July Wrap-Up

I read 11 books in July and actually had a pretty good reading month even amidst the craziness of Camp NaNoWriMo!
Mentioned:

I also exist in these places:

[lonestar]

Oh how you have matured over the years. The metamorphosis has been brilliant. To view these beginning stages and now watch your Scotland and Iceland tour. The heart of the video is still there, but you have nurtured the meat of the matter and nourished it into a channel full of personality, poise, prose and enticing humor, you do a deep dive into you and your world in such a manner that the viewer doesn’t realize how deep they are getting into your world until it’s too late, and they are hooked. Kudos… bravo 👏 👏👏👏

[benzedrineboy]

I am watching all of your videos and making notes so ☺️❤️ here is a list for everyone

1, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
2, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
3, Cassandra by Christa Wolf
4, The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris
5, Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
6, The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot
7, Idoru by William Gibson
8, Circe by Madeline Miller
9, One Day by David Nicholls
10, Phantom by Susan Kay
11, Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance by Gyles Brandreth

Hope it helps 🍀

[ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

Emma: "I really loved the books I read this month!"
Also Emma: *proceeds to destroy all the books she read last month* 🤣

[caultfouu]

Funny how differently we interpreted "One Day". It happens to be one of my favorite books and tbh I always read Dexter's character, in opposition to Emma, as the author kind of giving you an example on how to /not/ live your life? As in he condemns all the things you said this book glamorized such as high class life of a well positioned professional, owning expensive things, etc. Dexter is shown to have success and money and women and basically everything a person could desire but when is he ever happy? I think the author did an extremely good job of showing how these things won't mean a thing to you unless your relationship with your family and friends is good (hence the plot involving Dexter slowly cutting ties with his mom who used to be his best friend and only realizing how much he's fucked up when she falls ill) and unless you have something else to live for (all the chapters where Dexter parties and takes drugs because thats the only time he feels like he belongs and has warm feelings for people instead of constantly looking down on them for being less successful and poor) We have all this glamour of Dexters life, his travels, his career, his money - and then there's Emma who struggles like we all do, to reach a minimum level of self realization. Her life is quiet, typical, but she experiences great things too - and in the end I think it was all to show that she was never someone who "failed" at life while Dexter succeed. She was there to show that you can love your life as it is, no need for big things, that it's the simple pleasures and things that make your life fulfilling. That's what Dexter finally understood right before life took Emma just like it did with his mother.
I think Dexter was never meant to be a positive character, we weren't meant to like him - I also didn't - but isn't his character very upsettingly real? Maybe the message of this book is not anything groundbreaking but I still think it's important. I never saw it as a romance book, and definitely not a book about "perfect" love, it's just a story of two people, extremely well written may I add, that kind of portrays how tricky life is and how people often chase the wrong things when what they really want, and what would really make them happy, is right there.

Sorry for this essay, I have too much spare time today haha.

[caitliterature]

you are truly the most eloquent queen in the booktube universe! x

[sheissotshego]

Well done on reading 11 books.
I also like the premise of the Poison Study.
The Butchering Art - this one sounds very interesting. I think I'll definitely learn a lot from that book.
Idoru - 😳
Circe - I still need to finish reading this book.
Phantom - I'll definitely be picking this one up in the future.
Great video. Thanks for sharing!!!

[AFrolicThroughFiction]

Cassandra and Circe, yaaaas I can always rely on you to pull through with the greek stuff for me to yell about <3

[lostinabookcase]

I just finished the Shadow and Bone series too! Oh my gosh, the Darkling, yes! He could kill me any day.

[MaryAmongStories]

GIRL HOW? congrats on such a successful month 💚
oooh The Butchering Art sounds so interesting!
I watched One Day a looong time ago, and remember not liking it at all x)
I NEED TO READ PHANTOM ALREADY!!
great video ^^

[IshiTime]

Ooh I never noticed that villains are never the love interest in YA! You should definitely read Six of Crows! It’s literally my favourite book and I thought it was much better than the Grisha Trilogy

[mcrbus]

Circe sounds so good, I really want to read it soon. Dexter is a really toxic character in One Day, I didn't like the book very much because of that. Great video :)

[NeilBruder]

If you’re a fan of William Gibson I highly recommend his collection of non-fiction work called “Distrust That Particular Flavour”.

[wei-rungtseng]

I got distracted by the cover design of Christa Wolf’s Cassandra: why would it be designed that way with the title being broken (and connected) by hyphens?

[nezruiz]

I just purchased Oscar Wilde and a death of no importance and I think it's the most beautiful book I now own.

[kingseulbear]

I'm your 143th like ☺️❤️ I... ly....

[victorfullstop]

Emma, this was a quite spoiler filled wrap-up, no?