Two massive bags filled with books.
I don't always intend to judge books by their covers,
but when it comes to a Waterstones sale, I have no choice.
My heart literally like, why would they do that to me?
He's dead so who cares what he thinks?
(upbeat music)
Hey besties, it's Joel
and welcome to fictionalfates after dark.
Not exactly where I was going with that,
but I guess it works now 'cause I'm recording a video
at night.
I hope you're all doing very well.
If you've yet to take a drink of water,
please do so we must remain well and hydrated.
And if you've yet to check out my Instagram,
nor my Twitter,
I would highly recommend you go check those out as well,
because I might post some extra bookish content
that you're not gonna see here.
So I have my cup of tea right over here.
I got another mug from Round About Ceramics.
They are literally one of my favourite ceramicists
on the planet.
Like their mugs are just so cute and amazing.
I have their Instagram linked
in the description down below.
We have candles burning.
There's actually three, but I think you can only see two.
There is a third one, right by here.
It smells like vanilla.
But anyways, the reason why I'm doing
this kind of like spontaneous video
is that today I went book shopping
because Waterstones had decided
to choose violence this holiday season.
And basically, oh my God, wait, happy holidays everyone.
I hope you've been celebrating well
and have been celebrating with your families
no matter what you celebrate.
Going back to Waterstones with choosing violence,
they basically decided to have a Boxing Day sale
that lasted only three days.
They had hardbacks at half price, 50% off.
I was like, "Oh,
I'm just gonna order a bunch of books online
and have them shipped here."
It was only in store.
And I didn't know whether I was gonna be able
to make it in store because I'm suffering
from a bit of seasonal depression.
I just didn't have really been wanting to go out.
But then a bunch of you did convince me
to go to the sale today and so I did,
and yeah, now I have two massive bags filled
with books.
There's five books each in these bags.
And so I'm very excited to show them to you today.
If you've been participating in the Barnes & Noble
or the Waterstones sale,
let me know in the comments section down below
what books you bought,
what books you're looking forward to reading,
or you received any books from this past holiday season,
let me know.
Yeah, I just think it would be really cool
to see that what new books that we have been graced with.
I mean, I for one didn't get any books from anyone,
but that's because I don't trust my family
to buy books for me.
I let them once buy a book for me
and they ended up getting me the second book
in a series I had never read.
And so I can't trust them anymore.
They had their shot and they failed.
And so here we are.
I have bought myself some books to celebrate Christmas.
I got 10 books and I ended up spending 40 pounds in total
because I had 50 pounds on my Waterstones card
that I've been like saving up for the past like year.
And so I really was just was like,
"I'm gonna use it today."
And so I did.
Let us get into this haul.
We're probably just going to cover the books quite quickly,
talk about them a little, and yeah.
Grab your beverages, settle down,
and this can be quite cosy, I think.
It's just a chill relaxed video today.
And so I think it'd be really cute.
Let us get into it.
I'm gonna start with this Waterstones tote bag
because this is the new one that I got today,
because I already had this, like, navy one,
but I had to get another one
to carry the rest of the books then.
The first book I got is the Late Night Book Club pick
for the month of January.
And that is "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
in the Penguin Clothbound Classics.
I just loved the design of this.
It is so stunning.
I have the Penguin English Library Edition,
which is basically like a similar design to this.
Plus "Frankenstein" is one of my favourite classics.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
And all of you will get to read this with us in January
and see the live show, which is gonna be very exciting.
But yeah, I just,
I can't wait to like reread this in this edition,
it's going to be really cool.
The next book that I then got is a bit of a massive one.
It's another Penguin Clothbound Classic,
but maybe one of the oldest books in existence.
And that is "Don Quixote" by Cervantes,
which is basically the oldest novel in,
I think European history?
It's gonna be really interesting for me to read this
in a few months and gather my opinions on like,
the early formations of the novel
and like what the first novel in the west was like.
I mean, there have been novels previously written
in the east, like China.
China have a bunch of novels that had already existed.
Same with the Greeks.
Greeks had like, early formations of the novels.
And so like the world's first novels would be something
pretty cool to examine.
Coralie Bickford-Smith is the one
that designs like these kinds of covers.
And they're just so gorgeous and amazing.
Yeah. You know me.
I don't always intend to judge books by their covers,
but when it comes to a Waterstones sale, I have no choice.
I have no choice.
So it happened.
(Joel laughs)
The next book I then got is another collector's edition.
And that is The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett,
which is basically the first Discworld novel.
I read a lot of Discworld as a kid.
It was available in my school's library,
and so I used to check out some of the books a lot.
I remember like at some point,
I realised I had read some of the books out of order
and got really frustrated with myself,
but I really wanna try and get back into Discworld next year
and like start rereading like the arcs of Discworld,
like the mini series they're in,
there's like 40 ish books of Discworld.
And so I really wanna like try and start working my way
through rereading Discworld,
but I'm really excited to reread it,
and just rediscover some of the magic
for me as being a child reader.
The next book I then got was Reprieve by James Han Mattson.
And this has like this really cool,
like blood drip effect on like the side,
and I was utterly obsessed.
And then I like opened the book and read the synopsis,
and I was like, okay, I will try this.
Pacy follows these group of people who
were in the final cell of an escape room,
which is known for like being really monstrous
and being like horrific.
And so if they can endure this like, final room,
they'll walk away with $60,000.
And there'll be like the only other group,
in the history of this escape room to have won.
However, someone gets killed.
And so we read the perspectives of like the different
contestants within this escape room
and see like what the heck is going on.
And according to the bottom it's supposed
to be "a stunningly soulful exploration
of complicity and masquerade."
And so I'm very excited to read this
and see like whether it can deliver on that.
And I've just excited to delve more
into different types of horror as well,
and see what things I can gather from it.
There's nothing on the nakedness of this book though.
Although the Reprieve is like a shiny green,
which is really great to see.
The design and illustration of this was also done
by Greg Heineman.
And so like it does look like a really cool cover as well.
And then the last book for this bag that I got,
In Every Mirror She's Black by Lola Akinmade Åkerström.
And this book is blurbed by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
And so as soon as I saw that,
I was like, okay,
I'm going to get this because I love Taylor Jenkins Reid
and her novels.
And so just from reading the synopsis,
It looks like this novel is going to tackle the difficulties
faced by black women in American society.
And I think it's just another novel that will prove
to be extremely important during our current climate
as like black women are one of the most oppressed peoples
within society today.
And some of my friends have read this as well,
and have just spoken really good things about this book,
and so I'm quite excited to read it
and see whether I feel the same way.
Also, can we talk about this cover illustration
for a second?
Like, it is stunning.
It's done by Kimberly Glider.
On the nakedness, it's like a red naked book
and then it's got like white writing on there.
Like it's quite matte as well.
And so, yeah, I think it's gonna be a pretty good book.
We're now halfway through the book haul.
So this is your chance to go like top up your drink
if you haven't already.
My tea is still warm, which is good.
But no, I'm really excited about the next year,
and like reading and seeing where everything's going
to take me.
I think I have so many cool ideas
for this next year in terms of content,
but I really also love to know some ideas that you have
of videos that you want to see from me.
I'll probably do an Instagram question sticker
right after recording this video.
But I also want you to leave some in the comment section
down below for videos that you'd like
to see next year as well,
'cause I think it'd be really cool to like have that.
So I definitely want to try and implement some
of your ideas that I find personally interesting
and just seeing different videos that will really challenge
what BookTube can be.
And now we will proceed on to the second bag.
So the first one I got is
Ruth Ozeki's The Book of Form and Emptiness.
And this is the Waterstones exclusive edition.
It has like these really cool,
I'm gonna guess, like stencilled edges,
because everything is very like precise and exact.
So I'm assuming it is a stencil.
I literally thought that had bent,
but it's literally the end paper.
My heart, literally like why would they do that to me?
That is so rude.
There's nothing on the nakedness,
but it's a shimmering gold,
which I'm a really big fan of.
Like, I dunno what it is with UK publishing
and being afraid to put things on the nakedness,
however, if wubwub ever gets published,
wubwub being the novel that I'm working on,
I really want something on the nakedness.
I picked up The Book of Form and Emptiness
because a lot of people have been recommending it to me.
And the synopsis just seemed particularly interesting.
It's very long in and of itself,
but "The Book of Form and Emptiness
blends unforgettable characters, riveting plot,
and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz
to climate change to our attachment
to material possessions."
So I'm excited to see like what this offers
and if I'll like it or not.
The design of this was done by Jill Healey.
And I just think I am really looking forward
to read this as well.
The next book that I then got was purely because I recently
finished the second season and was like, okay,
I really want to start with reading
the books that inspired it.
'Cause I know there's some differences
between the books and the show.
And then I saw this in Waterstones and I was like,
Ooh, this is literally something that I'm going to get.
And that is The Witcher, The Last Wish: Illustrated Edition.
Ahh yes! So we do have something on the nakedness.
"People like to invent monsters and monstrosities.
Then they seem less monstrous themselves."
Said by Geralt of Rivia.
And it's just done in this like shiny red writing,
and it is sexy, sexy.
Well done.
And the illustrations inside look really stunning.
It's done in like this black, white, and red colorization.
And it's very interesting,
but I'm obsessed with it.
I think it looks really good.
I'm excited to read this.
So The Witch: The Last Wish was written by Andrzej Sapkowski
and was translated into English by Danusia Stok.
And basically this, I think is a collection of short stories
within the Witcher universe.
And I think this book is what inspired
season one of The Witcher.
And so I'm very excited to like read this
and I know the show is different,
but I'm still excited to read it, nonetheless.
I'm also really excited to start playing the video games
because I have The Witcher 3 on Steam,
but I haven't actually played it.
So I bought The Witcher 1 and 2,
I'm just gonna play the series through eventually
because I also recently bought myself a gaming laptop
because trying to play games on my MacBook was awful.
So it was a Christmas gift to myself.
I got myself a gaming laptop.
I'm still building a gaming PC,
but this is just to buy me time until I can actually
get a graphics card because you know, supply chains,
cryptocurrency miners.
I'm really excited to read The Last Wish.
And I think it's going to be super awesome.
The next book that I then got was one
which I didn't realise I was gonna get until I saw it.
And then I've been ignoring about it
and I was like, I'm gonna get it.
So I got The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories
by H.P. Lovecraft,
This is the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition,
I didn't get half price on this because it's a paperback.
Yeah. H.P. Lovecraft, massive racist.
Like I played a video game last year
called The Call of Cthulhu,
and I was just obsessed with it
and just thought it was really awesome.
Now I wanna read kind of some more of the source material,
delve into a bit more cosmic horror,
because they're just certain elements of it
that I really find fascinating.
I definitely want to delve into cosmic horror a little bit
into my writing in the future.
And so I think it'd be really cool
to see like how Lovecraft does it.
I think it's cool when we get more diverse voices
within certain areas.
This ways you can take the lessons of Lovecraft
and adapt them into whilst things he may not like,
he's dead so who cares what he thinks?
I'm really excited to read this
and gather some inspiration from it.
The penultimate book that I then got from Waterstones
was Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan.
Yeah. I'm obsessed with the look of this book.
I love the US cover a lot more,
however, I want to support June.
And so I got this as well,
but it's like this orange nakedness
with like gold writing.
Reading the synopsis, it really sounds like
a heterosexual vision of The Untamed.
I think it's really awesome.
This is pitched as Girls of Paper and Fire
meets A Song of Wraiths and Ruin.
So if you like either of those two books,
I'm sure you probably might like the look of Jade Fire Gold.
I'm really excited to read this and see if I like it.
Also, I do know The Untamed has now come out
as like translated novels.
I'm waiting for all three of the volumes to come out
because I think there's only gonna be three volumes.
And then I wanna do like a massive reading vlog of them
because, you know, I think it will be nice
to like read the story in one go.
Maybe I'll rewatch The Untamed as I'm reading it.
Do I want to deal myself that much pain? Absolutely.
But yeah, I think it'd be pretty awesome.
I'm really excited to read this and I'm hoping,
I'm praying it's gonna be good.
And the final book that I got from Waterstones was
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske.
And first of all, this cover, this cover is stunning.
I think it's amazing.
It was done by Will Stale.
And this is also the Waterstones signed exclusive edition,
which has these like orange spread edges,
The nakedness, it's there's nothing.
There's just blue.
The writing is white.
This book just seems really interesting and magical
and also seems a bit gay, which I love.
My friend Ashia recently picked it up as well.
I think some of my other friends really liked this book.
And so I'm very excited to read it,
and just be falling in love
with this story as "drawn together by unexpected perils,
Robin and Edwin will discover a mysteries
old as the power that binds the land,
a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles,
and a secret that some have already died to keep."
And so that just sounds really cool,
really sexy, really awesome.
And I'm excited to read it.
I think this book is gonna be amazing.
I really want to read this in January,
just so that I have a strong start the year.
I'm kind of trying to curate my TBR at the moment
and seeing which books I will fall in love with
and think are gonna be amazing.
So I have a really strong start that I'm more optimistic
about the year ahead,
because I wanna try and read a hundred books in 2022
like finally get to a hundred books in 2022.
And we'll see how that goes.
Fingers crossed besties.
Ahh! So yeah, this is basically the 10 books
that I got out of Waterstones.
In total I got all these 10 books for 40 pounds.
Did I need these books? Yes.
Do I have the space for these books? No.
Do I care? No.
I'm moving out in like, a few months.
Hopefully, fingers crossed.
So hopefully I'll be able to expand my bookshelves
and have a lot more space for them then,
although I will be doing like a massive unhaul I think,
near the time of me moving out,
however that is it for today's video.
I hope you all enjoyed it.
I hope you enjoyed this like late night video.
It is 10 o'clock.
It is 10:04 pm.
I mean, I could have recorded this video at 1:00 am.
I just loved the fact that a lot of you already wanted
to see this book haul,
as soon as I like took the Instagram photo today,
but you know, I'm really happy that I actually did it.
And I really got to discuss these books with you.
If you liked this video,
be sure to give a thumbs up.
And if you're new here,
be sure to click that subscribe button
so that you're notified whenever I upload next.
I'll have all my social and the description down below
for you so that you can check me out
on every single other platform.
And that is basically everything for today, besties.
I am just really excited
to see what books you recently got
for the holidays or that you got in the sales.
Yeah. We can have a discussion in the comments,
even reply to other people's comments as well, besties.
Let's get a discussion going.
And so, yeah,
I guess until the next time,
Bye besties.
(upbeat music)