Loved the video, thank you! Three things: 1) I'm impressed by your ability to instantly remember so much about a book you haven't even read, from details about reviews to how to correctly pronounce the author's name when it looks impossibly complicated to me. 2) I'm so, so not a fan of James McBride. I'm eager to hear what you think. 3) I can only dream of the day when my son says "What a babe" when speaking of me; that will be the moment I know I have truly attained the status of cool.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! Don’t worry, my abilities are very much enhanced by editing. There is a lot of reminding and checking before I film so that I get stuff right 😅 Surprised to see that you’re not the only person not a fan of McBride in the comments. Now I’m almost more intrigued to see which side of things I fall on! And I’m totally an easy mark… I’ll call anyone babe if they gift me a book 😂
Thanks, Ben!🌷I finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store last week and I have joined all those critics and booklovers who are enthusiastic about it. Most characters in this book are unforgettable, even those you would actually like to forget. The writing style pulls you into the story. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking, but I have been left with the feeling that people can be surprisingly good and you should never give up hope, even in the most dire circumstances. A must read! Oh, and North Woods is great too!😊📚
The secret lives of church ladies is very good! I hope you enjoy the collection. I do prefer the US edition for the cover. I used to get invisible man and THE invisible man confused all the time. I've read the latter and really enjoyed it, but looking forward to reading invisible man eventually as well. Currently reading heartstopper vol 5 right now and it is a very good next installment 🥰 Julia 1984 is intriguing me as well. Everyone has been talking about it lately, and I am curious to see what you think of it! I really enjoyed the harpy by megan hunter and now I am curious about the end we start from as well. My sister really liked pleasantview. Earthlings was one of my best books of the year last year 😅 and it was wild! Ooh and on the savage side, mongrel and martyr are waiting for me on my shelf as well, and I am looking forward to them ^.^ The heaven and earth grocery store sounds so promising. What a haul!
Oooh thank you for the intel on a bunch of these titles! Glad to know some of them are winners - I will probably sneak Heartstopper Volume 5 in between some depressing reads (which I tend to be drawn to 😅) in order to lighten the mood. The End We Start From is definitely worth a read - very short book (the audio is only 2 hours) but an interesting dive into a realistic unfolding of a climate event. I am definitely open to reading The Harpy as I liked Hunter's writing! Fun that we've got some of the same titles on the TBR. Thanks so much for watching! 🙏
WOW that Canadian edition of Bewilderment is a stunner! David Diops new book is one of my top priorities to get to, so I'll look forward to hearing what you feel on that one. It feels like everyone was hype about it coming out, then very few people talking about actually reading it. Orbital is in the same priority list, but has been the opposite, never even hear it was coming out, now everyone is reading and raving about it 😆 The Rain Heron is phenomenal! One of my top books maybe 2 years ago, very slightly mythic and Vandermerian a bit, yet still grounded. always delighted to see someone getting hold of it! Three Fires has wonderful sense of perspective and framing, I enjoyed it quite a bit as well.
It's beautiful isn't it! The Diop is a funny one - I think everyone was expecting another book like At Night All Blood Is Black, and then when it transpired it was something different the excitement faded away. His writing is stunning though so I am still optimistic. Thanks for the tips on some of the others - so many good books ahead!
I've read 7 of those, great books. The Shadow of the Wind I read years ago and it really swept me away. Had a similar experience with North Wood this month. But it's hard to beat The Shadow of The Wind. Love, love, love The Rain Heron too. Bewilderment is wonderful too, I actually like both covers. Happy Reading.
I adore The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Zorrie, The Rain Heron, and Salvage the Bones--and I hope you do, too! I also really liked The Rabbit Hutch.
I just finished Church Ladies and everyone in the comments was right - it's a total banger! Glad to get your recommendations for those other ones; it will help me to prioritise for sure. Thanks for watching, Greg!
I'm currently reading Eileen (Ottessa Moshfegh) and Same Bed Different Dreams (Ed Park) is at the library so I'll try that next. Earthlings: "I'm happy to be creeped out". Your wish will be granted. Angela's Bookcase is a new YT'r I just found and she wants to showcase Australian writers. She's located in Perth. I'll have to check back a few times because there are a ton of interesting titles listed here. Great content.
Thanks for the tip on Angela's Bookcase - maybe will help me find more Aussie lit! You'll probably get to Same Bed Different Dreams before I will... I am reading more than I ever have in my life and my current 'reading plans' list is still multiple months long 😂 Thanks for watching!
Nonfiction was bought for me by Alice but recommended by Amelia. I read Pleasantview for the group book for Caribathon the year before last and enjoyed it. I would say try Rain Heron or Flames for your first Robbie Arnott. (*Having read all three.) Impossible Creatures is super fun. Great book haul Ben 😊
Thank you for the pointers - I will make sure The Rain Heron is my first Arnott! Ended up starting the other two library books first, so Nonfiction might go back unread unless I end up extending it. You'll have to let me know if it's good if you get to it before I do! Thanks for watching Charlie! 🙌
Your mom gifted a copy of Invisible Man? Amazing. She's a real one for that. I'm assuming that remainder stores are for overstock books? I don't think I've seen anything like that here. Some used book shops might have those in stock, I guess, and also online outlets. Don't know British currency, but I'll take your word for it that those were great bargain deals! The lack of respect for National Book Award winners lol. We'd never do that to your Booker winners. Jason Mott's win was a major upset that year. Your fav Bewilderment was long-listed (great Canadian cover, BTW; ours has a blue, night-sky backdrop that I think you'd appreciate). Probably the odds-on favorite was Anthony Doerr, but in that roster we also had Zorrie, Matrix, and The Prophets short-listed. That was the bizarro year the Pulitzers went rogue with The Netanyahus and shockingly snubbed Love Songs. Speaking of which, I can't wait for your Pulitzers coverage! You're one of the only Brits that cover them. Spot-on that the major contenders are North Woods and Heaven & Earth. I'd add Blackouts to the contenders list too, bringing things full circle with another NBA winner. And how have you not read Jesmyn Ward yet? What a flop, BEN! 😉Excellent book haul. 📚
She is a real one, but I don't want to make out that I am surrounded by a book-obsessed family 😂 I am merely tolerated, and she picked Invisible Man from a list I maintain for the purpose of family gifts... otherwise people are too scared to get me books I already have, haha. Sounds like an incredibly strong NBA line-up in Hell of a Book's year, so it did well to edge out the rest of the pack! Definitely already thinking about the Pulitzer, so watch this space... 👀 I guess speaking of Jesmyn, she could be in the running this year for Let Us Descend, but it's not quite been the critical slam dunk her previous novels have been, so I'm not thinking it likely. I will recover from my flop reader status: Salvage the Bones will be read this year I promise!
Great haul! I added some to my TBR. I love Tiffany McDaniel; her writing is beautiful. I plan on reading On The Savage Side soon. I highly recommend her first 2 books - Betty and The Summer That Melted Everything which were both 5 star reads for me. Enjoy your books, looking forward to your reviews! Don’t you just love those brilliant first sentences that pull you right into the story ❤
Thank you for the reminder that I have North Woods, Earthlings and Orbital on my Kindle (where books go to be forgotten). And I had NO IDEA remainder bookshops existed (and apparently there are none anywhere near me. 😣 Yes, I checked.) Jesmyn Ward is on my "author I should have read already" list as well. Really curious about James, that's one I'm looking forward to. I read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store this month, and while it was good I doubt it will go on my "best of" list if I make one. Just personal preference/issue with some stylistic choices.
Haha happy to remind you - I have the same sort of Kindle backlog 😂 Remainder bookshops are such a treat when you can find them! Hopefully you’ll come across one soon (or maybe not… they can be dangerous for the wallet even if cheap). Interesting on the McBride. Haven’t read him before so hopefully I will get on the with style.
Ben, your vlogs are always so professional and enjoyable. Of the books you mentioned, I have read Skippy Dies, Earthlings, Bewilderment, and Salvage the Bones. I haven't read The Heaven & Earth Grocery, but, I have read James McBride's previous work Deacon King Kong, and loved it. In prioritizing the books to read that I mentioned, I would recommend reading Salvage the Bones first. I don't know if you've read any Jesmyn Ward, but she is a phenomenal writer! It's no wonder she's won The National Book Award twice now.Just know that she gets a little stream-of-consciousness at times, but her prose is absolutely beautiful! Toodle pip, mush!
Thank you so much for the kind feedback 🙌 Jesmyn Ward is absolutely an author I am disappointed in myself for not having read yet. Salvage the Bones will definitely get read this year!!!
Strangers was a 5-star read for me. I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I also loved The Shards. You picked up some bargains! Wish I had a remainder bookstore near me. Line of the video: 'is it romance if there's murder involved ' 😂🤣
Oooh good to hear you loved Strangers. I always have a tiny fear in the back of my mind that I will say I'm excited about a book, and you will tell me you hated and DNF'd it 😂 And someone really needs to answer the question can murder be romantic? (I feel like 'no' is the correct answer but there are probably lots of people on TikTok who disagree.)
@@benreadsgood haha, there is a book on this video that I DNF'd but I don't want to spoil your anticipation and I didn't hate it (plus you'll probably love it anyway)
What a wonderful haul! The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is terrific. I also loved North Woods. I just finished Julia, really enjoyed this retelling. Invisible Man is strange and compelling; I love the cover on your edition. I would call Land of Milk and Honey a dystopia.
Thank you so much! I just started The Secret Lives of Church Ladies last night and really enjoyed the first few stories - such interested slices of life where you just *know* the wider story even though you're only seeing a snippet. The cover of this edition of Invisible Man is great, isn't it! I generally love those Penguin Classics editions.
I just finished Nonfiction. It's great! Also, the US cover for the Secret Lives of Church Ladies is way better - no sexy fruit. LOL! Though I do think there is a story in the collection about peach cobbler, so maybe that makes it a bit better? Maybe?
#downwithsexyfruit (But yes, I've finished it now and really enjoyed it, and peach cobbler appears in two stories so a SMALL bit of forgiveness is given. US cover is still better.)
i agree with you completley, i hate the uk cover of north woods so much that even though it was half price in my local waterstones i still couldn't bring myself to purchase it! however, where we disagree is that i looooveeee the uk hardcover edition of bewilderment and hate the paperback cover. i don't think the paperback does the story any justice at all! on the savage side was in my top 3 reads of last year, so i hope when you do carve out time for it you really enjoy it!
Hopefully North Woods will be fixed with the paperback. I can't believe they went with that Chuck doll looking thing, ugh. The paperback Bewilderment has such lovely colours! I find the face-made-out-of-a-nature-photograph of the hardback so cheesy 😭 Excited to get to On the Savage Side!
So many bangers in this haul! 🤌 Also, the bargain hunting was indeed successful - good for you, Ben 🤩 Really excited to see that you’ll be reading The Shadow of the Wind at some point. It’s been on my shelves for over 15(!) years … so it’s my choice for the June prompt of course!!! Happy, happy reading to you 🥰
@@benreadsgood oh for sure. It’s outrageous. And I though the admission needed the drama of it, haha. But bc the cover has faded from sun exposure (will not make that mistake again!) it’s just not grabbed my attention apart from annoyance at myself from letting it lose its colour 😞😤 So I thank you for the prompt!! 🙌
The US cover is so much better! I started the book last night and enjoyed the first few stories. She's definitely got a knack for complex relationships and realistic dialogue. Glad to hear Zorrie is perfect 👌
The Rain Herron was high on my tbr this month (but don’t think I’m going to get to it before feb now!) but I loved Flames and Limberlost so I have high hopes that this one will be another banger. (Also yay to more Aussie fic ☺️)
A Burning is so good! I remember so well - it was published on the first Tuesday in August in 2020 and I had EIGHT books pre-ordered. I tried to pare it down but couldn't. Of those, I took two on vacation - A Burning and The Death of Vivek Oji and I devoured both of them while staying as isolated as possible in a cabin in Olympic National Park. I also think you might like Vivek Oji. As for my own book haul, we haven't the space here unfortunately. But some of the ones I'm most excited about are The City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia tr. by Ann Goldstein, Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, tr. by Saskia Vogel; Tomb of Sand by Geetangali Shree, tr. by Daisy Rockwell, and The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore. There are others, but we've either already discussed them or they're not actually out yet. Trust me - I always have more pre-orders than I need. :)
How wonderful to have such a specific memory of it - I could barely remember which books came from where when planning this video 😂 Definitely keen for Vivek Oji - I think that's another one I found in the £4 bookshop a few years ago (but still haven't gotten around to). Interesting list of books you've got there. Heard good things about The City of the Living, and Ædnan is a book I'm curious about, but I don't tend to go in for poetry all that much. Maybe if it gets an International Booker nod I'll give it a go - the UK cover is certainly beautiful.
I'm currently reading The Secret Lives of Church Ladies as part of my Black History month reading. I am reading it slowly in between other books and am really enjoying it. I am glad that I do not have that cover.😂
Bewilderment was my favorite book of ‘22 and that cover slaps! Mine is the blue copy with 2 figures outside; Read North Woods last week ( 🇺🇸 cover & imo it’s rare for “our” covers to be better than 🇬🇧) ; read Pet in October & curious about Secret Lives Of Church Ladies
It's such a beautiful cover! My favourite out of all of them. UK paperback is probably my second fave, then the US hardback you've got. The UK hardback is out there waaaaay back in last place on its own 🤪 Just started both The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and Pet last night, and enjoying both!
Can confirm Skippy Dies is GREAT. Intrigued yet wary of Julia... a retelling of such a literary giant feels dangerous (and perhaps unnervingly on-brand for 1984?)
Glad to hear Skippy Dies is good! Will be interesting to see if I like it as much as The Bee Sting. Hearing good things about Julia so I have high hopes for it - fingers crossed it's more of a piece in conversation with Orwell's original than trying to give it a dystopian cleanse.
I've read Zorrie and Secret Lives and I highly recommend both; I'd save Zorrie for when you are feeling pensive, though. I started, and was enjoying, Hell of a Book and Rabbit Hutch/hut/cunicultural housing unit, before I inexplicably put them down. That reflects my reading habits and not the books themselves. 🐇🏡 Several others on there I'm hoping to get to some day. 📚📆
Oh, this is the book the movie The End We Start From is based on. Edit: Another one: Strangers. Went to see it today. Beautiful film(All Of Us Strangers is called). I'm sure you know all this. 🙃
Yes! I forgot to mention that was actually one of the main reasons I picked it up - wanted to read it before watching the film with Jodie Comer. And I was lucky to see All Of Us Strangers a few months ago at the London Film Festival. Such a great film! Very intrigued to see how the source material compares.
Haha well honestly if I worked the same number of hours as I spend making videos, I would have the books and some money left over 😂 But it’s all good fun!
we had to read Invisible Man sophomore year of high school and it kinda kicked our asses 😭 been meaning to reread it now that i've got a fully developed brain lol
I think the cover of Land of Milk and Honey shows a protruding hip, and then two thighs? Hahaha i don't know. I'm very curious about Orbital and The country will bring us no peace"!
Beasts of England had passed me by, it'll be perfect for #ReadingOrwell24. I've just relistened to Animal Farm for the second time. I might try and get to this one soon (yes like all of them...). I have many of these in my TBR too. In particular I have The Rabbit Hutch which I meant to read when I went to Indiana last year. I love a building set up too.
Oooh, very glad to have brought that one to your attention then. Hope it is a great companion piece! I am a sucker for an interesting structure, so the 'here's the stories of everyone in the building' set-up is so appealing to me.
The title The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw just makes me want to read it. It’s giving southern United States vibes, but I might be wrong. Have you read any southern books? So is this book The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw one I can read for your monthly challenge?
It would be a great pick for the September prompt - a short story collection! It does sound southern, but I just started it last night and there wasn't anything overtly southern about it (yet, at least). I'm sure I probably have read some southern lit, but haven't consciously sought it out.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (US cover is much better), Strangers, and The End We Start From are all fantastic. I just read Strangers this past week and absolutely adored it. Bit of a shame if the film version is very different, but I guess if it is only loosely based on the book, that is ok. And with Andrew Scott as the lead, I’m all in. (Frankly, not too bothered by Pascal though.)
You're right - the US cover is so much better! Just started the book last night and enjoyed the first few stories. A lot sexier than I expected 😅 I managed to see All Of Us Strangers at the London Film Festival last year and really enjoyed it - a very emotional film, and from what I have since heard about the book I think it's a bit more ambiguous. I expect I will end up liking both of them in different ways.
@@benreadsgood 😂😂😂 OMG! You can tell I have no clue who this guy is! Everyone is raving about him and I’m trying to figure out what they see in him! Well, perhaps now I will at least get his name right! 🤦♀️
@@benreadsgood Wait! Turns out I was right… and wrong. Apparently I was thinking of Pedro Pascal (and I don’t get his appeal at all) and confused him with Paul Mescal (who makes a bit more sense in terms of appeal but I had no clue who he was until I googled him).
I did indeed send Nonfiction to Charlie! I’ve not read it myself but I’m also intrigued as I previously read a Julie Myerson where I thought her writing was great.
Ahhh thank you for clearing that up. I knew someone loved it, someone gifted it, and someone received it between you, Amelia and Charlie, but I couldn't remember which was which 😂
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Yeah I'm a dummy I said The Rabbit HUT when it's The Rabbit HUTCH 🐰
Definitely not a dummy
No, not a dummy. I didn't even notice.
Haha thanks for the support. It just annoyed me in editing and I’ll never pass up an opportunity for some self-deprecation 😅
Loved the video, thank you! Three things: 1) I'm impressed by your ability to instantly remember so much about a book you haven't even read, from details about reviews to how to correctly pronounce the author's name when it looks impossibly complicated to me. 2) I'm so, so not a fan of James McBride. I'm eager to hear what you think. 3) I can only dream of the day when my son says "What a babe" when speaking of me; that will be the moment I know I have truly attained the status of cool.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it!
Don’t worry, my abilities are very much enhanced by editing. There is a lot of reminding and checking before I film so that I get stuff right 😅
Surprised to see that you’re not the only person not a fan of McBride in the comments. Now I’m almost more intrigued to see which side of things I fall on!
And I’m totally an easy mark… I’ll call anyone babe if they gift me a book 😂
Thanks, Ben!🌷I finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store last week and I have joined all those critics and booklovers who are enthusiastic about it. Most characters in this book are unforgettable, even those you would actually like to forget. The writing style pulls you into the story. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking, but I have been left with the feeling that people can be surprisingly good and you should never give up hope, even in the most dire circumstances. A must read! Oh, and North Woods is great too!😊📚
Ooh thank you so much for the high praise for both of these. They are surely the Pulitzer frontrunners, and sound right up my street!
The secret lives of church ladies is very good! I hope you enjoy the collection. I do prefer the US edition for the cover. I used to get invisible man and THE invisible man confused all the time. I've read the latter and really enjoyed it, but looking forward to reading invisible man eventually as well. Currently reading heartstopper vol 5 right now and it is a very good next installment 🥰 Julia 1984 is intriguing me as well. Everyone has been talking about it lately, and I am curious to see what you think of it! I really enjoyed the harpy by megan hunter and now I am curious about the end we start from as well. My sister really liked pleasantview. Earthlings was one of my best books of the year last year 😅 and it was wild! Ooh and on the savage side, mongrel and martyr are waiting for me on my shelf as well, and I am looking forward to them ^.^ The heaven and earth grocery store sounds so promising. What a haul!
Oooh thank you for the intel on a bunch of these titles! Glad to know some of them are winners - I will probably sneak Heartstopper Volume 5 in between some depressing reads (which I tend to be drawn to 😅) in order to lighten the mood.
The End We Start From is definitely worth a read - very short book (the audio is only 2 hours) but an interesting dive into a realistic unfolding of a climate event. I am definitely open to reading The Harpy as I liked Hunter's writing!
Fun that we've got some of the same titles on the TBR. Thanks so much for watching! 🙏
WOW that Canadian edition of Bewilderment is a stunner!
David Diops new book is one of my top priorities to get to, so I'll look forward to hearing what you feel on that one. It feels like everyone was hype about it coming out, then very few people talking about actually reading it.
Orbital is in the same priority list, but has been the opposite, never even hear it was coming out, now everyone is reading and raving about it 😆
The Rain Heron is phenomenal! One of my top books maybe 2 years ago, very slightly mythic and Vandermerian a bit, yet still grounded. always delighted to see someone getting hold of it!
Three Fires has wonderful sense of perspective and framing, I enjoyed it quite a bit as well.
It's beautiful isn't it!
The Diop is a funny one - I think everyone was expecting another book like At Night All Blood Is Black, and then when it transpired it was something different the excitement faded away. His writing is stunning though so I am still optimistic.
Thanks for the tips on some of the others - so many good books ahead!
I've read 7 of those, great books. The Shadow of the Wind I read years ago and it really swept me away. Had a similar experience with North Wood this month. But it's hard to beat The Shadow of The Wind. Love, love, love The Rain Heron too. Bewilderment is wonderful too, I actually like both covers. Happy Reading.
Glad some of these are bangers - feels like I've got so much to look forward to!
I always discover so many new books after watching your videos! thank you for contributing to my ever growing tbr : )
Thanks so much for watching - glad you found a few things you are interested in! 🙏
I adore The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Zorrie, The Rain Heron, and Salvage the Bones--and I hope you do, too! I also really liked The Rabbit Hutch.
I just finished Church Ladies and everyone in the comments was right - it's a total banger! Glad to get your recommendations for those other ones; it will help me to prioritise for sure. Thanks for watching, Greg!
I'm currently reading Eileen (Ottessa Moshfegh) and Same Bed Different Dreams (Ed Park) is at the library so I'll try that next.
Earthlings: "I'm happy to be creeped out". Your wish will be granted.
Angela's Bookcase is a new YT'r I just found and she wants to showcase Australian writers.
She's located in Perth.
I'll have to check back a few times because there are a ton of interesting titles listed here.
Great content.
Thanks for the tip on Angela's Bookcase - maybe will help me find more Aussie lit! You'll probably get to Same Bed Different Dreams before I will... I am reading more than I ever have in my life and my current 'reading plans' list is still multiple months long 😂
Thanks for watching!
Nonfiction was bought for me by Alice but recommended by Amelia.
I read Pleasantview for the group book for Caribathon the year before last and enjoyed it.
I would say try Rain Heron or Flames for your first Robbie Arnott. (*Having read all three.)
Impossible Creatures is super fun.
Great book haul Ben 😊
Thank you for the pointers - I will make sure The Rain Heron is my first Arnott! Ended up starting the other two library books first, so Nonfiction might go back unread unless I end up extending it. You'll have to let me know if it's good if you get to it before I do!
Thanks for watching Charlie! 🙌
Your mom gifted a copy of Invisible Man? Amazing. She's a real one for that. I'm assuming that remainder stores are for overstock books? I don't think I've seen anything like that here. Some used book shops might have those in stock, I guess, and also online outlets. Don't know British currency, but I'll take your word for it that those were great bargain deals! The lack of respect for National Book Award winners lol. We'd never do that to your Booker winners. Jason Mott's win was a major upset that year. Your fav Bewilderment was long-listed (great Canadian cover, BTW; ours has a blue, night-sky backdrop that I think you'd appreciate). Probably the odds-on favorite was Anthony Doerr, but in that roster we also had Zorrie, Matrix, and The Prophets short-listed. That was the bizarro year the Pulitzers went rogue with The Netanyahus and shockingly snubbed Love Songs. Speaking of which, I can't wait for your Pulitzers coverage! You're one of the only Brits that cover them. Spot-on that the major contenders are North Woods and Heaven & Earth. I'd add Blackouts to the contenders list too, bringing things full circle with another NBA winner. And how have you not read Jesmyn Ward yet? What a flop, BEN! 😉Excellent book haul. 📚
She is a real one, but I don't want to make out that I am surrounded by a book-obsessed family 😂 I am merely tolerated, and she picked Invisible Man from a list I maintain for the purpose of family gifts... otherwise people are too scared to get me books I already have, haha.
Sounds like an incredibly strong NBA line-up in Hell of a Book's year, so it did well to edge out the rest of the pack!
Definitely already thinking about the Pulitzer, so watch this space... 👀 I guess speaking of Jesmyn, she could be in the running this year for Let Us Descend, but it's not quite been the critical slam dunk her previous novels have been, so I'm not thinking it likely. I will recover from my flop reader status: Salvage the Bones will be read this year I promise!
Great haul! I added some to my TBR. I love Tiffany McDaniel; her writing is beautiful. I plan on reading On The Savage Side soon. I highly recommend her first 2 books - Betty and The Summer That Melted Everything which were both 5 star reads for me. Enjoy your books, looking forward to your reviews! Don’t you just love those brilliant first sentences that pull you right into the story ❤
Thanks for the McDaniel encouragement! I am trying to figure out how to fit it in soon 😅 And yes I'm a sucker for a good first sentence!
Thank you for the reminder that I have North Woods, Earthlings and Orbital on my Kindle (where books go to be forgotten). And I had NO IDEA remainder bookshops existed (and apparently there are none anywhere near me. 😣 Yes, I checked.) Jesmyn Ward is on my "author I should have read already" list as well. Really curious about James, that's one I'm looking forward to. I read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store this month, and while it was good I doubt it will go on my "best of" list if I make one. Just personal preference/issue with some stylistic choices.
Haha happy to remind you - I have the same sort of Kindle backlog 😂
Remainder bookshops are such a treat when you can find them! Hopefully you’ll come across one soon (or maybe not… they can be dangerous for the wallet even if cheap).
Interesting on the McBride. Haven’t read him before so hopefully I will get on the with style.
Ben, your vlogs are always so professional and enjoyable. Of the books you mentioned, I have read Skippy Dies, Earthlings, Bewilderment, and Salvage the Bones. I haven't read The Heaven & Earth Grocery, but, I have read James McBride's previous work Deacon King Kong, and loved it. In prioritizing the books to read that I mentioned, I would recommend reading Salvage the Bones first. I don't know if you've read any Jesmyn Ward, but she is a phenomenal writer! It's no wonder she's won The National Book Award twice now.Just know that she gets a little stream-of-consciousness at times, but her prose is absolutely beautiful! Toodle pip, mush!
Thank you so much for the kind feedback 🙌
Jesmyn Ward is absolutely an author I am disappointed in myself for not having read yet. Salvage the Bones will definitely get read this year!!!
Strangers was a 5-star read for me. I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I also loved The Shards. You picked up some bargains! Wish I had a remainder bookstore near me.
Line of the video: 'is it romance if there's murder involved ' 😂🤣
Oooh good to hear you loved Strangers. I always have a tiny fear in the back of my mind that I will say I'm excited about a book, and you will tell me you hated and DNF'd it 😂
And someone really needs to answer the question can murder be romantic? (I feel like 'no' is the correct answer but there are probably lots of people on TikTok who disagree.)
@@benreadsgood haha, there is a book on this video that I DNF'd but I don't want to spoil your anticipation and I didn't hate it (plus you'll probably love it anyway)
What a wonderful haul! The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is terrific. I also loved North Woods. I just finished Julia, really enjoyed this retelling. Invisible Man is strange and compelling; I love the cover on your edition. I would call Land of Milk and Honey a dystopia.
Thank you so much! I just started The Secret Lives of Church Ladies last night and really enjoyed the first few stories - such interested slices of life where you just *know* the wider story even though you're only seeing a snippet.
The cover of this edition of Invisible Man is great, isn't it! I generally love those Penguin Classics editions.
My daughter gave me 1984 and Julia for Christmas. I read 1984 this month and will be reading Julia this month. Thanks Benx
What a lovely gift. Sounds like a great double header! Hope you enjoy both 🙏
I need that edition of Invisible Man! That cover is amazing!
Great, isn't it! I have built up a mini collection of those Penguin Classics editions and I just find they are always pretty good.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is one of my favorite books! The audiobook is amazing...I listen to it at least once a year. Hope you enjoy it!
I'm about halfway through and the voices are SO strong that I can imagine the audio being great!
I just finished Nonfiction. It's great! Also, the US cover for the Secret Lives of Church Ladies is way better - no sexy fruit. LOL! Though I do think there is a story in the collection about peach cobbler, so maybe that makes it a bit better? Maybe?
#downwithsexyfruit
(But yes, I've finished it now and really enjoyed it, and peach cobbler appears in two stories so a SMALL bit of forgiveness is given. US cover is still better.)
i agree with you completley, i hate the uk cover of north woods so much that even though it was half price in my local waterstones i still couldn't bring myself to purchase it! however, where we disagree is that i looooveeee the uk hardcover edition of bewilderment and hate the paperback cover. i don't think the paperback does the story any justice at all! on the savage side was in my top 3 reads of last year, so i hope when you do carve out time for it you really enjoy it!
Hopefully North Woods will be fixed with the paperback. I can't believe they went with that Chuck doll looking thing, ugh.
The paperback Bewilderment has such lovely colours! I find the face-made-out-of-a-nature-photograph of the hardback so cheesy 😭
Excited to get to On the Savage Side!
So many bangers in this haul! 🤌 Also, the bargain hunting was indeed successful - good for you, Ben 🤩
Really excited to see that you’ll be reading The Shadow of the Wind at some point. It’s been on my shelves for over 15(!) years … so it’s my choice for the June prompt of course!!!
Happy, happy reading to you 🥰
15 years Cecilia...?! Yes that is *definitely* one you need to finally tackle in June!!!
@@benreadsgood oh for sure. It’s outrageous. And I though the admission needed the drama of it, haha. But bc the cover has faded from sun exposure (will not make that mistake again!) it’s just not grabbed my attention apart from annoyance at myself from letting it lose its colour 😞😤 So I thank you for the prompt!! 🙌
Pausing video to say: you will love Church Ladies. Also, the US cover is glorious. OK, continue.
Ooh! And Zorrie?! A beautiful, perfect little book.
The US cover is so much better! I started the book last night and enjoyed the first few stories. She's definitely got a knack for complex relationships and realistic dialogue.
Glad to hear Zorrie is perfect 👌
The Rain Heron is excellent. My book group unanimously loved it
That’s fantastic to know! Very much looking forward to reading it.
Thanks for watching 🙏
The Rain Herron was high on my tbr this month (but don’t think I’m going to get to it before feb now!) but I loved Flames and Limberlost so I have high hopes that this one will be another banger.
(Also yay to more Aussie fic ☺️)
I kind of love that I have so much Robbie Arnott to discover! Australian lit definitely underrepresented on this channel.
That was a rather great haul, I got to see many books that I barely knew anything about. Happy reading g to you
Thanks so much - glad to bring some of these to your attention! I will let you know if they're any good in future reading wrap-ups (I hope 😅)
A Burning is so good! I remember so well - it was published on the first Tuesday in August in 2020 and I had EIGHT books pre-ordered. I tried to pare it down but couldn't. Of those, I took two on vacation - A Burning and The Death of Vivek Oji and I devoured both of them while staying as isolated as possible in a cabin in Olympic National Park. I also think you might like Vivek Oji.
As for my own book haul, we haven't the space here unfortunately. But some of the ones I'm most excited about are The City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia tr. by Ann Goldstein, Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, tr. by Saskia Vogel; Tomb of Sand by Geetangali Shree, tr. by Daisy Rockwell, and The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore. There are others, but we've either already discussed them or they're not actually out yet. Trust me - I always have more pre-orders than I need. :)
How wonderful to have such a specific memory of it - I could barely remember which books came from where when planning this video 😂 Definitely keen for Vivek Oji - I think that's another one I found in the £4 bookshop a few years ago (but still haven't gotten around to).
Interesting list of books you've got there. Heard good things about The City of the Living, and Ædnan is a book I'm curious about, but I don't tend to go in for poetry all that much. Maybe if it gets an International Booker nod I'll give it a go - the UK cover is certainly beautiful.
The love the shards so much
Glad to hear it! I hope to get to it soon as I hear it's a wild ride.
I'm currently reading The Secret Lives of Church Ladies as part of my Black History month reading. I am reading it slowly in between other books and am really enjoying it. I am glad that I do not have that cover.😂
I ended up reading it at the start of the month and absolutely loved it! Thankfully just a library copy so that cover is going back on the shelves 😂
Bewilderment was my favorite book of ‘22 and that cover slaps! Mine is the blue copy with 2 figures outside; Read North Woods last week ( 🇺🇸 cover & imo it’s rare for “our” covers to be better than 🇬🇧) ; read Pet in October & curious about Secret Lives Of Church Ladies
It's such a beautiful cover! My favourite out of all of them. UK paperback is probably my second fave, then the US hardback you've got. The UK hardback is out there waaaaay back in last place on its own 🤪
Just started both The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and Pet last night, and enjoying both!
Can confirm Skippy Dies is GREAT. Intrigued yet wary of Julia... a retelling of such a literary giant feels dangerous (and perhaps unnervingly on-brand for 1984?)
Glad to hear Skippy Dies is good! Will be interesting to see if I like it as much as The Bee Sting. Hearing good things about Julia so I have high hopes for it - fingers crossed it's more of a piece in conversation with Orwell's original than trying to give it a dystopian cleanse.
I've read Zorrie and Secret Lives and I highly recommend both; I'd save Zorrie for when you are feeling pensive, though. I started, and was enjoying, Hell of a Book and Rabbit Hutch/hut/cunicultural housing unit, before I inexplicably put them down. That reflects my reading habits and not the books themselves. 🐇🏡 Several others on there I'm hoping to get to some day. 📚📆
Thanks for the recommendations! Started The Secret Lives of Church Ladies last night and enjoying it so far. I will bank Zorrie for a pensive day 😅
Oh, this is the book the movie The End We Start From is based on.
Edit: Another one: Strangers. Went to see it today. Beautiful film(All Of Us Strangers is called). I'm sure you know all this. 🙃
Yes! I forgot to mention that was actually one of the main reasons I picked it up - wanted to read it before watching the film with Jodie Comer.
And I was lucky to see All Of Us Strangers a few months ago at the London Film Festival. Such a great film! Very intrigued to see how the source material compares.
You've inspired me to make videos just so people will send me free books!
Haha well honestly if I worked the same number of hours as I spend making videos, I would have the books and some money left over 😂 But it’s all good fun!
This is a fantastic book haul! Thanks for sharing! 😊
Thank you so much for watching - glad you liked it! 🙌
we had to read Invisible Man sophomore year of high school and it kinda kicked our asses 😭 been meaning to reread it now that i've got a fully developed brain lol
That's cool to have a story like that taught in schools though!
I think the cover of Land of Milk and Honey shows a protruding hip, and then two thighs? Hahaha i don't know. I'm very curious about Orbital and The country will bring us no peace"!
I kinda thought the same, but I just can't make sense of it 😂 I suppose it is doing its job by being familiar and strange at the same time.
Beasts of England had passed me by, it'll be perfect for #ReadingOrwell24. I've just relistened to Animal Farm for the second time. I might try and get to this one soon (yes like all of them...).
I have many of these in my TBR too. In particular I have The Rabbit Hutch which I meant to read when I
went to Indiana last year. I love a building set up too.
Oooh, very glad to have brought that one to your attention then. Hope it is a great companion piece!
I am a sucker for an interesting structure, so the 'here's the stories of everyone in the building' set-up is so appealing to me.
The title The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw just makes me want to read it. It’s giving southern United States vibes, but I might be wrong. Have you read any southern books? So is this book The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw one I can read for your monthly challenge?
I have picked this one too.
It would be a great pick for the September prompt - a short story collection!
It does sound southern, but I just started it last night and there wasn't anything overtly southern about it (yet, at least). I'm sure I probably have read some southern lit, but haven't consciously sought it out.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (US cover is much better), Strangers, and The End We Start From are all fantastic. I just read Strangers this past week and absolutely adored it. Bit of a shame if the film version is very different, but I guess if it is only loosely based on the book, that is ok. And with Andrew Scott as the lead, I’m all in. (Frankly, not too bothered by Pascal though.)
You're right - the US cover is so much better! Just started the book last night and enjoyed the first few stories. A lot sexier than I expected 😅
I managed to see All Of Us Strangers at the London Film Festival last year and really enjoyed it - a very emotional film, and from what I have since heard about the book I think it's a bit more ambiguous. I expect I will end up liking both of them in different ways.
Also: I will fully support a movement to always refer to Paul Mescal as 'Pascal' from now on 😂
@@benreadsgood 😂😂😂 OMG! You can tell I have no clue who this guy is! Everyone is raving about him and I’m trying to figure out what they see in him! Well, perhaps now I will at least get his name right! 🤦♀️
@@benreadsgood Wait! Turns out I was right… and wrong. Apparently I was thinking of Pedro Pascal (and I don’t get his appeal at all) and confused him with Paul Mescal (who makes a bit more sense in terms of appeal but I had no clue who he was until I googled him).
Hahaha an easy mistake to make. ‘Daddy’ Pedro was indeed taking over the internet at one time, and Mescal seems to be the man of the moment now!
I did indeed send Nonfiction to Charlie! I’ve not read it myself but I’m also intrigued as I previously read a Julie Myerson where I thought her writing was great.
Ahhh thank you for clearing that up. I knew someone loved it, someone gifted it, and someone received it between you, Amelia and Charlie, but I couldn't remember which was which 😂