booktube newbie tag *2025* | bookshelf tour, theatre chats, and chaotic community | diverse reads

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Hi, Steph! I'm looking forward to hearing about all bookish things you want to share with us. From an oldie content creator to a newbie, welcome aboard. We're so glad to have you here!

[@starrysteph]

Thanks so much! I suppose I'm sort of a blend of oldie & newbie, but I'm happy to return 'home' to KZbin.

[@orladdin]

Just yesterday I watched your favourite books of 2024 short and was hoping you'd post more long form videos again! Welcome back Steph!

[@starrysteph]

Thank you so much! Happy to be here. :)

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Hello and welcome to book tube. I’m still pretty new to all this malarkey and finding my way around too. Look forward to hearing what you have to say. Best wishes with what you choose to read. Happy reading!

[@starrysteph]

Hello hello! Thanks for being here & congrats on jumping into your own journey. Happy reading to you, too!

[@jaybingham7862]

I follow you on Insta as I don’t have a tiktok. I love your short content but I am excited to see what you do with longer form content!

[@starrysteph]

Thanks so much for coming over here with me!

[@ljslibrary]

one of my fav underrated gems is A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge - it's technically a children's book but it's so incredibly layered, with complex characters, beautiful writing, and a fantastical, absurd world. it made me so emotional and i was so immersed. definitely recommend! also im so glad to find another great comet fan :)

[@ljslibrary]

& i also love reading on planes :) although i usually have 1 physical and 1 audiobook

[@starrysteph]

YAY thank you for the rec! I'll have to go look it up. I like reading children's books every so often (I actually read the first book in the Moomins series last month & it made my heart happy). I used to nanny and reading to kids before bedtime is one of my favorite things in the world. I have so many great comet trinkets, haha. I should put my egg shaker on one of my bookshelves!

[@SweeneySays]

Ok first of all I am also a clipboard girlie. Love a clipboard lol. Second: this is delightful and I am so excited to see more from you over here!!

[@starrysteph]

Emotional support clipboard!! It was also an essential part of playing pretend as a kid (had to look OFFICIAL). I'm so excited to be here (and to watch more KZbin content from friends like you, too)!

[@dwejradraws]

I have been struggling with making my bookshelf cute and now that I am buying more paper books, I really want to just buy another to finally get that aesthetic zoom background... And the color coded shelf is just a dream!

[@starrysteph]

Haha the Zoom background is KEY! My former boss used to always ask people with bookshelves in their backgrounds if they had actually read all of those books. And I would always get to say "YES!!".

[@ChristelsTales]

i’m so happy i stumbled upon your channel! i am a theatre kid and am obsessed with musical theatre. i would also like to diversify my reading and what better way to do that than reading books related to my favorite musicals! i also prefer to read with a cat snuggled on my lap 😂 i look forward to more of your recs and booktube videos 😊

[@starrysteph]

Thanks so much for joining me here! :D It's so fun to reframe book recs in new ways, because sometimes I'm feeling slumpy or uninspired, but other hobbies & forms of storytelling spark my interest again and bring me back home to books. The purring is the best part. Lil vibration massage while you read!

[@maiiau]

I've seen some of your shortform content on here, but as someone who really prefers longform, I'm looking forward to seeing more of that from you! I really appreciate your recommendations. Also, shout out to Animorphs as a formative childhood book experience.

[@starrysteph]

Thank you so much! I agree - sometimes my brain is spinning after consuming too much short form content in a row. It's nice to spend a longer time listening to someone (I'll put on KZbin videos like little podcasts when I do chores). I keep thinking about doing an Animorphs reread ... I wonder how dark it feels to me now as an adult horror reader haha!

[@PrincessHoney]

Ive been following you recently on instagram and now I find you here! Yay! My husband was most impressed by the casual mention of clown school :-) For a book recommendation in 2024 I LOVED How We End by LM Juniper. Excellent horror, apocalypse story with fab representation. I found it on Kindle Unlimited and when I finished had to go buy a physical copy from their website to keep forever! Looking forward to more of your content and recommendations, Im happy to find someone who maintains their ethical stance while recommending books!

[@starrysteph]

Thanks for joining me on KZbin! I truly need more reasons to casually bring up clown school ... it's a conversation starter if nothing else. 🤭 How We End sounds super cool! I just added it to my want to read list.

[@Kringlebert]

Good news for Kyle -- The other books in the Poppy War *are* getting collector's editions! Dragon Republic releases in late June. No info for Burning God yet, but if it follows the same timeline, it'll be early 2026.

[@starrysteph]

HA hopefully that is good news and not "uh oh, now I've gotta buy two more special editions" news. ;) Thanks for sharing! I also initially thought/assumed they were releasing all three at once, so we were both pretty surprised.