It's very rare I recommend an adaptation over a book but in the case of Alias Grace, I do recommend the miniseries with Sarah Gadon as Grace. I think it really brought the story to life for me and was filled with more tension than the book.
Hi Simon. My book club also had slightly confused thoughts about Cold Enough for Snow ie. why? Is there a plot? What was the point?. Everyone agreed the writing was beautiful but then they were stuck. I raised ‘the theory’ (which I’m guessing is the same one your book club posed) and I even read it a second time and had dozens of post-it-notes attached to support my case(felt like a lawyer 😅). We ended up talking about the book for the longest time and many of the members were super keen to read it again. I think it transformed the story and made it a poignant and meaningful read about loss and grief that was just perfect. This needs to be a book club read because you absolutely need to talk about it. I’m not sure if ‘the theory’ is a spoiler or not and that makes it super hard to review and give justice to this beautiful story.
Yes! We had a long and delightful, sometimes bewildered chat about this book too. As you say it’s the perfect book club for many reasons. I haven’t gone back yet but maybe one day.
Hi, Simon. If you love poetry, I couldn’t recommend Hanif Abdurraqib enough. He’s a poet and has several collections that are lovely. He just wrote a book in 2021 that is essays on the history of Black performance and he uses personal experiences and poetry/rhythm to tell the stories and it’s GORGEOUS. Best book of the year for me by far and I’ll be curious to see if anything can top it.
Ooooh I’m not great on poetry. I’m only just getting into the swing of it. I shall look him up though. Thanks for the recommendation. Update. I have read his non poetry book you recommended, I hosted the Gordon Burn Prize when he won and read it to interview him. So many books and authors. Oops.
All the cool kids do their Feb wrap-ups in the middle of March 💅 Have you read The Mothers by Brit Bennett? That has a great first person plural voice for some parts, and it works really well as it represents all the mothers in the town she’s from watching and prying in on the unfolding drama.
Hahahaha. I’m never at the very start, well I wasn’t really doing them every month from 2021 until this year, but mid month seemed pushing it. Hahaha. I haven’t read The Mothers but I have it! One for post Women’s Prize!
My February Savidge Prompts read was The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld which was my favourite of the month, loved it. For March I am reading Salt on Your Tongue by Charlotte Runcie, lots of blue on the cover!
You used my favourite word - discombobulated, dont know why its my favourite but it is! So much good new fiction out but i remain torn between reading for the various prizes or classics which i also love. I read War and Peace in January and it took all month. Did i enjoy it?! I absolutely loved it and it sent me back to my history books and biographies. So its hard to know whats first. I’m rereading avnovel i loved when i first read it by Elizabeth Gilbert but the books are saying hurry up we’re waiting ….. Hope all is well. All good here. A year since i broke my ankle and i now have a blue badge, applied for on Sunday and granted on Tuesday! Amazing. Enjoyed the video. 😊
I think it’s nice to mix it all up and just see where a jumble of new, classics, prize listed, rereads and comfort reads take you. Lots of different adventures. The joys of books and the journeys they take you on. It’s lovely stuff.
Tardy for the party! 🎉😄 I love the wrap ups, whenever we get them. It's kind of nice to get them at a different time, as we get flooded with them at the first of the month, so I'm good with it!
I have just started on the Pod. I only picked it up because it was longlisted for the Women's prize. I started out not particularly liking it and felt it would end up a DNF but thought I needed to give it a chance. And after a while I realised I was loving it. I am only 60 pages in, but hopefully it will end up as a five star read. I can see why some people won't like it, but it's one of those: the main character is a spinner dolphin, you just have to go with it!
I’m curious if the thing about Cold Enough For Snow was that people were wondering whether the mother was in fact dead. That was the feeling that I had from this book. I absolutely loved it. Great wrap-up. Sorry I missed the live.
I’m the opposite of you, Simon. I’ve been really sick with a sinus and ear infection, and can only really read superficial novels where I don’t need to think much when I’m poorly. Just finished Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place wrong time which was ok. Can’t wait to be well and get into The Marriage Portrait.
You've absolutely sold me on Brutes. I've just ordered a copy and eagerly anticipate exploring its pages. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Simon!
@@SavidgeReads Now I'm even more intrigued. The big question is, Where do I squeeze it in amid my Women's Prize longlist reading? This year's longlist is turning out to be a more delicious treat than usual. So far, 2023 is shaping up to be a stellar reading year.
@@SavidgeReads Just finished reading Brutes! I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading it again in the future now that I have a clearer understanding of what happened; I think it would be interesting to revisit the story with a new perspective. Thanks again for bringing this book to my attention. Cheers!
I stay tardy so this wrap up is still early 🐦 gets the 📖 🪱 vibes for me. I agree with 🌸 pot Jenny below- I really liked Alias Grace 📺; it added depth to the book for me personally. Blahdiggityblah, appreciate your wrap ups whenever you do them 📖🪱💚
I have just finished on earth we’re briefly gorgeous and can’t stop thinking about it, the more I think about it the more I love it! I had borrowed from the library but think I might need to get my own copy so I can read again and again 🥲 you’ve sold me on A spell of good things will aim to read that soon! 👌
@@SavidgeReads I have read 29 books so far this year and it is still my favourite of the year. It is an intelligent, epic Cold War powerhouse of a novel set in Russia 🇷🇺 circa 1963......
I am in total agreement with you about the Simon in Alias Grace. I didn't like anyone in this book and this was a re-read, even though I seemed to like it a bit more first time around. Maybe my bar for bellendery is lower these days!
I'm not too interested in this years Stella longest either. although unusually for me I've read one of the books of poetry (my 3rd ever...), The Jaguar and it's very good. Have also heard amazing things about Tracey Lien's All that's left unsaid.
Best book read so far as part of the #irishreadathon My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden It’s an award winning Irish book ( An Post awards) Sally is an investigative reporter who looked into the abuse of asylum seekers/ refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. I listened on audio. Not any easy listen but very important.
Finished this book yesterday. Was literally about to leave a comment mentioning it. Agree with all! The voicemails on the audio at the beginning completely engulfed me (I cannot think of an alternative way to explain it).
So feel the same about Ferrante! Read first of the Neopolitan novels and thought it was... Fine but just don't think I gelled with her as an author at all.
You are not the only one in the club that does not get on with Elena Ferrante or with the Neapolitan series. I read the first in the series and also thought it was OK and did not read more. Also have not been moved to read any other of this authors books...(wanted to use a pronoun but we have no clue what the correct one would be for this secret author!!). Have The Shards and A Spell of Good Things from my TBR from my latest library haul.
I think everyone’s defying Elena as she. Though no one knows if she’s a she or a he. Which is kind of brilliant now I think about it because it doesn’t matter. Ha.
When I read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante I just couldn't see what the fuss was about. It was so meh for me - I gave it away to one of my brilliant friends. I am not sure I would pick up anything else by her, because her writing just wasn't for me. 😏
Hi Simon terrific reviews. I know what u mean by readers' different opinions on books. Booker prize-winner, Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood has superduper reviews bit i kept thinking why spend SO MUCH print (no matter how good the actual writing is) on the characters' backgrounds and inner life? Seem unbalanced to me. Waiting for someone to agree, he! he! A customer has promised to report back.
I haven’t read it yet, I’m unsure if I will, we shall see. I don’t know about the print size etc so can’t really comment but definitely something publishers should think about. That said I hate small font so I’m a very difficult customer. Or a bookish Goldilocks, it has to be just right. Ha.
In February I had a bit of a Peter May thing going on and read two of the Lewis Trilogy and then stopped because I felt bored with them which was a disappointment because I was hoping he would be a new author for me and he has so many fans. I’ll read the third one at some stage but they didn’t grip me the way I hoped they would. Lisa Jewell - A Friend of the family. Really loved that but I have yet to have Lisa Jewell that I don’t love. Jane Harper - Exiles - Pretty good but not her best I didn’t think. Not a stunning month, unfortunately. I had a go with The New Life but it wasn’t for me I didn’t enjoy the academic stuff. A Spell of Good Things sounds amazing.
Oooh I loved A Friend of the Family. I’ve not read any of her thrillers and feel like maybe I should. I didn’t love Jane Harpers Survivors, I had loved them all until then. I would like to give Exiles a go though.
I liked The Shards but I get what you're saying about the shock value. I found American Psycho too gory. I was afraid The Shards would be the same but I didn't find it quite as bad maybe because I listened to the audio and I could just temporarily tune out if it made me too uncomfortable. I found the privilege fascinating and disgusting.....kids so rich they drive Porsches and woe is me, hand me down Mercedes....but sad also because no loving supervision from parents.
The saying is Jack of all trades master of none ~~ …. And you my friend are the master of book tube ! Can’t wait to read Brute !
I knew someone would know what I meant! Ha!
It's very rare I recommend an adaptation over a book but in the case of Alias Grace, I do recommend the miniseries with Sarah Gadon as Grace. I think it really brought the story to life for me and was filled with more tension than the book.
Oooh I might well give it a go at some point. Thank you for the recommendation Jenny!
I agree! 📖🪱💚
yes, I enjoyed the miniseries very much.
this is my first time clicking one of your videos and AS SOON as you said tardy for the party I clicked subscribe. hi bestie!
Hahahaha. This is what I love to hear… and tardy to the party, on repeat. Hahaha.
Hi Simon. My book club also had slightly confused thoughts about Cold Enough for Snow ie. why? Is there a plot? What was the point?. Everyone agreed the writing was beautiful but then they were stuck. I raised ‘the theory’ (which I’m guessing is the same one your book club posed) and I even read it a second time and had dozens of post-it-notes attached to support my case(felt like a lawyer 😅). We ended up talking about the book for the longest time and many of the members were super keen to read it again. I think it transformed the story and made it a poignant and meaningful read about loss and grief that was just perfect. This needs to be a book club read because you absolutely need to talk about it. I’m not sure if ‘the theory’ is a spoiler or not and that makes it super hard to review and give justice to this beautiful story.
Yes! We had a long and delightful, sometimes bewildered chat about this book too. As you say it’s the perfect book club for many reasons. I haven’t gone back yet but maybe one day.
Hi, Simon. If you love poetry, I couldn’t recommend Hanif Abdurraqib enough. He’s a poet and has several collections that are lovely. He just wrote a book in 2021 that is essays on the history of Black performance and he uses personal experiences and poetry/rhythm to tell the stories and it’s GORGEOUS.
Best book of the year for me by far and I’ll be curious to see if anything can top it.
I second this. He's fantastic! I loved everything I read from him, his poetry and his essays!
@@kris-ish600 Thank you so much for sharing! His work is so special.
Ooooh I’m not great on poetry. I’m only just getting into the swing of it. I shall look him up though. Thanks for the recommendation.
Update. I have read his non poetry book you recommended, I hosted the Gordon Burn Prize when he won and read it to interview him. So many books and authors. Oops.
@@SavidgeReads Thank you for responding! I appreciate that. Happy belated birthday!
So happy you’re doing regular wrap ups again.. I enjoy your reviews. I felt the same about Cold Enough for Snow.
I’m glad to be doing them too. Fingers crossed no burn out this year so I can keep doing them all year long again.
All the cool kids do their Feb wrap-ups in the middle of March 💅
Have you read The Mothers by Brit Bennett? That has a great first person plural voice for some parts, and it works really well as it represents all the mothers in the town she’s from watching and prying in on the unfolding drama.
Hahahaha. I’m never at the very start, well I wasn’t really doing them every month from 2021 until this year, but mid month seemed pushing it. Hahaha. I haven’t read The Mothers but I have it! One for post Women’s Prize!
I also didn’t like Alias Grace as a book but I loved the Netflix adaptation so maybe give that a try
It seems like there’s a few of you lovely lot who feel that way so maybe the show is worth a try.
A purple and lilac book cover is on the women of Troy by Pat Barker. I am reading it this March as lilac is my favourite colour
Hooray, I am so pleased that you are joining in with the prompts!
My February Savidge Prompts read was The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld which was my favourite of the month, loved it. For March I am reading Salt on Your Tongue by Charlotte Runcie, lots of blue on the cover!
I absolutely loved salt on your tongue and have bought it for friends . I’m also reading the bass rock 😊
Oooh I like the title of Salt on Your Tongue, that tempts me to read it alone. So pleased you loved The Bass Rock!
Emily Bitto’s Wild Abandon is absolutely brilliant ( fiction but based around a true story) - can’t wait for her next 🤗
Oooh I need to get my mitts on that. It’s only out in Australia from what I can gather so we shall see.
You used my favourite word - discombobulated, dont know why its my favourite but it is! So much good new fiction out but i remain torn between reading for the various prizes or classics which i also love. I read War and Peace in January and it took all month. Did i enjoy it?! I absolutely loved it and it sent me back to my history books and biographies. So its hard to know whats first. I’m rereading avnovel i loved when i first read it by Elizabeth Gilbert but the books are saying hurry up we’re waiting …..
Hope all is well. All good here. A year since i broke my ankle and i now have a blue badge, applied for on Sunday and granted on Tuesday! Amazing.
Enjoyed the video. 😊
I think it’s nice to mix it all up and just see where a jumble of new, classics, prize listed, rereads and comfort reads take you. Lots of different adventures. The joys of books and the journeys they take you on. It’s lovely stuff.
Tardy for the party! 🎉😄 I love the wrap ups, whenever we get them. It's kind of nice to get them at a different time, as we get flooded with them at the first of the month, so I'm good with it!
Oooh I hadn’t thought about it like that. Yes. You’re right. Also vlogs on Sundays. Lots and lots of them. I may change my days.
A Spell of Good Things has gone straight onto my wishlist. Based on your stellar recommendation I want to read it so bad!
I hope it has the same impact on you as it did me when you get to it Vanessa.
I have just started on the Pod. I only picked it up because it was longlisted for the Women's prize. I started out not particularly liking it and felt it would end up a DNF but thought I needed to give it a chance. And after a while I realised I was loving it. I am only 60 pages in, but hopefully it will end up as a five star read. I can see why some people won't like it, but it's one of those: the main character is a spinner dolphin, you just have to go with it!
Ooooh I’m so pleased that you’ve ended up enjoying it. I was mildly worried as I started reading this comment. Ha.
I’m curious if the thing about Cold Enough For Snow was that people were wondering whether the mother was in fact dead. That was the feeling that I had from this book. I absolutely loved it.
Great wrap-up. Sorry I missed the live.
Yes- what did you think?
Yes. That’s what I thought 👻
@@SavidgeReads I’ll have to try to track down comments from the author to confirm.
I’m the opposite of you, Simon. I’ve been really sick with a sinus and ear infection, and can only really read superficial novels where I don’t need to think much when I’m poorly. Just finished Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place wrong time which was ok. Can’t wait to be well and get into The Marriage Portrait.
It very much depends on what I am sick with to be fair. Hope you’re well now and that you can get to The Marriage Portrait, if you haven’t already.
I’ve just started pod. Only 22 pages in but. I can’t say it’s gripping me yet! Great video again Simon
Eek… I haven’t even started it yet. Say no more, let’s discuss it when we’ve both read it.
I know a Real Houswives from Atlanta reference when I hear it 😂 Don’t Be Tardy for the Party is iconic and yes we are besties now 🥰
Hahahaha. We are indeed!
Oooouuuh Pod! I’m curious about that one
🐬
You've absolutely sold me on Brutes. I've just ordered a copy and eagerly anticipate exploring its pages. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Simon!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Hannah as it might be quite a marmite book, I look forward to your thoughts and chatting about it in the future.
@@SavidgeReads Now I'm even more intrigued. The big question is, Where do I squeeze it in amid my Women's Prize longlist reading? This year's longlist is turning out to be a more delicious treat than usual. So far, 2023 is shaping up to be a stellar reading year.
@@SavidgeReads Just finished reading Brutes! I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading it again in the future now that I have a clearer understanding of what happened; I think it would be interesting to revisit the story with a new perspective. Thanks again for bringing this book to my attention. Cheers!
Thank you Simon very interesting. as always ( I am half way through Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses and really enjoying it ) 🎉
Glad to hear you’re enjoying it. I’ll be heading to it after I get back from my hols.
I stay tardy so this wrap up is still early 🐦 gets the 📖 🪱 vibes for me. I agree with 🌸 pot Jenny below- I really liked Alias Grace 📺; it added depth to the book for me personally. Blahdiggityblah, appreciate your wrap ups whenever you do them 📖🪱💚
Maybe I’ll have to give the 📺 show a whirl.
Sorry I missed the live.. I was at the Kate Mosse Warrior Queen show. It was brilliant. So much to think about. Go if you can.
Mum and I are going to the last night together. Soooooo excited for it. So chuffed it was brilliant and you enjoyed it.
You don’t have to have read the book to enjoy the show. (Which was good as I hadn’t 😂😂😂)
I have just finished on earth we’re briefly gorgeous and can’t stop thinking about it, the more I think about it the more I love it! I had borrowed from the library but think I might need to get my own copy so I can read again and again 🥲 you’ve sold me on A spell of good things will aim to read that soon! 👌
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is suuuuuuuch a great novel. Soooooo good. Hope you enjoy A Spell of Good Things.
Another great video, Simon, thank you.
I've just bought The Strays on your recommendation. Have you read The Half Life of Valery K? 🌻🌻
I haven’t. I haven’t heard of it. Is it good?
@@SavidgeReads I have read 29 books so far this year and it is still my favourite of the year. It is an intelligent, epic Cold War powerhouse of a novel set in Russia 🇷🇺 circa 1963......
I had trouble with Troubling Love (hehe) although I love Elena Ferrante. That one was a miss for sure.
Ooh ok. So it’s not just me. Phew.
I am in total agreement with you about the Simon in Alias Grace. I didn't like anyone in this book and this was a re-read, even though I seemed to like it a bit more first time around. Maybe my bar for bellendery is lower these days!
Hahahaha bar for bellendery. Hahahahaha. That’s amazing.
I'm not too interested in this years Stella longest either. although unusually for me I've read one of the books of poetry (my 3rd ever...), The Jaguar and it's very good. Have also heard amazing things about Tracey Lien's All that's left unsaid.
I have Iris and Bad Art Mother. I will read them when I’m in the mood though I think rather than cos of a prize. An unusual move for me 🤣
Best book read so far as part of the #irishreadathon
My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden
It’s an award winning Irish book ( An Post awards)
Sally is an investigative reporter who looked into the abuse of asylum seekers/ refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. I listened on audio. Not any easy listen but very important.
Oooh. Interesting. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
Finished this book yesterday. Was literally about to leave a comment mentioning it.
Agree with all! The voicemails on the audio at the beginning completely engulfed me (I cannot think of an alternative way to explain it).
So feel the same about Ferrante! Read first of the Neopolitan novels and thought it was... Fine but just don't think I gelled with her as an author at all.
We can’t all love every author, or the same authors. The discussion around our differing tastes is what can make books so much fun.
@@SavidgeReads 💯!
You are not the only one in the club that does not get on with Elena Ferrante or with the Neapolitan series. I read the first in the series and also thought it was OK and did not read more. Also have not been moved to read any other of this authors books...(wanted to use a pronoun but we have no clue what the correct one would be for this secret author!!). Have The Shards and A Spell of Good Things from my TBR from my latest library haul.
I think everyone’s defying Elena as she. Though no one knows if she’s a she or a he. Which is kind of brilliant now I think about it because it doesn’t matter. Ha.
When I read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante I just couldn't see what the fuss was about. It was so meh for me - I gave it away to one of my brilliant friends. I am not sure I would pick up anything else by her, because her writing just wasn't for me. 😏
The Lost Daughter is short and, literally, sharp if you do ever want to try her again.
Hi Simon terrific reviews. I know what u mean by readers' different opinions on books. Booker prize-winner, Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood has superduper reviews bit i kept thinking why spend SO MUCH print (no matter how good the actual writing is) on the characters' backgrounds and inner life? Seem unbalanced to me. Waiting for someone to agree, he! he! A customer has promised to report back.
I haven’t read it yet, I’m unsure if I will, we shall see. I don’t know about the print size etc so can’t really comment but definitely something publishers should think about. That said I hate small font so I’m a very difficult customer. Or a bookish Goldilocks, it has to be just right. Ha.
In February I had a bit of a Peter May thing going on and read two of the Lewis Trilogy and then stopped because I felt bored with them which was a disappointment because I was hoping he would be a new author for me and he has so many fans. I’ll read the third one at some stage but they didn’t grip me the way I hoped they would. Lisa Jewell - A Friend of the family. Really loved that but I have yet to have Lisa Jewell that I don’t love. Jane Harper - Exiles - Pretty good but not her best I didn’t think. Not a stunning month, unfortunately. I had a go with The New Life but it wasn’t for me I didn’t enjoy the academic stuff. A Spell of Good Things sounds amazing.
Oooh I loved A Friend of the Family. I’ve not read any of her thrillers and feel like maybe I should. I didn’t love Jane Harpers Survivors, I had loved them all until then. I would like to give Exiles a go though.
@@SavidgeReads It will be interesting to know what you think of Exiles if you do get around to it. My daughter and I both had the same reaction.
I really loved The Napolitan series by Elena Ferrante.. But nothing else by her after that. Such a deception :(
Ha. Deception. Love the drama of that word. You’ve loved four though that’s a good number of books to love by any author.
@@SavidgeReads You're right. Four is better than none. I will keep reading her work in hope of an other 5⭐️.
I liked The Shards but I get what you're saying about the shock value. I found American Psycho too gory. I was afraid The Shards would be the same but I didn't find it quite as bad maybe because I listened to the audio and I could just temporarily tune out if it made me too uncomfortable. I found the privilege fascinating and disgusting.....kids so rich they drive Porsches and woe is me, hand me down Mercedes....but sad also because no loving supervision from parents.
It’s felt very 90210 with added serial killer. Though I think I found 90210 more compelling and entertaining 🤣
Very up their own bottoms 😂 ☠️ ⚰️. I’d said on previous video I need to save comments for end rather than as I go. I’ve failed obviously
Not failed at all, don’t be so hard on yourself.
💚💚💚