Hello, everyone, my name is Olivia, and welcome to the Book Postscript Tag, which I saw my friend
CJ, over at CJ Reads, do on her channel, and I just really love the discussion that she created
about all the books that she read in 2021, and I thought this was the perfect way to wrap up
my reading year, tell you a little bit about some of the books that I read, some of the highlights,
some of the low lights. So, let's get right into it so we can talk about this really cool book tag
that I don't see a lot of people doing. So the first question is, “What is the longest book you
read this year?” And the book that took you the longest to finish and this book took me over 50
days to read– I did not realize it took me this long to read– and it is The Labyrinth of the
Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This is the longest book that I read this year, with about eight
hundred pages, and it took me such a long time to get through this book. This book started out
very slow, like a lot of Carlos Ruiz books, and I really did not prioritize reading this book and I
took my time with it and it took over two months to read, which is a pretty long time for me,
in terms of reading a book. Usually, I commit to a book and I'm able to finish it within the month,
at least, but I read this alongside so many other books, and I just always prioritized those other
books rather than this one, so that's why this took me so long to read and it was also 800 pages,
and we all know I do not like long books. So it took me a very long time to complete this,
but I'm glad that I finally did by the end of this year and it did not roll around to 2022 because
then I could have said it took me over a year to finish this book, and that would have been a true
nightmare. The next prompt is, “A book you read this year that was outside your comfort zone.” And
I was looking through my Goodreads and looking at all the different covers of the books that I read
and only one stood out in terms of being outside my comfort zone and that was the Diana nonfiction
that I picked up on audiobook that was over 13 hours long so it was a pretty chunky nonfiction,
and it is actually my first non-fiction centered around someone's life and their
history. This is my first biography, I believe, and it was a very interesting read because I did
not know a lot about Princess Diana, beforehand, because she passed away the year that I was born
and we didn't hear a lot about her in history classes, obviously. So I wanted
to take out the time to educate myself about her because she is a figure in history that I
really look up to and I am interested in, so I wanted to know a little bit more about her,
so I decided to pick up this nonfiction that she collaborated with the author on and he
secretly interviewed her while she was in the palace. And she shared the darker moments in
her life and she was just very raw and real in this nonfiction, and I think that if you
were to pick up any non-fiction about Princess Diana, I would highly recommend this one because
I just thought it was so well-rounded and I really enjoyed the fact that she collaborated
on this nonfiction to tell her story to the world. And I think it was just very authentic
and it was just such an interesting read and it made me want to pick up more biographies about
people in history that I am interested in. So that is the first biography that I picked up and I read
entirely, and I'm really glad that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone because I feel like I
would have never picked that up beforehand, but I'm glad that I'm, like, reaching out and
trying new things in terms of reading. I actually have to fact-check myself here because I haven't
picked up a biography beforehand. I was looking at my non-fiction section, which is right here,
and I have my Lauren Bacall biography that I read and it is one of my favorite nonfiction
books of all time. It just really stuck with me. Her story stuck with me, so I have picked up a
biography beforehand, but nonetheless, Princess Diana's nonfiction that I read was outside of
my comfort zone, and I'm really happy that I branched out and tried it out. The next prompt is,
“How many books did you reread this year?” And I only reread two books this year because I'm really
not a fan of rereading books. Whenever I pick up a book that I previously read and I'm reading it,
I'm just subconsciously thinking in the back of my mind, “I could be reading something new. I know
how the story is going to end. I know my feelings about this story. Why don't I try something else?”
So I don't tend to reread often, but I did reread two books this year, and I picked up MINDHUNTER
and Next Year in Havana. These are some of my favorite books of all time, so it's no surprise
that I was able to reread it very easily and had a great time annotating both of these books during
my reread. So MINDHUTNER I reread because someone kindly gifted me a copy of it off of my book
wish list. And when it arrived in the mail, I was flipping through it and I was thinking to myself,
“I would love to annotate it, add my own notes, add my own thoughts, and have a conversation
with the text,” because this nonfiction just completely fascinated me and I just really wanted
to revisit all the different cases that John E. Douglas highlights in this novel. So I reread it
and I annotated it and I added a lot of different notes. And I had a great time with it and the
same goes for Next Year in Havana, which I reread because my friend Jananie has a book club called
Reading in Colour, so we read the book together and then discussed it over on her channel,
so I will link that discussion down below. So I had a lot of fun revisiting Next Year in Havana.
It's one of my favorite books of all time, and I was able to annotate it as well. So this is
a story that I very happily reread because I knew returning to it would feel like home and
it definitely did and it made me so happy to fall in love with this story all over again as well as
discuss it with Jananie because that was just such a great discussion, and I had a lot of fun with
it. The next prompt is, “What is your favorite reread of the year?” And I have to say both
MINDHUNTER and Next Year in Havana. They both had an impact in a different way MINDHUNTER I got to
revisit annotate study and Next Year in Havana, I got to fall in love with all over again. So I feel
like both of those books were amazing rereads. The next prompt is, “What is a book you read for
the first time this year that you look forward to rereading in the future?” And the nonfiction that
I eventually want to read, once I get a copy of it is My Body. My Body was just an informative,
awe-inspiring memoir that I greatly enjoyed. I have been following Emily for years upon years,
on Instagram, and I've always really looked up to her, both in her ability to be a model a
successful business owner but also be an activist, as well, and I just loved everything that she
stood up for and I just loved learning more about her, so picking up My Body was something that I
always wanted to do, once she announced her book, and I did not expect to love it as much as I did.
Her writing was easy to follow, addictive in a way, and I read it in like two sittings and it
was just such a wonderful memoir that taught me so much about the industry, taught me so much
about the darker side of Hollywood and the modeling industry, and I just loved hearing
about her experiences. So this is a nonfiction that I definitely want to reread to annotate,
highlight because some of her quotes and her passages were just so moving. So I definitely
wanted to get a copy of it to add to my nonfiction shelf. The next prompt is, “What is your favorite
single short story or novella that you read this year?” And in my notes, I put, “Don't like short
stories,” and that is true. I really don't like short story collections. I always fall for them
and pick them up and hope that I will like them, and I just do not enjoy them. I think it's because
I do not like the length of the stories. I think that they are always too short. I feel like we
don't have enough time with the characters, and I feel like we don't have enough time to develop the
plot, so I always feel disappointed when I finish a short story or an anthology. Or, if I pick up
an anthology, I only end up liking, like, three stories out of like the 12 that they feature. So
I have finally set in stone that I am not picking up anthologies or short story collections anymore
because they're always two or three-star reads for me. They're literally never four-star reads
or five-star reads, so I have to just accept the fact that I do not like that form of storytelling
and I can't waste my time with them anymore because they always disappoint me in the end.
The next prompt is “Mass Appeal: A book you liked and would recommend to a wide variety of readers.”
So I have a romance and a historical fiction that I think would appeal to a lot of readers. So the
first one is The Love Hypothesis. Like I said before, everyone is falling in love with this
story because it is wholesome and it is everything that you would want in more any romance. It is
fake dating. It is set at a university. It follows the sunshine and grumpy trope. And I also think
it would be a perfect introductory romance. If you have not tried out the genre yet, and you are very
unsure and you don't know what to pick up first, I would highly recommend The Love Hypothesis because
it's a perfect beginner romance. It is so cute. It is so wholesome and I cannot rave about it enough.
Then, for a historical fiction that I think would appeal to a large audience would be
The Stationery Shop. This is a wonderful, expansive, beautifully written historical fiction.
It takes place over a long course of time so we get to witness these characters grow up and learn
life lessons and become adults, and it is just so beautifully written. It captures the essence of
falling in love for the first time. It captures the essence of assimilating your culture to
American culture and the shock of living in a new place that is so different from your home country.
It is just so well-rounded, beautiful, and I feel like not enough people are picking up this book.
Every single person who I've told to pick up this book said that they have loved it, so please give
this book a chance because it deserves all the love all the hype and it is just a heart-wrenching
yet beautifully written story that I cannot recommend enough. The next prompt is “Specialized
Appeal: A book you liked but would be hesitant to recommend to just anyone.” And I think you
all know what I'm going to say, and it is The Need by Helen Phillips. This is a book that I
want to recommend to every single person in the world, but I know it's not for everyone because it
feels like a Twilight one episode come to life and The Twilight Zone is not everyone's cup of tea.
This follows a mother who is taking care of her two children when one day she comes across
an intruder in her house and that intruder then changes her life forever, and we follow
the aftermath of that encounter. The Need has Sci-Fi elements but it is rooted in realism.
It is weird. It is twisted. It is ambiguous, and it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea,
but I feel like, if the right person picked this up, they would absolutely love it. I can only say,
if you like the Twilight Zone meets Annihilation meets a Jordan Peele movie, you would greatly
enjoy The Need because it has all of those weird elements that slightly unsettle you,
make you think about society, make you think about your place in the world, and it is just so good.
The last prompt is, “Reflect on your year as a bookish content creator (Goals met, good or bad
memories, favorite videos you made, etc.)” So one goal that I hit was hitting 25,000 subscribers on
this channel. If you have subscribed to this channel, thank you so much. I really wanted to
hit 30,000 this year, but it was impossible, so I hit 25, which is also just as amazing, and I'm
so appreciative of everyone who has subscribed to this channel, who has supported me, who have left
nice comments. That means the world to me that you watch my videos, you engage with them,
you share them. That just means so much to me, no matter how many people subscribe to my channel.
Another goal that I hit this year was launching my Patreon. I wanted to do this for months upon
months, and I was thinking about it in January and thought, “I should just do it in February.”
So I did it, and I really enjoyed that community over there. It's just a great way to give you some
behind the scenes content, give you early access to videos, ask for your opinions,
and just connect with people on a very personal level that feels safe and warm, and it's just a
wonderful community, and I hope I can share more on there in the future. But I launched a Patreon.
I'm really proud of myself for doing that, and, while I started out with a lot of different tiers,
I realized my limits and realized how much I can offer to others,
so I have had to adjust my tiers throughout the year but the people who have still supported me
throughout all of that mean the world to me. So if you're able to, I would love to have you
join my Patreon. I'm really happy that I launched that this year, I'm also really proud that I was
able to integrate more lifestyle content into my Instagram, which if you have not followed,
I would highly recommend that you do. I really wanted to incorporate more lifestyle fashion and
movie content over on my Instagram, and I really hope to increase that pressure in the new year,
but I'm just really happy to expand my horizons on my profile there and not just post about books
because I have so many other interests that I want to show on my Instagram, and I'm slowly but surely
doing that, and I think that people are enjoying that content. And if you are ever afraid to branch
out and share more of your interests on your social channels, I would highly recommend that
you do because you can be more than one hobby or one interest. You can be multifaceted and show
that on your profiles because the right people who are interested in those things as well will
follow you, and I just think that people shouldn't be afraid to branch out, and, at first I was,
but now that I have branched out, I want to do it even more and I want to share more of my interests
and I want to share more of my movie reviews on Instagram. And I'm really happy that I was able
to do that this year. Some of the bad memories from this year is the fact that I just did not
have a good reading year. I just picked up a lot of books that were three-star or two-star reads,
and I have to get better at DNFing books. I have to stop being this polite person who feels like
she has to finish these books just because I started them, just because I'm 40% through them.
If I'm not enjoying a book, I should just DNF it instead of finishing that book and rating it two
stars. And I hope that next year I can pick up more books that are five-star reads because I
feel like I only had like two five-star reads in 2021 and I read over 80 books this year. So I want
to have a better reading year in 2022. I'm really hoping that I'm able to find some amazing stories,
DNF the ones I don't like, and just have a better reading year all around. As for some
of my favorite videos, one that I greatly enjoy and always think about is my Little Women reading
vlog. I just think that my Little Women reading vlog was so cinematic and beautifully filmed,
and I had a lot of fun diving into that classic novel and taking my time with the story and
reliving all those scenes from Little Women the movie that I greatly enjoyed but in book form.
I thought it was so fun to have seen the movie first and then read the book because I can
visualize all the different scenes that the book is mentioning, and it was just such a fun reading
vlog, so I will link that reading vlog down below because I'm really proud of it, and I just think
it's visually stunning. Another video that I love that not a lot of people have watched is my video
called “Letting Go of My Fear of Failure.” I tried out a bunch of different hobbies and let
go of my inner critic and just really enjoyed trying out these new hobbies and putting myself
out there and pushing the limits of my comfort zone, and I captured that all in a video, and I
explained my over-critical brain and I explained how I started all these hobbies and showed
you them. So that is also a very cinematic and beautifully filmed video if I do say so myself,
that not a lot of people spend their time seeing, and I'm really sad about it but I'm glad that I
made it nonetheless because I'm proud of how I filmed it. I'm proud of what I captured, and if
you have not seen it but you're interested in it, that will also be linked down below. And another
video that I'm also really proud of that is one of my classic, cinematic videos that I have created
is my “Favorite First Lines of Books” video. This is a classic beautifully filmed video where I show
off the beauty of books, but I also had my best friend, Sarah, narrate the favorite first lines
of books that I showcased in that video. So it was a collaborative effort. It was beautiful,
in the end, and I'm really proud of it, so I would love for you to check that out because I think it
is one of the prettiest videos that I've made on this channel, and I think that not a lot of people
are doing that type of cinematic work over on BookTube, so I'm really proud of the work that I
have created and I'm proud of myself. I'm allowed to compliment myself. I think it creates a very
cozy calming atmospheric type of vibe for all my videos, and I hope that comes across,
and I'm just really proud of what I've created, and I cannot wait to see what I'm going to create
in 2022. I can't wait to push the limits, share more of my interests on here, and hopefully create
some beautiful content that will give you some warm, fuzzy feelings inside and make you feel
cozy and content. I didn't realize at the end of this tag I'm supposed to tag some creators,
so I'm going to tag Ariel, Allie, Cece, and anyone else who wants to film this video. I had
a lot of fun with it. I thought it was a fresh, new tag with a lot of interesting questions,
so I hope you liked my answers. Let me know what was your favorite read of 2021. I would
love to get recommendations, as you know I had a terrible reading year this year, but I want to
have a great reading year in 2022. So, maybe I can take your five-star reads into account, and maybe
I can read it in the next year. So if you have not followed me on any other social media platforms,
all of them will be linked down below so you can connect with me elsewhere. I'm very active over
on TikTok and Instagram, and I'm having a great time over there. So thank you so much for spending
your time with me. I hope you enjoyed this video, and I will see you in another one very soon. bye~