One of my favorite (fairly current) fiction books is Piranesi by Susanna Clarke! It came out in 2020 & I bought it and left it on my shelf for years before I picked it up last month!! Can’t believe I waited so long to read it!! HIGHLY recommend it
PORTUGUESE WILDCARD PICK: “Baltasar & Blimunda” by José Saramago, unquestionably one of the most important novels in Portugal’s canon, drenched in historical magic realism. Can’t recommend it enough (and I don’t believe you’ve covered Portuguese authors before, maybe besides Fernando Pessoa!).
For the wildcard pick: I'd love to see you talk about Divine Days, by Leon Forrest, if only because I just got it and am planning on reading it soon, and would love to see your take.
Enjoy it - it’s a feast! If you are able to find a copy of The Bloodworth Orphans, read it first. Dozens of characters and storylines are established there.
@LeafbyLeaf Oh cool. I'm planning on reading the other Forrest County books before tackling the big one. Since you're familiar, is that the right tack?
Thanks for the hours of insight and fun Chris, my vote is for 'Warlock' by Oakley Hall (Originally was 'The Tunnel' but I had a pleasant surprise as you were talking about your reading plans).
Thanks Chris, and Happy New Year! If you are looking for modern fiction - I recommend the magical Jon Fosse novella "A Shining" My Wildcard pick: The Red Cavalry by Isaac Babel. I would really like to hear your take on this short story collection.
Roberto Arlt! Yes! The Mad Toy was...unsettling; I read it when I was too young, you know, required school reading. Love your picks for this year; I'm a bit too much like you and haven't gotten in touch with contemporary fiction. I checked out some Latin American and Spaniard books from the library, I have so far Por mi gran culpa by Raúl Ariza and the newest by Héctor Abad Faciolince. I meant to check out more contemporaries, but of course, I failed. I came out with Camilo José Cela, Saramago (my spirit animal), Sándor Márai, Roberto Bolaño, Alejo Carpentier and Mario Benedetti (Uruguay is a country everyone should add to their list of amazing discoveries). I accumulated 3 stacks of both library and purchased books that only contain 2 contemporaries. That's 2 more than I had before so I'm not doing too poorly. Too late in the year for this, but happy new year to you too and a toast to 2024's great reads and discoveries.
Great video! When you go to Paris, I highly recommend carving out an hour or two to go to the Rodin Museum. It was easily the most intellectually impactful experience I had in Paris, but the museum is also just stunning (I mean, The Thinker and The Gates of Hell and the Monument to Balzac are just chilling out in the gardens). My wild pick is 'Forces In Motion: Anthony Braxton and the Meta-Reality of Creative Music'. Can't wait to see what 2024 has in store for this channel!
I will absolutely be going to the Rodin museum! The title of your pick is intriguing enough to make me just read it without it winning the selection! 🙏🙏🙏
I was actually looking for your opinion on Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, I wouldn't recommend it (I gave it one star on Goodreads) but I was curious it seems that not many have read it or made a review here. If you aren't the most handsome book tuber in the land of Internet. I wish you success in your reading endeavors for 2024.
Hey there! Thanks so much for all your kind words and compliments! It looks like I've got two more of HM's books to get to before I get to that one. Yours is the first word I've ever heard about it. Luckily, I've got no deadlines. Who knows when (or if) I'll ever get to it. :)
I'm super late to this but what were the bookstores you visited in Cincy? I live in the Cincy suburbs and am not always hip to the cool stores likes that and would love to go check those out. I wrote down Conveyor Belt Books I'm definitely going there next time I'm down around Covington.
Conveyor Belt had an outstanding selection! The Ohio Bookstore was incredible. Other than those two, I got over to Joy and Matt's Bookstore after eating dinner at the superb Pepp & Dolores, and I visited the charming Wheatberry Books in fun-to-say Chillicothe, Ohio!
@@LeafbyLeaf Fantastic! I’m re-reading it right now, and it would be a treat to see you talk about it, especially considering how underrated it seems to be. Hopefully it gets some new attention with the recent Dalkey Archive edition
Happy new year Chris! My wildcard pick has got to be Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner. My absolute favorite book, really hits close to home being raised in the south.
I’ve been reading DBH’s essays and his New Testament translation-and he has changed my perspective in several ways, too. Can’t wait to start getting into his books. 🙏
@@LeafbyLeaf I live in Argentina, and I can't really understand it. There are endless talented writers. Every other week I find new gems, and forgotten brilliance. You should really read Sear, I think you will love his works.
@@LeafbyLeaf Haven't read that one. Heard interesting things. Have you read it? One more hidden gem I must read. I've been delving deep into Juan Rodolfo Wilcock, one of Borges's friends, and his work is remarkable. He is like an acid and darker, more bizarre and surreal Borges. Deeply recommend: The temple of iconoclasts by him.
Chris, even physical malaise can’t hold you back! All I request you look at in 2024 is the very short but powerful The Burnout Society by the German Korean philosopher Byang-chul Han AND anything by Bernardo Kastrup…..both obviously non fiction but I believe they both have quietly revolutionary and incisive analysis of the wider society in which all the novels have their seed in. Thank you again for your boddhisatva like commitment to helping everyone rediscover the world of reading in a distracted world. Turning forty is a great time to bring together all the different lines of creativity into something approaching a synthesis. Paris is the most amazing place in the world. And I too will be reading much much more selectively: that is, books that help me clarify my sense of meaning. That way I can help more of my patients as possible. Hopefully u can do something similar for ur readers. Thank you Chris !
Hey man, I've read all of Kastrup's books! Wonderful philosophy expressed so beautifully that it not only resonates with me, but I feel now as though I've borrowed much of it as a mental framework for conceptualizing reality.
Thanks (once again), Kieran! I ordered Burnout Society immediately. This looks very much like something I want to read. I will read this this year. Thank you. I love the idea of starting to think about my videos as ways of helping people discover more than just exciting books. I wish you the absolute best in your noble profession this year! 🙏
Chris, re: reading requests...I get a lot of them. I tell them that I am just another asshole and that while I will be honest, I am not to be taken very seriously...but most importantly I limit the pages severely. I can't let that make me feel bad. Go easy on yourself.
You mean, you limit the number of pages of each of the books you read by request? I want to please everyone, which gets me into trouble when I get outnumbered. Thanks for the advice, Rick!
Great video and a great year as always! Wildcard pick: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro. Might be too long and is a biography but it is truly a feast.
Hi Chris, thank you for all the fantastic content, finally getting around to reading Solenoid. I hope you enjoy Paris! I was there for the holidays and I was amazed at the many English bookstores, of course, Shakespeare and Co. but many other less known ones, maybe plan an extra suitcase. My wildcard pick: News from the Empire, by Fernando del Paso.
@@LeafbyLeaf When I first read it years ago, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had with a book. Rereading it now, it feels very elusive, something that asks the reader to keep a critical eye on everything and every idea happening in the story.
Concerning Graeber's The Dawn of Everything: before starting the book I would very much recommend looking into its critical reception by the scientific community. In my view it helps to frame the text against the established understanding on the development of human societies.
Wildcard - The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt. Just finished the delightfully fun The English Understand Wool. I need to finally read this one which has been on my shelf for 10+ years
Congratulatioms! I just turned 40 a few years ago. It's somethinng you know will happen, but is still a bit unreal when it does. If I had one rec for the new year it would be "The House of Breath", by William Goyen. Don't know if you've read it or not, but It's beautiful, modernist, and, to the great relief of your reading list, is short--only 180 pages, or so--but packed with language.
Happy New Year! Been enjoying your book discussions for a long time, looking forward to many more. For Wildcard Pick, I am going to nominate a book that I loved- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeidaa by Shehan Karunatilaka.
Chris, thanks so much for spreading these great book (and bookstore!) recommendations to the masses. I believe Hind's Kidnap is Ben from Bookshore's recommendation for the first McElroy to start with. Would be very interested in a video of whichever you choose though.
Thanks for the great work you've been doing with this channel. My biggest literary discovery this year was Arno Schmidt. So my wildcard pick would be "Nobodaddy's Children".
Happy New Year, Chris! Nice to hear about your upcoming travels and plans. To my knowledge you haven't done any videos on John Banville. I offer his superb 1997 novel The Untouchable for the Wildcard.
Some contemporary picks I'd recommend would be Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park, Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson, and Troll by David Fitzgerald
I'd like to recommend to you Lina Wolff as an author, and The Polyglot Lovers as a novel. I love her novels and Saskia Vogel is a talented translator. Looking forward to The Devil's Grip translation that will be published after Eastern. She is on of Sweden's Finest, living in Spain (I think).
hi chris! i've loved your channel for years, the video you did on beckett has motivated me to read through his work the first half of this year. anyway, my wildcard pick is profane friendship by harold brodkey. brodkey isn't for everyone, but i think he was greatly misunderstood while he was alive, and i'd love to hear what you think of it. happy new year!
I finally signed up in UA-cam to be able to sign up for your channel. I’ve been watching you for over two years. Congrats on turning 40 (late forties here already). Please keep this channel going- it’s fantastic!
love your content so much Chris, super excited for the fifth anniversary! my wildcard pick would be Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me by Richard Farina. I feel Farina's work so needs more attention, and I think you'd have a blast with this one.
My wildcard pick has to be 'Buddenbrooks' by Thomas Mann. I've been wanting to read this for a long time and finally started after visiting Lübeck (The hometown of Thomas Mann) last fall. Buddenbrooks is one of the greatest German novels and deserves much more attention in the English-speaking world.
How awesome! I’ve been wanting to read that, too. Of Mann, I’ve only read Magic Mountain and Death in Venice. (I actually have Joseph and His Brothers as one of my secret picks for this year. Don’t tell anyone.)
@@LeafbyLeaf As with many, Death in Venice was my introduction to Thomas Mann and The Magic Mountain is on my ever-growing list of books I want to read. I hope you get round to reading Joseph and His Brothers! And if you do, a video on it would be fantastic.
Congratulations, @hmmrage ! You won the 2024 LxL Subscriber Wildcard Pick! I will be reading and doing a video on _Suttree_ this year. Thanks so much for participating!
Wildcard pick: "Antkind" by Charlie Kaufman. It's a lovely, sprawling mess of a book. Or if you wan't something not about movies, then perhaps "City of Glass" by Paul Auster.
My Subscriber Wildcard Pick: 'Soul Mountain' by Gao Xingjian (trans. Mabel Lee) Thank you for the new recommendations as always! Love how you have awards for different categories as well. Have an incredible 2024, in reading and in living and all in between!
Thank you for sharing another year of excellent videos and insights! Brysons ‘Short History’ is one of my favorite books of all time. Bryson has a sharp lens for detailing human nature in all its absurd glory, and his exploration of the most brilliant, eccentric minds the race has produced (our great scientists) is so phenomenally entertaining and funny. There is actually an illustrated edition which is great as well and I’d recommend the audiobook narrated by Richard Matthews as his English delivery makes it doubly funny, in my opinion.
I didn’t even know that this book « Ha! » existed, but I really, really think you should read « Next Episode » by Hubert Aquin. I can send you a copy in French!
That is an exceedingly kind offer! I actually ordered an English translation of the Aquin yesterday because so many people said to get it. Even though I probably _should_ read it in French (I am a decent French reader), I think I'll do the English this time so it doesn't take me forever. Then I can get to _HA!_ and make a video on both!
The literary shirts are 💯. An intellectually honest substantial reflection video. Your recommendation of Bookworm by Michael Silverblatt was very enjoyable. All the best in 2024
I wish all “awards ceremonies” could be like this. It’s really valuable to have such thoughtful curation. Thank you for a brilliant year of videos, cant wait for what’s up ahead.
Thanks so much for your affirmation and encouragement! I have a lot of fun doing it. Part of me thinks I should say more about each book, but I figure people can seek out the full videos of they’re interested.
My favorite content creator! Discovering you and your channel has felt like having a compassionate friend by one’s side. Love your award videos. from Texas
Alright, I have a very enjoyable suggestion: A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Anyone can enjoy this book but I do think it helps if you have been, like me, raised in the American South.
Well, I’ve got a leg up there: I was raised in Virginia! I think I said this on the channel at some point, but I think this book gets the award for the book I’ve been on the cusp of reading and then went for another book the most. Not sure why. Perhaps this is the year!
I'd like to submit KIBOGO by Scholastique Mukasonga for your wild card...bonus fact, she's Rwandan, lives in Paris, and writes in French. My own six-stars-of-five read for 2022.
Wildcard: Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. I read this one right after reading Blood Meridian and I have to say, I resonated with and enjoyed Butcher's Crossing more than I did Blood Meridian. Not that it's a direct comparison, but there are certain similar themes in both.
Highly anticipating your read and listen of Gass and Vollmann. In honor of your trip to France and request for some recent fiction , The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellbecq. Much more focussed and far less vulgar than his earlier works it won the Prix Goncourt in 2010. His current perhaps final novel runs about 700 pages but hasn’t appeared yet in English translation
I’ve actually read all of Houellebecq’s work in English. I reviewed Serotonin for Rain Taxi and it came out. Le carte et le territoire I bought in 2012 when I was in Lyon and struggled through it on the flight. Ended up reading it in English. 😁 I’m looking forward to his latest!
My wildcard pick is the astonishing masterpiece of Argentinian surrealism Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Goródischer. It is a fantastical, dreamlike book that blends simple fable with sprawling political satire, and the Ursula K. Le Guin translation is excellent.
If you do decide to go with Lookout Cartridge I highly recommend you try and find a copy The Review of Contemporary Fiction Vol. 10, No. 1: Joseph McElroy. There are excellent essays in there that are a great companion to that work.
I might have to ask Steven Moore to scan ‘em for me-can’t find a copy anywhere! I loved that periodical. Thanks for tip! I’ve used RCF essays in several videos.
Happy 40th birthday this year Chris1 If you think 40 is sordid, wait till you reach 60 which I do in 7 days time. On the plus side, I find myself writing about death more and more! Congrats on the 5th anniversary for the channel too. Bests.
Amazing video! Philip Glass’s memoir is an excellent read. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying his music. My Wildcard Pick: “Still No Word From You: Notes in the Margin” by Peter Orner.
Happy New Year Chris! As always, I'm inspired and envious of your consistent and high quality output. My wildcard pick for this year is A Bended Circuity by Robert S Stickley (RSS), published by Corona Samizdat Press.
THE WINNER OF THE 2024 LXL SUBSCRIBER WILDCARD PICK IS _Suttree_ by Cormac McCarthy, thanks to @hmmrage ! Thanks to all who participated!
My all-time favorite!
One of my favorite (fairly current) fiction books is Piranesi by Susanna Clarke! It came out in 2020 & I bought it and left it on my shelf for years before I picked it up last month!! Can’t believe I waited so long to read it!! HIGHLY recommend it
PORTUGUESE WILDCARD PICK: “Baltasar & Blimunda” by José Saramago, unquestionably one of the most important novels in Portugal’s canon, drenched in historical magic realism. Can’t recommend it enough (and I don’t believe you’ve covered Portuguese authors before, maybe besides Fernando Pessoa!).
I wanna get Saramago on the channel so bad! Of Portuguese writers, I’ve covered João Reis. Shameful that I don’t have Pessoa on here yet either.
Ishmael, mark my words, you do not want insomnia.
😁😁😁
Finnegans wake by James Joyce
Was waiting for that one!
For the wildcard pick: I'd love to see you talk about Divine Days, by Leon Forrest, if only because I just got it and am planning on reading it soon, and would love to see your take.
Enjoy it - it’s a feast! If you are able to find a copy of The Bloodworth Orphans, read it first. Dozens of characters and storylines are established there.
@@valpergalit Thanks! Yeah, I've heard this, so I'll probably start there.
Great wildcard! Fun fact: I've been working, off and on, on a long essay on Forrest's life and work for years now.
@LeafbyLeaf Oh cool. I'm planning on reading the other Forrest County books before tackling the big one. Since you're familiar, is that the right tack?
What an unexpected delight and thrill to hear my name on your channel again! Can't wait for another beautiful year of LxL content, Chris (:
Thanks for all the great recommendations and conversations! 🙏
Subscriber Wildcard Pick: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Been wanting to read that one for yeeeeeaaaarrrrssss!
Yeah Lonesome Dove! It's so good, one of my all time favorites. I adore the whole 4 book series.
Wildcard pick - Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Whoa! It’s been a very long while since I’ve read Keezy!
Wildcard pick: Underworld by Don DeLillo
Yeah, it’s seriously time DeLillo gets on this channel. My last DeLillo (Point Omega) is so many years ago. Sad. Thanks for this!
Independent People - Halldór Laxness
Great pick! I need Laxness on the channel!
Thanks for the hours of insight and fun Chris, my vote is for 'Warlock' by Oakley Hall (Originally was 'The Tunnel' but I had a pleasant surprise as you were talking about your reading plans).
I am so looking forward to revisiting Gass’s great book! Thanks for the pick!
Thanks Chris, and Happy New Year!
If you are looking for modern fiction - I recommend the magical Jon Fosse novella "A Shining"
My Wildcard pick: The Red Cavalry by Isaac Babel. I would really like to hear your take on this short story collection.
Fosse is so amazing! I’ve got that book waiting on me. Thanks for the pick!
The Red Cavalry is so good. I love Babel
Roberto Arlt! Yes! The Mad Toy was...unsettling; I read it when I was too young, you know, required school reading.
Love your picks for this year; I'm a bit too much like you and haven't gotten in touch with contemporary fiction. I checked out some Latin American and Spaniard books from the library, I have so far Por mi gran culpa by Raúl Ariza and the newest by Héctor Abad Faciolince. I meant to check out more contemporaries, but of course, I failed. I came out with Camilo José Cela, Saramago (my spirit animal), Sándor Márai, Roberto Bolaño, Alejo Carpentier and Mario Benedetti (Uruguay is a country everyone should add to their list of amazing discoveries).
I accumulated 3 stacks of both library and purchased books that only contain 2 contemporaries. That's 2 more than I had before so I'm not doing too poorly.
Too late in the year for this, but happy new year to you too and a toast to 2024's great reads and discoveries.
Never too late for some good wishes! Thank you! Speaking of Uruguay-I’m planning to read the stories of Juan Carlos Onetti soon.
Holy shit, HA! is wild!!!!
Absolutely check out Next Episode by Aquin!!!
Wicked! Just ordered Next Episode!
I'm waiting for the BIBLE review, hoping you review the King james's version.
Definitely on my radar. Quite an undertaking.
Great video!
When you go to Paris, I highly recommend carving out an hour or two to go to the Rodin Museum. It was easily the most intellectually impactful experience I had in Paris, but the museum is also just stunning (I mean, The Thinker and The Gates of Hell and the Monument to Balzac are just chilling out in the gardens).
My wild pick is 'Forces In Motion: Anthony Braxton and the Meta-Reality of Creative Music'.
Can't wait to see what 2024 has in store for this channel!
The Gates are absolutely stunning to look at in person.
I will absolutely be going to the Rodin museum!
The title of your pick is intriguing enough to make me just read it without it winning the selection!
🙏🙏🙏
I was actually looking for your opinion on Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, I wouldn't recommend it (I gave it one star on Goodreads) but I was curious it seems that not many have read it or made a review here. If you aren't the most handsome book tuber in the land of Internet. I wish you success in your reading endeavors for 2024.
Hey there! Thanks so much for all your kind words and compliments! It looks like I've got two more of HM's books to get to before I get to that one. Yours is the first word I've ever heard about it. Luckily, I've got no deadlines. Who knows when (or if) I'll ever get to it. :)
I'm super late to this but what were the bookstores you visited in Cincy? I live in the Cincy suburbs and am not always hip to the cool stores likes that and would love to go check those out. I wrote down Conveyor Belt Books I'm definitely going there next time I'm down around Covington.
Conveyor Belt had an outstanding selection! The Ohio Bookstore was incredible. Other than those two, I got over to Joy and Matt's Bookstore after eating dinner at the superb Pepp & Dolores, and I visited the charming Wheatberry Books in fun-to-say Chillicothe, Ohio!
Wildcard pick: Three Trapped Tigers, by Guillermo Cabrera Infante.
Gracias mi amigo !
Great video, as always! Also, you gotta do a video on Sorrentino’s “Mulligan Stew” at some point!
Yes, indeed! I'll throw that into this year's wildcard for you. Thanks!
@@LeafbyLeaf Fantastic! I’m re-reading it right now, and it would be a treat to see you talk about it, especially considering how underrated it seems to be. Hopefully it gets some new attention with the recent Dalkey Archive edition
My submission is the BurnOut Society by Byung-Chul Han. A short but powerful read.
Thanks, Kieran!
Happy new year Chris! My wildcard pick has got to be Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner. My absolute favorite book, really hits close to home being raised in the south.
Of all the Faulkner I’ve read, I think that might be his strongest. Great pick!
Hey Chris! Just finishing Gravity's Rainbow. Now on to The Iliad. Thanks for all you do!! I suggest you read The Train Was on Time by Heinrich Boll.
Two fantastic books back to back! 🙌
Thanks for the pick-I’ve (sadly) not yet read Böll.
Wildcard pick - A Matter of Life and Sex by Oscar Moore. A lost classic.
Thanks!
The Experience of God by David Bentley-Hart really is great. I read it 2 years ago and it's changed a lot of things for me. I hope you'll enjoy it
I’ve been reading DBH’s essays and his New Testament translation-and he has changed my perspective in several ways, too. Can’t wait to start getting into his books. 🙏
wildcard: The Death of Virgil by broch
Ooooooo good one!
Wildcard pick: The witness by Juan José Saer. My favourite novel of the best argentinian writer just behind Borges.
Man, what is up with Argentina and its legion of great writers?!
@@LeafbyLeaf I live in Argentina, and I can't really understand it. There are endless talented writers. Every other week I find new gems, and forgotten brilliance. You should really read Sear, I think you will love his works.
@Azzy1921 I’ve come across another recently: The House Of Paper by Carlos María Domínguez
@@LeafbyLeaf Haven't read that one. Heard interesting things. Have you read it? One more hidden gem I must read. I've been delving deep into Juan Rodolfo Wilcock, one of Borges's friends, and his work is remarkable. He is like an acid and darker, more bizarre and surreal Borges. Deeply recommend: The temple of iconoclasts by him.
Wildcard pick is An Elemental Thing by Eliot Weinberger
Thanks!
Chris, even physical malaise can’t hold you back! All I request you look at in 2024 is the very short but powerful The Burnout Society by the German Korean philosopher Byang-chul Han AND anything by Bernardo Kastrup…..both obviously non fiction but I believe they both have quietly revolutionary and incisive analysis of the wider society in which all the novels have their seed in. Thank you again for your boddhisatva like commitment to helping everyone rediscover the world of reading in a distracted world. Turning forty is a great time to bring together all the different lines of creativity into something approaching a synthesis. Paris is the most amazing place in the world. And I too will be reading much much more selectively: that is, books that help me clarify my sense of meaning. That way I can help more of my patients as possible. Hopefully u can do something similar for ur readers. Thank you Chris !
Hey man, I've read all of Kastrup's books! Wonderful philosophy expressed so beautifully that it not only resonates with me, but I feel now as though I've borrowed much of it as a mental framework for conceptualizing reality.
Bravo Bernardo and bravo Daniel Dennett's autobiography I spied in Chris's library a while ago.
Thanks (once again), Kieran! I ordered Burnout Society immediately. This looks very much like something I want to read. I will read this this year. Thank you. I love the idea of starting to think about my videos as ways of helping people discover more than just exciting books. I wish you the absolute best in your noble profession this year! 🙏
I’ve been following Daniel Dennett’s work for quite some time. He intrigues me. Even though I’m not a materialist, I still get a lot from him.
Thanks for the tip on Kastrup!
Thinking about time going by and you're visiting Paris soon; perhaps it's time for a Proust reread?
Hmmmmmmmm
Chris, re: reading requests...I get a lot of them. I tell them that I am just another asshole and that while I will be honest, I am not to be taken very seriously...but most importantly I limit the pages severely. I can't let that make me feel bad. Go easy on yourself.
You mean, you limit the number of pages of each of the books you read by request? I want to please everyone, which gets me into trouble when I get outnumbered. Thanks for the advice, Rick!
Great video and a great year as always!
Wildcard pick: The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro. Might be too long and is a biography but it is truly a feast.
I’ve heard of this book! Thanks so much!
Wildcard - Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse - it’s a tiny novella, but is such a fantastic piece
Beautiful book. I have been holding off on his Septology series for so long. Soon...
I just picked that one up a couple weeks ago! I, too, have been trying to hold off on the Septology. But I need more Fosse!
Wildcard: ‘Vanishing Point’ by David Markson
Oooooooo yeah, I wanna get more Markson on the channel!
Hi Chris, thank you for all the fantastic content, finally getting around to reading Solenoid. I hope you enjoy Paris! I was there for the holidays and I was amazed at the many English bookstores, of course, Shakespeare and Co. but many other less known ones, maybe plan an extra suitcase. My wildcard pick: News from the Empire, by Fernando del Paso.
Thanks so much! Shakespeare & Co. is mandatory! Great pick for the wildcard, too-I need to get around to that one!
My submission is Blood Horses by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Thanks!
“AntKind” by Charlie Kaufman
Several people are picking this one. And it just so happens that I got it for my birthday last year!
@@LeafbyLeaf wow! Cool! I’m glad! Didn’t think too many got to it! It’s brilliant…
Wildcard: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Of all the Goethe I’ve read, I haven’t read this one!
@@LeafbyLeaf When I first read it years ago, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had with a book. Rereading it now, it feels very elusive, something that asks the reader to keep a critical eye on everything and every idea happening in the story.
Concerning Graeber's The Dawn of Everything: before starting the book I would very much recommend looking into its critical reception by the scientific community. In my view it helps to frame the text against the established understanding on the development of human societies.
Sage advice indeed. Thank you!🙏
Wildcard - The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt. Just finished the delightfully fun The English Understand Wool. I need to finally read this one which has been on my shelf for 10+ years
I love Helen DeWitt! I've read all her work. Read _Samurai_ back in 2018 and would love to revisit it!
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata is crazy. Read it.
🙏🙏🙏
I had a dream last night that you posted a 24 hour long review of Bottom's Dream
Is that your suggestion of my 5-year-anniversary video? 😁
absolutely
Congratulatioms! I just turned 40 a few years ago. It's somethinng you know will happen, but is still a bit unreal when it does.
If I had one rec for the new year it would be "The House of Breath", by William Goyen. Don't know if you've read it or not, but It's beautiful, modernist, and, to the great relief of your reading list, is short--only 180 pages, or so--but packed with language.
Yeah, I’m bracing myself for the surreality of it. Thanks for the support!
I’ve not heard of that book before. Thanks!
I hope Blinding gets a reprint
Me, too! I hate that it isn’t available to people! I’m gonna email Archipelago right now.
Happy New Year!
Been enjoying your book discussions for a long time, looking forward to many more.
For Wildcard Pick, I am going to nominate a book that I loved- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeidaa by Shehan Karunatilaka.
Thanks so much! That’s a new book to me-yay!
Do you ever see or rather does your family ever see you?
Oh, yes! Probably doesn’t seem like it, but my family is everything. Books are nothing compared to plenty of quality time with them.
Chris, thanks so much for spreading these great book (and bookstore!) recommendations to the masses.
I believe Hind's Kidnap is Ben from Bookshore's recommendation for the first McElroy to start with. Would be very interested in a video of whichever you choose though.
Oh, sweet! I feel validated in my choice now. Thanks!
Love your t shirt ❤
Thanks! 🙏
Thanks for the great work you've been doing with this channel.
My biggest literary discovery this year was Arno Schmidt. So my wildcard pick would be "Nobodaddy's Children".
Thanks so much! Glad you've discovered the Teutonic wunderkind! I'll put that one in the running.
would love to buddy read Ha! I am currenttly reading some Hubert Aquin (I am Québécoise, and it's very well-known here).
Quelle chance ! Shoot me an email.
Next Episode is one of my favorites!
Happy New Year, Chris! Nice to hear about your upcoming travels and plans. To my knowledge you haven't done any videos on John Banville. I offer his superb 1997 novel The Untouchable for the Wildcard.
Thanks! I have not read Banville yet (sadly).
Some contemporary picks I'd recommend would be Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park, Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson, and Troll by David Fitzgerald
I bought the Ed Park at the end of last year! 🙌
Thanks for those other recs!
I'd like to recommend to you Lina Wolff as an author, and The Polyglot Lovers as a novel. I love her novels and Saskia Vogel is a talented translator. Looking forward to The Devil's Grip translation that will be published after Eastern.
She is on of Sweden's Finest, living in Spain (I think).
I have a special place in my heart for Scandinavians! Thanks so much for this!
hi chris! i've loved your channel for years, the video you did on beckett has motivated me to read through his work the first half of this year. anyway, my wildcard pick is profane friendship by harold brodkey. brodkey isn't for everyone, but i think he was greatly misunderstood while he was alive, and i'd love to hear what you think of it. happy new year!
Thanks so much! Of Brodkey, I’ve read a few stories and I really wanna get around to Runaway Soul. Thanks for this pick!
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
Be sure to come back tomorrow 😉
my submission for the wildcard pick would have to be The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Been wanting to read this for years. Maybe this will be the year!
@@LeafbyLeaf couldn’t recommend it enough, it’s both spectacular and really touching
Love to see Jaeggy, and twice!
🙌🙌🙌
I finally signed up in UA-cam to be able to sign up for your channel. I’ve been watching you for over two years. Congrats on turning 40 (late forties here already). Please keep this channel going- it’s fantastic!
Many, many sincere thanks! :):):)
love your content so much Chris, super excited for the fifth anniversary! my wildcard pick would be Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me by Richard Farina. I feel Farina's work so needs more attention, and I think you'd have a blast with this one.
I really appreciate it! Thank you! I’ve been curious about Fariña’s work ever since I saw the Gravity’s Rainbow dedication page!
My wildcard pick has to be 'Buddenbrooks' by Thomas Mann. I've been wanting to read this for a long time and finally started after visiting Lübeck (The hometown of Thomas Mann) last fall. Buddenbrooks is one of the greatest German novels and deserves much more attention in the English-speaking world.
How awesome! I’ve been wanting to read that, too. Of Mann, I’ve only read Magic Mountain and Death in Venice. (I actually have Joseph and His Brothers as one of my secret picks for this year. Don’t tell anyone.)
@@LeafbyLeaf As with many, Death in Venice was my introduction to Thomas Mann and The Magic Mountain is on my ever-growing list of books I want to read. I hope you get round to reading Joseph and His Brothers! And if you do, a video on it would be fantastic.
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
Good one!
Congratulations, @hmmrage ! You won the 2024 LxL Subscriber Wildcard Pick! I will be reading and doing a video on _Suttree_ this year. Thanks so much for participating!
neat @@LeafbyLeaf
Thanks for another year of great videos, Chris! For my wildcard pick, I’d throw in Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko.
Wow! I haven’t read Silko since my undergrad! Thanks for your pick.
Wildcard pick: "Antkind" by Charlie Kaufman. It's a lovely, sprawling mess of a book. Or if you wan't something not about movies, then perhaps "City of Glass" by Paul Auster.
Antkind is getting nominated a few times and I happen to have gotten it for my birthday last year!
My Subscriber Wildcard Pick:
'Soul Mountain' by Gao Xingjian (trans. Mabel Lee)
Thank you for the new recommendations as always! Love how you have awards for different categories as well. Have an incredible 2024, in reading and in living and all in between!
Thanks for this one!
All my best to you and yours, too!
I'll be very interested to see what you make of the D.B. Hart.
Thank you for sharing another year of excellent videos and insights! Brysons ‘Short History’ is one of my favorite books of all time. Bryson has a sharp lens for detailing human nature in all its absurd glory, and his exploration of the most brilliant, eccentric minds the race has produced (our great scientists) is so phenomenally entertaining and funny. There is actually an illustrated edition which is great as well and I’d recommend the audiobook narrated by Richard Matthews as his English delivery makes it doubly funny, in my opinion.
Thanks so much for the confirmation of the Bryson! I’ve been hearing great things for years and years. It’s time!
Reading Solenoid right now. It’s incredible writing. Thank you for recommendation! 👍
My pleasure! 🙏
I’ll once again recommend Andrew Lytle’s The Velvet Horn. A forgotten southern masterpiece.
Thanks for another year of great videos!
My pleasure! Thanks for the pick!
I guess we are all sick.
Sure seems like it. Hang in there!
On the contemporary front, I recommend Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin. Quick read that sticks with me well after finishing. A powerful voice.
Thanks for this rec!
You got nice hair!
Hey-thanks! I found a gray hair in it the other day. My life is over. 😁
Wild card - Hiroshima by John Hersey
It's been a long while since I read this one. Great pick!
@@LeafbyLeaf Have you read Hersey's novel A Single Pebble?
I didn’t even know that this book « Ha! » existed, but I really, really think you should read « Next Episode » by Hubert Aquin. I can send you a copy in French!
That is an exceedingly kind offer! I actually ordered an English translation of the Aquin yesterday because so many people said to get it. Even though I probably _should_ read it in French (I am a decent French reader), I think I'll do the English this time so it doesn't take me forever. Then I can get to _HA!_ and make a video on both!
Wow! That would be great! I ordered "Ha!" right after I watched your video yesterday!@@LeafbyLeaf
(I am for my part just a "decent English reader", so I guess it's going to take me a loooooong time to finish Ha! 😅)
😁😁😁
Wildcard pick: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
You’ll have a great time with Emily Wilson’s Iliad! Great awards this year 🎉
I ve always planned for Robert Fagles translation, now im confused...
I’ve read Fagles (and a few others) so I can let you know!
The literary shirts are 💯. An intellectually honest substantial reflection video. Your recommendation of Bookworm by Michael Silverblatt was very enjoyable. All the best in 2024
Thanks so much on all counts! 🙏
Chris, great to see you so off the cuff.
Thanks, Rick!
Collected Fictions by Jorge Louis Borges
This is my wildcard pick fyi
Now this would be time very well spent! 🙌
I wish all “awards ceremonies” could be like this. It’s really valuable to have such thoughtful curation. Thank you for a brilliant year of videos, cant wait for what’s up ahead.
Thanks so much for your affirmation and encouragement! I have a lot of fun doing it. Part of me thinks I should say more about each book, but I figure people can seek out the full videos of they’re interested.
My favorite content creator! Discovering you and your channel has felt like having a compassionate friend by one’s side. Love your award videos. from Texas
Ahhh, thanks so much! Cheers! 🙏
Alright, I have a very enjoyable suggestion: A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Anyone can enjoy this book but I do think it helps if you have been, like me, raised in the American South.
Well, I’ve got a leg up there: I was raised in Virginia! I think I said this on the channel at some point, but I think this book gets the award for the book I’ve been on the cusp of reading and then went for another book the most. Not sure why. Perhaps this is the year!
I'd like to submit KIBOGO by Scholastique Mukasonga for your wild card...bonus fact, she's Rwandan, lives in Paris, and writes in French. My own six-stars-of-five read for 2022.
Sounds parfait ! Merci !🙏
WILDCARD PICK: PEACE by Gene Wolfe.
Adore the reviews & your attentive readship.
Thanks so much! I actually bought that one in response to an impassioned recommendation a while back. Was it you?
wildcard pic: The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You by Frank Stanford
Thanks!
Hi Chris. Always great to see you!
Wildcard pick: Absalom, Absalom!
Love you brother. Jeff
Any ways this goes, I will start getting Faulkner on the channel this year!
Thanks for everything, Jeff!
Looking forward to your videos on your 2024 reading selections. Wildcard The Public Burning, Robert Coover, (who is now 91 years old)
Thanks! Can’t believe I’ve only got one Coover on the channel. Unacceptable.
Wildcard: Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. I read this one right after reading Blood Meridian and I have to say, I resonated with and enjoyed Butcher's Crossing more than I did Blood Meridian. Not that it's a direct comparison, but there are certain similar themes in both.
I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. Thanks!
Highly anticipating your read and listen of Gass and Vollmann. In honor of your trip to France and request for some recent fiction , The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellbecq. Much more focussed and far less vulgar than his earlier works it won the Prix Goncourt in 2010. His current perhaps final novel runs about 700 pages but hasn’t appeared yet in English translation
I’ve actually read all of Houellebecq’s work in English. I reviewed Serotonin for Rain Taxi and it came out. Le carte et le territoire I bought in 2012 when I was in Lyon and struggled through it on the flight. Ended up reading it in English. 😁 I’m looking forward to his latest!
So many tantalizing titles here!
Wildcard Pick: Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
Thanks!
One of my favorite recent books was Richard Milward's Man-Eating Typewriter. An incredibly fun book written mostly in Polari.
OK, now that is an awesome book title!
My wildcard pick is the astonishing masterpiece of Argentinian surrealism Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Goródischer. It is a fantastical, dreamlike book that blends simple fable with sprawling political satire, and the Ursula K. Le Guin translation is excellent.
Argentinian literature is so rich! Thanks for this!
If you do decide to go with Lookout Cartridge I highly recommend you try and find a copy The Review of Contemporary Fiction Vol. 10, No. 1: Joseph McElroy. There are excellent essays in there that are a great companion to that work.
I might have to ask Steven Moore to scan ‘em for me-can’t find a copy anywhere! I loved that periodical. Thanks for tip! I’ve used RCF essays in several videos.
My wildcard submission is Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis. Its her first novel -- came out in 1997. Her second novel comes out next month!
Whoa! Talk about taking your time on a book. 😁
Happy 40th birthday this year Chris1 If you think 40 is sordid, wait till you reach 60 which I do in 7 days time. On the plus side, I find myself writing about death more and more! Congrats on the 5th anniversary for the channel too. Bests.
Thanks, Marc! And a happy 60th birthday year for you! I’m jealous: you’ve been reading for roughly 20 more years than I!
Thank you for this video. Always great recommendations. What resources are you going to use in learning french? Thanks
Thanks! I’m using a mix of Fluent Forever, Duolingo, Pimsleur, and a grammar workbook. Luckily, I’ve already got a decent base.
BIG YES to both The Bee Sting and North Woods. Front table reads for sure, but both deeply satisfying.
Thanks so much for the affirmation!
Subscriber Wild Card Pick: Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
Thanks!
Amazing video! Philip Glass’s memoir is an excellent read. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying his music.
My Wildcard Pick: “Still No Word From You: Notes in the Margin” by Peter Orner.
Thanks! I've read Orner's _Am I Alone Here?_ and I quite liked it.
Happy New Year Chris! As always, I'm inspired and envious of your consistent and high quality output.
My wildcard pick for this year is A Bended Circuity by Robert S Stickley (RSS), published by Corona Samizdat Press.
Appreciate your words, Seth, and what you do for literature! Thanks for this pick-that book has been sitting here for far too long unread. Shameful.