READ it or UNHAUL it wrapped books! 📦📚 unwrap it or scrap it ep. 1

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Hey, hey guys. It's Ashon. Welcome back to reading with Toby. Today, I am so excited to finally go back to my wrapped books. We're going to be doing a little twist on the video I did last year where I did like unwrapping my books and doing some sort of reading challenge. This is going to be unwrap it or scrap it. So, I'm going to be randomly choosing these books, trying to read them. If I don't like it, unhauling it. So, the books that are in the brown paper are actually books that I wrapped all my like maybe 2 years ago. It's kind of crazy.

[00:00:32]These books were originally ones that were on my TBR for a very long time, but I just really wanted to get to them and I wanted some way to like force myself to read them. You know, we all have those books that have just been sitting on our shelves forever and we still really want to read it, but for some reason we never get to it. Those are those books. Now, the ones in the bow wrapping paper are the ones from my most recent unhaul video, which I'll link down below. I said that there were some books that I was thinking about unhauling, but I at least wanted to give it a try before just getting rid of it um without having read it. So, we have a mixture of books here. Also say that a lot of these books are probably more backless books. They're aren't going to be like brand new releases, new books.

[00:01:12]Some of these books are probably ones that aren't very popular right now. I'm really excited because I have completely forgotten what most of the books in the brown wrapping paper are. Like I I can think of maybe like two books. I don't know which ones they are. So, I'm hoping we'll get a brown one first just because it's exciting. Um but yeah, basically my goal is to books.

[00:01:33]If I'm not feeling it, if it's not doing it for me, if I think it's just going to be a three-star read, I will likely DNF.

[00:01:39]My goal is to DNF a lot actually. I mean, my goal is to love all of the books, but I'm hoping we can just get through a ton of books in a video.

[00:01:46]Excited. I hope you guys are too. We have a total of 21 books. I'm hoping to make this a little bit of a series. All right, so I did make a spinner wheel.

[00:01:56]Um so, we have books 1 through 21 on here and we're just going to pick one book now. I'll try reading it and then we'll come back and choose another book later on. Or if I decide to DNF it, we will pick a book then, too. Let's get the spinner wheel up. So, I have 1 through 21.

[00:02:15]I'm really scared.

[00:02:16]>> [laughter] >> Cuz I honestly don't know what any of these books are.

[00:02:20]The only ones that I like kind of remember are the bow ones. But like I said, I really hope we get a bow one just because those have been in my closet for a second now. Okay, let's just do it. Let me get rid of the things. Okay, ready? 1 2 3.

[00:02:33]Dun dun dun.

[00:02:35]Spin spin spin.

[00:02:36]Oh my gosh. Okay.

[00:02:39]Number 12 11?

[00:02:42]11.

[00:02:44]A bow one. Yay! Okay. Okay.

[00:02:47]Ooh. This is going to be a little tricky to get.

[00:02:51]Okay, so here we go. Book number 11.

[00:02:55]Like I said, it's a smaller hardcover. I honestly no idea. Okay, let's see.

[00:03:01]Oh, I KNOW WHAT BOOK THIS IS. OKAY. I have to say I don't know if I'm in the mood for this one.

[00:03:08]Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, this is His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie. This uh I have to say I don't know if I want to read this.

[00:03:18]>> [laughter] >> I have the a book plate with the author's signature.

[00:03:25]Um but it's like a funny story and I I'm going to be honest, I'm not in the mood.

[00:03:29]So, we may already have an unhaul.

[00:03:32]Yeah, I wasn't expecting I don't know.

[00:03:34]I'm just not in the mood for this. Yeah, I think this is going to be an unhaul. I really am not interested in this at the moment.

[00:03:41]So, yeah, I think we're going to unhaul this. I cuz I I I'm not in the mood for like a funny more light-hearted, I think, literary fiction.

[00:03:50]And I feel perfectly okay with unhauling this. Okay, that's fine with me. The whole point is to get through through [laughter] these books. So, if you guys don't mind that, okay okay, so now let's do our second spin. Yeah, cuz I only want to get I only want to read the book that I like truly and really want to read cuz otherwise I'm going to get in a reading slump and I don't want that.

[00:04:13]Okay, so let's do spin number two.

[00:04:16]I still want a brown a brown one.

[00:04:19]But, let's see.

[00:04:21]Oh, we're going back almost similar to where we were. Number eight.

[00:04:26]Number eight.

[00:04:28]Oh, number eight is a bow one. Okay, which one that's more of one of my more recent ones. So, So, we have book number eight. Like I said, the bow one is my more recent uh books that I wanted to unhaul. I still have no idea what it is. Okay, let's see.

[00:04:48]Oh my god.

[00:04:50]I thought I had TO UNHAUL THIS BOOK.

[00:04:52][laughter] LIKE NO JOKE, I THOUGHT I UNHAULED THIS.

[00:04:56]OKAY, >> [laughter] >> this is Mercury Pictures present. I don't think I showed this in that video cuz this is a book that I later was like, you know, I don't really think I'm interested in this book anymore. Oh my god, you guys are going to get so annoyed at me already at the beginning of this video. Yeah, I thought I wanted to read this because I do love books taking place in Hollywood, but it's just so big and I like I really have no desire to read this book. I even tried and I was like, I can't do it. I and I really thought I unhauled it and didn't wrap it because I was like, I don't want to read this book. I just want to unhaul it.

[00:05:28]>> [laughter and gasps] >> I mean, hey, we're getting through.

[00:05:30]We're already doing our goal of unhauling. Yeah, I'm unhauling that book. I don't want to read it. I'm so sorry.

[00:05:35]>> [laughter] >> Next one, third time's the charm, right?

[00:05:37]Like we can do it. Hey, spin number three. We can do this. Spin number three.

[00:05:48]I'm like, why does it keep going to this section? That is so What?

[00:05:54]Um Done. Why is it doing that?

[00:06:01]Um okay, we're going to spin again cuz we just got eight. That's really annoying.

[00:06:09]>> [snorts] >> Okay.

[00:06:12]15 or 14? 15. Okay. Our own one. Okay, perfect. Let's see. All right, hopefully this one is one that we will be reading in this lot.

[00:06:22]Ooh, it's a short. It's really light.

[00:06:25]I don't I have no idea. Okay, so number 15.

[00:06:28]You guys can see there.

[00:06:30]Okay, hopefully this one.

[00:06:33]Let's see.

[00:06:37]OH, OKAY. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.

[00:06:40]There we go.

[00:06:44]Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. Yes.

[00:06:47]Okay, I've been wanting to read something from Brandon Taylor. I have another book of his actually up there, Real Life. I think this is his second one. I think Real Life was his debut.

[00:06:56]I was going to say I thought this was short stories. It is. It says in the series of linked stories at the heart of Filthy Animals set among young people in the American Midwest. Yeah, all right.

[00:07:07]So, I guess we're going to be trying out this one. I need to read some Brandon Taylor. I have yet to do so. So, let's do it. Okay, we got one.

[00:07:16]>> [music] [music] [music] >> I thought I would go give a little bit of have update. I have been reading Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. And unfortunately, I think this is going to have to be a DNF. Um I am enjoying his writing, but I'm just finding this the interconnected stories overall kind of boring. I'm not really getting anything out of it.

[00:07:58]Um I feel like they're not really having anything to say. I don't know if like later on with the stories, I will start to see if there is a point that Brandon Taylor is making. That sounds really bad cuz I do feel like these are nice stories and written well with interesting characters, but I'm just finding that I don't care. So, yeah, I don't know. I just don't want to spend more time reading what I think would end up being a three-star read.

[00:08:27]So, I think it's official. DNF. Um and will be unhauling this one, too. So, with that said, it is time then to choose another book that we're going to unwrap. I will say if this keeps going in this way, I think I'm going to pause this video, try to read something else that I like really want to read because this I feel like if I don't find a good book soon, it's going to put me in a reading slump.

[00:08:55]So, let's see what our next book is going to be. Okay. I have this spinner wheel up, and I think I'm going to shuffle the numbers so it's even more random cuz it last time it went kind of in the same area. So, we're just going to shuffle them a few times.

[00:09:11]Oh, and then I guess that's fine. I don't know what just happened.

[00:09:16]Okay. And let's spin to see what book we're going to get next.

[00:09:27]Number two.

[00:09:31]Okay, book two.

[00:09:33]That is a brown [clears throat] one there. Okay, let me get it. All right, so book number two. It is a thicker hardcover.

[00:09:43]No idea. OKAY, LET'S SEE.

[00:09:49]OOH.

[00:09:52]INTERESTING CHOICE.

[00:09:56]WOW.

[00:09:57]>> [laughter] >> OKAY, so this is The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. Hmm. Okay, this could be This could be interesting. I definitely give it a try. Book this is the author of The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Evelyn Hardcastle, which I gave five stars. This one I am excited to check out. I think this is I think this is going to be similar where it is a mystery. We'll see. Let's see how this goes. Okay, I was not expecting that. I completely forgot this book was there.

[00:10:25]>> [laughter] >> Okay, so I will come back at you once I try this and hopefully I enjoy it and it is a good read.

[00:10:32]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Come give you a little bit of an update cuz I have been reading The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton and I am really liking it. I think we found the book that I'm going to be able to keep reading in this vlog.

[00:11:09]I'm about 70 a little over 70 pages and so not very far, but I am really liking it. Like from what I remember from The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hugo, that was a like time loop murder mystery novel and I believe this is also a mystery and I think there's also going to be like a magical or paranormal aspect to it. We're following our two main characters, Uh Sammy and Arnout. Arnout? I don't know how to say his name. Arnout? Oh, just kidding. Arnout. I'm looking at it now.

[00:11:42]Okay, so you're following your two main characters, Sammy and Arnout. Sammy is this He's basically like Sherlock Holmes, it seems like where he is able to deduce um things and observe things very well and is very famous for solving crimes.

[00:11:59]Um and then his bodyguard is our other main character, Arnout, who is like basically Well, Sammy paid him to protect him. Some reason Sammy is under arrest, but they are all going aboard this ship headed to Amsterdam and they're going to be on the ship for like 8 months or something crazy like that. But just before they got on the ship, someone said that um like to beware because the ship won't make it to Amsterdam. So basically a warning. And Sammy and Arnout are determined to figure out the mystery. But there's like other characters that we're following. Like there's one, the governor, is also aboard the ship and the governor's wife is also very smart and she is trying to solve the mystery as well. So I really like it cuz you're just getting like the full scene of everyone on the ship and the life on the ship and like the first chapter was just like pure chaos, which I feel like is fitting with the rest of the story. It's taking place 1600s with the United East Indian company. And wasn't that also during the time of Pirates of the Caribbean, right? I think that's like the same time period from what I'm remembering from the movies. So that's what I'm imagining with this book. I really like it. It's written really well, but it's also like really easy to read and like fast-paced. I think this is going to be a good book.

[00:13:17]I'm excited about it. I'm glad that we got to this because I honestly forgot.

[00:13:21]>> [laughter] >> I honestly forgot about this book. I know that he had another book that came out recently or kind of recently. I forgot what it's called. I'll put the picture here. But I haven't really heard anyone talk about Stuart Turton since The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hugo. So, I'm excited to read this.

[00:13:37]Yeah, I think it's going to be a good time. I do love miss I think I've said this before, but I don't really like thriller books, but I do love a good mystery. And then this with an interesting setting, excellent writing, interesting characters, I think this is going to be good. I'm really excited.

[00:13:54]I'm happy that we chose this one and and that I'm liking it. Um the other thing I wanted to mention is Look, I realized I had this gift note in it and this was actually a gift from a subscriber for my birthday. This was like many years ago from Veronica. So, thank you so much to Veronica. I'm finally [laughter] reading the book and I am loving it so much. So, yeah, I will come to you all probably when I get more like halfway through. I probably won't be able to give too many like plot points obviously because it's a mystery, but I think once I get like halfway through, I'll come back to you all and give you all more of my thoughts. But I'm really liking it a lot. I'm so glad we finally have a book that I wrapped and am liking. All right, hey guys. So, we are in the car. It is currently Saturday and I thought I would come give you all an update. It is early Saturday morning. My boyfriend is currently running a 10K.

[00:14:45]I'm doing a trail run.

[00:14:47]I don't know. We had to drive like an hour early, so I am waiting for him to do that. But I did bring my book and I also thought I could go ahead and give you all an update cuz I am like 50% into This is my one of my book sleeves. Isn't it so cute?

[00:15:02]Um I am like over 50% now of The Devil and the Dark Water. So, yesterday I did listen to quite a bit of the audio book while I was like straightening my hair, driving to and from work, um and then of course like still reading physically.

[00:15:16]And yeah, the audio book I have to say is really good. I really like it. You all know that I am not the biggest like audio book person. I tend to only listen to non-fiction books as audio books because I'm very picky, but the guy who narrates this, he is British, so that helps.

[00:15:36]And also, he's so good at doing all the different character voices and like the voice acting is really good. So, I really recommend the audio book for this one. Like, I actually really like it.

[00:15:47]For the book itself, I am still really enjoying it. The mystery is very interesting. It's not as um What's the word I'm looking for? It's not like a murder mystery, which is what I thought would maybe happen. Like, people would start dying on the ship that they're on. I think I told you all they're like on a ship from Batavia to Amsterdam, so I thought people would start like dying off, but it's more like is this very believe that there is this devil that has been like that is like either currently possessing someone or has been like taking bargains from people and somehow all of these people who are connected to this devil are all on the ship and they're trying to find out what is going on. It's just It's like a really entertaining read. I really like it. The writing is so good.

[00:16:35]All of the characters are very distinct, which is what I think was notable about the seven the seven and a half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The main character in that book is like going into different bodies and keeps waking up and has to like solve the mystery, but there's like so many distinct characters in that story and the same goes in this one. I'm really liking it.

[00:16:56]Oh, the other thing I want to mention is the setting. The setting of this book, he is doing such a good job. I really feel like you are on the ship in the 1600s. It is dirty and grimy and like the sailors are gross.

[00:17:08]>> [laughter] >> And like, he's just really painting the picture and I am really enjoying it because, you know, I don't like it when books say they're like set in like the 1920s or something and you feel like the book could actually take place at any time. This really feels really like we are really on the ship in this time period. So, I'm really appreciating that. But, hoping I can finish this book this weekend. That would be nice and then maybe try to read one more book for this vlog. But, so far really happy that we chose this because yeah, I don't know when I would have ever picked up this book on my own, you know?

[00:17:41]But, I'm glad I did cuz I'm really liking it. So, I will come back at you maybe once I finish this book. I'm not sure unless I have something else to say. [music] But, yeah, I'm liking it.

[00:18:06]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Okay, so you all just saw that I have finished The Devil and the The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton and I really love this. This was just such a good time. So clever.

[00:18:54]Really, really like this. I think I'm going to give it like a 4.5, 4.75 out of five stars. It's super close to a five-star read. I like the ending. I like how the mystery all came together.

[00:19:04]I liked how it wrapped up. Turton just like in The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, he just like it does whatever he wants but in like a good way, not in a way that just seems a little crazy and out there, but just in a way where you will just have so much fun reading this book. I talked about it earlier, but Stuart Turton is just so good at creating so many memorable characters, such an incredible setting.

[00:19:28]Like you really feel like you are on the ship. Um, and the mystery is very interesting. I just had such a good time. If this sounds like something you will like, I definitely recommend. This is like you want Sherlock Holmes meets Knives Out, but set in like the Pirates of the Caribbean world. You're not following pirates, but like with that kind of setting on the boat um, in that same time period, similar time period. I think you will like this. This was such a good time. I think this would be such a fun summer mystery read. Um, and the audiobook was really, really good. I really like the audiobook, like I said earlier. Um, I listened to it a little bit more towards the end here, and then I just finished reading it physically.

[00:20:08]But, one thing I did want to mention at the beginning of it, he dedicated the book to his young daughter, and you can tell like he has There's a lot of messaging in here, of course, about like how women were treated during this time period, but he had some like very strong female characters in this book. I just really like that. This was just such a good time. I'm so happy. I really, really like this a lot. I definitely recommend it. I highly, highly recommend this one. Yeah, I think 4.5 out of five stars. So happy I finished it. So, with that, I think that's going to be the end of this video. I unwrapped a total of four books during this vlog. The two first unwraps that we are un-hauling right away, and I still feel good about those. We had one DNF with Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. This again was not bad at all. Um, I think if you like literary fiction and you're looking for a collection of short stories, I definitely think this was good. It just wasn't doing anything for me personally.

[00:21:06]This is also going to be an unhaul. And then, of course, we unraveled The Devil in the Dark Water, which I gave a 4.5 out of five stars. Love this so much.

[00:21:15]So, that is the end of this vlog. I hope you all enjoyed it. I will definitely be doing this again soon. If you guys enjoyed this vlog, let me know your thoughts down below, and I'll catch you all in my next one. Bye.

[00:21:30]>> [music] [music]