A Novel CuriosityI’ve been wanting to film more reading vlogs and what better excuse that the magical readathon! I decided to spend the first few days doing a mini 24-hour readathon and I ended up finishing four books!
Magical Readathon Autumn Equinox 2023 // Reading VlogA Novel Curiosity2023-08-12 | I’ve been wanting to film more reading vlogs and what better excuse that the magical readathon! I decided to spend the first few days doing a mini 24-hour readathon and I ended up finishing four books!
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S The ABC Murder, Agatha Christie: murder, racist language, sexist language
The Stolen, Elle Andrew: injury, needles, captivity, vomiting, dead bodies, consensual sex, dubious consent
The Wisteria Society for Lady Scoundrels, India Holton: attempted murder, murder, death of a parent, death of a loved one, misogyny, alcohol use, vomiting, consensual sexual content
A River of Royal Blood, Amanda Joy: neglect, death, blood, racism (against magical races), injury, animal death, hunting, death of a parent, bullying, torture, mind control
Money Shot, Vol. 3, Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie: graphic sexual content, nudity, violence, blood and gore
The Atlas Paradox, Olivie Blake: death of a parent, death of a loved one, abduction, captivity, child abuse, violent parent, excessive alcohol use, mind control
Amari and the Night Brothers, B. B. Alston: bullying, missing sibling, absent parent, racism, snakes, zombies, threat, blood drinking, discrimination
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, Talia Hibbert: parental abandonment, OCDSeptember and October TBR // the novel tbr game #11A Novel Curiosity2023-09-02 | It is finally time for another round of my TBR game! This time I tried to pick a lot of horror, thriller and mystery books for the spooky season!
T B R G A M E R U L E S I roll one six-sided die to find my starting position. There are three possible starting positions, depending on the number rolled. There are five standard rolls per game. If I roll a double, I add on a roll. Genre spots - The colours of the squares correspond to different genres. I pick a prompt from the prompt mug and find a book that fits the genre and the prompt. Rainbow Square - These are non-genre specific prompts. E.g. randomly generated number. Reading Goal - I can pick any book that will help me to complete or work towards a reading goal. Free - I can pick any book I want.
(Also, let’s just pretend I talked about Money Shot Volume 1 and 2 - not 2 and 3 - because those were the two volumes I read in July. 🙈 I read Volume 3 right at the start of August.)
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S Money Shot, Vol. 1, Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie: graphic consensual sexual content, violence
Money Shot, Vol. 2, Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie: graphic sexual content, misogyny, violence, death, blood and gore, eugenics
Sanctuary, Andi C. Buchanan: physical violence, injury, suicide, self harm, loss of a sibling, imprisonment, magical control of a person, emotional and physical abuse of a child, ableism, chronic pain, anxiety, racism, mention of slavery, police brutality, abuse within the medical system, disordered eating
When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro: loss of parents, anti-Asian racism, colonialism, drug use, kidnapping, bombing, murder, mutilation of a corpse, intimate partner abuse, alcohol use, war, infidelity, rape (alluded to, off page), sexual slavery (alluded to, off page), poor mental health, attempted suicide (alluded to, off page)
Court of the Vampire Queen, Katee Robert: dubious consent, blood play, patricide, pregnancy, blood and gore, murder, explicit sex, vomiting (caused by pregnancy), discussions about abortion, abusive parent (historical, off-page), attempted sexual assault (alluded to, nongraphic), attempted drugging
The Necromancer, Karl Friedrich Kahlert: death of parents, violence, kidnapping, murder, reference to suicide, capital punishment, gun violence, blood, injury, mass death, torture, animal death, beheading, imprisonment
Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata: misogyny (challenged), ableism (including idea that neurodiversity needs to be “fixed”)
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson: murder, loss of a child, loss of a loved one, loss of a sibling, suicide, racism, unethical journalism, passing mention of cancer, passing mention of death of a parent, mention of self-harm, emotional abuse from a parent, bullying, infidelity, mention of drug use, underage drinking, threat, blackmail, drugging, animal death, student/teacher relationship, imprisonment, rape, vomiting
Quiet Thunder, JP Harker: violence, murder, blood and gore, body horror, blood drinking, war, capital punishment (crucifixions), sex, unwanted sexual advances, torture, beating, vomiting, mutilation
Love in Colour, Bolu Babalola: cheating, sexual content, car accident, death of a parent, toxic work environment, colourism, bullying, drug use (cannabis, mushrooms), use of the ’n’ word
The Monk, Matthew Lewis: violence, torture, murder, rape, incest, matricide, lynch mobs, extreme religious views, negative depiction of travellers, self-harm, death of a child, captivity, body horrorMagical Readathon Autumn Equinox TBR ✨A Novel Curiosity2023-08-05 | It’s August which means it’s time for the magical readathon autumn equinox! In this video I talk about all the books I’m hoping to read.
L I N K S Book Club Discord - discord.gg/RmJN6wUueW Etsy Shop - anovelcuriosityshop.etsy.comJune Wrap Up // ranking and reviewing all the books I read in June 2023A Novel Curiosity2023-07-15 | It’s time for another wrap up! This time I’m talking about the 7 books I finished in June.
A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan: animal death, dissection of an animal, corporal punishment of a child, hunting, taking of animals from the wild, miscarriage, animal attack, injury, classism, negative depiction of non-Western cultures, kidnapping, death of a loved one, violence
The Two Towers, J. R. R. Tolkien: violence, captivity, war, death, blood
Waking Gods, Sylvain Neuvel: mass death, massacre, rape, medical experimentation, suicide ideation, poor mental health, torture, bombing, poisoning, death of a loved one, injury, body horror
The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro: sick parent, passing reference to suicide, death of a parent, anti-Semitism
So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo: domestic violence (emotional), racism, abusive relationship (off page), poor mental health (anxiety, depression)
The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake: death of a loved one, death of a sister, alcohol use, drug use, murder, blood
This Is How We Fight For Our Lives, Saeed Jones: death of a parent, mention of suicide, mention of AIDS, racism and racist slurs, violence, murder, homophobia and homophobic slurs, extreme religious views, underage drinking, mention of rape, drug use (cannabis), fetishisation of black men, drink driving, car accident, self-destructive behaviour, panic attack, sexual explicit contentA Big Birthday Book HaulA Novel Curiosity2023-07-08 | It was my birthday in June and I bought A LOT of books!
T A G Q U E S T I O N S 1. Best book you've read so far 2. Best sequel you've read so far 3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year 5. Biggest disappointment 6. Biggest surprise 7. Favourite new author (debut or new to you) 8. Newest fictional crush 9. Newest favourite character 10. Book that made you cry 11. Book that made you happy 12. Most beautiful book you've bought (or acquired) so far this year 13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year? 14. Favourite book community member
T B R G A M E R U L E S I roll one six-sided die to find my starting position. There are three possible starting positions, depending on the number rolled. There are six standard rolls per game. If I roll a double, I add on a roll. Genre spots - The colours of the squares correspond to different genres. I pick a prompt from the prompt mug and find a book that fits the genre and the prompt. Rainbow Square - These are non-genre specific prompts. E.g. randomly generated number. Reading Goal - I can pick any book that will help me to complete or work towards a reading goal. Free - I can pick any book I want.
F I V E S T A R P R E D I C T I O N S Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir Upon a Burning Throne, Ashok K. Banker Kaikeyi, Vaishnavi Patel A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Mizuki Tsujimura My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell How We Fight For Our Lives, Saeed JonesApril Wrap UpA Novel Curiosity2023-05-13 | Ranking and reviewing all the books I read in April 2023.
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner: relationship breakdown, murder, poisoning, infidelity, vomiting, sexual harassment and abuse of a child, sickness, miscarriage, attempted suicide
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler: loss of a limb, injury, racism and use of the ’n’ word, slavery, child abuse, violence, drowning, whipping, rape and sexual violence, use of ‘r’ slur, vomiting, self harm, suicide, hanging
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery: child neglect (before start of novel), bullying, death of a loved one
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett: colourism, domestic violence, racism, internalised racism, racial slurs including use of the ’n’ word, lynching, murder, death of a loved one, death of a parent, violence, gun violence, bullying, drug use, needles, sexual harassment, sexual assault, Alzheimer’s
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao: violence, abuse, suicide ideation, sexual assault (off page), alcohol addiction, torture, death, death of a loved one, sexism, misogyny, body horror, child abuse (physical, emotional), foot binding, murder, blood
The Old English Baron, Clara Reeve: death of a friend
Gods and Monsters, Shelby Mahurin: blood and gore, death of a loved one, injury detail, extreme religion, violence, imagery similar to self harm (cutting for blood magic), alcohol use, consensual sexual content, fire, capital punishment, torture
The Castle of Wolfenbach, Eliza Parsons: murder, blood, kidnap, fire, death of a loved one, captivity, intimate partner abuse (physical, psychological)
Wicked Souls, Katie Wismer: blood and gore, blood drinking, imagery similar to self harm (cutting for blood magic), smoking, body horror, death, alcohol use, death of a loved one, abuse by a parent (physical, emotional), mass murder
Bloodless Ties, Katie Wismer: blood drinking, captivity, imagery similar to self-harm (cutting for blood magic), drinking, smoking, death, death of a loved one, drugging, injury detail, blood and gore, whipping, capital punishment
Grave Importance, Vivian Shaw: medical procedures, migraines, blood and gore, death, war, apocalypse
Frankenstein in Baghdad, Ahmed Saadawi: bombing, war, mass death, dead bodies, death of a loved one, alcohol use, animal death, violence, police brutality, sexual content, nonconsensual kissing
Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi: car accident, injury detail, blood and gore, self-harm (cutting), mental illness, anxiety, drinking, drug use, intimate partner abuse (manipulation, emotional abuse, sexual abuse), rape, eating disorder, disassociation, suicidal thoughts, panic attack, death of a loved one, attempted suicide, transphobia, medical procedures, child abuse (physical, sexual)
Mrs England, Stacey Halls: child labour, family illness, mental ill health, intimate partner abuse (controlling behaviour, sexual abuse - suggested), rape (suggested, off page), attempted murder
Broken Perfect Lies, Katie Wismer: death, grief, death of a loved one, murder and attempted murder, graphic violence and gore, stalking and threats, hospitals, depression, PTSD, sexually explicit scenes, car accident, victim blaming
The Anti-Relationship Year, Katie Wismer: depression, anxiety, pregnancy, abortion, stealthing, sexual assault, bullying, underage drinking, drug use (cannabis, ecstasy)
A Worthy Opponent, Katee Robert: abusive ex-partner (emotional, physical), graphic consensual sexual content, violence, gun violence, murder
The Beast, Katee Robert: death of a parent, graphic consensual sexual content
The Sea Witch, Katee Robert: death of a parent, graphic consensual sexual content
Queen Takes Rose, Katee Robert: death of a parent, graphic consensual sexual content
Wicked Villains Shorts, Katee Robert: death of a parent, graphic consensual sexual content
The Galaxy and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers: The Tea Dragon Society, K. O’Neill: minor blood depiction, physical injuries and minor violence
(Also, while editing this I realised I had read a book by Octavia Butler before called Fledgling. I didn’t love than one, but hopefully I’ll end up enjoying one of her more popular books more!)
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S Louis Undercover, Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault: alcoholism, divorce
The Colossal Magic Nothing, Kurtis J. Wiebe (Rat Queens Vol. 5): blood, gore, body horror, drug use, alcohol use, nudity and consensual sexual content, death of a loved one, cannibalism, animal death
The Infernal Path, Kurtis J. Wiebe (Rat Queens, Vol. 6): blood and gore, body horror, violence, nudity, sexual references, alcohol use, drug use, death
The Once and Future King, Ryan Ferrier (Rat Queens, Vol. 7): blood and gore, body horror, animal death, nudity, sexual references, alcohol use, drug use, death of a loved one
The God Dilemma, Ryan Ferrier (Rat Queens, Vol. 8): blood and gore, body horror, sexual references, alcohol use, death, war
Blood and Honey, Shelby Mahurin: blood and gore, violence, alcohol use, consensual sexual content, animal death, fire, injury, extreme religious views, torture, captivity, death of a loved one, kidnap, death of a child, capital punishment (burning), imagery similar to self harm (cutting for blood magic)
The Wild Robot, Peter Brown: animal death, threat
The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown: animal death, threat
Room to Dream, Kelly Yang: anti-Asian and anti-Black racism (challenged), colourism, sexism
The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole: death, body horror, death of a loved one
Loveless, Alice Oseman: alcohol use, self-hatred
A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers: sensory overload, animal death, child labour, references to murder of children, genetic modification, slavery
Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers: mass death, dead bodies, deathA Big Book Haul 📚A Novel Curiosity2023-02-03 | I hope you enjoy!
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S Mangos and Mistletoe, Adriana Herrera: reference to homophobia, reference to parental death The Meaning of Night, Michael Cox: murder, death of a loved one, drug use, reference to death of a child A Merry Little Meet Cute, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone: death of a parent, mental ill health, consensual sexual content (frequent, graphic detail) Stay Another Day, Juno Dawson: eating disorder (anorexia), alcohol use, drug use, self hatred, consensual sexual content, mental ill health, relationship breakdown, divorce, infidelity, passing reference to stillbirthA Week of Christmassy Reads, Frosty Weather and Baking ❄️ // festive reading vlog no. 2A Novel Curiosity2022-12-23 | I hope you enjoy!
B O O K C L U B S C H E D U L E January 2023 - The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole February 2023 - The Old English Baron, by Clara Reeve March 2023 - The Castle of Wolfenbach, by Eliza Parsons April & May 2023 - The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe June 2023 - The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest, by Karl Friedrich Kahlert (written under the name Lawrence Flammenberg & translated by Peter Teuthold) July 2023 - The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis August & September 2023 - The Italian, by Ann Radcliffe October 2023 - Wieland, by Charles Brockden Brown November 2023 - Zofloya, by Charlotte Dacre December - break January 2024 - Zastrozzi & St. Irvine; or, The Rosicrucian, by Percy Bysshe Shelley February 2024 - The Devil’s Elixirs, by E.T.A. Hoffman March 2024 - Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S One by One, Ruth Ware: self-hatred, avalanche, death of a loved one, childhood abuse (physical), murder, dead bodies, sexual assault
The Ex Hex, Erin Sterling: death of a parent, relationship breakdown, consensual sexual content
Muse of Nightmares, Laini Taylor: hunting and butchery of animals, self-harm, reference to massacre, reference to rape, violence, death of a loved one, child abuse (physical), suicide, murder, blood
The Five, Hallie Rubenhold: real-life accounts of murder, poverty, death of a loved one, sick child, death of a child, sickness and epidemic, abandonment of children, alcohol use, misogyny, infidelity, relationship breakdown, sexual assault, sex work, suicide, stillbirth, mass death, intimate partner abuse (physical)
The Project, Courtney Summers: hospitals, death of parents, car accident, suicide, religious cult, PTSD, anxiety, unexpected pregnancy, premature birth, infidelity, abuse (emotional, physical), child abuse (physical, off page)Q&AA Novel Curiosity2022-12-02 | I hope you enjoy!
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S You’ve Lost A Lot of Blood, Eric Larocca: murder, blood and gore, body horror, homophobic slurs, insects, grief, alcoholism, vomiting
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell: death of a loved one, sexual content, animal abuse, animal death, abandonment by a parent, possession, attempted suicide, ableist slurs, misogyny, cheating, sick parent, fatphobia, colonisation, alcoholism, racism
Fire Study, Maria V. Snyder: massacre, murder, blood and gore, references to rape, kidnap, fire, torture, capital punishment
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones: death of a loved one, drug overdose, animal death, anti-indigenous racism, vomiting, insects, body horror, blood and gore, suicide, murder, gun violence
Cursed Bunny, Bora Chung: medical gaslighting, body horror, blood and gore, unexpected pregnancy, sexism, misogyny, suicide, death of a child, death of a loved one, child abuse, incest, medical procedures without anaesthetic, murder, captivity, torture, insects, rats, infidelity, ableism
The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice: animal attack, animal death, vomiting, blood and gore, blood drinking, murder, violence, abuse of a child (physical), sick parent, mental ill health, depression, suicide, fire and burning, death, dead bodies, incest-like images, kidnap, massacre, slavery, death of a loved one, misogyny, negative depiction of non-Western cultures
Assassin’s Fate, Robin Hobb: violence, kidnapping, child abuse (physical), blood and gore, injury, sexual assault, claustrophobia, being buried alive, PTSD, panic attack, torture, vomiting, slavery, whipping, fire, massacre, death of a loved one, wormsEnd of Year TBRA Novel Curiosity2022-11-11 | I hope you enjoy!
Note: I recently bought a new microphone and I’m still figuring it out, so I’m sorry if the audio isn’t the best in the middle part of the video! Hopefully, I can sort that out in the next video! :)
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S The Perfect Nine, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: ableism (including use of a magical ‘cure’), death by animal attack, volcanic eruption, murder, death of a loved one Carmilla, J. Sheridan Le Fanu: racism, blood, blood drinking, death Magic Study, Maria V. Snyder: kidnapping, violence, torture, rape, captivity, PTSD, reference to attempted suicide Monsters of Men, Patrick Ness: war, bombing, misogyny, branding, animal death, colonialism, fire, blood and gore, body horror, slavery, massacre, death of a loved one, suicide, injury, gun violence, violence The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux: racism, ableism, murder, hanging, rats, kidnapping, attempted suicide, drowning, captivity, torture Dreadful Company, Vivian Shaw: kidnapping, mind control, blood and gore, blood drinking, murder, captivity, drug use, vomiting, violence, alcohol use Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro: sick child, slavery (in terms of people owning AI people), death of a loved one Act Your Age, Eve Brown, Talia Hibbert: childhood neglect, anti-autistic ableism, consensual sexual contentHello October 🎃 // a spooky weekend reading vlogA Novel Curiosity2022-10-14 | I hope you enjoy!
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S Carmilla, J. Sheridan Le Fanu: racism, blood, blood drinking, death You've Lost A Lot of Blood, Eric Larocca: murder, blood and gore, body horror, homophobic slurs, insects, grief, alcoholism, vomiting Cursed Bunny, Bora Chung: medical gaslighting, body horror, blood and gore, unexpected pregnancy, sexism, misogyny, suicide, death of a child, death of a loved one, child abuse, incest, medical procedures without anaesthetic, murder, captivity, torture, insects, rats, infidelity, ableismSpooky Mood Read TBR 👻A Novel Curiosity2022-10-07 | I hope you enjoy!
C O N T E N T W A R N I N G S Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton: disordered eating, bulimia, mental ill health, homophobia, fatphobia, issues with consent, attempted suicide, suicidal ideation, emotional abuse, manipulation, drug use, murder, ableist slurs, rape (off page), racism High Fantasies, Kurtis J. Wiebe: blood and gore, violence, sexual content The Adventures of China Iron, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara: death, murder, forced marriage, slavery, rape, rape of a child, colourism, racism, animal death, child abuse (physical, off-page), massacre, war, colonialism, violence, desecration of a corpse, alcohol use, intimate partner abuse, death of a loved one, capital punishment, homophobia, misogyny, sexual content, whipping Poison Study, Maria V. Snyder: captivity, fire, poisoning, whipping, PTSD, abuse, rape, blood and gore, injury, vomiting, violence, animal death, torture The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune: negative body image and mention of dieting, discrimination, child abuse (off page) Fool’s Quest, Robin Hobb: animal death, animal abuse, torture, rape, violence, murder, dead bodies, blood and gore, massacre, mind control, vomiting, kidnap, rape of a child, mutilation, pedophilia, child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, neglect)Bookshelf Reorganisation and Unhaul 📚A Novel Curiosity2022-09-02 | I hope you enjoy!