Oooh, I am so glad you reviewed Migrations because that's a book I have definitely been eyeing. Also, I agree about the Penelopiad. I like Margaret Atwood and I am obsessed with Greek myth, but that version is... nnnnott my favorite. Circe, however, is a favorite!!
I am so glad I'm not the only one who disliked The Penelopiad. It really lacked subtly, especially compared to other retellings, like Circe. I felt like it over-victimized the women without giving them any more personality than the original Odyssey, leaving me wondering what the point was. So glad I stopped listening to Migrations on audiobook. I had a sense the main character was going to be a bad person and you've confirmed it for me :)
greet reviews! I also read Anne Applebaum's new book and had trouble sleeping for a few nights - I really love her! I believe I've read everything she has ever written included a Polish cookbook she wrote with her mother-in-law.. I also loved Circe when I read it a few years ago. I keep meaning to read the Song of Achilles, Miller's first novel. Ezra Klein did a wonderful interview of Madeline Miller on his podcast in April.
Yes Olive, I loved Circes! I read it about two years ago and man, I still love the book. She's always been my favorite of all Homer's characters. Period.
I didn't know much about her prior to reading this (and researching things while I was reading, as I always do), but I think she's such an amazing character!
Fathoms and Why Fish Don’t Exist both sound really interesting! And oh no about The Penelopiad! I bought it a couple years ago and have not attempted to read it, but it doesn’t sound all that promising of a read. 🙈
Since you like movie adaptations, I loved the Kate Hepburn movie "Pat and Mike" which does a rom-com inspired story similar to Zaharias's life. Cukor directed it and just gets the best acting from Hepburn as he did in Philadelphia Story.
Ah, "Lolita," the only book I've ever read that made me feel physically sick... and I've pored over many a forensic medicine tome. I totally agree that listing it as a favourite should be a BIG. FLASHING. WARNING. SIGN. I've just finished the first book in Maureen Johnson's "Truly Devious" trilogy and it was amazing! An isolated boarding school for unusual kids, an old mystery, a tragic accident (or was it murder?), hidden tunnels, a crime-obsessed main character - what's not to love? P.S. The gestures in your review of "Migrations" were pure delight!
Inferno sounds very interesting, though I worry that it might be a little... lurid? Like, the idea of psychosis might have the same kind of salacious draw as serial killers. That said... I'm glad someone is out there shining a light on the range of mental health issues that can affect postpartum women. With my second child, I braced myself for postpartum depression, but I was not prepared for postpartum OCD. Google the symptoms if you're curious, but hoo boy. Those were some scary times, and it was so lonely. The kind of thoughts you have with postpartum OCD are not what you share on Facebook to "reduce the stigma" of mental illness.
I loved this wrap up! Your pros and cons on certain things really make sense to me, especially about the memoirs and nature books. Thanks for all these recommendations (and anti-recommendations lol)!
Inferno sounds so interesting! I'm a true crime aficionado and one of the most fascinating cases to me is the case of Andrea Yates who suffered from untreated postpartum psychosis and killed all her kids. But even researching that case you don't really get the kind of insight into the mind of a schizophrenic mother that a memoir wold bring, so now I really have to get my mitts on Inferno
I heard of being Lolita but I didn't read it. What you describe is very common in memoirs. The writer doesn't understand that they must tell their truth like fiction. You are so right when you said that the adult reader wants to hear the story of the girl who makes the mistakes without the commentary or adults voice taking the reader out of the story. To accomplish this, requires the writer to be distant from the trauma. Also, a memoir isn't supposed to hit the reader over the head with their light bulb moments and convince the reader how smart they are now. Tell the story.
I don't think she overdid with with the light bulb moments (her adult perspective), but there were enough of those hiccups to make it feel like I was sitting in the room with both adult and teenage versions of the author - but the adult version couldn't help herself sometimes and wanted to interrupt the teenager as she spoke...if that makes sense?
Do you think the Lolita book was giving the literary discussions to try to show something about the cultural support for this kind of abuse? Or did it seem like she was trying to appear literary? Or...something else? It seems like a less than obvious choice, I must say. I have The Smallest Lights on hold through my library's digital service and am looking forward to reading it!
I think it would be a great one to get started with! I wasn't originally very into memoirs, but I slowly started to fall in love with them - they're a really good place to start with nonfiction since they often read like fiction with the storytelling. Also, in case you didn't know, I run a nonfiction event every November (called Nonfiction November) - it was started in order to encourage the community to give nonfiction a try. It's always a ton of fun, low pressure, and a great way to find new books to read and booktubers to watch. We'd love to have you join us, if you're interested!
I loved Migrations! I agree that there is almost 0 world building, so if that's what someone is looking for, I would skip it. Also, the ending is not realistic AT ALL. However, I took this book and it's setting/events more as an analogy for the protagonist (who isn't the most lovable character due to her flaws that she won't face, but damn if i didn't feel for her). The mystery element throughout the book had me ugly crying once I figured it out like 5 pages before it happened.
The Penelopiad was horrrrrrrrrible..... I thought it would have the maids' POV as well, but you never learn any of their names and it sure feels like Penelope didn't give an F about them. Add in verse chapters, which I just really don't like, and I only bareelllyyy managed to finish it! One of my few 1 stars from this year.
If anyone says that Lolita is their favourite book, it’s always a warning sign for me! 😂 I’m sorry that you hated Migration so much but I must admit that I enjoyed your rant! And I’m glad you enjoyed Circe but I’m now nervous to pick up the Atwood in December! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Inferno sounds a bit like Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (a book I loved) so I'm definitely adding it to my list. I quite liked The Penelopiad when I read it, sorry you didn't like it as much.
Well, high schoolers are pretty complex humans who are probably able to deal a lot better with complex texts than the school system makes them believe xD Is simplist writing usually not your thing or is this a specific case here? I would have found a more emotionally filled writing style more effective given the context of the book, but then again, I haven't read it myself
**timidly approaches** I enjoyed the Penelopiad. **silently wonders what that says about my reading level 😳** Seriously though, have you read Natalie Haynes newish book A Thousand Ships that is a retelling of the Trojan War from the women's perspective? The Penelopiad felt like an abridged version of that for me, but don't take that as a reason not to read it! It definitely dives deeper into the characters and range of experiences. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one!
No need to timidly approach! I'm always happy when people enjoy books, regardless of whether I liked them or not. I had not heard of A Thousand Ships - I will absolutely check that out. Thanks :)
It sounds like Being Lolita would be a great book to give to a younger person who is at the beginning of a "romance" (abusive relationship with an unequal power dynamic and big age gap), or someone who's getting to the age where they might be coerced into one. Maybe that was the intended audience, less so adults looking to be transported into someone else's life (for lack of a better phrase, but you know, understand/experience someone else's life as many turn to memoirs to do). This actually made me want to bookmark it for that....hopefully I wouldn't *need* to recommend it to someone in that situation, but I do think a younger person might be more willing to believe someone who's actually lived through it vs someone who just knows it's wrong. That also makes the references to works younger people would be likely to be familiar with (Alice in Wonderland, Disney, books you analyze in high school) a potential plus. Also, I went to look up Twilight of Democracy after hearing your description of it and weirdly it has a new subtitle (or it may be two different books? Bc the listing for the newer one says it's 224 pages, and I'm assuming the one you read was much shorter. There's now Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. Was Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and The Parting of Friends perhaps a jumping off point for the other book? My letdown with The Boyfriend Project (which I liked) is how much build-up and time the mystery of the workplace whodunit took despite the perps ultimately only including one character we actually get to know at all (not very well) and how I would've preferred we actually get to see the heroine's app come to fruition (or at least reach the formal pitch/ac ceptance stage). The pact didnt bother me. It's pretty common for contemporary romances to include a friend group (in this case, it created a new one) so the sequels can then tell the other friends' stories. I want to read the doctor's story (but it turns out the trainer's is next). I actually thought it was refreshingly modern how the main character was worried her new friends would judge her for not being able to hold to the 'no men' part of the pact only to find they couldnt be more supportive bc the whole point of it was to commit to improving their lives and going after what they wanted. It was never really about men.
I def want to look into Inferno and The Smallest Lights in the Universe. I wish that book about the exotic animal trade (about the fish) would have been good, have you read any decent nonfiction about the exotic animal trade?? I'd be really interested to read about that even though I know it would be infuriating also... lol
Find it fascinating that we had opposite opinions on Why Fish Don't Exist and The Dragon Behind the Glass . Always great to hear your nonfiction reviews!
Oh sure, share the nightmares. lol But I added Catherine Cho's memoir to my tbr. Migration sounds like it migrated to the landfill. I haven't read any of Atwood's newer books, but her older writing imo is exactly what you said about the book you dnf'd. I do not understand the hype.
LOL! Can I just say that I love when you hate a book! (Hello "Migration"!) I would love to see a whole video of you going off on the books that you dislike.
Oh gosh, I don't know if my blood pressure could take that! I also try to make a point not to make dedicated videos about negative things - a mini rant in a wrap up is one thing, but making a video just to speak negatively about something isn't something I'd feel good about doing.
Oooh, I am so glad you reviewed Migrations because that's a book I have definitely been eyeing. Also, I agree about the Penelopiad. I like Margaret Atwood and I am obsessed with Greek myth, but that version is... nnnnott my favorite. Circe, however, is a favorite!!
I am so glad I'm not the only one who disliked The Penelopiad. It really lacked subtly, especially compared to other retellings, like Circe. I felt like it over-victimized the women without giving them any more personality than the original Odyssey, leaving me wondering what the point was.
So glad I stopped listening to Migrations on audiobook. I had a sense the main character was going to be a bad person and you've confirmed it for me :)
I absolutely adore your wrap-up Olive! They’re always so insightful and enjoyable to watch. 💛
greet reviews! I also read Anne Applebaum's new book and had trouble sleeping for a few nights - I really love her! I believe I've read everything she has ever written included a Polish cookbook she wrote with her mother-in-law.. I also loved Circe when I read it a few years ago. I keep meaning to read the Song of Achilles, Miller's first novel. Ezra Klein did a wonderful interview of Madeline Miller on his podcast in April.
Yes Olive, I loved Circes! I read it about two years ago and man, I still love the book. She's always been my favorite of all Homer's characters. Period.
I didn't know much about her prior to reading this (and researching things while I was reading, as I always do), but I think she's such an amazing character!
Fathoms and Why Fish Don’t Exist both sound really interesting! And oh no about The Penelopiad! I bought it a couple years ago and have not attempted to read it, but it doesn’t sound all that promising of a read. 🙈
Just finished the dragon behond the glass from seeing this video a few mobths ago. I super loved it! I forgot you did not but to each her own😊
Since you like movie adaptations, I loved the Kate Hepburn movie "Pat and Mike" which does a rom-com inspired story similar to Zaharias's life. Cukor directed it and just gets the best acting from Hepburn as he did in Philadelphia Story.
It's so funny you mention that movie - Babe is actually IN it! The author spoke about it in the biography. I've been eyeing up a rental of it.
Ah, "Lolita," the only book I've ever read that made me feel physically sick... and I've pored over many a forensic medicine tome.
I totally agree that listing it as a favourite should be a BIG. FLASHING. WARNING. SIGN.
I've just finished the first book in Maureen Johnson's "Truly Devious" trilogy and it was amazing! An isolated boarding school for unusual kids, an old mystery, a tragic accident (or was it murder?), hidden tunnels, a crime-obsessed main character - what's not to love?
P.S. The gestures in your review of "Migrations" were pure delight!
The gestures are likely the result of my time spent in theatre, haha!
That Truly Devious trilogy sounds fantastic - and so good for this time of year!
Inferno sounds very interesting, though I worry that it might be a little... lurid? Like, the idea of psychosis might have the same kind of salacious draw as serial killers.
That said... I'm glad someone is out there shining a light on the range of mental health issues that can affect postpartum women. With my second child, I braced myself for postpartum depression, but I was not prepared for postpartum OCD. Google the symptoms if you're curious, but hoo boy. Those were some scary times, and it was so lonely. The kind of thoughts you have with postpartum OCD are not what you share on Facebook to "reduce the stigma" of mental illness.
I loved this wrap up! Your pros and cons on certain things really make sense to me, especially about the memoirs and nature books. Thanks for all these recommendations (and anti-recommendations lol)!
I thought Circe was fantastic too! One of my top three for August.
It was beautiful!
That’s a whole lotta lotta! There are several they I think I’ll be checking out - as per the usual you are the BEST for nonfiction recommendations!
A whole lotta lotta indeed! I'm hoping for better reads in September - I don't like being this grumpy lmao.
Inferno sounds so interesting! I'm a true crime aficionado and one of the most fascinating cases to me is the case of Andrea Yates who suffered from untreated postpartum psychosis and killed all her kids. But even researching that case you don't really get the kind of insight into the mind of a schizophrenic mother that a memoir wold bring, so now I really have to get my mitts on Inferno
Inferno sounds very interesting. May have to add that to my TBR next month. 👍🏼
I heard of being Lolita but I didn't read it. What you describe is very common in memoirs. The writer doesn't understand that they must tell their truth like fiction. You are so right when you said that the adult reader wants to hear the story of the girl who makes the mistakes without the commentary or adults voice taking the reader out of the story. To accomplish this, requires the writer to be distant from the trauma. Also, a memoir isn't supposed to hit the reader over the head with their light bulb moments and convince the reader how smart they are now. Tell the story.
I don't think she overdid with with the light bulb moments (her adult perspective), but there were enough of those hiccups to make it feel like I was sitting in the room with both adult and teenage versions of the author - but the adult version couldn't help herself sometimes and wanted to interrupt the teenager as she spoke...if that makes sense?
abookolive I write memoir so that makes Perfectsense
Adore the chirpy transition from "this gave me nightmares" to "I highly recommend it" 😆So glad you enjoyed Circe!
haha - I realized mid-sentence that I was probably not going to sell people on the book if I revealed that!
I mean, I got many nonfiction titles out of this video (thanks!) but the real payoff was your angry review of Migrations. You made my weekend!
Very happy you enjoyed that, haha! I swear, I'm calm and collected 99.9% of the time, but when a book makes me this angry I just...blow a fuse.
Excellent recs as always, and CIRCE is perfection!
Do you think the Lolita book was giving the literary discussions to try to show something about the cultural support for this kind of abuse? Or did it seem like she was trying to appear literary? Or...something else? It seems like a less than obvious choice, I must say. I have The Smallest Lights on hold through my library's digital service and am looking forward to reading it!
(And I too absolutely hated the Atwood. Blech.)
I'm so looking forward to starting The Smallest Lights in the Universe tomorrow.
Added Inferno to my TBR!
Loved how diverse your reading month was but my favourite reviews were the ones where you didn’t like the books all that much. Go figure! 😆
I'm not really into memoirs or nonfiction but Inferno sounds amazing and I really want to pick it up.
I think it would be a great one to get started with! I wasn't originally very into memoirs, but I slowly started to fall in love with them - they're a really good place to start with nonfiction since they often read like fiction with the storytelling.
Also, in case you didn't know, I run a nonfiction event every November (called Nonfiction November) - it was started in order to encourage the community to give nonfiction a try. It's always a ton of fun, low pressure, and a great way to find new books to read and booktubers to watch. We'd love to have you join us, if you're interested!
@@abookolive that sounds awesome. I'd love to join
Migrations somehow sounds interesting to me. I'm not into in reading a dystopian per se.
I loved Migrations! I agree that there is almost 0 world building, so if that's what someone is looking for, I would skip it. Also, the ending is not realistic AT ALL. However, I took this book and it's setting/events more as an analogy for the protagonist (who isn't the most lovable character due to her flaws that she won't face, but damn if i didn't feel for her). The mystery element throughout the book had me ugly crying once I figured it out like 5 pages before it happened.
I was looking for your review on Educated but couldn’t find it. Got any idea where to look?
It's here! ua-cam.com/video/1F2NunjyYwk/v-deo.html
The Smallest Lights in the Universe sounds exactly what I need right now.
I hope you love it!
The Penelopiad was horrrrrrrrrible..... I thought it would have the maids' POV as well, but you never learn any of their names and it sure feels like Penelope didn't give an F about them. Add in verse chapters, which I just really don't like, and I only bareelllyyy managed to finish it! One of my few 1 stars from this year.
If anyone says that Lolita is their favourite book, it’s always a warning sign for me! 😂 I’m sorry that you hated Migration so much but I must admit that I enjoyed your rant! And I’m glad you enjoyed Circe but I’m now nervous to pick up the Atwood in December! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
You might enjoy it a whole lot more than I did - in fact, I very much hope you do!
Inferno sounds a bit like Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (a book I loved) so I'm definitely adding it to my list. I quite liked The Penelopiad when I read it, sorry you didn't like it as much.
I recommend
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
🦋📖👋☘️📚
Well, high schoolers are pretty complex humans who are probably able to deal a lot better with complex texts than the school system makes them believe xD
Is simplist writing usually not your thing or is this a specific case here? I would have found a more emotionally filled writing style more effective given the context of the book, but then again, I haven't read it myself
**timidly approaches**
I enjoyed the Penelopiad.
**silently wonders what that says about my reading level 😳**
Seriously though, have you read Natalie Haynes newish book A Thousand Ships that is a retelling of the Trojan War from the women's perspective? The Penelopiad felt like an abridged version of that for me, but don't take that as a reason not to read it! It definitely dives deeper into the characters and range of experiences. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one!
No need to timidly approach! I'm always happy when people enjoy books, regardless of whether I liked them or not. I had not heard of A Thousand Ships - I will absolutely check that out. Thanks :)
It sounds like Being Lolita would be a great book to give to a younger person who is at the beginning of a "romance" (abusive relationship with an unequal power dynamic and big age gap), or someone who's getting to the age where they might be coerced into one. Maybe that was the intended audience, less so adults looking to be transported into someone else's life (for lack of a better phrase, but you know, understand/experience someone else's life as many turn to memoirs to do). This actually made me want to bookmark it for that....hopefully I wouldn't *need* to recommend it to someone in that situation, but I do think a younger person might be more willing to believe someone who's actually lived through it vs someone who just knows it's wrong. That also makes the references to works younger people would be likely to be familiar with (Alice in Wonderland, Disney, books you analyze in high school) a potential plus.
Also, I went to look up Twilight of Democracy after hearing your description of it and weirdly it has a new subtitle (or it may be two different books? Bc the listing for the newer one says it's 224 pages, and I'm assuming the one you read was much shorter. There's now Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. Was Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and The Parting of Friends perhaps a jumping off point for the other book?
My letdown with The Boyfriend Project (which I liked) is how much build-up and time the mystery of the workplace whodunit took despite the perps ultimately only including one character we actually get to know at all (not very well) and how I would've preferred we actually get to see the heroine's app come to fruition (or at least reach the formal pitch/ac ceptance stage). The pact didnt bother me. It's pretty common for contemporary romances to include a friend group (in this case, it created a new one) so the sequels can then tell the other friends' stories. I want to read the doctor's story (but it turns out the trainer's is next). I actually thought it was refreshingly modern how the main character was worried her new friends would judge her for not being able to hold to the 'no men' part of the pact only to find they couldnt be more supportive bc the whole point of it was to commit to improving their lives and going after what they wanted. It was never really about men.
I def want to look into Inferno and The Smallest Lights in the Universe. I wish that book about the exotic animal trade (about the fish) would have been good, have you read any decent nonfiction about the exotic animal trade?? I'd be really interested to read about that even though I know it would be infuriating also... lol
Find it fascinating that we had opposite opinions on Why Fish Don't Exist and The Dragon Behind the Glass . Always great to hear your nonfiction reviews!
Aloha Olive...loved your thorough and interesting reviews...added to my TBR...mahalo!!
20.000 subscribers! Congratulations, so well deserved!
I love that you enjoy Non Fiction books, that’s all I enjoy reading!
Oh sure, share the nightmares. lol But I added Catherine Cho's memoir to my tbr. Migration sounds like it migrated to the landfill. I haven't read any of Atwood's newer books, but her older writing imo is exactly what you said about the book you dnf'd. I do not understand the hype.
Great video by the way
LOL! Can I just say that I love when you hate a book! (Hello "Migration"!) I would love to see a whole video of you going off on the books that you dislike.
Oh gosh, I don't know if my blood pressure could take that! I also try to make a point not to make dedicated videos about negative things - a mini rant in a wrap up is one thing, but making a video just to speak negatively about something isn't something I'd feel good about doing.
You look venomous !
Apparently that's a theme in this video...eek.
I just laid my hands on the "Rules of civility". Consider me influenced!
I read it this month because of Olive, too! I really enjoyed it and talked one of my friends into picking it up, too. Her reach is wide!
Great video, thanks!
Thanks for watching :)
💜
Thank you for the heads up on Migrations. I can safely avoid that one!
I'm so disappointed about Migrations! I have it on hold at the library and I was so excited to read it. Now I'm much less enthusiastic :(