Just found your channel and I loved this video!! I read the first chapter of The Goblin Emperor last year and loved it but, soon after I decided to focus on all the books I own instead of books I don’t but, I KNOW I want to read it in the future. I read The Three Musketeers this year and I really want to read The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo! Tolkien is one of my favorite authors and I’m re-reading LOTR this year! I really want to read his other works in the future because I know I’ll love them.
Thank you so much!! 😊 I really hope to be able to read The Three Musketeers this year or, if not, then next year. I would love to hear what you think when you read any of these! I always love talking to people about my favorites (& theirs)!!
@@patriciamoutinho9264 I haven't, no, but it's a series that I would love to try! I actually bought a copy of The Desert Prince a while back and then realized after the fact that it's set in the same world as The Demon Cycle, so I need to read that first before I can get to The Desert Prince. What do you like about the series? I love to hear why people love things! 😊
@@AubreyLikestoRead It's hard to talk about what I like in a book without giving spoilers because I get so excited and once you get me going, it's hard to stop 🤣, but one of the aspects of the story, that really hooked me in, was the fact that the characters were living under circumstances imposed on them by the society they were born in and instead of complying to the norm, they decided they wanted something different for themselves and they fought hard for it. I'm a sucker for this type of tropes. And despite of being a fantasy work, it had very believable scenes, some not so good, and I could totally see it happening in real life, when we take into consideration that it depicts a kind of medieval setting.
@@patriciamoutinho9264 That sounds really cool! I also enjoy stories where characters rise above their circumstances. Thank you so much for the recommendation! 😊
I've enjoyed listening to you talk about what you've read lately, especially Voyage of the Damned. I'm so glad you found a book you enjoyed so much. If it ever gets translated I'll read it. Your cat crew going crazy over the bug was so cute. I've been going buggy myself. I got three books, one a series, with main characters who either study insects professionally or are serious bug otakus who study them as their main hobby. I'm in the middle of reading a book The Forest Calls/mori ga yobu that won an Japanese book award for the scariest book. I wouldn't call myself a horror fan, but lately I've been trying to just let myself get influenced or just try new things/genres. And I got really curious about what kind of book Japanese people might find really scary. So far it is really good, smooth flowing writing style. If you are interested, if you google "森が呼ぶ 表紙" you should get the cover art. I think it looks really nice. Also, two nights in a row I had a tiny little insect land on the pages of my opened book whilst I was reading. Luckily they were both very brave and didn't fly off when I moved, so I was able to just walk them outside and blow gently on the book to send them off into the night in peace. Sorry to hear about your migraines acting up. I hope they buzz off and leave you peruse your tomes in tranquility. 🐺
Thank you so much! I hope that it does so that you can try it!! 😊 That cover art is gorgeous! Horror isn't my favorite genre, either, although I do like spooky stories and occasionally find a horror-coded one that I enjoy. I hope that you are enjoying it! I am also a bug-saver and can frequently be found taking them outside on papers or in a cup designated for that purpose. Thank you again for the well wishes. I really appreciate it! 🐺🐕
Such a fun video. You always get plenty of books I've never heard of, and I like that. It's probably book crimes but I always toss my obis. I know the resale value a book can go down without them. And I've even read book/product reviews where a Japanese person was raging that their book didn't come with an obi and just assumed it was used, even though not all books even have them. 🙄 They are just advertisements, most of the time for the book they are attached to, sometimes with photos and quotes of book influencers. I've only even seen one that made me think the designer even bothered to make it look nice with the rest of the book's cover art. Just a pet peeve. 🙂 I just ordered a haul myself of 53 books. 😅I won't got any of them for close to a week and a half, I would imagine. I will do one more order this year, for some of the books out of print in the series I am gathering up which need to be ordered used. That won't be nearly as big. Maybe 14 books or so. Every book I ordered was Japanese language, many with little hope of every being translated, so it seems kind of pointless to talk about them. However, of the couple of Western books I ordered, one you might be interested in is Circe by Madeline Miller. I really wanted to get The Song of Achilles because I love the Iliad. (even though I am honestly more of a Hector fan. 😊) It's out of print in Japanese and the price is too exorbitant for my blood. If I really love Circe, I might reconsider and drink the bitter wine of insanely high prices though. (Or maybe if the yen keeps falling like a rock.) One of the fantasy series I got translates to "Dragon Doctor Team." Seems like you might enjoy it. The cast is a group of eccentric characters who risk their lives to help dragons, which see humans as little more than ants. The two main characters are both hoping to join the group. They come from different countries and backgrounds, seemly set up as rivals who are trying to fill a single open slot on the team. It's short with two volumes but the synopsis doesn't indicate that the second volume will be the last. Anyhow, there are tons of different things that I am excited about. 🌜
Thank you so much! 😊 Obis are honestly a fairly new concept for me, but I have so far kept all of whatever the Chinese equivalent is on my few Chinese books just because I like to keep all of the paraphernalia. I can see how they could get annoying, though, especially when they don't go well with the book! Circe is definitely on my tbr, and I do highly recommend The Song of Achilles, though I also understand not wanting to pay ridiculous prices for out-of-print books. That last series sounds so fun, oh my gosh! I LOVE dragons, and stories where people are helping/coexisting with them rather than fighting them just make me so happy!! 😍 Maybe it'll get an English release one day. I'm so glad that you have books to be excited about! It's always a nice feeling to look forward to a new story or to continuing one that you already love. 💜🌘
I just got the Official Artbook for The Untamed and OMG it's beautifull 😍 I feel like your shelves could be twins of mine 🤣. And I also got the first book for the Bone Season! Not sure when I'll be able to read it though. My TBR keeps getting bigger... 🌕
Oh, no! I completely forgot to include the artbook in this haul! Oh well, I'll stick it in July's, I guess. It is beautiful, isn't it? 😍 And same! The tbr definitely seems to grow faster than it shrinks most months.🙃
Well done, Aubrey. That was a very satisfying watch. I love how you take such care of each book, and also your precision when re-shelving. I got so excited when you placed that first book on your new shelf! Are the books on the floor your TBR? I want to live in your library room. Let me just grab this cot I have....... 🧝♀ 🧝 🧝♂ My book shelves are very loosely organized by the height of the book, but I do have all of my expensive collectors editions together, all of my Penguin black spines together, all of my art books together, and all of my Persephone books together. My current reads are in my bedroom on my nightstand (with my Kindle), and my Folio Society Editions are on a dresser in my bedroom as well, with the cutest black cat bookends. So glad I watched to the very, very end because of the sweet little cats. You can't have a library without cats.
Thank you so much!! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! 😊 The piles of books are some of the books on my tbr, haha. There are some half-height bookcases on the opposite wall that hold my current priority tbr. 🧝🏻♀️ Putting together books from the same collection can look so lovely! I especially love seeing all of the Penguin books with their black spines all lined up; I think that it's very satisfying. I, however, am a bit OCD about having all of my books with the others from that series/other editions. I love adding little snippets at the ends of my videos with my babies! 💜 They're so sweet, and I love to show them off.
So many beautiful books. It really is amazing just how much flourish special editions can have. Do you have regular versions for reading and keep them special editions for display? When I was rereading the Hobbit recently, I took the dusk jacket off, because it was coming loose as I read. The naked hardback is pure white, and all the text and a drawn frame are in a thin, dull gold leaf. I wasn't even halfway through when I noticed my hands were rubbing at the leaf, either turned it green or just smearing it off completely. So, I would be terrified to read one of those special editions. 😱 I got the Arslan novels recently. The series is comprised of 16 books! 😄I decided to get the novels instead of the manga, because the novel series is already finished and I'm wanting to read more novels relative to manga. Plus, I can enjoy reading the manga later and seeing how it compares to my vision of what the characters looked like, and what, if anything was changed in the story. Thanks for nerding out with your books! It was fun! 😁
Thank you so much, and you're very welcome!! 😊 I actually do read my special editions (usually; there are always exceptions!). I'm just really careful and aware of what I do with them and how I hold them. I have also had an experience where I noticed that my fingers were messing up a cover, but luckily, it hardly ever happens! There are some books in my collection that I don't read, though, because I'm too terrified of hurting them. I am so jealous! I would love to read the Arslan novels, but there isn't an English release for them, and unfortunately, I can't read Japanese. I really hope that you like them! 😄
I wouldn't have thought your set up could look much nicer but it's even more amazing now! 😃I gather from what you said during the video that these shelves are restricted to books you have read. That really adds to the sense of self expression involved when they are all books that you have imbibed and have in a way become a part of you. So it makes so much sense that you would take the care to deck it out with things you enjoy. It's a genuine work of art. I especially enjoyed the big ring of keys. They are so mysterious to me, I want to believe they actually go to some huge lock, but also can't help but think they must be purely decorative. 😁And your fairy in the glass cuboid, I have a very similar rectangular glass prism that I got from my oldest friend from Japan inhabited by an Asian dragon surrounded by wispy stylized clouds. It is so richly detailed down to the tiny scales, coiling around filling out most of the space. I love it. It makes me suspect the fairy must look really great up close. I also like how you stack some of your series. It add variety and is space efficient all at the same time. As for my set up, it's the most boring thing in the world. Since the Japanese version of the mass market paperback has got to be the tiniest standardized book in the entire world, I just use media shelves as book shelves. They are very shallow, but if you have short books, you can really make a lot of columns since the shelves are so thin. Also, on my regular book shelves I keep the bindings up to the front edge of the shelves so they are all in a smooth line. Which I just think looks nice, but there is no room for decorations. I don't really collect figures and stuff, but I do have a few things like postcards that came with a book and such that I think look nice that I rest on the top of my media shelves. My second favorite decoration is a large quartz crystal. I got it from my great grandmother who collected rocks. It is so big that it could have been used to heal the Dark Crystal. I don't organize my books other than keeping series together. And even that is hard since I have a lot of manga. I have so many series where I have several volumes shelved with new volumes that are getting stacked on the floor. 😅I'm due for a new shelf. 🙃 I'm right in the middle of rereading LotR and I'm loving it. 🧝Thanks for the fun video! Looking forward to more.
Thank you so much!! 😊 I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organization, so I am pretty diligent about putting books where I want them to go, haha. Your dragon decoration sounds amazing! And yes, the angel is much more detailed up close; there are even a moon and some stars behind and around her. I used to line all of my books up by the spine to make a nice, even line, but then I read an article about the how it's better for the binding to line them up by the pages, so I do that instead while still leaving a bit of space between them and the backs of the bookcases for airflow. Space is definitely always a problem for book collectors, haha! I also have my floor stacks! I'm so glad that you're enjoying your reread of LoTR. I'm due for one, as well, I think! 🧝🏻♀️
You have an impressive collection 🧝, thank yo for sharing it with everyone. Personally I organize by genres and publication companies {as they tend to have similar covers}, followed by names of authors {not alphabetically}.
Thank you so much! And you're very welcome! 😊 That's very interesting. I've seen lots of people sort by genre, and I know some people sort their manga by publisher. I would have a hard time deciding what genre to sort some of the books under, haha! Do you include age categories? 🧝🏻♀️
@@AubreyLikestoRead Tes, I have a designated area for middle grade series, but it is not a hard rule for me {mostly due to limitation of space there} but it is the intent.
You're joy for the artwork on your books is fantastic. 😀While I have seen a few special editions of popular manga, I've never come across a special edition of a Japanese novel. They might well exist, but if so, it seems to be at no where near the scale they are produced in the west. Also, there isn't much fore-edge painting, and what I have seen has always been a simple single color. I bet the special editions can add some pressure to purchase with there probably being limited printings of them. Especially if you are getting them from the UK or some other foreign country. I know I worry about books I really want going out of print because, while it isn't impossible, there are a lot of added steps where something could go wrong, and costs that can't be perfectly calculated until you are further along the process and well on the hook when purchasing used items from Japan. Also, you seem to worry about pronouncing author/character names. Maybe it would help to take a second to search google to find an audio clip with the pronunciation, so you don't have to worry about it so much? I just thought something like that might help you be able to be more at ease. And, your doggie is so cute! I love cats too, but dogs have always been special to me! 😍 Thanks for the fun video and hope you are enjoying your summer reading!
Thank you so much! 😊 I love art in general, and the cover art for some books can be absolutely stunning. And yes, special and limited editions are always stressful, both trying to secure a copy of one and deciding which ones to spend money on, haha! I also worry sometimes about certain editions (such as hardbacks or editions with certain cover art) going out of print, and sometimes manga series will unfortunately do so, as well. And I agree; Zella is a cutie!! 😄
Thank you so much! Your comments are always so wonderful to read! 😊 My favorite biological subject is zoology (with a side of a&p & genetics). I love animals so much and find it so fascinating to learn about how they live and operate and about their anatomical and physiological structures and processes. I will admit that I don't know a lot about plants - such as how to identify or care for them - besides how they function on a cellular level, but I am trying to learn some! And I agree, having a diverse yard and garden is so beautiful, not to mention environmentally friendly. (Also, I think it's nice when people get excited about their interests and talk about what they love!) I tend to only buy editions of books in English, since that's currently the only language that I'm fluent in, but I have made some exceptions with Mandarin because I am attempting to learn it. Let me tell you, though, the different cover illustrations are very tempting!! 😅 Maybe one day!
What a coincidence! I just got Elantris in the mail a couple of days ago! There's always a lot of hype around Sanderson, and I ran into an article about getting into his writing, and decided to dip my toe in. It's so cool that you got your degree in biology. I actually wanted to be a evolutionary biologist, but got derailed when I took my mandatory language classes. I still love the subject though. So much so that a big hobby of mine, besides books, is landscaping with native plants. If I see an unfamiliar butterfly in my yard, I look it up and find out what its host plant(s) are and try to get some planted somewhere. The relationship between the plants and animals is always amazing. You also get a landscape that transforms with the seasons because of the shorter bloom times of a large variety of flowers. I need to pull the horse reigns back here before geeking out completely. I had an electrician come to my house and he made the mistake of asking me about some oak saplings I had in containers and got a foamy mouth rant about how amazing oaks are. His regret was very visible. Poor guy. 😅 By the way, yes, this type of video will, by it's very nature, have a pattern of "I'm so excited about this book! I'm so excited about this book!" But you do a good job of keeping it fresh by reading the synapses, talking about why you are excited, and adding in personal anecdotes about your copies of the books (when they exist.) As long as you keep conscious of it, I think you will do fine with it. Also, you need to not stop with English version of LotR. Do the right thing and collect every release in every language. If you are going to do something, might as well go all the way in. You will probably have enough books to use as bricks to build an estate house... 🤣 Thanks for the fun video! Good luck with your reading!🚣🏽♂
Lots of interesting picks! I love fantasy. I had heard that Howl's Moving Castle was originally an English novel, but had forgotten about looking into it more. Thanks for putting it back on my radar! Also, if you get around to reading The Devil And The Dark Water, I would love to hear what you think about it. (I found a Japanese translation. But, it's a bit expensive, making me a bit cautious to dive in. I am tottering clumsily up and down on a wobbling diving board.) I'm fairly new to booktube, so I've only recently heard of seasonal reading. I live in Missouri, so the seasons are very pronounced, almost ideally so, I would go as far to say. While I haven't decided want to read according the seasons, they do affect my reading experience. In spring and autumn I can read on the porch, thus being surrounded by a cool breezes, birdsong and various little critters. And there are plenty of rainy days. While in summer and winter, I am indoors, in silence, in a space designed to avoid distractions. So, it's interesting to think about. I looked at my bookshelves but was hard-pressed to find a book/series that really felt connected to a season to me personally. I have a book of manga shorts that all take place in ancient Egypt. So, maybe the hot desert is summer-like... I have a manga series that takes place in Iceland, with a detective who can talk to cars. I thought for sure it would have some nice wintery vibes, but as I flipped through the first volume, the main character was driving in his jeep with the windows down and sunglasses on. Then he went swimming in the sea. I feel betrayed. 🤣 Anyhow, thanks for the fun video! 🐳
I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! 😊 I have lots of books that don't fit a specific season for me and that I'd want to read at any time, but some just really remind me of a certain season. It may be that they take place during that season or that the setting/weather fits, or it may be that the overall premise/vibe just embodies that season for me personally. Sometimes, I just like to read certain types of books during certain seasons; for example, I love reading epic fantasy in either the winter or the summer. I think it's all about just reading what makes you happy/what you want when it makes you happy/when you want! (Also, I'm sorry about the betrayal, haha! I have had similar experiences.)
Sorry to hear you are suffering from migraines. Hopefully they subside or you find an effective way to deal with them so they don't get in the way of your enjoyment of doing the things you love. As far as vices go, I think collecting books is just about the best one a person could have. I understand your feelings about having lots of unread books. I do too, but probably anyone that collects books does as well. I think part of the fun is collecting the books in and of itself, finding new and interesting things via RU-vid or some other means, having hundreds of adventures at the tips of your fingers, supporting our favorite authors/artists, and enjoying the artwork. We live in an age overloaded with amazing media and we will never be able to experience it all. As long as you aren't putting yourself in debt, keeping yourself from saving for retirement or doing other things you would like to do, I don't see the harm. Maybe just take a breath, not worry so much about it, find a book you are interested in the moment and let it sweep you away. No reason to put pressure on yourself or stress, because this is about enjoyment and your personal pleasure. I hope you have a great summer and go on many adventures with your books whittling away at a comfortable pace! 😁👍
Thank you so much for the kind words! I've actually had migraines since I was twelve, so I'm pretty used to dealing with them; the increase in frequency is just frustrating. But I agree! People should be able to enjoy the things they love as long as they are not being irresponsible with them! It can be daunting to think about having so many unread books, but it can also be fun to go pick out the next one to read out of the pile! I hope that you also have a wonderful summer (or winter if you're in the summer hemisphere!) and that you find some amazing stories to immerse yourself in! 😊😊
That was a lot of fun. My favorite part was when your mom told you there weren't any pictures on the Bradbury book and you kind of panicked and said, "What!?" 🐱
I greatly appreciate that your channel covers a genre of books not covered by all the big book channels on RU-vid. Your channel helps me add real diversity to my tbr list. I've been needing to break out and try other genres. I look forward to adding some of these to my own reading list. I hope you keep the channel going... I'll probably wait until you've read some of these are give a review. In the mean time, I'll have to try out Heroic Legend of Arslan.
Thank you so much! I really just talk about books that I like or am interested in, and I tend to be interested in a lot, haha. I'm so glad that you've found some new titles! And you should definitely try Arslan; it's so wonderful! 😄
I've been eyeing His Majesty's Dragon because I very much enjoyed Naomi Novik's books Uprooted and her Scholomance series. I'd recommend two series, but I don't know if these would be considered underrated. The first would be Dungeon Crawler Carl. In the beginning, the series can feel like a joke, and I think the whole series is technically satire, but as you progress through the books, you find yourself getting way too invested in these characters. For a series that started off like a joke, it can really pull on the emotions. If you try Dungeon Crawler Carl, you have to try the Audiobook version because Jeff Hays is a master voice actor that really brings the books to life. The series I'd recommend is Beware of Chicken. I love that series too, but I this message is already to long, so I'll stop there. Thanks for all the recommendations.
You're very welcome! And thank you! I've actually heard a few people talking about Dungeon Crawler Carl lately, and they all seem to love it. It sounds interesting! I've never heard of the other series, though. (Also, you should definitely try Temeraire; I genuinely love it so much!)
Thank you for sharing this list of lesser known genre books. The only one that I have read and enjoyed is the series by Naomi Novik 🐉 Are you familiar with The Sparrow ? 🐦🐦🐦
I actually had three of these on my radar. I've been wanting to try Arslan because the novels were written by the same author as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which I really enjoy. I have the first novel of the Temeraire series, but I bought it in a big bulk order (if I don't order in bulk the shipping per book is crazy from Japan.) And, I wishlisted The Goblin Emperor a while ago when I was looking for fantasy/sci-fi books that won or were nominated for certain awards that seemed interesting. I like your shirt, btw. Riding the cat bus would be amazing, right? 😄I need to rewatch Totoro at some point. 🐦
Thank you so much! 😊 I would love to ride the Cat Bus!! I'm due for a Totoro rewatch, as well (I like to watch it in the spring/summer). The series that you mentioned are three of my absolute favorites. I would love to hear what you think if you try any of them!
@@AubreyLikestoRead Yes, I'll definitely try and read those three. I was already curious about them and your video got me more excited to read them. I'll likely try Bartimaeus as well. Thanks!
Hi I agree with you about The Bartimaes Trilogy loved it so much. Then I found The Ring of Soloman, it's the prequel and is hilarious, with the sassy footnotes😊
@@AubreyLikestoRead He also wrote the series Lockwood and Co. It is really enjoyable and Netflix made it into a series, not sure if it's still on going but the books are worth reading 😊
You seem to like a lot of Japanese books! 😀 If you haven't read Ascendance of a Bookworm, I would highly recommend it! It seems like a series you would like a lot. As for my Spring reading, I'm reading Japanese translations of a few old western fantasy classics. Right now I am on the first three books in the Dragon Lance series, which, I've never read before. Afterwards, I am going to re-read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit was the first real novel I read as a child and it had a huge impact on me, so I thought it would be fun to go through it in Japanese to see what it reads like. Same with the LotR. Thanks for the fun videos.
Oh, that sounds wonderful! I'm actually learning Mandarin right now (though it's been kind of slow going at the moment) and have also thought that it would be fun to one day read some of my favorite books translated into another language. I'd love to hear how about your experience with The Hobbit and LoTR in Japanese! Also, Ascendance of a Bookworm is definitely on my Want to Try list. Thank you for the recommendation!
