Welcome to My Reading Vlog: A Thriller Tied to Covid-19

I just turned my air conditioner off, and we're going to have to speak quickly before I melt. You read the title; you know that this is going to be a reading vlog about a thriller that is tied to Covid-19, wow, that's a first for me. I have not read fan fiction or Kissing the Coronavirus. I've avoided such things but now I'm here and we're gonna see how it goes, but I need to tell you how I even found this book.

I found this book through our sponsor, Book of the Month, who if you watch booktube and you don't know what Book of the Month is...okay. Book of the month is a subscription service where they have a team of book reviewers that comb through thousands of books and they pick their top five for each month. You are able to access those books for a very low price. They are all hardcover, they are either new or even early releases. And your first book, if you use the code SUNNY5, which will be down in the description box, your first book is $9.99. For a hardcover, that's relatively unheard of.

They are still only available in the US so there is no international shipping. And you can end your subscription whenever you want to, and there's no penalty, whatever. You start again whenever you want to. I'm going to show you the July books. So we have We Are The Brennans. It seems like a feel-good yet heart-wrenching story about a family that is kind of split apart, drawn together by suspicious circumstances. It's all about a little Irish Catholic family in New York so we stan.

Razorblade Tears is about two fathers who have to come together and search for the murderer of their sons. Their sons were a married couple that were murdered and they want justice served and so they are going to serve the justice themselves. And it just seems really heart-wrenching, talking about the acceptance of their gay sons which I don't think they did except them when they were alive. Even the jacket cover had me kind of crying, so emotionally heavy read, putting that on the shelf for later.

This is a book, I've heard a lot about - The People We Keep. And it's about a girl who just kind of leaves her bad home situation, she borrows her neighbor's car and just goes and starts to understand the concept of a found family, she drives all over the country and kind of just keeps a record of the people that she comes into contact with and how her life changes and how her world expands. Yeah.

I've heard buzz about this one, so I'm excited to read it. This one is definitely like right after I finish reading the book we're going to read together in this reading vlog, I'm going to read Sister's in Arms. I have to read this - it's based on a true story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion which is the only all-Black female US battalion to be deployed overseas during World War II. I have never even heard of this, I'm really excited for this book, I'm glad that they sent this to me.

But the book that I chose, that we're going to read together is - oh they say I've got great taste, thanks guys. We're going to read 56 Days. 56 days ago Claire - oh... sorry, Ciara? Ciara. I don't know why I said Claire. 56 days ago Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating, the same week as Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 days ago - when lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who and what he really is. Today - detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Can they determine what really happened or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWelcome! Hi! It's Cari. I just turned my air conditioner off so we're going to have to  speak quickly before I melt. You read the title, you know that this is going to be a reading vlog  about a thriller that is tied to covid and- wow, that's a first for me. I have not read - I know that  there's like fan fiction or like Kissing the Coronavirus. I've avoided such things but  I'm here now and we're gonna see how that goes but I need to tell you how I even found this book  and that is through our sponsor, Book of the Month who, if you watch booktube and you don't know  what Book of the Month is...okay.Book of the month is a subscription service where they have a team of book reviewers that comb throughthousands of books and they pick their top five for each monthand you are able to access those books for a very low price. They are all hardcover. They are either  new or even early releases. And your first book, if you use the code SUNNY5, which will be down in  the description box, your first book is $9.99. For a hardcover, that's relatively unheard of. They  are still only available in the US so there is no international shipping. And you can end your  subscription whenever you want to, and there's no penalty, whatever. You start again whenever you  want to. I'm going to show you the July books. So we have We Are The Brennans. It seems like  a feel-good yet heart-wrenching story about a family that's kind of split apart, drawn together  by suspicious circumstances. It's all about little Irish Catholic family in New York so we stan.Razorblade Tears is about two fathers who have to come together and search for the murderer of their  sons. Their sons were a married couple that were murdered and they want justice served and so they  are going to serve the justice themselves. And it just seems really heart-wrenching, talking about  the acceptance of their gay sons which I don't think they did except them when they were alive.And even the jacket cover had me kind of crying so - emotionally heavy read, putting that on the  shelf for later. This is a book, I've heard a lot about - The People We Keep. And it's about a girl  who just kind of leaves her bad home situation, she borrows her neighbor's car and just goes and  she starts to understand the concept of a found family and she drives all over the country  and kind of just keeps a record of the people that she comes into contact with and how  her life changes and how her world expands and yeah. I've heard buzz. This one is definitely - like  right after I finish reading the book we're going to read together in this reading vlog,  I'm going to read this. Sister's in Arms. I have to read this - it's based on a true story of the 6888th  Central Postal Directory Battalion which is the only all-Black female US battalion to be deployed  overseas during World War II. I have never even heard of this, I'm really excited for this book,  I'm glad that they sent this to me. But the book that I chose, that we're gonna read together  is - oh they say I've got great taste, thanks guys. We're gonna read 56 Days. 56 days ago claire - oh...  sorry, Ciara? Ciara. I don't know why I said Claire. 56 days ago Ciara and Oliver meet in  a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating, the same week as covid19 reaches Irish shores. 35  days ago - when lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny  of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who and what he really is. Today - detectives arrive  at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Can they determine what really  happened or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?So...I'm taking a risk on this one. I'm taking a risk because - oh god the back says  \"No one even knew they were together, now one of them is dead\" So we're gonna read this.  I don't know how you guys - let me know how you guys feel about corona literature. I'm worried,I'm worried.So we're going to read this together. I'm very excited, I actually think this is going to be my air- oh where'd it go?Oh jesus, these books literally just rearrange themselveson the desk. I don't know how that happened. Aha - that we're gonna read together...but this is gonna be my airplane book and for BOTM, I forgot to mention, if you want more than  one book, you can add on, you can add on up to two books. So we're gonna start it, I just can't tell  you how excited I am to be holding a hardcover like oh my gosh. Shall we get reading? We shall!Welcome to my disaster zone of a tea  area. I chose this one just because I could finish one box of tea and make room for another one.We're on page two and we have a corona moment. It's talking about how there are these like  cops that show up at this place the woman from number four stands with the Garda  I think it's called, \"while remaining the regulation six feet away.\"  How weird that at first I didn't even think that was weird.  Okay we're continuing. Sorry I'm already back. This is so interesting actually. So I wasn't sure if  corona stuff would be kind of corny but this is actually a very interesting observation that the  author made. So she's talking about the people who live in this apartment complex and talking about  how like you never really know your neighbors when you live in an apartment building so the  \"crisis-induced camaraderie they've been watching in unsteady narrowly framed short videos online -  someone calling bingo numbers through a megaphone at a block of apartments, a film projected onto  the side of the house so a cul-de-sac of homes can have a collective movie night from their driveways,  nightly rituals of hopeful enthusiastic hand-clapping, that never really took hold  here. They have kept their distance in more ways than one,\" and this one, this is what's really  interesting - \"no one wants to have to deal with a familiarity hangover when normal life returns,  which they are still under the impression will happen soon.\" That's - I never even thought about  a familiarity hangover. Like what happens if you were always really distant from people and then  because of 'rona, you kind of create a bond and then once life quote unquote goes back to normal,like will that be awkward? Hopefully I don't think so, like I would love for people to  continue being familiar with each other but what an interesting phrase. Anyway, so, so far it's not  corny. I thought that the 'rona stuff was gonna be a little corny but it's actually just strangely  accurate so catch you later.I put on an eye mask thing so ignore mebut wait a damn minute!I was thinking - so I'm on page 54. I was thinking like you know, this is kind of boring it's like a couple  meets and they kind of start awkwardly dating but something changed to the point where I had  to go back and read the jacket and confirm some things and oh! Suddenly everything just changed  and I'm actually really interested in this story, what the heck! So currently we have three different  points of views - we have Ciara's point of view, we have Oliver's point of view, which just started  and we have Lee, who is a detective policewoman who is investigating. She's like present day  and then we're doing flashbacks to Ciara and Oliver. Okay, okay I'll see you guys later.Howdy, I'm back so I am on page 78 which is frustrating because it's not the end of a chapter.Okay, I have enough time - I have to go to dinner, I have a dinner like a going away party kind of  thing to go to so I'm gonna finish this chapter. I'm on page, let's say 80. And you know what,this is interesting. It's not the best written thriller, like it's not - it's  pretty much just telling you everything that's happening. It's not necessarily very lovely  descriptive prose, it's just kind of getting the facts out there but it's a little twistier  than I thought it was gonna be. Like I actually don't know some things that I thought that I knew.So, clever, Catherine. The author is Catherine Ryan Howard. So anyway I'm gonna pick this up tomorrow  but you know, so far so good. And she is kind of, I think she's realistically showing how the  virus happened and we're about to reach the point where like lockdown occurs so, I don't know, it  doesn't feel hokey. It doesn't feel super cheesy but we'll see. So catch you later, tomorrow, yes, bye!  Quick update! Reading this book in my house was totally normal but then reading it while I am  wearing a mask, strangely enough, is super weird. Like because she is interviewing - one of  the detectives that's interviewing someone and she talks about pulling down her mask and  stuff like that and I'm, what, I don't know. It's just different. It's weird. So if you're gonna  read it, read it in private. It's very strange doing it in public. Anyway, to the dentist!  Wait let me get it.Where did I put it?Right next to my bed. Hello. So I finished the book last night. What are my thoughts about it?Let me put the jacket back on. First of all, there was a twist that showed itself rather early but  it was enough that I was like, I read this book under false pretenses and she caught me and good  for you Catherine. I was thinking that corona was going to take kind of a front seat role in this  and it's really not. The whole lockdown thing  kind of allowed a circumstance to happen where  these two relatively strangers move in together - they went to the grocery store twice and that  was kind of explained and one of the characters is able to use corona kind of as an excuse for some  strange behavior and stuff like that, but other than that I was pleasantly surprised by  this. It read just like a thriller. It was not like the best - I think I kind of saw everything coming. Idon't know how I feel about the ending, the ending happened very quickly and I was kind of like ah...  ah! So I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm still processing it but I thought the  flipping between the time - the timeline was really interesting and kept me confused the whole timewhich was nice. It was so weird because it didn't feel weird and I know that some people are go - are  either still in lockdown or they're going back into one or whatever it is. So I feel like I  don't know how I would feel if I was reading this in a much more restricted situation. Here in Korea,  we never had a lockdown. We've never, other than like not being able to go into cafes and eateries  for a while and we have a little bit of like a curfew as far as when restaurants can be open  until, we really didn't have anything like that. So other than social distancing and wearing masks  and having to check in wherever we go and stuff like that, we didn't really have that big of a  life change other than like I can't go home, I haven't seen my family in a long time.  But at the same time, I could still understand this = my thoughts are jumbled, I'm so sorry but I'm  just - just my brain is going in all different directions. One thing that was very interesting  is that the kind of steady decline into lockdown and how in the very beginning  she said she saw some guy with a mask and she was like 'whoa he's like a little overzealous'  and stuff like that and you know \"it's just a flu\" and that was me. I mean, I - Korea got COVID  cases very early like before - the thought of it going to America and like doing what it has done  never even crossed my mind. And so at the time that it came to Korea and people were kind of talking  about it, it felt like kind of hysteria. The way that I was seeing it, was that people were using  this as an excuse to - oh my camera's dying hold on. In the beginning, I really saw it as people using  this flu as an excuse to be openly racist. Because all the stuff I was seeing was anti-China  or anti-Asian. So when people would comment and be like \"you gotta be careful, you gotta  stop leaving the house,\" I was kind of like \"shut up it's just the flu.\" I think people are just being  hysterical and wanting to be racist and like wanting to make this a huge deal in order  to blame it on Asia. That's really how I felt for like a month I think and then it became serious.So I totally understand how like in the - over the course of one week, she's like at first she was  looking at this guy with a mask being like \"calm down\" and the next she's having a panic attack in a  grocery store. And I think a lot of us went through that. So in a way what I'm trying to say  is that I think this was tasteful. It was definitely two privileged people who are like -  their bosses were totally like \"yeah work from home, it's no problem, you know we'll like we'll do this  two weeks unpaid\" but they didn't care because they clearly had the money and like blah blah.So it was definitely like a privilege two people in quarantine that a murder  occurs. But it wasn't, it wasn't poorly done. I don't think it was like I don't want to say  mediocre thriller, it was an alright thriller I was mainly reading it to see what the 'rona situation  would be like and it was fine. It was realistic. I would say if you are looking for like a quick  thriller it was a little slow and then I think when I hit page 50 I was suddenly like \"oh okay  wait I need to know what happens\" Yeah I would say, I mean don't not pick this up. But  yeah I'm glad that I read another thriller. Just don't read this when you have a  mask on. Like I think sitting on the bus with my mask, on reading about masks, I was kind of -  not my best choice. But anyway I will leave you guys here. Corona literature,let me know what you think about it. Have you seen anything else other than like kind of funny ones?Like, Kissing the Coronavirus obviously is not to be taken seriously, I don't think. It just felt  contemporary in this strange world that we're living in so - do you guys know of anything else  like this? Any other examples where a book takes place in the time of corona? I wonder. So let me  know, let me know your thoughts about is it too soon. I mean I've seen people reading Severance  -especially like my friends who live in New York City and who are reading Severance I'm like ...why would you do that to yourself? So what do you feel about people who are watching Contagion and  like all this stuff. What are your thoughts about it? How do you process media right now? Those are  my thoughts on 56 Days. Not bad, not bad at all.So once again thank you to BOTM for  sponsoring this and again there is a code SUNNY5 if you use it, your first book will be  $9.99. Again they're all hardcover, they are picked with love and care. I will catch you guys next  time. I'm so hungry, I've been sitting next to this sandwich for like 20 minutes and I haven't eaten  it yet and I just need to finish filming things. I'm so hungry so yeah I will catch you  guys later. Did I have - oh wait I think I had something that I wanted to read out loud. Oh okay - so this was interesting. She was talking about kind of walking around in this like new  lockdown situation and people were wearing masks and blah blah and she's talking about like  there were some people who were in masks and some people who were like drinking coffee sitting next  to each other, right? And so she was saying \"it was as if some people thought the end was nigh,while others hadn't even seen the papers. The strange phenomenon of all of this, she discovered  since, was that you yourself were capable of being both types of people.\" Yeah I just thought that was  an interesting quote. So anyway I'm not mad that I read it, it kept me very occupied  on my trip to the dentist, that was nice. I got stuck in bus traffic, it was excellent. So yeah  I will catch you guys next time, my background will be different by the time that I see you next.I will be in America for a little bit so that will be fun and yeah I will see you guys  then. All right, talk to you later, thank you BOTM for sponsoring this.Bye!\n"