Noelle told me to come here and I did. How come I've never came across your channel??? You have excellent taste! You are so pro in front of the camera! You articulate your thoughts in an amazing way! And, as a bonus, you are gorgeous sister... Will be turning on your notifications because I need more content! All the love
I'm so happy Noelle brought us together (how amazing is she??) Thank you for all your kind comments--I'm blushing!! We're gonna have lots of fun over here
I started paying attention to what i read or watch, and how it effects my mental health. I can’t stop reading sad books because it’s the love of my life :) but I try to make some balance by adding more lighthearted books, so, i totally understand your decision of not reading memoirs for a while, I believe it’s a great decision. Sometimes we need to take a break even from the things we adore.
Omg I read The Bluest Eye this month too and it’s my 1st time experiencing Morrison’s writing. I know it’s old news that she can write, but boy she can WRITE 🙌🏾 I really want to pick up Sula but will wait a bit, as I can only consume black trauma in small doses these days 😅
100000% agreed on waiting a bit!! The Bluest Eye was one of the most eye opening, exhaustive, educational, horrifying, pounding and beautiful books I've read in a while.
What a corking reading month you had! I’ve had I Will Die in a Foreign Land on my shelves for a while, I think I may look up The Orphanage instead. Oooh you’ve sold The Seas to me ALL. THE. MORE. The Bluest Eye was my first book of the year and just WOW. I am hoping to get to Sula next month and go through her in order. Fab vid as ALWAYS.
The Orphanage is definitely a big undertaking, so be prepared!! The Seas you'll finish in a day and book a one way ticket to a fishing town (or maybe that's just my personal fantasy hehehehe) Love you 🥺🥺
I read 9 books in January - it always seems to be a really good reading month! I'm so excited I found your channel (through Noelle's recommendation, I believe) because you recommend books I don't feel like I've heard about a million times. I'm in such a non-fiction mood right now and just finished Cultish - which if you haven't read, I think you'd love - so I feel like Cults is a great book to read next to keep that weird niche theme going.
I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve listened to Montell’s podcast, “sounds like a cult,” and it’s really good! Cultish was the runaway hit for a long time!!
I also revisited Morrison's work via The Bluest Eye after having read Beloved back in high school (I can safely say it went right over my head at the time)! Got Sula on my TBR, but I feel like you gotta recover a bit after The Bluest Eye. Update: immediately put 'The Solace of Open Spaces' on my TBR, read it, and 'twas wonderful!
!!! I'm so happy to hear you loved 'The Solace of Open Spaces'--makes you wanna get into a car and DRIVE! And RE The Bluest Eye & Morrison--I 100% agree. Beloved in high school wasn't something I learned from, rather read to finish, so I need to revisit it and appreciate it for the work it is!
You read some great books last month! If you want to read more Ukrainian books (that are in some way connected with the current war) I would suggest grey bees by Andrey Kurkov, Mondegreen by volodymyr Rafeyenko and Lucky breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets. For non-fiction I would suggest A loss by Olesya Khromeychuk, Lost kingdom by Serhii Plokhy (his new book on the war comes out in may as well) and Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder!
Love, love, love all these suggestions. Thank you so much. I hadn't heard of a lot of these. I've been meaning to get to Andrey Kurkov, but the others were unknown to me and some were published so recent! Amazing recs
i love your jacket! oh yeah and the books too. perfect review of “a room with a view”. i'm going to look for “the seas” and “the bluest eye” , thanks for your service 🫡 💕
What a great start of the year! The bluest eye is soooo good!! (and I didn't heed your warning and looked up the anthill kids and now i hate myself for not listening and probably won't sleep..)
I read 5 books this month (the most I ever have in one month) and I’m sooo proud of myself I can only hope to get to 10 one day but I’m already feeling a slump coming on looooll
A friend loaned me the Flowers in the Attic saga this weekend. I don't hate it but I really want to fast-forward through it at the moment. It's a slog. I feel like I've been in the attic longer than they have! I read four books in January. Not too bad for me considering I work forty hours a week. I did some of that reading on the job. Shhh
HAHAHA! It's time to get outta that attic, baby!!! Your reading on the job secret is safe with me 🤫🤐 Btw, I've started editing footage from my roadtrip and I'm currently going through WV--the sun in the summer is unparalleled there. Wow. Makes me smile to think of it.
I'm so happy you 've read The Bluest Eye! It's a phenomenal book, and I wish I could reread this every time I want to reread this (which has happened to me a lot of times). It just evokes every feeling in me all the time (and now I'm gonna fall asleep to the Cults podcast)
It's such a fantastic read--I think I'll keep my copy for a while and reread it every so often. Oh boy! Hope you slept okay after the podcast and didn't have too many crazy dreams 😩
Great video. One of my favorites in January was The Alienist by Caleb Carr. Very Sherlock Holmes-ey. It was a chunky boy and took me a minute to finish, I'm a bit burnt out from cramming so many books in last year to reach my goal 😖 Good news is I am reading The Secret History now! So far so good.
Hello Ana! You look wonderful darlin! So ... I got a puppy. Mother of Dog, he is taking it out of me! Read a book? I'm at 10 minutes of your video and wondering if this bundle of joy is going to let me watch the whole thing. Anyway - read on sister! Hopefully I get this sweetie pie trained ... 🙏and read again ... Sending love and light! Anne
@@AnaWallaceJohnson a tiny, tiny woof! He is a 5 lb, 12 week old Shih Tzu/Havanese mix. So cute … But, oh so much work! His kidneys are prob the size of peas so I can only get 3 hours of sleep w him. I am so exhausted! Thanks doll … I really will read again. Oye! 🥴❤️❤️❤️❤️
I read 9 books in January which is good for me. Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead & Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell are ones that I keep thinking about. I watched the documentary on Netflix about the 2014 revolution and it was eye opening and heartbreaking. Please continue to share Ukranian authors/books that we should be aware of. I am a new subscriber here so not sure if you have ever done a dedicated video on just Ukranian books/authors but would be interested to learn about more. Love your content and that green is stunning on you🙂📚❤
Thank you so much!! I feel like The Nickel Boys might make its way into my reading sphere sometime soon. I've only heard great things about the story. I haven't yet seen the Netflix doc, but I've heard it's depth is boundless. I'll keep sharing authors as I read them!
Omg I definitely relate to how memoirs can pack a crushing soul-punch quite often. I've noticed this too! Yet, i'm reading a memoir right now that doesn't really feel that way...so far at least haha. It's called The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. So freakin good. The writing is amazing. She lost her memory for a while and describes the amnesia so vividly. Fascinating! Also, she comes from a line of curanderos/healers. So engaging to read about.
@@AnaWallaceJohnson She lost her memory as a young adult, but the coolest thing is that her mom also experienced amnesia, at around 8 years old. So, she has a close family member to compare her experience to
omg i found your channel because of noelle and…i’m obsessed!!! catch me watching all your vids okay!! 🧡 (also yes love a memoir too but woweee yes they’re heavy most times)
Preach it Ana! Bluest Eye slaps hard! The banger I read this month was Yellowface by R.F. Kuang that comes out in May and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo!
i totally get what you’re talking about with the memoir fatigue, i just finished I’m Glad My Mom Died and i am emotionally exhaustedddd. also, you should read Sula by Morrison, the writing is also amazing and it’s short so a quick read!
I'm really enjoying your channel. As a man, I'm finding it difficult to find booktubers with my tastes. It's either a guy who reads nothing but fantasy and scifi or a woman who reads nothing but romance or YA. I enjoy variety and you seem to as well. To be able to jump around from Murakami to Bryson to Austen to Palahniuk... That's what I'm here for.
I'm so happy you've found this space and thank you for taking the time to comment! I interact with a lot of fellow literary fiction book tubers. If you peruse the comments, you might find a few--we're out here!
I read 12 books in January. So far it's been a great reading year. The banger I read last month (besides Babel) is Motherthing by Ainslee Hogarth.... it was a disturbing domestic horror with some cannibalism lol. I'm reading Toni Morrison this month, I am reading Beloved for my classic for Black History Month.
!!!! January for the win! And Motherthing has been on my radar for a bit. I feel like it might serve a little bit of camp and that's exactly what I want with that novel! I might reread Beloved again soon!
Top bangers of the January: O Caledonia by Elsbeth Parker, Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Meh reads: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Eileen by OM, and Crime and Punishment by FD Stay wonderful and fabulous!
@@AnaWallaceJohnson I know, I know, SIGH...this novel is revered by so many and yet I found it wanting ... it took be a long weekend to read, along with audible actually, otherwise I may have DNF'd this bad boy. It was a long, long slough through the proverbial muck. I WANTED to love it, but if you want a more readable moral Russian dilemma, I'd recommend Resurrection by Tolstoy.
I read "The White Book" by Han Kang in 2022 and... it was the worst book read last year! This reminds me of sad memoirs because even though it is poetry, it is described as an "exploration of personal grief". My problem with this book is that it is mostly built on simplistic writing, writing for the sake of writing, without getting too much out of it. And somehow I was left with the impression that people "love" it because they love the author. I still have the "Vegeterian" on my shelf; I received it as a gift from one of my friends (same edition as yours), so most likely I will give it a chance. 😊
Ohhh, totally understand what you mean! I've encountered this style of writing in a lot of contemporary novels and while I love to get lost in the words, sometimes I just want a story. The Vegetarian definitely has moments of absolute word beauty, but it works to make a story!
If you're really into cults (and if you like dissecting language), try Cultish by Amanda Montell. I haven't actually read it yet, but I read her other book and it was compulsively readable, so I'm really looking forward to picking up Cultish sometime soon.
Also, have you read Cultish by Amanda Montell? It's another non-fiction about cults. I have that book but never seem to reach for it. I just feel like nobody I know has read it so I'm not sure if I will like it.
totally not random and I wish I had a solid answer for you. I actually got it cut in Ukraine and I've just been consistently cutting the ends when they start to feel a little dead. I can maybe post a tutorial at some point.
May not be your kinda book… I feel like you are way more cerebral and smart than I am 🤣 but when you were talking about cults, it made me think of what I am reading right now which is “The Last Housewife” by Ashley Winstead, and so far it’s very good and disturbing and sad.
oh, listen, I've recently rescinded my thoughts on thrillers. I love them and I think they're great stimuli for the mind. So I'm always looking for thriller recs!
This was also the month I read the most books ever! Read 14 books, i think, because i finally got scribd hehe Loved: I'm Glad My Mom Died, Snowflake (it was your rec! and omg i enjoyed it so much), Letters to a Young Poet... think those were my faves :)
I've read a lot this year so far... 1) "Pamela, or, Virtue rewarded" by Samuel Richardson 2) "The Moon Is Down" by John Steinbeck 3) "The Last 100 Days: the Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe" by John Toland 4) "Agnes Grey" by Anne Brontë 5) "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë 6) "The Princess" by Anton Chekhov 7) "What Men Live by" by Leo Tolstoy 8) "How Much Land does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy 9) "The Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev" by Dony K. Donev 10) "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens 11) "The Warden" by Anthony Trollope 12) "The 39 Steps" by John Buchan 13) "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery Keep on reading...
@@AnaWallaceJohnson, my order for reading them is what I gave you. I just finished "Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis right now. It was good, but ended so stupid that it comes in last. Had it ended well it would have been #8. Now you request the order for all books read this year of 2023, so here goes. 1) "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens 2) "The Warden" by Anthony Trollope 3) "Agnes Grey" by Anne Brontë 4) "The 39 Steps" by John Buchan 5) "The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe" by John Toland 6) "Pamela, or, Virtue rewarded" by Samuel Richardson 7) "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë 8) "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery 9) "The Moon Is Down" by John Steinbeck 10) "The Princess" by Anton Chekhov 11) "What Men Live by" by Leo Tolstoy 12) "How Much Land does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy 13) "The Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev" by Dony K. Donev 14) "Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Im also soooo into all the cults stuff, you should totally read Mariana Enriquez’s Our share of night!! It’s an amazing novel that mixes those themes with occultism, South American traditions, family issues, loneliness, teenage hood and so much more🫶🏼 it really grasps you until the very end
OH WOW! I love the sound of that novel and I feel like from what I've heard about that author, I'd love it even more. And never apologize for broken language--you're doing so well!
If you're interested in cults, when you're ready to deal with memoir again, I'm reading Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young about her life growing up in the Children of God cult. Lots of SA though.
How about a very in-depth book about what looked like a cult, and, indeed, had its share of scandals and bad press, but turned into mainstream religion (Tibetan Buddhism) to the surprise of even many Tibetans ? "Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chogyam Trungpa" by Jeremy W. Hayward.....open, honest and challenging...(disclaimer: I am NOT a Buddhist, nor ever was)
Oh wow. I can honestly say I never heard of this book, nor Chogyam Trungpa, but you got me into a deep web search for a bit! Sounds incredibly interesting!
Hi 👋 Anna. Have you read Ohio by Stephen Markley? I’m listening to his new book Deluge It’s about climate change and the possible way it could effect society ( particularly USA) in future.
Noelle told me to come here and I did. How come I've never came across your channel??? You have excellent taste! You are so pro in front of the camera! You articulate your thoughts in an amazing way! And, as a bonus, you are gorgeous sister... Will be turning on your notifications because I need more content! All the love
I'm so happy Noelle brought us together (how amazing is she??) Thank you for all your kind comments--I'm blushing!! We're gonna have lots of fun over here
SAME! I love you already 🤍
12:44 I love that they were so proud of it being a signed copy that the sticker takes up LIKE THE ENTIRE COVER ahaha
lmaooo I KNOW! book should just be retitled "autographed copy"
I started paying attention to what i read or watch, and how it effects my mental health. I can’t stop reading sad books because it’s the love of my life :) but I try to make some balance by adding more lighthearted books, so, i totally understand your decision of not reading memoirs for a while, I believe it’s a great decision. Sometimes we need to take a break even from the things we adore.
lmaooo same on the sad books loml. I've been trying to read happy books, or just more fiction (if it's not real, it doesn't hurt as much)
Omg I read The Bluest Eye this month too and it’s my 1st time experiencing Morrison’s writing. I know it’s old news that she can write, but boy she can WRITE 🙌🏾 I really want to pick up Sula but will wait a bit, as I can only consume black trauma in small doses these days 😅
100000% agreed on waiting a bit!! The Bluest Eye was one of the most eye opening, exhaustive, educational, horrifying, pounding and beautiful books I've read in a while.
January always seems to be the biggest reading month for me! Congrats on 10 great books this month!
YOU HAD A BANGER MONTH! I saw that first vid. go baby, GOOO! your username is amazing and I've been saying it in my head the past few days
@@AnaWallaceJohnson Omg no way! Wowee, thank YOU! :')
What a corking reading month you had! I’ve had I Will Die in a Foreign Land on my shelves for a while, I think I may look up The Orphanage instead. Oooh you’ve sold The Seas to me ALL. THE. MORE. The Bluest Eye was my first book of the year and just WOW. I am hoping to get to Sula next month and go through her in order. Fab vid as ALWAYS.
The Orphanage is definitely a big undertaking, so be prepared!! The Seas you'll finish in a day and book a one way ticket to a fishing town (or maybe that's just my personal fantasy hehehehe) Love you 🥺🥺
i’m so excited to watch this! i’ve read the beach after your recc and i loved it!
The Beach is so gooood!! This reminds me that I want to pick it up again soon. I think it's the ultimate "get out of a reading slump novel."
I read 9 books in January - it always seems to be a really good reading month! I'm so excited I found your channel (through Noelle's recommendation, I believe) because you recommend books I don't feel like I've heard about a million times. I'm in such a non-fiction mood right now and just finished Cultish - which if you haven't read, I think you'd love - so I feel like Cults is a great book to read next to keep that weird niche theme going.
I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve listened to Montell’s podcast, “sounds like a cult,” and it’s really good! Cultish was the runaway hit for a long time!!
10 dang 😮. Good job. I’ve read 2 😅 & they are small books.
trust me, it was A LOT for me, too
Funny, I also happened to pick up White Tiger in January. I loved it. My first 5 star read of the year.
How great was that novel?? I couldn't put it down. Didn't disappoint at all and totally not what I expected.
I also revisited Morrison's work via The Bluest Eye after having read Beloved back in high school (I can safely say it went right over my head at the time)! Got Sula on my TBR, but I feel like you gotta recover a bit after The Bluest Eye.
Update: immediately put 'The Solace of Open Spaces' on my TBR, read it, and 'twas wonderful!
!!! I'm so happy to hear you loved 'The Solace of Open Spaces'--makes you wanna get into a car and DRIVE! And RE The Bluest Eye & Morrison--I 100% agree. Beloved in high school wasn't something I learned from, rather read to finish, so I need to revisit it and appreciate it for the work it is!
You read some great books last month! If you want to read more Ukrainian books (that are in some way connected with the current war) I would suggest grey bees by Andrey Kurkov, Mondegreen by volodymyr Rafeyenko and Lucky breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets. For non-fiction I would suggest A loss by Olesya Khromeychuk, Lost kingdom by Serhii Plokhy (his new book on the war comes out in may as well) and Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder!
Love, love, love all these suggestions. Thank you so much. I hadn't heard of a lot of these. I've been meaning to get to Andrey Kurkov, but the others were unknown to me and some were published so recent! Amazing recs
i love your jacket! oh yeah and the books too. perfect review of “a room with a view”. i'm going to look for “the seas” and “the bluest eye” , thanks for your service 🫡 💕
💕 I think you'll love them. So good! ilysm
Very nice video I love the way you edit and the way you talk about things it’s really nice to listen to you
Thanks so much! Editing is a small passion of mine
What a great start of the year! The bluest eye is soooo good!!
(and I didn't heed your warning and looked up the anthill kids and now i hate myself for not listening and probably won't sleep..)
omg, so devastating. I can't believe people like that exist in this world!
I read 5 books this month (the most I ever have in one month) and I’m sooo proud of myself I can only hope to get to 10 one day but I’m already feeling a slump coming on looooll
oh baby, listen, you're doing amazing. not too long ago 5 books was all I read in a year and I'm still proud of that accomplishment!!
White Tiger is amazing!
I think about it all the time!
@@AnaWallaceJohnson right? It's so good! I can't wait to read more by him!
If You like autobiographies. Try living with the Himalayan masters by Swami Rama
noted!
When you do get back into memoirs...Mary Karr and Natalie Goldberg are two of my favs. Both imaginative and funny as hell too :)
If they're funny memoirs, I might pick them up! I know Mary Karr is a killer writer and I've been meaning to pick her up for a HOT MIN
Month? Do you do classes on how to read cos I'd love to be able to read that much? My brain can't currently do that.
A friend loaned me the Flowers in the Attic saga this weekend. I don't hate it but I really want to fast-forward through it at the moment. It's a slog. I feel like I've been in the attic longer than they have! I read four books in January. Not too bad for me considering I work forty hours a week. I did some of that reading on the job. Shhh
HAHAHA! It's time to get outta that attic, baby!!! Your reading on the job secret is safe with me 🤫🤐 Btw, I've started editing footage from my roadtrip and I'm currently going through WV--the sun in the summer is unparalleled there. Wow. Makes me smile to think of it.
@@AnaWallaceJohnson Yay! I can't wait to see!
Just read The Bluest Eye last weekend and I was blown away!
How incredible were those words???!
I'm so happy you 've read The Bluest Eye! It's a phenomenal book, and I wish I could reread this every time I want to reread this (which has happened to me a lot of times). It just evokes every feeling in me all the time (and now I'm gonna fall asleep to the Cults podcast)
It's such a fantastic read--I think I'll keep my copy for a while and reread it every so often. Oh boy! Hope you slept okay after the podcast and didn't have too many crazy dreams 😩
Oooo woman! Love the way you speak
Thank you so much!!
Thanks to Noelle, I have found your channel! I would love to see the two of you together in a video!!!
Noelle is really the best! I'm so happy she introduced us--would love to collab with her, too!!!
I’m so happy you loved the Seas!!! 🥹❤️
I'm still reeling from it. I loved every damn thing about that baby. You're iconic!
The Bluest Eye is unbelievable! I am currently reading a mercy by Morrison.
I can't believe I haven't picked up more by Toni
Great video. One of my favorites in January was The Alienist by Caleb Carr. Very Sherlock Holmes-ey. It was a chunky boy and took me a minute to finish, I'm a bit burnt out from cramming so many books in last year to reach my goal 😖 Good news is I am reading The Secret History now! So far so good.
Chunky boys are what warm the soul, sometimes, esp Sherlock chunky Holmes style! Do lemme know what you think of The Secret History!!
Hello Ana! You look wonderful darlin! So ... I got a puppy. Mother of Dog, he is taking it out of me! Read a book? I'm at 10 minutes of your video and wondering if this bundle of joy is going to let me watch the whole thing. Anyway - read on sister! Hopefully I get this sweetie pie trained ... 🙏and read again ... Sending love and light! Anne
OH MY GOD WHAT KIND OF DOGGIE DID YOU GET???
@@AnaWallaceJohnson a tiny, tiny woof! He is a 5 lb, 12 week old Shih Tzu/Havanese mix. So cute … But, oh so much work! His kidneys are prob the size of peas so I can only get 3 hours of sleep w him. I am so exhausted! Thanks doll … I really will read again. Oye! 🥴❤️❤️❤️❤️
I read 9 books in January which is good for me. Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead & Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell are ones that I keep thinking about. I watched the documentary on Netflix about the 2014 revolution and it was eye opening and heartbreaking. Please continue to share Ukranian authors/books that we should be aware of. I am a new subscriber here so not sure if you have ever done a dedicated video on just Ukranian books/authors but would be interested to learn about more. Love your content and that green is stunning on you🙂📚❤
Thank you so much!! I feel like The Nickel Boys might make its way into my reading sphere sometime soon. I've only heard great things about the story. I haven't yet seen the Netflix doc, but I've heard it's depth is boundless. I'll keep sharing authors as I read them!
Omg I definitely relate to how memoirs can pack a crushing soul-punch quite often. I've noticed this too! Yet, i'm reading a memoir right now that doesn't really feel that way...so far at least haha. It's called The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. So freakin good. The writing is amazing. She lost her memory for a while and describes the amnesia so vividly. Fascinating! Also, she comes from a line of curanderos/healers. So engaging to read about.
WOAH! Wild, wild sounding book. How old was she when she lost her memory. Fascinated by amnesia and how it affects people.
@@AnaWallaceJohnson She lost her memory as a young adult, but the coolest thing is that her mom also experienced amnesia, at around 8 years old. So, she has a close family member to compare her experience to
omg i found your channel because of noelle and…i’m obsessed!!! catch me watching all your vids okay!! 🧡 (also yes love a memoir too but woweee yes they’re heavy most times)
i really need to read the seas this year!! i already wanted to but hearing you talk about it makes me want to even more!!
Noelle is truly an icon, legend and the moment and I'm so happy she's brought us together
@@AnaWallaceJohnson 🥹🧡
Ahhh I so want to read A room with a view! Also, such a great review-delivery with the theme play, cotta al punto giusto 😍🤗
It's such a fun little romp. I suggest it in the summer when the air is warm
January was pretty loaded for me so I'm hopping to read some amazing books this month!
I want to read The bluest eye so bad now.
It’s so good. What was your favorite book of January??
Preach it Ana! Bluest Eye slaps hard! The banger I read this month was Yellowface by R.F. Kuang that comes out in May and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo!
R.F Kuang is bloooowing up! I feel like I should get on the wagon and give it a go. Maybe Babel??
i totally get what you’re talking about with the memoir fatigue, i just finished I’m Glad My Mom Died and i am emotionally exhaustedddd. also, you should read Sula by Morrison, the writing is also amazing and it’s short so a quick read!
omg, I've heard that one is an absolute tear jerker. I wanna read Sula soon! I think if I see it in the thrift, it's obligatory I pick it up!
Yep, the day one learns about The Ant Hill Kids is a very bad day, that’s for sure. Congrats on 10 books in a month!! Looks like such a good list.
......... I'm still upset about it. Did you know they made a movie about it?? Insane.
@@AnaWallaceJohnson whyyyyyyy would that do that, nobody needs that 😣
I'm really enjoying your channel. As a man, I'm finding it difficult to find booktubers with my tastes. It's either a guy who reads nothing but fantasy and scifi or a woman who reads nothing but romance or YA. I enjoy variety and you seem to as well. To be able to jump around from Murakami to Bryson to Austen to Palahniuk... That's what I'm here for.
I'm so happy you've found this space and thank you for taking the time to comment! I interact with a lot of fellow literary fiction book tubers. If you peruse the comments, you might find a few--we're out here!
Great jobs
I read 12 books in January. So far it's been a great reading year. The banger I read last month (besides Babel) is Motherthing by Ainslee Hogarth.... it was a disturbing domestic horror with some cannibalism lol. I'm reading Toni Morrison this month, I am reading Beloved for my classic for Black History Month.
!!!! January for the win! And Motherthing has been on my radar for a bit. I feel like it might serve a little bit of camp and that's exactly what I want with that novel! I might reread Beloved again soon!
Top bangers of the January: O Caledonia by Elsbeth Parker, Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Meh reads: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Eileen by OM, and Crime and Punishment by FD
Stay wonderful and fabulous!
Oh no! Crime and Punishment was meh? I'm nervous to slog through a meh. How long did it take you to read?
@@AnaWallaceJohnson I know, I know, SIGH...this novel is revered by so many and yet I found it wanting ... it took be a long weekend to read, along with audible actually, otherwise I may have DNF'd this bad boy. It was a long, long slough through the proverbial muck. I WANTED to love it, but if you want a more readable moral Russian dilemma, I'd recommend Resurrection by Tolstoy.
It's beautiful ❤️
😄
I also read 10 books in January and that too was the most I've read in a month. January was so long 😅
January was very long, but weirdly refreshing??? I felt like I was on ONE this Jan. I must've been drinking a lot of water lmao
I read "The White Book" by Han Kang in 2022 and... it was the worst book read last year! This reminds me of sad memoirs because even though it is poetry, it is described as an "exploration of personal grief". My problem with this book is that it is mostly built on simplistic writing, writing for the sake of writing, without getting too much out of it. And somehow I was left with the impression that people "love" it because they love the author.
I still have the "Vegeterian" on my shelf; I received it as a gift from one of my friends (same edition as yours), so most likely I will give it a chance. 😊
Ohhh, totally understand what you mean! I've encountered this style of writing in a lot of contemporary novels and while I love to get lost in the words, sometimes I just want a story.
The Vegetarian definitely has moments of absolute word beauty, but it works to make a story!
The Bluest Eye remains my favorite book by Morrison. It just haunts me
I think about Pecola often
Hey new to your channel! Loving your content 😉
thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I couldn’t read 10 books in a month if I tried. But we’re still booktubing 🤭 Love ur style 👀
hahah! book tubing til we can't tube no more! 10 was a rare month--we'll see how feb goes.
Dog Flowers was great!!!
So good, but broke my heart a bit! I wanted to give her and her bf a hug
If you're really into cults (and if you like dissecting language), try Cultish by Amanda Montell. I haven't actually read it yet, but I read her other book and it was compulsively readable, so I'm really looking forward to picking up Cultish sometime soon.
Heard so much about Cultish! I have listened to Montell's podcast, "sounds like a cult," and it's quite good. It feels like anything can be a cult 😟
What do you think about cults and fanaticism
I'm so intrigued! feels like anything can be a cult, though
@@AnaWallaceJohnson sooner or later you will have your own cult too because of your style of presentation 🐛 bookworms cult
May I ask what your lipstick is? it looks so gorgeous
Thank you so much! I combine about 3 different shades, BUT the primary color that’s being pulled here is by Doll 10 in Playgirl!
@@AnaWallaceJohnson thanks 😊
Also, have you read Cultish by Amanda Montell? It's another non-fiction about cults. I have that book but never seem to reach for it. I just feel like nobody I know has read it so I'm not sure if I will like it.
haven't read the book, BUT I've listened to the podcast "sounds like a cult," based on a subscriber rec and it's quite good!
Sky Above Kharkiv, Dispatches from the Ukrainian Front by Serhiy Zhadan will be coming out in May.
Oh really? I'll look up the publisher and see if I can get it!
yup, immediately subscribed
hug and more hugs!
I Will Die in a Foreign Land did not really stay with me, but Grey Bees lingers in my mind and intensifies my empathy with the people of Ukraine.
I think when I read Kurkov for the first time I'll recommend solely his work. Grey Bees sounds like exactly something I would love
kind of random question, but where do you get your hair done in nyc? Looking for some good curly hair stylists :))
totally not random and I wish I had a solid answer for you. I actually got it cut in Ukraine and I've just been consistently cutting the ends when they start to feel a little dead. I can maybe post a tutorial at some point.
@@AnaWallaceJohnson Yes would love that!
May not be your kinda book… I feel like you are way more cerebral and smart than I am 🤣 but when you were talking about cults, it made me think of what I am reading right now which is “The Last Housewife” by Ashley Winstead, and so far it’s very good and disturbing and sad.
oh, listen, I've recently rescinded my thoughts on thrillers. I love them and I think they're great stimuli for the mind. So I'm always looking for thriller recs!
This was also the month I read the most books ever! Read 14 books, i think, because i finally got scribd hehe
Loved: I'm Glad My Mom Died, Snowflake (it was your rec! and omg i enjoyed it so much), Letters to a Young Poet... think those were my faves :)
OMG! 14!! Good for you! Did you listen to Snowflake on scribd??? I think that's exactly how I consumed it--so happy you loved it
u really love reading about nature
lmaoooo I am one step away from becoming a tree
please please please make a video talking about your favorite cult books and movies and media!
oooh, I will do more research and maybe create a lil pile
I've read a lot this year so far...
1) "Pamela, or, Virtue rewarded" by Samuel Richardson
2) "The Moon Is Down" by John Steinbeck
3) "The Last 100 Days: the Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe" by John Toland
4) "Agnes Grey" by Anne Brontë
5) "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë
6) "The Princess" by Anton Chekhov
7) "What Men Live by" by Leo Tolstoy
8) "How Much Land does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy
9) "The Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev" by Dony K. Donev
10) "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens
11) "The Warden" by Anthony Trollope
12) "The 39 Steps" by John Buchan
13) "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery
Keep on reading...
Oh my gosh. wowowow. You read so many amazing novels. Good on you for reading those amazing pieces. Which was your favorite?
@@AnaWallaceJohnson, my order for reading them is what I gave you. I just finished "Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis right now. It was good, but ended so stupid that it comes in last. Had it ended well it would have been #8.
Now you request the order for all books read this year of 2023, so here goes.
1) "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens
2) "The Warden" by Anthony Trollope
3) "Agnes Grey" by Anne Brontë
4) "The 39 Steps" by John Buchan
5) "The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe" by John Toland
6) "Pamela, or, Virtue rewarded" by Samuel Richardson
7) "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë
8) "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery
9) "The Moon Is Down" by John Steinbeck
10) "The Princess" by Anton Chekhov
11) "What Men Live by" by Leo Tolstoy
12) "How Much Land does a Man Need" by Leo Tolstoy
13) "The Life and Ministry of Rev. Ivan Voronaev" by Dony K. Donev
14) "Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Im also soooo into all the cults stuff, you should totally read Mariana Enriquez’s Our share of night!! It’s an amazing novel that mixes those themes with occultism, South American traditions, family issues, loneliness, teenage hood and so much more🫶🏼 it really grasps you until the very end
(Sorry for my broken English lol)
OH WOW! I love the sound of that novel and I feel like from what I've heard about that author, I'd love it even more. And never apologize for broken language--you're doing so well!
I read "I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki" and honestly.. chef kiss
omg!!! I've seen this everywhere and I LOVE the title. Glad to hear the book lives up to the title
Surveys, Research, Observers, Experiment .Good. To know you.
My January was also on fiyah. 15 books mama I don’t know how it happened
Ohhhh baby gonna have to pick up the seas for real for real
15!!!!! you're literally the icon of the year rn
seas are calling, bebe
If you're interested in cults, when you're ready to deal with memoir again, I'm reading Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young about her life growing up in the Children of God cult. Lots of SA though.
omg, Children of God is such a horrifying cult. I only know a bit about it, but what I've heard is so startling
How about a very in-depth book about what looked like a cult, and, indeed, had its share of scandals and bad press, but turned into mainstream religion (Tibetan Buddhism) to the surprise of even many Tibetans ? "Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chogyam Trungpa" by Jeremy W. Hayward.....open, honest and challenging...(disclaimer: I am NOT a Buddhist, nor ever was)
Oh wow. I can honestly say I never heard of this book, nor Chogyam Trungpa, but you got me into a deep web search for a bit! Sounds incredibly interesting!
Ana, you are not kidding. People DO NOT look it up..
Breaks my heart so much. So, so sad.
How are you so cool!!!!
I love you so much for thinking so highly of me
I know this has nothing to do with your video but you look JUST like the singer Aldous Huxley.
I've gotten that before! I think it's the curls and nose shape!
Hi 👋 Anna. Have you read Ohio by Stephen Markley?
I’m listening to his new book
Deluge
It’s about climate change and the possible way it could effect society ( particularly USA) in future.
Noooo, haven't read Ohio (but the cover is fabulous) And haven't read Deluge either! Two great reccos!!!
You did not read 10 books in a month.