My Favorite Book of the Year?! + Decorating my Christmas Tree!

hi guys it's regan and welcome to the start of another reading vlog you are currently basking in the glow of my christmas tree because it is officially the holiday season and i could not be happier that being said a few things to announce so this video i'm really excited about for a variety of reasons one it's a weekend reading blog which i feel like i haven't done a full weekend vlog in a while this weekend's going to be a combination of doing nothing because i really want to do as little as possible in the month of december but also doing a little bit of things as i am hanging out with some friends this weekend clay and i have a birthday party and i am getting drinks and seeing a movie with a good friend of mine so i will bring you guys along the other thing i wanted to say is that this is my first official like going live video i did film another video with this camera but i did get a new vlog camera which we're filming on now so i'm still like working out the exact mechanics of this thing um but i'm really really excited to hopefully be bringing you guys a better quality um but excuse me while i try to figure it out and then the third thing is that the book i'm reading for this vlog i am so excited for i would say this is probably my most anticipated release of 2021 so the fact that it's finally in my hands i feel like is a really big deal so without further ado let's chat about the book i hope to read and we'll be reading basically after i film this clip where's matilda but here is my book i did start it this morning but i'm gonna be reading jade legacy throughout the entirety of this vlog i would love to say i want to finish it before the end of the weekend but it is like 700 pages long so we'll see how successful i am nonetheless this is the third and final book to the green bone saga one of my favorite urban fantasy stories i've already started it i've read about 60 pages or so and already it's very very intense we're following some of our favorite characters right off the back hilo and shay my favorite character is when i'll talk more about my initial thoughts and feelings after i read a bit more i'm actually going to sit down and read now and enjoy my christmas tree which i have mostly decorated this christmas tree but i have a few other ornaments there are some right there in a coffee maker which i need to wrap for my mom um but i have a sleeping matilda but i kind of just put up my general ornaments because i needed to shoot some content but and i'm a big fan i got a new tree this year but i have kind of my fun ornaments and a few other ornaments i want to put on the tree so i plan to vlog and decorate my christmas tree a bit with you guys i'll also try to show you the rest of my christmas decor as i have added more since the last time i've seen you or vlogged but anyway yeah welcome to the vlog i'm so excited to be reading jade legacy i feel like it's going to destroy me like i did a poll on instagram and 90 of you guys said i was not gonna be okay so i'm pretty sure that's a strong forecast 90 chance i will no longer be a functioning human being by the end of the weekend but tbd that's all i gotta say to that but anyway i'm literally gonna put my faux fireplace on right now and do some reading clay's finishing up work and then i think we're just gonna lay low for the night we're kind of behind on succession now i'm rambling but anyway i'm gonna read okay goodbye would not be winter or fall without fireplace for your home on netflix oop that was a fast refocus but anyway i have the fireplace going i have my book i have my gin bookmark in here and we are going to get to read it yes i will keep you guys posted and let you know how far i get hi everyone it's me i wanted to check in because i've read 150 pages of jade legacy so far and i guess a little context about this book and then obviously my initial thoughts and feelings i've talked about this series a lot but if you're not familiar um the green bone saga is an asian-inspired urban fantasy story set in the fictional city of kcon um here and in this world on the island of kekkon they have this item called jade and people with a certain ancestor are able to wear it and harness it and you basically become like faster stronger you can have a type of sort of magic if you will that helps you in combat but also can help in other things the city is also controlled by two very powerful crime families and throughout the series we're basically following perspectives mostly from different members within this family we do have a few deviating perspectives um for individuals uh for kind of like important not only competing interests but perhaps secondary movements or just other people kind of existing in the space but the primary characters we follow throughout the entire series are different members of this family and this series is so successful not only for just the interesting world and the politics of it all and all the different characters but the writing is just so unbelievably engaging and just the character dynamics are fascinating obviously we're watching people navigate in a very complicated they call it a slow war so their competition with that competing clan but also trying to secure their interests abroad as globalization is becoming more of a factor for their economy um and like international interests are starting to impact their shores as well but seeing all these characters not only they're all very flawed um like try their best at their very difficult jobs but they're also all related so there's so much messy history and messy emotions and reactions to each other that just make this series so incredible i have i enjoy reading from any perspective i have my personal favorite characters particularly wen has always been one of my favorites i find her quiet but very like strong this series just does such a great job having like explosive combat intricate behind the scenes politics like things spanning from the news and like public perception to economic impact both locally and internationally you obviously have like your classic sort of crime organizational stuff like people and businesses have to pay tribute in certain areas so these so these groups are kind of competing and fighting over certain elements of territory to help bolster their own um position and then obviously jade is at the center of it all their most lucrative export it's also the most important part in terms of fighting and maintaining their powers and kind of supporting their own individual armies against each other it's just so great and i feel like fondly has done such a good job escalating the conflict in this book too as i mentioned it's gotten more global in scale we've traveled to different shores in different countries who have nothing to do with kcon or its culture but obviously through globalization and trade and just all of those things it's starting to impact them but also in the same time there's also people who have left kekkon and has traveled to different shores and we also explore kind of the impact culturally of what it means to be a green bone somewhere else it's just like there's so many layers to the series and fondly does such a good job exploring all those different avenues but in terms of jade legacy so far i mean i've only read 150 pages there's going to be a lot that i just feel like is gonna unfold but it starts out swinging it's emotional we're featuring i feel like right now it's kind of starting slow not only just introducing us to kind of our character's point of views that we're used to seeing from the pillar to the weatherman who are the most powerful people in the clan one is kind of front-facing the weatherman's like back office economic political stuff um and kind of seeing not only their complicated dynamic with each other but them trying to kind of figure out and outmaneuver the competing clan which is a consistent storyline has been great but there's also a lot of turbulence within the family based off of the events of the last book there is about a year and a half time skip between books two and three so a lot of issues have been left to simmer um and even through the 150 pages i've read i want to say a good six months have already passed which i kind of appreciate because a lot of the things that fondly explores especially from a political side like need time to actually manifest itself um but you can just already see the beginnings not only of this slow war starting to really heat up which has been kind of happening in the second book too but also the international component is also starting to get larger and like possible alliances like outside of the city itself i feel like might be coming down the line i don't know for sure on that one um but yeah 150 pages in i'm immediately grasped i'm just fascinated by everything going on but i'm also just like emotionally distressed by a lot of these relationships that are just happening completely outside of this sort of clan war like from marriages to cheating to all of these things that are also very human and happening behind the scenes it's just impacting me deeply and when i keep saying it would fight anyone for one greatest character in the series i feel like everyone loves hilo i love hilo i love shae i love anden i love so many people but when i'm vp of the entire series um anyway i am gonna make some cookies now and watch some tv but i didn't want to say i read 150 pages which i'm pleased with and i will be reading more tonight for sure i just wanted to give you a bit of kind of an overview and then initial thoughts like nothing wild has happened yet but you know i still have a lot of this book left so we'll see but i'm definitely intrigued and pulled in immediately which is always a great feeling some selling sunset relaxation and and follow me to the kitchen because oh wow christmas cookies i also i haven't mentioned i got a new tripod so hopefully you guys are a bit more steady as i move you around let me know it's the best time of year for the best cookies of the year i love these things late night burger and fries kind of night and then we're gonna watch an episode of succession not law order and to sleep i go everyone matilda and i we're hanging out i'm gonna read more jade legacy i'm still getting used to this camera too the lens is over here see if i look at the lens i'm not looking at the camera versus my old camera it's like up um so i'm like it's a conscious effort to see if i'm in focus but then not to stare over there but anyway oh my god it's so cute um i'm gonna read more jade legacy i'm gonna try to pass into the 200 page mark tonight and then read more tomorrow morning i have a pretty busy day tomorrow being a little social butterfly but sunday resumes my activities of doing as little as possible so can't wait good morning everyone also sunday is the day i try the baking soda trick i promise i just didn't want to do it this morning but i am up hanging out with matilda on the couch over there christmas tree is on fireplace is on and i'm doing some reading i did read over the 200 page mark last night um gosh can you see matilda and there she is um honestly this book is good so far i feel like it's spending a lot of time which makes sense sort of setting up the long end conflict there's also been a pretty significant times gifts which i wasn't anticipating but i do think it's an interesting choice reading more this morning before we head to a friend's birthday party trying to get almost page 300 but we shall see anyway hi ignore the fact that i'm kind of dressed like the berries and cream uh tik tok character but i yeah i am about to leave for a friend's birthday thing but i was able to read a good amount i'm just under the 300 page mark and um this book is interesting i do feel like the first chunk i've read has been really about like setting things up for the explosive ending so we're just kind of seeing pieces and like maneuverings through a pretty significant again period of time that i feel like you're gonna become very relevant later on in the book so i'm kind of just like waiting for the moment when like it hits the fan if you know what i mean that being said something i am appreciating just generally is that there is a continual expansion of like outside forces outside of the clan war that's very central to the story itself in the second book i felt like we got an expanded view from like an international player perspective basically surrounding the island of kcon there are two powers who have been at war for a long time one is kind of supposed to be like an america western power and the other is just like another regional power in the space and they have been at odds and kcon is kind of like in the middle and like very neutral but because of their production of jade which is a very powerful military tool they're also kind of an important figure within the conflict itself but not only is this conflict kind of heating up and both sides are kind of looking to gain leverage over the other and kcon is being used in that sort of situation and obviously the clans have a lot of power um with these two different militaries but there was kind of like a larger international expansion going on within the clans itself from like an economic and political point of view that was really explored in book two which obviously is continuing to happen we're back on we're definitely traveling between different lands but something that is interesting that is starting to be a part of this book is an undercurrent of like local politics but being anti-clan we have chapters of like a movement that like wants to break up the clans but you also see how other international like important governments would want to either suppress or bolster this movement based on their own position within the conflict so intermixed with all of these very intense chapters of a lot of our favorite characters hilo and all of that um we have these sort of side chapters or on the rise of like anti-clan sentiment and this like separate group and movement that's happening within the city and i just know things are gonna get wild with that and i just don't know exactly how interesting and like logical expansion to kind of add to the mix of already so many different things happening um and it's just such a fascinating read and all the characters are also so intense so like hilo for example so like seeing him like maneuver around i also feel like hilo's characters have has had so much growth from book one to book three like seeing him come into his position and also seeing him gain some additional tools outside of like violence um has been really great to see as well and just using his brain more if you will uh he's a good character to read from he's a very interesting important figure within the family which i like but obviously i'm reading a lot i'm just kind of in a holding pattern i'm waiting for stuff to hit the fan and i'm really looking forward to it but i do have plans i'm gonna be gone for most of the day but i'm gonna read more later this evening and then obviously do a lot of reading tomorrow and then also tomorrow we're going to decorate or finish decorating the tree it's gonna happen and i can't wait we have made it to our destination it's like a beer arcade also 70 degrees outside on december 3rd or 4th yeehaw look how beautiful this view is wow this is the old joe's crab shack got to embrace it [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] but we're gonna have a good time it's saturday night it's saturday night i lost track of the days i don't know what day it is but it feels good to be here i'm so happy to be here we're so happy to be here it feels good to play some music [Music] just like that i am back home in bed a very fun and full eventful day with my friends around the city um i started the day i'm sure you saw with going to an arcade for a friend's birthday party um and then i met up with another friend because she won tickets to a screening of licorice pizza which is a new movie has the heim sisters in it and then they showed up at the screening and then performed some songs which was super cool was not expecting that definitely a very unique um experience i'm really grateful my friend invited me to go and she won tickets in terms of the movie um i did like it but i also am confused by there's like a really huge age gap in the movie and i don't and like no one's ever talking about it in the movie and i'm like confused by that so like that part of the movie really kind of takes it for me even though i really like the acting and i thought alana heim did like a really good job i'm just it's more of like a writing and direction thing i'm kind of confused by any anywho i am home now um in bed already like immediately and then obviously tomorrow i am not leaving my apartment um but i'm going to do some reading tonight before going to sleep but i plan to do a lot of reading tomorrow and i'm gonna i don't know if i'm gonna be able to finish jade legacy tomorrow but i'm gonna try to get the furthest i possibly can so good night wish me luck i will see you all tomorrow morning good morning everyone from mathilda and me i have just been up and reading making some good progress coffee the fireplace was on but it turned off um oh my gosh like the last time i checked in i was basically saying oh it's a lot of setup i'm waiting for things to kind of hit the fan well things hit the fan and it was an anxious time i am in the 300 page mark i'm not quite halfway through yet i didn't get to read too much last night i fell asleep pretty much immediately when i got home but i did do some reading this morning i'm obviously gonna do a lot more reading throughout the day but things are really starting to heat up and i'm just really curious to see how this book is going to end um i really appreciate kind of again how much time has passed throughout this third book i mean we're talking like a decade of time which is pretty wild um but i'm really liking it things are crazy matilda and i have just been hanging um i'm now gonna get up and get ready for the day because i am in pajamas happy sunday just in a little festive outfit i'm actually going to film a video i was watching the bears game but it's not going so hot so i said let's film a youtube video and distract myself so i'm up and dressed um after i filmed my video i'm gonna reward myself with being able to finish off my christmas tree so i'll show you guys that once i'm done and i do need to figure out some food but again all of that post-filming is the plan but just wanted to let you know i did get dressed on sunday which honestly was not what i was planning but proud of myself hi it's me football is on i'm not really watching it though but i am about to finish up my christmas tree but i wanted to walk you through some of the ornaments that i haven't put on so for context for context i have started decorating but i just have kind of my standard bulbs on um like my glass bulbs that i have here and then like some glitter bulbs but like my more fun decorations i have not put on and i'm gonna walk you through them so perhaps no one cares about this but me but i love ornaments and i love collecting i don't know hodgepodge well first i have these like spiky guys i thought they were kind of fun like little mid-century moments um so i'm gonna put those throughout but i got this ornament it is a stick of butter which i think is hilarious i got oh this lights up this entire time i didn't know this lit up wait this is absolutely game changing um i need to put batteries in this oh my gosh it already has batteries okay so this lights up and it's like a mini version of a lot of the glass trees i have around my apartment i can't believe that lights up i have this ornament which is like you know big apple kind of reference new york city ornament which i think is super cute i have this which i got in london a little telephone booth another one of these which kind of goes with like this vibe this sneaker which claim i picked out from the met um and then i have just these little trucks with christmas trees because i think they're fun and then lastly matilda so i'm gonna now like kind of hang these all up finish the decorating process if you will we'll do a little time lapse together [Music] and voila we are done with the tree for now did i buy this butter ornament because of bts i will neither confirm nor deny i also wanted to put millie's ornament somewhere where she could see it right by her bed it's for her um but i really like my christmas dream i feel like this is the first year i had like thought about like what kind of tree i want and i wanted like a really retro sort of mid-century-ish looking tree i'm a big fan of the tinsel i like the glitter it's a good time and it's going to be a great ambiance for reading i am eating a salad for lunch which i'm feeling pretty chuffed about i'm not gonna lie so yeah just proud of myself reading some vegetables because it's been a minute ceremonial candle is about to be lit as i'm about to sit down and have quite the reading oh melee i'm also going to move this finalizer um no one knocked matilda you mad woman it's all good oh i am in pajamas already and i'm about to have my final cup of coffee of the day before i do the vinegar and baking soda trick but i want to have coffee first before i do that um and i'm going to get back to reading jade legs oh i'm spilling coffee everywhere i'm going to get back to reading jade legacy i'm obsessed with that book it's actually wild what's happening right now um and what has happened i don't want to say anything obviously the spoilers but let's just say i was very distressed for a few chapters there well i'm still very distressed i don't know why i said for a few chapters like the distress has not ended it's been a very distressing time very distressing day um but i want to read at least another like two 250 pages um before the end of tonight or more i also want to watch a lot of succession those are my goals for sunday evening so we'll see how they shape up but uh anyway you really just watched a journey of me cleaning getting coffee and now i'm gonna go sit down and read hi i've just been reading i am past the 400 page mark and it's starting to get to the point where everything is getting very very satisfying um as i keep mentioning a lot of time is kind of pass in this book and a lot of the first part of the book is like set up you're being introduced people we know but like things are kind of happening and in the end you're like okay this is probably gonna be important again later later later and i'm starting to get to the point where later is happening and plot is kind of unfolding in a way where these things are kind of being brought up and while i was expecting them to be referenced again or to be important again some of the developments i can wholeheartedly say i was not expecting a certain storyline in resville particularly that is truly wild and that is like an asparian city which is kind of the western country that's um present in this book uh and i don't even know what to say about that right now and then also there is kind of a story line with mercenary combatants that use jade within the story too and that is unfolding in a way that's just like so wild to me um i just really love how fondly is able to finally is able to continue to escalate the storylines we know that has been present throughout the first three books but then continue to add like either new layers to that but also provide like whole new characters whole new side storylines that feel very naturally connected and like would it make sense as an extension so this book is really getting to the point where everything is starting to spiral out of control and i have under 300 pages left now it's gonna be all downhill like if the the speed at which we're gonna move i just already know it's going to be very intense and i just like i don't know how it's all gonna unwrap but i'm like a little terrified if i'm gonna be honest i don't know if i'm prepared but i'm gonna do more reading now i need to make dinner there's so many things i actually should be doing but i'm not and i'm just gonna continue to sit on this couch and read so i'm about to start dinner um i'm making a very quick dinner tonight i'm just gonna make some ravioli that we have in the fridge pasta sauce and spinach very low effort um and i'm also going to do the baking soda trick for my mug right now which i'm really excited about i love this mug case and every day but it is very stained and you guys gave me a lot of great recommendations on how to clean it so i'm going to try one of them out now before i do all of that i want to give a quick shout out to the cal children within the green bone saga series because i love reading their chapters it's cool that so much time has passed that we've literally seen these kids grow up completely and i want a whole like side series on jaya jaya um hilo's daughter incredible i love her i'm obsessed with her like just absolutely obsessed anyway let's clean this mug and make some dinner all right this is not a very complicated oh really this is not a very complicated trick you just dump baking soda inside of a mug and like press it to the side and then let it sit for a little while so we're gonna test it out [Music] and now i just let it sit for 30 minutes so we'll come back to this and see really making the easiest dinner ever some pre-made store-bought raviolis and some pre-made store-bought pasta sauce that i'm gonna mix some spinach into and then it's back to washing succession and dinner is done yum all right friends it's time for the mug reveal i just washed out it still looks okay it actually helped a lot it doesn't look like it did because the mug is super stained so i think i just need to do another round but the walls are much lighter and then the base is still pretty stained but also much lighter um i'll probably do like another round but i would say pretty successful looks better than it did before so you know i'd say a solid six out of ten results and we can get the other four another time taking a quick break um with dinner to watch succession you know just shifting from one dysfunctional family to another you know too much power too much money too much time every time i watch episodes of succession though i literally just do not understand why anyone would want to do any of their jobs it doesn't seem worth it at all in any capacity and it just confuses me but anywho show's great we're on we're watching season three or on episode six so time to do that and it's time for some late night reading see how far i can get i'm hopeful i can finish this tomorrow that means i have to stay up late tonight and focus tomorrow but luckily this book is incredibly engaging and i don't want to put it down so i feel like it will be a good encouragement a good carrot to get through all of my work tomorrow as quickly as i can so i can read as much as this as i can you might not be able to tell but i switched back to my old vlog camera i started editing um this video it's monday late afternoon if um by the way and i do plan to read more of my book tonight but i started editing my vlog and i found i do a lot of moving around and it's really shaky and also a little more cropped in than my old vlog camera and i think i just like don't fully know how to use it so until i know how to use it i'm going to stick with old faithful because i've been using that vlog camera this vlog camera for like seven years and i just don't want to put out a vlog that i'm like unsatisfied with the quality so anyway i'm a little embarrassed but happy monday matilda has just been hanging out on this chair with me all day and i'm gonna get back to editing this very vlog you're watching now and uh also work to learn how to use this thing because i don't think i fully know happy to report i have wrapped up all of my urgent tasks for today it's about 6 30. um so i'm gonna read so i want to sit down actually let's do that right now let's just sit down and talk about this book uh i have about i want to say 150 pages left i stayed up way too late reading last night but like what's new i'm not surprised that i did that mostly because i am incredibly distressed at the moment there i the things that are occurring and like that i'm in the midst of reading has got my anxiety pulsing to just whole new heights and i really like don't quite know what to do about it and i just know it's not going to stop until the end of this book and i don't know how it's going to go that being said i'm just so impressed how fondly i feel like it's really hard to wrap up a trilogy um and like make the story feel like whole and complete and satisfying and the amount of time that a trilogy gives you especially for a fantasy world and i just have a feeling i'm gonna really well i don't know if i'm gonna enjoy it i think it's going to destroy me but i'm going to appreciate how this particular series wraps up and and just the amount of time that elapsed during the story i was not expecting but i feel like it was really effective because it allowed fondly to introduce some new characters um people who were like children or like barely born at the end of the last book are now functioning adults making decisions impacting not only the clan but their families and all the drama that has to do with that and i feel like it added and injected like a lot of freshness within the narrative but yeah so i'm gonna sit down and read shower make dinner and then just make a priority to finish this book tonight i do not think that's gonna be an issue 150 pages should be no problem on my end i'm sorry i did not walk at all today today kind of got away from me a bit but we're all done now matilda also had a big day at the office um and i just switched back to my whole vlog camera i'm so embarrassed but please give me your feedback nonetheless because i would still like it i just don't know what i'm doing with it i'm just i just i'm technologic sometimes i'm like i feel like i have a grip on technology i'm like i know what i'm doing and then sometimes i'm like completely out of my depth so i just need to do some more testing with my camera but i didn't want to impact this vlog because i'm excited about this vlog anyway i'm going to read now among other things so i'll take you along for that for tonight anyway bye before i get to reading a little pick me up you wouldn't know i'm going to the dentist tomorrow you wouldn't know i'm reading and i'm not okay i don't have anything else to say except i'm not okay oh my god oh my god no no no i'm so mad i could cry i'm gonna cry oh my god i just didn't even know what to do i just grabbed a small camera i'm not oh no catching up on an episode of real housewives of salt lake city so much is occurring but i'm laundered trying to bring myself down from my emotional distress i've also started dinner tonight i'm making a new recipe it's like a shrimp and cannanelli white beans um clay requested this so we're giving it a try i never made it before i'm just marinating some shrimp i have a better way of showing you that i'm marinating some shrimp and olive oil obviously a lot of spices some fresh parsley lots of garlic this is gonna sit for like 10 minutes um it has cherry grape tomatoes olive oil and beans i'm like incoherent right now it's a really fast and easy recipe which is actually great so we're gonna put it together and try it this is a dump everything in the pan kind of recipe and see how it turns out so all right okay honestly this looks pretty dang good clay just loves beans so much so he's constantly just looking for new bean recipes to try and i love beans too and also this took me like 15 minutes to cook it was so easy so hopefully it tastes good i can add it to the rotation but it's just about done just at the top with some parsley ooh timer's off some line and consume episode six of succession and then i'm gonna finish this book and probably stop so you know just just monday night vibes i've delayed it long enough it is time to finish this i don't think i'm ready but it must happen so we're gonna do it now hi guys it's regan and welcome to the end of the vlog the next day i'm happy and a little distraught to report that i did finish jade legacy last night i am really pleased with the ending of this particular series i feel like this book had a lot of expectations to live up to one of my most anticipated books of the year for one of my favorite series so ending in a way that is satisfying makes sense wraps things up but doesn't wrap things up too perfectly i know is a very difficult task and i feel like fonda lee did a really good job creating a just a fast-paced story but just creating new plot new interests that culminated in such a satisfying way it was emotional my heart is still not recovered um but in terms of just being engaged and just fully in love with the story i can genuinely say that was the case i don't know i just felt like this was a really effective third book in a series and it kind of did something i wasn't expecting and that was again this is a story that took over a large period of time kind of thinking about the current generation of the future generation a lot of the things that were set up we had to wait a long time for them to kind of pay off and develop but given that time everything was able to develop in a very logical fashion nothing was rushed everything was kind of given the time and space it was intense it was violent it was emotional it was heart-wrenching it's all of the adjectives and i just really enjoyed this third and final book and i am happy i was able to get to it this month and and just thought it lived up to my expectations in general because that could be hard especially for third books in a series but yeah i loved it and i hope you guys enjoyed this vlog and i will see you soon with another one soon goodbye

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Id: uxV6ZhzFYhs

Length: 38min 33sec (2313 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 09 2021