make miniature books & chat with me! (& watch me not realize that i made them ALL backwards 😭)

hey hi hello welcome back to my Channel today I'm going to be making miniature books of the books that I've read so far this year as I answer questions that you guys submitted over on my Instagram @ Jesse the reader if you want to follow me I've become obsessed with miniature books this year I've been trying to track down those mini Brands books capsules everywhere I go they're so hard to find these days but also a few years ago I tried to make miniature books of the books that I had read that year and throw them into a jar but if you've been following this channel for a while you'll know that I am really bad with projects and that I don't stick to anything the only project that I have stuck to is this YouTube channel but I'm also the type of person where just because something doesn't work out at first doesn't mean that I'm going to stop trying so here I am again I'm going to try this mini books project once again I've only read four books this year though I am in the middle of this book right here a river Enchanted so I'm going to go ahead and make that book I've already made one of the books I made a miniature version of fourth wi though I must admit I'm not like the happiest with how this turned out I didn't use a tutorial when I made this one I just kind of like threw it together but since making this one I've looked up a tutorial on how to make them better and how to make them more sturdy so I'll leave a link to that down below in the description this process is a bit tedious and this is not meant to be a tutorial by any means this video is not a tutorial again I have a tutorial linked Down Below in the description if you want to learn how to do this but I found this canva template which I will link Down Below in the description I bring the book covers into canva size them to the template print them out on card stock and now we are here which is my least favorite part of the process which is cutting things out because I'm terrible at cutting things out like I cannot cut a straight line to save my life it's very unfortunate let's start answering questions while we're doing this you're given $1 million but you can only buy onear books do you take the offer yes I do take the offer because I'm a little trickster and I would just end up using the library I know it would suck to like never be able to like buy a five-star read and I guess like if you were to read a book from the library and it ended up being a five-star read you wouldn't be able to buy that book again because if you buy that book it's going to end up being a one star read at least that's how my mind is making it out to be but like at the end of the day a million dollars would literally change my life I don't know whose life wouldn't change by getting a million dollar I mean if you're already a millionaire then yeah it's not going to change your life but me somebody who is far far far far from being a millionaire it would change my life so I would take that money gladly and just become a library rat I would live at the library forever also I could trick the system again and have somebody buy me books I love trying to find loopholes for these kinds of questions I would much rather just use the library and have Financial stability like that just sounds like the life for me I'll take it and I'll run with it run with it I will do I almost just cut off Prince Harry's ear sorry Prince Harry also while I'm here cutting out these books I just want to talk about the fact that I'm currently reading a river Enchanted by Rebecca Ross and it is everything to me I not read a book like that in a minute where I just like completely fall in love with it from the start like it's been such an interesting experience like I was not even expecting to like the book as much as I have been liking it because it is a romanti book and I just don't know if Romany is necessarily like the genre for me but I will say that like the romance aspect of it is not like too overwhelming which was my fear going in and I feel like that's my fear in general when it comes to Romany like I feel like the romance typically just comes in and overshadows everything I cut out the book covers and now it's time to cut out the pages which again cutting in general is not my sport it's not my forte I'm not very good at it so this process is not very fun for me you want the pages to be like a little bit smaller than the book cover so I'm going to try my best to do that I need a ruler I'm going to get a ruler ruler Acquired and I just realized I don't have a pencil I'm doing so great doing so well pencil acquired next question your favorite bookish accessory I feel like the first thing that's coming to mind is like the book bases on my bookshelves I just love these These are from Aluma crate and they're just so cute mind you I have far too many I sorted just like passing along some of these to my friends who are also Book Lovers cuz I only really need one book face but I feel like they often have these in their boxes I mean obviously you can't go wrong with The Bookmark either they're so useful and there's also just so many pretty ones out there these days that line was not very straight was it it was not but it's okay we'll survive I feel like something else that comes to mind is my tools that I use when I annotate I don't love the tabs that everybody uses when they annotate like I don't like the tabs that like stick out of the book like it just irritates me like every time I see it I'm just like I don't like that I use these things that are called book darts and you can just like slide it into the page so it doesn't like stick out and they change the game for me when it comes to annotating and highlighting and all of that stuff because I do want to be able to go back to the pages that I've marked up I also don't like the tabs that stick out so those change the game for me I'm also obsessed with midliner highlighters these are everything to me they're the best highlighter in the game mind you they're like the only highlighters that I've tried so there might be better brand out there but like that's my highlighter of choice I hate this part so much I got pencil all over my desk oopsies I feel like that just made it so much worse it's fine I'll take care of it later I'm a messy human being I can't help myself you're able to cut in a straight line you're better than me I'm jealous of you I'm like cutting at an angle I just don't know how to not cut at an angle what is the ideal book length H I got to think about this I feel like my happy spot these days is like 350 to 400 pages and it all really depends on like the author's writing style there are some authors who can make like 600 page books just feel super engaging and like they don't even feel like they're actually 600 Pages like the authors that are able to do that magicians I tell you Wizards I tell you but I feel like any longer than 350 400 Pages can sometimes just feel a little on the dragged out side of things the pacing will be a little off I just feel like that amount of pages is like the perfect amount to execute a concept like that's just enough that's more than enough to be able to like execute a really interesting concept I feel like I just really struggle with long books these days because I feel like I've been burned so many times especially when it's like a really long book and they have this amazing concept and they're still not able to execute the concepts like what are you doing you have all these pages in order to sort out the story in order to come through with the Banger and you're leaving me feeling empty when I'm leaving the book like come on now I know I have high standards but like come on I'm really trying to get better at doing crafty things but I continue to struggle but I'd rather be seen trying than not try at all you know that's my motto this year I'd rather be seen trying than not try at all we've got our Pages for one book I'm going to do some folding and some gluing fold and glue if you were to describe your reading taste what would it be that's a really good question cuz I don't know that I necessarily know the books that I'm craving right now like what that even really looks like I will say that I am loving a river Enchanted and I want more books like that in my life ASAP like I had like a euphoric feeling almost out of body experience when I was reading it the other night like I think I was just being so moved by the words that I just like fell into this like euphoric place it was interesting it wasn't in and I would love to have that feeling again which I know is not describing my current reading taste I think I would just like love to have more books move me in that way which I know it's not something that you can just like go out and find like it just kind of is something that happens naturally unexpectedly all that to say I think my current reading taste would have to be kind of soft fantasy sort of that cozy fantasy vibe like I'm not really interested in reading a fantasy story that has like a big war situation happening like I'm just kind of over that right now I'm not really in the mood for something like that I don't want something that's like Po ically heavy I just want like a fantasy setting with maybe like a mystery situation happening cuz that's very much so the case with a river Enchanted right now there is some politic elements coming into play with that book but like so far it's like a mystery situation that's happening with a fantasy setting all these girls are going missing and we follow a musician who is trying to help track them down I would say that I'm also like very much so still in the non-fiction mood I read a lot of amazing non-fiction books last year and then I read spare recently by Prince Harry which I didn't necessarily like hardcore love that book I enjoyed the process of reading it and I enjoyed the process of learning about somebody and I feel like I just currently have this itch to learn things whether it be learning about somebody and their life or learning about a really Niche topic like I would love to pick up more non-fiction books this year and read the heck out of them because that just like excites me right now and I know that I've been asking for a lot of non-fiction book wrecks recently but I'm going to open up the floor again if you have more non-fiction book recommendations for me drop them in the comments please I think I'm also somewhat craving Thrillers right now when I was reading yellow face it has to scene in it that feels very Thriller especially one of the early scenes I was like dang this feels straight out of a thriller and I think that I also just really want to dabble into horror this year cuz I feel like horror is going to be something that I really like because I'm a horror movie fan I play a lot of horror games and I just need to give that genre a chance cuz I feel like I'm going to love it we're moding and podging a standalone book you wish had a sequel or a book series you wish would be a stand alone ooh good question honestly I kind of wish that Cemetery boys would have been expand it into a series cuz I feel like the potential is there the author could have explored so many more things with those characters mind you I love it in its Standalone form but I just also love those characters and I love The Vibes that that story delivers we're doing some doctoring it's going to be great it's going to be fine it's going to be magical every little thing it's going to be all right another layer of Modge Podge here we go this is such a messy process too I'm so sticky over here the other part of that question a book series you wish would have been a standalone I'm going to say the one of us is lying Trilogy I have not read the third and final book so I don't know like what's in that book or like what else is added to the story but I read the second book and like I did really enjoy it I liked the way in which it expanded on the story but I also just had this feeling where I was like this was unnecessary like we did not need to drag the story line on it was one of those situations where one of us is lying was so popular it was on the New York Times Bill list for so long that of course they're going to kind of like capitalize on it and decide to expand it but like it just didn't need to happen and then I will say also the we were Liars situation like that bothers me so much to this day like it just frustrates me that we were given a prequel situation that just reflected so many of the elements in the first book that it just like did not need to happen we did not need that story to be expanded in any way shape or form so it's frustrating that it did end up getting some kind of like prequel situation and I'm still salty about it clearly very upset about it I think we're ready to insert the pages it doesn't really like have the shape of the book um that's okay putting Modge Podge on Prince Harry's face it would be such a jump scare to like have your face so blown up on a book cover like I would not enjoy walking into a store and seeing my face this big on a book cover he's Prince Harry I'm sure he's used to seeing his face on all the things all the magazine covers my hands have crustiness all over them now disgusting let's work on the yellow face one next oh the Crusty on my hand is driving me crazy next question which new genre do you think has got great potential to be popular like dystopia has I mean I feel like romantic is having its moment for sure but I feel like after that I'm not really sure what will be like the next thing to kind of pop off I feel like sci-fi really hasn't had its moment yet but I also understand that one cuz I think that people are intimidated by it and by people I mean me I am people I am intimidated I can't help it so I don't know if a genre like that will necessarily like pop off um I feel like maybe magical realism will have its moment again and will start to pop off again I feel like there's a lot of people like me who like really enjoy contemporary stories but always wishes that there was just like a touch of magic so I would like to see magical realism again sort of start to pop off looks like you've reached Sam the cost of kn or the astonishing color of after one of my all-time favorites I would love to just see more books in that lane where it's reality but we've also got like a touch of magic in the air I think I cut down the pages a little too much for this one no you know what I'm just going to go for it and just see what happens we're not looking for Perfection here okay they're just a visual representation of the books I've read this year do you read dedications in books if so what's a good one that has stayed with you I do typically read the dedications cuz I feel like they're typically like one or two lines and it's not that big of a deal acknowledgements on the other hand I more times than not will skip the ackowledgements I just feel like they're not there for me I feel like that is for the author and their friends and family and the people that have supported them along the way but more times than not I'm just like I did not need to read this I could use this time that I'm taking to read the acknowledgements to read another book anyway there is a book Dedication that I feel like has stuck with me and one that I often think about and that's the one that Victoria Schwab did for a darker shade of Magic the dedication is something along the lines of for the ones who dream of stranger worlds that might not be word for word I can't remember it precisely I just think that that is like such a wholesome dedication and also just like very fitting for that book okay our yellow face is mostly done it needs to dry but I'm pretty happy with it I did make the pages a little too small but not bad not the best just all right but I'm here for just all right I'll take it let's move on to one of my favorite books of the year so far happy place by Emily Henry it was so nice to have a five-star read right at the start of 2024 I feel like that very rarely happens for me but I loved happy place which I've heard since talking about happy place that that is like not a normal experience to have that L of people felt a little bit let down by it but cannot relate I freaking loved happy place it was relatable at times it was emotional at times I was so invested in the relationship which I feel like is just something that Emily Henry is so good at making you feel super attached to the characters and to the relationship situation but I'm here for it I definitely need to explore more of Emily Henry's books I also feel like I'm kind of not in the mood for a romance situation right now so I think I'm going to take a little bit of a romance break I mean I know that a river Enchanted is obviously a Romany it has a romance situation happening but it also is not a romance situation that is like taking up the book it's not leading the book but I definitely feel myself like falling into this like romance burnout but I also read so many Romance Books in December like that's mostly all that I read in December which was not the plan I meant to read a variety of things but I did a read and rank where I read holiday romance books and so I just ended up reading so many and it was kind of upsetting cuz I really didn't enjoy any of the holiday romances and I think in general holiday romances just don't really work out for me I have to be in a specific mood for them and I didn't realize that until I filmed that video and read all those holiday romance books I was like oh I'm not necessarily in the mood for these I was kind of in the mood for romance books but I feel like holiday romance books are a different kind of breed and by that I mean they are another kind of cheesy which is fine sometimes you're in the mood for a Cheesy book and that's okay I just very clearly was not in the correct mindset to be reading those books lesson learned let's hope I don't cut these Pages Too Short this time I feel like I cut them too short and it's not too bad actually I do need to clean it up a little bit trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim I'm feeling good about this one it probably could be a little thicker but we're just going to go with it feel like if I go any thicker it's going to mess it up so my crusty hands are driving me crazy completed happy place we've got one more to go I think the thing that needs the most Improvement for me with these is just like the actual Pages inside the books cuz like it just does not look very realistic and it's bothering me like I know it's not going to be perfect one more question do you have any tips on finding books you'll like I've been reading and haven't found them my tip is to just think about the things that you've been consuming so take a look at the TV shows that you're watching or the movies that you're watching what in those stories are you really enjoying what about those stories is filling up your love tank taking those elements and seeking out recommendations so whether it be a Trope in a story that you really like or a character type that you really liked taking those elements and searching out recommendations you're bound to find something that you might enjoy also just like finding someone online who has similar taste to you is a great way to find books that you'll like because if somebody has similar taste to you and the recommending books you're more than likely going to like the books that they recommend like that's just how things work not saying your Styles will always match up and that you will always agree on books there's always going to be that one book that you just like don't agree with that person H okay friends we have reached the end of the video I have completed my mini books I'm not super proud of them but they're not bad I'm a little rusty when it comes to making miniature books but I've learned some lessons in the process and I will be taking those lessons and hopefully I will become a mini book master in the near future watch out for me guys I'll do a little overview here this one is spare as you can see this one needs a little work got yellow face I trimmed the pages a little too much on this one we've got happy place which I feel like is the one that turned out the best and even still it's not that great and then we've got a river Enchanted which was not glued together very well I might have to go back over that with some more Modge Podge but that's okay those are my mini books into the jar they go this is going to look so nice when it's filled to the brim with all my books that I've read in the year of 2024 I'm super excited about it that is all that I have for you guys today let me know Down Below in the comments if you've ever made your own miniature books and how to go for you do you have any tips for me let me know in the comments if you like this video be sure to go and hit that like button if you want to see more bookish content from me be sure to go and hit subscribe or go and hit that Bell icon and you'll be notified every time I post new videos as always thank you guys so much for watching I hope your day is bright the tomorrow is brighter keep reading what your heart desires and I will see you soon with a new video bye