@@BooksandLala most people love it, as someone in the *I hate this* camp, I guarantee you it is mainly well received. it's always on *best of horror* lists & constantly raved about. colleges even have classes that take deep dives into it and ONLY it. it is not an unpopular opinion to enjoy House of Leaves, I promise. its an iconic, well known, work for a reason.
Legit! I read HoL only like a year ago and found it obnoxious but since then I’ve still recommended just the letters so many times. They were the saving grace for me.
@@shibasandshelves There's a book of just the letters released, with eleven extra letters. It's called The Whalestoe Letters. But you may know this already.
15:30 I feel this so much!!! Even as a PoC, it can feel mean to dislike a book that’s offering incredible representation. The way you describe this book is exactly how I feel about Children of Blood and Bone- I was ready to love it, but it used a lot of YA fantasy tropes that I’m tired of at this point. As a writer of color too, though, I know I want my work to be evaluated for more than just the identities of its characters.
No book has ever done for me what HOL has. It’s a freaking masterpiece and I’m thrilled that you can use your platform to encourage people to read it. I’ve done several reads, readalongs, and live shows/vlogs for it. It’s-amazing! Glad you loved it.
I haven't read House of Leaves yet, but from how you talk about it, it sounds like you would love "Ship of Theseus" by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. It has a bunch of newspaper clippings and handwritten notes shuffled among the book pages, and it's both challenging and fantastic reading experience!
Omg! Johnny's footnotes were what scared me the most in the book! Even more than The Navidson Record! Never felt such terror when reading a book before and I loved it!!
Your way of telling people to read HoL is 100% valid. It's a multilayered story, and you need to experience it in several different ways if you can. I re-read it at least once a year, and every time, I feel like I read it a little bit differently from the time before. Every time, it holds another part of my heart and soul captivated. I'm so glad that you loved it. I'm so glad that it didn't disappoint, because it's absolutely my favorite book of all time. (It's also a book that often makes me fall into a bad mental place, if I'm not careful, so there's always that aspect to warn new people reading it about.) The book is so important to me that when we moved, and I was packing up boxes of books, I made for sure to write which box it was in so that I can find it easily and put it back in it's place on honor on my beside-bed bookshelf.
IM SO EXCITED FOR THE HOUSE OF LEAVES LIVESHOW!!! i have so many feelings lol and cant wait to hear urs! also i 10000% agree you can read it in whatever order you want
re HoL: Great advice for reading it! Another thing is that the author has said in interviews that he intentionally made those 100-ish pages nearly blank as a sort of "getting here was tough, but now I can just fly through". Can't wait for the liveshow to hear more of your thoughts
I'm so glad you loved HoL!!! It only took me 2 days to read the whole thing and while I only ended up giving it 4 stars, the actual experience of reading it was a full five, it was so much fun. I also don't think the purists are gonna come for you lol I've been skimming some HoL forums since and they're very encouraging about reading it however you like; there's posts all about the possible paths you could take. Something I think everyone reading HoL should take to heart is this quote from Johnny to the reader on pg 31 "if there's something you find irksome - go ahead and skip it. I couldn't care less how you read any of this." My reading and enjoyment of the book picked up so much once I started doing that.
*watches Natasha’s video tearing apart HoL* “Perfect hahaha gonna keep it buried in my closet where it’s been for 8 years!!!” *watches Kayla* *nervously pulls it out*.....
i really wouldnt recommend getting a ebook version of house of leaves, there's way too much mixed media and the way the text is printed is sometimes very weird and it just works a lot better as a physical book, i found a used copy on amazon but it is quite expensive
Kayla I am SO SHOCKED that you loved it but then again it makes so much sense 😅 honestly, I think if I had read it the way you did I would have loved it. I completely lost the tension by being a completionist and the perfectionism wasn’t worth it for me.
I have never read House of Leaves but it's refreshing listening to someone giving tips/options on how to tackle it. It's an intimidating book but I'm actually quite excited about reading it now!
Aaaaah! I‘m so happy you liked House of Leaves and when the way you read it helped then it was the perfect way for you to read it. The book itself literally tells you to only read the parts you want to read (i think, ironically, in a footnote because that’s when you need the info the most 😂). I‘m happy I read it the „intended“ way the first time. Because reading the footnotes at the time they appear in the text actually gave me a trapped feeling. Like the book didn’t want to let me go, like the house didn’t want Navidson to leave, like the report got hold of Johnny. But now that you described your experience I want to reread only the Navidson report to see what impact it has on its own.
I’ve never wanted to read House of Leaves in all my years watching booktube... and now I want to read it immediately! Kayla made it sound soo appealing!
I am so so thankful for your suggestions and information on house of leaves, because I want so badly to love this book and just have struggled to get through it. I dnf’ed it earlier this year and now because of your video I’m planning on trying again! ❤️
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed house of leaves!!! One of my favorite books of all time, and it kickstarted my obsession with books that experiment with form to add the story. If you’re looking to try another one, I recommend the people of paper by Salvador Plascencia!
I’m glad you explained how you went through the book because I think that way is perfect for me. I’m a good 70 pages in, and I was about to DNF the book because it just made me feel stupid to try to keep up with. Buuut, everyone raves about it, and I liked the plot. So, I’ll be giving it another go and seeing if this way works and just read it twice through. Thank you so much for that suggestion!
YES! House of Leaves is awesome! You are the second person I know who actually enjoyed it. It is one my favourite books of all time for sure. Thanks for choosing the book for March because otherwise I would not have picked it up so soon.
YEEESSSSS oh my gosh I am so happy to hear your rating on House of Leaves!! I absolutely agree with your advice on how to get through it, too. I love it so much.
I agree on your perspective on reading House of Leaves! I think it’s a book that can be read many ways, and you get out of it what you put in. I skimmed a lot of Johnny’s parts when I read it too because I cared more about the Navidson family’s story and I liked what I got out of that portion! I have a full reading vlog for this book and the purists come for me too occasionally 😂 but for the most part a lot of people agree that it’s flexible so don’t stress!
I’m so glad you loved HoL, I thought you would. I read it a few years ago and really liked the whole thing including the footnotes. Now I follow a Facebook group of HoL fans because there is definitely a hardcore fan following of this book and it’s fun to watch!
I completed understand your approach to reading House of Leaves. I’ve recommended many times that people completely skip Johnny’s sections until the end if they find his story distracting and/or annoying. The Navidson storyline is absolutely the best part.
i’m reading it by reading the footnotes as well (they’re my favorite part, specially the editors), but now when i finish i wanna read it all together wo footnotes to see what that’s like 🥸
I started reading this book when the month of March started but I am in school and I can't give it the full concentration that this book needs. So I am going to revisit this book in December around Christmas time. I am excited to dive in. Thank you LaLa for awakening the interest. 💖✌🏽
KAYLA............!!! I’m shocked but so so happy about your experience with house of leaves!! I also really enjoyed it and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it but I was convinced you hated it-I’m glad to be wrong!!
I'm so glad you loved House of Leaves 😭 its been on my shelf for the best part of ten years and I was finally pushed to pick it up by the book club, and it has lived in my head since! It was the strangest, coolest, most interesting reading experience I've ever had, and I'm still picking at certain threads and going through forums about it. I'm in academia too, so the deep dive analysis is totally my thing 😂 thanks so much for the push to get into it! May need to invest in one of the fancier versions now...
My boyfriend has discovered the cover of HoL is 5/16th of an inch shorter than the rest of the book so it’s exactly the same dimensions used in the book and my mind was blown
so sorry one of your most anticipated reads didn’t turn out so well!! but love that you adored house of leaves despite the utter hatred that book seems to inspire haha
See! I knew this would happen! I knew nothing was ever able to convince me to read House of Leaves, not even the bookclub pick and now, now I sit here seriously debating picking it up. Damnit, Kayla!
Fire Keepers Daughter was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I really appreciate your review of this book and how wonderful it is to have an own voices book in this genre. I am not a fan of thrillers in general but I think I will still read it to support the author and hope it will be a thriller I love! 💛
Why am I not surprised that you not only loved it but read House of Leaves in a completely different manner 😂 Your review is actually making me interested in picking it up eventually because very few reviews I’ve seen have actually explained the mechanics of reading it (and an alternative).
I watched this video this morning and was like OKAY I GUESS and picked up House of Leaves (which has been hanging out on my shelf untouched for like 5 years). It's now 9 pm and I've been reading for most of the day, which I NEVER do??? So I guess I wanted to say thanks for inspiring me to finally pick it up 🤓💕
omg honestly so shocked at your rating for HoL... if the book had been presented in a simpler way (like keeping the Johnny/Zampano/Navidson framework and some experimental formal aspects but just toned down a bit) I think I would've loved it because the Navidson record (footnotes aside especially) was so good. like i loved the middle chunk of the book with the explorations and the holloway tape. but the mental gymnastics this book demands overall for the "full experience" just was not worth it at all, the work and effort outweighed the reward sooo much in my experience. also im usually all for ambiguity in books and endings but this felt like too much was unresolved in relation to the sheer number of questions it raised. solid 2/5 for me and im sad about it bc it'd been on my shelf for 6 years rip
The 'I know you want to know about house of leaves. But I'll make you wait to the end' loved it! I always watch your video's to the end so I can wait 😉
I agree with what you said about the footnotes taking the horror away from everything. I read House of Leaves for the first time cover to cover and felt a bit unaffected although it is obviously such an incredible story. I intend on doing a second read through, skipping a lot of footnotes so that I can be more immersed in the story.
Hi, I saw this video and saw your review for The House of Leaves and you talked about the additional material (footnotes, marginal notes, etc...) that is part of the book. I read another book like that called "S" by J.J. Abrams (the movie director) and Doug Dorst written in 2013 that includes similar notations all over the book. It also contains loose material as well that is part of the story - so much that the book had to be sold in a wrapping. I'm not sure how available "S" is, but your description of The House of Leaves reminded me of that book. I remember finding the additional material making the book tough to read, but I ended up liking it.
I just finished Firekeepers Daughter today and I thought it was so good! But I definitely feel you on the typical YA tropes... BUT IM SO IN LOVE WITH THE COVER
I loved S. but i felt like i missed a lot because i needed the fan theories but don't know where to find them! Do you know where to find additional material to delve in to some of the stuff that's hinted at but not properly developed in text?
With concrete rose I found it to be so pressure filled for Maverick but also a lesson learnt story because he got two women pregnant when he's only seventeen and also has school and work to handle. So he goes to have hard work on him. I still gave it 5 stars. Angie Thomas I so badly want more from. She makes me see black lives so much, I mean I believe respect for race, sexuality, life etc should be given across all. Angie teaches how racism has impact with so much power in her language. I'M DESPERATE FOR MORE FROM THAT IDOL! CAN'T WAIT FOR ANOTHER BOOK FROM HER! I know a lot of people feel similar.
Def convinced me to join in on House of Leaves! I was doing some research on it now and I guess Mark Z.'s sister wrote an album as a counterpart to the book?!?! It's called Haunted and her name is Poe!!
I started reading this last year and quickly set it aside. I knew instantly I would love it but with a 4 year old I don't have the time I need to dedicate to the journey of this book. I'm going to revisit it for sure when my daughter is older and I can spend more time with the story.
YESSSS ! I read HoL the first week of March, and it was such an immersive experience ! I decided not to give it a rating, since it's such a unique format and way to tell a story, but it is 100% on my favorites list. I cannot wait for the live show !
So glad you liked HOL Kayla! I really thought it was your type of book! I enjoyed it as well, and can't wait until the live show. I also added Firekeepers daughter to my TBR. I also feel we need more indigenous representation, and want to give it a chance. It does sound good.
I have been waiting to know what you thought of House of Leaves for so long, not because I'VE read it cause I haven't but because if you liked it then there is a big chance I will, your favorite books are mostly my favorite books too. This just motivated me to finally read it, I've owned this book for over 5 years now !
i love the way you described you read HOL. I read it twice (1.5 times), first time i got halfway through and then started over. But i think if i ever reread it, i will do it your way.
Wow you really got me with that favorite books of all time! I'm actually considering picking it up. I didn't at first because I saw that it was called the scariest book of all time, but people are saying it's not actually that scary. It also cost $50 at my local bookstore, so I'm going to have to look around...
Thank you for answering the question I asked on Insta. I also have The Firekeepers Daughter to read - I’m kind of glad the UK cover doesn’t have the book club fake sticker on the cover as the cover looks so beautiful
Ooookay SO I actually ended up DNFing it at about the 50 page mark. When you say reading Johnny's portions were killing your on-edge vibe, I really felt that. Like, it was so jarring that I just started not really caring about any perspective. SO. While I understand that maybe reading first with no footnotes is wild, my memory is very good and I do feel like I'm missing out. I did read a lot online about and LOVED all that. But I couldn't keep that zeal with the footnotes. I'll try again. Haha cross your fingers.
This is making me want to go back and reread HoL your way, because I first read it about a year and a half ago, mostly doing the “correct” way. I think I did skip one entire section of the appendix though- I was reaching peak frustration & I think it was just quotes or poems or something to that effect and I was like “nah, maybe when I reread it.” Because this is definitely a book that requires a reread and more analysis regardless of how you read it the first time. But the idea of changing up the way I read it upon a reread is a really intriguing idea- The Navidson Record was the most compelling story to me, so getting that all in one chunk and then going back and getting all of Johnny’s story is definitely a cool way to get a different perspective upon a reread.
AAALLLL that info on House of Leaves is very helpful! I’ve started HOL about three times in the last five years and just can’t seem to get into it. It’s just too confusing to read, I guess? 🤷🏻♀️ I’ll try one more time and if I still can’t do it I’ll set it on the shelf for maybe a much more optimistic future me.
I borrowed a copy of HoL from someone who read it at Uni as part of their degree and they said that you’re not really meant to read every word of it so doing what you did seems totally valid. I haven’t started it yet but I intend to!
Oh my god. I've been dying to hear you talk about House of Leaves. You'd said so little about it, I convinced myself you hated it. I just received a copy of House of Leaves in a very synchronistic way. I was immediately drawn in by the Introduction but I haven't read any more passed that cause it legit scared me. lol But you saying it's a fave of all time makes me want to pick it up again.
omg house of leaves also destroyed me! i read *kind of* similar, in that i would often read through a whole section of the navidson records before flicking through the footnotes, because i wanted to keep the pace... the navidson record made me so uncomfortable, and the appendix section with the LETTERS kept me UP AT NIGHT. I should not have read them in the dark!!!
i'm slowly getting through it (i blame university) but Johnny's parts are my FAVORITE. I only care about his parts and they are absolutely terrifying me and I love it (the section in the tattoo shop???) nut
I finished HOL 7 years ago and I'm still chasing the immersive reading experience I had from that book. I had some complaints (mostly that I got bored of Johnny), but it is truly a reading experience like no other. Flipping the pages rapidfire during a chase scene, literally getting lost in the book as the characters are getting lost--it's like nothing I've ever read.
oh man, I have HOL sitting on my shelf, I'm not reading it in time for the Live bc I wanna pick it up at the right time for me (and right now.. is definitely not the right time lol) but omg hearing your explanation of how to read it... what have I got myself into hahaha
I hard core cried at the end of House of Leaves. There was a point where it was talking about kids I lost it. I read this book out loud from start to finish with the footnotes and everything...and I mean everything poems and all, to my teenage son. Good grief the discussions we had trying to figure this book out lol. I definitely want to go back through and figure out the morse code and the underlined words. I swear there is a puzzle within the book or some kind of hidden message.
When I get to this book and I get stuck, I know which video to help me out. I think if people who didn't like or DNFed this book, they should try the way you read it and see if they enjoy it better. I was thinking the same thing about Concrete Rose and The Hate You Give. I'm going to read Concrete Rose first and then The Hate You Give. Thank you for the recs. 😊❤️❤️❤️
I think you’d enjoy the experience of reading S by JJ Abrams. I didn’t get to finish before it was due back at the library, but I have since bought a copy and looking forward to diving back in.
When you talked about HoL and how you love the suspense of keeping us waiting...AN AD STARTED PLAYING
oh I know 🥸
I was certain it was purposeful on Kayla's part
"if we as a community started using the new adult tag properly" I WISH.
House of Leaves sounds like a reading challenge I never knew I needed
Everyone: I hate HoL
Kayla: I LOVE THIS BOOK
As expected ❤️
Wait noooo this is not an unpopular opinion, is it?? 😅 I feel like HoL is well loved!!
@@BooksandLala most people love it, as someone in the *I hate this* camp, I guarantee you it is mainly well received. it's always on *best of horror* lists & constantly raved about. colleges even have classes that take deep dives into it and ONLY it. it is not an unpopular opinion to enjoy House of Leaves, I promise. its an iconic, well known, work for a reason.
House of Leaves is just like playing a video game, it’s nonlinear and you can approach it with different strategies!
When you put it that way, I'm excited to read it
OK BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW JOHNNY’S MOTHERS LETTERS WHERE SO WELL WRITTEN AND LIKE SO INCREDIBLE
Legit! I read HoL only like a year ago and found it obnoxious but since then I’ve still recommended just the letters so many times. They were the saving grace for me.
That was my favorite part of the book!
@@shibasandshelves There's a book of just the letters released, with eleven extra letters. It's called The Whalestoe Letters. But you may know this already.
15:30 I feel this so much!!! Even as a PoC, it can feel mean to dislike a book that’s offering incredible representation. The way you describe this book is exactly how I feel about Children of Blood and Bone- I was ready to love it, but it used a lot of YA fantasy tropes that I’m tired of at this point. As a writer of color too, though, I know I want my work to be evaluated for more than just the identities of its characters.
I heard House Of Leaves was a nightmare to read but 😳 I was not expecting THAT 😂😂
I'm so confused by her explanation tbh 😂🙈
No book has ever done for me what HOL has. It’s a freaking masterpiece and I’m thrilled that you can use your platform to encourage people to read it. I’ve done several reads, readalongs, and live shows/vlogs for it. It’s-amazing! Glad you loved it.
I haven't read House of Leaves yet, but from how you talk about it, it sounds like you would love "Ship of Theseus" by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. It has a bunch of newspaper clippings and handwritten notes shuffled among the book pages, and it's both challenging and fantastic reading experience!
Omg! Johnny's footnotes were what scared me the most in the book! Even more than The Navidson Record! Never felt such terror when reading a book before and I loved it!!
the part at the beginning where he's in the tattoo shop...omg yes
I love his footnotes! They’re terrifying.
Your way of telling people to read HoL is 100% valid. It's a multilayered story, and you need to experience it in several different ways if you can. I re-read it at least once a year, and every time, I feel like I read it a little bit differently from the time before. Every time, it holds another part of my heart and soul captivated. I'm so glad that you loved it. I'm so glad that it didn't disappoint, because it's absolutely my favorite book of all time. (It's also a book that often makes me fall into a bad mental place, if I'm not careful, so there's always that aspect to warn new people reading it about.) The book is so important to me that when we moved, and I was packing up boxes of books, I made for sure to write which box it was in so that I can find it easily and put it back in it's place on honor on my beside-bed bookshelf.
OK UVE MADE ME SO MUCH MORE EXCITED TO READ HOUSE OF LEAVES LETS DO THIS
Another fabulous video! Love hearing your thoughts on all things books!
YES YES YES YES YES
House of Leaves is literally my fourth favorite book of all time, welcome to the club!
IM SO EXCITED FOR THE HOUSE OF LEAVES LIVESHOW!!! i have so many feelings lol and cant wait to hear urs! also i 10000% agree you can read it in whatever order you want
Lmaooooo when you said you gave House of Leaves five stars I legit thought you were joking for a second 😅 damn now I’m even more curious about it!!!
re HoL: Great advice for reading it! Another thing is that the author has said in interviews that he intentionally made those 100-ish pages nearly blank as a sort of "getting here was tough, but now I can just fly through". Can't wait for the liveshow to hear more of your thoughts
when you said house of leaves was one of your “most favorite books of all time” i GASPED so hard lmao
when i tell you my jaw DROPPED at your house of leaves rating... 👀
Same! My boyfriend saw my face and my jaw drop open and he thought I was watching something so much more dramatic lolol
SAME OMG i thought she would give it 1 star (like i did whoops)
I'm so glad you loved HoL!!! It only took me 2 days to read the whole thing and while I only ended up giving it 4 stars, the actual experience of reading it was a full five, it was so much fun. I also don't think the purists are gonna come for you lol I've been skimming some HoL forums since and they're very encouraging about reading it however you like; there's posts all about the possible paths you could take. Something I think everyone reading HoL should take to heart is this quote from Johnny to the reader on pg 31 "if there's something you find irksome - go ahead and skip it. I couldn't care less how you read any of this." My reading and enjoyment of the book picked up so much once I started doing that.
“This is the last book I’ll talk about”
Me: *confused at why there’s still 16 minutes left*
*watches Natasha’s video tearing apart HoL*
“Perfect hahaha gonna keep it buried in my closet where it’s been for 8 years!!!”
*watches Kayla*
*nervously pulls it out*.....
Immediately went to buy 'House of Leaves' but could not find it anywhere! Not even on kindle, crazy times, must be super popular.
Aww that's too bad! I immediately did the same thing and went to Amazon and it was there. The paperback was $15.99. I hope you find a copy soon!
i really wouldnt recommend getting a ebook version of house of leaves, there's way too much mixed media and the way the text is printed is sometimes very weird and it just works a lot better as a physical book, i found a used copy on amazon but it is quite expensive
@@charlieokeeffe4694 I thought the same thing! I decided to get the paperback!
I found it in store at my Barnes and noble, It was the last one!
better world books has it! (however, its like 30-40 dollars so idk, worth checking out though!)
Kayla I am SO SHOCKED that you loved it but then again it makes so much sense 😅 honestly, I think if I had read it the way you did I would have loved it. I completely lost the tension by being a completionist and the perfectionism wasn’t worth it for me.
I have never read House of Leaves but it's refreshing listening to someone giving tips/options on how to tackle it. It's an intimidating book but I'm actually quite excited about reading it now!
Ok but HOL seems so intimidating!! I don’t know if i have the brain power for it 😂 so glad you loved it though!
Aaaaah! I‘m so happy you liked House of Leaves and when the way you read it helped then it was the perfect way for you to read it. The book itself literally tells you to only read the parts you want to read (i think, ironically, in a footnote because that’s when you need the info the most 😂). I‘m happy I read it the „intended“ way the first time. Because reading the footnotes at the time they appear in the text actually gave me a trapped feeling. Like the book didn’t want to let me go, like the house didn’t want Navidson to leave, like the report got hold of Johnny. But now that you described your experience I want to reread only the Navidson report to see what impact it has on its own.
House of leaves sounds like too much homework, I'll pass. When are you going to announce the book club's picks for May, June and July?
I typically read 7-10 books a month. March I completed 1 book and I’m still stuck on my second book House of Leaves 😅
I’ve never wanted to read House of Leaves in all my years watching booktube... and now I want to read it immediately! Kayla made it sound soo appealing!
you just made me buy house of leaves right now 🥴
also just bought the house at the bottom of the lake 😭
I also just bought it. Literally paused the video and ordered the book lol
I am so so thankful for your suggestions and information on house of leaves, because I want so badly to love this book and just have struggled to get through it. I dnf’ed it earlier this year and now because of your video I’m planning on trying again! ❤️
very much yelled "oh my god" from my kitchen when you said THAT about house of leaves. i'm so happy you liked it.
Would you want to do a video about your top 5 favorite books of all time? Because now I’m interested what the others are.
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed house of leaves!!! One of my favorite books of all time, and it kickstarted my obsession with books that experiment with form to add the story. If you’re looking to try another one, I recommend the people of paper by Salvador Plascencia!
I’m glad you explained how you went through the book because I think that way is perfect for me. I’m a good 70 pages in, and I was about to DNF the book because it just made me feel stupid to try to keep up with. Buuut, everyone raves about it, and I liked the plot. So, I’ll be giving it another go and seeing if this way works and just read it twice through. Thank you so much for that suggestion!
*talking about House of Leaves
YES! House of Leaves is awesome! You are the second person I know who actually enjoyed it. It is one my favourite books of all time for sure. Thanks for choosing the book for March because otherwise I would not have picked it up so soon.
HOUSE OF LEAVES IS ONE OF MY TOP 5 AS WELL! I am thrilled you loved it!
I am so glad you loved HOL!! Looking forward to the live show
YEEESSSSS oh my gosh I am so happy to hear your rating on House of Leaves!! I absolutely agree with your advice on how to get through it, too. I love it so much.
I agree on your perspective on reading House of Leaves! I think it’s a book that can be read many ways, and you get out of it what you put in. I skimmed a lot of Johnny’s parts when I read it too because I cared more about the Navidson family’s story and I liked what I got out of that portion! I have a full reading vlog for this book and the purists come for me too occasionally 😂 but for the most part a lot of people agree that it’s flexible so don’t stress!
Yes!!! I’m so glad you loved HOL
Finally! It’s one of my top 5!!! I’m so pumped!
I’m so glad you loved HoL, I thought you would. I read it a few years ago and really liked the whole thing including the footnotes. Now I follow a Facebook group of HoL fans because there is definitely a hardcore fan following of this book and it’s fun to watch!
Your explanation as to how people could approach HoL definitely has made me decide to finally pick it up after years of avoiding it 💓
I completed understand your approach to reading House of Leaves. I’ve recommended many times that people completely skip Johnny’s sections until the end if they find his story distracting and/or annoying. The Navidson storyline is absolutely the best part.
Completely agree with you on Concrete Rose and can’t wait for whatever Angie Thomas puts out next!
I am so happy you loved it!!! It is one of my favorites of all time.
i’m reading it by reading the footnotes as well (they’re my favorite part, specially the editors), but now when i finish i wanna read it all together wo footnotes to see what that’s like 🥸
I started reading this book when the month of March started but I am in school and I can't give it the full concentration that this book needs. So I am going to revisit this book in December around Christmas time. I am excited to dive in. Thank you LaLa for awakening the interest. 💖✌🏽
OMG I watched the section on House of Leaves literally 4 times. You have convinced me to finish it now. I can't wait for the live show about it.
I am SO excited for the liveshow omg 😍
KAYLA............!!! I’m shocked but so so happy about your experience with house of leaves!! I also really enjoyed it and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it but I was convinced you hated it-I’m glad to be wrong!!
I'm so glad you loved House of Leaves 😭 its been on my shelf for the best part of ten years and I was finally pushed to pick it up by the book club, and it has lived in my head since! It was the strangest, coolest, most interesting reading experience I've ever had, and I'm still picking at certain threads and going through forums about it. I'm in academia too, so the deep dive analysis is totally my thing 😂 thanks so much for the push to get into it! May need to invest in one of the fancier versions now...
My boyfriend has discovered the cover of HoL is 5/16th of an inch shorter than the rest of the book so it’s exactly the same dimensions used in the book and my mind was blown
so sorry one of your most anticipated reads didn’t turn out so well!! but love that you adored house of leaves despite the utter hatred that book seems to inspire haha
See! I knew this would happen! I knew nothing was ever able to convince me to read House of Leaves, not even the bookclub pick and now, now I sit here seriously debating picking it up. Damnit, Kayla!
Same! I've always been curious but I figured it was just way too much of an investment and now I'm really reconsidering lol
Fire Keepers Daughter was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I really appreciate your review of this book and how wonderful it is to have an own voices book in this genre. I am not a fan of thrillers in general but I think I will still read it to support the author and hope it will be a thriller I love! 💛
just when i was looking for something to watch 🥳🥳
Why am I not surprised that you not only loved it but read House of Leaves in a completely different manner 😂
Your review is actually making me interested in picking it up eventually because very few reviews I’ve seen have actually explained the mechanics of reading it (and an alternative).
I watched this video this morning and was like OKAY I GUESS and picked up House of Leaves (which has been hanging out on my shelf untouched for like 5 years). It's now 9 pm and I've been reading for most of the day, which I NEVER do??? So I guess I wanted to say thanks for inspiring me to finally pick it up 🤓💕
omg honestly so shocked at your rating for HoL... if the book had been presented in a simpler way (like keeping the Johnny/Zampano/Navidson framework and some experimental formal aspects but just toned down a bit) I think I would've loved it because the Navidson record (footnotes aside especially) was so good. like i loved the middle chunk of the book with the explorations and the holloway tape. but the mental gymnastics this book demands overall for the "full experience" just was not worth it at all, the work and effort outweighed the reward sooo much in my experience. also im usually all for ambiguity in books and endings but this felt like too much was unresolved in relation to the sheer number of questions it raised. solid 2/5 for me and im sad about it bc it'd been on my shelf for 6 years rip
I've had house of leaves on my shelf for like 3 years now.... Might attempt to FINALLY read it this year. Love the video ❤️
I'm so glad the live show is in the middle of the month. I didn't get this until the end of March and am only through the introduction
I've been considering House of Leaves for a few years and this video finally sold me. Going to pick it up at the end of the work week.
The 'I know you want to know about house of leaves. But I'll make you wait to the end' loved it! I always watch your video's to the end so I can wait 😉
I agree with what you said about the footnotes taking the horror away from everything. I read House of Leaves for the first time cover to cover and felt a bit unaffected although it is obviously such an incredible story. I intend on doing a second read through, skipping a lot of footnotes so that I can be more immersed in the story.
Hi, I saw this video and saw your review for The House of Leaves and you talked about the additional material (footnotes, marginal notes, etc...) that is part of the book. I read another book like that called "S" by J.J. Abrams (the movie director) and Doug Dorst written in 2013 that includes similar notations all over the book. It also contains loose material as well that is part of the story - so much that the book had to be sold in a wrapping. I'm not sure how available "S" is, but your description of The House of Leaves reminded me of that book. I remember finding the additional material making the book tough to read, but I ended up liking it.
So excited to watch
I just finished Firekeepers Daughter today and I thought it was so good! But I definitely feel you on the typical YA tropes... BUT IM SO IN LOVE WITH THE COVER
You definitely need to read The Stars And The Blackness Between Them. I think it would be a perfect book for you 😊
Omg I agree, I've been trying to fit it into a video concept for so long haha- I need to make time for it!!
Since you liked HoL so much your probably also like S. By JJ Abrams. Conceptually it’s one of the coolest books I’ve ever read.
Oh I've wanted to read that for a while! I also loved House of Leaves so I'll check it out
I loved S. but i felt like i missed a lot because i needed the fan theories but don't know where to find them! Do you know where to find additional material to delve in to some of the stuff that's hinted at but not properly developed in text?
I was just about to comment that. It reminded me so much of reading that book.
With concrete rose I found it to be so pressure filled for Maverick but also a lesson learnt story because he got two women pregnant when he's only seventeen and also has school and work to handle. So he goes to have hard work on him. I still gave it 5 stars. Angie Thomas I so badly want more from. She makes me see black lives so much, I mean I believe respect for race, sexuality, life etc should be given across all. Angie teaches how racism has impact with so much power in her language. I'M DESPERATE FOR MORE FROM THAT IDOL! CAN'T WAIT FOR ANOTHER BOOK FROM HER! I know a lot of people feel similar.
Def convinced me to join in on House of Leaves! I was doing some research on it now and I guess Mark Z.'s sister wrote an album as a counterpart to the book?!?! It's called Haunted and her name is Poe!!
that album is amazing. it references the book in a few different ways, highly recommend.
I started reading this last year and quickly set it aside. I knew instantly I would love it but with a 4 year old I don't have the time I need to dedicate to the journey of this book. I'm going to revisit it for sure when my daughter is older and I can spend more time with the story.
Kayla likes this book and gave some tips on how to read it
This has fully convinced me to buy it now after eyeing it for YEARS
YESSSS ! I read HoL the first week of March, and it was such an immersive experience ! I decided not to give it a rating, since it's such a unique format and way to tell a story, but it is 100% on my favorites list. I cannot wait for the live show !
So glad you liked HOL Kayla! I really thought it was your type of book! I enjoyed it as well, and can't wait until the live show. I also added Firekeepers daughter to my TBR. I also feel we need more indigenous representation, and want to give it a chance. It does sound good.
Great wrap up as always! Love your videos woman!!! Cheers from Melbourne, Aus!
I have been waiting to know what you thought of House of Leaves for so long, not because I'VE read it cause I haven't but because if you liked it then there is a big chance I will, your favorite books are mostly my favorite books too. This just motivated me to finally read it, I've owned this book for over 5 years now !
i love the way you described you read HOL. I read it twice (1.5 times), first time i got halfway through and then started over. But i think if i ever reread it, i will do it your way.
Wow you really got me with that favorite books of all time! I'm actually considering picking it up. I didn't at first because I saw that it was called the scariest book of all time, but people are saying it's not actually that scary. It also cost $50 at my local bookstore, so I'm going to have to look around...
Thank you for answering the question I asked on Insta. I also have The Firekeepers Daughter to read - I’m kind of glad the UK cover doesn’t have the book club fake sticker on the cover as the cover looks so beautiful
Ooookay SO I actually ended up DNFing it at about the 50 page mark. When you say reading Johnny's portions were killing your on-edge vibe, I really felt that. Like, it was so jarring that I just started not really caring about any perspective. SO. While I understand that maybe reading first with no footnotes is wild, my memory is very good and I do feel like I'm missing out. I did read a lot online about and LOVED all that. But I couldn't keep that zeal with the footnotes. I'll try again. Haha cross your fingers.
i am looking forward to reading house of leaves, i might leave it till october. glad to hear your experience and advice on how to go about it.
This is making me want to go back and reread HoL your way, because I first read it about a year and a half ago, mostly doing the “correct” way. I think I did skip one entire section of the appendix though- I was reaching peak frustration & I think it was just quotes or poems or something to that effect and I was like “nah, maybe when I reread it.” Because this is definitely a book that requires a reread and more analysis regardless of how you read it the first time. But the idea of changing up the way I read it upon a reread is a really intriguing idea- The Navidson Record was the most compelling story to me, so getting that all in one chunk and then going back and getting all of Johnny’s story is definitely a cool way to get a different perspective upon a reread.
AAALLLL that info on House of Leaves is very helpful! I’ve started HOL about three times in the last five years and just can’t seem to get into it. It’s just too confusing to read, I guess? 🤷🏻♀️ I’ll try one more time and if I still can’t do it I’ll set it on the shelf for maybe a much more optimistic future me.
I borrowed a copy of HoL from someone who read it at Uni as part of their degree and they said that you’re not really meant to read every word of it so doing what you did seems totally valid. I haven’t started it yet but I intend to!
Oh my god. I've been dying to hear you talk about House of Leaves. You'd said so little about it, I convinced myself you hated it. I just received a copy of House of Leaves in a very synchronistic way. I was immediately drawn in by the Introduction but I haven't read any more passed that cause it legit scared me. lol But you saying it's a fave of all time makes me want to pick it up again.
Always love a Lala wrapup! :)
omg house of leaves also destroyed me! i read *kind of* similar, in that i would often read through a whole section of the navidson records before flicking through the footnotes, because i wanted to keep the pace... the navidson record made me so uncomfortable, and the appendix section with the LETTERS kept me UP AT NIGHT. I should not have read them in the dark!!!
Just so you now I've been thinking about getting House of Leaves for YEARS and you just convinced me to get it, I've placed my order just now xd
i'm slowly getting through it (i blame university) but Johnny's parts are my FAVORITE. I only care about his parts and they are absolutely terrifying me and I love it (the section in the tattoo shop???) nut
I finished HOL 7 years ago and I'm still chasing the immersive reading experience I had from that book. I had some complaints (mostly that I got bored of Johnny), but it is truly a reading experience like no other. Flipping the pages rapidfire during a chase scene, literally getting lost in the book as the characters are getting lost--it's like nothing I've ever read.
I actually made a video review of it back then! I have to reread it so I can get my updated thoughts.
oh man, I have HOL sitting on my shelf, I'm not reading it in time for the Live bc I wanna pick it up at the right time for me (and right now.. is definitely not the right time lol) but omg hearing your explanation of how to read it... what have I got myself into hahaha
I hard core cried at the end of House of Leaves. There was a point where it was talking about kids I lost it. I read this book out loud from start to finish with the footnotes and everything...and I mean everything poems and all, to my teenage son. Good grief the discussions we had trying to figure this book out lol. I definitely want to go back through and figure out the morse code and the underlined words. I swear there is a puzzle within the book or some kind of hidden message.
When I get to this book and I get stuck, I know which video to help me out. I think if people who didn't like or DNFed this book, they should try the way you read it and see if they enjoy it better.
I was thinking the same thing about Concrete Rose and The Hate You Give. I'm going to read Concrete Rose first and then The Hate You Give.
Thank you for the recs. 😊❤️❤️❤️
I think you’d enjoy the experience of reading S by JJ Abrams.
I didn’t get to finish before it was due back at the library, but I have since bought a copy and looking forward to diving back in.
the basket returns!