As always Nicole, your reviews are good! I read Station 11 on your recommendation and after I finish Middlemarch and The Kite Rummer, Never Let me Go is on my list. By the way, after years of a hiatus in reading, I came upon you UA-cam. I’m now reading voraciously, all because of you!
Thank you for this wonderful video! You have persuaded me to read Never Let Me Go, Wolf Hall, and Station 11. The reading samples are so helpful, and I always enjoy your thoughtful and heartfelt commentary. Cheers to you from California 😊
Hello friend from California! Pleasure! So glad to hear you find the reading and the comments helpful :) I hope you enjoy them too when you get to them.
A method I would use with kids to get them to read is to read the beginning of a book until I reached the author's hook. Then I would stop and leave, placing the book near the child. More times than not this method works as a curious child can't resist
I love three of these, so clearly I need to read the other two! If you haven’t read Sea of Tranquility yet, Emily St John Mandel does dwell in that novel on being an author who wrote about a pandemic then living through a pandemic.
Haha let me guess - you've read Never Let Me Go, Wolf Hall and Station Eleven - is that right? I just read Sea of Tranquility this month! What a coincident. Did you like it?
@@adayofsmallthings I loved it - Emily St John Mandel is one of my favourite authors. I actually haven’t read Wolf Hall - but I loved Transcendent Kingdom 😊
I feel the same way about how Hilary Mantel brought her characters and period to life in the Thomas Cromwell novels and know exactly what you mean about feeling so connected to Cromwell, like he was my best friend. I was devastated by the end of The Mirror and the Light. Can't wait for you to read it - a phenomenal conclusion to a masterpiece of contemporary literature.
Thanks Nicole - "Never let me go" has moved on to my very long TBR list, but at least it's on it. To be honest it did not sound very interesting from the reading but I trust your judgement so I'll go with it. I'm a person who tends to focus on the classics so it's good to have some modern tips. Thanks!!
@@patrickrutledge8347 I did... I don't like it. The art works and designs are amazing, Emma Stone's acting is amazing, but I find the sex too much, and the adaptation misses out some of the wonderful and thoughtful bits of the novel. Sorry to disagree if you enjoyed it!
@@adayofsmallthings no problem, I can understand. I initially was unsure if I'd go to it but a friend recommended it. I was positively surprised since I had imagined it was just a film that was trying to be unusual and quirky, but it has a message and story. I was also surprised that Hollywood is showing such explicit sex scenes and being so open, it's a positive development but I know what you mean, they were a bit much. But overall I can imagine the book has much more to enjoy and I wish I had read it first. But I'm definitely going to read it this year. Your last video has convinced me...😃
Hello Nicole, my name is Thaizi Ono and I am from Brazil. I got to your channel by Katie Lumsden from "Books and Things". Amazing list! Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my favorite writers and "Never Let Me Go" is a very powerful book. I also read "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu two years ago and I thought it is a very clever sci-fi. I just finished reading "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie, which also talks about Cultural Revolution at China, I really like this book. I really like Chinese Literature, it began a long time ago (2001), after I read "Soul Mountain" by Gao Xingjian. "Station Eleven" is another amazing book, it is very well written. An after pandemic novel, which is surreal because of the events the world presented in 2020. Hilary Mantel is the queen of Historical Fiction. I always want to read a book from her and I have the same feeling - "Why should I read a book about Thomas Cromwell?". After watching your video, this book seems very interesting ;). Kind regards, Thaizi
Hi Thaizi! Really nice meeting you - sorry for replying so slowly. You read most of them already - really glad to hear you enjoyed them too! Hope you like Wolf Hall when you get there :)
This was a very informative video, especially for Station Eleven and Transcendent Kingdom, neither of which I heard of. I also follow the fifty year litmus test. And I apply it to all kinds of fiction. If a detective novel survives that long, it's worth looking at. "Hard SF" has never had much appeal to me. I prefer the "inner space" SF of writers like Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and J.G. Ballard. But I have heard good things about The Three Body Problem. Try J.G. Farrell for English historical fiction. He's not 21st century, but he covered a lot of stressful periods of English history (Irish rebellion, WW II in Asia, colonial rule of India). Keep reading!!
Never Let Me Go is one of my favourite novels of the 21st century too. I wish I hadn't seen the movie before I read it. I enjoyed Station Eleven a lot, and I really want to read Wolf Hall. I haven't read Transcendent Kingdom, but I'd recommend Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I've just finished it and enjoyed it immensely.
Glad to hear you enjoyed some of them too! Wolf Hall is a bit intimidating to start but it gets going very quickly. Hope you like it too when you get there. Thanks for recommending Homegoing - on my radar!
As always Nicole, your reviews are good! I read Station 11 on your recommendation and after I finish Middlemarch and The Kite Rummer, Never Let me Go is on my list.
By the way, after years of a hiatus in reading, I came upon you UA-cam. I’m now reading voraciously, all because of you!
Thank you! Did you enjoy Station Eleven? I really hope you did :)
Yay - that's SO lovely to hear!
@@adayofsmallthings I enjoyed Station 11. It being of the dystopian genre, could be dark at times.
Thank you for this wonderful video! You have persuaded me to read Never Let Me Go, Wolf Hall, and Station 11. The reading samples are so helpful, and I always enjoy your thoughtful and heartfelt commentary. Cheers to you from California 😊
Hello friend from California! Pleasure! So glad to hear you find the reading and the comments helpful :) I hope you enjoy them too when you get to them.
A method I would use with kids to get them to read is to read the beginning of a book until I reached the author's hook. Then I would stop and leave, placing the book near the child. More times than not this method works as a curious child can't resist
Sounds like a great way to get children reading!
I've read two of these - Three Body Problem and Wolf Hall. Both so great. And I'm looking forward to reading the others you talked about.
Hello! You’re the first person who mentioned to have read the Three Body Problem! Hope you like the rest when you get there :)
I love three of these, so clearly I need to read the other two! If you haven’t read Sea of Tranquility yet, Emily St John Mandel does dwell in that novel on being an author who wrote about a pandemic then living through a pandemic.
Haha let me guess - you've read Never Let Me Go, Wolf Hall and Station Eleven - is that right?
I just read Sea of Tranquility this month! What a coincident. Did you like it?
@@adayofsmallthings I loved it - Emily St John Mandel is one of my favourite authors. I actually haven’t read Wolf Hall - but I loved Transcendent Kingdom 😊
I feel the same way about how Hilary Mantel brought her characters and period to life in the Thomas Cromwell novels and know exactly what you mean about feeling so connected to Cromwell, like he was my best friend. I was devastated by the end of The Mirror and the Light. Can't wait for you to read it - a phenomenal conclusion to a masterpiece of contemporary literature.
Glad to hear you feel the same!
I WILL face the ending one day!
Thanks Nicole - "Never let me go" has moved on to my very long TBR list, but at least it's on it. To be honest it did not sound very interesting from the reading but I trust your judgement so I'll go with it. I'm a person who tends to focus on the classics so it's good to have some modern tips. Thanks!!
Oh dear I feel terribly honoured! I really hope you’ll enjoy it when you get there :)
@@adayofsmallthings will certainly let you..😃. PS: did you see Poor Things in the cinema? What did you think?
@@patrickrutledge8347 I did... I don't like it. The art works and designs are amazing, Emma Stone's acting is amazing, but I find the sex too much, and the adaptation misses out some of the wonderful and thoughtful bits of the novel. Sorry to disagree if you enjoyed it!
@@adayofsmallthings no problem, I can understand. I initially was unsure if I'd go to it but a friend recommended it. I was positively surprised since I had imagined it was just a film that was trying to be unusual and quirky, but it has a message and story. I was also surprised that Hollywood is showing such explicit sex scenes and being so open, it's a positive development but I know what you mean, they were a bit much. But overall I can imagine the book has much more to enjoy and I wish I had read it first. But I'm definitely going to read it this year. Your last video has convinced me...😃
@@patrickrutledge8347 oh yes please read it!
Hello Nicole, my name is Thaizi Ono and I am from Brazil.
I got to your channel by Katie Lumsden from "Books and Things".
Amazing list!
Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my favorite writers and "Never Let Me Go" is a very powerful book.
I also read "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu two years ago and I thought it is a very clever sci-fi. I just finished reading "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie, which also talks about Cultural Revolution at China, I really like this book.
I really like Chinese Literature, it began a long time ago (2001), after I read "Soul Mountain" by Gao Xingjian.
"Station Eleven" is another amazing book, it is very well written. An after pandemic novel, which is surreal because of the events the world presented in 2020.
Hilary Mantel is the queen of Historical Fiction. I always want to read a book from her and I have the same feeling - "Why should I read a book about Thomas Cromwell?". After watching your video, this book seems very interesting ;).
Kind regards,
Thaizi
Hi Thaizi! Really nice meeting you - sorry for replying so slowly. You read most of them already - really glad to hear you enjoyed them too! Hope you like Wolf Hall when you get there :)
@@adayofsmallthings thank you for the reply Nicole.
Great vid might have to pick some of these up! 😄
Thank you :) I hope you’ll like them too!
This was a very informative video, especially for Station Eleven and Transcendent Kingdom, neither of which I heard of.
I also follow the fifty year litmus test. And I apply it to all kinds of fiction. If a detective novel survives that long, it's worth looking at.
"Hard SF" has never had much appeal to me.
I prefer the "inner space" SF of writers like Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and J.G. Ballard. But I have heard good things about The Three Body Problem.
Try J.G. Farrell for English historical fiction.
He's not 21st century, but he covered a lot of stressful periods of English history (Irish rebellion, WW II in Asia, colonial rule of India).
Keep reading!!
Thanks Donald for the recommendation. You read so widely!
Hope you like them if you ever get to those titles :)
Never Let Me Go is one of my favourite novels of the 21st century too. I wish I hadn't seen the movie before I read it.
I enjoyed Station Eleven a lot, and I really want to read Wolf Hall.
I haven't read Transcendent Kingdom, but I'd recommend Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I've just finished it and enjoyed it immensely.
Glad to hear you enjoyed some of them too! Wolf Hall is a bit intimidating to start but it gets going very quickly. Hope you like it too when you get there.
Thanks for recommending Homegoing - on my radar!