Hey everyone, and happy July! Is it sunny where you are? Because once again, the summers we "enjoy" in the UK are not always the most... summer-y. I thought I'd bring something a little different to this month's post - it's another "my favourites" list, but it is of a slightly different variety.
If there's one thing I love almost as much as reading books, it's talking about books. Unfortunately, very few of my friends read for fun, and the ones that do don't tend to read what I read. So I have no one to talk to about books, basically. And this is how I discovered BookTube - a delightful area of YouTube where people talk about books. Now, I'm not delusional, I realise these people can't see me through their videos, and don't hear me when I talk back. Er... not that I talk back.
Anyway.
It's just nice to listen to people sometimes, whether they're expressing the same opinions as me about something I love or hate, or providing a different perspective. So here are some of my favourite BookTubers and channels, in no particular order:
Jaime En Fuego from The Horror Channel
I was on a Stephen King binge when I discovered Fuego's personal playlist on The Horror Channel, entitled Hail to Stephen King. How delighted I was to discover a dude who started making these videos after finishing a reading mission - every Stephen King book published. That is a lot of books, man. For someone who mostly discusses one author (he also includes other members of the King family in his videos), he offers a lot of variety in his content; straight-up book reviews, worst to best lists, tier rankings, Stephen King news, screen adaptation discussions, the list goes on. Plus, I dare anyone to try to dislike this guy, even a little bit. He's just such a lovely person to watch and listen to, and he's assembled a community of like-minded people who feel much more like friends and family than random people on the Internet. He even has a Hail to Stephen King group on Facebook, which is a lovely place to hang out and chat.
Mike's Book Reviews
Mike is another BookTuber I discovered whilst looking for Stephen King reviews, but he covers much more. I'd say his specialty genres are fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Once again, a lovely, sincere person who offers interesting and honest insights - so interesting actually that I watch his content even if I haven't read the work in question. He's the reason I started reading fantasy and sci-fi (I was basically exclusively reading horror before) because he sold me on so many great books. I really should thank him for prompting me to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
paperbackdreams
Man, is Kat funny. She basically reads everything and I don't know how she gets through so many books. There's nothing technical about her channel - she doesn't have an intro or an outro, there are no graphics, no effects, no music. There's hardly any editing, even. She just sits there enthusing/ranting about what she's read, and it's the most entertaining thing ever. As it happens, I have completely opposite books tastes to her, which has worked out really well for me because whenever she absolutely hates something, I immediately buy it, and love it. It's a system that hasn't failed me yet!
Maven of the Eventide
If you want vampires, this is where you go for vampires. This woman is a bonified vampire expert, I tell you! Her set is all cool and gothic and she has stacks of books, and a campy online persona that reminds me of Bela Lugosi and Anne Rice, and I just love her.
If you know of a BookTuber I might like, please let me know! There's always room for more!
PS. Special shout out to Red Letter Media, who don't review books but I can't talk about YouTube without bringing them up. I mean, Mr. Plinkett's Star Wars reviews alone...
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