Choosing Books Based on 1⭐ Reviews | Reading Vlog

[@4wz7]

The word you were looking for is polysemous!

[@BooksandLala]

Oooh I like the sound of that!

[@TaraSwiger1]

I came right to the comments, hoping someone answered this question! The Wikipedia for polysemous is so interesting! Thanks!

[@kristine3856]

you might also find the concept of syntactic ambiguity interesting!

[@JustReadingwithJazzy]

Well, you learn something new everyday! I had no idea what polysemous was and looked it up and now know what it is! Lol Kayla’s channel is now educational!👌🏽😁

[@RamblingsOfAnElfpire]

It's so interesting how many words get used commonly in the incorrect or more colloquial way. Polysemous is a new word for me!

[@doggonebookaddict]

New vlog concept: Read Eric’s 5 star reads 👀

[@selarason]

😂

[@ashtaylor4107]

The fact that Liam is starting to sound EXACTLY like Rob with a combination of his and your humor is so amazing. 🤣 Years are flying by aren't they?

[@paperbacksgalore]

DYING at Eric and his aversion to eating things of the earth lmao

[@MariahNic]

"UGH! Not AGAIN"

[@voidedcitrus3455]

honestly i love the consistency

[@beearedee]

Eric needs to do a buddy read 😂😂

[@krystinareads]

I hope Eric is a bestie and will see this video

[@rebelbelle1388]

Someone needs to find Eric and get him in here.

[@farrahwho]

the way you went through eric's goodreads to see if he read the fifth season haha

[@robinmitchells]

“It seems like stream of consciousness and I don’t know how to swim” is such a great line, thank you Evelyn for that

[@taylorgayhart9497]

Omg Liam’s voice changing is so wild!! I remember when he was just a kid and now he sounds like a full blown adult!! I have to say I appreciate that you’ve stopped showing him so much in your videos, it’s great to hear updates from you on how he is doing, but you’re also protecting his privacy and that’s amazing!!

[@alysarocker]

I remember when he was in cloth diapers! Blows my mind hearing him. I have 10 and 9yo boys and I’m NOT ready. 😭 But I was just thinking so crazy how he got dropped off at the mall and rode the bus home. Big kids status.

[@ashtaylor4107]

@@alysarocker I was JUST thinking about Kayla's old family channel and Liam being so little, and now he's growing so quickly. 😭

[@landscapesofink]

I LITERALLY THOUGHT THIS TOO

[@sararoza797]

that interlude with Liam was the most teenage boy thing ever 😂

[@DiffectiveTear]

I've been binging your videos over the last few months and when Liam started talking, i was like, who is that grown man? Holy cow.

[@kyestrella]

i thought that Liam was ROB!! 😳 his voice is so deep!!!!

[@KittyxKult]

Same! I was like “why is she asking her grown husband about going to school????” And then I realized! He’s growing up!

[@melissabereading]

Omg yesssss!!

[@omgitsyelhsa13]

He’s like our little booktube child all grown up

[@jf1809]

I thought Rob and Liam were both there 😂

[@mercedesgarciamazaira1893]

Thank you for reading the translators' note on Eartheater! It's a beautifully written book in spanish and very close to Argentinian women's hearts. In our country, a woman is murdered every 27 hours, these murderes are named "femicides" because of the violent nature of them against women, and families are left without justice in most cases. 💔

[@greenonionbabey]

I LOVE you analyzing this random goodreads user's apparent specific hatred for books where people eat natural non-food substances 😭 someone asks him for his least favorite fantasy trope and he's like "WELL,"

[@Thetrilingualreader]

He would be like well, dam and maybe he is a beaver who is speciest

[@carolineyon3]

ESL teacher here! So “slip on” is a phrasal verb. These are so tough for my students because 1) the meaning of each part of the phrasal verb doesn’t determine the entire meaning of the phrasal verb (a good example of this is “take off” for a plane. We know the meaning of take, we know the meaning of off, but when we put them together the meaning of the phrasal verb means something different). 2) one phrasal verb can have multiple completely different meanings!! And to understand it, you have the understand the context. So the sentence itself is not what you’re thinking is a homonym, but the phrasal verb which when taught to non-native speakers are taught as individual words like any other vocabulary. So, maybe? , homonym can actually be used to describe what you’re trying to say

[@Hillary429]

You should choose a book to read based on their adaptation’s Letterboxd review.. those reviews are my favorite form of social media 😂

[@marylcunha]

Big yes to this!!

[@llaheys]

You following up with erics opinion on broken earth gutted me, but also made me think a video of you picking a goodreads nemesis and reading some of their least favourite books to see if you liked them would be fun. Especially of it's a randomer not a book tuber

[@BetweenLinesAndLife]

Eric is in his earth eating era like you are in your eyeball era

[@alyssa528]

You are always so well styled and it made me think that you should get your color analysis done (like typing you seasonally based on your over and undertones) and then read books that fit within your season

[@BooksandLala]

If I didn't already know my own colours intrinsically, I would most definitely capitalize off of some content surrounding it! haha

[@alyssa528]

@@BooksandLala fair enough! 😂

[@bihter3201]

I laughed so hard when you guessed Eric's rating on the Fifth season

[@taliw7736]

😂😂😂 same

[@SharniandBooks]

Unfortunately I believe a bunch of women had come forward recently to say that Joe Arden had sexually harassed them. The author of Butcher and Blackbird put out a statement to say she no longer promotes her audiobook because of that. I didn’t follow the situation closely enough to know what happened after that, but I just thought I would mention that I remembered seeing it on her Instagram

[@BooksandLala]

Oh god that's awful. Really wishing I hadn't directly mentioned him, thanks for informing me Sharni.

[@SharniandBooks]

@@BooksandLala it’s okay, I honestly didn’t see that much about it either. I saw a few people share the authors post about it on their Instagram stories, that’s the only reason I knew about it 🤷‍♀️

[@unconciousreality]

The Eric content was absolute gold and I laughed very hard. "Ugh again" 🤣🤣🤣

[@brianna2278]

In Blackouts, I think the blackout poetry part is real quotation from an older 1941 report, Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns. I haven't read it myself but I know that the blackout poetry "erases" the doctors'/sexologists' words from the reports, because he argues that homosexuality is a pathological condition. So Torres erases those words to leave only the actual words of the gay men and lesbians that were really interviewed in the 20s/30s. So it seems like a commentary on the history of homosexuality and the ways that queerness is mediated through the medical field.

[@imaginepageant]

Liam’s VOICE! 😱 I am dreading my son getting there. I don’t want to lose his sweet baby voice.

[@emmal7510]

My main problem with trying to place actors from memory is that they usually turn out to have had a bit part on Law & Order or something like that. And then there was that one guy I placed fairly quickly, who turned to be his identical twin.

[@bethmw28]

It's ALWAYS Law & Order 😂😂

[@ReadingWryly]

Omg THE ERIC SAGA is killing me. 🤣🤣🤣

[@Jane42.]

You teenager chaos made my day. And reminded me my kids are just acting like all teenagers do!!

[@chelsey8737]

He sounds hysterical and I've never loved an intermission more 😂

[@demelaya]

I loved the back and forth, but particularly how he ended it with an “I love you” 🥹

[@AliDoisRead]

before I start I must say: this thumbnail is stunning!!

[@BooksandLala]

omg thank you bestie!! 🙇🏻‍♀️💘

[@grace2487]

I'm glad you ended up liking Blackouts! I basically read the whole thing twice at the same time because I kept going back trying to piece things together, but by the end I really liked how it all did and didn't come together

[@ashlieketchum878]

Yes Kayla you need to read the mindf*ck series! I think you’d get way more of what you wanted from butcher and blackbird

[@rachelmaybeidk]

the mindf!ck series would be an AWESOME rainy day binge!!

[@Sammysreadingroom]

I do think mindf*ck will give you what you’re looking for when it comes to a serial killer romance based on what you said about butcher and blackbird 1. The MMC being in the FBI really brings in the element of what if I get caught 2. I don’t think (I say think cause I read it a while ago) it slips into typical contemporary romance tropes (like the whole omg what if he doesn’t like me) and 3. It really is just f*cked up

[@vjthomsen]

I agree! One of the only “dark” romances I actually like because the thriller/horror aspects are done so well. The ultimate good for her series.

[@Sammysreadingroom]

@@vjthomsen i think the difference, at least for me, is that the romance itself isn’t dark, the lives of the characters outside of their relationship are dark, I actually might go do a reread haha

[@MiszNe99]

I didn't finish reading B&B because I lose my interest but I devoured the Mindf*ck series

[@vjthomsen]

@@Sammysreadingroom I think that is it exactly.

[@marygatica4247]

Oh my gosh. Same! I loathe doing dishes so my husband loads the dishwasher and I put them away. It works so well. Teamwork makes the dream work! 🎉

[@kendallyeary5904]

I swear, kids have ALL of the audacity. 😂

[@mobranch3678]

HE TOOK THE BUS HOME!!! OMGoodness time is flying!

[@catreadsabunch]

I honestly love your chaotic family moments bc you guys are so sweet 💖

[@genregarden]

I would love to see a video where you only read TBR jar picks! 😍

[@ravent3016]

I picked up Blackouts because I like experimental formatted books. I might move it up the TBR based on your review. I am now also a bit curious about Bloom.

[@peanutmabel]

As a native Spanish speaker I’ll tell you I can see how a translation of Eartheater would be difficult, the author used a looot of argentinian idioms. It took me a minute to get used to it and actually understand it lol

[@MsAdlerHolmes]

I'm guessing they did a good job? Eartheater is one of the best books I've ever read. It haunts me daily. I've been dying to see someone talk about it.

[@peanutmabel]

@@MsAdlerHolmes i read it in spanish! so i can’t speak on how good the translation is but yea it’s pretty amazing

[@agustina.martin]

absolutely! she uses so many idioms and references that for us are super common but I don't think they are very easy to translate!

[@tanellenash7383]

I agree, first thing in the morning is the best time to grocery shop. The store is empty and usually recently stocked

[@insidelaurensbrain3833]

Ordered two bookmarks from your shop! Can’t wait to get them! One is rose quartz, which is my fave!😊

[@tc8404]

His voice is getting so deep. Your baby is growing up, it goes by so fast!

[@lexiwilson7628]

I think Marrow would be more of what you expected from Butcher and Blackbird!

[@cactus.3157]

I moved recently and haven’t been watching KZbin because life changing craziness. I thought Liam was Rob for a second! Wow he’s growing up

[@Taralovescoloring]

I absolutely loved Butcher&Blackbird but I completely can understand why people might not like it. 😂.

[@tierajade]

I love this vlog premise! 😃 The review images alongside the books are hilarious! 😂 Slipped on shoes I would have taken as putting them on too! Great video - you are a workout champ!

[@beccabooked]

I loved all the places you took us along with you in this vlog 💖 very cozy!

[@encyclopediaofelizabeth]

Would it be weird to own Literally Dead Bookclub merch when ive never participated, but the logo is just so good?

[@joeysbooked]

I just DNF'd Blackouts like 3 days ago so was super excited to see your opinion. It had so many things about it I wanted to love but just didnt care about the characters so happy to know it doesn't really change. The conversation made me think of Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (which i loved)

[@Gen-yh1jz]

Thank you for the recommendation, I just bought Eartheater today. It sounds awesome!

[@sarahloomis2034]

This concept is so funny. I lol'd at all the 1🌟 reviews.

[@nickyyy777]

7:36 i’m so entertained by the eric saga

[@MoJordanReads]

I absolutely loved Butcher & Blackbird but I completely agree that the game aspect did not make sense and I really wish it had been different. Especially the time frame - the story taking place over years doesn't make sense to me at all.

[@tellmeyouloveme2]

I can’t believe how much Liam sounds like Rob!

[@lorevelasco48]

Kayla I’m reading Knock Knock, Open Wide and i’m loving it!!! Also so glad you speak on femicide! Definetely something people from the Global North don’t speak up enough about

[@priscilla.t.a]

Wait but I love that mango color, will it ever come back for the hoodies? 🙏

[@maddielouwho]

you know it’s gonna be a good video when we start in the car hahah!

[@g.r.7263]

I actually read Eartheater in spanish a few years ago! I didn’t even know it had been translated into english, it’s too bad you thought the translation wasn’t that great :/

[@JanAgaton]

Bloom, Maeve Fly, They Never Learn, The Eyes are the Best Part are all 5 stars for me hahaha that's incredible. i definitely fall in that category of violent-women-book-lovers 😂

[@samantharose1001]

Would you be game to put the yellow literally dead hoodie (like you’re wearing in the vlog) back up on your Bonfire? 🙏🏻💛 loved the vlog as always

[@speaking_bookish]

I wonder if Eric knows how iconic he’s become lol

[@cleargreen123456789]

Interview with the Vampire, 1 star: I do not like books about vampires being interviewed.

[@stevie__reads]

lol don’t read empire of the vampire

[@cleargreen123456789]

​@@stevie__readsis it about vampires?

[@BrebearMckae]

the intermission was honestly top tier. haha

[@saradjaroud971]

Liam's voice dropped so much! He's properly grown up now

[@thatgirlconnor]

I think also we could be thinking of idioms, which are phrases that don’t literally translates. I.e raining cats and dogs, and all languages have them; it was the hardest section when i was learning French in college because they’re just saying that you grow up knowing and if you didn’t grow up using and speaking them they tend not to come naturally.

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

Woo! I was hoping for new content :D Hope you had a fun weekend!

[@yinandyangmix]

I also read a book lately that I had trouble rating because of my issues with the translation/editing. It's upsetting to think about how much gets lost from the original language, and how my experience with the book can never quite connect the way the author intended it to. Translations are such a blessing, and I've read lots of beautifully translated books, but when it feels like a miss it's so frustrating!

[@lene.m]

I agree with this, even as a non-native speaker, I've read English translations that I notice aren't that well written due to translation. But I've also experienced sort of the opposite (I think?!). I read a Norwegian book in Norwegian, that had gone pretty viral on American/English bookstagram. And I thought it was really badly written!! So I have to assume that the translation made the writing a lot better, since my issue was mostly with word choices and sentence structures. (I'm talking about Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval)

[@laurlovesliterature]

my comfort youtuber 🥰💌

[@julibaro575]

I didn't know Cometierra (Eartheater) had been translated! Argentinian Spanish is a very marked variety of language, and as a translator, I can tell you that it's a nightmare to translate Argentinian literature into English. Mariana Enríquez books, for instance, have good translations, but a lot of flavour is lost anyways

[@BooksandLala]

Interesting! Thanks for providing your insight 💕 Do you think it makes a difference when the translator is translating to their native language? Megan McDowell I find to be a fantastic translator (not that I can read the original text to truly know) to English, while Julia Sanches it appears doesn't have English as her first language. Maybe there's no hard and fast rule to it anyway, I'm sure it's an incredibly challenging career!

[@julibaro575]

@@BooksandLala It does definitely make a difference! In fact, companies have that in mind when hiring us, and it's more common to find work translating into your native language than the other way around. I speak, read and write in English every single day, but I'm a better and more creative writer in Spanish, which is essential for a good translation

[@christinahasd]

Kayla, your eyes remind me of Anya-Taylor Joy's(also an Aries). Especially your child-like excitement of looking at Rob. Also, in the last clip straight hair look great on you.

[@vegemite_toast]

I think the issue is that you don't slip on your shoes, you "trip" on them or "stumble" over them. Shoes are not slippery lol

[@gogo_lopez]

Omg Kayla have you read Kiss of the Spider Woman? It's one of my favourite books, and one I've always thought you might like!

[@margotdv6714]

Ah so glad you read Blackouts! I was very excited to see your thoughts on it!!

[@alidupes8661]

Idiom is what you're looking for. English Language Learners really struggle with them so they need to be taught.

[@youwillneverknow7165]

Saw that someone in the comments already said polysemy, but I wanted to clarify that homonyms are specifically singular words (not phrases or sentences) that have the same spelling (homographs) or the same pronunciation (homophones), not actually the same meaning. Polysemy comes from the Greek sema (sign) and it's the same word that's in things such as semiotics or semantics, so all disciplines that have something to do with meaning.

[@VeraFran]

More books to my tbr! Loved the concept and the video.

[@chargalbreth3052]

Maybe the book Eartheater has sentences that are ambiguous?

[@vukiyos]

I dropped Butcher and Blackbird three chapters in just cause of how Rowan was describing Sloane like an object of lust when he had JUST met her😭

[@beaubooks7287]

Being a translator myself, I really appreciate that you mention who translated the book 🤗

[@renee_3364]

Being one of the one-star reviewers of Bloom, I really enjoyed listening to your thoughts on it. I agree with you that the book wasn't trying to be surprising or "twisty", as many people criticized it for. To me, it wasn't the lack of surprise, but the lack of subtlety with its metaphor and message. Also: the writing REALLY didn't work for me...

[@sebastianmoyano5223]

0:21 "Cometierra" de Dolores Reyes, Argentina

[@jhernx3]

Would love if you did a horror for beginners video! letting us know if there's alot of gore etc. thanks for the recs.

[@bihter3201]

I love the bike tour "here is this part, here is this part" 😂

[@chooselovebooks]

I want Eric to stumble upon this video so badly !! … maybe he has more dirt / rock book recs for you ! 😅

[@kelleyeasterling]

Have you heard of a book called Mushroom Blues? Its on my tbr but its got weird mushroom people and murder! Why not 😂

[@jaziybabe]

Another word you could use there is idiom. Which is a phase that has a meaning in the specific culture/language that means something different than the literal meaning of the words. This happens a lot in translations where things are lost because the words are translated directly but because the idiom phrase doesn't actually mean what the words mean, the idea is lost.

[@WandasBestLife]

Uh oh. I hope Eric isn't planning on reading 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster. 🤭 The character's eating dirt in that one too. Makes me wonder of that's common in some cultures historically.

[@CancerrGirl92]

Not Kayla finding a smiley face near a body of water and me immediately thinking of the serial killer. While she's reading a serial killer romance you can't make this up lolol

[@meljstephan]

Liam’s voice threw me for a massive loop.

[@aubreyjdickens]

you should give amina akhtar’s fashion victim a shot!! it’s less a thriller more like,, in the vein of american psycho / talented mr ripley / you / maeve fly (lowkey) meets the devil wears prada and its a good time and really full satire about the fashion industry. gives me like,, a more grounded / murderous rouge by mona awad

[@landscapesofink]

I hate English as a language hahah I pity everyone trying to learn it but also applaud them for learning it at the same time. It's insane. Also poor Eric, he's having a rough reading year

[@charliescozycorner]

I agree with everyone telling you to read mind fuck, it’s literally the BEST

[@brizzyybooks]

My brain is so influenced by other people that I could never ever do this concept myself. But what I can do is take book recs from your descriptions of these said books that were based on one star reviews that you saw....does this chaoticness make sense? also I read Butcher and Blackbird solely on audio and it was........an experience. I wish I had it physically because I may would have actually given it 3 rather than a 2. AND THOSE TIE DYE HOODIES?!?!?! I love!!

[@MichaelaWagner]

your experience with Butcher and Blackbird reminds me a lot of my experience watching Lisa Frankenstein! Like... there's so many murders committed but it's SO beyond campy that it's almost fine ?!?! it's set in the same universe as jennifer's body but is a lot more upbeat so it was interesting for sure!

[@teresa.nguyen]

The review that said "are people being held at 🔫 point to say this book is good" for butcher and blackbird is exactly my thoughts when I read it. I just felt like the quality of the book did not match up with the hype. For a book that's pitch as serial killers romance, like you said, it fell into the usual romance trope and was very disappointing. It just felt very tame and it could've gone harder.

[@brittanyfisher1341]

How do you work out so much and have such gorgeous hair? I can’t have both!

[@nursemain3174]

Lala your channel is so watchable.

[@queenkim8631]

2:51 HE'S SO FUNNY😂

[@karakask5488]

Blackouts was one of my favorite books so far this year. Did it translate to audio very well? The images and the blackouts were so much a part of the work that I'm curious how that functioned.

[@ferventfei]

ur thoughts on blackout was interesting because i have it on my tbr and im quite a predictable reader, so im not sure i would enjoy it but im giving it a shot anyway

[@WillGraham-uv1ol]

OMG KAYLA READING BLACKBIRD AND BUTCHER YESSS

[@elizalovestoread]

my mom is good friends with delilah s. dawson’s husband! i think she mentions it in her dedication, but bloom was written as a gift to her kid!!!! :) so cool it’s really taken off with a lot of booktubers