Booktube Tag | From Reddit

The original tag I found on Reddit if you want to look Made by a lady called Crystal. Answer free for you to copy and paste questions.

I plan to make a youtube video with these questions and If you can I hope you do too.

• What camera do you use? Some Canon?
• How do you make thumbnails? I don't, I just let Youtube do the work.
• What editing software do you use? Microsoft free movie maker allows for basic video editing.
• Why did you start booktube? I had watched for a while and eventually, with a webcam started with my own videos.
• Favourite book or author you've found because of booktube? Ruth Ware and Ruth Hogan. Ruth Ware gives me amazing thrillers and Ruth Hogan gives me amazing stories with characters I can't help but love.
• What kind of books do you read? discuss the content of your channel in relation to that. I read a lot of thrillers and some children's books the most, but try others things occasionally in there too, I don't know what that means for my channel, I just love to read, review and share.
• What is important to you in a book? (Black authors, own voices, trans diversity, a good mystery, mermaids, anything) I love thriller, I need to be on the edge of my seat most of the time with that plot, or a book with amazing characters I just don't want to read behind.
• Do you have a bookstagram link? https://www.instagram.com/mikaylaambrosem/
• An interesting fact about yourself. I've just started journaling and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

The Diamond Girls - Jacqueline Wilson | Review

Well, this one was absolutely something. By God it was traumatic. There is child abuse, teen pregnancy and nutty parents. The book encourages teen pregnancy and following in your parent's footsteps and making their mistakes (not that teen pregnancy is always a devastating thing, but it's not ideal).

I know Jaqueline Wilson is known for her controversial topics, but with this book which is meant for younger readers, she hasn't managed it with much grace at all. I don't think that most 9-year-olds are mature enough or able to understand and know that some topics in the book aren't ok or the norm. If this book was marketed to teenagers then it could be done much better, but within this book, it's not done to a high standard at all.

If you have 9 or 10-year old please be aware of the topics of the book being more teen-related and not very child friendly as you'll know what your child is capable of dealing with within a book.

I could only give this 2 stars on Goodreads.

The Reading Rush Vlog 2020

The Reading Rush Vlog

Reading Rush Day 6&7

Saturday:

• A Shade Of Vampire: A Bender Of Spirits - 94 pages 

Sunday:

• A Shade Of Vampire: A Bender Of Spirit - 81 pages

Reading Rush Notes: 

During the week I read 3 books.

• The Story Of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson (158)
• The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson (230)
• A Shade Of Vampire, A Bender Of Spirit - Bella Forrest (324)
• Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix - J K Rowling (partial read 118 pages)

My total page count was 830 pages and fulfilled 6/7 of the reading prompts. Also managed a couple of the prompts on the website.

• Read a book that matches the colour of your birthstone: The Diamond Girls
• Read a book that starts with 'the': The Story Of Tracy Beaker 
• Read a book that inspired a movie you've already seen: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix
• Read The First Book You Touch: The Diamond Girls 
• Read a book entirely outside of your house: The Story Of Tracy Beaker
• Read a book from a genre you want to read more of: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix
• Read a book that takes place on a continent that you don't live: A Shade Of Vampire, A Bender Of Spirit

Some of the online challenges I completed were:

• Make a bookstagram post
• Make a booktube video
• Participate in a Twitter sprint
• Read a five-star book

I think it's safe to say I feel very accomplished this week. I look forward to the next readathon I take part in.

The Reading Rush Day 3 & 4 2020

Wednesday:

• A Shade Of Vampire - A Bender Of Spirit - Bella Forrest (105 pages)
• Harry Potter & The Order Of The Pheonix - J K Rowling (53 pages)

                                                                                    Total pages: 158 pages 

Thursday: 

• A Shade Of Vampire - A Bender Of Spirit - Bella Forrest (53 pages)
• Harry Potter & The Order Of The Pheonix - J K Rowling (22 pages)

                                                                                   Total Pages: 76 pages

Notes:

Things are moving along nicely in A Shade Of Vampire now and am learning a lot of information about the people that are being assy. To finish on Sunday I must read 81.5 pages per day unless I read extra pages before sleep.

The Reading Rush Day 1 & 2 | 2020

Monday:

To Finish The Diamond Girls, Tracy Beaker and The Bender Of Spirits by the end of the week I must read 101 pages per day.

Today I read parts of three different books.

• Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix - J K Rowling 25 pages 
• The Diamond Girls - Jacqueline Wilson                                65 pages 
• The Story Of Tracy Beaker - Jacqueline Wilson                    52 pages 

Total Pages: 142 pages 

Tuesday:

I read from the same three books today.

• Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix                   40 pages
• The Diamond Girls                                                           165 pages 
• The Story Of Tracy Beaker                                               92 pages

Total pages: 297 pages 

Notes:

(The Diamond Girls)

What the actual fluff? There's child abuse, a mentally unstable mother and potential paedophilia. It's not being dealt with much care at all. It's very much content that should normally be left to an older reader who can deal with properly. I know these things very much do happen within children's lives, but if it needs to be written about it needs doing delicately. I've never been so distraught in my life.

Pages for Monday & Tuesday: 439 pages

Reading Rush TBR 2020

Most Read Authors | Part 2

Used my reminder while flicking through my journal to finish off a previous journal entry about my most read/favourite authors. Here goes:

• C.J Tudor - I've only read two of her I believe four books. I have one of the unread ones on my phone, but I think I need the actual copy to encourage me to read it, to be honest. My favourite of her work was The Chalkman, giving it four stars on Goodreads, It has two timelines between a group of four/five boys. It was their present and past after a girl dies and we finally discover with them what really happened to a young girl.

• Gill Sims - I love her Why Mummy Drinks Series. She's got another one coming out later this year and I can't wait to pick it up. They're all hysterical and document the struggles of bringing up children, married life and then some. You can't help but laugh, be frustrated with her and feel what she's going through as a very busy working mother trying to keep it all together.

• Lee Child - He's one of those authors that knows how to do a fast-paced thriller very well, even though I've only read five of his books. My favourite was The Visitor, the pacing was fantastic and I was on the edge of my seat throughout, I can't wait for the next one in the series.

• Shari Lapena - My favourite of her books Is An Unwanted Guest. It surprised me and I loved the twist ending. It was a very good thriller like an Agatha Christie thriller but something I'm more interested in devouring. I can't wait to read her next book.

Currently reading - Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix
This one will take a while to get through as it's a pretty long book, but also my least favourite in the series. As much as I can understand Harry's attitude I find him very irritating and want to slap some reason into him sometimes throughout this book.

Favourite Books

• The Death Of Mrs Westaway - Ruth Ware

This is one of my favourite books of all time. The main character is so relatable, but also can't help but feel awful for her. By the end, you can't help but feel terrified for her. It had me on the edge of my seat throughout the book.

• The Book Theif - Markus Suzak 

This book is so good. It took me about 50 pages to get into, but when I did get into it, but God it was amazing. My heart broke by the end and I loved so many of the characters in the book. 

• A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness 

This book is emotional and heartbreaking. It follows a 13-year-old boy dealing with a rough family situation as his mother is terminally ill. You can't help but feel bad for him and his mother.

• The Snow Child 

This one sticks with me a tonne. I was even thinking about for weeks after I read it. It's beautifully written and you love the characters through the hard times and the good. 

Quarterly Wrap Up & TBR No.2 | 2020

Most Read Authors.

So, I wasn't sure how to go about this. Do I do my most read or my favourite? Maybe both is an option, right? Maybe, I'll go with that.

My top 3 most read authors as I'm writing this:

• Bella Forrest - 91 books (I know, WOW!)
• Robert Kirkman - 47 single issue comics (The Walking Dead)
• Lemoney Snicket - 13 (A Series Of Unfortunate Events)

The Walking dead is just over 3 volumes of The Walking Dead series and I've read The Gender Game by Bella Forrest as well as 84 books in her Shade Of Vampire series.

My Favourite Authors:
So carrying on with the theme of authors, I made a separate list of my favourite authors and came up with 7. There were 5 women (51%) and 2 men (28%) on my list.

• Ruth Ware
• C.J Tudor
• Ruth Hogan
• Gill Sims
• Shari Lapena
• Lee Child
• Dan Brown

There are a few to talk about, so today I'm only talking about 3 of them.

Ruth Ware. She is a thriller writer and I've read all of her published works as of writing this journal entry. She's perfected her craft over her previous books and her first book is what sparked my imagination with her writing and stories.

My favourite of her books that I've read is The Death Of Mrs Westaway. The main character is the most relatable person in the world to be, even though she thinks she's doing something that is illegal, you can completely see how desperate she is throughout the book. Although I did figure out part of the twist in the book, it didn't take away from the book at all and was surprised at the rest of the book and the extra twist nearer the end of the book. I can honestly say this is the only book where I've genuinely been scared for a character in a book.

So, for the next author. Ruth Hogan, all I can say is that she's a genius. She knows how to write a character-driven book that is as interesting as any plot-driven book. The Keeper Of Lost Things is what got me hooked, but it was her next 2 books that stand out the most.

The Wisdom Of Sally Red Shoes is a book that really gets you (if you struggle with the trauma of losing a child, this book may not be for you as It will likely be distressing). It's about grief and learning to cope with it. You can understand and feel for both ladies in this book (duel perspective) and I think this book was very well done and my heart was broken for both characters.

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel is also a fantastic book. It has themes of a family falling apart and also has two perspectives, though my favourite was of the daughters. I loved the innocents she brings to the story, her misunderstanding of the things going on around her and both her ignorance, love a fascination with Queenie

Malone.

My last author is Dan Brown. I love his books and have read all of them so far. They're very quick, entertaining and very easy to follow. My favourites are The Davinci Code and Inferno, while my least favourite is The Lost Symbol.

The Davinci Code is my favourite because it challenges religion is such an interesting and entertaining way that I love. It makes Christianity easy to understand and is fast-paced enough that you can get through it in less than a week,

Inferno is also fantastic, without giving anything away here, the ending is utterly jaw-dropping and I can't recommend it enough.

In regards to The Lost Symbol, nothing much happens and is very disappointing compared to the rest of the books. That's why I think they missed it out of the movies franchise and skipped straight to Inferno.

So here is a list of the authors I didn't talk about today so that I know who to write about next and to remind me to actually write about them.

• C.J Tudor
• Lee Child
• Gill Sims
• Shari Lapena.

Quarterly Statistics April/June 2020

• How many books I read: 13 
• Page count:                                             Average Rating:

Per month: April: 1343                                   3.8

                   May: 862                                      3.5

                   June: 1061                                    3.7

Overall:               3266                                    3.68

• Overall book-length: 251
• Places they were set: Scotland (Hogwarts), Surrey, New York, Russia, Poland/Auschwitz, London, Georgia, Texas
• Genre: Fantasy, children's fantasy. biography, thriller and apocalypse/horror
• Release years: 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019
• Authors male to female ratio: 6 female and 7 male. Female 46% to male 53%.
• Are any of them new to you? Yes, but only 1.
• Format:

Audiobook: 3 23%

E-Book:7 53%

Paperback: 3 23%

My favourite two books of the quarter were, The Pale Dreamer by Samantha Shannon (4* on Goodreads) and The Visitor by Lee Child (4* on Goodreads). My Least favourite was The Children Act by Ian Mcewan (3* on Goodreads).

Quarterly TBR July/September 2020

This is my to be read books that I plan to read during the next three months, hopefully, I will get to them all and potentially read a few more (I hope as I'll be having a very busy few months after July getting used to a new addition to my family).

1. Some Kind Of Wonderful - Giavanna Fletcher 
2. A Shade Of Vampire -A Bender Of Spirit - Bella Forrest
3. The Other People - C.J Tudor (I hope to read this one)
4. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix - J K Rowling 

I also hope to take part in a week-long reading challenge at the end of July called The Reading Rush, which will add another two or three books to my overall TBR. Here are two books I hope to read for that anyway:

• The Diamond Girls - Jacqueline Wilson
• The Story Of Tracy Beaker - Jacqueline Wilson

June Wrap Up | 2020

1. The Walking Dead Issue 47 - 4 * 
2. The Lumberjanes Volume 1- 3*
3. Echo Burning - Lee Child - 4 *
4. A Shade Of Vampire - A Circle Of Nine - Bella Forrest 4* 

I read a total of 1061 pages with the four books I read and the average star rating was 3.75.

All star ratings/reviews ore available to see on my Goodreads unless I also review here. There will also be links available on Goodreads to buy any books I've read that you may be interested in (I have no affiliation with any of the links and receive no money).