Happy Mother‘s day to my favourite cat mama 😏🖤

You’ve inspired me to be more hardcore with my dnf-ing. I tell myself that if I’m not enjoying the reading then it’s time to find a different book. I’ve read far more books this year because I haven’t forced myself to finish books I wasn’t enjoying.

I remember Thirteenth Tale being popular when I worked at a bookstore back in 2007-2010. What a gorgeous baby your cat is!

Widower - for a man.

So glad you liked The Thirteenth Tale! It’s been my favorite for almost ten years but I need to re-read it.

the thirteenth tale is also a movie staring olivia coleman

I think you made the right call with Daughter of Smoke & Bone. I read it this year and really liked book 1, but I DNF’d book 2 at like 85%. If you couldn’t get into book 1, there’s absolutely no way you’d finish the series.

detective book with older main female character: "An Elderly Lady is up to no good". Basically Ms Marple gone rogue 😅

I've DNF'd a bunch of books this year, it's freeing. But sometimes difficult to do cos if I've spent so much time on something, I feel like I should finish it? You're right though, continuing = reading slump. Onward to freedom haha. My reads in April were mostly 3 stars, which is fine but I want an OBSESSION. I want to fall in love with a book. I hope we can both break out of our reading funks and find them because AH.

I hadn't heard of The Thirteenth Tale before your read-it-or-unhaul-it video, it sounds like something for my fall TBR! 😊

The Thirteenth Tale is one of few books I've actually reread! I read it first when I was around 20 years old, and needed to see if it was still a favourite, and I still quite enjoyed it :D

I think why divine rivals worked so well for me, is the build up of the war. I love how it kind of hangs over the story like a dark cloud and creates this daunting atmosphere until you’re suddenly caught in the storm. But I can fully understand that you disliked the ending, I did too 😅

I need to be more like you in DNFing! I hold off for like ever 😅

Good job on ur April reads and keep it up 💛💖🩶💛🩶💖💖💙💙🫶🏻🫶🏻💕💚💚🌸🌼💘🍄📖🩵💞💞📖❤️❤️📚📚📚💛💖🩶💛🫶🏻💚💚💕💕💚🌞🧡🧡🌞🌸

The girl who chased the moon one of my favorites books amazing cover so gorgeous 📚💚❤️💙❤️📚🩷💚📖🩵🩵📖📙📙🌼🌼💜🍄🍄🍄🌺💖📚❤️💙🩵🩵🌼🌼🪻🪻🌺🌺💐🌸🫶🏻🫶🏻💘💕📚❤️💙❤️📚🩷📙🧡📖💛💜💖💖💜💛🩶🩶

I read a book with a cat named Terrible Charlie! lol It was "Swarm" by Jennifer D Lyle, wasn't great but ok for a YA apocolypse, giant killer butterflies was at least fairly unique.

I have to say just like you I am not a big romance fan but when in a reading slump they always help me get out of it

I think Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of the rare books that I'm glad I picked it up before I started DNF'ing books, lol! But I think where the series ends always makes me forget how it started, plus I loved how the Strange the Dreamer duology ended and it kind of made me want to go back and read this. I just don't know if I want to deal with the first book, lol.

I’m not the biggest romance girly, but I really liked All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata. It’s a slow burn, the main female character is in her 30s and IMO it’s not as cringy as other popular romances.

16:28 oh my, I’m glad I waited at the end to comment! I was about to say I think you would like Just For The Summer.😊 I’m not a romance girly myself but I can’t put it down 😅

I just finished Just for the Summer and it’s another amazing 5⭐️ read from Abby Jimenez! Banter is fantastic, characters are great, there is a cute dog.

I really liked The Thirteenth Tale. Try Once Upon a River by the same author. Also good. I'd like to read more of Setterfield's work.

Loved THIRTEEN TALE!😄

The last book I finished was "20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth". I picked it randomly and it was surprisingly good!

I just finished the Dandelion Dynasty and I'm now in my biggest book hangover. Highly recommend the series though if you're in a mood for Asian history inspired epic fantasy with some of the best female characters I've ever read.

The Girl Who Chased The Moon was my first Sarah Addison Allen book and I loved it!! But I agree with you, it is sort of a younger read, maybe The Sugar Queen would be more up your alley.

If you like Emily Henry for the older protagonists you should try Linda Holmes' work! Evie Drake Starts Over opens with the FMC on her way to leave her husband when she gets a call from the hospital that he's been killed in an accident. Her other book has a Happy for Now ending.

Read The Thirteenth Tale a few years ago for bookclub, it was a great read. Currently reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and next is A Fate Inked in Blood.

I’m still in my intro phase to Fantasy, so I thought Divine Rivals was 3 ⭐️ cute, but I do agree with that ending 😒. I’m so excited for Just for the Summer; I just got mine from the library too! I read 2 of her other books, and couldn’t help but kicking up my feet and giggling!

I am jealous that you have read The Thirteenth Tale! It's on my TBR too, but I will wait until the fall. The best nonfiction book that I have read so far is Private Equity by Carrie Sun, about a young Chinese woman who worked at a NY hedge fund doing grueling work, exhausted by all the responsibilities she had. She has this insane desire to please her parents, boss, other people; it is a memoir written 5 years after she left that crazy world and in a better place in her life-thank God! It does show how insane cultural values and striving for perfection becomes generational legacy; Carrie inherited her drive from her parents. I felt sorry in the end for her parents enduring abuse during the Cultural Revolution in China, what poor Carrie endured in college, I am so glad she's happy now with herself. I could not put the book down. So far, I do not have a fiction book recommendation, but I have many to read this year and all of them are really good.

My top 3 were -The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston -Godzilla x Kong by Greg Keyes -The Hidden Guardian by J.D.L Rosell (that one made me cry) I finally read Nightbitch and enjoyed it more than expected. I found a song with One Dark Window vibes it's "Become the Beast" by Karliene

Omg I've also just started the 40 rules of love! I liked 10minutes and 38 seconds a lot, but I'm finding this one a bit harder to get into.

I loved and enjoyed Funny story love Emily Henry so much one of my favorite authors 💖💜🩶🩶🩶💜📚📚💖💛📖📖🩷💙❤️📙🫶🏻🩵💕💘🌼🪻💘💘🍄🌸🌸🥀💚💐🌞🌞💕📙📙🫶🏻💙🧡📚💖💖💜💛🩶🩶💜💖

On how you described the thirteenth tale it reminded me of the Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, maybe you would like That too

The Thirteenth Tale is my favourite gothic!! So atmospheric, and written way more accessibly than Rebecca (and way more captivating!). Currently reading Minique, a historical fiction about a girl in Montreal in 1680 who eventually becomes 'that lady in the woods'. I'm just a few chapters in and I LOVE it. All the historical tidbits about Montreal being the poorer city to Quebec due to trade routes, and the author sprinkles in lots of french words (le boulanger, la folle, etc.). All the women are named Marie-quelque chose 😂

I haven't read an Emily Henry yet but she's an author I keep meaning to try. I am looking to read some romance books over the next few months so might try one soon.

Claudia! Love her so much. 🐱 ❤

I also hated The Bodyguard! I do not understand the rave reviews around that book at all. Just for the Summer is great though. Best book I've read so far this year.

I just done listening to'Just(in)for the summer' last week(I gave it 4 stars), its cute, worth listening to. But can‘t compare to 'part of your world' with Daniel and Alexis(5 stars,best romance ever) .These two audiobooks share same male narrator(Zachary webber) but different female narrators,all three narrators I grow loving very much, especially Julia whehan.

I've been reading a lot of Manga lately. I read a mystery romance last year "Something's Wrong with Us by Natsumi Andō". I have a couple volumes left to read, I'm just waiting for my library to have them.

I am sadly coming to admit that I might be getting too old and cranky for YA romance and romantasy. (I do have issues with romance in general, tbh. although you have convinced me to try Beach Read and Book Lovers.) After years of being able to suspend my cynical attitude, it's too difficult now. For some reason, children's books and middle grade are OK still.

NOT LIKING DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE IS WILD!!!! But also, I get it. Sometimes a book just doesn't land. I'm bummed though. That book became my whole personality for like a year straight. I had a book themed bday party that year and everyone had to dress like a book character. I obviously went as Karou.

I honestly thought I was the only one who did not understand the hype for Divine Rivals. It felt like a book in which everything and nothing happened at the same time. Plus once it got romantic, I mentally checked out. Went from A to Z real quick.

Divine Rivals isnt for me either 😅

For some reason I like books with older female characters. I did read Vera Wong, but also didn’t like it. I can really recommend “The Vanishing of Margarete Small”. It’s on the quiet side, so not sure it’s something you’d enjoy, but has some light mystery (no murder) threading through it. Another one I (mostly) liked was Mis Benson’s Beetle which is a bit more on the adventurous side. Also just read (actually listened to) The Last List of Mable Beaumont, but almost DNFed it because of the (to me) insufferable main character.

I've read so many 1, 2 and 3 stars books this year. Hoping to get to some good ones 'cause it's been a while.😔

🤔 I have divine rivals , may put in my free little library..

I tried Funny Story by Emily Henry hoping it would be like Book Lovers and I was interested in the set up but I was so bored and uninterested in the characters. I wish it were dual pov bc I feel like I knew everything there was to know about the mc by page 50

Emily I really recommend you check out the siren of sussex, it’s a historical romance that I think you’ll enjoy, it has great female friendships, mature characters, subtle feminist themes, good representations, cute romantic scenes that makes your heart flutter - at least it made mine - and HORSES.

After finishing happy place by Emily Henry and rating it 1 star, I believe your taste in romance is similar to mine, you should definitely do a romance recommendations video for the picky girlies like me :)

❤

You cannot imagine the feeling of vindication I had when you said you dnf'ed Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers! I read it completely, did not like it at all, but everyone is raving about it 😮‍💨

I unfortunately finished The Paper Palace and haaaated it. I couldn't stand the characters 😅

Good for you for putting down The Paper Palace! I gave it 1 star and DNFed it about ~20% into it. It went into EXPLICIT detail about child s3xual abuse, so big fat no from me.

I still need to read divine rivals 😩

good vid, Emily

I gave Divine Rivals 5 stars, but the second book in the series wasn't as good in my opinion. I really appreciated the first book because it hits some serious topics and it wasn't insta-love.

I DNF’d both Daughter of Smoke and Bone & Divine Rivals. Did not get the hype for either one of them. Seeing some of my fellow readers give five stars to those when they rate other acclaimed books 1-2 stars was baffling 😭

Im surprised you liked Thirteenth Tale if you aren't a fan of Rebecca and Wuthering Heights - that's very interesting! Im finally reading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was awful. It doesn't get better. The Thirteenth Tale was really good. I read it a few years ago. It's the author's best book.

I prefer Abby Jimenez over Emily Henry Also that colour looks fab on you 🩵

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy had such weird third book. I liked the characters, but there was no great resolution.

please tell me what lip product(s) you are wearing, i need it in my life❤

Oh my gosh I did not like Divine Rivals either, and especially hated the ending. I liked the beginning but I ended up skimming the last 50 pages because I just really didn’t like it and it felt extremely ya. Ugh. 😂 I haven’t been meshing with any of the new popular fantasy books

I haven't finished The Bodyguard yet because it's so frustrating. What's the point of promising a gender roles reversal romance (female bodyguard, male actor) if the guy ends up protecting the woman all the time anyway? Ugh

The same thing happend to me with the paper Palace, also tried it as an audiobook and that part at the beach was a no no not for me and the writing... I found it pretty boring 😢

I enjoyed Funny Story by Emily Henry.

I loved "Daughter of smoke and Bone" ❤

Nice video, but maybe more cats next time? Hahaha sorry I just love to see those three babies.

Happy Mothers Day, sweet cat momma!

Happy Mother’s Day cat momma! ❤️❤️💛🩷🩷🩵🩵❤️💙💙🥀📙📖📖📚❤️💙💜💜❤️🌞💕🌼🩷💛🩵🩵❤️💙💙💙📚📚📚📚📙📖📖🧡🩷💚💚❤️❤️💙💙💙💙💙

Yup Emily Henry- meh

Ive been reading “i am a fan” since feb and I’m hating every second of it but i refuse to dnf because i have to know how annoying and pointless this book gets

Hi Emily. Your lips are perfect. What product do you use.

I really love your channel but I feel kind of sad that you keep criticizing YA recently like you're "too old for it". Yes there are some YA books that read very young and that aren't enjoyable for adults but there are some really great ones and it's not because you're over 18 that you can't enjoy them anymore. I feel like you don't give them a real shot and you just give up on them super fast. Like Daughter of Smoke and Bone you spoke about her talking about her ex breaking her heart and that is a topic in only the very beginning of the trilogy, it's not even relevant after, and it's a great fantasy. Same with Graceling, I was so dissapointed you didn't give that a go. It's like you're just cutting it out because it's for young readers and that means you're missing out on some great ones. Also I'm like nearly 30 and it always makes me feel a bit hurt when you say "i'm too old for that sh*t" about a book that I loved, like you're saying older readers shouldn't be reading YA... I don't know I'm just sad because I wanted your opinion on some of these books that I love and you're not giving them a fair shot.

Divine rivals is so overrated