BookTube Babble: An Interview With Oliviareadsalatte

This series is one of the absolute favourite things I love about my blog and today, I’ve had the absolute HONOUR and JOY to interview the one and only Oliviareadsalatte! I have been binging her videos in the last 6 months as Melbourne was in a lockdown and I love her content. Her recommendations are great, her dog and cat are so adorable and she has made me want to buy so many more thriller books once my TBR is down to a sizeable amount.

Without further ado, here is the interview and I hope you love her responses as much as I do 🙂

1. Hi Olivia! Thank you so much for joining me in my little corner of bookish cyberspace. How have you been and what are you currently reading?

Hi! And thank you so much for having me! I’m definitely feeling that 2020 stress, but I’m good! I just finished a few books so I’m actually now reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson and The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.

2. For readers who may not know you, please introduce yourself, your channel and what you love to read.

I’m Olivia, I’m a BookTuber and Bookstagrammer at Oliviareadsalatte. I’m an English teacher who loves to read fantasy, sci-fi, and a dash of thriller and mysteries in between.

3. Can we get a bit of history on your channel? When did you start filming BookTube videos and what inspired you?

I started filming about 2 years ago now (omg, I just realized that!). I originally started as a book blogger in 2015, moving to Bookstagram soon after, and somehow I ended up on BookTube now! I just really loved watching some of the OG Booktubers, like Katytastic and the Insane Reader, and wanted to start my own!

4. I have been loving all the thriller and spooky books in your content recently, what are your top 5 that you’d recommend for anyone else that’s wanting to get into those genres? 

Oh goodness, I honestly think I’m going to have to go with ANYTHING Riley Sager! He actually has 4 books out now, so it’s kind of perfect. Aside from that, I think domestic thrillers are a really good place to start, too. Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are my other go-to authors!

5. I absolutely love getting so much regular content from you AND you have a patreon, so how do you keep organised? What’s a week or day in the life of Olivia look like when it comes to reading, making videos and fitting it all in your schedule?

Awh thank you! I really make a point to plan out my videos a few weeks in advance, and make sure it’s content I really want to make and am excited about. I’m very lucky in the fact that my favorite videos to make are the monthly/weekly ones of vlogs, tbrs, and wrap ups. The only way I can keep the videos and reading going at the same rate is one thing: Audiobooks!

6. There has been a lot of talk over social media about the consumerism that’s naturally made its way into the BookTube community. What are your thoughts on book hauls and book merch, and has consumerism impacted your reading and/or expectations as a popular BookTuber?

Consumerism is definitely something I’ve seen come and go around any internet corner I’ve been in, and naturally BookTube has its own versions of this. I’ll be honest, I don’t really have a lot of thoughts on it within the community because I tend to not mind what people are doing when it’s something like this. For myself, I really am trying to be more conscious about it. I’ve definitely cut back on purchasing books this past year, although I’ve taken to hauling them more. I really enjoy watching and creating book hauls, so that’s why I like to do them! Although I do wish there was a way to help make it feel less like you need to own all the books, because I totally understand why it may come across that way. 

7. What are your top 3 go-to coffee orders and top 3 books you’re highly anticipating for next year?

The iced vanilla latte is my absolute go-to, closely followed by the cinnamon almond milk macchiato from Starbucks! For the holidays, I do love the peppermint mocha, too! I’m definitely anticipating Chain of Iron by Cassie Clare, the new SJM book, and Witchshadow by Susan Dennard. 

Truffle’s side-note: my favourite coffee order is ALSO an Iced Vanilla Latte <3

8. If you had to pick, max. 5 auto-buy authors; who would they be?

Oooooh, that’s a good one. Brandon Sanderson, Alyssa Cole, Susan Dennard, Tracy Deonn (yes, purely based on Legendborn haha), and Christina Lauren!

9. What are you hoping to see more or less of in the BookTube community? 

I hope to see more people joining in on the community and I’m so excited to see the community grow even more! I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more reading vlogs, since they’re my all-time fav to watch!

10. If you had to pick a fancy latin motto for the institution that is Oliviareadsalatte, what would it be? And if you had to choose, would you classify yourself more as dark or light academia? 

Definitely light academia. As far as mottos go, Google has told me that spectaculum eundum means “the show must go on” and I feel like that’s pretty fitting. Sometimes I’m a mess, but the show goes on. 😂

11. Your Bookstagram account is also super aesthetic; do you have any tips for taking Bookstagram photos and making BookTube videos for those looking to start?

Ah, thank you! I 10/10 recommend using natural lighting! I bought the fancy box lights and had a ring light, and they’re definitely great if you need that lighting because you don’t have natural lighting, BUT I find that natural lighting is better fitting for both my videos and pictures—and it’s free! I also recommend getting acquainted with the editing app, lightroom because it’s the best for pictures!

12. Lastly, what are you looking forward to for the rest of 2020? (Bookish or other!)

I’m definitely looking forward to finishing off my Goodreads goal of 120 books (fingers crossed I make it!) and doing Vlogmas! I’m planning roughly 20-30 videos for December, so I’m very excited for that month!

Thank you so much for joining me! This was an honour as a long time fan <3

And there you have it – what did you think of this short booktuber interview? Who would you like to see on the next instalment of BookTube Babble? Let me know in the comment <3

BookTuber Bio:
Oliviareadsalatte

I’m Olivia and I’m an english teacher who is obsessed with reading! I’ve been writing book reviews on my blog for the longest time, and after an unhealthy amount of coffee, I decided starting a booktube channel would be a good idea. I hope you enjoy my caffeine induced rants about books and all things bookish!

BookTube | Instagram | Goodreads | Patreon

Until next time!