BookTube Prize Judging Vlog: 2021 Octafinals, Fiction Group E
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ต.ค. 2024
- I judged the first round of the 2021 #BookTubePrize in Fiction Group E. Come on along to see my initial thoughts about my grouping and follow to see if my first impressions come through as I deliver my ranking.
NOTE: I do talk about spoilers in several of these books. I try to warn you and give you time to skip ahead but there are key plot points that come up. Be warned!
Check out the BookTube Prize Octafinal results: : • 2021 Octafinals Result...
The titles:
Real Life, by Brandon Taylor
Death in Her Hands, by Ottessa Moshfegh
Utopia Avenue, by David Mitchell
American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins
The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel
Luster, by Raven Leilani
My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:
www.blurb.com/...
But wait, there's more!
Website: supposedlyfun....
Goodreads: / gregory-baird
Instagram: / supposedlyfun
Twitter: / supposedlyfun
What a great wrap up. It was worth the wait.
I think your review of Real Life was astute and sensitive of the nuanced portrayal of depression and the insidious micro-aggressiveness of contemporary racism. Chapter 5 wrecked me. Most people didn’t get the subtler aspects of the novel like depression and grief, but those aspects were at the novel’s nerve center.
The Cromwell trilogy was excellent.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I agree--Taylor was able to get at a lot of really difficult concepts in his book. I can't wait to read his upcoming story collection!
Hi Greg great vlog. I had to silence the volume when you spoke about Luster, because I plan to read it.
I am not going To read the book about abused animals or unreliable narrator’s. I hate both. Thank you for letting me know that this author is not for me even though I read some thrillers. I didn’t like gone girl or a girl on a train or any of the other unreliable narrator Thrillers that I read.
Congratulations on finishing all the books. You sound much calmer so it’s good you’re taking a break. I’m going through a bit of stress with March mystery madness. I had a lot to read and put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m looking forward to a more peaceful April. Aloha
No dead dog stories.... EVER!
It's not okay!
Great wrap-up! Agree with everything you said but I think you've said it better than I could. You have got to read Cloud Atlas! One of my all time favourite books. Then watch the film. Both the novel and the film are different but make the most of each medium and I think that can only be appreciated fully once you've read the book. Love the film have watched it a couple of times now. I need to go back and read the book, there's so much detail in the different story streams.
I've been very hesitant to get to Cloud Atlas but I will do it at some point!
Great summaries of the books. I now know which two books I am going to leave off my reading list and which other books I can't wait to read. Have just started to read again Wolf Hall, so was interested to hear your comments on the Mirror and the Light. The trilogy will take me a few weeks!!
It's a hefty trilogy but worth the time! I hope you enjoy it.
I agree about Luster--I thought Edie's characterization was spot on, but the plot itself went off the rails a bit too much. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Real Life! I feel like your rankings would be similar to how I would have ranked these books (having only read the two I mentioned haha)
Yes, Edie is such a compelling character undermined by a poor plot. I wanted more for her!
I loved hearing your thoughts and rankings on these books. Not surprised by your ranking of American Dirt!
Thank you--I wasn't surprised either (unfortunately).
I agree with you entirely at the Cromwell trilogy - I'm currently reading The Mirror and the Light and I am quite pleased to see the return to form from Wolf Hall, but there was something of the shock having only just read Bring Up the Bodies. Either way, I'm glad you had such a positive listening experience and might seek out the audiobook myself in future.
The only other book I've read from this list is Utopia Avenue and whilst our opinions of the prose differ, I did appreciate hearing your thoughts, as I appreciated hearing all you had to say about the books in your group. Great stuff. 👍
Mantel is just spectacular. I can see why people would appreciate Utopia Avenue (it did, after all, advance), but it wasn't quite for me. Not awful by any stretch, just not for me.
I loved Utopia Avenue but then I am a Mitchell fan. I am waiting for the Mirror and the Light to come out in paperback before I listen to my audiobook - I read it in both forms. I listened and read the other two and the audio description was really good in both.
Also hope you are writing Mr!
@@hill7912A The audio production of The Mirror and the Light is fantastic.
You mentioned some interesting points on Luster that I didn't pay attention to. Coincidences in novels seems to be the authors go-to to make bigger points nowadays. I noticed that in Such A Fun Age if you've read it and The Vanishing Half. They got me rolling my eyes but I'm okay with these shortcuts as long as the story is worth it
Some coincidences work but a lot is usually difficult.
I have only read McGlue(I think that is the title?) and it was meh? I am interested in reading more of her...but not running to do it, lol. I get kind of bored reading books everyone else is reading and she has been talked about so much on booktube so I am like...whatever. I can tell I won't like that David Mitchell book bcause of that font on the cover, LOL. You are making me really not want to read American Dirt (I already didn't want to but you sealed the deal forevssss). Man, I am almost embarassed to post my reviews, this video was so well done, lol. Your description of the books is amazing.
Having a character kill her beloved dog to demonstrate her descent into madness seems like a lazy choice. 🤷♀️ Authors/Screenwriters: Do not kill pets! You are just going to piss off your audience.
The only book I might want to pick up after this video is Bring Up the Bodies. 😂😂😂 It’s a great video. I appreciated the detail you went into. You confirmed a lot of the gut instinct I had. Glad you found some really enjoyable books after all the rigmarole.
If anything, this round really just confirmed that I am absolutely not a fan of Ottessa Moshfegh. Bring Up the Bodies is phenomenal. Obviously, I had quibbles with everything I read but it's a pretty unimpeachable book. I did like Real Life a lot, but Mirror was the clear winner for me.
@@SupposedlyFun I have to say that Brandon Taylor apparently saying he didn’t want 60 year old white women reading his book made me say “fine, I won’t.” (I’m not quite 60, but definitely in the demographic he was referring to.) Kind of shortsighted.
I hadn't heard that quote. Interesting.
Interesting! I agree with you on the plot being unbelievable in Luster, but I also think some of the characters' motivations weren't believable either, specifically the wife's, but even the husband I wasn't sure about. I loved the book for its language and the wry observations.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the Mantel audiobook! It's really well done, isn't it?
Hahaha, you really hate Ottessa Moshfegh! I actually enjoy her writing, but I'm not sure about the dog thing, so I may give this one a pass...
I'm judging the next round and have Real Life on my list.
It's true--the husband is also very inscrutable at times. Luster is an odd mix of things I really loved and things that turned me into the thoughtful-face emoji (and not in a good way). The Mantel audiobook is masterfully produced for sure. Good luck in the next round!
Infinite Country is my favorite book of the year so far!
That's a good pick--I can't wait to finish it.
I completely forgot about the dog. Can't remember at all. So weird the different things people pick up on and remember when reading.
I was actually thinking about it over the weekend and realized that there were actually two bad dog situations in my BookTube Prize reading but the other one felt a bit less gimmicky so I had completely forgotten.
Another thanks for the spoiler from me, that just is a personal dealbreaker most of the time. I like knowing about that beforehand for books I think might be absolute favorites so I can choose when to read them at a good time, but if it's not likely to be a favorite it's just bad for me & for the book, going in with no awareness even worse. I recently read a novella I'd heard loads of good things about, but hadn't heard anyone mention that the entire first chapter contained something like that, it soured the entire reading experience for me and I just couldn't get over it.
The spoiler is a very touchy subject for me. I don't handle it well--especially when used for emotional manipulation.
That is one of those things I can't get over the horror genre using often to cheaply prime readers for a certain reaction. It's like an author shortcut that can feel so disingenuous, makes me think a bit of how films can use background music as a hack to manipulate the viewer.
@@ReadBecca That's a good point!
Thank goodness you gave that spoiler. Hard pass for me on dead dog books - boo! Enjoyed hearing your thoughts, Greg! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the recap! I agree-it's a very hard pass.
Thanks for the heads up. I just finished tender is the flesh and the violence towards humans was relentless. But what broke me was a brief description of animal cruelty.
Considering you don't like her style. I think your assessment of the Moshfegh is fair and kind. Your comparison of David Mitchell and Marvel Universe is brilliant. It is best to start with Ghostwritten.
Thank you--I tried very hard to go into the Moshfegh with an open mind but she really just proved that I am not a fan at all.
@@SupposedlyFun You did a fantastic job!
Thanks!
Wow. I’m so glad you told us about the dog. She does not sound like an author I would like. I’m a nurse & I don’t need to READ about feces & body odor. 😬
Thanks for the video. Worth the wait as predicted. :)
Phew! I was worried that after two months of teasing it would feel underwhelming. I definitely can't say I recommend Ottessa Moshfegh at all.
Thank you for the "spoiler" because I would have been furious and greatly troubled had I read Death In Her Hands. Just knowing this author can go there makes me skeptical about reading any other books she writes. I am really sensitive to things like that. Silly to some, but not to me.
I'm very sensitive to these things as well. Happy to help!
Awesome!
🤗🤗
You had a better hit rate than me between your choices and the outcome. But my group had mostly better books whereas suspect the Mantel was well ahead of the rest in your group.
That's probably a fair assessment. I loved The Mirror and the Light and Real Life is more of an "I liked it a lot" situation.
@@SupposedlyFun alas Actress the book I really loved did not go through from my group.
That one is on my list to get to!
Luster sounds like a hot mess. I’ve put it on and taken it off my TBR several times but I don’t think I’ll do that to myself.
I totally get it. What Luster gets right, it gets really, really right. What it gets wrong is a bit confounding.
I really want to read American Dirt. I love controversial books.
I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
@@SupposedlyFun we'll see, I guess. I also put Real Life and the Mantel books on my tbr.
@@AJDunnnn We'll see!
"A Grapes of Wrath for our time" 😒😒😒 Yeah. No.
Agreed!