Hey, YouTube! It's Zoë and I am participating in Readathon by Zoë Holiday Edition, which is round four of my 24-hour readathon. I can't believe I'm doing this for a fourth time! It's probably not good for my body because I don't sleep for 24 hours -- or more than 24 hours because I didn't sleep last night. it is 11:35 right now and I have not
slept today! It is good for my Goodreads reading challenge, so that's why I do it. Also, it's fun! You get to read for 24 hours! A whole day dedicated to reading! [snaps]
Yeah! As I mentioned before, it decided to make it holiday / winter themed this time, which basically just means I'm going to read just holiday / winter
themed books or books that take place during winter and I am planning on maybe doing some holiday-type things today. We shall see! Anyway, it is now 11:39 so I am going to go make some coffee because, like I said before, I did not sleep and I'm already tired. Probably being in pajamas right now is not
helping with the "being tired" front *and* we have to pick the first book I'm going to read. I made my famous hazelnut hot chocolate coffee, which a lot of people were asking how I make it. It's really simple! So, you get a packet of hot chocolate, you put in some marshmallows, and then you put hazelnut coffee on top
of it. Probably not good for you, but it's tasty! So now we are going to pick what I'm going to read first. We have to choose relatively quickly. I have my TBR stack here, ready to go, though. These are all the books that I own that I know are wintry or holiday-y, except for this one but I just really want to read it so I
added it. This is an unrealistic number of books to read in 24 hours so my genius plan was: I put all of the names of these books onto slips of paper and I put 'em into this Santa hat here so whenever I need a new book, I'm just going to reach in and pick a new book. Genius! No-one's ever come up with this idea before; I am an innovator. So we have the Santa hat -- [sings] Let's pick my first book to read during the readathon! [sings] Oh, snap! What is this book? It is _Let It Snow_ by various authors. I
forget. I think John Green is one of them. _Let It Snow_ by John Green.
[laughs] Oh, I just missed the chair! [laughs] It is by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. As you can tell, there are three different authors, so there are three different stories within this story. Each author writes their own story. So what I am planning on: read the first story from this, then read another book, and then read the second story from this, then read another book and then read the last
story from this. Did that make sense? it's not a very complicated plan, but it
is 11:57! Oh my gosh! Three minutes until the
readathon starts! I am ready! I am feeling the adrenaline running through my veins! I am high on reading and on life and on caffeine! Let's do this thing! It's now midnight, so let's read! Oh my gosh! I am so excited. Also, yes. This kind of looks like Canada. It kind of looks like Canada socks, but no, these are Christmas trees in case you're wondering. But anyway, Let's read! Let's get down to business. [music: "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" instrumental] This is a cute story so far. It's by Maureen Johnson and it's called "The Jubilee Express". I didn't realize that this book came out in 2008. For some reason I thought it came out in 2012, but they're talking about iPods and how main character's phone has minutes and
she hasn't used all of her minutes yet. What a throwback! It's 114 pages long. I can finish it the next hour or so if I stop talking to the camera and start reading. Yeah, you're right! I should start reading again. Bye! It is 1:30 a.m. and I have finished the first story in _Let It Snow_. It was much funnier than I was expecting and also it was incredibly cheesy, which I was
expecting. This takes place over less than 24 hours and two people just fall in love and I was, I was along for the ride. So like I said before, my plan was
to read the first story and then pick another book to read before I start the second story. So let's go pick out the next book I'm gonna read! Alright, Santa hat! Let's see what we're going to read next! [scats] [sings] What is this one? I don't know. Let's see what we're gonna read! Da da da da da! I need a a theme song or something I don't know. Oh! I don't know if you can read it. _Death By Eggnog_. Yes. That is a real book. I don't know if you could read the tagline, but "It's beginning to look a lot like murder." I've been getting really into "cozy mysteries", which is a genre of mystery books that aren't really
gruesome or gory. They're filled with puns and they're just incredibly cheesy, so that's what this is. It looks really cheesy and I am really excited to get into it. It looks so bad it'll be good! Before we start this masterpiece though,
I'm going to make some more coffee because I am getting a little bit sleepy. All right, so it's like 2 a.m. and, as
you can probably tell, I have decided to take a bath, since taking baths keeps me awake. I'm going to try to read as much _Death By Eggnog_ as I can. I also have my bath snacks if you can see. I have some Goldfish, I have some coffee, and I also have some water. I have water because I'm trying to be healthy -- trying to balance my caffeine with water, because people have left comments saying that my amount of caffeine consumption is dangerous so I'm trying to make us all feel better. All right; I'm going to go and read. [dance break: All I Want For Christmas Is You] All I want for Christmas is books. It is now 5:30 a.m. and my coffee is now cool enough to drink. That random 5 a.m. dance break really did wake me up. I finished _Death By Eggnog_ by Alex Erickson and it wasn't great. It wasn't absolutely terrible, though. I didn't realize that it was the fifth book in a series so I was a little bit confused. It did what I wanted it to do: it entertained me. Anyway, I'm going to start John Green's story now, which is called "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle" so I'm guessing it's going to be cheery? I just finished John Green's story in _Let It Snow_ and I didn't really enjoy it. There were some problematic parts of the story and also just the story in general. I far preferred the first story by Maureen Johnson, actually, which I was surprised about because I had read a Maureen Johnson book before, a couple of years ago, and I didn't like it. But we shall see what I think about the last
story in this book when I get to it. We actually have to pick a new book now. Which one are we gonna read? Moonstone. Which one is that? Okay, yes: I know which
one it is. _Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was_, a novel by Sjón, I don't know how to pronounce his name, but he is an Icelandic author. I asked the other day on Twitter for some diverse book recommendations to read during the readathon and Josh from Scribblesreads actually recommended this book to me, so I got it. it's also pretty darn short. How many pages is it? Oh, I don't want to be spoiled! It is 142 pages long. So, yeah; I think I can finish this today. It takes place in 1918 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main character is gay, I believe, and the
Spanish Influenza is ravaging the country. I'm getting tired, so hopefully this will keep my attention and keep me awake because I have to be awake for
15 more hours. That's what I call multitasking! [laughs] It is now 8 a.m.. Obviously my dad is now awake and he's driving, so this is really safe! We're going to breakfast right now and I am still reading this book. This is obviously a translated work so it's a little bit awkward to read. Also, earlier I bit the inside of my cheek and every time I talk I'm just biting it more so I'm sorry if I'm lisping or slurring, it's just I'm trying not to bite my cheek anymore. But we're going to breakfast. We're gonna eat. It's still raining outside. We have a cold front coming in so that's why I can wear a sweater right now. We match. [Dad]: Not on purpose Are you sure? I got dressed first, didn't I? [Dad]:I didn't even see you. Did you match me on purpose? I got a veggie scramble. It looks pretty good. And I'm still reading _Moonstone_. [Zoë]: What are you currently reading? Are you joining Readathon by Zoë? [Dad]:I am and I always do. [Zoë]: Ha ha ha. I force you to! Mwah ha ha. No, just kidding. [Dad]: No, you don't. [laughs] [Zoë]:He volunteered to join! [laughs] [Dad]: I always do. The _Insanity_ series by Cameron Jace, and I'm reading -- I'm still in the first book. .[Zoë]: It's a retelling of _Alice in
Wonderland_, right? [Dad]: It's a retelling of _Alice in Wonderland_ in modern times. She's 19 years old. [Zoë]: Are you liking it so far? [Dad, diplomatically]: It's ... it's different. [Zoë laughs} [music: chimes and bells] We are back from breakfast. What are you
doing? I'm being attacked by dogs. Hello. How are you, kind sir? Oh gosh! We are back from breakfast. I am 90 pages into _Moonstone_. I am liking this more. The beginning was a little strange, especially because it starts with an
explicit sex scene which I was not expecting and I was reading that in a
public restaurant while eating breakfast and it was weird, but I am liking it more. I got used to the translated language and now I really like the way that he
writes so I'm gonna finish this up right now. I just finished _Moonstone_ and, to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about the book. I feel like it's one that will stick with me for a while because it's
unlike any story I've read before and I feel like I learned a lot about the
Icelandic culture but I'm not sure if I liked how it was written. I'm not sure. I'm gonna have to think about this one. Anyway, I am going to finish _Let It Snow_. I have the final story to read by Lauren Myracle, which is called "The Patron Saint of Pigs". I don't know what this one's gonna be about. [music: "Carol of the Bells" instrumental] [Zoë:] How is your book going? [Dad]: I'm on chapter 48 tonight. Sounds like a lot except that's still like 22% through the book. [Zoë]:Are you liking it more? [Dad]: Put it this way: I'm gonna finish it. [both laugh] I have 80 more pages of _Let It Snow_. [spoon clinks in bowl] As you can tell, my dad made some soup so I'm probably going to eat some of that. I'm also going to drink some water
because I've had a lot of caffeine today but not a lot of water. [Kit]: Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas, everybody! You want to read a book about Santa
getting murdered? Read _Hogfather_. Santa dies, and then Death has to take
over. It's a great book! I love it! [Zoë]: My sister, everybody! She has decided to join the readathon, very last minute, and she's going to read _Hogfather_. [Kit]: He [Terry Pratchett] writes the Discworld books. This is one of those. It's a great series. It's a great fantasy novel. They do a lot of -- not quite satire, but like, looks at real-world concepts through the lens of fantasy. This is not one of those books, but it's still a great book. [Zoë]: Do you mean Santa isn't a real-world issue? [Kit]: I dunno. Do you have an issue with Santa? Matter of fact, I do! Hey, Trixie! How are you doing, girlfriend? You look so done. I'm so sorry. I'll leave you alone. Anyway, I finished _Let It Snow_. I really liked the last story, definitely more than John Green's. Oops! Someone got a notification! But John Green's, the second story, was my least favorite. It just didn't have a lot of substance to it, I guess, but the last story had a really satisfying conclusion. It was kind of like Love Actually, that all the stories came together. There definitely were some problematic aspects to this book. All of the stories had problematic aspects, and they really hated on cheerleaders for some reason. Every single story was like, "Cheerleaders are so dumb and perky!" What -- what is with the hate on cheerleaders? I don't get it. But if you're looking for some holiday
cheer, here you go! We have to go pick the next story now that we're done with this. [sings] We gotta pick the next novel out of the Santa hat! Ooh ooh ooh! I need a theme song for the
Santa hat. [sings] Santa hat, Santa hat, let's pull a book out of that! Hey! That my new theme song? It's terrible but it'll have to do. This one. What is this one? Ah! Oh my gosh! I can't open it. Oh! The Book Thief! I have been meaning to read it for years -- even before I started on BookTube. I was meaning to read it and I just haven't for five years so this is
the perfect time to actually read it! As you can tell, my caffeine has kicked in again. I've been going through waves of tiredness but we're ready. Let's read _The Book Thief_! Now, this one is a little bit thicker, or a lotta bit thicker, than the other novels: over 550 pages with small font but it is just 1 p.m. so I think I can do it. I read _IT_ in one day, so I think I can read this in 11 hours. Oh! Also, I forgot that I have the audiobook! I have it on Audible. I purchased it years ago, so I am much more prepared to read this book than I thought. I have 11 hours, I have the audiobook, I have the physical book, and I have the motivation to read this! I'm really excited. This is a lot of people's favorite book. Ooh, we're going to go decorate the Christmas tree and I'm going to listen to the audiobook. Christmas Tree Team Assemble! Let's decorate this tree! [music: "Deck the Halls" instrumental] Okay, so two things: one, the cold front
finally moved in so it's nice and cool outside and two, guess who this is?
It's my BFF. She's a stray cat who has kind of adopted us but we can't let her inside because my dear old dad is allergic to cats. How dare you be allergic to cats, Dad?! He's putting up the Christmas lights right there. Yeah, go Dad! You can do it! [sings] Best friends! Oh! Oh my gosh! Do you love me as much as the cat does? Oh! Oh hey, friends! Gah! Okay, abort mission! I forgot that we are going to make gingerbread today! I was thinking that we would decorate them like book characters. Huh? Huh? Does that sound super cool and rad? [Kit]: Nerd. Baking with Zoë! Whoa! You want to know my super secret recipe for gingerbread? Well, you put the mix into the bowl. We need to contact Mary Berry, ASAP, and find me a slot for the Great British Bake Off, because obviously I am just the best baker around. I really do like baking; it's just I was lazy and I got the cookie mix. Sometimes we do make it from scratch, but not during Readathon by Zoë. We need to dedicate all our hours to reading. It looks good! Yay! We already have our test batch here. Some of them look a little worse
for wear, but they'll taste good and that's all that matters. We don't judge about how you look around here. We have a gingerbread person with pants and a gingerbread person with a dress. Christmas tree! Or just a tree. Hi! Just a tree! Happy to be here. The first batch of gingerbread is in the oven. I don't know if you can see but it's right there, and I am on page 75 of _Book Thief_. I am really liking it so far. I love the writing style. it's so unique, and it flows so well, and it's so visual. it's such a visual writing style. I love, also, how it's narrated by Death and -- oh! -- and how there are some German phrases thrown in since it is set in Germany, so I feel like I'm learning some German while also reading this book. I cannot believe that it is taken me --what is it? five years or something to finally read this book. The first batch of gingerbread came out and it is one giant slab. They have all merged into one. They're just best friends just want to hang out all the time. [music: "Joy to the World" piano instrumental] It is 4:30 and we're having a family
reading party. Hey, friends! Hi! [Dad]: You're interrupting my reading. [Dad]: Here's your timer. [Zoë]: Do I treat you like this ? [Dad]: Yes, you do. [Zoë]: Ooh, we have to get a ginger bread out of the oven. I am on page 125 of _The Book Thief_. How far are you in your book, Dad? [Dad]: 22% [Zoë]: Weren't you at 22% during breakfast? [Dad]: I think this is all three books. [Zoë]: Oh! ... How far are you, Kit? [Kit]: Page 181. Are you liking it? Wait! You've read it before right? [Kit]: Yeah, I've read it plenty of times and I've seen the movie adaptation [Dad]: -- which we also have -- [Kit]: Yep. [Zoë]: Oh, maybe we should watch that, but not today! Because we're reading all day! Wooo! I will give you one guess as to where we are going. Live studio audience: where are
we going right now? [Dad]: Barnes & Noble Oh my goodness! I have never been there before. [laughs] but it is a tradition is tradition at this point. We just have to go and check out what holiday books they have? I don't know. We're just going because we gotta go. [music: "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" ] Do dead people watch me shower? I don't
know. Is that such a popular question, though, that they had to title the book that? [Kit]: Like you've never wondered. I never did until now. You are at a bookstore and
you're stocking up on Lego. I really wanna get _Eloise_, because I used to watch that movie when I was a kid. I found it! This used to be one of my favorite books and it's Christmas-themed so I'm gonna read it today and this counts for a whole book being read today. Woah, I'm really getting around my own rules. [sings]The Barnes and Noble trip was a
success! We got too many things! It's 8 p.m. and I am on page 230-something of _The Book Thief_. I didn't realize that there were illustrations in this as well. This book just keeps on getting better and better. Have you read it, Dad? Oh my gosh! I'm going to lend this to you right after I finish it because it's really good. We just finished decorating all of the gingerbread. [Dad]: Oh, please don't show the mess. Oh. Oh, you want to see the mess that we made decorating the gingerbread? We kind of gave up at the end because there were so many and it took so long but these are my
gingerbread. Yes, they decorated all of those in the time it took me to decorate these, but as you can see I did the Hogwarts House scarves, and this was my attempt at doing a person. I tried to do Elizabeth Bennet from _Pride and Prejudice_, but it looks a little scary so we're gonna eat that one first to get
rid of the evidence. [Dad]: You're not proud of it? I'm not proud of it! [Dad]: Are you prejudiced? I am. [laughs] I really do like the scarves though.
Those came out. [Dad]: They did! Those came out pretty well! They took a long time for just being stripes, because I am a perfectionist, so I was doing it all with toothpicks and I was doing like a stroke at a time. These were the testers.This one is terrifying! So we have less than four hours left in the readathon. I have a half the book to read, but I kind of don't want to just fly through
it, because I'm liking it so much I don't want to finish it tonight. But also I do, because I need to know what happens. I don't know. [Dad]: You finish. Okay. It is 9:15 p.m. and I'm on page 325 of _The Book Thief_ so I have less than three hours to
read 225 pages. I think I can do it. [music: slow instrumental] So I just finished _The Book Thief_ by
Markus Zusak, and this book is so good! I was crying throughout the last 50 -- 100! pages. I was crying throughout the last 100 pages of this book. The worst part is that you know a lot of it is coming up and you cannot stop it. You feel helpless. And the writing is so good and I love all the characters well, most of the characters -- and it made me feel a lot of things that I wasn't planning on feeling. if you have not read _The Book Thief_, read _The Book Thief_. it is 11:40 so I still have 20 minutes left of Readathon by Zoë and I finished the book so I could just end it right here but I don't really want to go to bed in this state because I will just sob myself to sleep 'cause I'm still super emotional. So, I think I'm going to read Eloise. it's a really short book; I can read it in 20 minutes. It's light-hearted, and that's that's what I need right now. [music: instrumental carol] That was the end of _Eloise At
Christmastime_. It's so cute! I also love the art style. I still love the art style! It's so pink! My favorite bit was this: it shows where Eloise goes in the hotel. I am really happy that this was the last book I read during the readathon not only because it is short, so it made me feel very successful, like this is a very successful readathon because I read this in five minutes, but because it's so Christmas-y and it is so nostalgic. It is now past midnight. I have finally washed off all of my makeup and all of my tears. Also, my hair totally looks like a founding father's right now. That was not the style I was going for but, I mean, rock what you got! Anyway, Readathon by Zoë is officially
over. I am going to go sleep because I desperately need it. Massive amounts of caffeine can only go so far. Good night! Hello! It is a week later because I
forgot to film this little wrap-up bit, but since we last spoke I completed all
of my university finals for the semester, I am free for the next three weeks on
winter break, and it feels so good! Also, I am wearing my Santa Claus shirt to get even more into the holiday spirit. Anyway, let's talk about what I read during the 24 hour readathon. The first book I read was_Let It Snow_ by
John Green Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle, and it was 352 pages. I then read _Death By Eggnog_ by Alex Erickson which was 285 pages. The third book I read was _Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was_ by Sjón. I still don't know how to pronounce his
name but it was 142 pages. Then I read _The Book Thief_ by Markus Zusak, which was 550 pages long. And last but not least I read _Eloise At Christmastime_ by Kay Thompson, which Goodreads says is 56 pages long. I am pretty proud of reading that many pages and this many books in 24 hours, especially because I was
planning on this being a more relaxed readathon. I was planning on hanging out with my family most of the day and just reading when I could, but obviously
that's not what occurred. I read the entire day. If you want to know, my favorite book was obviously _The Book Thief_ and my least favorite book was
_Death By Eggnog_. Unfortunately, it wasn't as ridiculous as I was hoping it would be. Thank you for watching this ridiculously long readathon vlog! I had over 4 hours of footage, so this was as short as I could make it. Like always, I had so much fun doing this and thank you to all of you who joined me in this crazy challenge. Leave down below, if you joined, how many pages you read and what your favorite book you read was. I would love to know! I will talk to you all soon
in my next video! Bye! [music: "Deck the Halls" instrumental]
