Відео

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🌹💙From Quebec City ! 😊

I also loved Say Nothing! I am such a fan of Patrick Radden Keefe. He has a way of making nonfiction really engaging. Please read Empire of Pain. You will love it! These Precious Days was really nice. How to Say Babylon was an amazing memoir! I can't wait to hear what you think of it. It has both an amazing story and incredible writing.

Nice video. Path - "Margaret Hamilton From Cleveland ohio to the Land of Oz " about her journey from kindergarten teacher to the Wicked Witch!

I listened to Sinead O'Connor's autobiography earlier this year, read by her. While it moved me and left me feeling even more respect for her, I think the book you have is probably a better book to get a sense of her life and legacy. In her autobiography she skipped many parts of her life and glossed over other important events. The audio was hard to listen to as her voice was mumbling, gravely, monotone, tired and sad. It made me sad listening. While she talked about some important people in her life, mostly her kids, the rest seemed to be more rambling and reminiscing about just whatever she remembered or wanted to actually talk about, some of which wasn't of much interest to be honest. I think she wrote it after her son died and a year or so before she did as well. It felt lost. I felt bad for her and am very happy that other's have lauded the authenticity, courage, commitment and bravery she showed in her life. I would like to read the book you have on her! On another note..How to Say Babylon was beautifully written and well deserving of it's awards. not only is Safiya Sinclair a good poet, but an engaging novelist as well!

I don't know if you know who Kris Kristofferson is, but apparently, he wrote and recorded a song called Sister Sinead in support of Sinéad O' Connor, and it's so awesome. We lost a true treasure this year. She is one I would like to read more about. 🌹

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Kimmerer’s audiobook is really pleasant. The author’s intonation added to the narrative. I’m probably not going to fit in much nonfiction this month. 😢

I may have to leave the country if you don’t enjoy “Superfan.” 😆I also think you’re going to like “How to Say Babylon.” I’ve kicked off Nonfiction November by listening to “Jokes Jokes Jokes: My Very Funny Memoir” by British comedian, Jenny Éclair. This was followed by “We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s friend, Elliot Mintz. I’ll follow this with the upcoming “Cher: The Memoir, Part One.” Cher has so much to say that it requires two volumes! I’m also awaiting the November release of “Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie” of Fleetwood Mac fame. I’m besotted by Alan Cumming and recommend his 2014 memoir, “Not My Father’s Son” although “Baggage” is good, too. As you can see, I like memoirs just as much as you do but I’ll read anything that interests me in the nonfiction field.

Ooh another hobonichi video, I've been using my first hobonichi weeks this year and I'm still kinda finding my footing in it, there has been months that have just stayed blank. But now I'm kind of getting back in to it and finding joy in decorating and updating it. And I got a new one for next year aswell. I love the cloth cover you have for your day free a6, that looks so cute alltogether! I actually really like the yellow inside, I think with the books in it it just has this pop of yellow around the border, so it doesn't seem to be too overwhelming.

Avoid Smartphone,TV.You can read more

Hi who is the author of Three? I don't think you mentioned it, and I can't find it by the title alone. Thanks for your insights.

Just so you know, I don't know if it was intentional, but in the first 1 min of the video, the music is a bit too loud and I couldn't hear what you said. :) Wish you well & i subscribed 2 you!

This was such a fun video. I’m going to get to No Exit this winter. It’s on my shelves.

This was fun, Jess! Rather than spooky season books, I’m only reading cozy books from now until the U.S. election is over. Even though I’m not American, I’m stressed out by it all. Nonetheless, I’ve made note of a few titles.

Ooh I hope you enjoy the second half of North and South as much as the first half! My favourite Victorian novel! I'm just finishing Crying in H Mart and gosh it's been a punch in the gut - it's taken me a while to read because I find it so rough to read. Definitely been crying!

Happy to see "Frankenstein" in your rankings.A few days ago Book Chat with Pat posted about it, and today I posted my own views. It's a true classic.

I love these. I usually have 3 going at a time. An ebook, an audiobook and a physical book. I have also used audiobooks to help with texts that have diffcult names/places to pronounce to help me understand and get through it a bit easier.

The repeated use of the word genocide without definition is puzzling. A literate person can be expected to respect the meaning of words. You have fallen prey to propaganda of those who poured resources into tunnels and arms rather than building civil society.

This is great advice! Having structure with goals and schedule have helped me. Also, having challenges makes it fun and has helped me grow in my reading. I like to find a asmr video on UA-cam that goes with my book- like I’m reading a book set in the Serengeti and I put on a safari video. I watched a lot of gothic atmosphere video earlier this month.

This is a great video and I really enjoyed your advice. For me, I don't carry the physical book I'm reading and instead I always have magazines I subscribe to and the AARP magazine, etc. in my car. I read at least 2 hours a day on the days that I can, and I don't judge myself when I can't. My iPhone timer is set to 59:30, and some time in the afternoon I do a sprint and then right when I get in bed I do the second sprint. (After that hour, I watch Peacock or Netflix or UA-cam.) I'm in this habit now and I know I'm reading more pages per day than before. I don't set reading goals, I don't follow my reading statistics, I have no idea how many pages per day I'm able to read, and I don't care about my books-per-year number. Reading is for fun and all that crap just takes time away from reading. I am, however, on Goodreads. I spent my entire working life in finance, "doing the math," and now that I'm retired, I'm done with that. I have one physical or Kindle book going at a time and one audiobook on CD in my car at a time. I'm doing the Read What I Own challenge and getting thru some big books. It's actually time to eat now and then move to my bedroom. Have fun reading, everyone! Edited to add, those BookTubers who listen to audiobooks at double speed? And they're multi-tasking while they're listening? What the actual h*ll? To do that and absorb all the nuances and plot points and character developments in a book -- impossible, I say. OK, I'm going now for real.

Super interesting thank u. I would just add for me I need to spend a good 40/50 minute’s in one seating without interruption on each book I start so that I understand where it is going, get to know the characters and plot. Once I have got it and I have been interested in the story I will always finish them in one seating or many short periods of readings no matter how many disruptions and look forward to dip back in. If I start a book without understanding the first few chapters I have a tendency to DNF them. But like you I have many on the go mainly non fiction, history and mystery/ police ones.

Everyone’s favourite book is trashed somewhere on Goodreads and your approach is probably a healthy one! I can honestly say that Elena Knows and James got five stars from me but I have very occasionally given one star reviews, usually for books I had to read for my reading group and at least some of that group agreed with me!

Just found your thoughtful channel and wish i found this video earlier in the month for the readalong. I love how you break down the reading by week.

My tips for reading more would be: 1. Stop watching UA-cam videos and social media in general. 2. Stop using the Internet and watching TV. 3. Read more. Not difficult.

Yay! I'm super late to the party (my trend with this tag!) but had so much fun viewing your video 😆 I should have done a language tag with a language I'm learning at a more basic language - it would have been a hoot (read trainwreck) in Danish! You've reminded me I want to read Bad Cree and Fayne and Women Talking! The way my jaw fell when you said Sylvia Plath comes to mind 😅I like where you went with that gas oven book though!

Hey. Hobonichi doesn’t make plastic covers for the regular cousin only the HON and the regular weeks. The plastic covers , the one you were using is a cover on cover, which is used on those fabric covers with the butterfly pen holders, they are made to go over them to keep them clean. I love that 5 year gift box… trying to avoid buying one. Going to finish a a6 5 year that I use for gratitude this year, but need a break from 5 year, so I will be using a weeks for gratitude next year.

Wuthering Heights: I've read it twice and hated it both times. It seems like some of the 1-star reviewers simply don't "get" the novel, which is unfortunate. To my understanding, Wuthering Heights isn't meant to be romantic. it is a story of obsessive, possessive love and revenge. This is not a healthy relationship! That isn't why I dislike it, though. I just find it to be quite tedious. I have been entertaining a third go at it, though, Sometimes it takes two or more readings to solidify my feelings on a book. If it's any consolation, I hate Villette even more--and don't even get me started on The Professor. I still have The Tenant of Wildfell Hall left to read and I plan to tackle that one this winter. A Tale for the Time Being and Invisible Man are two of my all-time favorite novels and anyone who dislikes them is just wrong. :) Editing to add: I think Invisible Man may just be THE Great American Novel and I am willing to die on that hill. I read it in grad school and it became the subject of my term paper for that class. The novel is so sly and so, so smart. I recognize that it is a difficult novel and that what Ellison is doing may not be readily apparent to all readers, but everything-every scene, every sentence, every word-is carefully chosen and is meant to portray the Black experience in America and the often arbitrary racial classifications (for want of a better word) in American society. For example, the mixing of the bright white paint that contains a very precise amount of black pigment. Here, Ellison is making a subtle, but salient point. He is riffing on the practice in the former Confederate states that attempted to measure blackness based on the percentage of Black blood a person has in them. Can the brightest, whitest paint be truly "pure" white if it has even one drop of black in it? How much "black" is acceptable for the paint to still be white? Also, the narrator's encounter with the patients from the mental hospital is filled with brilliant pathos and is one of the most hilarious things I have ever read. That scene is very Faulkner-esque and the humor put me in mind of As I Lay Dying. How can people hate this book?!?

Here because I love when Canadians post their hauls. Re: imports. It's only been 2 years that they have included import duties and taxes so I think people are just remembering the surprise bills (I got a $78 dollar one one year... Ouch) but ordering from Hobonichi has always been worth it if you're ordering more than a couple notebooks! ❤❤ Yay goodies!!

Fingersmith absolutely fits the ancestry prompt! That’s my favorite of Sarah Waters’s novels.

Great advice. I try to not fall into expectations of myself for reading, such as, 'I have to read so many books each month/year'. I also strive to be someone who relishes a book while I am in it, but also keeps making progress, because there are SO many books I would like to read! One trick I use for myself is that I use several book marks in a book while I am reading it to mark 'goals'. I use one to mark a reading goal that day..50 pgs or # of chptrs, if a book is set up that way. In big books, I'll set one midway to encourage me to strive toward that goal. I usually have at least 3 bookmarks in a book I am reading:) I probably read an avg of 1-1/2hrs each day at night before going to bed. While walking the dog or doing long drives, I also listen to nonfiction or certain books that the plot/writing doesn't require 100% attention every sentence. I am a faster reader now than I was a year ago, even with just this little time spent reading. I was shocked to see that I had read 80 books this year already (22 audio and some <200pgs). I asked myself lately, 'What is something I could do to read more?'. LOL..For me, it's the amount of time I am on UA-cam watching Booktubers and enjoying learning about new books to read and hearing their thoughts on a book that I read. It is addicting. I'm still going to watch UA-cam (and many of the awesome Booktubers I watch incl your channel!), but am going to put some overall limits on YT and devote a little more time to actually reading:)

Jess, your advice is great for readers of all levels whether they’re just getting into reading or they’ve been reading with a passion since childhood (like me.) I always carry a book therefore I’m never bored in a doctor’s waiting room or stuck in a lineup to have my passport renewed. As a mood reader, I usually have three books on the go at any given time. Usually, they’re different genres. Often, they’re different formats such as an eBook, an audiobook, and a paper book. I support your decision to set boundaries with your phone set to “do not disturb.” Smart move. The biggest obstacle in my life when trying to carve out more time to read is the fact that I spend too much time watching BookTube.🤣

Not my beloved WH!!! 😂 Often 1 star reviews come from a complete misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the point of a novel. Anyone who believes it to be a romance is grossly misinformed. So many readers want a happy ending from a likeable character. This isn’t it people! But it’s still brilliant! 😂❤

These are great tips. Some of them I’ve figured out on my own - particularly your initial caveat about “making a place for” as opposed to speed reading - but others I will try to incorporate. I’ve only been reading about three years now and finding it worthwhile.

Interesting discussion, I too am not interested in speed reading. Last year I read 100 books, this year I dialled back my target to 72 on Goodreads, I am currently 2 books ahead, which is as you say feels good. Last year to hit the 100 books, December was quite stressful as I had 13 books to read to hit the target. I usually have three or four books on the go at one time. One of which is on my Kindle app, which is the book I'll read when I am travelling around like on the metro. The physical books I tend to read at home, I don't want to be carrying their bulk around, although on holiday I will take two or three physical books.

Seaweed Kisses does the Velcro. The sticky pocket has its own sticky backing. I'd put it on the inside front right page. The cover you got for the cousin is the "cover on cover" it's not meant to go on the notebook itself but is a cover for one of the design covers.

I hope you're enjoying participating in Gothtober for the first time! I have marytr on my shelf as well and it looks like the book for me for sure, so I need to get around it at some point. Ooh I have heard very good things about motherthing as well and it is one I am keeping an eye out for. I loved the moonstone so I hope you enjoyed that one as well! I LOVED crying in h mart and thought it was beautiful. Make sure you read with snacks...

Your intro is sooo cute!! 😆😍

❤ I went to read some of the negative reviews of some of my favorite books after seeing this and it was so frustrating. Most of the reviews were people that could not have actually read the books 😅

So fun and so painful! Wuthering Heights is in my top 5, so is The Scarlet Letter, both of which seem to be love or hate reading experiences. What’s going on with Elena Knows? It was fabulous! I know I’m going to love James, so the 1 ⭐️ reviews only spur me on. I am going to add Therese to my TBR, because I too enjoy “depressing” novels. I’ll read I Capture the Castle as a beloved antidote. 😂😂

This was fun, seeing your reactions to 1* reviews. I really enjoyed reading “Therese Racquin” decades ago so I shared your disappointment on that 1* review. I am somewhat sympathetic to students who may not have been exposed to the more descriptive writing of days gone by. Unlike today’s students, as a reader, I didn’t have to overcome the tempting distraction from the information/entertainment overload of phones, laptops, streaming etc. Also, these classic novels are probably enjoyed more by those who have an interest in the history of social behavior of the time. I haven’t read “Bunny” but I did read “The Rabbit Hutch” which was much more engaging than I expected. A few years ago, I read “Wuthering Heights” due to FOMO when I started watching Book Tube. I admired Emily Bronte’s powerful writing and was awed that she created such a wildly vivid tale while residing in a Yorkshire vicarage. I was confounded as to why she named two characters Cathy. Heathcliff and Cathy were not redeemed by love. It will never be a re-read for me. 🫤 Hard to believe someone would describe “Invisible Man” as boring. It opens with a wild boxing match. Joe Morton gave the character a powerful voice on the audio version. For a reader not familiar with Jim Crow laws and politics in the US during the 1920’s-30’s, parts of the story might be confusing. Have yet to read “James”.

Reading reviews is always a mix of funny, infuriating, and informative (sometimes about the book, and sometimes about the person). 😂 This was a fun video.

I’m currently reading “Fayne” as recommended by you. I’m pleased to say that it has a 4.26 rating on Goodreads with only a handful of 1-star reviews. Two of those reviews said it’s too long, and two said it’s not their cup of tea. There was also a 1.5-star review that said “the writing was way too flouncy.” As for me, I’m LOVING it.

Hi Jess, Great post! Laugh-out-loud funny. It seems a common theme of negative reviews is that a book was “boring”. I suspect those readers were disappointed there were no wizards, vampires or werewolves involved. Also, that some of the negative “Jim” reviews were simply racist is not surprising. I think the book was intended to hit that nerve, to force people to face their own bigotry. Of course, this always offends racists. Such snowflakes, hahaha.

The person who wrote the long critique of Wuthering Heights was bound to be very disappointed if she expected a “sad and beautiful gothic romance”. However, in spite of the fact that she says she hated it, she took the time to write a long and considered review. Obviously the book has stayed with her.

Minor Detail has been on my shelf for too long! I need to prioritize

I loved The Romance of a Shop! I hope you like it 😊

Lots of great choices on your TBR! happy reading!

Ah, you found my list!!! 📚