This is Book Trail ASMR, a place for you to discover all things book-related, in a soothing, relaxing atmosphere. I'll be doing book recommendations, whisper reading, tapping, tracing, colouring - all that good, book-related ASMR stuff!
Whether you're here to shut off from the world for a while, discover new books to add to your TBR, or just some help getting to sleep, I hope you find a video for you.
So join me as we venture down the Book Trail, and see what we can find...
Hi! Hope you enjoy your fantasy-month! I’ve read some years ago a trilogy, based on greek mitology, but it is young adult. First book is “Starcrossed” by Josephine Angelini. Is also romance, so all the things you don’t like 🙈 but I enjoyed the mitological part. Maybe you can check it out 🥰
omg lisa jewell is incredible and i am nearly done working my way through all of her books! i really really loved "watching you" and "none of this is true" in particular
Highly recommend watching some Mr Rogers clips on YT before reading. From the show and his senate testimony in 1969 to see how incredible he was. He’s also often unintentionally asmr, so bonus!
I’ve just finished the book, and definitely should have taken this advice first, but it did make me really want to check out the programme for myself, so I’m going to do that. I do think children who grew up watching him were very lucky to have someone who protected their innocence/allowed them to explore their feelings, rather than constantly being advertised at. He was an incredibly impressive man!
Thank you so much for the video! Your method of choosing books is just hilarious, and the fact that you follow it through no matter what… You are a real book warrior! That Fred Rogers really cracked me up 😂
Sounds like you have an interesting book haul there to get through. I think I’m going to explore the dream book. I love books that analyse our every day life. Over this past year, I’ve had quite a few vivid dreams of being chased and running for my life often with my daughters at a young age ( they are both independent adults now). If not being chased, I’m lost in an unfamiliar place but can see my husband and girls racing in front of me and I can’t catch them up. After reading a bit around this topic, it indicates anxiety. I’m living with that constantly as my husband battles cancer ( terminal) so I’m sure it’s all linked. Anyway as for books, I’ve always kept away from psychological thrillers but decided to bite the bullet. I listened to We play games ( Sarah A Denzil) on audible in the car and at the gym and found it fascinating. So I started reading another on my kindle ( which I read every night before sleeping. ) a private investigator on a new job but was being chased by an unhappy customer. That created another chasing dream so I stopped reading it and have gone for a lighter bedtime reading ( The time between us by Marina Mccarron) On my audible I’ve just started The House in the Cerulean sea - T J Klune. Fantasy YA fiction. ( not read much of this genre since doing children’s literature as part of a degree.) The forgotten seamstress seems like an interesting read too. In fact I found it on Amazon kindle for 99p so have downloaded it. I look forward to your end of June reviews of these books.
Firstly, I’m so sorry to hear your husband has terminal cancer, I can absolutely see how that could impact in your sleep, and I hope you and your family are as ok as you can be. Whenever my sleep starts being affected, I always now know that there’s probably something wrong in my waking life that I need to explore further, even if I’m not consciously aware of anything. I will say that this book did unlock some new fears for me with some of the sleep disorders he describes, so I hope if you do read it, it doesn’t impact you too much! I haven’t heard of the book you mentioned, but if you wanted something really light, The Thursday Murder Club (sounds more thrilling than it actually is!), is a very quirky, funny series following a group of pensioners investigating various crimes. There’s also an incredible book called Grace, which is set during the famine in Ireland. You’ll have to let me know your thoughts on the Forgotten Seamstress once you’ve read it! It’s still on the list to be ticked off, but I’m hoping it’ll be a good one!
I look forward to your book hauls. You give such detail without giving away too much. Some really different stories that I will have to explore. Hope you had a lovely time in Croatia. It’s a lovely place isn’t it. I’ve been to Rovinj on the west coat, Cavtat/ Dubrovnik and am looking forward to going to Split in August.
Thank you so much, I’m glad you like them! It was such a beautiful country, we started at the Plitvice national park, then drove down to Split and ended in Dubrovnik. I don’t think I was expecting it to be as stunning as it was, just driving around and taking in the views was amazing! You’ll have a great time in Split, that was my favourite (apart from scaling the clock tower! 😅)
This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! If you only have one physical copy, did you loan, listen or e-read the others? Do you approach improvement books differently i.e. annotating etc?
I bought the others on my Kindle! I tend to prefer physical copies, but if it’s cheaper on my kindle I’ll do that instead 😅 Yeah I write notes on my phone as I go, just so I can make sure I’ve taken in what the message was, and it’s easy to refer back to! Is there a specific type of improvement book you were after?
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed Crying in H. Mart! You’re absolutely right in saying that it is a LOT more than just grief. It made me feel less alone when processing a family member’s passing, and it helped me heal. I’m glad it did the same for you!
I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m glad the book helped you too. ❤️ Having read so many self help books that read more like instruction manuals, it’s nice to read one once in a while that feels more comforting and less lonely
I can't say that I have a ton to say about these books. I'm not someone who forces myself to go through a book I'm not enjoying, so I've never really read all the way through a book that isn't at least a 6-7 out of 10 for me. Weirdly enough, online book clubs have gotten me to read books that I otherwise wouldn't have even thought of picking up and ended up disliking them as much as I thought I thought I would. A few that come to mind for me are: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Masters of Death by Olivie Blake Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao I also surprisingly didn't enjoy both Blood Meridian and The Road by Cormac McCarthy enough to keep reading. Those were my choice, so I really thought I'd enjoy them based on my own tastes. I ended up not enjoying the writing style. They felt more like a person telling a story rather than conveying a story through dialogue and narration together. It's a bit hard to explain.
Oh no, what didn't you like about The Song of Achilles?? I was hoping it was going to be as good as Circe! I stopped going to a book club because there were too many books in a row I didn't enjoy, and it was just getting harder and harder to get through them in time each month. Do you still do online book clubs now, or have you decided to go your own way?
@@BookTrailASMR I was interested in Song of Achilles for the story and not really for the romance, which was more of the book than I thought it would be. It's not bad, but maybe my expectations were off. I did like the actual prose. As for book clubs, I've just significantly lowered my investment in them to the point where I really only pop in for the books I'm genuinely interested in. There's really only one I kind of participate in now.
I read “The Book Thief” at around 15-16 and I remember finishing it at 3 am on a school night just bawling my eyes out. I was already a moody teenager so I cried all night and didn’t get a wink of sleep. So I got asked by all my teachers the next day if something happened cause my eyes were so puffy and red 😳
😂 the power of a book! I remember being angry at my dad for not warning me properly, even though he said it was going to really upset me - I was not prepared 😅
Oh my gosh, I had the same experience. They put me ahead bc of my reading but that was my only talent haha. My top 3 I think: Anne of Green Gables, The Cherry Robbers, Pursuit of Love. All fiction even though I mostly read nonfic and mystery - funny!
Haha did you manage to stay ahead, or did you get brought back like I did? Thanks for sharing your list! I think I read Anne of Green Gables as a child, but I haven't heard of the other two - are they comfort reads for you, or did you just find them really compelling?
That's an interesting group of books. Life After Life and The Book Thief caught my interest the most, but Little Women is one I also want to get to at some point. It just feels like a classic I should read and the Greta Gerwig movie is a favorite of a few people I know. If so many people enjoy the story, then there has to be something good about it. As a quick update from your crime novel recommendation video, I ended up starting The Family Upstairs on a whim a few days ago. I'm already 22% in and really enjoying. Not quite loving it yet, but I'm definitely interested enough to see what happens by the end. You've scored a point for that recommendation, especially considering that I don't normally read crime novels. This was a tough list to decide on, but these are ultimately my top three favorite books in no particular order: 1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - What's not to like about THE revenge story? It's been a long time since I've read it, so a lot of it is hazy, but this was the first book I think I ever called a favorite. I'm definitely due for a reread. 2. Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris - It's a non-fiction history that reads like a TV show with twists and turns. I love reading about video games history and this was the book that sparked my interest in the subject (other than having played video games my whole life). 3. Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love by David Talbot - This is the history of San Francisco, California during the late 1960s through early 1980s looked at through a political and social lens. I grew up around San Francisco, so it was fascinating to read about all of these familiar people and places as well as learn a ton of new things about the city and its people. It was hard to put down because there were so many wild stories in it. Honorable mention to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Those feel a little too fresh to me to call favorites, but I do genuinely love these last two books.
You should definitely add Little Women to your list, although I'm intrigued to know your thoughts on Life After Life too if you ever read that one. Haha I'll take that point for The Family Upstairs! It's a pretty consistent one that I recommend that seems to be universally liked, but I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for sharing your list! I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo, but tbh you had me at revenge, so maybe I'll add it to the pile. I'm always wary of classics with how much the language/style of writing can trip me up, but then I recently read a Thomas Hardy book and managed alright. The other two also sound really interesting, although the video game one slightly more with your description of how it's written. It kind of reminds me of a book I read years ago called How Music Got Free, and it's about the rise of illegal streaming, and how it changed the face of the music industry. That was super interesting, and not something I'd ever really put much thought to before. I looked up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and that sounds exactly up my street, so that's definitely going on the list. I feel like I could do a whole month's reading just on the books you've recommended alone - I still have Carrie and The Poppy War book on my TBR, and now a few more 😂
Interesting set of books. I think I'll be checking out Feel Good Productivity, Murder in the Family, and Circe at some point. I like the idea that Feel Good Productivity is more of an informational book. I generally don't like the idea of "you must do this" kind of books because suggestion don't necessarily fit as easily into my life as easily as maybe the author thinks they might. I haven't heard a bad thing about Circe so far. That one just seems like a no-brainer to check out. Murder in the Family actually reminded me a bit of Dark One: Forgotten, an audiodrama formatted like a true crime podcast about a fictional disappearance. It's the second non-Cosmere Brandon Sanderson story I've experienced and his collaboration with Dan Wells on this one probably made it better than it would have been if he had written it solo. Ultimately, I did enjoy it a lot despite some events towards the end (plot points), but it was more of a journey over destination thing for me. The audio performances and actual dialogue were fun to listen to. I'd say it's a 7/10 for me and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a crime story in podcast format. It's audio only, so I don't know if I'd count it as a book necessarily, but I guess do with that information what you will.
Oh I might check that out, I always say I want to get into podcasts but then forget and go about my business 😅 I’m also having a bit of a reading slump atm, so maybe changing up a format might help reinvigorate me! I think you’ll really enjoy Circe, I just hope the Song of Achilles is just as good
Thank you to everyone who voted in the community poll for my March reading list! If you missed it this time, I'll be doing more things like this in the future, so make sure you subscribe to be the first in the know ❤
