Just discovered your channel today and my bank balance isn’t happy about it. You make all of these books sound fantastic and I need to read them all immediately 😂
Hahahaha. Whoops. Sorry Rhiannon. Well I’m not sorry as you’ll have some corking books to read. Welcome to the channel, hope you keep enjoying it, even if your bank balance doesn’t 😉
I love how you read and feedback on books that we don't see everywhere else! Your selection is always sooo relatable to my tastes! Thank you so much for your channel! Love your wallpaper in the background as well 💙
Cereus Blooms at Night! It's so gratifying and moving to see this Caribbean classic being discovered by new readers -- it's long been one of my essential, soul reads. I'm thrilled you loved it, Simon. ❤
I really really loved it. I’ve completely forgotten to link to my whole video about it oops. What an amazing book, can’t wait to read more Mootoo. Sooner rather than later.
Thanks to you and your mom (or as y'all say, Mum), I read "Bandit Queens" and loved it! No intellectual read, but after just coming off an Edith Wharton novel, this is exactly the kind of book I was ready for! One of my favorites of the year as well!
Soooooo pleased you enjoyed it. Though I would say I don’t agree it’s not an intellectual read, the way it looks at caste and women’s rights and societal expectations is some serious food for thought and discussion.
so happy you loved The Secret Lives of Church Ladies!! Deesha has a story which opens an upcoming anthology I’m editing (Peach Pit) and I’m SO excited to see people’s reactions to it, she’s truly a genius!✨🍑
@SavidgeReads If you like this genre of books you should read Pulitzer Prize nominated The Consequence of Anna. Written by Australian writer Kate Birkin…. I just finished reading it and its such a different kind of book that it’s hard to explain. Inspired by a true story set in the 1930s and absolutely enthralling.….I don’t want to give anything away but I guarantee you once you start reading this gothic story you won’t be able to put it down. I have ten favorites books I keep in my living room and The Consequence of Anna is now one of them. First book I have ever read that reads like a movie is playing out as I read. The characters come alive.
Love these videos. So many great books. The Bluest Eye is, I think, one of the best debut novels ever. I am currently doing a reading project of reading all of Morrison’s novels in order. It’s been incredible. Love The Poisonwood Bible and can’t wait to read Demon Copperhead. Glad you had a Barbara breakthrough. Black Cake is on my shelf. Love your edition of it. I liked some of the stories in Church Ladies. I became a Shani Mootoo fan a couple years ago. Can’t wait to read Cereus Blooms at Night. 😊💙
I’ve unintentionally started a project to read all Morrison’s books in order. That said I’ve not given myself a schedule and am waiting for just the right time for Sula. I’ll definitely be getting to more Mootoo this year too!
It’s thanks to your videos that I read The Bandit Queens, Demon Copperhead and Trespasses. Loved them all. Thanks for your recommendations and insights.
I went and brought Cereus blooms at night after seeing your other video, so its on my tbr pile at the top! I read nutmeg this year which i absolutely loved and wasn’t sure what to expect from it, picked it up in a 2nd hand book shop and what a gem it was! Marriage portrait is up there for me so far this year along with my name is why, what a book and what a man lemn sessay is.
Lemn is an utter joy. It was a privilege to be on the judging panel with him and the also amazing Meena Kandasamy for the Christopher Bland Prize earlier this year.
I just read The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and I loved it!! Each character is developed so wonderfully and has their own voice. Thanks for the recommendation! Ps. I'm quite new here and you are awesome 😊
Ive heard a lot of the same with Mrs. S, so I'm happy to hear you had a good time with it! I've got it on my nightstand but have been neglecting her. Rectifying that asap And ugh! Brutes! The Bandit Queens! Trespasses! Secret Lives! So so so many good ones!
Really love 'Best of' videos too! Really good to hear you talk about A Spell of Good Things! I pre-ordered it as a 'must read', but haven't heard anyone talking about it, so haven't picked it up. Now I must! You've sold me Cereus Blooms at Night too. My favourite book of the year so far is In Memoriam, followed by Mr Loverman, Giovanni's Room, Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey and Real Estate by Deborah Levy.
Ooh I’ve seen a few reviews of Adebayo here and there. It’s not had the buzz or discussion of Stay With Me, I feel all that happens at paperback stage now. I must read In Memoriam. Sooooo many people have recommended it.
My Top 5 (with 1 tie) for 2023 so far: Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Trust - Hernan Diaz Birnam Wood - Eleanor Cattan Age of Vice - Deepti Kapoor The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O'Farrell Disorientation - Elaine Hsieh Chou
A little late as I tend to binge your shows, watching several to catch up! 4 favorite books of the year so far: Chorus by Rebecca Kaufman (I have 6 siblings and we grew up around this time, so it really resonated with me) ; Improvement by Joan Silber (great book, kind of a sleeper-don't understand why it wasn't talked about more, great story line), The Weight of the World (Beware-- so dark and so violent, so heartbreaking, hard to stop thinking about it . Read David Joy's bio before reading his books as his background is telling), Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner (the shortest, easiest to read of Booker prize winners, this was a re-read for me and I loved it as much as the first time around).
Never too late. Binge away. I’ll have to look up the books you mentioned as I’ve not heard of a few of them. I have read Hotel Du Lac and I really liked it.
Great video. I am currently reading Trespasses and enjoying it so far. My top 5 this year are: Klara and the Sun; Me by Elton John; Daisy Darker, Exit and The Dry.
Hi Simon … Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your book tube videos … So thank you. My favourite books so far this year are … Notes on an Execution - Danya Kufakia Lessons in Chemistry … Bonnie Garmus Demon Copperhead … Barbara Kingsoliver Louise Kennedy … Trespasses The Rachel Incident … Caroline O’Donoghue
Always difficult to choose top reads, but I think mine for the year so far are (in no particular order): Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver Foster, Claire Keegan Black Butterflies, Priscilla Morris Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
Demon and Wandering Souls also made it onto my best of the year list. The WP did pretty well really. A couple on your list that I hadn’t heard of before!
I also loved Blackcake ;loved how the story unwound itself as the story went along. I also loved Bandit Queens for pretty much the same reasons as you. So gritty and the twists and turns were great.
I reckon half of these are on my tbr, lol (your videos always add to my excitement about books!) 😄🌼 E.g. the women’s prize books mentioned, Black Cake and The Poisonwood Bible. My top five reads so far this year would be Open Water, Convenience Store Woman, Girl, Woman, Other, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine + Sorrow and Bliss. And only more brill ones to come 🤩💛
eep! need to get to that Morrison! i too have a Morrison in my top ten for this year and i'm ashamed i haven't gotten to her work sooner! and her work isn't to be rushed! they're like incredibly decadent desserts that need to be spread out across the seasons
Brilliant vlog. Got a few new orders placed at the library now. Demon copperhead and black butterflies for me too. Currently reading the Covenant of water and loving it so far. All enjoy your well earned break love 😍 😍
I grew up 40 miles south of Lee County, VA, in Jefferson City TN. Barbara told you the correct pronunciation. Demon Copperhead took me home! The people, the small towns, the dialect, the nicknames, etc. were spot on! 5🌟
You made me go and buy Kishwar Desai’s first book of the trilogy and Shane Mootoo too 😂 I always love your videos and Bandit Queens is definitely my fave this year so far. Also very much enjoyed The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappapot. Hard to read in parts but fascinating. I’ve been in a book slump quite a bit this year sadly, but hoping for better things 😘
I need to read some Helen Rappaport. I’ve heard very good things. I think lots of us are slumpy. I think the last few years has been exhausting and we’ve all been through the weirdest time. Our brains have to catch up with that at some point.
Really enjoyed your video, put some new titles on my radar. Thank you for such a variety of books. It is refreshing to have different books to learn about, not just what is popular right now. My top five are: News of the World by Paulette Jiles, The English Understand Wool by Helen De Witt, Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, Poppet by Mo Hayder #6 in the Jack Caffery series, and The Bandit Queens of course!
Love your videos, Simon! I’m new to your pages, but I’ve been watching a whole lot of your videos. My top five so far: 5. Alice Winn, In Memoriam. 4. Louise Kennedy, Trespasses. 3. Dani Shapiro, Signal Fires. 2. Maggie O’Farrell, The Marriage Portrait. And hands down, my #1 is Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead.
Welcome Patricia. Lovely to have you hear and thanks for commenting. A fab top five. Second mention of Dani Shapiro. I have also had soooo many recommendations of In Memoriam I am going to have to get to it soon.
@@SavidgeReads, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through a World War I novel, so I was hesitant about In Memoriam, but it’s a really compelling plot and a powerful love story too. I got it from my library, but I think it’s a book I want to own now. Thanks for these wonderful videos!
I love you channel ❤. My top books of the year (in no particular order) have been: - The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Trespasses by Louise Kennedy - Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (indigenous wisdom and science) - Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsaw Shire (poetry/memoir) - My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh Honorable mentions: - Foster by Claire Keegan - Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier ( which I fake read in high school 😅)
Ha. Fake read just really make me laugh. Rebecca is one of my all time favs. Thrilled Trespasses is on your list too. I looooved the Moshfegh when I read it a few years ago.
As a Patreon representative I will say that I am stunned that The Bluest Eye is not your number 1, but as a book club member I am also not surprised. Love your “cheating” (which isn’t really cheating because it’s your list after all). My top two favorite reads of the year so far are definitely In Memoriam and I Am Homeless If This Is not My Home. Nothing else comes close to those two for me, but there are other terrific reads and some books coming out soon that I am really excited about.
Hahahaha. A sudden new entry at the number one spot. Both your favourites I am very very keen to read. I want your thoughts on the Mootoo at some point 😉
Omg. I have just finished tin man. It almost finished me!!!! Such a beautiful book and was so invested in the story and characters, I finished it in one sitting. Any recommendations for not books like this ? X
Well now I'm going to HAVE to buy Cereus! I've (shamefully) never read a Morrison. Would you say The Bluest Eye is a good entry point? Alsooo what's the first book in the Kate Mosse series called? Been looking for a new adventure series to get into for a while.
I’ve only read two Toni Morrison novels so I don’t know if I am the best person for advice 😂 However The Bluest Eye is great. The first in the current series, one more to go next year I think, is The Burning Chamber. I’m actually super excited to start her previous (multi million selling) series with Labyrinth soon.
Thanks so much for sharing this incredible list! I filmed a top 9 video and didn't really rank them, but a few of my more recent favorites from that list include In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (his first novel), At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich, and Strip: A Memoir by Hannah Sward (I never read memoirs...but boy am I glad I picked that one up!).
@@SavidgeReads Here you go! (For some reason I was under the impression that I couldn't put links in comments! I'm such a newb!) Thanks so much for your great videos - love your channel so much! ua-cam.com/video/dP49u4GxRRQ/v-deo.html
My top five of the year so far: The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays (By the end I really appreciated the theme of interconnection.) The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (You don’t adore either character at first, nor do you see a way out of various situations. Makes for a satisfying journey.) The Measure by Nikki Erlick (Very interesting conceit, compelling characters, would make a good book club book) The Celebrants by Steven Rowley (A group of friends makes a pact and keeps it over decades.) The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Nonfiction essays, good on audio as its read by the author, real meaning of life stuff)
My top five books this year so far are (in no particular order) 1. Boy Like Me by Simon James Green, 2. Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks, 3. Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen 4. Exiles by Jane Harper and 5. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.
I have only read Song of Solomon and I want to read more by Toni Morrison. My sister has two of her books in her little library that I can borrow. Mrs. K and Cereus Blooms sound intriguing. My favorites keep changing every time someone poses that question, I guess I'm still thinking about it.
Hope you enjoy Mrs S and Cereus Blooms at Night if you get to them. Definitely see which Morrison’s you can get your mitts on. It’s going to be Sula next for me.
As always I love your recommendations. I was looking for a new poetry book and I’m looking forward to picking up Narcissus. My reading year has had misses but my list is milk and honey, my murder, boulder,as a man thinketh and the Rachel Incident
I should have included Selena Godden’s Pessimism is for Leightweights too. That’s my favourite collection of the year but apart from including the Bagoo as I was chatting about him anyway, I didn’t really cover poetry. Maybe a video on that later in the year.
Top reads of the year so far: Salvage The Bones; Seven Steeples; Lovers by Daniel Arsand Howard Curtis (Translator); Such Kindness; The Dance Tree; The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. I think you would love Lovers if you have not read it. It would take you a few hours it is so brief.
Wow, some to add to my TBR there :) My Top 5 so far is 1. A Little Devil in America (Hanif Abdurraqib) non-fic 2. An Immense World (Ed Yong) non-fic 3. Small Worlds (Caleb Azumah Nelson) 4. The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O'Farrell) 5. Clytemnestra I am excited to see what books will make my top at the end of the year!
I enjoyed the Abdurraqib when I read that a few years ago. Always love an O’Farrell. Hooray for Clytemnestra. I have a feeling that my list could look VERY different by the end of the year. We shall see.
My 5 favourite books read this year: the Poisonwood Bible, Rebecca, Watership Down, Force of nature, Bel canto. Very mixed list. All of these I had the audio as well as the book.
Opal Country by Chris Hammer Child of the Ruins by Kate Furnivall (ARC) The Rose Code by Kate Quinn Homecoming by Kate Morton Greyfriars House by Emma Fraser Not the usual Simon reads but I loved them 😊
Your estimation of Trespasses must have increased post-Women’s Prize, since Fire Rush was your top pick then. Surprised Demon is so low, and The Bandit Queens edged it out of your top three. Very curious to see what books will be knocked out of contention for your year-end list, b/c some inevitably will.
Yes it did, as I mentioned it’s just grown and grown and grown on me. Could end up going even higher hahaha. We will see. I don’t know if Bandit Queens was ever in my top three. Was of my top three of the Women’s Prize this year, with Fire Rush and Trespasses. I wouldn’t say number 9 was low for Demon, it’s still the top ten 🤣 Oh and some will definitely be knocked out. A few already have 😱
Hi Simon 🤓 Cereus Blooms At Night is now on my ‘wish list’ 👍 My top 6 📚 so far!! Demon Copperhead; Trespasses; Briefly, A Delicious Life; I Am, I Am, I Am; Black Butterflies; All Over Creation. SO many books, not enough time 🕰️ 🥴 xx
I love reading people’s top 5 so far for 2023. Here are mine: 1. Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke. Mr. Burke, who is now 86, calls this his best work and I say it would be most writers’ best work. 2. Be Mine by Richard Ford 3. Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry 4. Small Mercies by Dennis LeHane 5. Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro I read Demon Copperhead and Trespasses last year. If I had read them this year, they would be 1 and 5 respectively. They were 4 and 5 on my best books of 2022.
Barbara Kingsolver is a brilliant writer, I love those two. Birnam Wood, Bandit Queens, Bable and Yellowface have made my top reads so far this year. The Miles Franklin shortlist is also brilliant along with some on the longlist. Currently reading The House of Doors and it's beautiful, really hope it's on the Booker longlist. Hope to finish Fire Rush and The Story of the Forest soon too. I have high hopes for those two. Oh and Alexi Wright's Praiseworthy I want to get to as well.
Yellow mace I have on the TBR. I can’t decide if I will like Birnam Wood or not. I have it but I’ve not been drawn to it and I didn’t love her Booker winner. I really want to get to The Story of the Forest.
@@SavidgeReads I think Birnam Wood is a much easier read than Luminaries. I liked Birnam Wood's set up, but some might not, and once it takes off it really takes off.
I loved Trespasses. Also, Time Shelter, Ex-Wife; Small Mercies; and Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes. It’s been a good year for reading. Can’t wait to see what’s on the Booker long list.
I really hope it’s a stellar Booker prize longlist. I want a list where I’ve loved a few, have a few I want to read and own already and then have a lot I’ve not heard of but all sound amazing and I want to get my mitts on. Very excited for Natalie Hayne’s Divine Might which I’ll be reading next month. Can’t wait.
such a great list!!! i also loved trespasses and black cake! i also really want to get to a spell of good things and fire rush this year! my top 5 of the year: sirens and muses by antonia angress, maame by jessica george, the guest by emma cline, the great believers by rebecca makkai, and eileen by ottessa moshfegh 💕💕💕💕
Oooh my lovely friend in LA sent me Sirens and Muses and I must read that this year. And Maame. I’m reading the new Makkai at the moment and really enjoying it. Loved Eileen. I’m nervous about The Guest. Fab selection of books.
📖🥰📚 For me, my top 5 for the year so far are, The Winners by Fredik Backman(book 3 of the Beartown trilogy), and most recently Manda Scott's 4 book The Boudica Series. I'm still thinking and processes those stories.
Loads of books on your list that I want to read. My best books of the year so far are ( in no particular order) The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue Close To Home by Michael Magee Kala by Colin Walsh Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin The New Life by Tom Crewe My Fourth Time, We Drowned ( only nonfiction) We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves A Tale For the Time Being All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Chein English Animals A Room With A View Crow Lake by Mary Lawson A Fine Balance ( even though I hated the ending) Fellowship Point Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton Deluge by Stephen Markley The Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin 👋☘️🍀📚📖📕☕️🇮🇪
Also loved Secret Lives of Church Ladies Been enjoying a number of books on art and creativity already this year - Wonder by Beatrice Blue, Raucous Invention - Mark Hearld - and A Year Unfolding - Angela Harding So inspiring and absorbing to read Still Life and Rose Tremains Lily were marvellous Getting into graphic novels too Mann’s Best Friend was great More than 5 sorry but good year so far
I love all of you’re “cheating” hah I *think* my top 5 so far would be (not ranked): Lost Children Archive, This is How You Lose the Time War, Salt Slow, The Bandit Queens, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
It couldn’t be helped. Too many good books. That said I shall be much stricter when it’s my books of the year video. Lol. Hooray for The Bandit Queens being on your list too.
I read like a page of Trespasses and DNF’ed it but it obv wasn’t the right time as when I came back to it later at the end of my WP reading I then gave it 5 ⭐️ I think Louise Kennedy is so talented.. didn’t know there was a short story collection out there 👀
Timing is sooo key with reading I think. It’s bizarre how that can happen with books isn’t it? The short story collection is called The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, which I love from the title alone. Ha.
Currently listening to Wandering Souls, incredible! Top 5 for me: the Beartown series by Fredrik Backman, The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris, Hamnet by (the incredible) Maggie O' Farrell, The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (loved all the book references) and Razorblade Tears by SA Crosby 5+ stars. I listened to The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison was the narrator, amazing! That's 6 sorry not sorry. 😂 Also, if there was a prize for best t-shirt collection on Booktube you would win, hands down.
Awww thank you, I love my tshirts and sweaters. So am thrilled you do. I would really like to get to The Sweetness of Water at some point. Hamnet I loved, the year it came out it was my favourite book of the year.
I’ve had a pretty underwhelming reading year so far, but some of my favorites have been: The Hole We’re In by Gabrielle Zevin Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Melinda Lo Finna by Nino Cipri Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
I’ve read quite a lot of good books this year including Life by Keith Richards Acts of desperation by Megan Nolan An almond for a parrot 🦜 by Wray Delaney You made a fool of death with your beauty by Akwaeke Amezi Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld Strong female character by Fern Brady Cackle and Such sharp teeth by Rachel Harrison Those are just a few 🤣🤣📚📚📚
@@SavidgeReads I think the only genre I struggle with is sci fi really. A lot of the books you mentioned are by the side of my bed waiting to be read 🤣
I have no idea what I missed in Wandering Souls. I have seen it on so many Booker Prize predictions and Best Of The Year videos. I listened to the audiobook… and felt meh at best. And I love historical fiction! 🤷🏻♀️
My top five so far: Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky Heatwave by Victor Jestin Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
Wonderful top reads. Here are my top 5 so far in 2023. 1. I started the year with a re-read (upteenth time) of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Whenever I reread it, it always tops my list.) 2. Hamnet, by Maggie OFarrell (I don't agree with her hypotheses but the vivid prose--ooh!) 3. Picasso's War: How Modern Art Came to America by Hugh Eakin NF (dry, fascinating, and I learned a lot) 4. Will In The World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare NF by Stephen Greenblatt (I don't think anyone should read Hamnet without also reading this book. SOOO enlightening.) 5. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (I read as a companion to Trust and enjoyed the read much more.) Now I'm reading The Count of Monte Christo and it will top my list in the second half of the year...should I finish it before January. Thanks for asking me to reflect on my reading. It was a worthy endeavor. Cheers.
Oooh a really fab selection of books there. I really want to read The Age of Innocence. I loved the movie when I saw it at the cinema as a kid though it was a dramatic day that which I will talk about when I read it and review it. Hahaha. Ps. I have read Hamnet without reading the Greenblatt. Oops.
Shani Mootoo is amazing and actually a local author for me! I’m all in for Demon Copperhead for the Booker longlist and is at the top of my list for Best Books of 2023 so far. Here’s a link to my favourites! ua-cam.com/video/mwY5zxaJIBo/v-deo.html
@@SavidgeReads She writes at a local coffee shop and I try not to fan girl every time I see her, which means I’m painfully obvious and she is very gracious. I’m too shy to actually talk to her. 😆
Ninth House and trilogy Grishaverse Series both Leigh Bardugo. Gallant and Near Witch both VE Schwab. The Bone House Emily Lloyd -Jones . ❤ from Thailand
I’m late to comment on this video (I may be re-watching it actually) - but I just want to say that the number of favorite books mid-way through the year is irrelevant - why put a limit on favorites?! If you loved it, I want to hear about it. There’s no need to beat yourself up over the number and which ones are honorable mentions or whatever - but, I will say, it is amusing to watch you justify and work it out. Hugs and high fives to you, Simon 😊
Never late to comment or to watch a video. They’re here online forever. I don’t think the amount of books matters either, well it does in terms of length of video and I do believe there can be a limit on that. Hahaha. It is just quite fun to challenge myself to have a limit of books. UA-cam is always fun, has to be its a hobby not a job 😉
Oo this was a juicy one!! I read Secret Lives of Church Ladies this last month and totally loved it! Also, I am off to Athens this year and wanted to take a Greek myth retelling (I don't think I have read ANY of them as it stands 😳) so Clytemnestra is now top of the list! Thank you! My top five: Open Water, Panenka, Rebecca, 7 Husbands of Eveleyn Hugo and Convenience S Woman!
Oooh I would take Clytemnestra and a gods and monsters one too. Maybe Circe. Or A Thousand Ships. Both great for dipping your toes into the magical side of myths.
Just discovered your channel today and my bank balance isn’t happy about it. You make all of these books sound fantastic and I need to read them all immediately 😂
Hahahaha. Whoops. Sorry Rhiannon. Well I’m not sorry as you’ll have some corking books to read. Welcome to the channel, hope you keep enjoying it, even if your bank balance doesn’t 😉
I love how you read and feedback on books that we don't see everywhere else! Your selection is always sooo relatable to my tastes! Thank you so much for your channel! Love your wallpaper in the background as well 💙
Awww thanks for all the lovely compliments. What a lovely comment to get!
Cereus Blooms at Night! It's so gratifying and moving to see this Caribbean classic being discovered by new readers -- it's long been one of my essential, soul reads. I'm thrilled you loved it, Simon. ❤
I really really loved it. I’ve completely forgotten to link to my whole video about it oops. What an amazing book, can’t wait to read more Mootoo. Sooner rather than later.
Thanks to you and your mom (or as y'all say, Mum), I read "Bandit Queens" and loved it! No intellectual read, but after just coming off an Edith Wharton novel, this is exactly the kind of book I was ready for! One of my favorites of the year as well!
Soooooo pleased you enjoyed it. Though I would say I don’t agree it’s not an intellectual read, the way it looks at caste and women’s rights and societal expectations is some serious food for thought and discussion.
😂 you should have done a top 20, love how you snuck the extras in. I’ve only read one of these, but have the majority on my tbr.
Hahahaha. I could have done a top 20 but then the ‘cheating’ might have been less fun… or worse and could have had a top 30. Hahaha.
so happy you loved The Secret Lives of Church Ladies!! Deesha has a story which opens an upcoming anthology I’m editing (Peach Pit) and I’m SO excited to see people’s reactions to it, she’s truly a genius!✨🍑
Well as you know Molly I have Peach Pit on my shelves 😉 🍑
@SavidgeReads If you like this genre of books you should read Pulitzer Prize nominated The Consequence of Anna. Written by Australian writer Kate Birkin…. I just finished reading it and its such a different kind of book that it’s hard to explain. Inspired by a true story set in the 1930s and absolutely enthralling.….I don’t want to give anything away but I guarantee you once you start reading this gothic story you won’t be able to put it down. I have ten favorites books I keep in my living room and The Consequence of Anna is now one of them. First book I have ever read that reads like a movie is playing out as I read. The characters come alive.
Oooh I have never heard of this, I shall have to look it up. Thank you for the rave review.
The video we’ve all been waiting for! 🎉🎉
Oh you charmer!
Love these videos. So many great books. The Bluest Eye is, I think, one of the best debut novels ever. I am currently doing a reading project of reading all of Morrison’s novels in order. It’s been incredible. Love The Poisonwood Bible and can’t wait to read Demon Copperhead. Glad you had a Barbara breakthrough. Black Cake is on my shelf. Love your edition of it. I liked some of the stories in Church Ladies. I became a Shani Mootoo fan a couple years ago. Can’t wait to read Cereus Blooms at Night. 😊💙
I’ve unintentionally started a project to read all Morrison’s books in order. That said I’ve not given myself a schedule and am waiting for just the right time for Sula. I’ll definitely be getting to more Mootoo this year too!
It’s thanks to your videos that I read The Bandit Queens, Demon Copperhead and Trespasses. Loved them all. Thanks for your recommendations and insights.
Soooooo pleased you enjoyed the ones you’ve read Carole.
I went and brought Cereus blooms at night after seeing your other video, so its on my tbr pile at the top! I read nutmeg this year which i absolutely loved and wasn’t sure what to expect from it, picked it up in a 2nd hand book shop and what a gem it was! Marriage portrait is up there for me so far this year along with my name is why, what a book and what a man lemn sessay is.
Lemn is an utter joy. It was a privilege to be on the judging panel with him and the also amazing Meena Kandasamy for the Christopher Bland Prize earlier this year.
I just read The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and I loved it!! Each character is developed so wonderfully and has their own voice. Thanks for the recommendation!
Ps. I'm quite new here and you are awesome 😊
Awwww thank you for the lovely comment. I am so pleased you enjoyed the book, I hope you keep enjoying the channel!
Ive heard a lot of the same with Mrs. S, so I'm happy to hear you had a good time with it! I've got it on my nightstand but have been neglecting her. Rectifying that asap
And ugh! Brutes! The Bandit Queens! Trespasses! Secret Lives! So so so many good ones!
Hope you enjoy Mrs S as much as I did, have a fan ready as things get steamy. Hahaha. Fab to see/hear there’s so many you’ve enjoyed on my list too.
Really love 'Best of' videos too! Really good to hear you talk about A Spell of Good Things! I pre-ordered it as a 'must read', but haven't heard anyone talking about it, so haven't picked it up. Now I must! You've sold me Cereus Blooms at Night too. My favourite book of the year so far is In Memoriam, followed by Mr Loverman, Giovanni's Room, Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey and Real Estate by Deborah Levy.
Ooh I’ve seen a few reviews of Adebayo here and there. It’s not had the buzz or discussion of Stay With Me, I feel all that happens at paperback stage now. I must read In Memoriam. Sooooo many people have recommended it.
My Top 5 (with 1 tie) for 2023 so far:
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Trust - Hernan Diaz
Birnam Wood - Eleanor Cattan
Age of Vice - Deepti Kapoor
The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O'Farrell
Disorientation - Elaine Hsieh Chou
I have Age of Vice and Disorientation on the shelves. Both books I want to get to at some point.
A little late as I tend to binge your shows, watching several to catch up! 4 favorite books of the year so far: Chorus by Rebecca Kaufman (I have 6 siblings and we grew up around this time, so it really resonated with me) ; Improvement by Joan Silber (great book, kind of a sleeper-don't understand why it wasn't talked about more, great story line), The Weight of the World (Beware-- so dark and so violent, so heartbreaking, hard to stop thinking about it
. Read David Joy's bio before reading his books as his background is telling), Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner (the shortest, easiest to read of Booker prize winners, this was a re-read for me and I loved it as much as the first time around).
Never too late. Binge away. I’ll have to look up the books you mentioned as I’ve not heard of a few of them. I have read Hotel Du Lac and I really liked it.
Great video. I am currently reading Trespasses and enjoying it so far.
My top 5 this year are: Klara and the Sun; Me by Elton John; Daisy Darker, Exit and The Dry.
An eclectic mix there for sure.
Hi Simon …
Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your book tube videos …
So thank you.
My favourite books so far this year are …
Notes on an Execution - Danya Kufakia
Lessons in Chemistry … Bonnie Garmus
Demon Copperhead … Barbara Kingsoliver
Louise Kennedy … Trespasses
The Rachel Incident … Caroline O’Donoghue
Awww thanks so much Sarah. That’s so kind. Tha ks for commenting and watching. Two of the same books in our favs so far, how lovely.
Always difficult to choose top reads, but I think mine for the year so far are (in no particular order):
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
Foster, Claire Keegan
Black Butterflies, Priscilla Morris
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
Oooh a couple in common. How lovely. I need to get back to more Strout.
Demon and Wandering Souls also made it onto my best of the year list. The WP did pretty well really.
A couple on your list that I hadn’t heard of before!
Oooh hope you enjoy the ones you’ve not heard of if you get to them. Definitely one of my favourite WP years.
I also loved Blackcake ;loved how the story unwound itself as the story went along.
I also loved Bandit Queens for pretty much the same reasons as you. So gritty and the twists and turns were great.
I think both of those books are also brilliant because they’re wonderfully written and have twisty compelling plots. The perfect mix.
My top 5- Cuddy, B Myers: Old God's Time, Sebastian Barry, Trespasses, Black Butterflies and Time Shelter
I must read Cuddy. I love Benjamin Myers and haven’t read him for aaaaages.
Those decorated edges, swoon. Happy you have enjoyed your reads.🕊📚
I’ve loved these ones. All corkers.
I reckon half of these are on my tbr, lol (your videos always add to my excitement about books!) 😄🌼 E.g. the women’s prize books mentioned, Black Cake and The Poisonwood Bible.
My top five reads so far this year would be Open Water, Convenience Store Woman, Girl, Woman, Other, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine + Sorrow and Bliss. And only more brill ones to come 🤩💛
Fab selection of fab reads you’ve had this year. Thanks for sharing. Hope you enjoy the favs of mine you have on your shelves.
eep! need to get to that Morrison! i too have a Morrison in my top ten for this year and i'm ashamed i haven't gotten to her work sooner!
and her work isn't to be rushed! they're like incredibly decadent desserts that need to be spread out across the seasons
Well you see I will rush a decedent dessert and have more than one so this analogy could be lethal.
Brilliant vlog. Got a few new orders placed at the library now. Demon copperhead and black butterflies for me too. Currently reading the Covenant of water and loving it so far. All enjoy your well earned break love 😍 😍
Hooray for libraries. Am hearing lots of folk are reading Covenant of Water. What a chunkster.
@@SavidgeReads it's absolutely brilliant. Definitely a big one though.
I grew up 40 miles south of Lee County, VA, in Jefferson City TN. Barbara told you the correct pronunciation. Demon Copperhead took me home! The people, the small towns, the dialect, the nicknames, etc. were spot on! 5🌟
It’s a corker. So is The Poisonwood Bible too. I have all her books now and feel like I’ve some amazing journeys ahead.
@@SavidgeReads The Poisonwood Bible is on my TBR!
The Bluest Eye is so good, I think about it all the time.
It’s a really brilliant, if heartbreaking, book.
@@SavidgeReads i feel like that’s a good description of any Toni Morrison book 🥲
You made me go and buy Kishwar Desai’s first book of the trilogy and Shane Mootoo too 😂 I always love your videos and Bandit Queens is definitely my fave this year so far. Also very much enjoyed The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappapot. Hard to read in parts but fascinating. I’ve been in a book slump quite a bit this year sadly, but hoping for better things 😘
Ps I read Black Cake as an ARC last year otherwise it would definitely be here!
I need to read some Helen Rappaport. I’ve heard very good things. I think lots of us are slumpy. I think the last few years has been exhausting and we’ve all been through the weirdest time. Our brains have to catch up with that at some point.
Really enjoyed your video, put some new titles on my radar. Thank you for such a variety of books. It is refreshing to have different books to learn about, not just what is popular right now. My top five are: News of the World by Paulette Jiles, The English Understand Wool by Helen De Witt, Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, Poppet by Mo Hayder #6 in the Jack Caffery series, and The Bandit Queens of course!
Hooray for The Bandit Queens. Ooh Pineapple Street, I enjoyed that a lot. I need to try Helen de Witt.
Also picking up Trespasses tomorrow eek!!!
Ooh you lucky thing having that to read for the first time.
Love your videos, Simon! I’m new to your pages, but I’ve been watching a whole lot of your videos. My top five so far: 5. Alice Winn, In Memoriam. 4. Louise Kennedy, Trespasses. 3. Dani Shapiro, Signal Fires. 2. Maggie O’Farrell, The Marriage Portrait. And hands down, my #1 is Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead.
Welcome Patricia. Lovely to have you hear and thanks for commenting. A fab top five. Second mention of Dani Shapiro. I have also had soooo many recommendations of In Memoriam I am going to have to get to it soon.
@@SavidgeReads, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through a World War I novel, so I was hesitant about In Memoriam, but it’s a really compelling plot and a powerful love story too. I got it from my library, but I think it’s a book I want to own now. Thanks for these wonderful videos!
I love you channel ❤. My top books of the year (in no particular order) have been:
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (indigenous wisdom and science)
- Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsaw Shire (poetry/memoir)
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Honorable mentions:
- Foster by Claire Keegan
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier ( which I fake read in high school 😅)
Ha. Fake read just really make me laugh. Rebecca is one of my all time favs. Thrilled Trespasses is on your list too. I looooved the Moshfegh when I read it a few years ago.
As a Patreon representative I will say that I am stunned that The Bluest Eye is not your number 1, but as a book club member I am also not surprised. Love your “cheating” (which isn’t really cheating because it’s your list after all). My top two favorite reads of the year so far are definitely In Memoriam and I Am Homeless If This Is not My Home. Nothing else comes close to those two for me, but there are other terrific reads and some books coming out soon that I am really excited about.
Hahahaha. A sudden new entry at the number one spot. Both your favourites I am very very keen to read. I want your thoughts on the Mootoo at some point 😉
Omg. I have just finished tin man. It almost finished me!!!! Such a beautiful book and was so invested in the story and characters, I finished it in one sitting. Any recommendations for not books like this ? X
It’s such a fabulous book isn’t it. Recommendations for not a book like this? Or more books like this?
More books like this would be fab. Ps love your channel x
Well now I'm going to HAVE to buy Cereus! I've (shamefully) never read a Morrison. Would you say The Bluest Eye is a good entry point? Alsooo what's the first book in the Kate Mosse series called? Been looking for a new adventure series to get into for a while.
I’ve only read two Toni Morrison novels so I don’t know if I am the best person for advice 😂 However The Bluest Eye is great. The first in the current series, one more to go next year I think, is The Burning Chamber. I’m actually super excited to start her previous (multi million selling) series with Labyrinth soon.
Thanks so much for sharing this incredible list! I filmed a top 9 video and didn't really rank them, but a few of my more recent favorites from that list include In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (his first novel), At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich, and Strip: A Memoir by Hannah Sward (I never read memoirs...but boy am I glad I picked that one up!).
Oooh you’ll have to pop the link down below. For some reason I can’t click on your profile picture to get to your channel.
@@SavidgeReads Here you go! (For some reason I was under the impression that I couldn't put links in comments! I'm such a newb!) Thanks so much for your great videos - love your channel so much! ua-cam.com/video/dP49u4GxRRQ/v-deo.html
My top five of the year so far: The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays (By the end I really appreciated the theme of interconnection.) The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (You don’t adore either character at first, nor do you see a way out of various situations. Makes for a satisfying journey.) The Measure by Nikki Erlick (Very interesting conceit, compelling characters, would make a good book club book) The Celebrants by Steven Rowley (A group of friends makes a pact and keeps it over decades.) The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Nonfiction essays, good on audio as its read by the author, real meaning of life stuff)
Ooh I’ve not read any of these, I’ll have to look them up!
My top five books this year so far are (in no particular order) 1. Boy Like Me by Simon James Green, 2. Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks, 3. Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen 4. Exiles by Jane Harper and 5. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.
I used to work with Simon James Green. Before either of our booky lives. Imagine!
I have only read Song of Solomon and I want to read more by Toni Morrison. My sister has two of her books in her little library that I can borrow. Mrs. K and Cereus Blooms sound intriguing. My favorites keep changing every time someone poses that question, I guess I'm still thinking about it.
Hope you enjoy Mrs S and Cereus Blooms at Night if you get to them. Definitely see which Morrison’s you can get your mitts on. It’s going to be Sula next for me.
@@SavidgeReads It will either be Beloved, or there's another Morrison that my sister has that I'll consider.
My favorite book this year is You Made a Fool of me with your Death. I only just got to it. I have a massive book hangover. No other book measures up.
It’s brilliant isn’t it? I read it on holiday last year and was completely hooked by it.
These videos are my favorite! Tardy to watch, bc I used this as my reward for doing laundry. 📖 🪱 💚💚💚
Not tardy. Videos don’t go anywhere so here for you whenever you like.
Still Life, The Mad Ship, How To Sell A Haunted House, Yellowface 😁
Still Life is such a fabulous book. Well the Sarah Winman one is. Haha. I’ll be reading Yellowface very soon.
As an Appalachian you pronounced it right!
Hahaha. Thank you. Though I’ve been told by some of your fellow countrymen… it’s the other way too. I’m going with the Barbara version forever. Lol.
As always I love your recommendations. I was looking for a new poetry book and I’m looking forward to picking up Narcissus. My reading year has had misses but my list is milk and honey, my murder, boulder,as a man thinketh and the Rachel Incident
I should have included Selena Godden’s Pessimism is for Leightweights too. That’s my favourite collection of the year but apart from including the Bagoo as I was chatting about him anyway, I didn’t really cover poetry. Maybe a video on that later in the year.
Top reads of the year so far: Salvage The Bones; Seven Steeples; Lovers by Daniel Arsand Howard Curtis (Translator); Such Kindness; The Dance Tree; The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. I think you would love Lovers if you have not read it. It would take you a few hours it is so brief.
I really really really want to read Salvage The Bones. I am also desperate for her forthcoming novel. I loved Sing Unburied Sing.
@@SavidgeReads She is one of my favorite writers!
Wow, some to add to my TBR there :)
My Top 5 so far is 1. A Little Devil in America (Hanif Abdurraqib) non-fic 2. An Immense World (Ed Yong) non-fic 3. Small Worlds (Caleb Azumah Nelson) 4. The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O'Farrell) 5. Clytemnestra
I am excited to see what books will make my top at the end of the year!
I enjoyed the Abdurraqib when I read that a few years ago. Always love an O’Farrell. Hooray for Clytemnestra. I have a feeling that my list could look VERY different by the end of the year. We shall see.
My 5 favourite books read this year: the Poisonwood Bible, Rebecca, Watership Down, Force of nature, Bel canto. Very mixed list. All of these I had the audio as well as the book.
Oooooh Rebecca one of my favourite books of all time.
Opal Country by Chris Hammer
Child of the Ruins by Kate Furnivall (ARC)
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Homecoming by Kate Morton
Greyfriars House by Emma Fraser
Not the usual Simon reads but I loved them 😊
I don’t think some of the books in my list were usual Simon reads to be fair 😉
Loved wondering souls and black butterflies oxblood Deamon copperhead Karla and a few middle grade I have loved xxx
Oxblood and Kala are on the shelves 😉
Your estimation of Trespasses must have increased post-Women’s Prize, since Fire Rush was your top pick then. Surprised Demon is so low, and The Bandit Queens edged it out of your top three. Very curious to see what books will be knocked out of contention for your year-end list, b/c some inevitably will.
Yes it did, as I mentioned it’s just grown and grown and grown on me. Could end up going even higher hahaha. We will see. I don’t know if Bandit Queens was ever in my top three. Was of my top three of the Women’s Prize this year, with Fire Rush and Trespasses. I wouldn’t say number 9 was low for Demon, it’s still the top ten 🤣 Oh and some will definitely be knocked out. A few already have 😱
Absolutely thrilled to see both The Dreaming and Narcissus on this list! 🤍🤍🙏🏾🙏🏾
How could they not be? When is the novel coming? I demand it 😉
Hi Simon 🤓 Cereus Blooms At Night is now on my ‘wish list’ 👍
My top 6 📚 so far!!
Demon Copperhead; Trespasses; Briefly, A Delicious Life; I Am, I Am, I Am; Black Butterflies; All Over Creation.
SO many books, not enough time 🕰️ 🥴 xx
I hope you enjoy Cereus Blooms at Night when you get to it. I really need to read Briefly a Delicious Life.
I love reading people’s top 5 so far for 2023. Here are mine:
1. Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke. Mr. Burke, who is now 86, calls this his best work and I say it would be most writers’ best work.
2. Be Mine by Richard Ford
3. Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
4. Small Mercies by Dennis LeHane
5. Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
I read Demon Copperhead and Trespasses last year. If I had read them this year, they would be 1 and 5 respectively. They were 4 and 5 on my best books of 2022.
Third mention of Signal Fires. I need to look this book up and maybe give it a while. Small Mercies has had a couple of mentions too.
I love seeing a Richard Ford on your list. I reread Canada this year and in addition to having one of the great first lines, I keep thinking about it.
Barbara Kingsolver is a brilliant writer, I love those two. Birnam Wood, Bandit Queens, Bable and Yellowface have made my top reads so far this year. The Miles Franklin shortlist is also brilliant along with some on the longlist. Currently reading The House of Doors and it's beautiful, really hope it's on the Booker longlist. Hope to finish Fire Rush and The Story of the Forest soon too. I have high hopes for those two. Oh and Alexi Wright's Praiseworthy I want to get to as well.
Yellow mace I have on the TBR. I can’t decide if I will like Birnam Wood or not. I have it but I’ve not been drawn to it and I didn’t love her Booker winner. I really want to get to The Story of the Forest.
@@SavidgeReads I think Birnam Wood is a much easier read than Luminaries. I liked Birnam Wood's set up, but some might not, and once it takes off it really takes off.
I loved Trespasses. Also, Time Shelter, Ex-Wife; Small Mercies; and Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes. It’s been a good year for reading. Can’t wait to see what’s on the Booker long list.
I really hope it’s a stellar Booker prize longlist. I want a list where I’ve loved a few, have a few I want to read and own already and then have a lot I’ve not heard of but all sound amazing and I want to get my mitts on. Very excited for Natalie Hayne’s Divine Might which I’ll be reading next month. Can’t wait.
such a great list!!! i also loved trespasses and black cake! i also really want to get to a spell of good things and fire rush this year!
my top 5 of the year: sirens and muses by antonia angress, maame by jessica george, the guest by emma cline, the great believers by rebecca makkai, and eileen by ottessa moshfegh 💕💕💕💕
Oooh my lovely friend in LA sent me Sirens and Muses and I must read that this year. And Maame. I’m reading the new Makkai at the moment and really enjoying it. Loved Eileen. I’m nervous about The Guest. Fab selection of books.
📖🥰📚
For me, my top 5 for the year so far are, The Winners by Fredik Backman(book 3 of the Beartown trilogy), and most recently Manda Scott's 4 book The Boudica Series. I'm still thinking and processes those stories.
Oooh a whole series in the top five. Must be a good’en. I think my mum likes Manda Scott.
Loads of books on your list that I want to read. My best books of the year so far are ( in no particular order)
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
Close To Home by Michael Magee
Kala by Colin Walsh
Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin
The New Life by Tom Crewe
My Fourth Time, We Drowned ( only nonfiction)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
A Tale For the Time Being
All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Chein
English Animals
A Room With A View
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
A Fine Balance ( even though I hated the ending)
Fellowship Point
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Deluge by Stephen Markley
The Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin
👋☘️🍀📚📖📕☕️🇮🇪
I definitely want to get to Kala. Possibly Close To Home, though I pick it up and always put it back on the shelves again and I’m not sure why.
Also loved Secret Lives of Church Ladies Been enjoying a number of books on art and creativity already this year - Wonder by Beatrice Blue, Raucous Invention - Mark Hearld - and A Year Unfolding - Angela Harding So inspiring and absorbing to read Still Life and Rose Tremains Lily were marvellous Getting into graphic novels too Mann’s Best Friend was great More than 5 sorry but good year so far
There’s a new Tremain coming and I’m sooooo excited. Still Life, what a corker!
I love all of you’re “cheating” hah
I *think* my top 5 so far would be (not ranked): Lost Children Archive, This is How You Lose the Time War, Salt Slow, The Bandit Queens, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
It couldn’t be helped. Too many good books. That said I shall be much stricter when it’s my books of the year video. Lol. Hooray for The Bandit Queens being on your list too.
I read like a page of Trespasses and DNF’ed it but it obv wasn’t the right time as when I came back to it later at the end of my WP reading I then gave it 5 ⭐️ I think Louise Kennedy is so talented.. didn’t know there was a short story collection out there 👀
Timing is sooo key with reading I think. It’s bizarre how that can happen with books isn’t it? The short story collection is called The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, which I love from the title alone. Ha.
Currently listening to Wandering Souls, incredible! Top 5 for me: the Beartown series by Fredrik Backman, The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris, Hamnet by (the incredible) Maggie O' Farrell, The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (loved all the book references) and Razorblade Tears by SA Crosby 5+ stars. I listened to The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison was the narrator, amazing! That's 6 sorry not sorry. 😂 Also, if there was a prize for best t-shirt collection on Booktube you would win, hands down.
Awww thank you, I love my tshirts and sweaters. So am thrilled you do. I would really like to get to The Sweetness of Water at some point. Hamnet I loved, the year it came out it was my favourite book of the year.
I’ve had a pretty underwhelming reading year so far, but some of my favorites have been:
The Hole We’re In by Gabrielle Zevin
Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka
Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Melinda Lo
Finna by Nino Cipri
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Ooh I have the Kukafka and the Lo on my shelves. Read my first Zevin this month. Need to look the other two up. Exciting.
The Ghost Ship is amazing in my Top 3 for this year. 👻
It’s a corker 👻 ⛴️
More books like this please would be fab x
Hmmm I’ll have a think. It’s kind of unique.
I’ve read quite a lot of good books this year including
Life by Keith Richards
Acts of desperation by Megan Nolan
An almond for a parrot 🦜 by Wray Delaney
You made a fool of death with your beauty by Akwaeke Amezi
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
Strong female character by Fern Brady
Cackle and Such sharp teeth by Rachel Harrison
Those are just a few 🤣🤣📚📚📚
I too loved the Emezi and the Wyld. Really interesting mix of books you’ve got there.
@@SavidgeReads I think the only genre I struggle with is sci fi really. A lot of the books you mentioned are by the side of my bed waiting to be read 🤣
I have no idea what I missed in Wandering Souls. I have seen it on so many Booker Prize predictions and Best Of The Year videos. I listened to the audiobook… and felt meh at best. And I love historical fiction! 🤷🏻♀️
We can’t all like the same thing. That would be super boring. What have you loved?
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver is also fantastic!
I will definitely be getting to that at some point. Keen to get to all her books at some point.
My top five so far:
Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Heatwave by Victor Jestin
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
Heatwave I will be reading very soon I think.
Wonderful top reads. Here are my top 5 so far in 2023. 1. I started the year with a re-read (upteenth time) of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Whenever I reread it, it always tops my list.) 2. Hamnet, by Maggie OFarrell (I don't agree with her hypotheses but the vivid prose--ooh!) 3. Picasso's War: How Modern Art Came to America by Hugh Eakin NF (dry, fascinating, and I learned a lot) 4. Will In The World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare NF by Stephen Greenblatt (I don't think anyone should read Hamnet without also reading this book. SOOO enlightening.) 5. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (I read as a companion to Trust and enjoyed the read much more.) Now I'm reading The Count of Monte Christo and it will top my list in the second half of the year...should I finish it before January. Thanks for asking me to reflect on my reading. It was a worthy endeavor. Cheers.
Oooh a really fab selection of books there. I really want to read The Age of Innocence. I loved the movie when I saw it at the cinema as a kid though it was a dramatic day that which I will talk about when I read it and review it. Hahaha.
Ps. I have read Hamnet without reading the Greenblatt. Oops.
Shani Mootoo is amazing and actually a local author for me! I’m all in for Demon Copperhead for the Booker longlist and is at the top of my list for Best Books of 2023 so far. Here’s a link to my favourites! ua-cam.com/video/mwY5zxaJIBo/v-deo.html
Ooh thank you for the link. I shall definitely check it out. How lucky to have such an amazing author nearby!
@@SavidgeReads She writes at a local coffee shop and I try not to fan girl every time I see her, which means I’m painfully obvious and she is very gracious. I’m too shy to actually talk to her. 😆
@@Thebookerharlot feel free to use me as an excuse and pass on that Cereus Blooms at Night is the best thing I’ve read all year.
@@SavidgeReads 😆 I will do my best to break the silence!
Good Lord - I own two of these books (not read yet), I'm going to go broke buying the others!
Libraries, libraries, libraries 😉
Well, now you’ve asked… this is my top 10 so far: Mid year check in: top 10 novels of 2023
ua-cam.com/video/-VTIaO4pTNU/v-deo.html
Oooh I’ll check it out. Thank you Ann.
Ninth House and trilogy Grishaverse Series both Leigh Bardugo. Gallant and Near Witch both VE Schwab. The Bone House Emily Lloyd -Jones . ❤ from Thailand
Oooh a fantastical mix there!
Here’s my faves of 2023 a Fiction edition. Spoiler alert: We have one book the same. 😉 ua-cam.com/video/CNeMD5BD6bM/v-deo.html 💙
Oooh I look forward to finding out what it is.
I’m late to comment on this video (I may be re-watching it actually) - but I just want to say that the number of favorite books mid-way through the year is irrelevant - why put a limit on favorites?! If you loved it, I want to hear about it. There’s no need to beat yourself up over the number and which ones are honorable mentions or whatever - but, I will say, it is amusing to watch you justify and work it out. Hugs and high fives to you, Simon 😊
Never late to comment or to watch a video. They’re here online forever. I don’t think the amount of books matters either, well it does in terms of length of video and I do believe there can be a limit on that. Hahaha. It is just quite fun to challenge myself to have a limit of books. UA-cam is always fun, has to be its a hobby not a job 😉
💜📚🩷📚💜
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Did not like bandit queens at all…found it so boring.
That’s fair enough. We can’t all like the same things, that would be super boring.
Oo this was a juicy one!!
I read Secret Lives of Church Ladies this last month and totally loved it!
Also, I am off to Athens this year and wanted to take a Greek myth retelling (I don't think I have read ANY of them as it stands 😳) so Clytemnestra is now top of the list! Thank you!
My top five: Open Water, Panenka, Rebecca, 7 Husbands of Eveleyn Hugo and Convenience S Woman!
Oooh I would take Clytemnestra and a gods and monsters one too. Maybe Circe. Or A Thousand Ships. Both great for dipping your toes into the magical side of myths.
@@SavidgeReads thank you 🙌😬 cannot wait!