The Sophomore Slump: My Experience with Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner and Other Recent Reads

As I sat down to write about my recent reading experience, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. My enthusiasm for the first book in a series had waned, and I was left wondering if the sophomore slump was real. Sunbringer, the second installment in the series, had failed to capture me in the same way that the first book had.

I learned a lot more about how this world works, which I've liked there is maybe some plot pacing issues particularly in the middle where it kind of feels like it's dragging a bit and I feel like the main reason why I'm not liking this as much is that our characters are kind of separated from each other. I get for the purpose of creating three different plot story lines we can follow in terms of expanding the plot reach of this book and story but it feels like the cost of that and the camaraderie and the character connections and all of that stuff that was developed in book one it doesn't feel worth it to me and I find myself just caring a lot less than I did with book one. So, I fear this is a little bit of a sophomore slump for me.

I'm still going to finish it, I probably will still read book three because I really like the characters and the concept of the world so I'm hoping it'll rebound but for now, I'm just going to nibble on this cinnamon raw and read the last 50 pages and then we'll wrap the whole thing up. Yay! All righty! But now, it's time to sit down and get some more reading done. Let's wrap this up!

After completing Sunbringer, my next read was Stardust Grail by Yumi Kesai. I found it to be good, but not great. There are definitely strengths to this story, but I wouldn't say it was bad. I also didn't feel like it was as good as I was hoping it would be. The world in setup is interesting, and who doesn't love an Indiana Jones core story in space? I loved how we were going to so many different locations and how the author touched on lots of different cultures. However, I wish she had turned up the screen time for some of the fan for some of the found family parts of the story. It feels like she partially created but also felt like it could have taken more centered stage, especially if she removed some of the action sequences from this book.

Kesai packed a lot in a 300-page story, and some of it worked, while some of it I wanted a little bit more from. Overall, I found this to be a compelling sci-fi story, and I would definitely read more books by this author because I generally really like her writing style. My experience with Stardust Grail has me hopeful that the rest of the series will live up to my expectations.

My final book was TMS Wrath. I want to say I had about 330 pages left of this book, and I loved this in contrast to the other two books I was able to complete for this Vlog. This book was amazing once I picked it back up. I love the expand Series so much and feel like with every book I like it even more. The character work, twists and turns of this plot, how the author is able to constantly keep this fresh, I love it. I love watching their little plans go to work. I love the space combat, and the on-the-ground political aspect of this book. This one was especially emotional, really feeling like it's gearing up for the finale to be quite excellent.

I am really happy that I was able to complete TMS Wrath, which was a 10 out of 10 for me. The only thing that would make this experience better is if I had felt more connected to the characters and world-building throughout the series. Nevertheless, I'm really happy even if I didn't love everything because I was able to complete everything, which was the goal. In total, I read around 800 pages over the course of this Vlog, so I'll take that as a win.

As I wrap up this article, I want to thank my viewers for following along on this reading journey with me. It's not always easy to finish a book when you're feeling disconnected from it, but it's moments like these that remind me why I love reading in the first place. Until next time, stay bookish and keep on reading!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys it's Reagan and welcome to the start of another reading Vlog this reading Vlog I'm getting down to business because friends I'm currently in the midst of like too many books I have started so many books and for one reason or another I haven't finished them so this is going to be a housekeeping vog where in which I finished the books I have started because I'm chaotically reading three possibly four books at once so let's go through the TBR together these are the primary three unfinished books I would like like to finish over the course of this Vlog the first is the Stardust Grail by Yumi kesai I really loved the Deep Sky which I read by this author earlier this year and this is her new release and I just sort of spontaneously picked it up and read 30 pages and was hooked rather quickly this basically follows a thief in space getting wrapped up in a rather complicated job I'm so looking forward to see how the rest of this book is going to play out another book I can't wait to see how the plot is going to unfold is tmt's wrath by James sa Corey I read uh about a third of this book and then set it aside for honestly unknown reasons because I quite frankly obsessed um this is the eighth book in the expand series I'm in the home stretch with this series which is this and one final book to kind of see how this Arc is going to play out this in particular has really drawn me in in such an unexpected fashion the last three books of the series are kind of almost their own unique sequence and the plot is so riveting that I'm obsessed so I really really really want to to finish this so I can read the final book soon and then lastly I have about 200 pages left of sunbringer by Hannah Kaner I started this book in a previous Vlog and got distracted as I typically do this is the second book the first one being God killer this is a high fantasy story centering a variety of characters it has kind of a found family component a god component which I find rather compelling and yeah I have all three of these books which honestly are all fantastic for their own reasons and I've started them all and I to finish hopefully each one over the course of this week it's a bad habit I've started where I accidentally at any one point could be reading five six books at once I'll get really far and then I'll start another book and then finish it and then sometimes I get self-conscious if a book has been in a vlog already and I haven't finished it but you know I've decided to kind of have a chaotic let's catch up on the old currently reading TBR based Vlog and maybe this will motivate some others to uh get through that currently reading list or maybe it's just me who's reading five books at once I don't know before I can get any reading done I do need to make lunch I accidentally delayed too long one of my favorite luxuries now to buy is this Chef prepared pre-made Ranch from Central Market it's delectible scrumptious and I eat so many more vegetables when I have homemade ranch on hand so I'm going to do that I have a cucumber to use carrots as well some cheese keeping it simple today I think good morning everyone I did a terrible job vlogging yesterday but we're going to fix that starting now I promise with a much needed cup of coffee and I'm going to sit down and read one of my many books on my TBR I think to start this Vlog I'm going to start with tiamat's wrath I am going to Pivot from this in a bit but I've just been dying to get back into this installment since I put it down just honestly the struggle with reading multiple books at once especially if you're enjoying them all is like I want to read them all at the same time which is impossible so anyway I'm excited to be reading this once again because I've been really looking forward to it so I'm going to do that right now hi let's do a check-in and update to be honest it's been a minute I've been very disorganized since the beginning of this Vlog I oddly just got busier than I anticipated which is a boring thing to elaborate on so we're just moving on now that things are back on track I'm very much giving summer ween today and in fact we have gloomy weather I had tea out of this ghost mug and hello Pumpkin candle sleigh and other news we must catch up together about the books in this Vlog so let's chat about it so first things first I started with reading tiamat's wrath um I was on page 200 I've read all of 40 pages so far for this Vlog but I'm going to sit down now and read more my goal is to read about 100 150 pages of this book and then pivot back to the Stardust Grail read the whole thing maybe finish this maybe finish the other book I started for this Vlog in an ideal scenario I would finish all three of these books we're just going to see how far I can get in terms of my thoughts and feelings about this book I feel like I've definitely been a bit of an expans series fan girl on this channel recently but with good cause I also am finding it so satisfying that the last three books of this nine book series which definitely is a bit of a departure from the first six books has been amazing it has a totally different vibe there's just other unexpected things happening and we're finding characters interacting and in places you truly could never anticipate there was also a Time skip going to the last half of this book and I would say all of the three books that make up this final sequence are very connected in a way that you typically don't find within this series normally each book kind of stands contained with some stuff flowing over between books but these three books kind of feel like one almost like final Trilogy movement which has been very satisfying I just love the themes and topics of this uh Space Opera series I love the perseverance of humanity I love seeing our Central cast of main characters think on their feet just be so clever and interesting and continue to fight for what they feel like is right I am not tired of these characters at all and in fact I feel like I've only grown closer to them as time has passed which I feel like is hard to do um especially because I didn't I wouldn't say I loved them in the beginning of the series but they all really grew on me and especially in this final sequence I've been finding myself like rather emotional and just some of the characters we're following and the things that are happening in this have just been so good so so all I have to say is I'm going to sit down now and see if I can read a bit more and then I'm going to Pivot to this book cuz I feel like this book will be a little bit easier to talk about because it's a Sci-Fi Standalone versus the eighth book and a Sci-Fi trilogy but I don't want to fall into the Trap like I've been falling into where I read books and series but they're kind of hard to talk about in Vlogs in a non-spoiler way CU I like to keep my Vlogs non-spoiler but then I have all these unfinish series and like I'm halfway through so many different books so we're we're we're catching up a bit we're catching up a bit in other news I it's clearly a bright sunny day outside but I closed the blinds in the front room and I'm going to pretend like it's just full of onance in there I'm going to smell my vanilla pumpkin spice candle we're going to read this book tilla's also very cozy comfy and yes maybe I grabbed a couple pumpkin pillows and I'm going to sit I'm going to read and we're just going to see how far I can get reporting live to say I've officially read 100 pages of this book in the past 24 hours and stuff is so bananas right now I'm actually on well I just read a chapter and I'm like what is happening do I believe it I don't know anyway I'm going to shower and start making dinner but that's my reading update for this book progress dinner is incoming I made some chicken cutlets I badly burned some bacon which is pretty tragic cuz I don't have any more bacon so no bacon but I making a was supposed to be like a cob style salad so I have lettuce some vegetables carrots my chicken cutlets some Chef prepared ranch dressing and also these delicious little thingies which I'm going to crumble up for croutons I am so excited about this salad I've been thinking about it all week so let's combine Yum Yum Yum different night same thing and there's Matilda sangled up in her blanket watching the mole with me hello everyone it is well until lunchtime and uh I need to update y'all I have read 200 pages of tmat War this book is crazy and the perspectives I'm like on the edge of my seat to read from I could have never anticipated I'm also feeling a little Emos reading this kind of going into the final sequin but it's so good and I have I think 100 pages of this book left which is not bad it's also very much lunchtime and so I thought we could do some cooking together and I'm always try I feel like sometimes I get lazy about feeling myself cook but I'll try to be better today so for lunch we're just doing a really fast and simple meal I'm going to make some miso soup I have some green onions some tofu I have some mushrooms to use up obviously miso paste and then I'm also going to do some frozen yoza to have on the side I have kimchi I have kimchi and I also have leak and onion so I think I'm going to do a combination of both of these and uh so let's get chopping actually I'm going to get these on the stove first and get water on the boil and then I'll get shopping all righty I've added everything into my soup so I'm just going to let this come to a boil cook through for a bit and then I will turn off the heat and add my miso p T this takes truly no time and it's one of my favorite lunches and then my pot stickers are over there cooking away I'd say all in all this takes about 15 minutes so not bad and lunch is served hi afternoon coffee though I've been so good this week what's today Thursday first afternoon coffee of the week so I feel like it's a reward it's like a reward and I feel like cuz lattes I don't know if this is scientifically proven but I just feel like coffeee has like it feels like there's more caffeine in it but you know let's just see if I can finish this book I realized I only had 100 pages left I was going to Pivot but I only have like a 100 I probably have like a little more than 100 probably like 30 pages left that's really not that bad and I'm in the home stretch of the book and I'm not going to lie it's crazy like it's so good I am going through it so there's that anyway I'm going to read okay bye I've started closing the blinds in this front room at the end of the day cuz I can delude myself into thinking it's a gloomy dark chilly day outside it's all about the mindset the power of the brain let's read now let's see how bright it actually is outside shall we yep plan us to listen to Charlie XCX and make one massive salad so let's get to it a an obvious way to spend the evening we're pivoting from gaming in bed to playing The Sims and I'm a serious Sim player I take notes hello I played a lot of the Sims but now I'm going to try to finish this book I don't have very much left at all hello look at this so we're going to get focused read I'll see y'all in the morning and we're going to finally start my second book of this Vlog I'm sorry I feel like I've kind of been all over the place which kind of matches the TBR to be honest everyone good morning let's do a reading update fantastic news I finished tmt's wrath I was supposed to paste this out amongst other books but I didn't because I fell head first into this story the ending truly I mean honestly I keep saying the ending was B but this whole book was truly unput downable from beginning to end I flew through it this end sequence continues to be impeccable that also means I read 330 pages so far for this Vlog and I'm also really happy that I went back to this and finished it before the end of the month with that in mind I actually jumped into my second book of the Vlog which is the Stardust Grail and I Read 50 pages of this well I'm 50 pages into this book so far I definitely plan to read more of this today it's not super long so I feel like I'll be able to read it relatively quickly and based on my experience with this author and her other work which I read super fast I feel like this book is going to have a really quick plot this is actually another sci-fi story where we're introduced to our main character Maya and Maya at the beginning of this book is a reformed Thief she was basically kind of known for being this very talented Intergalactic um Thief who basically steals stolen artifacts and returns them back to where they belong very much Robin Hood core if you know what I mean she is from an intercal actic like new settlement within space so her family Generations ago left Earth and basically found a home somewhere else but now she actually finds herself back on Earth as an adult and as a retired thief because she's currently at Yale trying to complete her PhD she's having a harder time kind of ass simulating back into a normal life um but she's trying her best and she's very determined to keep her head down and her hands out of trouble but of course trouble comes knocking in the form of information that might Point her in the direction of a long last artifact that she and her close friend have been looking for for so long and then she also kind of gets noticed by some other powerful individuals which makes her life a little more complicated too I am kind of just in the first part of this book which is the introductory of our character whom I do find to be quite likable she's flawed but she's funny and capable and I appreciate her tenacity within the story particularly a story like this I'm really just following her as a student but like I can tell that this book is going to shift gears and shift gears soon and we're going to be like back in space there's going to be conspiracies at play in terms of the writing style I really like Yumi Kai's writing style I feel like she really combines a lot of different things kind of making her sci-fi stories have a more literary lean there's always a deep contemplation on culture and belonging and just I really like how she kind of constructs her worlds they're very sci-fi but they're also you know kind of that interesting mix of genres that I think works quite well the first book of hers I read was like a thriller in space this one seems to be more like an adventure political conspiracy in space with a thief at the core of it I'm excited also to see her explore the topic of like alien civilizations as part of as part of her stories because that wasn't present in the first sci-fi book I read of hers but I do feel like there's going to be an aspect of like Intergalactic culture as well kind of folded into this which I'm curious about I've really been on a Sci-Fi kick this year um but yeah I'm definitely looking forward for to reading more of this today but I got a lot of stuff I need to do but I just wanted to check in and establish where I'm at almost 400 Pages read I finished a book so one of three books on the TBR are knocked down we're going to keep this progress going I'm hopeful I'm hopeful big day in this house because the hyper fixation sandwich is strong still but for the first time ever we're trying a new local we're trying the turkey sub Sandy from home slice in Austin which is Big H huge it's so good so we're going to enjoy this friends I'm truly having the laziest Day Ever uh the Olympics have started and I love the Olympics so much they also make me so emotional I feel like I watch every sport I don't care if it's a sport I know none of the rules for I'll watch it and then I'll cry because I'm just so excited for everyone cuz everyone works so hard anyway um that being said I have also done some reading I'm on page 170 of the Stardust Grail I would say I'm liking this book I'm not loving this book in comparison to how much I loved the Deep Sky by this author I'm still enjoying it I think the writing style continues to be strong I really like how this author sort of puts together stories this is sort of described or pitched as a heist novel and I can see why and there's definitely been Heist but I would almost describe it more like Academia Indiana Joneses sort of situation we're following our main character Maya who's in Academia and we see her leave decide to go back out into space take on one final job to find this artifact to help her friend Uncle out and they're basically traversing to lots of different locations from an Interstellar point of view um they're taking on various jobs like it's giving Indiana Jones ocean 11's Vibes if you know what I mean one thing I will say and part of maybe why I'm liking it but not loving it I strongly feel attached to the main character Maya and Uncle I particularly always enjoy how this author has really compelling main characters that aren't necessarily perfect but still likable there's a large discussion like personally foring character Maya in terms of culture the feeling of fitting in belonging U making connections between cultures um colonialism as it you know as it relates to Earth itself but also just Humanity's expansion within uh the universe too and also the different relationships between humans and Aliens this sort of complicated interplay between all of these things um and I feel strongly towards Maya and uncle in particular and I find it almost cozy they're camaraderie they're deep love for each other they're deep understanding for each other which I like there's been an introduction of two additional secondary characters who I also like but I don't know if there has been so far enough time to really sell this sort of found family Dy Dynamic that I think the author was trying to do um and I think the balance between plot and characterization is maybe a little off for me particularly because while I find the plot interesting like learning about all the different cultures and locations I always like but the action sequences do read a little bit choppy and also kind of repetitive um and it's like so quick that I almost feel like I can't totally catch my breath in some way so it's like I'm liking everything that's happening and I again continue to like this author's writing style but I'm not totally sure like how this whole book is going to come together but we're just going to have to find out ourselves cuz there's lots of different twists and turns so far basically what I'm trying to say is I see what the author's doing also what they're trying to do some of it for me is working some of it is just okay um and right now I would say this book is sort of netting at like a three three and a half star read so like not bad just not a five-star read which is what I gave the Deep Sky I just don't feel as like pulsive through reading this book like I have to read what happens next I have to you know see where our characters are going to go like I'm entertained I'm liking it but I'm just not like Swept Away by the whole thing um and I also feel like there's like a lot of good Concepts but like are all of these Concepts giving getting enough screen time like is there maybe like too much happening and if we had less happening their stuff would have more time to shine I don't know I think the strength is the travel I like this sort of anthropological sort of situation and also how that ties into culture and Colonial history as well like again I see the topics I like them I just maybe think some things need more space to breathe you know that's just that's just me though all righty I've read to page 250 I have only 50 pages left and then I'm almost done with book two I'm definitely going to wrap this up this afternoon so I can finish my third and final book before the end of this Vlog tonight but now time for Milly and me to go watch the Olympics and cry right Millie are we going to cry watching the Olympics I think we are I think we are look at this US Women's Soccer the most ideal cozy lamp I have a candle going until this being a lounge Queen having a great time and look at that it's even suddenly cloudy outside so truly 10 out of 10 Ambiance if you're wondering where Clay is he's doing yard work because he doesn't believe in relaxing no I'm just kidding um I put him to work got to keep him busy you know hello it is almost time for Prime Time Olympic so you know we're got to watch some mes and the girls so obviously doing a little Americana dinner moment we're doing some burgers on the grill here are my buns my BIOS buns and my cheese which I'm going to top and toast you get the picture and then to go along with it in my oven I have some corn roasting and then I'm going to steam some broccoli and that's going to be dinner and it's going to be tasty it's going to be fast it's going to be in spirit America cheeseburgers you know the oics are the only time I'm like America anyone else she's a grill girl she's a grill operator and there's Millie I love it I love grilling guys it's so fun Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum obviously you know we got gymnastics qualifying in my puzzle same same you know I am done watching the Olympics which means it's time to read and I actually have a reading update for you guys namely the Stardust Grail and I will say the plot really really escalated uh there towards the end it was quite explosive I think what I've said previously continues to persist um I wish there was more development in the side characters particular particularly because I feel like there was a cozy element of this book like it felt welcoming and I liked what the author was trying to do and I feel like she was successful with that with her relationship building for uncle and Maya but I just wanted a bit more of that especially in contrast to the plot which was like really explosive and I loved all the heist sort of artifact collecting but things really really really really really really really really um escalated there towards the end almost to the point of like what is happening like maybe too much like too many things um but that doesn't take away from the fact that this was like an entertaining novel um I still continue to like the writing style and I think the concepts are strong and I think this author is definitely an author or I'll always check out what they release um because there are consistent elements I have enjoyed across book over book over book while I wouldn't say the Stardust Grail is like my favorite book if you know what I mean with that in mind though we're moving on to the final book of this blog which is sunbringer and I have about 150 pages of this book left so we're just going to see what I can read and then hopefully I will be caught up and I'll no longer be reading three books at the same time and I can just clean slate with one book to remove off that slate and then I can move into the fall winter season ready to go Matilda's outside enjoying the Sun as she we should it's time for a little am update around here I'm up and dressed um and exciting news clay picked up baked goods so I thought we could go through them together before I did any type of reading we we've already kind of been at these so keep that in mind first up is this very limited amount left it's a strawberry and cream cheese croissant it's given croissant Danish we also got this blueberry turnover stunning Berry muffin which has also been half eaten this cinnamon roll which I think I'm going to try right now and then a classic lastly aant which plain croissants are one of my top five top 10 favorite foods in other news I was able to read 100 pages of sunbringer last night so about 50 pages left before I finish this guy up I featured this book pretty heavily in a recent vlog so if you want more in-depth thoughts about this definitely I'll have that link down below if you want to check it out the thing with this book is it's a second book in a series The First one being God killer which is set in a fantasy world where Gods used to have a lot of power a lot of political cultural capital they were overthrown gods are now outlawed we follow kind of a mly crew of individuals the first one going on a quest very found family one of those is a young girl who has a God in her pocket a god killer and a knight To The King and I would say the strongest part of that series to me was the character Dynamics and the found family part of that book the world was also super interesting and I liked the Ambiance of the writing style had the plot building while set in an interesting world wasn't necessarily like the strongest element of the book but I was still really enjoying the series because I love the found family the characters and the concepts of the gods that being said I have been struggling a bit more with book two because the characters don't really have this there's really not that Center Stage character camaraderie and found family that we had in book one and while a positive is I feel like we've learned a lot more about how this world Works which I've liked there is maybe some plot pacing issues particularly in the Middle where it kind of feels like it's dragging a bit and I feel like the main reason why I'm not liking this as much is that our characters are kind of separated from each other which I get for the purpose of creating three different plot story lines we can follow in terms of expanding the plot reach of this book and story but it feels like the cost of that and the camaraderie and the character connections and all of that stuff that was developed in book one it doesn't feel worth it to me and I find myself just caring a lot less than I did with book one so I fear this is a little bit of a sophomore slump for me I'm still going to finish it I probably will still read book three because I really like the characters and the concept of the world so I'm hoping it'll rebound but for now I'm just going to nibble on this cinnamon raw and read the last 50 pages and then we'll wrap the whole thing up yay all righty but now it's time to sit down and get some more reading done let's wrap this up let's wrap this Vlog up you know what I mean hi guys it's Reagan let's wrap up this Vlog happy to report I've officially completed three out of the four books off of my currently reading shelf meaning I almost have a clean slate and I am going to be tackling that fourth book which you might be able to guess in the next Vlog I'm shooting CU I just want to be ready to go for the fall season but let's go ahead and go through each book starting with sunbringer by Hannah Kaner I completed this book I feel like my thoughts are pretty consistent to what I've already echoed I found it to be good it was fine I like the characters I like the world but really I wasn't really Blown Away with the second book and I feel like part of the reason why it sort of dragged on for me in terms of reading and completing it was because I just wasn't like head over heels in love with this and like craving to know what was going to happen next there's definitely strengths to this story I wouldn't say it was bad but I also wouldn't say it was like great you know similarly I also finished the Stardust Grail by Yumi kesai another book where I found it to just be like good not fantastic this I would say is better than sunbringer by Hannah Kaner but still not as good as I was hoping it would be I found the world in setup interesting I mean who doesn't love an Indiana Jones core Story in space I loved how we were going to so many different locations I loved how the author touched on lots of different cultures in fact I even wanted a little bit more of that I also wish she turned up the um screen time for sort of the fan for some of the found family parts of the story I feel like she partially created but I also feel like it could have taken more centered stage especially if she removed some of the action sequences from this book she packed a lot in in a 300 page story some of it worked some of it I wanted a little bit more from but overall I found this to be a compelling sci-fi story and I would definitely read more books by this author because I in general really like her writing style and lastly um and definitely not least I completed TMS wrath which I want to say I had about 330 pages left of this book and I loved this in contrast to the other two books I was able to complete for this Vlog this book was amazing once I picked it back up I did not want to put it back down I love the expand Series so much and I just feel like with every book I like it even more um the character work the twists and turns of this plot how the authors are able to constantly keep this fresh I love it I love it I love it I love it I love watching their little plans go to work I love the space combat I love the on the ground like political aspect of this book this one was especially emotional I really feel like it's gearing up the finale to be quite excellent and I can't wait to read it um but yeah this was a 10 out of 10 I loved this book and I'm really happy I at least read one book I was really really pleased with in this Vlog but nevertheless I'm really happy even if I didn't love everything because I was able to complete everything which was the goal I think I read 800 Pages or something over the course of this Vlog so I'm going to take that as a win but I hope you guys enjoyed this video and I will see you soon with another one soon goodbyehi guys it's Reagan and welcome to the start of another reading Vlog this reading Vlog I'm getting down to business because friends I'm currently in the midst of like too many books I have started so many books and for one reason or another I haven't finished them so this is going to be a housekeeping vog where in which I finished the books I have started because I'm chaotically reading three possibly four books at once so let's go through the TBR together these are the primary three unfinished books I would like like to finish over the course of this Vlog the first is the Stardust Grail by Yumi kesai I really loved the Deep Sky which I read by this author earlier this year and this is her new release and I just sort of spontaneously picked it up and read 30 pages and was hooked rather quickly this basically follows a thief in space getting wrapped up in a rather complicated job I'm so looking forward to see how the rest of this book is going to play out another book I can't wait to see how the plot is going to unfold is tmt's wrath by James sa Corey I read uh about a third of this book and then set it aside for honestly unknown reasons because I quite frankly obsessed um this is the eighth book in the expand series I'm in the home stretch with this series which is this and one final book to kind of see how this Arc is going to play out this in particular has really drawn me in in such an unexpected fashion the last three books of the series are kind of almost their own unique sequence and the plot is so riveting that I'm obsessed so I really really really want to to finish this so I can read the final book soon and then lastly I have about 200 pages left of sunbringer by Hannah Kaner I started this book in a previous Vlog and got distracted as I typically do this is the second book the first one being God killer this is a high fantasy story centering a variety of characters it has kind of a found family component a god component which I find rather compelling and yeah I have all three of these books which honestly are all fantastic for their own reasons and I've started them all and I to finish hopefully each one over the course of this week it's a bad habit I've started where I accidentally at any one point could be reading five six books at once I'll get really far and then I'll start another book and then finish it and then sometimes I get self-conscious if a book has been in a vlog already and I haven't finished it but you know I've decided to kind of have a chaotic let's catch up on the old currently reading TBR based Vlog and maybe this will motivate some others to uh get through that currently reading list or maybe it's just me who's reading five books at once I don't know before I can get any reading done I do need to make lunch I accidentally delayed too long one of my favorite luxuries now to buy is this Chef prepared pre-made Ranch from Central Market it's delectible scrumptious and I eat so many more vegetables when I have homemade ranch on hand so I'm going to do that I have a cucumber to use carrots as well some cheese keeping it simple today I think good morning everyone I did a terrible job vlogging yesterday but we're going to fix that starting now I promise with a much needed cup of coffee and I'm going to sit down and read one of my many books on my TBR I think to start this Vlog I'm going to start with tiamat's wrath I am going to Pivot from this in a bit but I've just been dying to get back into this installment since I put it down just honestly the struggle with reading multiple books at once especially if you're enjoying them all is like I want to read them all at the same time which is impossible so anyway I'm excited to be reading this once again because I've been really looking forward to it so I'm going to do that right now hi let's do a check-in and update to be honest it's been a minute I've been very disorganized since the beginning of this Vlog I oddly just got busier than I anticipated which is a boring thing to elaborate on so we're just moving on now that things are back on track I'm very much giving summer ween today and in fact we have gloomy weather I had tea out of this ghost mug and hello Pumpkin candle sleigh and other news we must catch up together about the books in this Vlog so let's chat about it so first things first I started with reading tiamat's wrath um I was on page 200 I've read all of 40 pages so far for this Vlog but I'm going to sit down now and read more my goal is to read about 100 150 pages of this book and then pivot back to the Stardust Grail read the whole thing maybe finish this maybe finish the other book I started for this Vlog in an ideal scenario I would finish all three of these books we're just going to see how far I can get in terms of my thoughts and feelings about this book I feel like I've definitely been a bit of an expans series fan girl on this channel recently but with good cause I also am finding it so satisfying that the last three books of this nine book series which definitely is a bit of a departure from the first six books has been amazing it has a totally different vibe there's just other unexpected things happening and we're finding characters interacting and in places you truly could never anticipate there was also a Time skip going to the last half of this book and I would say all of the three books that make up this final sequence are very connected in a way that you typically don't find within this series normally each book kind of stands contained with some stuff flowing over between books but these three books kind of feel like one almost like final Trilogy movement which has been very satisfying I just love the themes and topics of this uh Space Opera series I love the perseverance of humanity I love seeing our Central cast of main characters think on their feet just be so clever and interesting and continue to fight for what they feel like is right I am not tired of these characters at all and in fact I feel like I've only grown closer to them as time has passed which I feel like is hard to do um especially because I didn't I wouldn't say I loved them in the beginning of the series but they all really grew on me and especially in this final sequence I've been finding myself like rather emotional and just some of the characters we're following and the things that are happening in this have just been so good so so all I have to say is I'm going to sit down now and see if I can read a bit more and then I'm going to Pivot to this book cuz I feel like this book will be a little bit easier to talk about because it's a Sci-Fi Standalone versus the eighth book and a Sci-Fi trilogy but I don't want to fall into the Trap like I've been falling into where I read books and series but they're kind of hard to talk about in Vlogs in a non-spoiler way CU I like to keep my Vlogs non-spoiler but then I have all these unfinish series and like I'm halfway through so many different books so we're we're we're catching up a bit we're catching up a bit in other news I it's clearly a bright sunny day outside but I closed the blinds in the front room and I'm going to pretend like it's just full of onance in there I'm going to smell my vanilla pumpkin spice candle we're going to read this book tilla's also very cozy comfy and yes maybe I grabbed a couple pumpkin pillows and I'm going to sit I'm going to read and we're just going to see how far I can get reporting live to say I've officially read 100 pages of this book in the past 24 hours and stuff is so bananas right now I'm actually on well I just read a chapter and I'm like what is happening do I believe it I don't know anyway I'm going to shower and start making dinner but that's my reading update for this book progress dinner is incoming I made some chicken cutlets I badly burned some bacon which is pretty tragic cuz I don't have any more bacon so no bacon but I making a was supposed to be like a cob style salad so I have lettuce some vegetables carrots my chicken cutlets some Chef prepared ranch dressing and also these delicious little thingies which I'm going to crumble up for croutons I am so excited about this salad I've been thinking about it all week so let's combine Yum Yum Yum different night same thing and there's Matilda sangled up in her blanket watching the mole with me hello everyone it is well until lunchtime and uh I need to update y'all I have read 200 pages of tmat War this book is crazy and the perspectives I'm like on the edge of my seat to read from I could have never anticipated I'm also feeling a little Emos reading this kind of going into the final sequin but it's so good and I have I think 100 pages of this book left which is not bad it's also very much lunchtime and so I thought we could do some cooking together and I'm always try I feel like sometimes I get lazy about feeling myself cook but I'll try to be better today so for lunch we're just doing a really fast and simple meal I'm going to make some miso soup I have some green onions some tofu I have some mushrooms to use up obviously miso paste and then I'm also going to do some frozen yoza to have on the side I have kimchi I have kimchi and I also have leak and onion so I think I'm going to do a combination of both of these and uh so let's get chopping actually I'm going to get these on the stove first and get water on the boil and then I'll get shopping all righty I've added everything into my soup so I'm just going to let this come to a boil cook through for a bit and then I will turn off the heat and add my miso p T this takes truly no time and it's one of my favorite lunches and then my pot stickers are over there cooking away I'd say all in all this takes about 15 minutes so not bad and lunch is served hi afternoon coffee though I've been so good this week what's today Thursday first afternoon coffee of the week so I feel like it's a reward it's like a reward and I feel like cuz lattes I don't know if this is scientifically proven but I just feel like coffeee has like it feels like there's more caffeine in it but you know let's just see if I can finish this book I realized I only had 100 pages left I was going to Pivot but I only have like a 100 I probably have like a little more than 100 probably like 30 pages left that's really not that bad and I'm in the home stretch of the book and I'm not going to lie it's crazy like it's so good I am going through it so there's that anyway I'm going to read okay bye I've started closing the blinds in this front room at the end of the day cuz I can delude myself into thinking it's a gloomy dark chilly day outside it's all about the mindset the power of the brain let's read now let's see how bright it actually is outside shall we yep plan us to listen to Charlie XCX and make one massive salad so let's get to it a an obvious way to spend the evening we're pivoting from gaming in bed to playing The Sims and I'm a serious Sim player I take notes hello I played a lot of the Sims but now I'm going to try to finish this book I don't have very much left at all hello look at this so we're going to get focused read I'll see y'all in the morning and we're going to finally start my second book of this Vlog I'm sorry I feel like I've kind of been all over the place which kind of matches the TBR to be honest everyone good morning let's do a reading update fantastic news I finished tmt's wrath I was supposed to paste this out amongst other books but I didn't because I fell head first into this story the ending truly I mean honestly I keep saying the ending was B but this whole book was truly unput downable from beginning to end I flew through it this end sequence continues to be impeccable that also means I read 330 pages so far for this Vlog and I'm also really happy that I went back to this and finished it before the end of the month with that in mind I actually jumped into my second book of the Vlog which is the Stardust Grail and I Read 50 pages of this well I'm 50 pages into this book so far I definitely plan to read more of this today it's not super long so I feel like I'll be able to read it relatively quickly and based on my experience with this author and her other work which I read super fast I feel like this book is going to have a really quick plot this is actually another sci-fi story where we're introduced to our main character Maya and Maya at the beginning of this book is a reformed Thief she was basically kind of known for being this very talented Intergalactic um Thief who basically steals stolen artifacts and returns them back to where they belong very much Robin Hood core if you know what I mean she is from an intercal actic like new settlement within space so her family Generations ago left Earth and basically found a home somewhere else but now she actually finds herself back on Earth as an adult and as a retired thief because she's currently at Yale trying to complete her PhD she's having a harder time kind of ass simulating back into a normal life um but she's trying her best and she's very determined to keep her head down and her hands out of trouble but of course trouble comes knocking in the form of information that might Point her in the direction of a long last artifact that she and her close friend have been looking for for so long and then she also kind of gets noticed by some other powerful individuals which makes her life a little more complicated too I am kind of just in the first part of this book which is the introductory of our character whom I do find to be quite likable she's flawed but she's funny and capable and I appreciate her tenacity within the story particularly a story like this I'm really just following her as a student but like I can tell that this book is going to shift gears and shift gears soon and we're going to be like back in space there's going to be conspiracies at play in terms of the writing style I really like Yumi Kai's writing style I feel like she really combines a lot of different things kind of making her sci-fi stories have a more literary lean there's always a deep contemplation on culture and belonging and just I really like how she kind of constructs her worlds they're very sci-fi but they're also you know kind of that interesting mix of genres that I think works quite well the first book of hers I read was like a thriller in space this one seems to be more like an adventure political conspiracy in space with a thief at the core of it I'm excited also to see her explore the topic of like alien civilizations as part of as part of her stories because that wasn't present in the first sci-fi book I read of hers but I do feel like there's going to be an aspect of like Intergalactic culture as well kind of folded into this which I'm curious about I've really been on a Sci-Fi kick this year um but yeah I'm definitely looking forward for to reading more of this today but I got a lot of stuff I need to do but I just wanted to check in and establish where I'm at almost 400 Pages read I finished a book so one of three books on the TBR are knocked down we're going to keep this progress going I'm hopeful I'm hopeful big day in this house because the hyper fixation sandwich is strong still but for the first time ever we're trying a new local we're trying the turkey sub Sandy from home slice in Austin which is Big H huge it's so good so we're going to enjoy this friends I'm truly having the laziest Day Ever uh the Olympics have started and I love the Olympics so much they also make me so emotional I feel like I watch every sport I don't care if it's a sport I know none of the rules for I'll watch it and then I'll cry because I'm just so excited for everyone cuz everyone works so hard anyway um that being said I have also done some reading I'm on page 170 of the Stardust Grail I would say I'm liking this book I'm not loving this book in comparison to how much I loved the Deep Sky by this author I'm still enjoying it I think the writing style continues to be strong I really like how this author sort of puts together stories this is sort of described or pitched as a heist novel and I can see why and there's definitely been Heist but I would almost describe it more like Academia Indiana Joneses sort of situation we're following our main character Maya who's in Academia and we see her leave decide to go back out into space take on one final job to find this artifact to help her friend Uncle out and they're basically traversing to lots of different locations from an Interstellar point of view um they're taking on various jobs like it's giving Indiana Jones ocean 11's Vibes if you know what I mean one thing I will say and part of maybe why I'm liking it but not loving it I strongly feel attached to the main character Maya and Uncle I particularly always enjoy how this author has really compelling main characters that aren't necessarily perfect but still likable there's a large discussion like personally foring character Maya in terms of culture the feeling of fitting in belonging U making connections between cultures um colonialism as it you know as it relates to Earth itself but also just Humanity's expansion within uh the universe too and also the different relationships between humans and Aliens this sort of complicated interplay between all of these things um and I feel strongly towards Maya and uncle in particular and I find it almost cozy they're camaraderie they're deep love for each other they're deep understanding for each other which I like there's been an introduction of two additional secondary characters who I also like but I don't know if there has been so far enough time to really sell this sort of found family Dy Dynamic that I think the author was trying to do um and I think the balance between plot and characterization is maybe a little off for me particularly because while I find the plot interesting like learning about all the different cultures and locations I always like but the action sequences do read a little bit choppy and also kind of repetitive um and it's like so quick that I almost feel like I can't totally catch my breath in some way so it's like I'm liking everything that's happening and I again continue to like this author's writing style but I'm not totally sure like how this whole book is going to come together but we're just going to have to find out ourselves cuz there's lots of different twists and turns so far basically what I'm trying to say is I see what the author's doing also what they're trying to do some of it for me is working some of it is just okay um and right now I would say this book is sort of netting at like a three three and a half star read so like not bad just not a five-star read which is what I gave the Deep Sky I just don't feel as like pulsive through reading this book like I have to read what happens next I have to you know see where our characters are going to go like I'm entertained I'm liking it but I'm just not like Swept Away by the whole thing um and I also feel like there's like a lot of good Concepts but like are all of these Concepts giving getting enough screen time like is there maybe like too much happening and if we had less happening their stuff would have more time to shine I don't know I think the strength is the travel I like this sort of anthropological sort of situation and also how that ties into culture and Colonial history as well like again I see the topics I like them I just maybe think some things need more space to breathe you know that's just that's just me though all righty I've read to page 250 I have only 50 pages left and then I'm almost done with book two I'm definitely going to wrap this up this afternoon so I can finish my third and final book before the end of this Vlog tonight but now time for Milly and me to go watch the Olympics and cry right Millie are we going to cry watching the Olympics I think we are I think we are look at this US Women's Soccer the most ideal cozy lamp I have a candle going until this being a lounge Queen having a great time and look at that it's even suddenly cloudy outside so truly 10 out of 10 Ambiance if you're wondering where Clay is he's doing yard work because he doesn't believe in relaxing no I'm just kidding um I put him to work got to keep him busy you know hello it is almost time for Prime Time Olympic so you know we're got to watch some mes and the girls so obviously doing a little Americana dinner moment we're doing some burgers on the grill here are my buns my BIOS buns and my cheese which I'm going to top and toast you get the picture and then to go along with it in my oven I have some corn roasting and then I'm going to steam some broccoli and that's going to be dinner and it's going to be tasty it's going to be fast it's going to be in spirit America cheeseburgers you know the oics are the only time I'm like America anyone else she's a grill girl she's a grill operator and there's Millie I love it I love grilling guys it's so fun Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum obviously you know we got gymnastics qualifying in my puzzle same same you know I am done watching the Olympics which means it's time to read and I actually have a reading update for you guys namely the Stardust Grail and I will say the plot really really escalated uh there towards the end it was quite explosive I think what I've said previously continues to persist um I wish there was more development in the side characters particular particularly because I feel like there was a cozy element of this book like it felt welcoming and I liked what the author was trying to do and I feel like she was successful with that with her relationship building for uncle and Maya but I just wanted a bit more of that especially in contrast to the plot which was like really explosive and I loved all the heist sort of artifact collecting but things really really really really really really really really um escalated there towards the end almost to the point of like what is happening like maybe too much like too many things um but that doesn't take away from the fact that this was like an entertaining novel um I still continue to like the writing style and I think the concepts are strong and I think this author is definitely an author or I'll always check out what they release um because there are consistent elements I have enjoyed across book over book over book while I wouldn't say the Stardust Grail is like my favorite book if you know what I mean with that in mind though we're moving on to the final book of this blog which is sunbringer and I have about 150 pages of this book left so we're just going to see what I can read and then hopefully I will be caught up and I'll no longer be reading three books at the same time and I can just clean slate with one book to remove off that slate and then I can move into the fall winter season ready to go Matilda's outside enjoying the Sun as she we should it's time for a little am update around here I'm up and dressed um and exciting news clay picked up baked goods so I thought we could go through them together before I did any type of reading we we've already kind of been at these so keep that in mind first up is this very limited amount left it's a strawberry and cream cheese croissant it's given croissant Danish we also got this blueberry turnover stunning Berry muffin which has also been half eaten this cinnamon roll which I think I'm going to try right now and then a classic lastly aant which plain croissants are one of my top five top 10 favorite foods in other news I was able to read 100 pages of sunbringer last night so about 50 pages left before I finish this guy up I featured this book pretty heavily in a recent vlog so if you want more in-depth thoughts about this definitely I'll have that link down below if you want to check it out the thing with this book is it's a second book in a series The First one being God killer which is set in a fantasy world where Gods used to have a lot of power a lot of political cultural capital they were overthrown gods are now outlawed we follow kind of a mly crew of individuals the first one going on a quest very found family one of those is a young girl who has a God in her pocket a god killer and a knight To The King and I would say the strongest part of that series to me was the character Dynamics and the found family part of that book the world was also super interesting and I liked the Ambiance of the writing style had the plot building while set in an interesting world wasn't necessarily like the strongest element of the book but I was still really enjoying the series because I love the found family the characters and the concepts of the gods that being said I have been struggling a bit more with book two because the characters don't really have this there's really not that Center Stage character camaraderie and found family that we had in book one and while a positive is I feel like we've learned a lot more about how this world Works which I've liked there is maybe some plot pacing issues particularly in the Middle where it kind of feels like it's dragging a bit and I feel like the main reason why I'm not liking this as much is that our characters are kind of separated from each other which I get for the purpose of creating three different plot story lines we can follow in terms of expanding the plot reach of this book and story but it feels like the cost of that and the camaraderie and the character connections and all of that stuff that was developed in book one it doesn't feel worth it to me and I find myself just caring a lot less than I did with book one so I fear this is a little bit of a sophomore slump for me I'm still going to finish it I probably will still read book three because I really like the characters and the concept of the world so I'm hoping it'll rebound but for now I'm just going to nibble on this cinnamon raw and read the last 50 pages and then we'll wrap the whole thing up yay all righty but now it's time to sit down and get some more reading done let's wrap this up let's wrap this Vlog up you know what I mean hi guys it's Reagan let's wrap up this Vlog happy to report I've officially completed three out of the four books off of my currently reading shelf meaning I almost have a clean slate and I am going to be tackling that fourth book which you might be able to guess in the next Vlog I'm shooting CU I just want to be ready to go for the fall season but let's go ahead and go through each book starting with sunbringer by Hannah Kaner I completed this book I feel like my thoughts are pretty consistent to what I've already echoed I found it to be good it was fine I like the characters I like the world but really I wasn't really Blown Away with the second book and I feel like part of the reason why it sort of dragged on for me in terms of reading and completing it was because I just wasn't like head over heels in love with this and like craving to know what was going to happen next there's definitely strengths to this story I wouldn't say it was bad but I also wouldn't say it was like great you know similarly I also finished the Stardust Grail by Yumi kesai another book where I found it to just be like good not fantastic this I would say is better than sunbringer by Hannah Kaner but still not as good as I was hoping it would be I found the world in setup interesting I mean who doesn't love an Indiana Jones core Story in space I loved how we were going to so many different locations I loved how the author touched on lots of different cultures in fact I even wanted a little bit more of that I also wish she turned up the um screen time for sort of the fan for some of the found family parts of the story I feel like she partially created but I also feel like it could have taken more centered stage especially if she removed some of the action sequences from this book she packed a lot in in a 300 page story some of it worked some of it I wanted a little bit more from but overall I found this to be a compelling sci-fi story and I would definitely read more books by this author because I in general really like her writing style and lastly um and definitely not least I completed TMS wrath which I want to say I had about 330 pages left of this book and I loved this in contrast to the other two books I was able to complete for this Vlog this book was amazing once I picked it back up I did not want to put it back down I love the expand Series so much and I just feel like with every book I like it even more um the character work the twists and turns of this plot how the authors are able to constantly keep this fresh I love it I love it I love it I love it I love watching their little plans go to work I love the space combat I love the on the ground like political aspect of this book this one was especially emotional I really feel like it's gearing up the finale to be quite excellent and I can't wait to read it um but yeah this was a 10 out of 10 I loved this book and I'm really happy I at least read one book I was really really pleased with in this Vlog but nevertheless I'm really happy even if I didn't love everything because I was able to complete everything which was the goal I think I read 800 Pages or something over the course of this Vlog so I'm going to take that as a win but I hope you guys enjoyed this video and I will see you soon with another one soon goodbye\n"