Strangers Convinced Me To Read Their Favorite Books...And I Read Them | Reading Vlog
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In today's video, strangers convinced me to read their favorite books...and I read them! Go check out the original "Strangers Convinced Me To Read Their Favorite Books" video after this! What a good time. Thanks for stopping by!
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Original video: • Strangers Convince Me ...
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haley pham, reading vlog, book review, Strangers Convinced Me To Read Their Favorite Books, Strangers Convinced Me To Read Their Favorite Books...And I Read Them, strangers convinced me to read their favorite books, strangers convinced me to read their favorite books...and i read them, ian gubeli, ian gubeli goodreads, ian gubeli stephen king, ian gubeli wife, good morning monster, farentheit 451, ian gubeli reading vlog, the colorless tsukuru tazaki
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The strangers convince me to read their favorite book video is actually what got me to finally read Jurassic Park, and I loved it!
Would you recommend it for someone who usually doesn't like sci-fi?
@@AnUncreativePerson Yes, actually! Even though it’s sci-fi, Michael Crichton does a great job explaining the genetics of making dinosaurs. It definitely has sci-fi aspects in it regarding the dinosaurs, but I wouldn’t say that’s the main part of the book. It doesn’t really read like sci-fi and is actually more like a thriller.
@@BookNerd-js9sl That sounds good, I'm more of a thriller person
Same for me! Loved it!!
Read it a long time ago and it was one of those books I started at midnight...And I went out of my bed at 2 AM to read more at my desk, I was instantly amazed by it..
End up buying the sequel and collecting all of MC books....he became my favourite writer because he enjoys to let his character have discussions with each other that may let you think......
A good example is the control scene in the book the one with the numbers. => th-cam.com/video/-eCoJkwt_Nk/w-d-xo.html It is barely a spoiler and if you watched the movie you know it so you can watch and listen to it. Those numbers gave me chill and the explanation and discussion was brilliant.
"It's even more unfortunate that he had to tell me about it" 😂😂😂
I agree
I was wheezing 🤣
Talking about the Murakami novel: "Now, there's one huge element about this book that I hate."
Me: it's going to be sex or women, isn't it
Ian: "The main character has weird sexual fantasies."
Me: Yep, Murakami never fails to alienate his audience by doing that
Maybe some more background on why Haruki Murakami reads so easy in translation. He actually taught at a university in Boston for a few years and is fluent in english (untypical for Japanese writers, even more his age) and with that partly helped translating his own books as well as having most likely developed a writing style fitted to be translated (which the Japanese language can be hard to translate especially since it's very open to interpretation which english or german, my mother tongue are not).
Because he knows english and lived in the US for years he was also able to promote himself and can be seen as a catalysator for so many Japanese contemporary literature to get picked out for translation and that a lot of the ones that are chosen have some kind of magical realism.
I'm currently writing a paper on the 'Japanese bestseller' in translation on the american/european market from a cultural studies perspective and he has his own chapter.
If you didn't know, he also translates English novels to Japanese!
@@cairdee ah yes! I read a paper on that but I had to cut it out of my own paper to safe space. The focus will be more on self advertisement as he acted as a catalysator for japan marketing themselves in the J-Boom and Cool Japan times in the 90's and basically using self-orientalization to milk the J-Boom cow some more (the last sentence is of course not written that way in the paper lol).
But that's so interesting as well. Thanks for reminding me/adding to the explanation for others!
Also there's so many more books getting translated into Japanese as the other way around.
You gotta read Project Hail Mary. Don't look it up or read anything about it. Just pick it up and read. Audiobook recommended :D happy reading!
Yes!! I laughed multiple times while listening do the audiobook, amazing
It’s an amazing book, you gotta read it soon before somebody spoils it 🥹
@@sarahhansen8004 Totally!! I was fortunate to just pick it up and read it and was blown away!
I loved this book. He writes humor so well but it’s such a gripping story as well.
@@jessicaadams3364 Absolutely!! I've been recommending it to anyone who will listen 🤣
The video you made about asking people their favorite book was the first video I watched of yours! It started my obsession with booktube and I love your channel
You should read “The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.” It’s a non fiction book about when radium was first discovered, and how a lot of people got radium poisoning from their job. It was very interesting. It is considered a “true crime” book, but not because of murder or anything like that.
I actually listened to this case when I was in my true crime era! I'll be sure to add to my tbr
@@gaelleinjeyan same lol. I read my first true crime book called “If You Tell” by Gregg Olsen (that one is darker) and got sucked into true crime. I saw The Radium Girls and had to read it.
You have no idea how many times I laughed out loud at “BIG T”. 😂😂😂
Found your channel randomly a few weeks ago and I’ve been loving the content! It’s just a nice refreshing channel and you seem very relaxed and wholesome so thanks for making videos for us to watch!
The first video ALSO convinced me to read ‘Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage’ which i loved and I'm three Murakami novels deep and a massive fan. So thank you to that woman in the first video for the suggestion!
I'm 62 years old and read Fahrenheit 451 in high school. I've been a Ray Bradbury fan since then. Another excellent one he wrote is "Martian Chronicles" that has a mind bending twist at the end. I think you'd like it.
Haruki Murakami’s magnum opus is “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”. The best three days of my life were spent reading this book.
Is this really his magnum opus? First and only one of his I read. Remember liking it, but not much more than that.
Lost cat, something about a well, past sections about military with a scary Korean? And I eat more boiled eggs since reading this book.
Laughing at “Big T” 😂😂 Enjoyed seeing this follow up video! I definitely need to check out Fahrenheit 451!
My favourite Murakami is Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, it's an amazing display of his brand of magical realism and has all the major Murakami quirks: a parallel universe, an ennui-stricken man, a missing wife, a cat, etc. It's simply breathtaking in its storytelling. Kafka on the Shore is also great and a bit faster paced/easily engaging. It's probably his most adventurous novel in terms of strangeness, but a very enjoyable read. I do have to preface this by saying that Murakami is a superb storyteller, but his novels are not devoid of issues; there's quite a lot of male gaze and overall misogyny with his portrayal of female characters, which is, of course, upsetting. But I would reccomend those two mentioned above if you wanted to dive deeper into his works. A Wild Sheep Chase is very good as well, and doesn't really contain problematic elements as his others do.
I’m so glad you made a follow up. I watched your first video and also read the Haruki book. I bought it immediately and I wish I had a way to say thank you to that woman. I devoured the book in one setting and called my friends throughout the story just because I missed them.
Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes, both by Ray Bradbury. Highly recommend both of them!!! You should read the first one in the summer and the second one during autumn. They're perfect books, imo!
My favorite novel is thick and daunting, but I promise it pays off over and over...and that is Bleak House by Charles Dickens...
It covers multiple genres from Romance to Mystery to Comedic Farce and every thread wraps together in a beautiful way. I couldn't believe how readable it is and how delightful...
I’m reading that right now! I’m reading all of Charles Dickens’ books and the next one on my list is Hard Times which I read years ago. 😊
@@Tams1978I am about constant Our Mutual Friend! I hope you enjoy Bleak House!!!
@@j.r.cilliangreen4083 I’m almost done with it and I’m enjoying it a lot. 😊
Fahrenheit 451 was really good. Off topic but the scenes of you in front of the bed are an optical illusion. Your shirt blends in with the comforter at first glance and it makes you look like a floating talking head. :) Hahaha
Love your channel my wife and I also enjoy reading together and most often read the exact same things. I think you said you are not a Brandon Sanderson fan, but my wife got me to read his Skyward series, and it is one of my favorites.
Fun video! I had actually forgotten about those recommendations, so it was great to see you circle back to them.
bro.... during my undergrad I took a Canadian Literature course and our focus was novel/memoires about residential schools. I don't think I stopped crying that whole semester. It BROKE me
Murakami is so accessible yet he packs such a huge punch with his books. I'm so glad you enjoyed that one - I haven't read it yet, but I become superrr inntrigued after seing your post since I've read other Murakami.
My favorite Murakami books were “1Q84” and “The windup bird chronicles”.
Love your channel dude! I've started reading again after almost 10 years because of you! Currently reading a game of thrones for the first time
Murakami is really well known for his characters having weird thoughts and fantasies… which is the reason why I’m not going to read any of his books 😅
Did you read at least one to form an opinion?
Your video inspired me to pick up Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and I loved it! It was a bit odd, but I like when authors throw something in that you wouldn’t usually read. I love these videos please continue them!!!
House of Leaves. It's about a family who realises their house is bigger on the inside than the outside and the documentary they made about it. King of ergodic literature. You will love it or hate it, there is no in between.
Not a book recommendation, but a movie recommendation: Equilibrium is Fahrenheit 451 meets 1984 starring Christian Bale. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
Dystopian fiction is some of my favorite genres and those two are some of the most impactful books. I looked up the trailer and will be watching this movie soon, thanks for commenting the suggestion!
This was such a fun idea. In college a billion years ago (just kidding, more like 20) I took a class called Utopian and Dystopian Literature. I was already a fan of many of these books, but I discovered more older ones in the class. Such a great one! I also took a class called Deviant Women in Literary History. We started with reading about Eve, read Electra, Madame Bovary, Moll Flanders, several others, and end with one of my personal favorites, Carrie. Such an amazing class!
I would love love love for you to read The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. It's such a beautiful story about change and regret. Ugh. I've read it so many times and some of the descriptions are so beautiful. I also read it aloud when I was pregnant with both of my kids.
It was cool hearing you slip Jeremiah 17:9 in the video. Also, I’m gonna need a part 2. This video was really cool.
“Theology Matters” love it :D
Please do more of this video! Love it!
I was sad that you weren’t going to read fahrenheit 451 but then you picked it up and the store and I got so happy! Thank you!!!
bro fahrenheit 451 is such a classic! 1984 and animal farm are a trio that are undefeated in my eyes
For me, Murakami excels in short stories rather than novels. His short stories are brilliant and gave the perfect cliffhanger/open-endings often happened in short stories. His novels meanwhile, he tended to rambling away? He also ended up explores the same theme over and over again. What you find in Tsukuru you'd also find in his other novels. My favorite "longer prose" of his was After Dark. It's a novella more than a novel. It's creepy, supernatural-y, and weird, which was what Murakami was known for before his internationally acclaimed status. For short stories collection of his, Elephant Vanishes still rules.
Now I'm interested to read Good Morning, Monster. Will read that up.
Love this video! Loved the original video too! I've never considered or seen anyone else so something like this. Such a fun idea!
I just bought 1Q84 as my introduction to Murakami, can’t wait to start it.
Thanks for mentioning Ray Bradbury's prose. It might sound weird, but I enjoy prose just as much as plot--kind of enjoy it like sipping on a fine wine. Bradbury is very great.
read colourless tsukuru tazaki book this month partly due to your original video and also my mum had a copy lying around. i had tried to read it a few years ago but just wasnt in the mood for Murakami's misogyny. but if (and it's a very big if) you can put that aside i really did love this book especially because i recently went through a similar situation and it really helped me to heal.
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures. i had the audiobook and listened to it during my drive to work.
She convinced me too. I picked this book to read and even recommended to friends.
Hardboiled wonderland and the end of the world - Murakami is my favourite book of all time!
You and your wife are one of my favorite booktubers on here. You guys inspire me to read more. Much love and light ❤️
Me sitting here thinking that my favorite book, Jurassic Park, wouldn’t fit with rest of the books people are reading, only to hear that someone else must have recommended. Read it when it first came out, before movie. I’ve reread it, and it still amazes me.
You rock man! Loved the first video and this was a fantastic follow up!
Favorite book of this year so far is The Day of the Door by Laurel Hightower. Its horror centered around a narcissistic mother and the damage caused to her children when one of the siblings (there are 4) died. You go through the book wondering is it the mother's fault cause she was with him when he died or is a ghost to blame. It was so good. I probably didn't do this book justice with my synopsis but, it really was a great book. (not recommended if you squeamish to body horror even though its maybe one to two scenes at most)
Winnipeg is in Manitoba Canada, And It is a Provence not a Territory.
Province *
Loved this video so glad that you did a follow-up on the recommendation video. I have requested Good Morning, Monster from my library and I have placed Fahrenheit 451 on my TBR cart so that I read it this year.
It’s always a great day when you upload a video!!
Jurassic Park is a must-read!
You really should read THE SHAPE OF WATER
Haruki Murakami has such a beautifully translated writing style. I love Killing Commendatore. It’s a very good magical realism story.
I really enjoyed Killing Commendatore. 🧡
I like this idea a lot and we do it a lot being online as well as active readers.
Hello from Czechia! I really like your videos, they are very refreshing and friendly. I am fan of Murakami also, I think you could like his short story called Sleep (my fav) and also Afterdark (a novel, alfo my fav). I need to recomend you to read his works with some time apart. Maybe someday you could read some good czech authors too, they are very specific. Can't wait for another video☀️
my favourite book is that night by Chevy Stevens i love her characters and her plots are so deep and its a bonus she sets her books in western Canada and i live in western Canada
I recently read Good Morning Monster earlier this same month. I thought it was fantastic and so interesting to see the inside of a psychologists head
Ray Bradbury‘s short story collections are so good, and I’m not even much of a short story reader. You should try The Illustrated Man. 😊
The sexual fantasies are a Murakami staple I've heard, at least, so I've avoided him, even if his books sound right up my alley otherwise. (It gets worse than sexual fantasies so I recommend you good people look it up before buying his books...😅)
Oh wow I was wondering what you would think of their recommendations I also added colorless to my tbr after seeing that. Great video.
OMG please do a reading vlog on Something Wicked this Way Comes, it's also by Bradbury and it's my favorite book!!!!!
I loved that book! I read it last October. 👍
Just read it for the first time! 🤯
I remember when your wife said you were starting a channel and I never would’ve guessed you would read a Haruki Murakami. It’s so cool that you read all kinds of genres. I will warn you that I hear Murakami always has a hyper-sexual character in each of his books and that it’s something he’s often known for; it’s one of the reasons I’m scared to read him. LOVED Fahrenheit 451!
Winnipeg is in Manitoba. We have 3 territories. But those are all northern Canada! But Manitoba is a province 😊
Speaking about the monster book, I’m finally going to therapy for issues that stem from having crap parents but I didn’t realize I never got saved from that situation at all until last year cause I found out my grandma (the family member that “saved” me from my abusive mom) was a narcissist the whole freaking time! Talk about a wake up call, so from 3rd grade to me being almost 31 I dealt with a narcissist who had convinced me we were so close, my therapist told me I have every right to be pissed off just off 2 sessions not even telling her what my narc had done. She said she was evil and vindictive :) if that tells you anything. So I don’t think I could ever read that book lol
I highly recommend Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. It is a memoir by a therapist and it is so moving.
Fahrenheit 451 is amazing. It’s actually the book that made my teenage son more of a reader. Same with my friend’s son too. It’s so good!!!!
My favourite book from Murakami is "After Dark". It feels like you are reading a movie script. I also recommed his non-fiction books, Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore.
Ok I forget if I recommend any books to you, but I’ll recommend bone by fae mynne (typo) ng. It’s a Asian American cultural experience novel on some historical context, with 3 sisters and there parents in around 1950-1965. The book starts in “In medias res” or in the middle, and ends in the beginning with the struggles that they face. Anyways that’s one of my books I’d recommend, and i loved this video!! Glad you found some compelling books!!!
I found you in the Convince Me video! I love that idea and that you are following up on it.
Not sure about the favourite part, but right now I want to recommend you to read Worm. It’s a webserial (there are also fun made audiobooks). So far, it’s the only superhero story that genuinely got me excited to read it (I’m usually pretty apathetic towards superhero genre). It deconstructs and reconstructs superhero tropes quite well, in my opinion, and it explores the humanities reaction in a face of impending disaster in a dark and realistic way, while still leaving room for optimism.
i read colourless because of this video,and loved it....😊
The wind up bird chronicle by murakami, MASTERPIECE!
really enjoyed the original video and im glad the algorithm brought me back for this one
It's funny, the first video I found of yours _was_ the video this is referencing. I'm so excited to see you made a video where you actually read them! Some of the books mentioned convinced me as well to put them on my tbr. 😏
Maybe you're review of them will convince me to read the others I didn't automatically put on it
I'm so happy that you have read Murakami! Also, one book came to my mind that I wish to recommend to you is We Die Alone by David Howarth. I'm not a religious person, so I was surprised when I felt the presence of God through the pages of this book over and over again. It is a 5 star read for me.
PS. my fav Murakami book is Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Hi Ian. Recommending Shogun; Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and Pillars of the Earth
not sure if I have commented here yet but I absolutely love hearing your thoughts on books. Keep it up Ian!
I read Good Morning Monster last year and it was one of my favorite books of the year. It was so heartbreaking at points though.
You need to read Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is really good 💔
A Thousand Splendid Suns is great too. Just keep kleenex handy
Jurassic park is gooooood!
Listen to it
It’s a nice one to keep busy cleaning or something to
You should read the Unexpected Mrs. Polifax by Dorothy Gilman. The entire series (like 15 books) is such a treat! The books are pretty short, but fast paced. The premise is that a retired widow joins the CIA as a courier and all the shenanigans she finds herself in the middle of! Mrs. Polifax is so endearing and so are so many of the other characters you fall in love with as she gets into some pretty sticky situations.
I was on the verge of ordering that Murakami book, especially with how that pedestrian pitched it, but Fahrenheit 451 sounds like a must-read! 😊
It is i can guarantee it
Fahrenheit 451 is amazing! I highlighted so much of that book.
I picked up that Murakami book and it’s not really what she said it was 😑. But Fahrenheit 451 is 100% a must read, everyone should read it.
Yes Fahrenheit all the way! That book was insanely good!
You should make this a series 😊
I read The Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami several years ago and I enjoyed it. I have a recommendation for another Murakami book, The Strange Library, it's a very weird little book, and it was my first Murakami. I had to read Fahrenheit 451 in school, and I actually enjoyed. I have been thinking about rereading it since it has been over 30 years ago when I read it.
The first book you read I guessed and is on my want to read shelf. You should do a part two.
wind up bird chronicle is probably the best Murakami recommendation i have. imo it’s kind of the quintessential Murakami book. After Dark and Kafka on the Shore would be number 2 and 3 imo. I’ve also really enjoyed Hardboiled Wonderland as well, but it’s been longer since i’ve read it.
This is a wonderful idea! I am looking forward to asking everyone I know to convince me to read his favorite book. Ta!
If you haven’t read it, I would suggest The Stranger by Albert Camus. It has stuck with me since first reading it in high school nearly 30 years ago. It’s a good introduction to the philosophy of absurdism - in the face of the benign indifference of the universe where the only certainty is death, confrontation, not surrender, is the daily path forward.
Hi Ian, Winnipeg is a city in a province called Manitoba where I live and there are so many stories about the history of the residential schools and the government trying to abolish the aboriginals way of life. It’s sad and infuriating at the same time. These stories are very emotional and not easy to stomach. - Maria
Memoirs of a Geisha is my favorite fiction, I highly recommend it!
Yes!!
Your original video is what brought me to your channel, so glad you did a follow up and hopefully do more?
Your various expressions in trying to describe Murakami's book reminded me of a short by a reader describing a book by making facial expressions.
My favorite book is Death of a Superhero by Anthony McCarten. It's about a teenage boy with leukemia that escapes through superhero fantasies, and he decides he wants to lose his virginity before he dies. It legit made me cry, and books rarely do that to me.
You turned your car AC on and I cried 🥲 three years of no car AC and going strong - not by choice 😆 Loved both videos in this little series.
Just saw the Fahrenheit 451 review on Goodreads so I knew this video was coming out soon lol. Such an awesome book I loved it!!
The first and my favorite Murakami book is After Dark. It’s a bit of a surreal book.
I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 and the aesthetic that I compare it to is something similar to Fallout the videogame series but, if there was no nuclear event.
i screamed when the first book you decided to read was colorless tsukuru tazaki!!
You should really read Kallocain by Karin Boye.
It was published un 1941, so it's older than 1984, and it's a dystopian novel, but it's told from the perspective of a scientist working for the totalitarian government.
It's really interesting because he's so convinced that he's doing the right thing that you almost start to route for him
❤📚❤️ I haven't read it, but I heard a rave review on After Dark by Haruki Murakami and immediately added it to my tbr.
You should read The Stranger by Albert Camus.
The Inuit story that affected you in Good Morning Monster is quite similar to what happened to an entire generation of Australian Aboriginal people. We call it the Stolen Generation. I recommend some fiction books by Claire G Coleman, Terra Nullius and The Old Lie are fantastic fantasy/sci fi/speculative fiction that I think you would enjoy. They cover themes of invasion, colonisation, war, displacement etc. which really hit home. I hope you get to them ❤
Waiting for this!!!!