Jan. Wrap Up (some gushing, some rants)

0:00-Intro

0:06-Big Panda And Tiny Dragon

2:20-This Close To Okay

7:54-Voyage of The Basilisk

11:07-The Secret Garden

14:24-The Midnight Library

20:18-Aquanaut

24:52-Outro

WHERE TO FIND ME:

[bcoh]

“Why’d ya do it?!?” Is becoming my new favorite substitute for “wtf” when I read a book.

[quirkygeekgirl]

Secret Garden -- two children learn to be decent people by being crap to each other, with Dickon teaching them how to garden.

[annaarmstrong]

There's nothing that will get me to click on a Merphy video faster than seeing both gushing AND rants XD

[kinoru]

I got back into reading this year and got to 19 books this month! It's been super fun rediscovering this hobby:)

[pretendtheresaname]

The second book you mentioned sounds like a good set up for a psychological thriller, not a romance.

Like she she lurs this mentally unstable guy into her house, analyzing him for her own purpose and pretending she loves him for her studies (maybe a psychiatrist who lost her license?), but he's not only the victim being also not a very good person, making her fall in doubt as to if this is worthy. So you have these two morally corrupt people tormenting each other which, by your description, they seem to already do in the book but through different, romantic lenses.

[vishalarora]

As an Indian, I always have a very troubling relationship with the Secret Garden. If you know the dark and blood history of british colonialism...there are portions that trigger due to tone deafness despite attempting to grow the character towards a more compassionate self.

It still has that subliminal racism that you find in colonial era literature trying to criticize colonialism but at the same time not letting go of the 'western ideals' .

I love the writing...and of course this issue i have is not the main part of the book.

[triasha]

Since you liked The Secret Garden, you should check out the classic "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

[Vin_one]

Hearing you talk makes my day. I always listen to you in the mornings over a hot drink. I love the way you describe things, your passion and emotion for them, and I usually share similar opinions with you and can easily understand what you mean.

[litlbucky]

You have convinced me to add Lady Trent series to TBR, looking forward to reading the series

[carogallasc]

I love the Lady Trent Memoirs! So gad you like them, I think they get better and better as they go along

[giuliakenway]

I read The Midnight Library last year and I really really liked it, glad to hear your thought on it! What you mentioned in terms of repetitiveness didn't bother me as much though, and overall the story and Nora as a main character really stuck with me.

[michellesmirnova]

The only book I’ve read out of these is The Midnight Library, and I was one of the people who didn’t like his execution. It was too surface-level and “fun adventure book” for my style considering the theme of the story. There were some discussions I really liked, but overall I would’ve preferred a more deep-dive into the topic at hand. But I also feel it’s mostly a preference thing. I love deep psychological things and I felt that book wasn’t it for me, it was more plot-focused than I was hoping it would be. But if you want something with dark and somewhat relatable themes with a unique plot revolving around it then it’s recommended!

[theonlyslagathor]

I'm so glad you loved Secret Garden. It was my favorite book growing up and I reread it like every week.
Also Lady Trent just gets better as the series progresses imo. I love watching her grow and seeing how blunt she is about her past behaviors and mistakes. Lady Trent is just amazing

[justinthebookworm]

I’m glad you liked The Midnight Library! I’ve seen a lot of booktubers really hate it but I enjoyed it. I agree that some parts are repetitive and the message isn’t groundbreaking but it’s still a great concept that’s executed decently.

[thefriesofLockeLamora]

6:11 odd metaphors are a pet peeve of mine as well. Bath Haus is riddled with such bizarre metaphors.
You've explained the problem with dual pov

Is that Hannah's reading journal 😍

[coelila]

6 books in one month while married and as a mom of two little kids… I read three books this month and don’t know how I could have read any faster!

[shawns]

This Close to Okay recap was worth the wait 🤣

[asraaslam]

Aquanaut sounds so interesting. I wanna watch the documentary. I've enjoyed alot of your recommendations so I can't wait to check this out

[juliavos]

Oohh merph if you like fictional memoirs with a character finally opening up about their life you would love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! It’s about a major Hollywood star finally telling the unfiltered truth about her life and it’s written really really well!

[FM.]

Great stuff, hard to believe January is over