bless you for reading books you don't like all the way to the end....that can't be me. My patience could never! If a book is awful, I'm out early. Time is limited. I find these very helpful, I had a few on my tbr, but listening to you has spared me many hours. Thank you
@@InfiniteText I would have DNF’d The Bee Sting if it weren’t for the Booktube Prize, but most of the others were either short or good books that just contained some things I didn’t like.
@@joniheisenberg YES! And that is how I think it being a retelling of David Copperfield limited it and diminished it. Not only is the ending cliched, but if you’ve read Dickens book you knew it was going to be several hundred pages before you got there.
@@bookofdust I am reading Playground atm. Read Enlightenment, Creation Lake and James. James was the best, no doubt but the others aren't terrible, just lacking something. I feel Orbital will just be pretentious s**t. Pardon my French.
@@lyramidsummer5508 That is the appropriate French! I’m still heartbroken that My Friends didn’t even make to the short list - Held, my front runner has done well elsewhere thankfully and James would have been the obvious choice. I could even have been happy for Safekeep.
I'm glad you address the idea that books can be both disappointing and good books. Last year I was disappointed by Demon Copperhead, even though I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads. I DNFed Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow last year, and then this year I DNFed The Bee Sting. I also found Orbital disappointing, and I'm baffled by its Booker win. I avoided The North Woods because the hype felt too strong.
@@EveningReader Thank you. A few of the reactions so far indicate that not everyone got that. North Woods hype definitely affected by reading I think. Glad to know I’m not the only one who disliked The Bee Sting. If I hadn’t been reading it for The Booktube Prize I definitely would have DNF’d it.
Orbital is also one of my most disappointing books this year, and Tomorrowx3 in a previous year. That book was excruciating. And I can just tell from a distance that Rooney is not for me. But I loved Demon Copperhead and even more, North Woods! I just picked up a copy of The New Life at a library book sale; hopefully I will fare better with it than you did.
I hope you enjoy The New Life. It is a good book. It just didn’t suit me. You are probably right about Rooney, but if you do try her Normal People would be my suggestion.
I try not to have high expectations for books because then I can’t be disappointed when a book is only good and not fantastic like the hype would suggest. It’s not easy. I liked (not loved) Demon Copperhead because of how it followed David Copperfield so closely. It felt like I was in on the secret. Yes, it meant I knew what would happen next and I normally despise spoilers. The orphan’s tale of poverty and the opioid epidemic in Appalachia was secondary for me. I finished reading James yesterday. What worked for me is how Everett started out with the same story as Twain and then he pivoted and took us down a different path. I was so grateful to not have to revisit the Tom Sawyer scene at the end of Huck Finn. The story’s pacing picked up because I did not know what would happen next.
@@amyschmelzer6445 That is very wise and I wish I was able to follow that advice. Sometimes I can, but I usually can’t. I thought Demon was great when he was still a little boy, but the teenage/adult Demon sections worked less and less for me. Yes! Exactly. James isn’t a retelling of Huck Finn so much as it is a reimagining of Jim and a portrayal of the history Black Experience in the U.S. Not having that crap Tom Sawyer ending was a relief.
Finally catching up a bit on videos- I don’t like Barbara Kingsolver (read six of hers) but what I did love about Demon was seeing how she’d adapt it- the story itself if it wasn’t an adaptation I wouldn’t have cared for as much. I was super annoyed with tomorrow x3, especially the second part. I don’t think I’ll have problems avoiding the other books on your list. 😊 thanks for the thoughts! Hope your thanksgiving was awesome and enjoy the Christmas season.
@@barbarahelgaker390 I wish I had said in the video that part of my disappointment with Demon was that the last half didn’t live up to the first half. It started very strong and the. Faded I thought.
This was fascinating as there were books here that I found disappointing like Demon Copperhead and others I really loved like North Woods. A great reminder how personal our responses are and how even a good book may not hit the spot for us. I did think The Bee Sting just wasn't a good book!
Thanks Ros. I think I just got off to a bad start with North Woods. A couple running away to the wilderness, building a house, and surviving all alone in Colonial America just struck me as really far fetched. Then the apples. So much about apples. But that’s just me. I did think some parts of the book were very good and interesting.
Good to have some alternative views! I wasn’t so down on DC and I normally hate preachy books - I think I was carried along by the character and didn’t mind so much. It wasn’t as bad as Poisonwood Bible for preachiness! I liked Orbital (and loved James) but I think the shortlist showed the judges had a taste for quiet meditative books rather than novels with lots of action and plot. On that basis I thought the most likely winner was Stone Yard Devotional. The other factor with the Booker is that the shortlist has been read three times by the end and the winning book has to still be giving - James works brilliantly after just one read and I’m not sure what more rereads would bring. That said it is clearly the best book of the year and it is brilliant that Percival Everett is getting so much attention now. I haven’t read any other book that so deftly highlights our fragility and aloneness in the way Orbital does. Anyone who thinks we can leave earth and go live somewhere else is living in a fantasy!
In my first review of Orbital I mentioned that Harvey had done a lot of research and seemed determined to include every detail and anecdote she had been told by the astronauts which bothered me a good deal. Clearly I am in the minority on the book however. Perhaps I read it in a more cynical view than normal. I have reread James and I found more depth than the first time through not to mention a different interpretation than most have mentioned. Having to read each book several times would certainly make me look more fondly on short books like Orbital. Demon is a great character with a great and authentic voice.
The description of 'North Woods' brought to my mind a beautiful poem called "Wild Peaches" by American author Elinor Wylie (1885-1928), a sonnet sequence wherein the poem's persona evokes a dream of going back to nature and living off the grid with her beloved, an ecstatic converging of the complementary nodes of American independence and American abundance manifest in a single idealized coupling. The poem ends with a bracing renunciation of this golden vision, the optimistic mythos yielding to somber reflections on aridity and decay.
North Woods definitely has some elements of that, but focuses on the land where the various storylines involving different generations of people take place. It definitely punctures some of the mythos of America's past.
Demon Copperhead won the Women's Prize for Fiction, and it was the co-winner of the Pulitzer (along with Hernan Diaz' Trust). It did not win the Booker. I loved this book--definitely one of my best of 2023. I also loved North Woods--definitely one of my top five for this year. I agree with you about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I really wanted to like it as I loved Zevin's earlier The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I also didn't really like Vaster Wilds. I actually gave up on The Bee Sting, but I thought I might go back to it one day. As always, thoughtful discussion, Brian.
Thank you Pat. I should have gotten my facts straight before I started recording. I think with both Demon and North Woods there were just a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. Both are good books, just for me not as good as I wanted them to be
@ I definitely get it. That’s how I felt about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Disappointed. And I kept wondering, “what am I not seeing that everyone else is?”
Love this video! And we agree on so many of the authors. North Woods let me down. And I’ve vented about Demon Copperhead ad nauseum. James was completely ripped off. 😡
I was disappointed with Northwoods & The Vaster Wild. I had no interest for all the others you mentioned, so thank you for this video. I’m not worried I missed anything.
Sigh of relief when you said you'll have your best books out in January!!! I'm scrambling to finish some books that I think I'll love and so all these best of 2024 lists released in December stress me out. 😅 I was also excited to read Kairos but have heard so many mixed things!
@@eyesonindie Kairos is a good and at times beautiful book. I loved the other two Erpenbeck books I read and so I think I had my expectations set too high.
I never knew you read so much contemporary stuff! Especially the ones that aren't up to your taste 😅 I haven't read contemporary literature in years now, always teel there's so much great stuff from the past that ai have to get through!
Yeah my most disappointing book of the year was probably James by Percival Everett. I gave it three stars. It was fine and I am glad I read it, but nothing about it blew me away. It was an interesting idea to make James a clandestine intellectual, but sometimes it’s presented in an unbelievable and over-the-top fashion like the scene where the two character discuss the specific type of irony involved. When James imagines what Kierkegaard would wish for, despite Kierkegaard not being translated into English until the 1900s I believe. At the same time, it misses opportunities. I liked the dream sequences when James has imaginary discussions with Enlightenment philosophers like Locke and Voltaire, showing their hypocrisy and the Enlightenment’s mixed legacy of rights and race, but I feel like this should have been a running trope in the story and include more Dream-conversations such as with Hume (known for his racism), Kant, etc. As it is, it feels only developed to half its potential. The exchange of Twain’s humor for the bleak dark tone that naturally comes from shifting to the perspective of a slave, while understandable was not an improvement for me. While it does a good job at showing the evils and brutality of racism and slavery, tons of other books have done it equally good or better.
@@CSreader Thanks for the great comment. My pet (though I’m sure not original idea) is that James represents the history of the Black experience from slavery to present so I wasn’t bothered by the anachronisms.
Kairos has been receiving vastly varying reactions in Germany too. And I admit, it is a though read. However, I believe, it is a masterpiece. Nothing is straight forward. It contains lots of difficult metaphors and to top it off, the man is an allegorical representation of the GDR. He treats her like the GDR treated its people, especially those who wanted more. Some literature students will have their work cut out for them... 😅
This is a list of books I clearly classify as "should read but overhyped" books in my mind. I only read and disliked Orbital. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is the only one I am frequently tempted to pick up but constantly think, probably not as good as everyone says.
I've seen most of these on major Best of and Awards lists. But, as someone who often shakes his head at some of their choices and wonders what they were thinking, I can see where you're coming from.
I'm currently reading 'Leonard and Hungry Paul' which I know you liked. I think I needed something with more plot and less eccentricity, it's just personal taste, in this case, I don't think it's badly written.
Thank you for validating so many of my thoughts about these books. With the exception of Demon Copperhead, which I liked, the rest of them, I quite agreed. It’s very frustrating to keep reading books, not particularly liking them & then finding them winning awards! It seems like most of the major awards I disagree with! Anyway, thanks for this!
To be clear, many of the books on my list are, I think, good books. It’s just for me they weren’t as good as I thought they would be. It’s really only The Bee Sting and the Rooney book that I thought were bad. But the fact that several of these won prizes and I didn’t think they were great definitely contributed to my disappointment with them. Thanks for your comment.
I thought the parts of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow that dealt with game development and the early friendship between the two game developers were great.
Thanks, Brian!🌷I’ve read five of the books you mention. I loved Orbital and found it a worthy winner of the Booker, even though the two other contenders I’ve read didn’t make the shortlist. So, I can’t compare Orbital with its competition. Of North Woods and The Bee Sting I found the endings spectacular! Like you, I didn’t expect ghosts in the first, and it took me a moment to realise what was actually happening 😅However, I liked both very much. Then Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow of which I loved all literary references and being introduced to the world of video games I knew nothing about. I found The New Life interesting, but perhaps because by pure chance last year I happened to read also Maurice by E.M. Forster and The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst (both with what to me were well-rounded queer characters and a more appealing writing style) l found it less to my taste.
I think North Woods is a good book. I think for me I like my historical fiction to be historical and less fantastic. I did enjoy the parts of Tomorrow that involved developing the games and the early part of the friendships between the too characters. I must read Hollinghurst. Thanks for the reminder.
Hi Brian! Agree: (I was also disappointed) Demon; Beesting; the S Rooney; Orbital; Kairos Disagree (I enjoyed) : Vaster Wilds (more than you did) and North Woods (a lot)
I knew that we disagreed about North Woods, but that's bound to happen. We do seem to be in synch about books most of the time. Hope you are looking forward to a wonderful Holiday season Tess.
I agree with you on half of these. My most disappointing read this year was Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright and as an Australian it feels almost wrong to say that. It was a big, dense book and I took it slowly but when I got to the end I thought it was not worth spending so much time on.
Thanks for the heads up on Praiseworthy. I knew it was a big book which makes me hesitate these days and I’ve also heard it’s a dense read. I admire writers and readers of those books, but I’m not sure they are for me anymore.
Thank you for protecting us from the literary longueurs lurking in the waters out there. The only one here that tempts me is the Crewe. I noted below your comment that you hadn't read John Irving, funny because I was going to comment on his proclivity, in early books, to introduce a bear when at a loss with the plot! He'd joke about this later. I forget which book discussion reminded me of this, maybe North Woods. Anyway, his early books I found a ton of fun, back when I was a 20-some.
I tried several of these books or knew some I wouldn't care for so skipped them. I don't like redo books, James and Demon Copperhead (Also don't like books set in Appalachia), but read The Vaster Wilds and liked it very much. I love books that involve a journey away from the know, especially with female characters. I liked the interaction with indigenous peoples and survival in the wild appeals.. Black Robe by Brian Moore is a most favorite novel. Thank you for this list. I will follow you. I'm a picky reader as well.
Thanks for following. I usually avoid retelling but found James to be excellent. No Appalachia books.. is there a reason? That’s a very specific kind of pickiness.🙂
I’ve only read 3 of the books mentioned (Demon Copperhead, Tomorrow x3, and The Bee Sting) but they were all 5-star reads for me lol. I’ll have to try out the others on the list, I feel like I might actually love them.
@@ldillaway89 Haha! You probably should. I have a few BookTube friends with the opposite reading taste and they sometimes read books I don’t like because they know they will probably like them.
I haven't read any of these books, but I think I would really struggle with books about young women/girls in abusive relationships with older men. Thanks for warning me.
I think North Woods is more enjoyable if you’re really into magical realism. I enjoyed it but I totally understand why you didn’t. I DNF’d Demon Copperhead and Normal People. I have grown really distrustful of book prize books as I’ve been burned by hype one too many times lol
@@omalleysmith9100 I like magical realism when I know it’s coming or when the vibe of the book makes it possible, but in North Woods it seemed like realistic if improbable things were happening and the book! Vengeful ghosts! Maybe I missed the signs.
LOL…I enjoyed this video as I regularly totally dislike books that others really enjoy. I thought ‘Yellowface’ was very disappointing. As was ‘Such a Fun Age’ and ‘Exciting Times’. It’s all good. A good list. I can see no reason why ‘Orbital’ won the Booker. It’s just a book of lots of lists. I didn’t mind ‘Conversations with Friends’ but I never really like her characters. They just annoy me. I hated ‘Intermezzo’ and hate is a strong word, but the book just gave me the ICK!
Haha! It can be fun to be a contrarian. I did like Yellowface though. Rooney's success is a mystery to me and I am trying to convince myself that having read two of her four books is enough, but I feel somewhat compelled to try Intermezzo. Your hatred for it will help me resist.
The idea of a book didn’t deliver “what it promised” is an interesting idea (apart from what the hype promises). I kinda know what you mean, but have trouble finding an example from my own reading.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Sometimes “the promise” is the hype, sometimes it’s the marketing, sometimes it’s that the rest of the book doesn’t rise to the level of the beginning
Yes, it is pretty funny that many of the books you are disappointed in are prize winners, which makes me glad I have no desire of following book awards. I teased James from Quaint and Curious volumes about subjecting himself to reading the latest Nobel Prize for Lit winner's books. It's like doing penance, I told him. I'm familiar with many of the books you reviewed and read none of them. I thought about "Orbital" but the booktube gush made me slightly suspicious. "James," which you liked, has been getting the same response, but so far no interest in reading it. I think I rather re-read Bradbury's short story Kaleidoscope, about doomed astronauts contemplating the final hours.
@@LibroParadiso-ep4zt I didn’t think about how many of the books were prize winners until I started shooting the video. I imagine that knowing they were listed for or had won prizes raised my expectations and accounts for some of my disappointment. Keep in mind most of the books I talked about are good books that disappointed me for specific and/or idiosyncratic reasons. James is great btw.
I had to stop reading Demon Copperhead because it was making me laugh. You could practically hear the author trying to think of ways things could get more utterly miserable. Around the same time I read The Overstory by Richard Powers, a novel which started very well indeed, until the author lost his grip on the various plots in the middle section, followed by an omnishambles of a finale.
@@10538overture I’ve never read The Overstory. It has never sounded like something I would enjoy. In Kingsolver’s defense since she was doing a retelling of David Copperfield a fair bit of misery was required.
I don't think I really had any disappointing books this year. I do a lot of rereading. Typically I don't stray too far from my taste which is mostly philosophy and classics, but sometimes I will try something different. Which I have a bit of reader ADHD, lol, I'm currently reading 26 books right now, 5-10 pages per each every day, usually adding up to 210 pages a day. Half is rereads so I can get away with it, haha.
@@BookishTexan I just gradually built myself up to it. Haha. I've also been studying Latin which has been a good experience so far. Magna res! (Great stuff!)
I read the new life and among all the books you mentioned it is the only one with which I have some disagreement ...maybe the thing worth mentioning is the quality of the style, there are (at least I found) some beautiful descriptions of london by night, and I did appreciate some of the main characters...English is not my native language....still I appreciate that novel...although I tend to read classics mainly.
Agree absolutely with The Bee Sting. I bought it in paperback as someone chose it for our work book club back in Feb. I am English but left me cold by and large. Don't understand the huge praise.
Lots of agreement from me. Also read The Vaster Wilds for the BT prize and found it so unbelievable. Suppose to be historical fiction?? I agree about preachy books, I really don't like to be told how to think--I want to come to my own opinions. The two things that generally turn off my feelings about a book are preaching and over reaching. If the author seems to checking off boxes, including token characters or events to pull in a type of audience or make a point.
If the subtitle of The Vaster Wilds had been "a colonial fairy tale" I would have liked it better because I would have expected it to be realistic. I don't mind a book with a purpose, but I don't want to be hit over the head with it.
I found The Matrix by Lauren Groff disappointing. I mean, it was readable, but nothing seemed to happen, there wasn't much growth in the characters or point to the story (for me). So I have not been inclined to read more from her. Orbital -- I don't understand why it is referred to as a novel. To me, it's a 200 page poem. The prose is lovely, but there is no story or plot at all, and we don't even get that much depth about the characters. As poetry, it's wonderful. As a novel, it's a dud. I wasn't disappointed by North Woods, but I had no great expectations for it in the first place and I listened to the audio which I think enhanced the experience a lot. Not that it was a fantastic book, I just didn't go into it thinking I would love it. Demon Copperhead I liked but didn't love. I think the issues you had with it is pretty typical of Kingsolver in general. Also might have helped that I don't remember much of David Copperfield as I read it many decades ago, so I wasn't affected by the common plot points. To me the best part of the book was done better (and quicker!) in Claire Keegan's book Foster. Interesting review!
@@sandeesandwich2180 Thank you. I hadn’t thought of Orbital as a long prose poem so that’s an interesting thought. I think we had similar feelings about Demon but different reasons for those feelings. North Woods was trying to do too much I think.
I read The North Woods. I enjoyed it more or less but it didn’t wow me. I did rank it high in the BookTube Prize rankings but there were two complete turkeys it was up against. None of the others on your disappointment list seem especially interesting. I’ll probably take a pass on them all.
I agree with your assessment but I would add James by Everett to that list. Predictable, preachy and when the protagonist restated his name at the end, I groaned out loud. My favorite reads of the year include Inland by Gerald Murnane and Houses of Ravicka by Renee Gladman. No plot, no character development, but sheer perfection.
@@bmaei5 I didn’t have the same reaction to James which is my book of the year, but I appreciate and understand your position. Thanks for the recommendations I will add those books to my list of books to look into.
This is the second really bad review of Demon copperhead I’ve heard and I haven’t even gotten around to reading it yet. But since I did pay nearly thirty bucks for it I’m going to read it anyway. I don’t mind books that are a little preachy as long as I agree with the preaching. Also very cool shirt. Be well.⚛❤
I haven't read Orbital, but one of the literary critics in Ukraine did, and, judging from her retelling, the author probably thought herself very smart for coming up with a metaphor of several people in space representing united humanity (while completely ignoring an inconvenient fact that a couple of them were sent by a state actively committing a genocide and occasionally threatening a nuclear war). I've read an excerpt, ready to face some revelation of a book that's so good the Booker panel had no choice but award it, and was surprised just how cliched and pretentious the writing was. Guess there's just something I don't understand about how the 'best books' are chosen.
I was gobsmacked when Orbital won. I clearly don't think the book is very good or worthy, but I am not sure how Harvey could have written her book without including Russian astronauts given the current state of space research. Of course, every person is free to judge the book for anything they choose. Thank you for your comment.
Sacred cow after sacred cow here. Yikes. I'm seeing more and more Demon Copperhead backlash lately, which is weird. Only agree about Orbital, but Held was far worse. James should have won the Booker (and everything else). I gladly let Rooney go after Normal People. There are spoilers in The Bee Sting section, so be warned everyone.
I agree that Held wasn't great, but I thought the opening pages and the initial relationship were beautifully drawn. I didn't find much in Orbital that rose to that level. But neither book was great. I should have mentioned the spoilers.
I adored Orbital. I thought it was just absolutely gorgeous and thought-provoking. It would have been my choice for the booker. I can see where it wouldn't be for everyone. I'm with you on The Bee Sting. I loathed it. I agree it was overwritten and it was trying too hard to be clever and profound. Plus, I felt there were some homophobia mixed in with how Murray wrote about the closeted father. The bunker stuff was so tiresome. I will never understand why people liked it.
I know that you mean well, but it’s a lot better to refer us as gay. To refer to us as homosexual is antiquated and scientific. No one (at least no one that I know or have read when referring to us) refer to us as homosexual. Gay,or even more appropriate, queer, is much better.
This is not a universally held view among us queer men. I prefer the term 'homosexual' for myself precisely because it is clinical and denotative, and lacks the cultural baggage that accrues for many around the term 'gay', which connotes for many cultural and social stereotypes which may or may not pertain to any given one among us. The clinical and scientific value of the word 'homosexual' is precisely its strength.
bless you for reading books you don't like all the way to the end....that can't be me. My patience could never! If a book is awful, I'm out early. Time is limited. I find these very helpful, I had a few on my tbr, but listening to you has spared me many hours. Thank you
@@InfiniteText I would have DNF’d The Bee Sting if it weren’t for the Booktube Prize, but most of the others were either short or good books that just contained some things I didn’t like.
Disappointment vs. bad is such an important distinction so thank you for that!
Thank you. Not sure I made that point clear enough for everyone.
I am in total agreement with your assessment of “Demon Copperhead.” The book for me (especially the ending),was a cliched Lifetime movie.
@@joniheisenberg YES! And that is how I think it being a retelling of David Copperfield limited it and diminished it. Not only is the ending cliched, but if you’ve read Dickens book you knew it was going to be several hundred pages before you got there.
100% behind you about Orbital, I didn’t like it, but the win was a slap in the face of others that were much more worthy.
That pretty much sums up my feelings about this years Booker as well.
@@bookofdust I am reading Playground atm. Read Enlightenment, Creation Lake and James. James was the best, no doubt but the others aren't terrible, just lacking something. I feel Orbital will just be pretentious s**t. Pardon my French.
@@lyramidsummer5508 That is the appropriate French! I’m still heartbroken that My Friends didn’t even make to the short list - Held, my front runner has done well elsewhere thankfully and James would have been the obvious choice. I could even have been happy for Safekeep.
I'm glad you address the idea that books can be both disappointing and good books. Last year I was disappointed by Demon Copperhead, even though I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads. I DNFed Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow last year, and then this year I DNFed The Bee Sting. I also found Orbital disappointing, and I'm baffled by its Booker win. I avoided The North Woods because the hype felt too strong.
@@EveningReader Thank you. A few of the reactions so far indicate that not everyone got that. North Woods hype definitely affected by reading I think. Glad to know I’m not the only one who disliked The Bee Sting. If I hadn’t been reading it for The Booktube Prize I definitely would have DNF’d it.
Orbital is also one of my most disappointing books this year, and Tomorrowx3 in a previous year. That book was excruciating. And I can just tell from a distance that Rooney is not for me. But I loved Demon Copperhead and even more, North Woods!
I just picked up a copy of The New Life at a library book sale; hopefully I will fare better with it than you did.
I hope you enjoy The New Life. It is a good book. It just didn’t suit me.
You are probably right about Rooney, but if you do try her Normal People would be my suggestion.
I try not to have high expectations for books because then I can’t be disappointed when a book is only good and not fantastic like the hype would suggest. It’s not easy.
I liked (not loved) Demon Copperhead because of how it followed David Copperfield so closely. It felt like I was in on the secret. Yes, it meant I knew what would happen next and I normally despise spoilers. The orphan’s tale of poverty and the opioid epidemic in Appalachia was secondary for me.
I finished reading James yesterday. What worked for me is how Everett started out with the same story as Twain and then he pivoted and took us down a different path. I was so grateful to not have to revisit the Tom Sawyer scene at the end of Huck Finn. The story’s pacing picked up because I did not know what would happen next.
@@amyschmelzer6445 That is very wise and I wish I was able to follow that advice. Sometimes I can, but I usually can’t.
I thought Demon was great when he was still a little boy, but the teenage/adult Demon sections worked less and less for me.
Yes! Exactly. James isn’t a retelling of Huck Finn so much as it is a reimagining of Jim and a portrayal of the history Black Experience in the U.S. Not having that crap Tom Sawyer ending was a relief.
I just found your channel. I agree with your assessments of these disappointing books. So now I am curious to hear about what books you liked!
@@genevievedolan1288 Glad we agree on what is disappointing. My videos about my favorite books of 2024 will be out in the first week of January.
I agree with you about The Bee Sting. Was so disappointed. Your description is spot on.
@@BernieVanHuyssteen Thank you.
@@BookishTexanThe Bee Sting got off to a great start, imo, but ultimately let me down.
Finally catching up a bit on videos- I don’t like Barbara Kingsolver (read six of hers) but what I did love about Demon was seeing how she’d adapt it- the story itself if it wasn’t an adaptation I wouldn’t have cared for as much. I was super annoyed with tomorrow x3, especially the second part. I don’t think I’ll have problems avoiding the other books on your list. 😊 thanks for the thoughts! Hope your thanksgiving was awesome and enjoy the Christmas season.
@@EntertheBook Thanks Kristin. Demon was only my second Kingsolver. I read The Poisonwood Bible years ago.
I agree with your list of disappointments. You are an independent reader and thinker. I appreciate your honesty. Your review is refreshing.
Thank you very much.
Very much enjoyed hearing your thoughts on these books. I believe that Demon Copperhead won the Pulitzer.
Happy reading,
Kay
@@kaywebbharrison3373 Thank you Kay. We believe you are right about the Pulitzer and Demon. I can never keep these things straight.
Very interesting list - I have read or heard of all of them - and agree on nearly all- especially Demon Copperhead which I struggled to finish.
@@barbarahelgaker390 I wish I had said in the video that part of my disappointment with Demon was that the last half didn’t live up to the first half. It started very strong and the. Faded I thought.
This was fascinating as there were books here that I found disappointing like Demon Copperhead and others I really loved like North Woods. A great reminder how personal our responses are and how even a good book may not hit the spot for us. I did think The Bee Sting just wasn't a good book!
Thanks Ros. I think I just got off to a bad start with North Woods. A couple running away to the wilderness, building a house, and surviving all alone in Colonial America just struck me as really far fetched. Then the apples. So much about apples. But that’s just me. I did think some parts of the book were very good and interesting.
@BookishTexan the apples struck a chord for me. I was actually disappointed not to have more of the apple storyline 🤣
@ Ha! Maybe the Apples irritated me because the Colonel (?) didn’t settle on my favorite kind of apple.🙂
Good to have some alternative views! I wasn’t so down on DC and I normally hate preachy books - I think I was carried along by the character and didn’t mind so much. It wasn’t as bad as Poisonwood Bible for preachiness! I liked Orbital (and loved James) but I think the shortlist showed the judges had a taste for quiet meditative books rather than novels with lots of action and plot. On that basis I thought the most likely winner was Stone Yard Devotional. The other factor with the Booker is that the shortlist has been read three times by the end and the winning book has to still be giving - James works brilliantly after just one read and I’m not sure what more rereads would bring. That said it is clearly the best book of the year and it is brilliant that Percival Everett is getting so much attention now. I haven’t read any other book that so deftly highlights our fragility and aloneness in the way Orbital does. Anyone who thinks we can leave earth and go live somewhere else is living in a fantasy!
In my first review of Orbital I mentioned that Harvey had done a lot of research and seemed determined to include every detail and anecdote she had been told by the astronauts which bothered me a good deal. Clearly I am in the minority on the book however. Perhaps I read it in a more cynical view than normal. I have reread James and I found more depth than the first time through not to mention a different interpretation than most have mentioned. Having to read each book several times would certainly make me look more fondly on short books like Orbital. Demon is a great character with a great and authentic voice.
The description of 'North Woods' brought to my mind a beautiful poem called "Wild Peaches" by American author Elinor Wylie (1885-1928), a sonnet sequence wherein the poem's persona evokes a dream of going back to nature and living off the grid with her beloved, an ecstatic converging of the complementary nodes of American independence and American abundance manifest in a single idealized coupling. The poem ends with a bracing renunciation of this golden vision, the optimistic mythos yielding to somber reflections on aridity and decay.
North Woods definitely has some elements of that, but focuses on the land where the various storylines involving different generations of people take place. It definitely punctures some of the mythos of America's past.
Demon Copperhead won the Women's Prize for Fiction, and it was the co-winner of the Pulitzer (along with Hernan Diaz' Trust). It did not win the Booker. I loved this book--definitely one of my best of 2023. I also loved North Woods--definitely one of my top five for this year. I agree with you about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I really wanted to like it as I loved Zevin's earlier The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I also didn't really like Vaster Wilds. I actually gave up on The Bee Sting, but I thought I might go back to it one day. As always, thoughtful discussion, Brian.
Thank you Pat. I should have gotten my facts straight before I started recording. I think with both Demon and North Woods there were just a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. Both are good books, just for me not as good as I wanted them to be
@ I definitely get it. That’s how I felt about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Disappointed. And I kept wondering, “what am I not seeing that everyone else is?”
@ That is exactly what I feel with every Sally Rooney book.
Love this video! And we agree on so many of the authors. North Woods let me down. And I’ve vented about Demon Copperhead ad nauseum. James was completely ripped off. 😡
@@MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH We agree so often! Why can’t we ever find a good buddy read book!
@ we will! Our project for the new year. 🤓
I was disappointed with Northwoods & The Vaster Wild. I had no interest for all the others you mentioned, so thank you for this video. I’m not worried I missed anything.
@@Sunshinysky432 You are welcome. In fairness I really only thought three of these books weren’t good.
Sigh of relief when you said you'll have your best books out in January!!! I'm scrambling to finish some books that I think I'll love and so all these best of 2024 lists released in December stress me out. 😅 I was also excited to read Kairos but have heard so many mixed things!
@@eyesonindie Kairos is a good and at times beautiful book. I loved the other two Erpenbeck books I read and so I think I had my expectations set too high.
I never knew you read so much contemporary stuff! Especially the ones that aren't up to your taste 😅 I haven't read contemporary literature in years now, always teel there's so much great stuff from the past that ai have to get through!
@@RishabhAniket I probably read a little more contemporary fiction this year than is normal for me. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Yeah my most disappointing book of the year was probably James by Percival Everett. I gave it three stars. It was fine and I am glad I read it, but nothing about it blew me away. It was an interesting idea to make James a clandestine intellectual, but sometimes it’s presented in an unbelievable and over-the-top fashion like the scene where the two character discuss the specific type of irony involved. When James imagines what Kierkegaard would wish for, despite Kierkegaard not being translated into English until the 1900s I believe. At the same time, it misses opportunities. I liked the dream sequences when James has imaginary discussions with Enlightenment philosophers like Locke and Voltaire, showing their hypocrisy and the Enlightenment’s mixed legacy of rights and race, but I feel like this should have been a running trope in the story and include more Dream-conversations such as with Hume (known for his racism), Kant, etc. As it is, it feels only developed to half its potential. The exchange of Twain’s humor for the bleak dark tone that naturally comes from shifting to the perspective of a slave, while understandable was not an improvement for me. While it does a good job at showing the evils and brutality of racism and slavery, tons of other books have done it equally good or better.
@@CSreader Thanks for the great comment. My pet (though I’m sure not original idea) is that James represents the history of the Black experience from slavery to present so I wasn’t bothered by the anachronisms.
I couldn’t agree more about Sally Rooney. Her popularity baffles me.
@@christine6059 It’s a mystery.
Kairos has been receiving vastly varying reactions in Germany too. And I admit, it is a though read. However, I believe, it is a masterpiece. Nothing is straight forward. It contains lots of difficult metaphors and to top it off, the man is an allegorical representation of the GDR. He treats her like the GDR treated its people, especially those who wanted more. Some literature students will have their work cut out for them... 😅
There were things in Kairos that I admired and I got that the relationship at its hear was a metaphor, it was just that for me it didn't all work.
This is a list of books I clearly classify as "should read but overhyped" books in my mind. I only read and disliked Orbital. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is the only one I am frequently tempted to pick up but constantly think, probably not as good as everyone says.
@@1book1review I am definitely an outlier on Tomorrowx3 . I think you might like it.
@@BookishTexan good to know, maybe one day.
I've seen most of these on major Best of and Awards lists. But, as someone who often shakes his head at some of their choices and wonders what they were thinking, I can see where you're coming from.
@@lock67ca Thank you. It’s not that they are all bad books. It’s that they all disappointed me in some way.
Some big hitters on your list. Some I 💯 agree with and some I really don’t haha. The rich tapestry of life. Thanks for the video :)
Thank you for watching.
I also was not fond of The Bee Sting but couldn’t put my finger on why. Thank you for putting words to my disappointment.
@@dhurd4099 Thank you. This video has shown me I was not as alone as I thought in my opinion about that book.
A few of these are still on my TBR so we will see how they go. 😊💙
@@BookwormAdventureGirl Only two of them weren’t good, it’s just that the others disappointed me in some way. I hope you like them all.
I'm currently reading 'Leonard and Hungry Paul' which I know you liked. I think I needed something with more plot and less eccentricity, it's just personal taste, in this case, I don't think it's badly written.
I'm sorry Leonard and Hungry Paul wasn't a great reading experience for you. It is a little light on plot.
Any mention of The Bee Sting never fails to disappoint.
@@Wordsandsong844 I appreciate your cryptic comment.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one!
Me too!
Thank you for validating so many of my thoughts about these books. With the exception of Demon Copperhead, which I liked, the rest of them, I quite agreed. It’s very frustrating to keep reading books, not particularly liking them & then finding them winning awards! It seems like most of the major awards I disagree with! Anyway, thanks for this!
To be clear, many of the books on my list are, I think, good books. It’s just for me they weren’t as good as I thought they would be. It’s really only The Bee Sting and the Rooney book that I thought were bad. But the fact that several of these won prizes and I didn’t think they were great definitely contributed to my disappointment with them. Thanks for your comment.
Interesting mix. Demon Copperhead is on my December TBR. I really enjoyed Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. But we all have different tastes.
I thought the parts of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow that dealt with game development and the early friendship between the two game developers were great.
Thanks, Brian!🌷I’ve read five of the books you mention. I loved Orbital and found it a worthy winner of the Booker, even though the two other contenders I’ve read didn’t make the shortlist. So, I can’t compare Orbital with its competition. Of North Woods and The Bee Sting I found the endings spectacular! Like you, I didn’t expect ghosts in the first, and it took me a moment to realise what was actually happening 😅However, I liked both very much. Then Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow of which I loved all literary references and being introduced to the world of video games I knew nothing about. I found The New Life interesting, but perhaps because by pure chance last year I happened to read also Maurice by E.M. Forster and The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst (both with what to me were well-rounded queer characters and a more appealing writing style) l found it less to my taste.
I think North Woods is a good book. I think for me I like my historical fiction to be historical and less fantastic. I did enjoy the parts of Tomorrow that involved developing the games and the early part of the friendships between the too characters. I must read Hollinghurst. Thanks for the reminder.
Hi Brian!
Agree: (I was also disappointed) Demon; Beesting; the S Rooney; Orbital; Kairos
Disagree (I enjoyed) : Vaster Wilds (more than you did) and North Woods (a lot)
I knew that we disagreed about North Woods, but that's bound to happen. We do seem to be in synch about books most of the time. Hope you are looking forward to a wonderful Holiday season Tess.
I agree with you on half of these. My most disappointing read this year was Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright and as an Australian it feels almost wrong to say that. It was a big, dense book and I took it slowly but when I got to the end I thought it was not worth spending so much time on.
Thanks for the heads up on Praiseworthy. I knew it was a big book which makes me hesitate these days and I’ve also heard it’s a dense read. I admire writers and readers of those books, but I’m not sure they are for me anymore.
Hi Brian, Tomorrow x3 was also a disappointment for me. I felt the same way about the abusive relationship in the novel.
@@books_and_bocadillos Very glad to know it’s not just me. Thank you
Thank you for protecting us from the literary longueurs lurking in the waters out there. The only one here that tempts me is the Crewe. I noted below your comment that you hadn't read John Irving, funny because I was going to comment on his proclivity, in early books, to introduce a bear when at a loss with the plot! He'd joke about this later. I forget which book discussion reminded me of this, maybe North Woods. Anyway, his early books I found a ton of fun, back when I was a 20-some.
@@marianryan2991 A bear sounds like a fun plot device 😂 Most of these books are good books, just not what I hoped/wanted/expected them to be.
I should add the qualification that the Irving novels had their share of tragedies, hardly were nonstop hijinks. Very purposefully Dickensian as well.
I tried several of these books or knew some I wouldn't care for so skipped them. I don't like redo books, James and Demon Copperhead (Also don't like books set in Appalachia), but read The Vaster Wilds and liked it very much. I love books that involve a journey away from the know, especially with female characters. I liked the interaction with indigenous peoples and survival in the wild appeals.. Black Robe by Brian Moore is a most favorite novel. Thank you for this list. I will follow you. I'm a picky reader as well.
Thanks for following. I usually avoid retelling but found James to be excellent. No Appalachia books.. is there a reason? That’s a very specific kind of pickiness.🙂
I’ve only read 3 of the books mentioned (Demon Copperhead, Tomorrow x3, and The Bee Sting) but they were all 5-star reads for me lol. I’ll have to try out the others on the list, I feel like I might actually love them.
@@ldillaway89 Haha! You probably should. I have a few BookTube friends with the opposite reading taste and they sometimes read books I don’t like because they know they will probably like them.
The Kairos cover is gorgeous!
@@lolaphearse3688 It is. That’s the cover of the copy I have and it’s much better than the others I have seen.
I haven't read any of these books, but I think I would really struggle with books about young women/girls in abusive relationships with older men. Thanks for warning me.
@@TimeTravelReads Thanks for watching. There seemed to be quite a few if those books in my reading this year.
I think North Woods is more enjoyable if you’re really into magical realism. I enjoyed it but I totally understand why you didn’t. I DNF’d Demon Copperhead and Normal People.
I have grown really distrustful of book prize books as I’ve been burned by hype one too many times lol
@@omalleysmith9100 I like magical realism when I know it’s coming or when the vibe of the book makes it possible, but in North Woods it seemed like realistic if improbable things were happening and the book! Vengeful ghosts! Maybe I missed the signs.
Very interesting - but so true - how often we end up disappointed in a fairly good book.
It can be a small thing, a thing that might bother only us, that makes a book a disappointment.
LOL…I enjoyed this video as I regularly totally dislike books that others really enjoy. I thought ‘Yellowface’ was very disappointing. As was ‘Such a Fun Age’ and ‘Exciting Times’. It’s all good. A good list. I can see no reason why ‘Orbital’ won the Booker. It’s just a book of lots of lists. I didn’t mind ‘Conversations with Friends’ but I never really like her characters. They just annoy me. I hated ‘Intermezzo’ and hate is a strong word, but the book just gave me the ICK!
Haha! It can be fun to be a contrarian. I did like Yellowface though. Rooney's success is a mystery to me and I am trying to convince myself that having read two of her four books is enough, but I feel somewhat compelled to try Intermezzo. Your hatred for it will help me resist.
The idea of a book didn’t deliver “what it promised” is an interesting idea (apart from what the hype promises). I kinda know what you mean, but have trouble finding an example from my own reading.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Sometimes “the promise” is the hype, sometimes it’s the marketing, sometimes it’s that the rest of the book doesn’t rise to the level of the beginning
Yes, it is pretty funny that many of the books you are disappointed in are prize winners, which makes me glad I have no desire of following book awards. I teased James from Quaint and Curious volumes about subjecting himself to reading the latest Nobel Prize for Lit winner's books. It's like doing penance, I told him. I'm familiar with many of the books you reviewed and read none of them. I thought about "Orbital" but the booktube gush made me slightly suspicious. "James," which you liked, has been getting the same response, but so far no interest in reading it. I think I rather re-read Bradbury's short story Kaleidoscope, about doomed astronauts contemplating the final hours.
@@LibroParadiso-ep4zt I didn’t think about how many of the books were prize winners until I started shooting the video. I imagine that knowing they were listed for or had won prizes raised my expectations and accounts for some of my disappointment. Keep in mind most of the books I talked about are good books that disappointed me for specific and/or idiosyncratic reasons. James is great btw.
I had to stop reading Demon Copperhead because it was making me laugh. You could practically hear the author trying to think of ways things could get more utterly miserable. Around the same time I read The Overstory by Richard Powers, a novel which started very well indeed, until the author lost his grip on the various plots in the middle section, followed by an omnishambles of a finale.
@@10538overture I’ve never read The Overstory. It has never sounded like something I would enjoy. In Kingsolver’s defense since she was doing a retelling of David Copperfield a fair bit of misery was required.
My Southern friend you must be drunk! I am with you on Orbital. But Demon and Tomorrow? What have you been drinking?!?!?!
@@chambersstevens3135 Haha! Stone cold sober I’m afraid. Both Demon and Tomorrow were good, but neither really paid off for me.
I don't think I really had any disappointing books this year. I do a lot of rereading. Typically I don't stray too far from my taste which is mostly philosophy and classics, but sometimes I will try something different. Which I have a bit of reader ADHD, lol, I'm currently reading 26 books right now, 5-10 pages per each every day, usually adding up to 210 pages a day. Half is rereads so I can get away with it, haha.
@@scoutdarpy4465 Holy Cow! My old brain couldn’t handle 6 books a day let alone 26 even if 13 were rereads!
@@BookishTexan I just gradually built myself up to it. Haha. I've also been studying Latin which has been a good experience so far. Magna res! (Great stuff!)
Agree with you on North Woods and Bee Sting. Dnf'ed North Woods (boring). Don't understand all the hype on these 2 books
@@user-qo6tz1oe1v I’m glad I’m not the only one. Thank you.
I read the new life and among all the books you mentioned it is the only one with which I have some disagreement ...maybe the thing worth mentioning is the quality of the style, there are (at least I found) some beautiful descriptions of london by night, and I did appreciate some of the main characters...English is not my native language....still I appreciate that novel...although I tend to read classics mainly.
Good point about the lovely descriptions in The New Life. There are a few that I still have in my memory. Thanks for the great comment.
Could not finish Kairos. North Woods. Loved Orbital. Got lost in the prose. Have listened to it 4 times.
I’m glad you enjoyed Orbital. Finding a book you can get lost in is one of the best things.
Agree absolutely with The Bee Sting. I bought it in paperback as someone chose it for our work book club back in Feb. I am English but left me cold by and large. Don't understand the huge praise.
It is easily the book on this list that I dislike the most. Many of the others I think are good though they disappointed me for specific reasons.
@BookishTexan Did you read Prophet's Song? Although not perfect. I much preferred it.
@ I have not read it. Dystopian books are not usually books I enjoy.
No accounting for taste! The Bee Sting is in my top ten novels of all time.
Indeed there isn't. That makes book discussions and videos so much more interesting doesn't it?
I like the rich green color of your walls.
Thank you. I picked that color out myself. Its called Martini Olive I believe.
Lots of agreement from me. Also read The Vaster Wilds for the BT prize and found it so unbelievable. Suppose to be historical fiction?? I agree about preachy books, I really don't like to be told how to think--I want to come to my own opinions. The two things that generally turn off my feelings about a book are preaching and over reaching. If the author seems to checking off boxes, including token characters or events to pull in a type of audience or make a point.
If the subtitle of The Vaster Wilds had been "a colonial fairy tale" I would have liked it better because I would have expected it to be realistic. I don't mind a book with a purpose, but I don't want to be hit over the head with it.
I found The Matrix by Lauren Groff disappointing. I mean, it was readable, but nothing seemed to happen, there wasn't much growth in the characters or point to the story (for me). So I have not been inclined to read more from her.
Orbital -- I don't understand why it is referred to as a novel. To me, it's a 200 page poem. The prose is lovely, but there is no story or plot at all, and we don't even get that much depth about the characters. As poetry, it's wonderful. As a novel, it's a dud.
I wasn't disappointed by North Woods, but I had no great expectations for it in the first place and I listened to the audio which I think enhanced the experience a lot. Not that it was a fantastic book, I just didn't go into it thinking I would love it.
Demon Copperhead I liked but didn't love. I think the issues you had with it is pretty typical of Kingsolver in general. Also might have helped that I don't remember much of David Copperfield as I read it many decades ago, so I wasn't affected by the common plot points. To me the best part of the book was done better (and quicker!) in Claire Keegan's book Foster.
Interesting review!
@@sandeesandwich2180 Thank you. I hadn’t thought of Orbital as a long prose poem so that’s an interesting thought. I think we had similar feelings about Demon but different reasons for those feelings. North Woods was trying to do too much I think.
I read The North Woods. I enjoyed it more or less but it didn’t wow me. I did rank it high in the BookTube Prize rankings but there were two complete turkeys it was up against. None of the others on your disappointment list seem especially interesting. I’ll probably take a pass on them all.
@@anotherbibliophilereads I can see that. North Woods isn’t a bad book, it just didn’t seem great.
The Bee Sting was definitely too long. Murray used all the words lol. It kind of reminded me of White Teeth with all the different stories going on.
@@CNJL1 I haven’t read White Teeth. Thanks for the warning.
I agree with your assessment but I would add James by Everett to that list. Predictable, preachy and when the protagonist restated his name at the end, I groaned out loud.
My favorite reads of the year include Inland by Gerald Murnane and Houses of Ravicka by Renee Gladman. No plot, no character development, but sheer perfection.
@@bmaei5 I didn’t have the same reaction to James which is my book of the year, but I appreciate and understand your position. Thanks for the recommendations I will add those books to my list of books to look into.
I thought New Life was pretty good but not great. I put down Copperhead after Chapter 2. The rest of them I have zero interest in reading.
@@jackwalter5970 The New Life just didn’t seem special. It wasn’t bad and the writing was quite good.
My disappointing book of 2024 was " The last chairlift" by John Irving
You know I have never read a single book by John Irving. I have no idea why. But at least I know which one to avoid now. Thank you.
@@BookishTexan Wow.
This is the second really bad review of Demon copperhead I’ve heard and I haven’t even gotten around to reading it yet. But since I did pay nearly thirty bucks for it I’m going to read it anyway. I don’t mind books that are a little preachy as long as I agree with the preaching. Also very cool shirt. Be well.⚛❤
I think Demon Copperhead was good. I just didn't think it was as great as so many others seemed to think. I hope you will enjoy it. Thanks Frank.
I haven't read Orbital, but one of the literary critics in Ukraine did, and, judging from her retelling, the author probably thought herself very smart for coming up with a metaphor of several people in space representing united humanity (while completely ignoring an inconvenient fact that a couple of them were sent by a state actively committing a genocide and occasionally threatening a nuclear war). I've read an excerpt, ready to face some revelation of a book that's so good the Booker panel had no choice but award it, and was surprised just how cliched and pretentious the writing was. Guess there's just something I don't understand about how the 'best books' are chosen.
I was gobsmacked when Orbital won. I clearly don't think the book is very good or worthy, but I am not sure how Harvey could have written her book without including Russian astronauts given the current state of space research. Of course, every person is free to judge the book for anything they choose. Thank you for your comment.
Sacred cow after sacred cow here. Yikes. I'm seeing more and more Demon Copperhead backlash lately, which is weird. Only agree about Orbital, but Held was far worse. James should have won the Booker (and everything else). I gladly let Rooney go after Normal People. There are spoilers in The Bee Sting section, so be warned everyone.
I agree that Held wasn't great, but I thought the opening pages and the initial relationship were beautifully drawn. I didn't find much in Orbital that rose to that level. But neither book was great. I should have mentioned the spoilers.
I adored Orbital. I thought it was just absolutely gorgeous and thought-provoking. It would have been my choice for the booker. I can see where it wouldn't be for everyone. I'm with you on The Bee Sting. I loathed it. I agree it was overwritten and it was trying too hard to be clever and profound. Plus, I felt there were some homophobia mixed in with how Murray wrote about the closeted father. The bunker stuff was so tiresome. I will never understand why people liked it.
I wanted to like Orbital, but it just wasn't a book for me. Everything you said about The Bee Sting I agree with absolutely.
I can't stand Sally Rooney, I enjoyed Copperhead though.
@@TheLinguistsLibrary I thought Demon was good, just not as great as so many people said it was.
Isn't it a pretty good result that only 10 books a year have disappointed you?
I'm not a fan of preachy fiction either.😄
@@Sachie465 And when most of the 10 disappointing books were good, just not quite my thing, it is even better.
Completely disagree with you about Demon Copperhead. ☺️
Fair enough. We can't all like or dislike the same books. Thanks for watching.
I know that you mean well, but it’s a lot better to refer us as gay. To refer to us as homosexual is antiquated and scientific. No one (at least no one that I know or have read when referring to us) refer to us as homosexual. Gay,or even more appropriate, queer, is much better.
@@thomasceneri867 Thank you so much for this. I will amend my terminology.
This is not a universally held view among us queer men. I prefer the term 'homosexual' for myself precisely because it is clinical and denotative, and lacks the cultural baggage that accrues for many around the term 'gay', which connotes for many cultural and social stereotypes which may or may not pertain to any given one among us. The clinical and scientific value of the word 'homosexual' is precisely its strength.