my BOOKTUBE TWIN picks what i read 👀📚🌟

So most of you will know about my Year of Wrecks series this year where I'm getting different book recommendations from different sources every month to try and have my best reading year ever and this month I'm pulling in the big guns. I'm pulling in the big guns because we haven't had very good luck with Year of Wrecks so far. It's actually been doing the opposite of what I intended it to do and I've been having fairly low ratings for a lot of the books. So I've pulled in the big guns today and this month my booktube twin is picking what I read. I know, I know! So Mara from Books Like Wire is my booktube twin. I did a series called Booktube Twin Test where I asked my booktubers for book recommendations and the idea was to find my booktube twin where I'd give three books five stars by them and I never thought it would actually happen but it did with Mara. I read Death on the Nile, I read The Rook and I read The Broken Girls. They were all absolute five stars to me and so I've decided this month to get Mara to pick what I read again and she's going to be giving me book recommendations and we're going to be reading them. I feel like this is going to be a really good episode of Year of Wrecks. I have high hopes, not to put any pressure on Mara, but I have high hopes. This is an episode a lot of you guys have been requesting and suggesting and it's been an episode I knew I was going to do since I came up with this idea but I am just so excited. I am so excited. So let's cut to Mara telling us what we're going to be reading. I simply cannot wait. Okay friends, it's time to find out what books Mara has picked for me. I feel so nervous guys. I feel so nervous. No, I just don't think this is great for me. I don't want to do it. I want to go home. I can't take the pressure of it. Don't you think any job interview... There's so much pressure but I feel like, let's be honest, Year of Wrecks, we've not had the best luck so far. I mean, how many of the leaderboard have been above what I want my average rating for the year to be which is 3.8? How many? Is it one? Two? I hope this show gets cancelled and never renewed. I feel like if anyone can save me it's Mara and I'm just so excited. I just feel like we need to recreate that magic. I don't know if I'm aiming for three five stars again because that's like, you know, I don't think that's necessarily realistic again but I'm aiming for some good books. So let's see what Mara's recommended. Oh, hello. Hello. So I have recorded this once but where it went, I don't know. So we're gonna do this again. I think these are roughly the same books I pulled the first time but we'll find out. Well, no, we won't because I don't know where the original footage went. Anyway, I do remember one of them in particular and I'm gonna give you some options. So I'm guessing you probably ultimately want to read three. Yeah. But I've pulled six and there's only one of them that I think you really should read. So. Okay, okay, we've got one definite. The one you really should read is The Obsession by Nora Roberts. Now, I will- Pause, pause, pause, pause, pause. I'm gonna be reading my first Nora Roberts. I've never read Nora Roberts. My mum likes Nora Roberts. I've never read Nora Roberts. You know, I know Mara adores Nora Roberts. Oh my god, okay. I'll say all of the- most of these are meant to not be- I'm not promising these are five star reads. I want to be clear because I want to defend my title. I did not pull any of these thinking that they would for sure be a five star read. Okay. But I think it would be interesting to see how you do with a Nora Roberts Romantic Suspense because if you like this, you know, Homegirl has like 300 books so- Yeah, okay. You have plenty to choose from. Romantic Suspense is- I don't know how you feel about suspense actually now that I'm thinking about it. I'd be curious to find out. This particular one is a serial killer backstory, so the book starts with our main character as a child discovering that her dad is a serial killer and turning him in basically. And that sort of follows her as she's growing up and the main action of the book is her as an adult moving to this new town, renovating a house because Nora Roberts loves some reno porn basically. And she's falling in love but then there's also a copycat of her dad who might actually be the real killer, like we don't know. So it's the suspense cat and mouse thing where we're watching both the killer and her and watching them like get closer together. Kind of like that old Julia Roberts movie, Sleeping with the Enemy. That's the vibe. So this is the one I think you should definitely try. It's my favorite Nora Roberts and- I'm If you like it, there's a lot of it. And if you don't like it, you at least know that. Oh, but you're a Nora Roberts already, shit. Okay. And then I pulled a couple of more like literature picks that I thought maybe you would enjoy. These are both two of my all-time favorite books. So The Remains of the Day is historical fiction and it's such a beautiful book. It's a very character-focused book about regret and complicity. It's so good. It's about this butler in this big English house in the interim war period and how he's watching his master that feels too strong, his employer, essentially facilitate the rise of the Nazis. Should he have done more? Could he have done more? It's beautifully written. I love this book. And then The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. These are gothic, dark feminist retellings of fairy tales. So if you're down for some short stories, this is very good. So I don't know. I thought maybe, you know, getting out of my mystery comfort zone, these are two I recommend. Okay. Okay. Maybe pick one of those. Okay, one of those. And then the last three, you know, I think this The 8th Detective is so good and so underrated. I think as my book twin you will understand why it's so good. They're short, interconnected short stories that are all classic whodunits and there's a lot of like twistiness to it. I love this and think more and more highly of it as time goes on. But I was in the minority. I know. People told me I'm not like it, but I'm really interested in it. Oh, I was hoping she'd recommend Anthony Horowitz. Would you love this? You would. This is an us kind of book. Anthony Horowitz is a questionable entity. So as a public reviewer, I don't know if you want to get into that. Okay. I'll just leave that there. This is great. But in terms of like the public reviewing component of it, I get it if I didn't know about Anthony Horowitz. Okay, I'll do my research. And then if you just need something light, I think The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan. Courtney Milan is such a good historical romance author. She's a beautiful actual like writer, like her prose is great. And then I don't know, this was a really light version of what she does. I don't think you read a ton of historical romance, so this might be like a taste expander. Oh my god. But it's a less angsty historical and it's about this duke who is half Asian and nobody in the town nearby knows he's the duke. And it's like a community of Asian immigrants. So he's in love with this woman. He's trying to persuade her to marry him and also figure out how to tell her that he's the duke when she is like not into that. So it's short, cute. And like I said, I don't think you read a ton of historical romance. This might be a taste expander. Oh my brain is speaking in the background. So there you go. You can read one of these. You could read all of them. But if you're just going to read one, I say you need to read this one. The rest of it you can just match. Okay. Thank you, Mara. I hope you're doing well. I hope I do better than some of your other recommendation videos in this series this year. Oh, I'm sure you will. Okay. Okay. And you know, super twin power. Thank you, Mara. Okay. Okay. So we have to read The Obsession, okay, by Nora Roberts. I think we're going to pick one of the literary ones. And I think I'm going to go for The Remains of the Day. I've had some issues. Listen, if Mara has recommended me a book, personally, I'm going to read all these books at some point. I'm going to add all of these onto my wishlist right now. But yeah, I think Remains of the Day would be a safer choice. I've had some problems with short stories. So we're going to read The Remains of the Day. And then for the last pick, here's the thing. I own The Eighth Detective, and I have believed that I'm going to love it. I have also believed that once I start trying out Anthony Horowitz's stuff, they'll all be five stars. There's just something about his plots, the way I heard his writing spoken about, the Magpie Murders. His new book sounds really good, Close to Death or something, I think, which is set on a house close. I don't know if you guys know what closes are outside of the UK. You probably have different words for them. But I don't know about his... I just have a vague look, and I think he's conservative. There's mentions he may be homophobic, or there's some homophobic tendencies or tropes in some of his books, or a lot of gay characters dying. So I don't know. I think I'm more likely to get a five star with The Magpie Murders. But I own The Eighth Detective. I can't make this decision. Please, I can't make this decision. I think it makes sense to go with The Eighth Detective because I own it. So that's at least getting something off my TBR. Because that's been hard. Sorry, there's people making noise outside. But anyways, so I'm going to go get my hands on The Obsession and The Remains of the Day, and then we'll start reading. But I'm feeling super positive. I'm feeling very excited. Oh, I love when Mara recommends me books. I just wish she could pick everything that I read. Hello, friends. I am enjoying The Obsession. But rather than talk about this, I do want to take a I'm using it today while I do reading sprints with my patrons. My laptop might be a bit loud because it gets loud when I do reading sprints. But this is my serious light, which is my reading light that I adore. I've had this over two years now, and I use it religiously. I use it every time I read. I adore it. I love my serious light so, so, so much. Basically, this is a reading light that has daylight wavelength technology. I think this technology is what makes it so special because it replicates the daylight spectrum as closely as possible. So it feels super natural on the eyes. This means when you're reading late at night, it doesn't make you stay up because you've consumed lots of blue light or it's not irritating on the eyes. It's so gentle and beautiful. My camera, let it be known, you know, like amplifies light. So it does look like really bright. But mine is the high definition light that has a dimmer. It's really lovely, gentle light, guys. I love it so much. And I use it every time when I'm reading, especially now that the day is starting to get darker. It's upsetting me because I'm a summer girl. But as it's starting to get darker now, it's starting to get cosier. This is an essential. It is a reading investment. But like I said, I've used this for two years now. I reckon if you worked out my cost per usage of this thing, it would be very cost effective. Maybe like 20p. I don't know. I don't know math. Just like I'm saying, I've used it a lot. So I cannot recommend picking one up enough. It genuinely is my favourite reading accessory that I have in the world. I love it so much. And I have a code for you guys, which is MWB24, which will get you a hundred pounds off a high definition light. It's an amazing deal. A hundred pounds off a high definition light, which is the model that I have. And free UK delivery. Like I always say, they can deliver internationally. They can fit it with any plug that you need. So a US plug, an EU plug. But my code is for free UK delivery. Check it out via the link down below. I love mine so much. I love it so, so much. I can't recommend it enough. It is a staple for my reading. And I just want to share the love of this product because it's amazing. Anyways, guys, when we get back to reading, I'll talk to you in a little bit. Okay. Before, before I talk to you about the books, I need to introduce you to someone. Are you ready? Everyone, say hello to Dina. Hi. Hi. We've got a kitten. It was a very spur of the moment decision. She's been here maybe three days. She's so much fun. She loves cuddles. I just woke her up and so she wants to play. She does not want to be here. Hello. Usually she loves cuddles. She cuddled us all night, but she's woken up and so she's ready to play. Are you ready to play? We are all obsessed with her. We're all in love with her. She's bringing so much joy to our lives. Hi. Hi. I'm going to play with you downstairs in like one second. She's like ready to go. But yeah, I will introduce you to her. I'll show you some clips that I filmed over the past couple of days with her. The boys and her, we're going okay. There's nothing, there's not been any aggression or anything. They're like having a lot of good sniffs, but a few hisses here and there, particularly by her. She's very afraid, very nervous, but she loves to play. She loves to cuddle. Can I show you one more time? She cuddled us all night last night, which was better than the first night we had her. Well, we had her the first night she was here. She kept us awake from half three till six, meowing. She's not in the mood to film. Oh yeah. But you're so beautiful. She wants to play. Okay. I'm going to take her downstairs, give her lunch. You can see some clips from the past couple of days, and then I'll be back to talk about Bex. This lonely track of yesterday. I can't seem to get away. We were golden turning blue. I thought you could see it too. Through our heads it slipped away. We were never here to stay. We were so wild. Okay. Hello again. Isn't she the most beautiful cat you've ever seen? I'm obsessed with her. I don't want to make her feel... She wasn't the most... I thought because she'd just woken up from a nap, she'd be like docile and like good film, but she was like, I'm ready to go. She loves playing. She's so much fun. Honestly guys, I'm in love. She's made our lives so much better. You know, we've already left a big hole and we're all very sad. I'm going to stop crying again. But there's a multitude of reasons we got her now. It is kind of soon. It's been two months now since we were all passed. I think it was maybe like two months exactly when we got her. My brother's going to uni in a month, so if we're going to get a cat it makes sense to now. Lux needs another friend because Miko is not... He's like, I signed up for 50% of Lux's custody, not 100% and he just keeps leaving him and Lux is in the garden going, no! And we just feel like we need something to make life better and she is like everything. She slept on Tom's head last night on his pillow. I just love her. I love her. I haven't even told you her name. Her name's Dida. Did I tell you her name? I don't know. It was like a while ago and I didn't want to make her film. Her name's Dida. She comes from bandit because she looks like a bandit. She's got a bandit mask on. And then we were like Bandida. Like she's like a girl, you know, Bandida. And then we said Dida. So she's got like three names and we kind of call her most of them but we call her Dida most and I just... You're gonna see a lot of her. She's gorgeous. She's... Cheers, Diva. You're so beautiful. She's like everything. She loves to cuddle. I love her. You're making me so happy, guys. But I want to talk to you because I am only about 90 pages in to The Obsession. It's like 500 pages. But I want to talk to you because I believe this first 90 pages is kind of like part one and I'm obsessed. I have loved the first 90 pages. I have loved it. I do want to, you know, qualify that I just had to film a vlog for my Patreon book club where I was reading The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. And I was really struggling to read that whilst looking after and like listening to the audiobook and stuff because I feel like it's a little bit too like world-building-y, historical. I was getting a lot of layers of understanding. This is like super super easy to read so I feel like it's exactly what I need right now. It's like a breath of fresh air. But you are following Naomi who witnessed her father come out of a hole one night. She followed him into the forest. He came out of like a like a trap door and she went in and there was a girl tied up naked in there that he'd raped and there were photos of girls on the walls that he killed that we now know he killed and she saved the girl and turned him in. And this first 90 pages has really been her childhood up until I think about 16 and just going through kind of the effects of that and just the way this book opens. It opens with her waking up, seeing her dad outside, deciding to follow him because she thinks he's going down to the creek on a hot night and wants to go in with him and cool down and then seeing what happens. And it's just such an intense opening. I think the opening of this book was absolutely absolutely wonderful. I'm really enjoying the writing. You know it feels similar to a lot of like serial killer, thriller-y stuff but with this kind of like really strong writing. I mean this is my first one of Roberts and I'm really enjoying the writing. There's an intelligence to it, there's like a sophistication I feel like to it than other thrillers but still very very genre thriller-y or I guess this is suspense. Yeah I think like then the synopsis says oh she decides to put down roots in a beautiful old house. I haven't got to that point yet so I will talk to you a bit about the plot at the start of the next part because it's like 500 pages and that first 90 pages is literally just her childhood. Her uncle and his partner taking them in and looking after them and I just loved it. I loved the tone of voice, I love her perspective. I mean she was 12 years old when she witnessed her father doing what he did and just like her perspective and the way that that whole circumstance is written and like people trying to rally around them and what she's experiencing, what her mother's experiencing, what her brother's experiencing, I just thought was wonderful. So I'm literally 90 pages in but I wanted to chat to you because I'm really really enjoying it. Now comes the more suspense part and the more romantic part, the romantic suspense. I don't know what to think because I've never read anything like this, I've never read anything with a lot of suspense and I don't really love romantic suspense so I don't know how I'm gonna feel about that side of it but yeah I'm really really enjoying it so I'll check with you a little bit ways too. I'm literally just gonna read it today. I feel like I could get through this really fast so I'm really looking forward to seeing what I think and I'll check in with you once I'm a little bit more the ways through. Hello friends, this video is spanning quite some time. I have filmed a book club reading vlog in between filming this but we've had Dita for like a week now, we've passed the week mark, a little Dita update, she's settled in, she's, I love her, she's so characterful guys, she's a she is a yapper, Dita is a yapper, like she's yap city, I just, she's so funny. If she's pissed off about something you'll know, like I just went downstairs to talk to Tom and she's like sleeping next to him and because I'm talking and he's talking he's just going, just letting us know, shut up, I'm sleeping. She's also very into biting, I'm so into biting right now, she really likes biting hands and biting feet and my mum's like maybe we shouldn't encourage this behaviour but just her little teeth, little sharp tiny pointy needle teeth feel so good. And she's just so cute, she slept on Tom's throat the other night, just across his neck, he was obsessed with her and she, the boys have now like come around to her and she keeps trying to get Miko to play with her by like running at him and he just doesn't quite understand, I'm like Miko, cooperate, she needs someone to play with her. I mean we're obviously playing with her a lot but I feel like she needs a cat to play with her because she had all of her brothers back where we got her from so Miko, step it up, you fiddled her a little bit but not enough. Anyways, it's been quite some time, I went camping over the weekend as well so I'm up to page like 320 of The Obsession by Nora Roberts. Here's the thing, that first 100 pages, five star plus, five star plus, five star plus and then it becomes a second part where we're suddenly with her as an adult and she's buying this house and the last 200 pages, from page 100 to 300, have all just been house renovation and the romance. House renovation and the romance. And I didn't, there wasn't a lot of build up to the romance, not that I need that, I do like it but I'm not like hee hee kicking my feet but like they just kind of start f***ing straight away. Like they felt something was there, she was like we're not gonna f***, he's like yes we are, she's like okay. But most of it is about her renovating this house that she's bought and like Nora Roberts, I mean Mara warned me but I don't know if I was prepared for quite the extent of house renovation chatter that we are having. And so I've enjoyed it but it just, it's kind of, I feel like Nora Roberts from what I'm reading, it feels like a genre onto itself. I'm sure that other romantic suspenses are like this but it feels like it's kind of a, I'm getting used to a different style of writing where you have that first one pages that are very thriller mystery coded and then suddenly we're just talking about blinds and plants and cities and I'm like what's going on? You have nowhere to live, you're looking for furniture, you're looking for food, you're looking for a man, girl goodnight. Like I feel like I'm going to get used to, okay this is how Nora does it, this is how Nora does it, you know? So but now at the 300 page mark suddenly the thrillery aspect of there being a copycat killer from her dad's murders is picking back up again. So I'm like, what the hell? What am I reading? And now I'm having to like readjust to that idea, that notion of what's going on and that's what I'm much more interested in. So I'm enjoying it, I'm finding it very fascinating to read and read my first Nora Roberts and like I said that first 100 pages drew me in, like I was like wow this is amazing, you know? And then the last 200 pages have been okay, it's been an easy read but I haven't been gagged, you know what I mean? But now the, you know, murders are starting to tick back up. So I don't know, I'm enjoying it, I'm going to try and read as much as I can of it today and probably see tomorrow my final thoughts. At the moment I'm guessing it's probably going to average out to a four but if this last 200 pages is like, is five stars again, is it a five star if like 300 out of 500 pages is five stars? Do you know what I mean? I don't know, I don't know but I'm, I'm enjoying it and I'm finding it very interesting read. I'm glad Mara picked this to me. I already do want to read more Nora Roberts, I already want to try more Nora Roberts, maybe some J.D. Robb. My mum has a conspiracy theory that Nora Roberts no longer writes all her books, especially the J.D. Robbs. She just says she writes too many books. I'm like, I don't know, I want to believe in the fantasy but my mum reads a lot of Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb. Actually when I went to buy this on Amazon it was like, oh you purchased this? Like because I buy, my parents have Prime so I buy everything on their account and I'm like, you purchased this on Kindle in 2019? I was like, oh mum's read it, mum's read it. She couldn't remember what it was but maybe that's not a good sign. I was like, explain the plot, she was like, I think I've read it. Yeah I'm excited to see the more, get back into that more thoroughly side but The House We Make She's Never Been Interesting but uh yeah, interesting. Look who wants to say hello. She is also in a playful mood again. I'm not very good at catching her, her sleepy moods. Oh she's just gonna lay on my leg. Hey, what's that? Is this tripod such an interesting thing? Guys, I am so obsessed with her. Oh my goodness. She looks so grumpy. Guys, she actually does love cuddling me, she just doesn't want to show you. She says, I'm not showing them that. Okay, she's gonna go love my copy of We Solve Murders that just arrived which is very exciting. However, I have finished Obsession by Nora Roberts and Mara, I want you to look away now. I want you to look away now, you can watch the other books because I might be more successful. I'm giving this a 3.5. I'm giving this a 3.5 because I guessed like 100, 150 pages from the end who the baddie was and thus it just wasn't a very interesting twist and I think the ending wasn't very strong and it kind of petered out and the more I think about it I think it's pretty forgettable. I don't really care for love interest, I don't dislike the romance but I don't really care about it either and I don't think I'm gonna remember this So that's where I'm ending up. What a fool from grace that I gave, I would have given like the first 100 pages five plus stars, like I can't explain to you how engaged I was in that first 100 pages. Hello! She's back on the bed. Hi! You want to show everyone how you like eating hands and feet. Apparently ragdolls have a thing for feet, what fucking weirdos. But it also took me to read this eight days. Are you kidding me? Like this should have been a day. I mean again it's long but it's Nora Roberts. So yeah that's kind of where I'm ending up. I'm a bit disappointed. I didn't like the ending of this. I didn't think it was... I guess because I knew who it was. I knew who this like mysterious figure whose perspective we're reading from. I thought it was super obvious and thus it was a little bit disappointing and I thought the ending was very abrupt. Guys she's so... she's like the naughtiest cat you've ever met in your life. She's such a asshole. It's like having a baby. Come back and say hello once more. Please? Because we have so much fun together. She's slept on my head all night. She really likes when me and Tom, because we all take turns to have her, she sleeps like along the top of my pillow and so like that's so interesting. You got me. Oh you got me. The thing is they're not gonna see your face, your beautiful face. Oh guys look at her little middens. Nice kisses. So anyways I'm kind of going off on a tangent. I am however really interested in reading more Nora Roberts in the future because I love what she did for the first 100 pages of this. I really enjoyed the writing. Maybe I should eat a... Mara tell me once... I don't think necessarily the romantic suspense worked for me. I think I just want more thrillery. I don't know what she does. Mystery? Suspense? Just that on its own. I don't think I care for how the romance broke it up. So anyways let's not talk about that because I'm sad. I'm now today going to try and get through as much of the remains of the day as I can. So I'm hoping I'll check in with you later when I'm about halfway through because it's pretty short. It's like 210 pages. This is a classic though however isn't it? Like a literary classic. So I'm a little bit nervous in that regard but we'll see we'll see how it goes. And yeah I'll check with you a little bit of ways through. I really do not know what to expect for this one. I prefer really not to not to speak. If I speak I am in in big trouble. Before we discuss the book let's just all take a moment. I'm so excited. I I'm having to like resist every urge in me to just pick up this book right now. Oh it shows me you know I like that big font baby. This is exciting. I'm so excited. People in my patron discord released today or maybe yesterday and uh people in my patron discord are already reading it and they're so jealous but I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna wait. Look at this choice award. If it's not nominated I may consider murder. Clap if you've ever wanted to kill somebody. I may consider it. Don't know who I'd have to murder for not nominating it but I may consider it. Let's talk about The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I am just under halfway about 100 pages in. I don't know what to say to you. So this is like a modern classic. I think it came out late 80s and you're following a British butler. Give his account of his career being a butler and particularly in the kind of last chapter and I'm guessing from what Mara said this is the theme for the rest of the book, the role that his ex-boss, ex you know I don't know what the right word is, the guy that he worked for, had in perhaps the rise of the Nazis. Okay that's the sense that we're getting. And I sat down to read this this afternoon this evening and I was like mum have you ever read The Remains of the Day? She was like oh amazing book. Oh wonderful book. And I read the first like 60-70 pages of this and I was like what's not clicking? What's not clicking? Like I wasn't getting it. I will say however the last 20-30 pages I feel like I've started to get it and I feel like I've started to understand what we're building towards. You know it's a short book and like 100 pages isn't a lot right to to get us where we're going and I feel like we're getting that's where we're going now. But that means I don't have a lot to say to you because I feel like my thoughts are still very formative and still very much in their infancy and I don't want to speak too soon. I feel like this book, if it's to be amazing, it's done the groundwork and now it's going to pull it off. It's very interesting writing style though. He's very kind of like detached, traditional, stiff upper lip, British, very formal, very like career-driven. You know his his his pursuit of being a great butler is something that he talks about a lot and like has led his life. So I think it's interesting but I wasn't getting it at first and I was like shit Mara what are we doing here? I should have picked them up my manners because I gotta get it myself. So yeah I don't know guys I'm gonna finish it in the morning. It's very interesting. I'm excited to see what it does with this second half and I feel like if it really goes there I could cry. You know it's not their own possibility but it's very I'm at a very weird stage with it because I wasn't getting it. I've been getting it for like 20 pages. I feel we just finished our first date. You know like you've got a first of all I've only been on one first date in my life but you know when you've been on the first date and you're like it was fine. Like you don't want to talk about it necessarily because you don't want to like speak too soon or like you're like when you're texting. What am I talking about? What am I talking about? I'm just saying it feels quite soon in our relationship. I feel like I've only just started understanding. So anyways see you in the morning with my thoughts but I feel like this one could go either way. Hello friends it's the next morning and I have finished The Remains of the Day. I was uh has taken between a 4 and a 3.5 but I think I am going to give this a 3.5 as well. Let's all talk about it. This book is interesting because I can admire what a great book this is. We're going to get into all the things I enjoy but for some reason it didn't hit me right. So let me tell you all the things I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the writing. The writing is beautiful. It's very intimate. The way, I don't know, the way certain lines are described is very beautiful. I really enjoyed this unreliable narrator. I really enjoyed his perspective. I really enjoyed the English countryside. The kind of English manor house. It's kind of like old view of England that it was examining. I really enjoyed the way and the big thing this book is doing, you know, the way it's examining human nature and what it means to live and what our purpose is and what we see when we look back on our lives and what we want that to be. And I loved the historical, you know, placing us within real historical events. I can say all that to you but I can also say I don't think it really bowled me away, you know. Like I didn't read this and I was like, I was like, wow. You know, I just read it. I just read it and I was like, okay, yeah. And I was leaning towards a 4 but the more, you know, I've finished it and put my makeup on and I just think, I don't think this is gonna stick with me, you know. But I can see how it would for others. So I can see why Mara loves this book so much. This is a book I can see how someone could say, oh it's 5 stars, it's my favourite all time. But a book has to hit you, right. I've got books that are more literate. I mean, I've just been talking about the secret histories. It's in my brain. Granted, I have not read that for years and years and years. I don't know how I was up. I always have to say that. But that book hit me, right. That book connected with me. It got me at the right time. I can understand why people don't feel like that towards that book and I can understand why someone would feel like that towards this but I don't, you know. I just didn't- I wasn't reading it like, wow. I was like, okay, nice. Okay, interesting. I am interested in reading more Kazuyoshi Guru in the future and I can see what this was doing. But yeah, I wasn't- I don't know. I just want to feel excited about reading, guys, and I'm not at the moment. If I'm truthful with you, I haven't- well, it's not that I'm not. I do like a little bit of light and shade in my reading. I kind of want to either read something I love or something I hate. All of the books I've read for like the past couple months have basically been between a 3 and a 4 in rating. A 3, a 3.5 or a 4 is basically like 99% of what I've read over the past couple months and I just want to feel something more extreme. I've had it. Enough. You know what then? I'm feeling very middle of the road with what I'm reading and I just want to feel something, you know. So yeah, I would recommend this. I think it's very interesting. I'm glad that I read it. Maybe I should have picked The Magpie Murders rather than this if we're going for like a high rating, but I didn't. So then was the breaks. But I'm now gonna start Eight Detectives. It's called Eight Detectives in the UK, it's called The Eighth Detective in the US, but it's the same thing. I'm really excited for this one. I think this one could be the one that turns it around a little bit. It says on the back, all murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules. In the 1930s, Grant McAllister, a mathematics professor turned author, worked them out, hiding their secrets in the book of crime stories. Then Grant disappeared. Julia Hart has finally tracked him down. She wants to know what happened to him, but she's about to discover that a good mystery can be murder to solve. I'm really, really looking forward to this one. I think it could be a five star. I think it's gonna make me feel something. I'm really looking forward to this. We've got quite like a lazy day today, so I'm gonna go sit out in the garden whilst my family do some gardening and read this. And yeah, I'm feeling hopeful. I'm feeling excited. I'm relaxed. I'm happy. I'm fearful. I'm fearful. But yeah, sorry, I feel bad to Mara that I've given both the books 3.5 so far. Books that I can, like, you know, the remainder of the day I can see the quality, the obsession. I can see how I love a different Nora Roberts. But I'm hoping this one will just be amazing without any hesitation. Hello. Okay, it's the same day. It's the same day I've just taken my makeup off, because you know those days when your makeup gets too makeupy? Like, it's just sitting on your skin. I use a different moisturiser. Hang on, let me show you actually. This, guys, this is ridiculous. So my normal moisturiser is expensive. Is expensive. I use the Tatra Dewy Skin Cream. I swear by it, I love it. I love it so much. And that's, like, £50 for this pot? Maybe more? £8? £70? I don't know. I don't know. But I love it. Okay, that's my, that's my moisturiser. I feel like if you're gonna splurge on any kind of skincare, your moisturiser is the way to do it. However, I did get this tester. I want you to look at the size of it. It's 5ml of product that I got on, like, a Space NK order. This is the La Prairie Skin Caviar Moisturiser. This is £50 worth of product. Because the full size of this is, like, £300 or something. Oh my god. I don't have any money. What happened to the money? And I use it and I didn't, I don't love it. Especially when I'm putting makeup on top of it. I feel like it meant my makeup sat on top of my skin and didn't, like, sink into my skin. So anyways, all that said, I took my makeup off. Sorry for the tangent. I'm halfway through 8 Detectives, or the 8th Detective. I have a lot to say. All you need to know about this one, it's a different plot than I, I didn't realise what this was. Essentially, there's that author who discovered, like, the, the perfect murder, right? And he wrote seven, I think, seven short stories? He wrote, he wrote a book of murder mystery short stories that were each revealing a different element, a different core element, or different versions that a murder mystery can take. And then he went missing. And a publisher has tracked him down, and the editor has gone to his island, and she's reading the stories with him and editing them. And we're reading, so basically, most of the book are these stories that he wrote. So it's a book within a book. And then we have very short chapters in between of the editor and him discussing what they just read. And, like, she's also trying to accuse him of a murder that the book is named after, which, like, that would be kind of stupid, in my opinion, to name a murder that you, a book that you did after a murder that you did. Anyways, so I'm kind of shook that Mara recommended this to me. I can't believe that. I actually can't believe that. I'm kind of shook. Because we both have problems with dual timeline books. And this isn't necessarily a dual timeline. This is one timeline, and then, so we don't have a lot of, and then short stories, right? So it kind of is, like, some of the problems that I personally have with multiple timeline stories. So I feel like that is getting in the way of my enjoyment. I feel like that is getting in the way of my enjoyment. However, I can admire what this is doing with, like, I love anything that's referential to the murder mystery genre. I love anything that examines it. I think it's such an interesting genre. I think because it has these rules that you're able to examine, it's so fun. Like, I love, for example, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Coles, I feel like it is. That's a graphic novel kind of making fun of murder mysteries. This is doing some of the thing where it's, you know, it's examining what it takes to be a murder mystery, what traits all murder mysteries share, how you can put a spin on them. And I love that element of it. So my admiration for what this is doing and how fun that is, is a 4.5. My enjoyment is a 3.5. A 3.5? 3.5. That cursed fucking rating. I swear to god. I swear. I swear to god. I swear to god. And the thing is, I'm enjoying the stories. I'm enjoying each short story. I think they're interesting. I'm enjoying kind of what they're saying. I think I get into them and then it's over. And then we're a different one. And it's just, I don't think I'm the biggest fan of short stories. I don't rate short stories highly. And this one's different as well because it's in a novel. So you're still like holding on to aspects of it and like, what does it mean that he wrote that and yada yada yada. So um, yeah. I don't know guys. I don't know what to do about this book. I don't know what to do about this book. And I'm also just having a breakdown. I'm also just having a breakdown because do I even like reading anymore? That was crazy to say. But like, when I look back on like my early days, I did that video recently where I was like, I have to get back into reading and that I recommended a lot of books that got me back into reading. And I just feel like my first couple years of reading, I read so many iconic books, you know, for me, like iconic books to me, like favorites, right? And I feel like as the years go on, I have less and less favorites of all time and more just favorites of the year. Like I feel like I read less and less iconic books. And logically, I know that's because I'm getting pickier and pickier and pickier. Like murder mystery is my favorite genre. It's probably one of the genres I get the least five stars in because I'm so picky on how it's done and how it's executed and like the fun you could have. Like I'm very picky with what I want from murder mystery and the delivery of it. So I know logically, I'm just getting pickier because I'm reading more, but that doesn't make me happy. Like I just want to read iconic books. These things are concern and a worry. Like when I went back and looked at some of my runs in like 2019, when I was really getting back into reading, some of them were so iconic. Like the books I was reading back to back are absolutely outrageous. And so I'm just like, do I even like reading? I just want to feel something. I just want to feel, I just want to read a great book. And this isn't necessarily that for me. I admire what it's doing, but yeah. I just want to fucking love reading, guys. I want five star, five star, five star. I want iconic book, iconic book, iconic book, you know? And I just want to pre-warn you, the vlog I'm about to film next absolutely demolishes any hope I have of having a good average rating this year. And that's okay, the video's really fun. I don't even know if I should rate the books I'm going to be reading because they're absolutely diabolical, but I'm probably like, I'm going to, I have to, I'm going to have to. But it's going to be like one star, one star, one star. So at least I'm going to be feeling something next week. But yeah, guys, guys, I don't know. I'm going to go finish this. Tomorrow's Saturday. We're going to have a good start to the week with a good rating week, week? Weekend. Good start to the weekend with a good rating for this. Oh, I want to love it. I want to love it, but currently I'm not. Okay, friends. I don't really want to talk about it. I don't really want to talk about it. I don't really want to discuss it. I want to move on. I'm sad. Mara, don't watch. I'm giving this three stars. I did not like the ending of this. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't like the ending of this. I didn't like reading all these short stories. I didn't think the twist was particularly... I was done. I was checked out by that point. Also, you know, in the last one, I was like, I love how this is examining man of mysteries. I don't think it actually says anything that's like that groundbreaking. Spoiler alert, he's like, he's like, every man of mystery has detectives, victims, and suspects, and they can swap over however they, you know, however you want. Any permutation you can imagine, they can combine to, you know, detectives can be suspects or victims or whatever. That's not that groundbreaking. That's not that groundbreaking. For spring. Groundbreaking. This did not work for me. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so... I'm devastated. I'm devastated. Devastated. I can see why Mara recommended it to me, but I just... I just... I didn't love it. I didn't love it. I don't know what else to say to you, to be honest. I just think it's quite forgettable. You know, I think you're supposed to care by the end about the characters in the storyline that isn't the short stories, but the short stories make up 80% of the book. They make up 80% of the book, and that meant I did not give a rat's arse about these characters by the end of the book and what happened to them and what their truth was. What their truth... I'm just living my truth. What their truth was... I didn't care. I didn't give a shit. I did not care about the ones there by the end of the book, and thus it has no emotional payoff. So, you know, there's things I still enjoyed about it. I enjoyed a lot of the short stories. I enjoyed examining murder mysteries. I did get annoyed at some points when it was like, this is just an Agatha Christie retelling. You're just referencing an Agatha Christie book here. Like, let's at least switch things up a bit. But yeah, it is what it is. Now that means Mara's average rating for this episode is a 3.33. Everyone look away. I'm devastated. Talk about it. But that means we've also got three episodes that have an average of 3.33, which is kind of crazy. Kind of crazy. We don't have many episodes left, guys. We're getting through it, and I just need someone to beat me. The outcome of Year of Wrecks cannot be that I give myself the best reading recommendations. Are you crazy? Well, I guess it would make sense, but that's not a good outcome. So I want us all to hope and pray that I really thought this episode would be it, but it didn't work for me. But like I said before, does she like reading anymore? Don't know. Anyways, guys, thank you for watching this video. Let me know what you thought of any of these books. I'd love to know your opinions on them. I probably am an unpopular opinion when it comes to Remains of the Day. I imagine a lot of people love that. I'd love to know your opinions on any of them. And yeah, let me know if any Year of Wrecks episodes that you would like to see for the end of the year that I haven't done yet for like sources to get recommendations from. You probably will suggest them, and I probably have got them on the list as one of our last couple episodes. But let me know anyways. And yeah, I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!