Hi! It's Penny here and today we're going to be celebrating my booktube anniversary! So I’ve
been making booktube videos for about four years somewhat inconsistently. It's always hard to find
time for the things you want to do when you're working full-time but still, it's been a fun four
years of lots of reading and lots of talking about books, which I’ve really enjoyed. What I thought I
would do today in order to celebrate my four years of booktube is share with you 10 books that I read
in the last year that I really enjoyed that I wouldn't have read if it wasn't for booktube.
So the first of these that I read is Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Now I did pick this
up because I liked the Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse. It's like an urban
fantasy that’s also kind of post-apocalyptic, but I'm pretty sure I only picked up
that series because of booktube. Rebecca Roanhorse is one of these ones where I can't
remember a specific booktuber that mentioned her and her books. I just know that I kind
of started seeing her everywhere and I started thinking hmm looks interesting! Same with Black
Sun. I just heard so many people talking about it and because I'd loved the Sixth World series,
I had a good feeling about Black Sun. I did go into it thinking that it was going to be a
science fiction because it talked about celestial prophecies and the cover kind of looks science
fiction. It's not a science fiction, it's like a fantasy and it's based on pre-columbian mythology.
The first book is kind of building up to this religious event and we're following several
different characters who are going to be involved in the climax event of things kind of going quite
wrong. One of these characters is kind of like a siren and I really loved her and her magic
and her attitude. Another one is like this blind guy or he was blinded by his mother and she had
these grand prophecies about what he was going to do. Another one is this priestess
who's struggling to keep her position. I just really loved Rebecca Roanhorse's writing style
and the magic and the world was really interesting so I'm really excited to continue that one.
Then the next one that I read was Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. This is another one where I'd
read Binti previously by Nnedi Okorafor but again I only heard about the Binti series because of
booktube, and it's another one where I don't know exactly who mentioned it first. I want to say
that it was Regan from Peruseproject or maybe G from Book Roast but i might be making that
up. Some of these I actually have notes about who mentioned them but these two are just like,
you keep seeing these books pop up and eventually you think hmm maybe i'll read that book and it's
hard to tell where that idea came from. It's kind of what I like about watching booktubers. I'm just
hearing about all these books and my knowledge is like building up without me even realizing
that I'm gathering this knowledge. I'm just being entertained. Anyway, Remote Control is about this
young girl. I will say a lot of people have been giving the synopsis as she's the daughter of death
but when i read it I didn't really think that was accurate. It's more that as a young girl she comes
across this mysterious artifact and it has quite an impact on her life. It gives her this ability
to I guess cause pain to the people around her. It's not always under her control
and she just has a really traumatic time trying to find a place for herself in the world.
But I really enjoyed the story. Although I will say for this one I read the book and I loved the
book then I listened to the audiobook, hated the audiobook. So like, if you're gonna read this one,
read the book. Don't listen to the audiobook. Also, I think my synopsis of these are going
to get more accurate as we go on because I'm kind of doing these in the order that I read
them through the year. So these first two I read quite a long time ago at this point.
Then the next one I read was Magic for Lies and I do know that I saw this one
in quite a few places but then I think it was Jessi from the Bookish Mom that I
was really convinced that maybe I will pick it up. So we're following this woman who's like a
private investigator and her sister happens to be a teacher at this magic school and she feels very
bitter that her sister has had this amazing life and she's just kind of feels like she's failing at
life. But then, there is a murder at her sister's magic school and she gets called in to help
investigate the crime. I really like the way that Sarah Gailey wrote the relationship between the
two sisters and I think I've read a few things by Sarah Gailey now and I just really enjoy their
writing style. A lot of the characters are not necessarily likeable but I think I found a lot
of their difficulties relatable and I enjoyed the way the mystery kind of came together as well.
Then next I read the whole of the Giant Days graphic novel series which I think is 14 volumes,
maybe a couple of special editions in there. This is just a graphic novel series,
very different from what I normally read. It’s just about some girls going
to university and having regular university struggles or hilarious university struggles.
I know that this one is one that I did pick up after seeing Ali from Hardback Hoarder talking
about it when I needed a graphic novel. And I'm so glad that I did pick up the series because I just
loved it and I can't even say why I loved it but I just felt like these
girls at university became like my friends and I just enjoyed hanging out with them. And that's
definitely a graphic novel series that I will read again so that I can hang out with my friends again
because I kind of miss them already. Oh and I will say I really enjoyed the art style of Giant Days,
like really bright colored and I guess just again made me feel happy.
Then the next book in this list is completely different from Giant Days. I read Amatka
by Karin Tidbeck. This is such a strange book. It's kind of set in this world where people
don't really know how they got to this world but it's got this element where like matter in
this world doesn't necessarily hold its shape unless it's regularly named. So everything that
they own has its name written on it, they regularly go around and rewrite the names
or they go around and they say the names of these objects to them so that they will hold this shape.
We're following a main character who is a like product researcher for hygiene products. So she's
going from kind of the main colony to this other colony and trying to find out about what hygiene
products they might need and whether her company could provide better hygiene products for them,
which is weird but I mention it because there were some parts of the research
that she was doing that I found very emotionally relatable as someone with like a chronic illness
and there was one part where she interviewed this guy with eczema and I get eczema and honestly,
I really love that part of the story. But as well she's kind of just trying to figure out
this mystery that's going on. So they have this council and if the council decides they can't
talk about anything anymore, they don't talk about it. And there was some kind of like horrible event
that happened in the past that caused a lot of people from this colony to die but they don't
talk about it so you don't know what happened. In the end the story kind of goes completely in a
bizarre direction but I loved it. It kind of plays with reality and perception and just honestly,
I haven't read many things like this. If you know any books like this please recommend them to me!
This is one where actually I only found out about it because someone commented on my video about
this book and it was an amazing recommendation so thank you very much! I want more of those.
Then next we have the Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson. So this is the fourth book in the Truly
Devious series or like a spin-off book after the Truly Devious trilogy, I guess you could look at
it but I think you really have to read it after you've read the main trilogy. Truly devious was
a book, it's like a YA mystery and it was very big back when I first kind of started watching
booktube. Maybe i'd been watching Booktube for a little bit because I watched a lot of booktube
before I finally started making some videos. If I try to think back I think it was kind of like
the Booksplosion trio that originally were maybe talking about the Truly Devious series when I saw
it. But it was super popular so it was everywhere. And not everybody likes it but I really like the
main character, Stevie, she has a lot of anxiety but she also just really loves solving mysteries.
So in the first one she goes to this boarding school and kind of solves this unsolved crime
about this murder that happened at the school as well as new murders start happening while she's at
this boarding school. But the Box in the Woods is like set after those events and she's been
invited to go to this summer camp but previously at this summer camp there was also a murder and so
she's trying to solve that murder. And I just loved the pacing of it. I loved spending time
with Stevie again and I really loved the way the mystery unfolded and I listened to the audiobook
and I honestly I just couldn't stop listening to it. I was just enjoying the experience
so much. So even though I have been trying to read less YA books, sometimes I still enjoy them.
Which maybe leads into the next book that I liked. So I read Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater.
This is the second book in the Dreamers trilogy, which is a follow-on like a spin-off series from
the Raven Cycle. The Raven Cycle is a massive book on booktube. It's another one where I cannot
remember who first mentioned it because I just saw it everywhere. I know BooksandLala really loves it
although she's maybe not as much into the Dreamers trilogy. I know Catsandcamera really likes this
series as well. It's really hard to talk about what the series is about because the second
trilogy is kind of a spoiler for the first series but we've got this very weird magic going on
and kind of different factions fighting for how they think... did the lighting just change? That's
because I had to restart my camera. Also, clouds and trees, craziness. Let's talk about Mister
Impossible, which is also craziness. Basically, some of the characters think they need to use
this certain magic to save the world and other characters think this magic is going to destroy
the world and so they're coming in conflict with each other. But the magic is so weird. It's like
peak Maggie Stiefvater weirdness and there's also a bunch of characters who are really just
stuck in the middle. Like they have these magical abilities but they're just trying
to live their lives and in Mister Impossible those were my favorite characters. I love them so much
and I never would have found the Raven Cycle or Maggie Stiefvater if it wasn't for booktube.
Then actually another YA book that surprised me when I enjoyed it this year was Raybearer
by Jordan Ifueko. This is the first book in the duology. I still need to read that second book.
We've got this main character who has kind of been raised to bring down the royalty and the
royalty has this ability where by pulling people together into their council and forming this
magical bond with them they're able to get immunity to all these different kinds of deaths,
which of course makes them harder to kill off for people who might try and assassinate them.
And this council of people that give him immunity or form this really close personal bond as well,
like they can't really deal with being separated from each other. And as well,
each person has like a different kind of magical gift. Our main character has the ability to like
read people's memories or and like take them away as well.
But of course she's been raised by her mother and like she's not aware of it but she's been set up
to kill this new young emperor that she's formed this magical bond with. And the story went in such
different directions and it was written in such an interesting way and I really loved it. This one
I did make notes about. This one I was first convinced that I might want to read it by
Jesse from Bowties and Books. However, I did somehow get it mixed up in my head with another
book so when I finally picked it up it wasn't what I expected but I'm still pretty sure that
when I first heard it from Jesse I did know what they were talking about and I did put it on my
list because of them but somehow I got confused. But it doesn't matter because I liked it anyway.
Then, a series that I read the second two books of. So I read book two and book three of this
year. I don't think I read book one. I think I read that earlier. But anyway,
I’ve picked up the whole series because of booktube and that is the Gentleman Bastards
series. So the first book the Lies of Locke Lamora, then we've got Red Seas under Red
Skies and the Republic of Thieves, which I enjoyed both of those. I did enjoy the Republic of Thieves
more. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more out of the Lies of Locke Lamora and the Republic of Thieves.
But basically, we're following this guy named Locke Lamora. He has this gang of thieves and
they are trying to pull off all these elaborate cons, which always kind of go wrong and they end
up all involved in the politics of the world and the stuff that's going on with the bond mages,
so there's some really interesting magical element to the world as well.
Sometimes i do think these books try a little bit too hard to be clever but i still enjoy
them. They're quite humorous and they are actually quite clever. This is definitely one though where
I saw it everywhere on booktube before picking it up. I do know Murphy Napier really likes it.
Maybe Peruseproject is where i first saw it. To be honest, Regan from peruseproject was
the first booktuber i ever watched so i've read a lot of books on her recommendation.
Then the last book on this list is Roses and Rot by Kat Howard. This is one I’m
pretty sure Ali from Hardback Hoarder recommended. I think I had already read
An Unkindness of Magicians, which maybe Becca and the Books had talked about. I think I saw
a few people talking about it. I know Laura from abookcircus likes it. Do I know that?
I watch so many amazing booktubers it's sometimes really hard to keep track of who
likes what. I try, I try. Anyway, Roses and Rot is the story about these two girls who go off to this
art colony. One of them is a writer and one of them is an author. They are actually sisters but
the older one moved away quite early because their mother was quite abusive and she needed
to get away from that. The other one felt kind of deserted. Now they're in the artist,
this artist colony and there's this whole aspect of the artist colony having a connection to the
fairy world and these artists being able to make these deals with the fairies in order to like help
their art. But of course, there's a dark side to it as well and i really enjoyed the story.
I really love the sisters and the girls that they were staying with. Some devastating
things happened in that story and it was just a really great time. I love being devastated.
Anyway, those are 10 books that I read because of booktube. Always enjoy my time on booktube
and I really wish I had more time for it. Not just for making videos but also
for watching them and reading and talking about books. But anyway,
do let me know if you've read any of the books that I talked about in this video
or whether you want to read them. I’d love to talk with you about it down in the comments. As well,
book recommendations always welcome if you think you know any books that are similar to
these ones that I really enjoyed or ones you think I might enjoy. Or even just let me know
what books you have read just because of booktube that you've really loved. Otherwise,
thank you so much for watching! I hope that you are doing well and I will see you next time :)