I read The Wild Robot by Peter Brown because my little brother wanted me to, and you guys it is the best book I have ever read and my favorite read from 2024!! Highly recommend it!!
Hi I am a Korean subscriber who just finished Human Acts last week-coming in with the facts. There indeed were series of revolutions under the successive dictatorships between 1960-80s, but this book focuses on one “event” that took place over a couple of days: the Gwangju Uprising or Massacre of May 18, 1980. The Korea government (led by Chun Doo Hwan, the horrendous, despicable dictator of that time) tried to cover up the fact that it had used military violence against thousands of civilians in that city (Gwangju). My parents, who were in Seoul at the time, did not learn about the massacre until years later. My mom still says she feels so guilty that she had no idea what the people of Gwangju were going through. She was a proud participant of the students’ movement for democracy in the late 1980s, and she feels indebted to Gwangju. Let the record show that the Jimmy Carter green-lighted the government’s plan to open fire on civilians. May none of these men who unleashed state violence upon people rest in peace😡. Also, “Kang” is pronounced with the same vowel sound as how you said “Han”: “ah” not “ae” (it does not rhyme with “gang”). “Kang” means river, a poetic name for a poetic writer… I recommend that people read it one chapter at a time, after finding chapter-specific TW (chapter 4 has torture and SA, chapter 5 contains yet more SA).
Wow! Thank you so much for providing this context! We really appreciate it! Especially on the pronunciation of her name. Very brave to read a book like this when pertaining to the history of your people. Appreciate your patience with whatever we may have gotten wrong and providing the history and how it relates to you and your family. Thanks so much! - jon
@ hi! thank you for your gracious comment - I was worried that I came off as angry or pedantic. I wanted to just offer the info in good faith but did not have too much energy to hit a kinder tone? In any case, I love your channel and appreciate that y’all try to read so broadly. Happy reading!
Jon, I'm so glad you enjoyed The Devil is Fine! I met the author at a book festival. He is a first time author for me, but I thought you would enjoy this book!
Sierra congrats on passing your exam 🎉 I think when you've been working so hard it can take a while to have the brain space to read again! I got Intermezzo for Christmas. I really want to read Dark Matter. I listened to the Dutch House read by Tom Hanks over Xmas, and read Father Of The Rain by Lily King, which was excellent. I adore her writing if you have never tried her work, can't remember if you read writers and lovers or not...
another great video! Orbital was a 6 star read for me as well. have either have you read Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro? it was my last read of 2024 and absolutely loved it and have a feeling you both might too! wishing you guys a great start to your 2025 😁
I'm not sure if Sierra has read it yet, but I haven't made it to Claudia Piñeiro's works yet, but I'm sure I'd love it. I'll try to get to her this year! (Even though I said that last year)
I love how Sally Rooney captures the interiority of her characters and I think Intermezzo is my favorite of hers so far along with Beautiful World. I read Normal People at the end of 2024 and it was j so painful to read.
Flowers for Algernon definitely had some problematic parts but I teach English learners and it’s really fun to read with them because they can discuss how the language changes throughout the book
Hey, since you are going to talk about Storygraph in your next video: Have you thought about creating a challenge in the app so we can join and do it together? It could be something like 12 prompts (1 for each month) and we can add and read different books to match the prompts and see what other people chose... 🤔I don't know I think it could be fun... 😊
Great idea! We didn't put it in our storygraph video, but we are going to meet to make the channel more interactive this year and that would be one great way! Hold tight and hopefully we can offer something like this soon! Thanks for your support!
Lovely to have you back, I hope you had a great time with your friends and family! I watched the Dark Matter series last year, liked it lots, and put his book Recursion on my tbr for this year!
“I like. science.” 🤓😂😂 I really want to get into Blake Crouch’s books, I’ve been curious! Love that Jon’s been unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) reading so many books about parenting and that they all start with a death, haha weird. Okay I’m convinced, I want to read Orbital! That two-page quote though 😳😍 Over the holidays (or really December as a whole) I read Small Things Like These, The Winners, Two Twisted Crowns, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, Lovelight Farms, The Christmas Guest, The Deal of a Lifetime, Rhythm of War, and The Wood at Midwinter!
@ I liked most of them but the standouts were The Winners (definitely recommend the Beartown series as a whole, this is the third book), Small Things Like These but you already know that, Two Twisted Crowns (the book after One Dark Window, very fun and gothic fantasy duology), and The Wood at Midwinter! That last one didn’t wow me as much as Piranesi (same author) but mainly because it’s a short story, the illustrations are beautiful though 😍
Flowers for Algernon is a beautiful book, and rightly in the SF Masterworks series. Orbital I thought had some lovely writing but I did find it hard to connect to because of the lack of characterisation, which I know isn't the point but I am a very character-driven reader, but I was quite impressed because most philosophical books are just egotistical nonsense but this wasn't. Great video as always!
Great point about philosophical books! I definitely agree that they can become a little non-sensical. Happy you gave Orbital a chance though - thanks for commenting and watching!
I read Flowers for Algernon in middle school. I don't remember a lot of the details, but might be worth a revisit. Put a hold on Human Acts at my library.
I laughed SO hard at “There were no IRBs back then” before thinking about it for a second too long and remembering some of the experiments done between the 50s and the 80s/90s 🙃
I don't think either of us have read any Lily King, but we'll definitely have to check her out. Let me know what you think of Intermezzo. It's definitely a big one haha - jon
I’m super interested in Devil is Fine as someone with anxiety and panic attacks! Plus I also enjoy books that manage to be humorous while dealing with difficult subject matter. Is there any trigger warnings I should look out for?
Going off of what I remember: slavery, racial harm/trauma, grief, passing of a loved one, some substance abuse. But please look it up for a better account. Let us know what you think, if you feel it is healthy for you to go through with it - jon
You mean to tell me that these two are not in a relationship!?!? 😮 i just started from the oldest video and all the comments are like oh what a lovely friendship etc etc they arent partners!? Seriously someone respond plz 🙏🏽when i thought they were together i had hope for an honest love one day 😞 im (tentatively) devastated
@ Well knock my socks off and call me shocked! Fine. Holding out hope doesn’t have to end lol ….yet. Ill keep hoping for my tall, friendly, black, male, educated, reader person also 🥰
I read The Wild Robot by Peter Brown because my little brother wanted me to, and you guys it is the best book I have ever read and my favorite read from 2024!! Highly recommend it!!
Woah! High praise! I saw the movie and bawled, so I'm sold. Added to the tbr for sure
Hi I am a Korean subscriber who just finished Human Acts last week-coming in with the facts. There indeed were series of revolutions under the successive dictatorships between 1960-80s, but this book focuses on one “event” that took place over a couple of days: the Gwangju Uprising or Massacre of May 18, 1980. The Korea government (led by Chun Doo Hwan, the horrendous, despicable dictator of that time) tried to cover up the fact that it had used military violence against thousands of civilians in that city (Gwangju). My parents, who were in Seoul at the time, did not learn about the massacre until years later. My mom still says she feels so guilty that she had no idea what the people of Gwangju were going through. She was a proud participant of the students’ movement for democracy in the late 1980s, and she feels indebted to Gwangju. Let the record show that the Jimmy Carter green-lighted the government’s plan to open fire on civilians. May none of these men who unleashed state violence upon people rest in peace😡. Also, “Kang” is pronounced with the same vowel sound as how you said “Han”: “ah” not “ae” (it does not rhyme with “gang”). “Kang” means river, a poetic name for a poetic writer…
I recommend that people read it one chapter at a time, after finding chapter-specific TW (chapter 4 has torture and SA, chapter 5 contains yet more SA).
Wow! Thank you so much for providing this context! We really appreciate it! Especially on the pronunciation of her name. Very brave to read a book like this when pertaining to the history of your people. Appreciate your patience with whatever we may have gotten wrong and providing the history and how it relates to you and your family. Thanks so much!
- jon
@ hi! thank you for your gracious comment - I was worried that I came off as angry or pedantic. I wanted to just offer the info in good faith but did not have too much energy to hit a kinder tone? In any case, I love your channel and appreciate that y’all try to read so broadly. Happy reading!
Jon, I'm so glad you enjoyed The Devil is Fine! I met the author at a book festival. He is a first time author for me, but I thought you would enjoy this book!
You absolutely crushed it with that recommendation! Extra points for it having a phenomenal cover too! I really appreciated that book!
- jon
Sierra congrats on passing your exam 🎉 I think when you've been working so hard it can take a while to have the brain space to read again!
I got Intermezzo for Christmas.
I really want to read Dark Matter.
I listened to the Dutch House read by Tom Hanks over Xmas, and read Father Of The Rain by Lily King, which was excellent. I adore her writing if you have never tried her work, can't remember if you read writers and lovers or not...
another great video! Orbital was a 6 star read for me as well. have either have you read Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro? it was my last read of 2024 and absolutely loved it and have a feeling you both might too! wishing you guys a great start to your 2025 😁
I'm not sure if Sierra has read it yet, but I haven't made it to Claudia Piñeiro's works yet, but I'm sure I'd love it. I'll try to get to her this year! (Even though I said that last year)
You sold me on Orbital; I'm adding it to my 2025 tbr 😊
Same!
AH! So exciting! Let us know what you think of it! Unless you hate it (lol jk)
I love how Sally Rooney captures the interiority of her characters and I think Intermezzo is my favorite of hers so far along with Beautiful World. I read Normal People at the end of 2024 and it was j so painful to read.
1000% agree. She writes her characters in such a full way. I would easily read any book she puts out. I don't need a plot at all any more haha
I cried so hard reading Flowers for Algernon. Even the first page made me tear up and want to protect Charlie. 😭
100% agree. It definitely got me at multiple points. Sometimes people can be the worst, unfortunately
- jon
@13:56 if you guys like those types of books I recommend reading “The Miracles of the Namiya General Store” if you already haven’t!
Added to the tbr! Thanks for the req!
Flowers for Algernon definitely had some problematic parts but I teach English learners and it’s really fun to read with them because they can discuss how the language changes throughout the book
Interesting! I did really enjoy that aspect of the book. It was a more subtle way to explain the character's increasing intelligence
Hey, since you are going to talk about Storygraph in your next video: Have you thought about creating a challenge in the app so we can join and do it together? It could be something like 12 prompts (1 for each month) and we can add and read different books to match the prompts and see what other people chose... 🤔I don't know I think it could be fun... 😊
Great idea! We didn't put it in our storygraph video, but we are going to meet to make the channel more interactive this year and that would be one great way! Hold tight and hopefully we can offer something like this soon! Thanks for your support!
Lovely to have you back, I hope you had a great time with your friends and family!
I watched the Dark Matter series last year, liked it lots, and put his book Recursion on my tbr for this year!
Happy to hear Dark Matter is worth the watch. Gotta get into it soon. Thanks for commenting and welcoming us back!
I was just thinking a couple days ago that I hadn't seen you guys in a minute. Glad to have you back!
Aww! So honored that you guys missed us! We missed you guys too
“I like. science.” 🤓😂😂 I really want to get into Blake Crouch’s books, I’ve been curious! Love that Jon’s been unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) reading so many books about parenting and that they all start with a death, haha weird. Okay I’m convinced, I want to read Orbital! That two-page quote though 😳😍 Over the holidays (or really December as a whole) I read Small Things Like These, The Winners, Two Twisted Crowns, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, Lovelight Farms, The Christmas Guest, The Deal of a Lifetime, Rhythm of War, and The Wood at Midwinter!
oooh any of these you think are definitely wort the read?
@ I liked most of them but the standouts were The Winners (definitely recommend the Beartown series as a whole, this is the third book), Small Things Like These but you already know that, Two Twisted Crowns (the book after One Dark Window, very fun and gothic fantasy duology), and The Wood at Midwinter! That last one didn’t wow me as much as Piranesi (same author) but mainly because it’s a short story, the illustrations are beautiful though 😍
Flowers for Algernon is a beautiful book, and rightly in the SF Masterworks series. Orbital I thought had some lovely writing but I did find it hard to connect to because of the lack of characterisation, which I know isn't the point but I am a very character-driven reader, but I was quite impressed because most philosophical books are just egotistical nonsense but this wasn't. Great video as always!
Great point about philosophical books! I definitely agree that they can become a little non-sensical. Happy you gave Orbital a chance though - thanks for commenting and watching!
Ah I missed your videos, welcome back 🌸
And we missed you guys! Thanks for the welcome!
“Another one” 😂👌🏽
I read Flowers for Algernon in middle school. I don't remember a lot of the details, but might be worth a revisit.
Put a hold on Human Acts at my library.
Nice! Make sure to read your trigger warnings before going into it. It can be a tough read
@andtheywerereaders I definitely will! Thank you!
I laughed SO hard at “There were no IRBs back then” before thinking about it for a second too long and remembering some of the experiments done between the 50s and the 80s/90s 🙃
I don't think either of us have read any Lily King, but we'll definitely have to check her out. Let me know what you think of Intermezzo. It's definitely a big one haha
- jon
I’m super interested in Devil is Fine as someone with anxiety and panic attacks! Plus I also enjoy books that manage to be humorous while dealing with difficult subject matter.
Is there any trigger warnings I should look out for?
Going off of what I remember: slavery, racial harm/trauma, grief, passing of a loved one, some substance abuse. But please look it up for a better account. Let us know what you think, if you feel it is healthy for you to go through with it
- jon
What kind of camera do you guys use? 😊
We use a sony a7iii
You mean to tell me that these two are not in a relationship!?!? 😮 i just started from the oldest video and all the comments are like oh what a lovely friendship etc etc they arent partners!? Seriously someone respond plz 🙏🏽when i thought they were together i had hope for an honest love one day 😞 im (tentatively) devastated
🫣 you should still hold on to hope for an honest love one day 🥹
… but yeah, we’re just really good friends. But love is still out there!
@ Well knock my socks off and call me shocked! Fine. Holding out hope doesn’t have to end lol ….yet. Ill keep hoping for my tall, friendly, black, male, educated, reader person also 🥰
Yup. Orbital. tbr. Sounds like my wheelhouse.
YESSS! Let us know what you think!