Tessa (T): Shall we chat about books?

Rowan (R): We shall. I hear you have a rant at the ready. It’s the perfect energy for this sort of conversation. 

T: Oh my goodness *laughs* I have no time to read anything. My day is just filled with school, and then I go home, and it’s more school. I was looking forward to the new year to start fresh with my Goodreads challenge and get a head start to actually reach it this year — yes I know you can change it, but that just feels like cheating to me — I didn’t reach it last year.

R: For shame Tessa! The Goodreads challenge obviously has to be your top priority. School is secondary in all aspects. Last year I set my goal pretty low, and I ended up meeting it. To clearly express my reading prowess…I change my Goodreads goal throughout the year. If I meet my goal and it isn’t the end of the year I’ll hike up the number by five. I think I’m set to read 40 books this year. 

T: I set my reading goal to the odd number of 43… Don’t judge me. I can practically see it. Yes, it’s not a nice 40 or 45, it’s 43. And my only explanation is that I’m also odd. 

R: I mean this in the most polite way…that’s disgusting. How dare you pick a number that’s not a multiple of five!? 

T: I’m special. What can I say?

R: You could say a lot. Anyways…I totally relate to your rant. I don’t have as much time as I used to. Also, to confess a shame of mine, sometimes instead of actually reading the books I want to read, I’ll just watch “booktube.” It’s pretty embarrassing. I hate to say this, but it sometimes gives me the same feeling as reading my book. 

T: It does though! Especially when they’re reading the books you’re interested in. You get to live vicariously through them. It works perfectly… except you don’t actually read… *laughs* Who do you enjoy watching?

R: Okay, so, I love watching jessethereader. His energy just makes me happy. The cringy jokes make my day.  I also like to watch withcindy. She has such a snarky attitude, and it provides the best entertainment. I still have a good time even though she religiously makes fun of some of my favorite books. Daniel Greene is also a lot of fun. He does book and TV reviews, bookshelf roasts, and interviews. Who do you watch? 

T: I watch tons of people, to the point where I’m constantly behind on my subscriptions. Oops. Surprisingly most of them do not share the same reading tastes as me though… I’m subscribed to BooksandLala (she does cool reading “experiments” and just fun videos, she reads mostly thrillers and speculative fiction), Hailey in Bookland (she’s probably the most like me. She reads contemporary, historical fiction and occasionally fantasy.) I also watch jessethereader; he does have a lot of energy. Alexandra Roselyn is a ray of sunshine and frequently makes my day. PeruseProject, who you would like, reads almost only fantasy, with a dabbling of fiction and the last one I’ll list is thisstoryaintover, she’s amazing, she has one of my favorite book clubs even though I don’t keep up with it. *laughs nervously* It’s called Read in Colour — she’s Canadian. 

R: They all sound amazing. For the most part, booktube is just a relaxing corner of the internet. I do have to say that starting a channel could be so much fun, but I don’t think I’ll actually be able to commit to it. It would be for an ulterior motive too. I’m jealous of all the books and advanced reader copies (ARCs) they get sent. That brings me to a somewhat similar topic. Don’t you have an Instagram account dedicated to reading? 

T: Yeah I do. It’s @tessatalksnovels . I try to take pictures of my books in the season I post it in so it looks more aesthetic. However, I tend to, unfortunately, not read as many books in the fall and winter so I have to make sure I’m posting even though I haven’t finished any books. That way I can get a nice seasonal grid and hopefully attract more followers. You know, that confuses me, the whole followers thing. I post regularly enough, I started making reels and yet I sit at about the same number of followers. Granted I don’t care about the number, but I would like to have a space where I can share more thoughts and feelings about books to other passionate readers. Right now that just isn’t happening, the interaction isn’t there. I have an account to target bookish people, but I can’t comment for them. *laughs* 

R: Yeah! I can totally see your problem. I follow you and I absolutely love your content. The pictures you take are amazing. I think it’s just going to take some time for the followers to build up. You’re doing a great job of getting your page out there though. Not to mention that I’ve added a lot of books you post to my “want to read” list. Your taste is just *chefs kiss* Speaking of which, what books are you looking forward to reading this year? 

T: Too many. There are several, SEVERAL, new releases I really want. Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan sounds AMAZING! Although I am upset that I cannot get the UK cover. It’s so much prettier than the U.S.’s. Also Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr, I read his other book All the Light We Cannot See and fell in love with his writing. Oh! and I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, one of my all time favorite authors. Seriously, if you haven’t read her books and you like historical fiction, you should read them. Between Shades of Gray made me sob, for a while. Oh my, I’m going to have to limit this because I currently have 390 books I still want to read. Some new or upcoming releases are Hotel Magnifique, about a mysterious hotel that appears in different places every morning and a mission to uncover the magic of it and free her younger sister from its clutches. I am currently reading Traci Chee’s historical fiction, We Are Not Free, but she has another book coming out in March of this year called, A Thousand Steps Into Night. I am impatiently waiting for Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young to come out as well. It’s a YA fantasy standalone (something I can hardly ever find) that follows a rural island community that is steeped in mystical superstitions and an unsolved murder. There are really too many and my list keeps growing *laughs* Now that I’m done gabbing, what are yours?

R: First and foremost, I want to read Gallant by V.E. Schwab. It gets released on March 1st this year, so at least I have something to look forward to. She’s one of my favorite authors. I’m also excited for House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas. It’s the second book in her Crescent City series. Not going to lie, her books are some of my favorite guilty pleasures. I’m pretty excited about the “Untitled” Alex Stern #2 by Leigh Bardugo as well. It doesn’t even have a release date yet, so I guess I’ll just cry. I want to read Daughter of the Moon Goddess too. It sounds so amazing and the cover is gorgeous. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon made it to my “to read” shelf on Goodreads also. I’ve heard it’s absolutely massive, but I’m ready to commit. Hopefully. Finally, I’m really looking forward to Café Con Lychee by Emery Lee coming out on May 10th. It sounds like such a cute romance book with LGBTQ+ and POC (People of Color) representation. I really can’t wait. 

T: Alright folks-

R: Folks?

T: Yup, giddy up *laughs* Anyway, please check out the next installment of this conversation in February in honor of Black History Month and Valentine’s Day.

R: Yep! I can’t wait!