and moral standard of our shampoo? Our clothes? Our food? Or should we just judge the creators who are vocal and stay ignorant to all other companies? I’m a painter, and a writer. I would never publish a single thing. I use to share my art on Instagram, but no longer even do that. I’m a good, but imperfect person. I know that I would eventually be canceled. Today, sometimes all it takes is to simply have a different opinion.

I don’t get the hype around V. E. Schwab either. I couldn’t get through her darker shade of magic series, her characters felt two dementional to me. But then I devoured Vicious and it was really good and was like ”hey, maybe everyone was right about her!” but couldn’t then get through the sequel. I just feel like she’s an average writer at best, who can’t really do characters that well. But no hate for the people who love her work!

it would be really hard to bring out interesting content like all the time, and we viewers need to respect and understand that. it must be so much pressure. cause you see booktubers jotting down cool ideas and sometimes you see them break down because of so much pressure. and the viewers are obviously on the receiving content by getting so much content and cool videos. so we really need to respect booktubers for the for the crazy effort that they put in

My unhauls are the same as yours! Most of them are ones I’ve read and haven’t loved

I agree, for the most part about book series with matching covers. With a few of the series I own, the covers are all over the place and it doesn't really bother me. However, for some reason it does bug me when publishers change the look of the series while they are releasing it. So even if I wanted to, I couldn't buy matching covers. For example The Diviners series by Libba Bray. Every time a new book came out, the cover art/style was completely different. Like they couldn't just pick one and stick with it. Edit: Also agree that books that are too open-ended are the super unsatisfying. Everything doesn't need to be answered or wrapped up in perfectly, but there needs to be some kind of conclusion to the story. Otherwise it's less of an ending and more like the book just stops.

I don't get judging reading tastes in general. People like what they like and sometimes reading a "fluff" book can be cleansing. I used to love reading 8-10 books a month but university destroyed that. I average about 2-4 books a year, if I push myself. This year, even with the quarantine, the only book I've finished in it's entirety is "You deserve each other" by Sarah Hogle. It's a romantic comedy and it's the only thing that could keep me interested. I'm really trying to get into Rage of Dragons but it's a struggle for me.

I agree w/ the person - Vicious was way better than Vengeful.

The LOTR trilogy may be one of my favorite book series that is more about friendship than romance (and an evil ring...)

Read what makes you happy people! That’s the whole point. 💜🖤💜🖤

A best standalones vid would be great!

I think there are a lot of books about friendship, especially in fantasy, I just think we need more female (or male-female, nonbinary etc) friendships. And ok: more friendship in general in YA.

Personaly I hate having two editions of the same book because my OCD will drive me crazy. if I get a new edition I simply must unhaul the other one

Yes, I would love for you to do a stand alone video. Personally, sometimes I just don't want to commit to reading a series.

I like your voice(calming) and the way you talk, Emily.

Totally agree with your opinion on female authors being overly categorized as YA. Some YAs with great friendships are: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson The Nowhere Girls, Amy Reed This Savage Song, VE Schwab (There is a small romantic moment in the sequel, but no real romantic relationship between the characters involved). The Bone Houses, Emily Lloyd-Jones (This one does end with a pairing, but most of the story is just a great, supportive friendship between a girl and a boy-very believable, nontoxic development of the relationship and also fantastic disability rep)!

This is such a great video, Emily. Well done! Btw, the talk about featuring beautiful bookshelves on video... I just realized that my booktube featured only my WALL; I might have to fix that in future videos! xD One thing that I think I definitely agree with you. I used to think that I'm able to completely separate an author from their work, but it seems that, somehow, the more I read the harder it is to do that.

The book elitism is strange because I think in the general public, classics/nonfic/lit fic are propped up. But on BookTube I'd say like 90% of the large BookTubers are predominantly YA, thriller, and romance readers. I feel like not enjoying YA is typically shunned a bit in the BookTube community.

Book I love for friendships - The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what it is that JKR did. Was it the saying it’s “women” who get their periods? And then her defending her statement? Or is there more? Cuz I don’t get why that’s transphobic? She was saying that biologically sex exists right? But didn’t say ONLY women get their periods, or if you get ur period then you MUST be labeled/identify as a woman, or if ur any of these things that you’re in some way bad, less, gross, whatever. Does that mean that in order to believe in a person’s right to identify as what they want and live how they want that I also have to deny the existence of a biological gender/sex? It clearly exists, regardless of a person’s gender identity, they still are born biologically with one sex or another. (Or both in the case of hermaphroditism!) So I don’t understand why pointing that out is phobic? If there’s more to what she did I want to know tho! Cuz I genuinely am trying to figure out where all the hate is coming from and to figure out if she’s an author I can continue to support or not.

I am SO EXCITED for the new Schwab book, looking forward to seeing what you liked about it!

List of characters who should have remained friends: • Brianne of Tarth and Jamie Lannister (GoT) • Katniss and PETA (HG) • Hermione and Ron (HP) There are more but these are the most popular ones

Space operas usually have the best representation, there are usually couples (or more) in ever configuration and it’s just accepted. Authors are still hopeful for the future

Honestly for me when it comes to unlikeable characters it depends on where they stand in the novel. Because I’m all for characters you’re just supposed to hate and find horrible, but I’m also a reader who is very character and relationship driven. And if the main character or a character with a point to view is unlikeable either to me or written that way I just can’t get into it. And that’s 100% a me thing, but it can affect my outlook on a book as a whole. Cause as I said I’m character and relationship driven. If those aren’t good or if I can’t get into it my interest is done.

The point about authors and their books is super prominent right now but I’ve been really disconnected from HP for years so that isn’t really a problem for me. But I just started reading Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire last year around the time that Victoria Schwab talked about her experiences with him and now I’m super torn. I was really looking forward to Book of the Ancestor 😣

Half bad is a really good young adult book where the love/friendships are done wel. Spinning silver is another I like in the love/friendship department.

I feel a little conflicted on the problematic author topic. Like, I can definitely separate JKR from Harry Potter, mostly because I have loved HP for so long that there's no way I could just stop, and secondly because I already cut her out of the picture long ago when she wrote that heinous epilogue in book 7 (I don't consider it canon nor anything that followed...Fantastic Beasts, the Wizarding World brand, Cursed Child....I acknowledge none of it because it all just objectively sucks). Plus I can kind of bargain in my mind like "maybe she wasn't always like that. At the time she was writing HP, she might have still been a good person." Same thing with Phillip Pullman, who's been called out for a homophobic tweet he made. I already love His Dark Materials so much that I can't just drop that series due to the shortcomings of the author.... Whereas in a case like Marion Zimmer Bradley (author of Mists of Avalon who sexually abused her kids), not only is sexually abusing children probably THE MOST revolting and unforgivable thing a person can do, but it's also pretty certain that the abuse was ongoing DURING her writing of that book. And I could never, ever, ever get that out of my head. I kept thinking thoughts like "Did she rape her daughter on the same day she wrote this scene?" and it made me want to throw up. I had actually really wanted to read that book, but after I found out what she did I couldn't even look at it on my shelf and got rid of it. Another factor to consider is whether the work itself is tainted by the author's toxicity. I personally sense no homophobia or transphobia whatsoever in HP or His Dark Materials (which is kinda why people were so shocked by it, esp in JKR's case), and therefore I feel like the books are safe. Idk, maybe I'm just trying to justify myself, but this really isn't a black and white issue. Like, no one is perfect so where do we draw the line? Do we only read books by perfect people? Then we'd be reading nothing. I adore HP and it has been a huge part of my life and I'm not just gonna walk away from that. I don't give a f*ck about JKR and no longer support her as a person, but her 7-book series (minus the epilogue haha) will always be important to me.

I dont get why do people buy a physical copy of a buy when they already read it as an ebook or listened to it as an audio book?!?!

I AGREE with the opinion about the Grisha trilogy!!!!

I think it's nothing wrong with someone not wanting to read a book with LGBT representation and that doesn't make them transphobic or homophobic. Some people wanna read books that they can relate to. And not everybody is LGBT.

I hate when people say crap like that "oh well its not the most well written but i enjoy it" - that's fine, enjoy it, but stop talking down to the romance genre like every single one of them is less worthy of being a favorite than a fantasy book, or that every single one of them is badly written or "trash". Stop saying crap like "romance is my guilty pleasure genre". If you're reading badly written romance in fantasy its because the author didn't put enough care into writing a GOOD romance - if you read a strait up romance book (not one of the toxic new adult ones) the relationships are so well written and healthy. I think readers just dont know what good romance is.

I would love a stand-alone video! My biggest pet peeve is trilogies in YA. Stop, just give me one good book.

Too many authors are problematic if you look into them, I just stay off social media so I don’t know about it and it can’t tarnish any books I’ve read and loved

yessssss best standalones video

yes please do a video on standalone books!! I really have issues committing to long series now and i've been enjoying just standalone books.

I don't care about them matching either. I have a few series where there's couple that are in a differencing casing. I don't remove dust jackets unless there's a design on the naked hardback. I don't like when they kill a character who was barely in the series.

Would love love love a video of standalone recommendations. So often I get overwhelmed by having so many series to finish! X

Radio Silence is a great mental health contemporary with a great friendship as the focal point

Agreed on separating authors from books. I can't do it now. I LOVE HP, and I will keep what I have, but I won't buy or support anything else JK Rowling does.

Unpopular Opinion: I totally agree about more books needing LGBTQIAPK+ representation to just be there. I also agree that having LGBTQIAPK+ representation does not make a book good and would go as far as to say the same thing applies to having a POC main character or POC author. I think that these things are important to prioritize, but having one, two, or even all of those things don't make the book the best thing ever. It is about the story and characters. I do want more inclusivity in these groups (and others as well such as disabilities, illnesses, etc.) and it does make me upset when there is not at least one character in these groups, but you can have a book that you hate even if it has LGBTQIAPK+/POC rep. I honestly don't even know if I made any sense but there is my hot take...

I kinda agree about V.E Schwab. I like some of her books but some are just meh for me.

I think separating authors from their books is very relative. for example if I have a steong love or attachment to a book or grew up with a book/series like Harry Potter I can’t dislike the book because the author is awful or shitty or whatever. it doesn’t mean I support the author though

i enjoyed reading the final empire recently; but male author's commentary on a sixteen year old's chest area can be off putting at times. like can't authors just stop doing these already. we don't get descriptions of male characters privates but a female's chest somehow needs to be discussed. it get specially yucky when the female characters are mere teenagers.

I wonder if we have the same concept of magical realism. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is by far my favorite writer. His books feed both my needs for social critique and for beauty.

Talk about shaming I never tell anyone my favourite series is because if fear of being made fun of.

I did really love Vengeful, but Vicious was my favourite of the two :)

If anybody is from Melbourne, Australia (by any chance), do you know any good used bookstores i can go to after stage 4?

Yes! More stand alone books...especially in fantasy!

Yes please to stand alone recommendations video! I’m in the middle of way too many series and am afraid to start any more until I finish some I’ve already started.

I would love to hear your opinions on death of the author and how that has affected your reading!! it's something i think about A LOT and would love to hear your thoughts esp in the sci fi field.

I greatly enjoy standalones! With TV recently (and I've watched a lot of it in quarantine...), I've definitely felt like too many shows started as a miniseries and were extended and got less good. I'd be interested in seeing your take on best standalones/books that would have been better as standalones.

The comment you made about the pressure on booktubers to have loads of books is so true. I just started a channel and I feel pressured to have pretty books everywhere when in truth I get most from my library or as ebooks these days as it’s cheaper and more convenient. I have older books as paperbacks and buy hard copies from authors I love but I have to budget for it. Most books I read I can’t hold up in videos or take arty photos of (not that I am any good at that anyway 😂)

I did not finish Vengeful I have a problem with multiple timelines and multiple points of view in the same book. I did like several other Victoria Schwab books. I really enjoyed this video 📚❤️

Fuck Jkr, but Harry Potter will always be the series that taught me you should give everyone a chance, and to always be there for my friends. I know recently ppl have been pointing out problematic things about it, but since I never noticed this growing up, it has been just a pure series for me and it brings me a lot of joy and comfort. Also despite everything I hope all the trans fans out there knows that the fandom is still a safe place and that once she wrote the book it's now ours. ;).