Two New Favourite Books | June 2022
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- I haven’t done a reading wrap up for April or May (yet, let me know if you want one or you’re not bothered and can wait for June) BUT I have read two books that I thought were bloody fantastic so I thought I would have a chat with you about them. #BookTube #FavouriteBooks #ReadingWrapUp
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Books Mentioned…
The Promise by Damon Galgut
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt
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Yes, read The Booker with Mum! 😀
We shall see Elaine!
I loved The Promise. My favourite book so far this year and possibly my best ever Booker prize winner.
It’s not my favourite Booker winner. I did really love it though.
@@SavidgeReads what is your favourite?
@@valholden7199 oooh that’s a tough one. It’s probably Richard O’Flanagan or Bernardine Evaristo.
My favourite Booker is Remains Of The Day
So glad your kitty is doing well! I’d love to hear your wrap ups from April & May if you’re up to it of course. I was also surprised by how much I loved The Promise!
I’ll see if the whim takes me when I am back at home with all the books. It’ll possibly/probably happen. Ha.
So glad little Oscar is ok 🐾. Blue hour is now on my tbr 👍📚
Hope you enjoy it when you get to it!
Great to see Oscar looking so content! You must be relieved. Blue Hour is on my list to buy, now I think I'll add The Promise. My dad was a soldier in the US Army for 21 yrs. PTSD after Vietnam among other things. So, these books interest me on those issues alone. Thanks for the recommendation, Simon. 💙
It’s been a bit of a time with poor Oscar boy. He’s doing so well and has been sooooo cuddly.
@@SavidgeReads I'm happy that Oscar has someone like you in his life. ❤️
Can’t wait for your June wrap up 📚❤️
Let’s hope I manage one. Hahaha. Wrap ups and I have had a wobbly relationship the last few years.
Both now on my wish list. Hope Oscar heals well. Re Favourite books I absolutely adored The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle 📚📚💙💙
Oooh I have met Matt Caine a few times, he’s lovely. I must read his book at some point.
Very glad to hear that Oscar is doing well! Both books sound great!
He is doing really well. He’s out and about now.
Oh Simon, I can always count on you for the best books! You turned me onto Island of The Missing Trees (5 star) and now I'm reading Still Life...I absolutely love it and know I'll follow with Tin Man. Sarah's writing is so rich and economical. What she can pack into one paragraph leaves me stunned with amazement. Given we are in literary simpatico, of course I'll read The Promise and Blue Hour. Many thanks for your brilliant recommendations.!
Awwww that’s such a lovely comment. Thank you so much. Glad you’ve enjoyed those two particular recent favourite of favourites, The Island of Missing Trees and Still Life. Hope you enjoy these two.
I’ve been meaning to read The Promise since it was shortlisted, and now you’ve convinced me that I have to buy it immediately and read it :). Thanks, Simon! I’m very intrigued by Blue Hour as well :). Happy Wednesday!
Hahaha. If you have immediately bought it and read it do let me know your thoughts immediately after you finish it 😉
💙 What I'm reading now... in non-fiction is 'Yes, and' by Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton and for fiction is 'Lies we tell ourselves' by Robin Talley. Just waiting for the weekend to come now so I can have some proper reading time.
I am looking forward to a weekend at home with a book. With all the travel I am doing it’s a huge treat.
Yep - some great thoughts on The Promise. I read it late last year, and immediately re-read it - first time I have ever done that! So good.
It’s a corker of a book isn’t it. I don’t feel like I’ve seen enough reviews of it, especially rave ones.
@@SavidgeReads I think the New Yorker did a good review. I've also been watching quite a few youtube videos of interviews with Damon about the book. Some very good ones especially when he does readings from the book. He is quite a humble sort of guy, but extremely articulate and I enjoy listening to him.
Also one aspect that I really loved about the book is that it discussed an event that I still recall vividly (being from New Zealand) - the 1995 Rugby World Cup final - so it was a bit personal too - but from the other side!!
@@kaz_don_fan he’s great. I have had the pleasure of interviewing him for Sky Arts Book Club Extra which will go live in a few weeks. He was brilliant.
Will have to put The Promise on my ever growing TBR. I’ve been undecided about whether to read it but now you’ve made my mind up. A Booker long list read with your mum is a great idea. I love reading a good long or short list!
Lovely to see Oscar is recovering well. 💕
I don’t know if Booker would send us the books so it could have been a very expensive project for us. Maybe the short list. Ha.
@@SavidgeReads I know they sent Kieron from KD books the set after he wrote to them last year. If not then yes it would be very expensive. I tend to buy a couple that I like and get the other from the library (if they have them in in time).
@@ralphharris6374 I could probably ask as the Womens Prize send mum and I sets. We shall see what the list is like… and more importantly I’d my mum wants to do it. Lol
My recent fave is Piranesi, which I finally got around to this past weekend. What a delight!
I liked it a lot. Mum LOVED it.
glad Oskar is on the mend Simon,great recommendations on both books but really looking forward to reading Blue Hour. Thank you Sharon 💙
He’s doing really really well. It was a hard old week but we’re all in a good place now.
So glad you loved The Promise. I was at his event at the Sydney Writer's Festival and it was a superb session. My daughter, who hasn't read it yet, was blown away by his intellect and his humanity. 💙
He’s brilliant. I was very lucky to get to sit and talk with him for Sky Arts!
@@SavidgeReads I first heard of him in 1983 when a work colleague said a young friend of hers was publishing his first book at the age of 17. It was A Sinless Season. I still have my copy.
We're reading The Promise at book group in October so I'm sending your video to everyone so we can start getting excited about it. The cover did put off a lot of people when we first talked about it so I'm glad you say it doesn't really reflect the book.
I don’t really understand the cover choice. I think it’s reflective of part one of the book. Not so much parts two three or four. Haha. Hope you all enjoy it and have a fab discussion. Let me know
i'm glad oscar lives in a house of love.
He most certainly does.
A simon savidge video always welcome. April/May wrap-up would be appreciated 💙
I’ll see if the mood takes me 😉
My most recent favorite is for sure The Prophets! I have such a book hangover from it. The last 100 pages were bonkers. Both of these books sound phenomenal 💙
I loved The Prophets so much. I made a whole video on it last year. I also just bought it for my colleague Marusa when we were in a bookshop so I’m pushing it on everyone in real life too still.
It’s not half of the month yet but we already have 2 favourites from you! 👏🏾
I’ve not heard of both of these so definitely grateful for this video
Ha. To be fair I read one in April. And one in May. So really only two favourites talked about this month. Hahahaha.
💙Thank you, Simon!💙I’m happy to see that Oscar is doing well🐱Somehow I wasn’t attracted by The Promise, but I may give it a try now. The Blue Hour, like A Little Life, I’m afraid is not for me. It would be great if you covered the Booker this year with Louise! I’m currently reading The Dance of the Demons by Esther Singer Kreitman (Isaac Bashevis Singer’s sister): The Polish Jewish world at the beginning of the 20th century seen through the eyes of the female protagonist. It’s a great read!
I think if we do Booker, which will be discussed this coming week, we would just do the shortlist. I’m intrigued for the longlist and may well head to a few if they take my fancy.
@@SavidgeReads That’d be lovely, Simon!🌷📚😊
💙 I felt the same as you about the Booker! But I recently read The Promise and loved it too. I’m also a huge Douglas Stuart fan, both Snuggie Bain and Young Mungo, they are often brutal reads but written so beautifully with real humanity. Looking forward to this years list.
It’s funny how looking back at recent winners and thinking ‘oh yeah, I really liked those books’ can make you excited for a prize. Weirdly even though I didn’t love this years longlist I am already excited for next years Women’s Prize.
Both sound good.💙
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I have promise on tbr so looking forward to it. Glad Oscar is on the mend. Your cats are just adorable 😍
Awww they are cute fluff balls I can’t lie. And this has been quite the time with them.
Thanks Simon! Nice to see Oscar doing better 🥰 CR: Sorrow and Bliss and am LOVING it!! So realistic imo💙
He’s doing really well and has been so lovely about it when it must be really weird for him. I’m picking up Sorrow and Bliss next.
💙 one already on my book shelf, the other ordered and eagerly awaited. Thank you Simon 😊
A pleasure. Thanks for watching!
Fabulous book review! 💙 I had a grey tabby years ago, Arthur, who lost an eye as well. He was such a great cat-he just showed up at the front door one day, as cats do.
The Promise was my favorite book of 2021. I read the Booker longlist last year and thought The Promise was head and shoulders above the rest. I enjoyed your insights. Looks like Blue Hour publishes July 7; I have added to my TBR list.
Arthur is a brilliant name for a cat. Ours didn’t just turn up on the doorstep though, we picked them. Lol. Glad to hear a fellow rave about The Promise.
Oscar is such a gorgeous boy, great to see him doing so well 💙 I was umming and ahhing about whether to read The Promise but you have convinced me.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It just got me at just the right time. Or vice versa.
I just want to say thank you for reviewingThe Promise. For me, I found the bookcover to be a tad off-putting but you and your riveting review have totally changed my opinion on a book that I had never read.
Finally, what has happened to The Frank Book Club that you co-presented with Melanie Sykes? I have totally lost track of where we are since August 2021?
Keep the reviews coming and a special thank you for introducing me to books that I would have otherwise never have given a second look at.
Awwwww thanks for the thank you. It’s a pleasure. Hope you enjoy it when/if you read it. Reviews will be coming, I’m not reading much at the moment for all sorts of reason. I’m hoping the Frank Book Club will return in the autumn. We shall see.
💙 I read the promise in April and absolutely loved it!!! Great recommendation! The Blue Hour sounds good too! My favourite two books that I have read recently are Pirenesi and Sorrow and Bliss.
Sending fur ball cuddles and get well wishes to Oskar the cat 😻
Oscar is doing really well. Collar off, stitches out, now outside chilling in the garden.
💙 I preordered the paperback for Blue Sky a couple of weeks ago and I’m going to check out The Promise.
I’m glad your kitty is doing well! 💙
Oscar is doing really well. Thank you. Hope you enjoy both the books if you get around to them.
I love wrap ups!
Or best books of the month. I just love getting new books into my tbr.
Noted 😉
My two new favs have to be Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka and Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Oooh I have Notes on an Execution, so that’s a good sign. I’ve also been thinking about getting Seven Days in June.
Please do a wrap up
I’ll see if the mood takes me over the weekend.
Really enjoyed listening to your in depth thoughts around these. Thank you for making it! Was intrigued and laughing in equal measure! 'Let the worms have me I say!' 😀
Hahaha 🪱 🐛
Oscar is looking really great. Can’t wait to see him after the stitches come out. I really loved The Promise and thought it was a very worthy and incredibly thought provoking read. Will definitely look for Blue Hour. I would say if the mood strikes for a combined April/May wrap up then by all means but if not, move forward! 💙💙
Stitches out tomorrow. Woohoo. He’s also allowed out tomorrow too so it’s excitement all round. I’m also talking to Minnie Driver (again) in the morning which is just bonkers.
@@SavidgeReads I really liked her memoir. She must be super fun to talk to!
The more wrap ups the better, but only if you are feeling it 😊
Thanks Hannah. I’ll see if the wrap up whim takes me.
Love to Oscar - he looks very piratical (in a good way) They sound like two great books. You do seem to be drawn to the dark side and death and grief. I do agree that we should be more open about both those issues. They are real and if only we could be more open about it all maybe it would help people to have less guilt and more peace after a death - maybe. There's no doubt it does make for good writing I reckon. I'll deffo have a look at those. Have a great rest of the week. 💙
We have been calling him Oscar the Pirate Cat, I think I’ve called him that on insta a few times. I wouldn’t say I am drawn to death and grief, though I definitely like darker fiction, it’s just that they’re stuff I’ve dealt with a lot and society (here anyway) doesn’t talk about them so I turn to books.
You’ve made me reconsider the promise I’ve added to my list 💙
Get well soon Oscar 😻😻😻
He’s doing really really well.
Yes ! :)
oh no poor Oscar so happy he s getting well.
I am going to reconsider not grabbing a copy of The Promise because you have analysed it in such depth thank you.
💙. I can feel a reading slump coming on getting in a panic so The Promise could do nicely.
I really really enjoyed The Promise. Hope you do too.
💙Both books sound great, and I already own The Promise, so I will have to move it up on my TBR!
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Poor Oscar, what a little cutie! I really appreciate this video because I've had The Promise since it was published in paperback but something stops me from reading it (probably that cover!) Your video has encouraged me to pick it up!
I found A Little Life a bit much for me, so think I'm best avoiding Blue Hour!
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Blue Hour isn’t quite as intense as A Little Life. Probably because it’s shorter. Ha. Hope you enjoy The Promise when you get to it.
Both sound intriguing! Always love a wrap up. Favourite recent reads for me are Sunset by Jessie Cave and My mess is a bit of a life by Georgia Pritchett (recommendation from you so thank you!) 💙
I have picked up Sunset a few times. You may have tipped me over the edge. So pleased you loved Georgia.
🤔 “you always have to go into the minds of people you disagree with to make the most changes”!!!!!
I think it’s true. We can’t always be in our own bubble. We don’t have to agree with those people… but we have to know the enemy/alternate.
OSCAR 🥺💙!!!!
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These both sound amazing! I haven't been following the Booker as much as I used to either lately. I didn't even know that The Promise was the winner! haha. So Excited for Blue Hour to be released, a mix of A Little Life and Shuggie Bain? yes please!
Hahahaha. I hope that mixture for Blue Hour makes sense, or works/lives up to expectations, when you read it. I am going to watch the Booker this year with a bit more interest as I have loved the winners the last few years.
This one summer graphic novel and 99 maps to save the planet nonfiction. 💙 glad Oscar is doing well. 🐱
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Glad to see Oscar is doing well fur babies can be as stressful as kids! We have had our cat 🐱 Simba for 11 years and he was 6-7 when we got him so he is getting on a bit now.
Oh The Promise is also on my Shelf tbr!
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky and The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowely Heller have been two of most recent favourite reads 💙
I really really really liked Paper Palace too.
Aw lovely to see Oscar doing so well. I’m sure he was pleased to be released from the evil collar and get his dignity back ❤️
He ended up going back in it as he had a dip but he’s now collar and stitches free and allowed back outside.
@@SavidgeReads bless him, what a trooper
I’ve already preordered Blue Hour. You’ve got me a bit wary, but I’m still looking forward to it. I haven’t read The Promise, but this absolutely convinced me that I need to read it! I would like to see a wrap up for April and May if you get a chance to film it.
Love to Oscar! 😻🐾🐾
Don’t be wary. Just be forwarned. It’s tough but brilliant. I’ll see what I can do about a wrap up.
@@SavidgeReads Yep. That’s how I’m looking at it. I appreciate the heads up and value your opinion.
Forgot the 💙 earlier!
Simon and Chris as muses, I will put Blue Hour on the list, as I loved Shuggie Bain.
Hahaha. Not us. Our spare room and the dreams it gave her. Which when you’ve read the book you’ll discover were nightmares.
I'm happy Oscar is on the mend. I have added The Promise to my to-read-list, and the book I've just started Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, she is the June Oprah Book Club Pick. Safe travels!
Oooh I’ve not heard of Nightcrawling. I shall look it up.
What a sweet baby Oscar is!!
I'd like an april and may wrap up if it's easy and interesting to you. But June will be over before we know it!
One book that I really enjoyed recently was The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I really liked the conversational, almost regional dialect, style of writing and that it helped a book with many different parts and perspectives feel very whole and fluid. It was an interesting mix of horror and hope.
I have The Only Good Indians on the shelves. Will have to get to it soon. I may do a May and April wrap up. Will see if the whim gets me this weekend.
@@SavidgeReads I was nervous to try Stephen Graham Jones, but I read that an a short story by him in May and really liked both.
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I am absolutely delighted you got to The Promise .I have eagerly awaiting for you to read it ever since you unwrapped it. Damon is a great source of pride to all South Africans. You must try his other books now i loved The Good Doctor. He is Most honest writer who writes cleanly with not one word out of place
I shall definitely be going back to more of Damon’s backlist. May hunt some down in London next week.
Properly pampered Oscar!
Well he blooming deserves it after all he’s been through.
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Currently reading "The Good Life Elsewhere" by Moldovan author Vladimir Lorchenkov about people leaving the Former USSR in search of a new life in Italy. The tone is all over the place, but there's a good mix of heartbreak, dark humor, and the surreal. Lots of short chapters. Meanwhile I'm still working on "Old Rendering Plant" by Wolfgang Hilbig. If you can find time to do wrap ups, that would be great.
Sounds like an interesting mixture.
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Oh my, Oscar 😍😍😍- such a sweet handsome boy!!
He is indeed and is doing super duper well.
Shortlist for Booker. Make it easier on yourselves.
Hahahaha. Or just keep it to the Womens. Even easier. Shortlist will possibly be around a very busy reading time for me 😉
Really interesting reviews - I'm really looking forward to getting onto The Blue Hour soon - sounds incredible! I enjoyed your review of The Promise although I ended up dnfing it - I appreciated all the things you said here but couldn't get on with the prose style. Question - what do you feel about no speech punctuation in books? I'd love to hear your views ☺️
No punctuation very much depends on the book or the author. Sometimes I really struggle with it. Sometimes I don’t even notice it. Very much a case by case, book by book thing.
@@SavidgeReads interesting. Yes, I guess it can very much depend on the strength of the voices and how clearly it's written. Not sure it works for me though. I really wonder what it brings to prose.
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Would love to know what you have been reading just ordered those 2 books hope your fur baby is ok xxx
Well I have been reading those two books 😉 I’ve actually not been reading masses to be honest.
all the love to Oscar😻
Thank you. He’s doing really well.
Oscar ❤
He’s doing super well.
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Get well, Oscar!
Thank you. He’s doing well.
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