About what you said about Rooney's "Intermezzo": the book podcast "Books Unbound" (by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay) has a term for books you keep saving for later because you are nervous/know you will like it a lot - they call them "mashed potato books". Raeleen usually saves mashed potatoes for the end because it is her favourite part in a meal, but sometimes the potatoes have become cold when you finally get to them. :D
I use that with friends. Only problem is; I’m the only one listening to the podcast, so they all just looked at me like I was going crazy, cause I said it so casually 😂
jack you should ONE HUNDRED percent make a video reading your viewers least fav books (start with a book called the night shift by Annie crown, WORST BOOK IVE EVER TOUCHED)
Day 3 or 4 of giving this idea to jack: "can i guess the book title based on their 1 star/ 5star reviews?" Hopefully this will be a new trend on booktube. Please make it happen jack
7:24 I completely understand the feeling of being nervous when reading a new book of an author I love - there are so many factors that influence the whole experience. I'm glad I'm not alone (or crazy!) in thinking this! 😂
I do apologise for going on about it, but what happened to 'Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell's 1984' by Sandra Newman. It was at one point your most anticipated book of the year! 🤔🙃
The second you showed Blue Sisters I knew I had to read it. I read Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors twice this year. Love that book so much she’s now an auto buy author for me.
THANK YOU for recommending evenings & weekends a few videos ago - I started it on Sunday and it’s been getting me through a cursed week and out of a reading slump MAJORLYYYY
Book that made me cry recently is not surprisingly Crying in H Mart. This audiobook made me the cry multiple times but also appreciate the family I still have and to cherish the moments I still have while I can 😭
I’m reading Evenings and Weekends atm and absolutely loving it, especially as a Londoner. Absolutely also buying his next book and all his future books forever!
My list of books get longer and longer lol I get excited with any book you suggest because I fell into the booktok world and need to expand out of it. Also, your suggestions also help me become a better reader. I’m dyslexic and I’ve been working so hard to comprehend and full grasp what I am reading. So thank you!
Jack I'm being so serious, you need to read All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt, I've been shoving this book down your throat for two yearsz but I'm SO SERIOUS it is incredible. As soon as it came out, it instantly became a favourite and I was sobbing!! You'll probably gonna cry I'm telling you, AND it's got a stunning cover (the white edition is so
So excited!! Got my library to purchase your book. I have just seen it on the shelf of Christchurch Public Library (Turanga). You are now to be read in New Zealand.
My Favorite book of the year so far is A Psalm For The Wild-Built. And two books have made me cry so far this year. Finding Me by Viola Davis and Human Acts by Han Kang. Ripped my heart right out.
Martyr!, Cleopatra & Frankenstein, and butter are my favourite reads of this year so far, and I just know that Blue Sisters and Mongrel are gonna make my end of year list haha
I just finished reading Blue Sisters yesterday and I gave it 5 stars, my favorite book that I've read this year. I really connected to the characters in this book, especially Avery because she is the oldest sister like me and I have also lost a younger sibling (my little brother passed a couple years ago) so a lot of what she felt closely mirrored my own experience. This was such a comforting read because it helped me feel less alone in my grief journey. The Taylor Swift song that I think gives the vibe of this book is "this is me trying" off the Folkore album, this song reminds me of the sisters' struggle with addiction.
The best book I read this year is by far ‘The girl with the louding voice’! I read it because you recommended it and it was so beautiful, heartbreaking and inspiring!
7:23. I totally understand. I have been postponing reading A Little Life for months now because I am so afraid of being disappointed. Especially that everyone is talking so highly of it, you included. Sometimes when so many people love a book, I feel like I am forcing myself to like it while reading. Which ruins the experience.
I'm so happy Jack read and recommended that book. I read it DECADES ago and it always stuck in my head. It's validating to hear other people appreciate it too 😊
@@aksez2u Oh my god, it’s amazing. I’m so glad Jack recommended it - I immediately went to Libby to put myself on the waitlist for it when I watched the video he recommended it in!! I already want to read it again and it’s been less than 24 hours. I need to buy it and highlight the whole thing 😭 I’m reading Evenings & Weekends soon too, although I actually managed to find that one myself because of the book cover, lol! Jack recommended Piranesi last year and I read it and it was also a favorite read. Jack just makes my whole TBR for me
@@katiemclean4086 Also, if you read a physical copy I'd highly recommend trying the audio for a re-read - the narrator is so great and really adds to the feel of the book imo
Books that made me cry this year: The Toll by Neal Schusterman (3rd book of arc of the scythe series, the best series ever imo, also cried reading Scythe last year). Dog Songs by Mary Oliver (cried for 4 hours straight, oof). Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. Teared up at: Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope, Upstream by Mary Oliver (specifically the essay Bird), Walking Practice by Min Dolki, the stories I'm Waiting for You and On My Way to You by Kim-Bo Young.
Just finished this phenomenal collection of fairy tales entitled 'Sillies, Fancies, and Trifles' - highly recommend to go along with the books here and its perfect for the season. Keep up the beautiful vids :)
I thought it would be fun to play along, so here are my answers: Favorite book so far: Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin. Dealing with the twin traumas of losing a son to suicide and the January 6th insurrection, this book was gut wrenching and life affirming. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the Author Best Sequel: I know it’s not your favorite Jack, but, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I loved the multiple perspectives and how they wove together in the end, as well as more insights on how Gilead became what it was in The Handmaid’s Tale A New Release I Want To Read: The Year of Living Constitutionally by AJ Jacobs. I just finished his Year of Living Biblically and it was fascinating! In this one he spent a whole year living as a person would have lived around the time the constitution was written and by its principles. Most Anticipate Release for the Second Half of the Year: I don’t think I have any… there are some things I’m looking forward to in ‘25 though. Biggest Disappointment: I’ve got two here. The Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Don’t come for me, I liked some of it. But I think overall I just didn’t connect well with it. And Rebecca. I think I just don’t really like Gothic novels. I found it confusing and needlessly so. Biggest Surprise: Streets of Laredo. This is the sequel to Lonesome Dove. I was surprised by how much the female perspective featured in the book, when it was ostensibly a manly western. It was heartfelt, with lots of character strength and vulnerability. There was also a lot of violence, and SA against women, but the female experience of the west was well represented, I thought. New Fav Author: Tessa Bailey. Nice little romance novels with just the right amount of smut. New Fav Character: Elizabeth Packard. Not a “character” per se, as she was a real person. Read “The Woman They Could Not Silence” and you’ll understand why I love her. A Book That Made Me Cry: I am, gereally speaking, not a crier when it comes to books, but I think The Woman They Could Not Silence and Unthinkable both got me. A Book That Made Me Happy: I With I Had a Wookie by Ian Doescher. Poems for children and the young at heart with a Star Wars theme What Books Do You NEED to Read by Year End: about 30 more? That’s impossible to answer; how dare you ask!
In case you read the coms on a month old video: here's the three books that made me cry this year! - Stone Butch Blue by Leslie Feinberg - Leaves of Glass by Alessandro Barrico - The Last Holiday by Gil Scott Heron (although this one is a memoir of a singer, so if you don't know/like him maybe it won't touch you like it did for me)
one great book I've read this year is the girls by Emma cline, I absolutely loved it. at the moment I'm reading The Count Of Monte Cristo and it's so exciting even though it's so long. I think you'd like it Jack - I recommend it! would also make a great reading vlog.
The best book I read so far this year is In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. It's incredibly written, each chapter is different in style, or even different genre. It even includes a part that is choose your own adventure but it's used in super innovative way in my opinion. I didn't know I could love a book about domestic abuse in queer relationships, yet here we are. Weirdly enough I haven't sobbed reading anything this year yet, closest I came to crying was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I thought it would be a breezy albeit long novel about games. It was but at the same time it hit super hard. Best sequel I read was definitely Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson. It's quite rare in my experience to get a sequel that's as good as first book, this was. It's an excellent murder mystery that made me feel as if I were a teen again, reading Christie for the first time. It has this novelty feeling that's really hard to get after you've read dozens of crime novels. The biggest disappointment was The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen. I was really curious about this one, I hoped to learn about neurological development of teens. Instead I got a book filled to the brim with weird parenting advice like forcing kids to give all their passwords to the parents. I hated the book.
Honestly, my favorite book of the year so far has to be The Words that Remain by Stênio Gardel. I read the whole thing in the first 2.5 hours of a 6 hour flight and it made me sob to the point the flight attendant asked if I was okay. This book has stuck with me, since I read it back in March, in a way very few books have and just thinking about it makes me want to cry.
The best book I’ve read this year AND the book that made me cry is Black Butterflies! Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’ve already planned the trip to Sarajevo 😆
best books i’ve read this year are Hamnet (of courseee) and The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill which made me cry, surprisingly since i don’t usually cry at books
My best books of this year so far are Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorran, which is also a book that made me cry, and Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce!
This year, "The Offing" by Jonathan Myers made me cry, and East of Eden by Steinbeck. You'd love "The Offing", a gem of a small book, an ode to poetry and books and the pleasures of good food and wine by the sea
My favourite book that I've read so far this year is "Questions of Travel" by Michelle de Kretser. It alternates between two characters: an Australian called Laura and a Sri Lankan called Ravi. It looks at what it means to travel, who gets to travel, different types of travel, etc. Amazing book, wonderful characters. I definitely cried.
The best books I've read so far this year: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr); Landmarks (Robet Macfarlane); The Living Mountain (Nan Shepherd); The Boat in the Evening (Tarjei Vesaas). The last one made me cry. A new release I'm looking forward to is Gliff (Ali Smith).
I read Roundabout after watching you and at first it was quite clunky but was really quite good. Surprising and a marvel esp with the drawings. The book that made me cry was Ocean Vuong's even though it was released years ago. I've read some of the so called bestsellers but his can't be beaten yet!
Going to comment this until you at least add this to your TBR but you HAVE to read ‘Some strange music draws me in’. I feel like it is SEVERELY underrated and you have the platform to get it out there in the reader world to get it the hype that it deserves! It’s a beautiful trans coming-of-age story jumping between the 80’s pre-transition and current day post-transition. It only has 340 reads on Goodreads.
a book that made me cry that I read this year is Delphi by Clare Pollard, it is about a mother going through lockdown whilst also having a child and some relationship problems with the father/her husband.
Book that made me cry (again): 'The End of Loneliness' by Benedict Wells. Reread it recently and forgot how beautifully written it is. A story about grief, love and regrets; highly recommend!
Best book I've read so far this year AND one that made me cry is Adam Haslett's 'Mothers and Sons' ... not out till Jan, but I got an ARC. It's only Haslett's 4th book and he has TWO Pulitzer Prize finalist nominations and TWO NBA nominations already! May just win for this one - it's THAT good!
'How We Disappeared' by Jing Jing Lee made cry buckets, so of course, it's already one of the best books I've read (so far) this year. And there's also 'The Island of Missing Trees' by Elif Shafak and 'The Lying Life of Adults' by Elena Ferrante🤣
Jack, you should definitely check out Bill-Ray Belcourt. He's a Cree, queer, Canadian author and has a stunning debut, poetry, and novels. I just finished 'A Minor Chorus' by him.
It's hard to pick one but I reckon my favourite book this year was Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li which I randomly picked up at a book thrifting fair and now it's one of my favourite books of all time. They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey definitely made me tear up but The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai made me sob my little heart out. Such a fantastic book.
my best read so far is How To Stop Time by Matt Haig and that is exactly the reason why my most anticipated book of the year is The Life Impossible by him instead of Intermezzo.. but its a close second😅
Favorite book so far is Nonfiction By Julie Myerson. This novel captured a clear and a loving picture of how a mother loved a daughter. How she watched her kid turned into her most destructive self in a form of addiction. Reading it felt like I’ve intruded this honest life of her and like Sally Rooney there are no quotation marks.
Best books I've read this year were Anxious People (Fredrik Backman) and Deliver Me (Elle Nash). Have had Blue Sisters sitting around for ages but still not got the courage to read it, a feeling you described perfectly here haha
my TBR hates you! I plan on taking out There.on Tuesday and maybe start it right then and there because I'm doing "adult summer reading" and I love this idea! The book that made me cry (So far not yet thankfully i mean one made me laugh and cry but i can't use both squares) but the book that made me cry was Brian Feehan's (that's right second gen author gets my love) Harmony of Lies. I sobbed in the end. You have to read the first book in order to understand the second one, and why i cried. The second one is called Harmony of Fire, I have both. Would you like me to send them your way along with a hand made book mark? (i can do that! and you can have both books if you don't already have them or read them)
Most recent Opener of the Floodgates (to be neoPharaonic about it): “There are times I lull myself with hope even when the evidence points in failure’s direction.” from In Tongues by Thomas Grattan because it's the exact and precise way I lived my 20s and 30s. Biggest disappointment, hands down bar none no doubt about it was The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley...described as one book, delivered as another, solely by the emphasis changing between promo copy and text, nothing fake or wrong just a tonal shift. Best, most joyous discovery of a read was Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon. I'd agitate for all 6 US writers to be booted off the Booker list to include him, Oisín (haven't finished it yet but WOW), and O'Hagan twice each.
OH MY GOD Desiree Akhavan wrote a book ?! ( at 1:15 ) The way it's the first book you show and that's how I discover that haha For those of you who don't know, she's an actor, director, film writer, and personally I know her through "The Bisexual", an amazing short series that's so raw, vulnerable, and funny too. Highly recommend it. :D Can't wait to have Jack's opinion on it!
i honestly am so surprised by jacks reaction to true biz because i read it earlier this year and truely loved it! i thought it was funny and engaging and it taught me a lot about deaf culture, honestly the critiques he has just didn’t seem like a problem to me, i guess it’s all about taste lol
hello jack great video! just wondering whether you'd ever be interested in doing like a reading 'agony aunt' kind of video? i love watching videos of people talking about books but then struggle with reading and i thought someone like you might have good advice/recommendations for other people in a similar situation maybe ?
I really thought no one else noticed that. Even this morning I came across two books that were both red, had light black graphic design, and yellow text
Jack: I'm NOT crying, I swear, it's my contact lenses.
Also Jack: Give me your tearjerker book recommendations because I NEED to weep.
Jack, you’ve created lore based on you crying and loving -sad- reflective books so obviously we’re concerned
About what you said about Rooney's "Intermezzo": the book podcast "Books Unbound" (by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay) has a term for books you keep saving for later because you are nervous/know you will like it a lot - they call them "mashed potato books". Raeleen usually saves mashed potatoes for the end because it is her favourite part in a meal, but sometimes the potatoes have become cold when you finally get to them. :D
I use that with friends. Only problem is; I’m the only one listening to the podcast, so they all just looked at me like I was going crazy, cause I said it so casually 😂
May you never lose that smile fr
😂
1:26 I’m so happy that you mentioned this because it’s definitely a new trend. I think it’s just a Yassified Classic Orange Penguin Paperback Format.
jack you should ONE HUNDRED percent make a video reading your viewers least fav books (start with a book called the night shift by Annie crown, WORST BOOK IVE EVER TOUCHED)
Why would you want to torture him like that? 😆
@@aksez2u for funsies ofc
Day 3 or 4 of giving this idea to jack: "can i guess the book title based on their 1 star/ 5star reviews?"
Hopefully this will be a new trend on booktube.
Please make it happen jack
I support this!!!
Oh, I guess I saw your comment on another video with this idea before. It deserves to be a new trend!!!!!
Such a good idea!
That is SUCH a good idea!!
Yesds
7:24 I completely understand the feeling of being nervous when reading a new book of an author I love - there are so many factors that influence the whole experience. I'm glad I'm not alone (or crazy!) in thinking this! 😂
I do apologise for going on about it, but what happened to 'Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell's 1984' by Sandra Newman. It was at one point your most anticipated book of the year! 🤔🙃
The second you showed Blue Sisters I knew I had to read it. I read Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors twice this year. Love that book so much she’s now an auto buy author for me.
THANK YOU for recommending evenings & weekends a few videos ago - I started it on Sunday and it’s been getting me through a cursed week and out of a reading slump MAJORLYYYY
Book that made me cry recently is not surprisingly Crying in H Mart. This audiobook made me the cry multiple times but also appreciate the family I still have and to cherish the moments I still have while I can 😭
I’m reading Evenings and Weekends atm and absolutely loving it, especially as a Londoner. Absolutely also buying his next book and all his future books forever!
My list of books get longer and longer lol I get excited with any book you suggest because I fell into the booktok world and need to expand out of it.
Also, your suggestions also help me become a better reader. I’m dyslexic and I’ve been working so hard to comprehend and full grasp what I am reading. So thank you!
Jack I'm being so serious, you need to read All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt, I've been shoving this book down your throat for two yearsz but I'm SO SERIOUS it is incredible. As soon as it came out, it instantly became a favourite and I was sobbing!! You'll probably gonna cry I'm telling you, AND it's got a stunning cover (the white edition is so
And also At Certain Points We Touch by Lauren John Joseph, it's beautifully written, sad and MESSY
So excited!! Got my library to purchase your book. I have just seen it on the shelf of Christchurch Public Library (Turanga). You are now to be read in New Zealand.
Omg hi fellow New Zealander!
My favourite book ( so far ) of 2024 has to be The Book thief. Maybe I am a bit late to this book …. but nonetheless it’s my favourite read so far
My Favorite book of the year so far is A Psalm For The Wild-Built. And two books have made me cry so far this year. Finding Me by Viola Davis and Human Acts by Han Kang. Ripped my heart right out.
Martyr!, Cleopatra & Frankenstein, and butter are my favourite reads of this year so far, and I just know that Blue Sisters and Mongrel are gonna make my end of year list haha
If Jack still living in 2023 is not me, I don’t know what is.
I just finished reading Blue Sisters yesterday and I gave it 5 stars, my favorite book that I've read this year. I really connected to the characters in this book, especially Avery because she is the oldest sister like me and I have also lost a younger sibling (my little brother passed a couple years ago) so a lot of what she felt closely mirrored my own experience. This was such a comforting read because it helped me feel less alone in my grief journey. The Taylor Swift song that I think gives the vibe of this book is "this is me trying" off the Folkore album, this song reminds me of the sisters' struggle with addiction.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn defintely had me sobbing when I read it earlier this year
Used to seeing a smile, but the still shot for this TH-cam video is your official "resting devil face".
The best book I read this year is by far ‘The girl with the louding voice’! I read it because you recommended it and it was so beautiful, heartbreaking and inspiring!
7:23. I totally understand. I have been postponing reading A Little Life for months now because I am so afraid of being disappointed. Especially that everyone is talking so highly of it, you included. Sometimes when so many people love a book, I feel like I am forcing myself to like it while reading. Which ruins the experience.
I started and finished Happy All the Time yesterday and oh my god. What an AMAZING BOOK, so many fantastic quotes
I'm so happy Jack read and recommended that book. I read it DECADES ago and it always stuck in my head. It's validating to hear other people appreciate it too 😊
@@aksez2u Oh my god, it’s amazing. I’m so glad Jack recommended it - I immediately went to Libby to put myself on the waitlist for it when I watched the video he recommended it in!! I already want to read it again and it’s been less than 24 hours. I need to buy it and highlight the whole thing 😭 I’m reading Evenings & Weekends soon too, although I actually managed to find that one myself because of the book cover, lol! Jack recommended Piranesi last year and I read it and it was also a favorite read. Jack just makes my whole TBR for me
@@katiemclean4086 I'm definitely going to have to reread since it's been years!
That was one of my favourites last year!
@@katiemclean4086 Also, if you read a physical copy I'd highly recommend trying the audio for a re-read - the narrator is so great and really adds to the feel of the book imo
Books that made me cry this year: The Toll by Neal Schusterman (3rd book of arc of the scythe series, the best series ever imo, also cried reading Scythe last year). Dog Songs by Mary Oliver (cried for 4 hours straight, oof). Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers.
Teared up at: Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope, Upstream by Mary Oliver (specifically the essay Bird), Walking Practice by Min Dolki, the stories I'm Waiting for You and On My Way to You by Kim-Bo Young.
Jack is just pure vibes ✨️
Just finished reading Blue Sisters and I loved it 🦋
Howww I’m dying to read it
Just finished this phenomenal collection of fairy tales entitled 'Sillies, Fancies, and Trifles' - highly recommend to go along with the books here and its perfect for the season. Keep up the beautiful vids :)
Best books this year: Martyr, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, The Picture Bride, A Death in Cornwall, The Women
Thank you Jack for all the recommendations ❤😊❤
I thought it would be fun to play along, so here are my answers:
Favorite book so far: Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin. Dealing with the twin traumas of losing a son to suicide and the January 6th insurrection, this book was gut wrenching and life affirming. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the Author
Best Sequel: I know it’s not your favorite Jack, but, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I loved the multiple perspectives and how they wove together in the end, as well as more insights on how Gilead became what it was in The Handmaid’s Tale
A New Release I Want To Read: The Year of Living Constitutionally by AJ Jacobs. I just finished his Year of Living Biblically and it was fascinating! In this one he spent a whole year living as a person would have lived around the time the constitution was written and by its principles.
Most Anticipate Release for the Second Half of the Year: I don’t think I have any… there are some things I’m looking forward to in ‘25 though.
Biggest Disappointment: I’ve got two here. The Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Don’t come for me, I liked some of it. But I think overall I just didn’t connect well with it. And Rebecca. I think I just don’t really like Gothic novels. I found it confusing and needlessly so.
Biggest Surprise: Streets of Laredo. This is the sequel to Lonesome Dove. I was surprised by how much the female perspective featured in the book, when it was ostensibly a manly western. It was heartfelt, with lots of character strength and vulnerability. There was also a lot of violence, and SA against women, but the female experience of the west was well represented, I thought.
New Fav Author: Tessa Bailey. Nice little romance novels with just the right amount of smut.
New Fav Character: Elizabeth Packard. Not a “character” per se, as she was a real person. Read “The Woman They Could Not Silence” and you’ll understand why I love her.
A Book That Made Me Cry: I am, gereally speaking, not a crier when it comes to books, but I think The Woman They Could Not Silence and Unthinkable both got me.
A Book That Made Me Happy: I With I Had a Wookie by Ian Doescher. Poems for children and the young at heart with a Star Wars theme
What Books Do You NEED to Read by Year End: about 30 more? That’s impossible to answer; how dare you ask!
In case you read the coms on a month old video: here's the three books that made me cry this year!
- Stone Butch Blue by Leslie Feinberg
- Leaves of Glass by Alessandro Barrico
- The Last Holiday by Gil Scott Heron (although this one is a memoir of a singer, so if you don't know/like him maybe it won't touch you like it did for me)
So far this year I would say The Library Book. I love nonfiction and this was so dang good and made me appreciate my library even more
It's crazy how nobody is talking about the banned ebook Magnetic Aura from Borlest
I need a book written by Jack NOW
Evenings and Weekends has been my favourite book of the year so far too!
one great book I've read this year is the girls by Emma cline, I absolutely loved it.
at the moment I'm reading The Count Of Monte Cristo and it's so exciting even though it's so long. I think you'd like it Jack - I recommend it! would also make a great reading vlog.
I loved The Girls too 👌
The best book I read so far this year is In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. It's incredibly written, each chapter is different in style, or even different genre. It even includes a part that is choose your own adventure but it's used in super innovative way in my opinion. I didn't know I could love a book about domestic abuse in queer relationships, yet here we are.
Weirdly enough I haven't sobbed reading anything this year yet, closest I came to crying was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I thought it would be a breezy albeit long novel about games. It was but at the same time it hit super hard.
Best sequel I read was definitely Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson. It's quite rare in my experience to get a sequel that's as good as first book, this was. It's an excellent murder mystery that made me feel as if I were a teen again, reading Christie for the first time. It has this novelty feeling that's really hard to get after you've read dozens of crime novels.
The biggest disappointment was The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen. I was really curious about this one, I hoped to learn about neurological development of teens. Instead I got a book filled to the brim with weird parenting advice like forcing kids to give all their passwords to the parents. I hated the book.
I'VE BEEN WAITING SO FAR FOR THIS VIDEO YAYYY
Bellies by Nicola Dinan made me cry dozens towards the end but is still one of my favourite books this year!!!
Honestly, my favorite book of the year so far has to be The Words that Remain by Stênio Gardel. I read the whole thing in the first 2.5 hours of a 6 hour flight and it made me sob to the point the flight attendant asked if I was okay. This book has stuck with me, since I read it back in March, in a way very few books have and just thinking about it makes me want to cry.
New favorite author: Leif Enger. I loved, loved, loved I CHEERFULLY REFUSE. What a beautifully rendered novel.
My favorite book this year has been Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree!
The best book I’ve read this year AND the book that made me cry is Black Butterflies! Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’ve already planned the trip to Sarajevo 😆
Beyond That, the Sea was my most recent read that made me cry. Was a couple months ago and still miss those characters.
This year I’ve loved Motion Sickness and The Familiar
best books i’ve read this year are Hamnet (of courseee) and The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill which made me cry, surprisingly since i don’t usually cry at books
My best books of this year so far are Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorran, which is also a book that made me cry, and Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce!
In memoriam is probably the best so far this year…. And also the one that made me cry hahahahs
This year, "The Offing" by Jonathan Myers made me cry, and East of Eden by Steinbeck. You'd love "The Offing", a gem of a small book, an ode to poetry and books and the pleasures of good food and wine by the sea
OMG I NOTICED THAT WITH COVERS TOO
My favourite book that I've read so far this year is "Questions of Travel" by Michelle de Kretser. It alternates between two characters: an Australian called Laura and a Sri Lankan called Ravi. It looks at what it means to travel, who gets to travel, different types of travel, etc. Amazing book, wonderful characters. I definitely cried.
The best books I've read so far this year: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr); Landmarks (Robet Macfarlane); The Living Mountain (Nan Shepherd); The Boat in the Evening (Tarjei Vesaas). The last one made me cry. A new release I'm looking forward to is Gliff (Ali Smith).
I read Roundabout after watching you and at first it was quite clunky but was really quite good. Surprising and a marvel esp with the drawings. The book that made me cry was Ocean Vuong's even though it was released years ago. I've read some of the so called bestsellers but his can't be beaten yet!
I finished Cleopatra and Frankenstein last night (accidentally sat at the park for 4 hours finishing it), and I am running to read Blue Sisters!
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim. Sobbing by the last page.
Going to comment this until you at least add this to your TBR but you HAVE to read ‘Some strange music draws me in’. I feel like it is SEVERELY underrated and you have the platform to get it out there in the reader world to get it the hype that it deserves! It’s a beautiful trans coming-of-age story jumping between the 80’s pre-transition and current day post-transition. It only has 340 reads on Goodreads.
I’m laughing with the thumbnail lollllll 😂 amazing
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is my favorite book this year! It’s absolutely well done
a book that made me cry that I read this year is Delphi by Clare Pollard, it is about a mother going through lockdown whilst also having a child and some relationship problems with the father/her husband.
Thanks Jack for a new video to watch while i eat :)))
Jaded by ela lee is also a tear jerker with london as the setting.
Book that made me cry (again): 'The End of Loneliness' by Benedict Wells. Reread it recently and forgot how beautifully written it is. A story about grief, love and regrets; highly recommend!
Best book I've read so far this year AND one that made me cry is Adam Haslett's 'Mothers and Sons' ... not out till Jan, but I got an ARC. It's only Haslett's 4th book and he has TWO Pulitzer Prize finalist nominations and TWO NBA nominations already! May just win for this one - it's THAT good!
'How We Disappeared' by Jing Jing Lee made cry buckets, so of course, it's already one of the best books I've read (so far) this year. And there's also 'The Island of Missing Trees' by Elif Shafak and 'The Lying Life of Adults' by Elena Ferrante🤣
Jack, you should definitely check out Bill-Ray Belcourt. He's a Cree, queer, Canadian author and has a stunning debut, poetry, and novels. I just finished 'A Minor Chorus' by him.
I'm following you on storygraph, and i'm sad that you don't use it, since i love your recommendations..
Same I find easier to see which books he reads because I always forget the books he talks about
It's hard to pick one but I reckon my favourite book this year was Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li which I randomly picked up at a book thrifting fair and now it's one of my favourite books of all time. They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey definitely made me tear up but The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai made me sob my little heart out. Such a fantastic book.
my best read so far is How To Stop Time by Matt Haig and that is exactly the reason why my most anticipated book of the year is The Life Impossible by him instead of Intermezzo.. but its a close second😅
Favorite book so far is Nonfiction By Julie Myerson. This novel captured a clear and a loving picture of how a mother loved a daughter. How she watched her kid turned into her most destructive self in a form of addiction. Reading it felt like I’ve intruded this honest life of her and like Sally Rooney there are no quotation marks.
Best books I've read this year were Anxious People (Fredrik Backman) and Deliver Me (Elle Nash). Have had Blue Sisters sitting around for ages but still not got the courage to read it, a feeling you described perfectly here haha
I thought Blue Sisters’ release date isn’t until September ?
@fridaterrazas96 maybe in other countries? I got it in a shop in June I reckon, not sure.
@@olivial9103 no wayyy, I’m jealous
my TBR hates you! I plan on taking out There.on Tuesday and maybe start it right then and there because I'm doing "adult summer reading" and I love this idea! The book that made me cry (So far not yet thankfully i mean one made me laugh and cry but i can't use both squares) but the book that made me cry was Brian Feehan's (that's right second gen author gets my love) Harmony of Lies. I sobbed in the end. You have to read the first book in order to understand the second one, and why i cried. The second one is called Harmony of Fire, I have both. Would you like me to send them your way along with a hand made book mark? (i can do that! and you can have both books if you don't already have them or read them)
Boulder is part of triptic:)
Jack, will you do a "reading the Booker Prize Longlist" video!?❤
Most recent Opener of the Floodgates (to be neoPharaonic about it): “There are times I lull myself with hope even when the evidence points in failure’s direction.” from In Tongues by Thomas Grattan because it's the exact and precise way I lived my 20s and 30s.
Biggest disappointment, hands down bar none no doubt about it was The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley...described as one book, delivered as another, solely by the emphasis changing between promo copy and text, nothing fake or wrong just a tonal shift.
Best, most joyous discovery of a read was Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon. I'd agitate for all 6 US writers to be booted off the Booker list to include him, Oisín (haven't finished it yet but WOW), and O'Hagan twice each.
OH MY GOD Desiree Akhavan wrote a book ?! ( at 1:15 ) The way it's the first book you show and that's how I discover that haha
For those of you who don't know, she's an actor, director, film writer, and personally I know her through "The Bisexual", an amazing short series that's so raw, vulnerable, and funny too. Highly recommend it. :D
Can't wait to have Jack's opinion on it!
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE TURN IT UP
(manifested it earlier when i realised you hadn’t posted it yet) 🔮🔮
Well, I didn't read it this year but it made me cry, The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer. Please, you need to read it!!
No wayyy, so early. Love ya Jack
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad made me cry this year.
How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica is the best book I’ve read by far and I’ve never sobbed harder over a piece of fiction
i honestly am so surprised by jacks reaction to true biz because i read it earlier this year and truely loved it! i thought it was funny and engaging and it taught me a lot about deaf culture, honestly the critiques he has just didn’t seem like a problem to me, i guess it’s all about taste lol
Jack, please do a deep dive video essay about one novel you've read.
Read Normal People in the first half of the year just because of your recommendation! ❤
These days, the videos have less of a gap so that’s awesome methinks
Unsaid by Neil Abramson will make you cry and is a hidden gem in the book world.
Jack, I get having to buy a book a drink before reading it, but just read Intermezzo already, don't play coy 😂
Please read "The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion" they were such a surprising read!
I think you'd make a good understudy for Colin Bridgerton. Y'know, if Luke Newton gets the flu or flies to the moon or something.
Honestly the only thing getting me through 2024 is Jack and his Book.
You need to read the end of loneliness. It made me cry and it is such an amazing book by benedict wells.
my best book of this year is just the masquerade series by seth dickinson. baru cormorant is the best character of all time to me now
Maybe put the book covers on screen next time
Best book I’ve read so far this year is Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. That book is just… wow.
Agreed! Read it last year, not knowing it was non-fiction (how? I’ve no idea) and LOVED it
hello jack great video! just wondering whether you'd ever be interested in doing like a reading 'agony aunt' kind of video? i love watching videos of people talking about books but then struggle with reading and i thought someone like you might have good advice/recommendations for other people in a similar situation maybe ?
I think you meant to say 2024 not 2023 Jack. Wandering Stars sounds so good.
book rec: A Fine Balance!!
I really thought no one else noticed that. Even this morning I came across two books that were both red, had light black graphic design, and yellow text