This is a well thought out list. I appreciate the older books as they are easier to get/ reserve at the library. Your analysis is very insightful and not run of the mill.
Great list as usual! Ducks, Newberryport is a must for me, but I had been on the fence about Lost Children Archive. After your recommendation I think I will definitely pick it up. The Years and Season of Migration to the North also sound amazing! (Also Lucy Ellmann's shoutout of your review is SO COOL! Congrats 😊)
I think I have said this before, but I love how you always link contemporary social, political, philosophical or artistic (literate) aspects to the books you discuss in your videos. It makes think and look at the bigger context. I also really appreciate how your choises always challenge me to read on a broader scale, one way or another. Egyptian orgins, plural narrators or science fiction social criticism, for example ;) Thank you!
It's great hearing about your passion for these (some of which you know I loved too!) Have you read Ocean Vuong's poetry? I loved Night Sky with Exit Wounds. I'm so curious to read Cixin Liu since people keep talking about him. And I've not heard of Tayeb Salih but you make me keen to read him as well. Awesome that Lucy watched and tweeted about your video! ❤️
Please never stop reading “old” books!! And with such internacional range! I Love Your reviews and I’m so grateful for your recommendations! I’ve noted them all down for my tbr list. Happy new year!
Arundhati Roy is such an inspirinig personality and her first novel was purely stunning. Thank you for reminding me of 'The Ministry...' I kept it on my radar for a long while and then forgot about her completely. Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku :)
Fantastic list, what a wonderfully deep and thoughtful selection Kamil. I had two favourites, one back list and one released this year too - The Poisonwood Bible and The Nickel Boys respectively. Looking forward to seeing what 2020 brings to your reading stack! Happy New Year 🥳
Amelia East happy new year and thank you Amelia! Looking forward to picking up The Poisonwood Bible finally. I still haven’t read it. Have a brilliant reading year yourself!
Insightful and articulate reviews as usual Kamil. The only one on this list I've read is the one by Ocean Vuong, and his writing is stunning. Happy new year.
Great video; of your list I only read Nickel Boys, which didn’t make it to my favourites of the year. I read The God of Small Things for the first time this year and really liked it, so I’ll have to get to the Ministry of Utmost Happiness at some point. Season of Migration to the North sounds intriguing too.
@@WhatKamilReads Best reads for me last year were Ursula K LeGuinn (Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed), Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day) and A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Ahh the algorithm has started to place you back into my feed. It’s been awhile, so I’m going to binge on a handful of your recent videos to hopefully teach the damn Ai that I do want to watch the content created by those who I am subscribed to. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard but apparently it has become so. Anyways hope 2020 is chock full of many pleasant and fulfilling books for you to read and absorb! Cheers, Sabrina
Happy New Year Kamil. Very interesting book selection and I have definitely will look closely into some of them. Have a fantastic year Kamil. Dosiego Roku 😉
From this list I only read Lost children archive, I also borrowed The three-body problem, this will be my next read. However, most of them are on my endless TBR 📚
Only just watching this video - a bit late as we are in April already. Ocean Vuong's novel On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous is amazing. I love his style of writing and found this book very powerful and emotive to read. I was in awe of this writing. The dynamics of the mother and son relationship were very hard and interesting to read. Also the journey the son went on upon realising he was gay and how that also impacted on the relationship he had with his mother. I started to read Ducks Newburyport and I loved it. I thought some pieces were brilliant and so succinct that said I found the style of Lucy's writing very tiring to read and after about 200 pages I gave up on the book. I felt physically exhausted because there was so much text to consume on the page. I do want to return to the book at some point because it was so wonderful and it made me laugh out loud in places.
Late but never too late, Happy you liked Vuong's novel as much as I did. I watched a few clips with him, interviews and readings and it's astonishing how eloquent he is. Then in terms of Lucy Ellmann, I adored this work, I understand it's a lot to digest and it asks for a peaceful time to do that, so fingers crossed you'll find the right time to read it.
@@WhatKamilReads I am determined to go back to Lucy's novel. It was brilliant and I took a lot from what I read in it. Some amazing passages. I was sad I didn't finish it and I can see why so many people struggle with it. Did you find it tired you out reading it? I felt physically exhausted.
No, not at all, but maybe I’m more used to politically and socially driven novels as normally this is what I gravitate to... I found the writing flowing and I was carried away with it.
Lost Children Archive was my top read of 2019. What is so brilliant about the book is while there are politics up front and centre, it is quite simply the best fictional representation of relationships between parents and children I have ever read. Wonderful stuff. Ducks may well outshine it, but am only a fifth of the way though it, so it will have to come under 2020 reads!
Marc Nash I agree with a comment of parents children relegations. Very intelligently pictured. Looking forward to your thoughts on Ducks! Will head to your channel to see your list now. Haven’t watch much TH-cam lately so must have missed it.
I listened to The Years via audio. I couldn’t understand the purpose of writing it? I loved Lost Children Archive I’ve only started reading The Nickel Boys
Jacqueline McMenamin I could try to explain Ernaux but not being mean I don’t see the point of explaining it, it just proved not to be a book for you, which is absolutely fine. Happy to hear you loved Lost Children Archive
What did you think, oh let me check on your channel., Alessa Cara is great, considering the age, and the type of music, she is as cool as you can do in that circumstances :)
@@WhatKamilReads I haven't been posting much... I had notes ready to go for a Ducks review, but never filmed it. Been pretty unmotivated. Might do a blog post instead. Basically, I liked it, despite several things bothering me about it!
I liked Woman at Point Zero a lot.. at the same time, I wasn't really "shocked" by any of it being a woman myself. I think it parallels the situation of women in the west as well. Why is sex work so stigmatized yet it is still one of the most lucrative fields of work for women. Perhaps the only potentially wildly lucrative field of work where women, without a doubt, make more money than men. It's interesting to think about.
sweetkeet126 there are parallel situation true but I believe the social system although still faulty is better fit for independent women to live in, in our part of the globe. You just reminded me of something. I had an interesting conversation with my Indian friend that is British about a young friend of ours, who is also an Indian woman but living and working in Delhi. I was saying it’s good for her (the Delhi women) that she is educated, able to support herself and works independently considering the humble background she is from. My British Indian friend being with me in Delhi then said “She needs to get married, without a husband in Delhi, in this still conservative society, she wouldn’t be able to really participate in it”. There’s still a huge difference in the way western world versus more conservative societies be it Arabic, Indian or other operate.
It's great hearing about your passion for these (some of which you know I loved too!) Have you read Ocean Vuong's poetry? I loved Night Sky with Exit Wounds. I'm so curious to read Cixin Liu since people keep talking about him. And I've not heard of Tayeb Salih but you make me keen to read him as well. Awesome that Lucy watched and tweeted about your video! ❤️
No, it was my first encounter with Voung. I need to look up on Scribd, if it's there I will definitely give it a go. Regarding Lucy Ellmann, yes it was extremely nice. it was very unexpected but very encouraging. Many great reads in 2020, Eric.
Great top ten, Kamil! I’ve already read some of those books. I’m making my way through Ducks, Newburyport slowly and am enjoying every second of it!
Great to hear that Juan. Thank you.
This is a well thought out list. I appreciate the older books as they are easier to get/ reserve at the library. Your analysis is very insightful and not run of the mill.
Tracy L thank you Tracy for a lovely comment. Happy to hear you like the older books on the list.
Great list as usual! Ducks, Newberryport is a must for me, but I had been on the fence about Lost Children Archive. After your recommendation I think I will definitely pick it up. The Years and Season of Migration to the North also sound amazing! (Also Lucy Ellmann's shoutout of your review is SO COOL! Congrats 😊)
Thank you very much. Lovely to hear I might have persuaded you to read List Children Archive.
I think I have said this before, but I love how you always link contemporary social, political, philosophical or artistic (literate) aspects to the books you discuss in your videos. It makes think and look at the bigger context. I also really appreciate how your choises always challenge me to read on a broader scale, one way or another. Egyptian orgins, plural narrators or science fiction social criticism, for example ;) Thank you!
Thank you a lot Luke for this extremely warm comment. I do appreciate that.
It's great hearing about your passion for these (some of which you know I loved too!) Have you read Ocean Vuong's poetry? I loved Night Sky with Exit Wounds. I'm so curious to read Cixin Liu since people keep talking about him. And I've not heard of Tayeb Salih but you make me keen to read him as well.
Awesome that Lucy watched and tweeted about your video! ❤️
Happy New Year. Always love your intelligent and eloquent reviews.
Maureen Calder Happy New Year! Thank you a lot Maureen
I read Beer in the Snooker Club years ago and it’s really stayed with me. I wish I had a copy now!
Please never stop reading “old” books!! And with such internacional range! I Love Your reviews and I’m so grateful for your recommendations! I’ve noted them all down for my tbr list. Happy new year!
M Julia you are way too kind. Thank you so much
I love your list, I read 7 of them and totally agree with your rankings! I love listening to your reviews, so thoughtful and intelligent!
So nice to hear that, thank you
Arundhati Roy is such an inspirinig personality and her first novel was purely stunning. Thank you for reminding me of 'The Ministry...' I kept it on my radar for a long while and then forgot about her completely. Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku :)
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku. Czeka cie wspaniala ksiazka (re Arundhati)
Happy New Year Kamil ! I only recently found your channel and love your insight and eloquent reviews. Have a fantastic 2020!
Thank you so much Rebekka. Happy New Year to you too.
I’m currently reading Ducks! And I’ve definitely been interested in picking up Lost children archive.
Thank you Brooke for watching!.
Oh I missed your review of Ducks, Newburyport.. I will now go and watch
Oh, thank you a lot!
What a great list! I loved the Vuong, and Coates, Liu and Ellman are on my TBR. And I just started the Whitehead 😆
Seems like we have quite a similar teste :)
You mean impeccable taste? 😆
Fantastic list, what a wonderfully deep and thoughtful selection Kamil.
I had two favourites, one back list and one released this year too - The Poisonwood Bible and The Nickel Boys respectively.
Looking forward to seeing what 2020 brings to your reading stack! Happy New Year 🥳
Amelia East happy new year and thank you Amelia! Looking forward to picking up The Poisonwood Bible finally. I still haven’t read it. Have a brilliant reading year yourself!
Insightful and articulate reviews as usual Kamil. The only one on this list I've read is the one by Ocean Vuong, and his writing is stunning. Happy new year.
Elizabeth Abraham Happy New Year Elizabeth! Thank you for your warm comment
Great video; of your list I only read Nickel Boys, which didn’t make it to my favourites of the year. I read The God of Small Things for the first time this year and really liked it, so I’ll have to get to the Ministry of Utmost Happiness at some point. Season of Migration to the North sounds intriguing too.
Thank you John, what's at the top of your list?
@@WhatKamilReads Best reads for me last year were Ursula K LeGuinn (Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed), Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day) and A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Great selection. Happy New Year!
Thank you Carmen, Happy New Year!
Thank you Carmen, Happy New Year!
Ahh the algorithm has started to place you back into my feed. It’s been awhile, so I’m going to binge on a handful of your recent videos to hopefully teach the damn Ai that I do want to watch the content created by those who I am subscribed to. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard but apparently it has become so.
Anyways hope 2020 is chock full of many pleasant and fulfilling books for you to read and absorb!
Cheers,
Sabrina
Happy to hear that Sabrina. One will never understand how youtube works. Happy New Year to you and wish you the same lot of fantastic books to read.
Happy New Year Kamil. Very interesting book selection and I have definitely will look closely into some of them. Have a fantastic year Kamil. Dosiego Roku 😉
cremedelacreme28 Dosiego Roku! Dziękuje bardzo za miłe słowa!
Great list, Kamil! The Years was also one of my best reads in 2019.
the [blank] garden thank you! that’s a good book
From this list I only read Lost children archive, I also borrowed The three-body problem, this will be my next read. However, most of them are on my endless TBR 📚
Yes, tell me something about it - re the endless TBR ;-)
Great list!
Thank you
Only just watching this video - a bit late as we are in April already. Ocean Vuong's novel On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous is amazing. I love his style of writing and found this book very powerful and emotive to read. I was in awe of this writing. The dynamics of the mother and son relationship were very hard and interesting to read. Also the journey the son went on upon realising he was gay and how that also impacted on the relationship he had with his mother. I started to read Ducks Newburyport and I loved it. I thought some pieces were brilliant and so succinct that said I found the style of Lucy's writing very tiring to read and after about 200 pages I gave up on the book. I felt physically exhausted because there was so much text to consume on the page. I do want to return to the book at some point because it was so wonderful and it made me laugh out loud in places.
Late but never too late, Happy you liked Vuong's novel as much as I did. I watched a few clips with him, interviews and readings and it's astonishing how eloquent he is.
Then in terms of Lucy Ellmann, I adored this work, I understand it's a lot to digest and it asks for a peaceful time to do that, so fingers crossed you'll find the right time to read it.
@@WhatKamilReads I am determined to go back to Lucy's novel. It was brilliant and I took a lot from what I read in it. Some amazing passages. I was sad I didn't finish it and I can see why so many people struggle with it. Did you find it tired you out reading it? I felt physically exhausted.
No, not at all, but maybe I’m more used to politically and socially driven novels as normally this is what I gravitate to... I found the writing flowing and I was carried away with it.
I am so surprised and happy to see so many arabic books :) .Happy New Year
Majdouline El Aasemi Happy New Year! Glad to make you happy with the book selection.
Lost Children Archive was my top read of 2019. What is so brilliant about the book is while there are politics up front and centre, it is quite simply the best fictional representation of relationships between parents and children I have ever read. Wonderful stuff.
Ducks may well outshine it, but am only a fifth of the way though it, so it will have to come under 2020 reads!
Marc Nash I agree with a comment of parents children relegations. Very intelligently pictured. Looking forward to your thoughts on Ducks! Will head to your channel to see your list now. Haven’t watch much TH-cam lately so must have missed it.
I also had The Years in it! I'll be reading the 3 Body problem this year.
I listened to The Years via audio. I couldn’t understand the purpose of writing it?
I loved Lost Children Archive
I’ve only started reading The Nickel Boys
Jacqueline McMenamin I could try to explain Ernaux but not being mean I don’t see the point of explaining it, it just proved not to be a book for you, which is absolutely fine. Happy to hear you loved Lost Children Archive
When the only Canadian content is an Alessa Cara song 😖 just kidding. I have to go back and watch your review of Ducks, now that I've read it!
What did you think, oh let me check on your channel., Alessa Cara is great, considering the age, and the type of music, she is as cool as you can do in that circumstances :)
@@WhatKamilReads I haven't been posting much... I had notes ready to go for a Ducks review, but never filmed it. Been pretty unmotivated. Might do a blog post instead. Basically, I liked it, despite several things bothering me about it!
Yay for Ducks! Clearly the most important work of literature since Finnegans Wake.
Happy to hear you think the same.
great list, I haven't read any of those, lol.
1book1review hahaha and thank you Wiebke!
Happy 2020 😊
Happy New Year
Love this list. Do you have Instagram?
Thank you! Yes the same name as the channel,
I liked Woman at Point Zero a lot.. at the same time, I wasn't really "shocked" by any of it being a woman myself. I think it parallels the situation of women in the west as well. Why is sex work so stigmatized yet it is still one of the most lucrative fields of work for women. Perhaps the only potentially wildly lucrative field of work where women, without a doubt, make more money than men. It's interesting to think about.
sweetkeet126 there are parallel situation true but I believe the social system although still faulty is better fit for independent women to live in, in our part of the globe. You just reminded me of something. I had an interesting conversation with my Indian friend that is British about a young friend of ours, who is also an Indian woman but living and working in Delhi. I was saying it’s good for her (the Delhi women) that she is educated, able to support herself and works independently considering the humble background she is from. My British Indian friend being with me in Delhi then said “She needs to get married, without a husband in Delhi, in this still conservative society, she wouldn’t be able to really participate in it”. There’s still a huge difference in the way western world versus more conservative societies be it Arabic, Indian or other operate.
I thought Lost Children Archive was wonderful and I just loved Ducks. I was sorry when Ducks was finished. I know I will read it again"
Linda Hall we seem to have a very similar taste!
What's your religion?
It's great hearing about your passion for these (some of which you know I loved too!) Have you read Ocean Vuong's poetry? I loved Night Sky with Exit Wounds. I'm so curious to read Cixin Liu since people keep talking about him. And I've not heard of Tayeb Salih but you make me keen to read him as well.
Awesome that Lucy watched and tweeted about your video! ❤️
No, it was my first encounter with Voung. I need to look up on Scribd, if it's there I will definitely give it a go. Regarding Lucy Ellmann, yes it was extremely nice. it was very unexpected but very encouraging. Many great reads in 2020, Eric.