put your phone down and pick up a book!! (my MUST reads)

[00:00:00]Hello, welcome or welcome back to my channel. My name is Jordan. If you're new here, I don't know about y'all, but for me personally, I have been really struggling with my screen time and with how often I'm on my phone. And of course, there are so many things wrong with that. I could go on and on, but the main thing that I've really seen is that it is a true detriment to my ability to focus and my attention span. I've been an avid reader for a few years now, three or four years. I mean, I've loved reading since I was little, but my senior year of college, I fell back in love with reading. My point is that I've been reading consistently for years now.

[00:00:38]And for almost the past year, my attention span has really been struggling. If I can sit down and read 30 pages at one time without checking my phone, it's a miracle. Maybe my phone isn't the entire problem. I don't know.

[00:00:53]But I know that it's not helping. I know that my ability to just go on that thing and go open Instagram, open Tik Tok, really open anything because I feel like most social media apps have shorts now or these short videos where you can just it's like dopamine hits. So, I thought I would make a video and I want to talk about all of the books that truly enchanted me. Like when I read them, I was in a different world. I was so wrapped up in what I was reading that I didn't even think to check my phone or I didn't even think about the outside world. I have picked out nine books to talk to you about. Some of these books, if not a lot of them, are popular. I feel like there's this stigma with popular books, like popularity must equal bad. And I don't like it. I don't agree with it. Now, I'm not saying that every popular book deserves to be popular, right? That's not what I'm saying at all. And of course, everyone's tastes are different. But I'm asking for y'all to keep an open mind. And of course, since some of these are popular, I'm sure some of these you have read before. But hopefully some of these you haven't cuz there are some good books in here that I really want to talk about that I think deserve a chance. And if you are like me and you're really wanting to just put your phone down and binge read, these books are for you. The first one I have here is Where the Crawads Sing by Dileia Owens. I actually talked about this book in my very first YouTube video ever. I'm sure a lot of you have seen this movie and I implore you if you have not read this book to pick it up. This book is incredible. It is so beautiful. What I did when I read this is I listened to the movie soundtrack while I read this. I ascended to a higher plane. I was living my best life. It was wonderful. I read this on a Thanksgiving RV trip when we went to Tennessee. It was perfect. This is a story about Ka. Ka is our main character and she is known as the marsh girl in the town that she lives in. This is because she lives alone in the marsh.

[00:02:45]The book will kind of go into detail about what happens with her family. But bottom line is she is alone in the marsh and she grabs the attention from two guys who live in town. These two guys could not be more different. But this story just really tells about her dynamic with both of them and what it takes for a woman to survive on her own and care for herself. Women especially, we are such social creatures. We crave connection, intimacy, and you know, just bonding with other humans. Kaia has not had any of that. She is alone. And so, this book just really touches on what that will do to you as a girl, as a teenager, as a woman. This book is so good. Again, if you've seen the movie, please read the book anyways. I promise you, you will not regret it. Next, we have The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I only read this series because of my friend Ava. This is one of her favorite series of all time.

[00:03:37]She said it literally invented Enemies to lovers and slowburn. And ever since she read this series, nothing else had compared. She is 100% correct. I loved this trilogy so much. And what's interesting is that my love for this trilogy grows as more time passes, which I think is more rare cuz I feel like usually with books, the more time that pass, you might think of them less fondly or you might want to rate them lower. This series and this book specifically just stands out to me so much. It follows Jude and Carden, mostly Jude. She's our main character. She is so strong willed. She is so witty. I loved every single second of her. And her and Carden's relationship is just like the perfect enemies to lovers that I've ever seen. Not only is the romance done really well because it's slow and because there's so much yearning, but the plot was so good as well. This is a world that I just completely fell in love with and it's a world that I think about revisiting so many times. Okay, so now we are going to completely switch gears here. I'm specifically going to tell you about this book only because I genuinely could not put it down. I picked this book up at 10:00 p.m. one night. This was like in 2024, but I picked this book up one night. Maybe it was 10:00 p.m. I don't think I went to sleep until after 3:00 a.m. because of how good this book was. Well, okay. Not like life-changing good, but like you're so obsessed you can't look away. You need to see what happens next kind of good. This one might be an unpopular opinion, but it is King of Wrath by Anna Hong. So, this book was gifted to me actually before I got back into reading 24/7. I was like, "Oh, yeah, like looks interesting. Whatever. I just put it on my shelf. I owe so much to this book. This book made me obsessed with cheesy, bendy romances that you cannot put down. It is not a literary masterpiece, but it is addicting. This was the book that introduced me to that type of read. You know what I'm talking about. This is an arranged marriage billionaire romance that takes place in New York City. Yeah, that's really all you need to know. It was so addictive. I could not put it down. This was also the first book that I saw had a playlist in the beginning and so I listened to the playlist while I read this. 10 out of 10 experience. If you can listen to music while reading, please do so. It is so fun. It will only make your reading experience more fun. I promise you. Oh my god, this playlist is so funny now that I'm looking at it, but it's kind of good, too. I highly recommend picking this up if you are just in the mood to binge read something, especially if you're in a slump and you just need something that's easy and fun and entertaining. I literally, this is the only Anna Wong book that I own. I literally got rid of all of my other ones because this one was just so impactful for me. Like, I almost never want to reread it because my experience reading it the first time was so good that I just don't want to overshadow that. But if you haven't read this and like you think it might be up your alley, I'd recommend it. If you don't think it's up your alley, then don't read it, please, because it's so it's for selective tastes. Speaking of romances, I'm about to show you another romance, but it's not easy or fun. The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yaros. This is to this day one of the saddest books that I've ever read. Even just thinking about it, I want to reread this. This book holds such a dear place in my heart. So, there are technically two romances in this book. One of the couples follows Scarlet and Jameson.

[00:07:02]They live in the World War II time period. They are young and in love. And then it also follows Georgia and Noah.

[00:07:09]Georgia and Noah's romance in the present day is good. Don't get me wrong.

[00:07:13]I really enjoyed it. But Jameson and Scarlet steal the freaking show in this book. Oh my gosh. His yearning for her, his love. I can't I need you to keep in mind this was written by Rebecca Aros.

[00:07:27]So if you love Zaden Ryerson, the same author wrote Jameson, I'm just going to let you know right away. If you've read Fourth Wing and you loved Zayen Ryerson, baby, we got a World War II pilot Zayen Ryerson right here. Right here. But yeah, this book is this book tore my heart out. It was so good. I cried so much. I had a headache after crying because all of the water left my body.

[00:07:50]And one thing I loved about this book is that there's also a little bit of like mystery intrigue in it as well. So, the plot keeps you moving. It keeps you going because you want to find out what's happening and what's going on. I need to reread this. Just talking about it, I'm like, "Wow, wow, wow." Okay, now since we're on the topic of Zaden Ryerson, I'm going to keep this one brief. This book divides the book community so much simply because you either love it or you hate it. If you've already read it and you hated it, you don't need to listen to me. If you've loved it, well, you also don't need to listen to me cuz you've already read it.

[00:08:22]But if for some reason you have not read this book, if you are watching this video, but you have not read this book, what are you doing? Please, please go read this book. Especially if you're not a reader, you have to pick this book up because I promise you this book will get you into reading. I'm not even guaranteeing this will be a five star.

[00:08:37]It was for me. I absolutely love this book. But I am guaranteeing this book will have you so addicted to reading.

[00:08:42]Like, you just won't want to put this down. You're immediately going to want to pick up another book after this. It could be Iron Flame book two. Could not be. I don't really care. I have to thank this book for helping me get back into reading a few years ago because this is what did it for me. I picked this up. I met Zayen Ryerson. I finished this book and I was like, "Wow, that was amazing.

[00:09:00]What's next?" This is a book where I feel obsessive. Like genuinely obsessive. I just love this book with my whole heart. I love me some Zaden Ryerson. That's really all I have to say about this book. Next, again, this is another book I've talked about on my channel before, and it probably won't be the last time. This is Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison. This was a five-st star read for me last year. I loved every single second of this book. I am would not consider myself a horror reader. This is probably the only book that I've read that would classify as horror. This book follows Rory Morris.

[00:09:34]So, in this book, Rory goes back to her hometown that she grew up in temporarily to visit and to help take care of her pregnant sister, Scarlet. Oh, another Scarlet. Hey, Queen. This isn't a spoiler, by the way. This is on the back of the book. So, she ends up hitting a large animal with her car and then gets attacked by said animal. Now, you can tell from the cover of the book, what do you think got her? A werewolf. She gets attacked by a werewolf and she starts to slowly morph into one as time passes.

[00:10:04]The reason I love this book so much is because essentially here is this woman Rory whose body starts changing without her permission and she is so upset. She is so angry. Like why is this happening to me? I do not want this. Like I just want to live my normal life. What this book is trying to do is that basically as a woman our bodies change without our permission all the time. Whether it's once a month on our period, whether it's puberty when you're growing up or menopause, or even when you're pregnant, your body changes in ways that you necessarily don't want it to. So, this book basically does a horror spin on a woman's body changing and the feelings that come with it. She's angry and she's upset and I love an angry woman. I love an angry woman so much. So, if you're a woman, I recommend picking this book up.

[00:10:54]I think I'm going to reread it this fall just because werewolf vibes and also I think part of it takes place around Halloween. So yes. Okay, three books left. Bear with me friends. Bear with me. Next we have Ros and Chains by Julie Sodto. I love this book so much. This is another book that I am absolutely obsessed with. I was genuinely kicking my feet while reading this, y'all. To Hurst, the male main character. Yeah, I might be blushing right now just thinking about it. This, I believe, is going to be a trilogy.

[00:11:26]Only book one is out right now. This is based off of a Germany fanfiction. I read this fanfiction in 2020 or 2021.

[00:11:33]It's one of my favorites of all times, so I knew I had to pick this book up.

[00:11:37]Her world building in this was so good.

[00:11:40]This is also kind of enemies to lovers, but like not as harsh, I would say.

[00:11:45]Well, I don't want to really say anything about what this book is about cuz I do think that you just have to like go and experience this. But our main character, Briany, is basically forced to undergo this auction and Tovin Hurst buys her, which sounds so rough when I explain it, but like bear with me. She's sold to him, but they have a past cuz they went to school together.

[00:12:08]All this jazz. Oh, it is so good, y'all.

[00:12:11]It's so good. Absolutely. You will get lost in this book and this world. This book is so entertaining, it's not even funny. Next, we have Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peekim and Suzanne.

[00:12:23]Actually, I've never said their names out loud before. Suzanne Valente. I actually don't know how to say their names, but these two queens wrote Zodiac Academy series. There are technically 12 books, but nine of them are like actual books, but the other three are nollas.

[00:12:38]So, it's really only a nine book series.

[00:12:41]Not that bad, right? Is this series super well written, a literary classic?

[00:12:46]It's going to change your life and make you think deeply. No. But guaranteed you will have a great time. At least I hope so. I did. There were times where I wanted to put some of these books down because I was like, "What are we doing right now?" I swear this series raated me. Like at times I was so mad. I was like, "Can we not have happiness for one second, please?" This series definitely rage paded me. But it's a series that I think so fondly of that I think of all the time. And honestly, if it wasn't so long, I would probably reread it all over again. But my TBR is simply too long to just reread a nine book series, unfortunately. But this was just such an entertaining series. All of the characters are so funny, so flawed. The world is so unique, and I can picture it so vividly in my head. I got so lost in these books. They were so good. I felt like I was traveling like to a distant place and like meeting all of these people. It was just so consuming but in the best way. It follows two twins, Tori and Darcy, and they're basically like thrown into another world and like, "Oh, I know you guys grew up, you know, in the modern world and you're normal, but you guys are actually two princesses and you're going to rule this kingdom." And they're like, "What?" And then there's like these heirs that are supposed to actually rule the kingdom. And they're like, "What?" And so there's like this hatred and there is also genuinely enemies to lovers in this series as well. Like for real, for real. Oh guys, y'all making this video makes me want to reread like half of these books. I swear I shouldn't reread a nine book series, right? I really want to. No, but that's crazy. That's crazy cuz this some of these books piss me off so much. Like I can't, but I kind of want to. Anyways, that's Zodiac Academy.

[00:14:26]It's so good. It's so good. And last, but certainly not least, this is a book I have not reread yet, but will absolutely be doing so either this year or next. If we Were Villains by ML Rio.

[00:14:38]I read this on the same road trip when I read Where the Card Dad Sings. This was another book that I simply just did not want to put down. So, basically, this book starts with our main character, Oliver, in jail. And the book is him telling his story about when he was in school and the murder that he got arrested for. and like basically like everything that happened. He's like telling his story of why he's in jail, of what really happened 10 years ago.

[00:15:04]Y'all, if that doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what to tell you, but this book was incredible. Not only was the plot so captivating, but it was so well written and I was immersed from page one. I love when a story puts you at the end of it and you have to unravel the story and continue reading to see how it plays out. This is one of my favorite things that an author can do and ML Rio did it so beautifully. The murder that takes place is when they're all in school. They're all Shakespearean actors. So they attend this like classical conservatory where they're all actors studying Shakespeare. And so the book kind of follows like a Shakespearean tragedy. And it was so well done. It was so captivating, so interesting. It's eerie because someone dies, right? So, oh, it was so good. So, yeah, my camera is about to die. So, luckily I just finished. Those are all the books I wanted to talk about. Let me know if there's any books that you recommend that you think I could just get lost in and that you think are just really good for helping you put down your phone and just getting lost in a story. I'm always looking for more reads like that. Let me know if you all have read any of these books and also loved them. Yeah, that's about it. That's all I have for you guys and I will see yall in my next video.