A Mid-Week Reading Vlog

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Hi friends, Kristi here. Thanks for stopping by Books and Gems. And this is not a weekend reading vlog. It's Monday, but I did not film anything over the weekend. I went up to New York to spend some time with my mom and a sister and a brother. I had a brother visiting from California and didn't film. We didn't want to. Wanted to just spend the time with my family and I read quite a bit on my drive and one of them I'm still in the middle of, so I will talk about that later, but just thought I instead of doing a weekend vlog, I'll do a Monday Tuesday Wednesday vlog. I never do well with the full week cuz I always forget that I'm filming, but hopefully if I just do a couple days, you'll get to see the Monday Tuesday and Wednesday are the busiest parts of my week, but I don't think it's too bad this week.

[00:00:44]We'll see. But yeah, I have work today and then it's Maker Monday, so I'm going to hang out with my patrons I think tonight. Tomorrow I have worship practice and I don't know what I have on Wednesday, maybe nothing.

[00:00:55]Which is odd. We usually I usually have a small group, but right now we're like in between small group sessions, so I don't >> [snorts] >> So Wednesday might be free, which is kind of fun. I'm in the middle of two books. I'm reading Black by Ted Dekker.

[00:01:08]That was my car ride home book yesterday. I'm at 90-something percent through that one. So I'll definitely finish Black today and then I started reading The Distant Hours by Kate Morton in print while I was at my mom's. So I have that going. That will take me probably till the end of the month. It's going to go slowly because number one, it's Kate Morton, it's a chonker. Uh her books don't go very fast-paced for me, but I'm really enjoying it. So I'm going to keep working my way through that and then some non-fiction reads as well will make their way into the mix the next couple of days. But yeah, we'll see what I get up to for Maker Monday tonight. I have a puzzle that's in the sorting stage right now, so I'm pulling out the edges. So maybe I'll work on that. I have a dot by letter book that I might work on and I also would love to work on my book journal and do some updates in there. So we'll see what I get up to tonight and today, but I just thought I would do a little midweek reading vlog instead of a weekend reading vlog. So come along with me, join in. I'm about to make my lunch for the day and finish getting ready to go to work. And it's going to be a gorgeous 80-something degree day today. So I have on a little dress, one of these like flowy dresses and then I put capri >> [laughter] >> I can't hold my leg up. I put capri leggings underneath it just cuz I'm up and down off the floor with the little one, so to make it a little more modest and comfortable for me. That's what I have on and that's what I'm reading.

[00:02:36]Let's go. Happy happy week. Vlog.

[00:02:40]I don't know. [snorts] Bye. [laughter] It is azalea season. I think these are azalea.

[00:02:45]They're so pretty. We're in the backyard for a little while cuz it's so nice out.

[00:02:48]Go on the path, please.

[00:02:50]Show me your bubbles. I love white. Can you show me how your bubbles work? No.

[00:02:55]No? You just holding on to it? What's up in the sky?

[00:02:59]What's up there?

[00:03:01]Woah, careful.

[00:03:02]What is it? Plane. Is it airplane and the sun? Yeah.

[00:03:07]>> hear airplane? Yeah. Hello friends, I just put little nugget down for her nap.

[00:03:11]We had a nice morning of going to a story time and running to the store real quick and playing in the backyard a little bit. And then we had lunch and just did some book time and put her to bed. So she's not sleeping yet.

[00:03:26]But she will be.

[00:03:28]I love that she kind of goes down awake and I don't have to hold her till she's sleeping or anything. She just goes right to sleep on her own, which is kind of lovely.

[00:03:39]So I have a some goals for myself during nap time today. I would like to finish Black. I'm at like 92 or 93%. So I only have maybe 30 minutes left of that audiobook, so I want to finish that first and then if I get some time to read Distant Hours I'm going to try to read some of this too. I am only 63 pages into this one, so it's doesn't look like much. I have a long way to go. And then I also have my computer, so I can do some editing. I have a book haul that I filmed last week. I already need to add a clip to the end of it cuz I came home yesterday to some book mail, which was really fun.

[00:04:16]And need to include those in my Book of the Month box, my last Book of the Month box. I need to cancel my Book of the Month. I said I was going to do it earlier, but I had credits, so I couldn't cancel until I used up all my credits. Finally, there was main selections that I was interested in, two of them actually in April. So I got two of the main selections and then two add-ons and I used up all my credits, so now I can cancel. Yeah, just some things I need to work on on my computer, answering comments and editing and email updating, like checking my inbox and all that jazz. So I'm going to get to it. I usually have between two and a half and three hours. Got a little bit of time to get some stuff done. Here we go. All right, it is just almost 7:00 and I'm ready to hop on a Zoom with my patrons for Maker Monday. I thought I was going to be working on this puzzle. This is the puzzle I currently have that I'm starting to sort. But I don't know if I feel like a puzzle today.

[00:05:10]We'll see. It's out. I'm sitting at the table, the card table in my bed in my library.

[00:05:15]I might work on that, but I think what I really want to do is just work on my book journal. So I have this pulled out as well, so that I can update some things in there, print out some book covers, all of that. I feel like it'll be good to do while we're chit-chatting.

[00:05:31]And then if I decide I want to do something artsy, I will work on a dot by letter, which I'll show you later. I don't know where it is at the moment.

[00:05:38]But yeah, the Zoom is going to start in just a couple minutes and I need to run to the restroom. So I was going to go for a walk after work, but decided to go to the grocery store instead. So I did not get my extra little walk in today, but that's okay.

[00:05:49]That's okay.

[00:05:51]>> [laughter] >> And I didn't get very much reading done during nap time today either. I read the rest of a chapter I was in the middle of from The Distant Hours. I did finish Black. So that's done. I'll talk about that before this video is over. And I started the Secret Book and Scone Society number four, Ink and Shadows.

[00:06:12]That's my next audiobook. So I did start that a little bit today. It's going to be fun revisiting some of those friends and finding out what the mystery is going to be. I still don't even know yet who dies or what happens that they have to solve. That's the reading that has happened so far. This Zoom goes for two hours, so at 9:00 I'll hop off and hopefully read a little bit before going to bed, but going to get on with the the gals of my Patreon for a little while. All right, I'll talk to you later. All right, my friends, I am headed to bed. It is almost 10:00. I just tried to work on editing a book haul video, but I am getting very, very sleepy and I kept falling asleep at the same part and kept having to go over and over it. It just wasn't working. So I'm going to go to bed. It is just about 10:00, so it's a reasonable hour to go to sleep. I'm going to listen to Ink and Shadows while I get ready for bed. That is the book that I started today. And hopefully tomorrow I will talk more about Black, which I finished today, and tell you what Ink and Shadows is about so far.

[00:07:14]Hopefully read a little bit more in The Distant Hours tomorrow, but I need to get this video done as well.

[00:07:21]We'll see how it goes. All right, that is it for tonight. I will check in with you in the morning. Good night. Morning, good morning. Happy Tuesday. Very early, it's like 6:20. I just got done with a weights workout. It made me out of breath. It was very fast-paced, all standing though, which is what I like sometimes. All standing, no repeats.

[00:07:42]Flew through it from Nourish Move Love is one of the YouTube channels that I like to do their workouts. Nourish Move Love. She does good weight um weights workout, strength workouts.

[00:07:54]So I did that and now I'm going to get up and get ready for my day. Just wanted to say good morning. Happy Tuesday. It is nap time. And I am dozing, dozing, dozing off. It took me way, way, way too long to finish editing my book haul video that I want to go up probably tomorrow morning, but I need to add another clip of books that are at my house. So I'm going to film that as soon as I get home so that I can finish editing that and get that ready to go up tomorrow morning cuz I haven't posted a video in a few days. So that is the plan. I was supposed to also work on a resume today, but I'm I'm not going to do that. I'm going to sit here and listen to Ink and Shadows, my current audiobook, and play a game on my phone. I have anywhere from 15 minutes to 45.

[00:08:40]>> [laughter] >> And I don't think I want to read in print right now. My eyes are very tired.

[00:08:45]I should just probably let myself take a 20-minute power nap, but we'll see. I'm going to try to listen to Ink and Bone for a bit. Ink and Shadows, not Ink and Bone. That's a totally different book.

[00:08:55]All right, friends, it is like 9:30-ish.

[00:08:59]I just got back from volleyball. Put on my shirt on that I had on earlier so that I could film an addition to my book haul that I was editing earlier today.

[00:09:07]Woah, but that is all done now. I finished Ink and Shadows, book four in the uh Secret Book and Scone Society books. I enjoyed it. I really like the friendship group the most. This one was a little bit more Halloween focused. So there was some secrecy about this new mother-daughter duo that just moved into town and opened up a new shop and things get a little hairy, but it's a little darker in tone than some of the others have been, but I really just love the way that these women show up for each other and support each other. So I'm a big fan of the series still. I will continue with the next one. Uh but I read that and finished it today. And then tonight on my way home from volleyball, I just started book five in the Timeless series, which is Every Hour Until Then.

[00:09:51]And I'm excited to get that one going.

[00:09:54]That's just kind of a random pick for the month. It doesn't match any of my read-a-thons or TBR or anything like that. It's just something that I've been wanting to read. So, it's been on my rotating cart where I keep books that are standing out to me for for some reason or other. And yeah, I got that on there. But right now I need to upload the clip that I just did and add it to the video so that can go up for you all tomorrow. So, this will probably be the last I get on here tonight. Volleyball was really fun last tonight. I had worship team first.

[00:10:26]And I told them at worship team that I have to leave at 8:00 so that I can catch the last little bit of volleyball.

[00:10:31]So, I didn't play for very long, but I got in a good 45 minutes of volleyball and had a good time at worship team practice as well for Sunday.

[00:10:40]And I'm only on keys. I don't have to sing this week. I'm just playing.

[00:10:44]So, it'll be kind of fun to just just be on the keys. Some of the songs are in a really difficult key. For those of you who play piano, it's in uh D flat. Two of the songs are in D flat. B flat maybe the other one. No, B flat's not that bad. Anyways, they're in wonky keys.

[00:10:59]>> [laughter] >> So, it I had to really focus tonight to play decently. But I'll have time to practice before Sunday.

[00:11:06]All right. So, I will talk to you all in the morning. It's going to be a scorcher. Potentially record-breaking highs tomorrow. 90 something degrees.

[00:11:15]So, I will probably go out with the little nugget in the morning to story time and stuff. But in the afternoon, we will probably have to find some indoor activities because it's going to be really hot and I don't want to have to drive her in my car.

[00:11:30]It's going to be really really hot.

[00:11:32]Oh boy. All right. I will talk to you tomorrow. Bye. Hello, hello. It is Wednesday during nap time. And I have another hour and a half, maybe 2 hours of nap time still to go. I just ordered a new skirt on Aerie because the one of the story time ladies today was wearing it and I loved it and it turns out it's a convertible. It's a maxi dress, strapless maxi dress.

[00:12:00]Or you can fold it down and wear it as a maxi skirt. It was so cute and very lightweight. Like I need that in my life and it was less than 40 bucks. I think it was like $35 or something. So, that was a win. So, I just ordered that and now I'm going to spend some time alternating between answering comments, editing this vlog, drinking the rest of my Chipotle drink, and just kind of working on my computer, working on my resume. I'm going to start that today.

[00:12:28]Yeah, see what I can get done.

[00:12:30]I may end up busting out my book and like going to lay on the bed and read for a little bit. They are having part of their kitchen redone. So, there's workers downstairs, which is why I'm not down on the comfy couch. There's not really comfy chairs up here. I'm at her desk right now, mama's desk.

[00:12:47]So, getting some stuff done. I I think I work better when I'm sitting at a desk.

[00:12:53]I don't get quite as tired. So, we'll we'll see how it goes this afternoon.

[00:12:57]But it's going to be super duper hot today. Like potentially record-breaking temperatures, 96 I think, 97.

[00:13:05]So, we probably are going to just stay in and play inside today, which is tricky when there are people working downstairs.

[00:13:13]But they brought some toys up into this This is like their bonus room. And they brought some toys up in here. So, we can play up in here. We can play in her bedroom.

[00:13:22]I don't know. It's going to be a long afternoon not being able to go outside, but it's just going to be so stinking hot. So, we'll see how it goes. But I'm going to go ahead and get back to work, getting some stuff done.

[00:13:33]And I will talk with you later. I don't think I have anything going on tonight, which is really nice.

[00:13:41]Uh it normally Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights I have stuff going on.

[00:13:45]So, tonight's the first night this week that I am free. So, I'm going to enjoy my freedom.

[00:13:50]I'll talk to you later. All right. Well, I have had a lovely, quiet, relaxing evening. I watched some Project Runway, old episodes of Project Runway while I ate dinner and then I sat in this chair and participated Cat from Cat's Novel Adventures has What's Up Wednesday.

[00:14:11]She's doing Old School April right now.

[00:14:13]So, she had some sprints tonight that I joined in on for a little bit, worked on adding my resume to Indeed, and did a little bit more job hunting, answered a ton of comments. So, I did good with that tonight.

[00:14:26]And now I just sat down and read about 30 more pages in The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, but my eyes are getting really heavy. So, I'm on page 90 and I'm enjoying this. It It's It's building this kind of mysterious air around this castle and this connection between the three older women who live in the castle and the history there. And this younger woman, Edie, whose mother gets a letter from somebody at the castle. And so, learning about the connection to her mother's history, which we don't really know much about yet. So, I'm just still very much at the beginning, but I love Kate Morton's writing. I just prepare myself that it's going to be a little slower paced.

[00:15:14]And then I also today made some progress in Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson. I'm probably 35% through this or so.

[00:15:23]Um this young woman's relative dies, leaves her this estate, so a historical estate, and part of it is a bookstore. So, she is now running this bookstore, but there are some people in this small town of What's the name of the town? Enigma. The name of the town is Enigma.

[00:15:42]Which I've heard from somebody in the comments that it's a real town in Georgia.

[00:15:46]So, that's pretty cool.

[00:15:48]But some people in this small town are very close-minded and really don't want new people coming to town. The first night she was there, somebody burned the gazebo on her property.

[00:16:00]And the second or third night, someone lit a fire in the bookstore doorway, but also a young woman who was staying with her overnight was murdered. So, that's our murder.

[00:16:14]Happens in a bookstore. And now Madeleine, who's our main character, she's connected with these two other women in town and they are going to try to figure out themselves what happened to Tansey, I think her name was, this young girl.

[00:16:27]So, enjoying that one very much.

[00:16:31]This weekend Nope, it's not a weekend.

[00:16:34]It's It's a week. This week I did say that I finished Black by Ted Dekker. I read this mostly on Sunday driving back from New York, from my mom's house.

[00:16:46]This was a reread for me. It's one of the 12 books I want to reread this year.

[00:16:50]And it's a Christian sci-fi thriller.

[00:16:56]I guess is how I would categorize it. We follow our main character, Thomas Hunter, who when he goes to sleep awakens in another world. And then when he falls asleep in that world, he wakes up back in the real world.

[00:17:09]But which one is real? We don't We don't really know. He has to come to the point where he accepts both worlds as real instead of trying to figure out which one is a dream and which one is real cuz they're both so real when he's in them. But he's learning that they impact each other.

[00:17:23]Some things that are happening in one world are starting to impact things in the other world. And so, there's this whole situation in the real world where he learns in his dream world about this virus that's going to take out the Earth, take out all of basically everybody on Earth. It's a mutation of a vaccine that gets developed and yeah, so there's this whole sci-fi element to it. And then in the other world, there are these evil bats.

[00:17:52]>> [laughter] >> And this kind of the great romance and this Elion, who is a representation of God, and how how Elion loves his people.

[00:18:03]Um and the bats are contained to the Black Forest, but something happens and they are released and wreak havoc on the world. So, it's kind of a an allegory of Christianity, if you will, of like the story of the gospel, but very light-handed, I guess. No, no, it's not super light-handed. It's pretty heavy-handed, but um it's not a exact one-to-one allegory.

[00:18:26]Anyways, I really enjoyed it. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first time I read it. I think when I first read it years and years and years ago, it was kind of revolutionary to my reading. I had never read anything like this before. It was so unique, so different, and I was invested. It's super fast-paced. Now, I feel like I've read other things that have similar tropes to this one, but I did still really like the story. I think I would like to reread the whole series, but I'm not eager at the moment to dive right into the next one. But I am glad that I reread that first one.

[00:19:02]I also on Monday morning, I think, finished the last couple of essays in World of Wonders. So, this is a non-fiction that I've been reading and really enjoyed this. Each chapter or each essay highlights a different creature or plant in our world and relates it to her life and and just talks about how unique and special some of these things are and I really enjoyed this as a nature book of essays.

[00:19:30]I thought it was really good to read it in the springtime. For some reason, it just really suited the season that we're in. So, I'm glad that I read that.

[00:19:39]And then just yesterday, yesterday did I finish this?

[00:19:44]Or this morning? I don't remember. I also just recently finished during this vlog Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams. I think I've already talked about this one a little bit more though. It's the fourth book in the Secret Book & Scone Society.

[00:19:57]Really love the friendships. This one was a little darker, had Halloween vibes.

[00:20:02]Powerful women, a new family, new mother-daughter team moves to town and sets up kind of a new age feel holistic medicine kind of shop, and there are some people in town that are really not happy about that new shop and also about our main characters bookshop and the window display that she set up for Halloween. They weren't a fan and they've been protesting and causing a ruckus.

[00:20:29]But, yeah, this was really good. It was a really good mystery, not my favorite in the series, but I definitely will continue with that series. So, this is not maybe as exciting a vlog as a weekend.

[00:20:42]>> [laughter] >> Doing it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is a little bit different, but I didn't want to not do a vlog.

[00:20:48]So, here we are, but I hope that you enjoyed getting a little bit more of a glimpse into some different days of my life. Couldn't show you as many clips because I'm working with a little one who I do not put on camera.

[00:21:00]Um, at least not her face. Been a story time Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

[00:21:04]Lots of story times happening in my world these days. Worked on my resume a bit, got some reading done. It was a very productive couple of days. There you have it. I hope you enjoyed. My arm is falling asleep.

[00:21:17]It's 9:00 and I am I'm going to bed early today. That is for sure. So, let's chat down in the comments below anything that you saw in this video or anything you'd like to chat about. I will always love talking with you down there. And if you've made it to the end, but you're not feeling chatty, pick a black emoji or green one.

[00:21:36]Green or black. I This is a book I read for the Follow the Yellow Book Road read-a-thon for the Wicked Witch prompt and got that done. So, leave an leave an emoji that is black or green in the comments down below just to let me know that you were here. I always love seeing who's here and it helps my videos to be seen by more people, so I really appreciate you taking the time to comment or like or subscribe or all those things. You know the drill. Thank you so much for watching. I look forward to chatting with you in another video very soon. Bye.

[00:22:14]>> [music]