When someone says, about a subject they don’t think they’re interested in, 'why would I want to read that? ' I remember the words of film critic Roger Ebert. “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it's about it.” I find that applies equally to books, as you found with Lonesome Dove.
I am a microbiologist and that chapter about the flea and the microbe it carried in Hamnet was just so good - as was the entire book. I also cried Kim. I thought "The Remains of the Day" was beautiful prose and I found it interesting to see how the butler was forced to reexamine some of the choices his employer made before and during the war. Another prize winning book I loved was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - I enjoyed all three books she wrote about Thomas Cromwell - but that first one captured my imagination. I always enjoy your booktube content - Thank-you for another interesting episode.
Hi Kim, I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts today. Thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed “Milkman”. Anna Burns created such a sense of claustrophobic surveillance from not only the “state” but also from neighbors and family. Because her prose style was so unusual it enhanced the uniqueness of the reading experience. [I did have to suspend my disbelief that you could actually walk while reading a print version of a Victorian novel.] “The Remains of the Day” is another favorite of mine. I read it after seeing the movie. As I read it, I could not imagine Stephens personified by anyone other than Anthony Hopkins. I read “The World According to Garp” (in my 30’s) around the time it was released. You can’t imagine the massive publicity around it in NYC. I can’t remember any other books that were promoted to that degree. The two things I remember when I recall Garp are roasted green peppers and the infamous scene of the car rolling down the driveway. Much more recently I read “A Prayer for Owen Meaney” by Irving which I enjoyed more. Having read quite a few prize winning novels, I am definitely aware that a prize is no guarantee that I will appreciate reading the book. Oftentimes the prizes seem to be awarded to reflect the social politics of the time.
@@mame-musing books that are listed in book prized are entered by publishers and the industry. How objective can the prize board stay and the pool is very small.
this is a fantastic video idea! i've had great luck with the Booker prize winners/shortlist the last few years, they usually match my tastes really well, which makes the years that they miss the mark for me all that more striking. of the books you mentioned, Remains of the Day, James, Song of Achilles, Hamnet are all faves for me as well, I need to get to Milkman -- it's been on my radar for a while. i liked Demon Copperhead well enough but was also surprised by the hype it got, agree with a lot of your points on it. fantastic video, happy holiday season!
What a great idea for a video. Loved this Kim, really interesting to hear your views on the prize winners, especially your thoughts about Demon Copperhead, which I haven’t read yet. 😊
Hi Kim, I'm also having a hard time filming, but I can't blame it on a job or anything industrious, just feeling blah. I loved "The Remains of the Day" and want to read "Now In September." I loved the Pulitzer Prize Winner, "The Emporer of All Maladies, a biography of Cancer. It was so readable and I learned so much about this terrible disease. Aloha friend.
What a fun topic! I haven't read any of the books to speak of but want to read Milkman at some point. Also, cute kitties! Loved seeing them playing around in the background.
Your house looks so pretty. It’s been a big year of change and I hope you’re proud of the progress you’ve made and the way you’ve embraced change!! *Lonesome Dove=awesome! *Count of MC = awesome *Now in Nov = now on my list *Remains of the Day = now on my list *James= now on my list Loved this concept for a video! Very creative. Thanks for all you do for us. Merry Christmas to you and your family !
What a great video. I’m a sucker for award winners. I disagree about The Overstory, but I love the shoutouts to Gary, The Song of Achilles (cried), and especially Hamnet (cried in that one too). As for Demon Copperhead, I sort of felt the same way you did, maybe it was a bit overpraised. However, the audiobook finally opened my eyes to what so many others see in the book. I highly recommend that version. Anyway, again, great video. 🙂
Remains of the Day is one of the most beautiful and complex works of fiction I have ever read. Parts of it can move me to tears. Middlemarch is about 30 hours of my life I wish I could get back.
Lonesome Dove…a masterpiece for sure. Read Paris Trout 30 years ago and remember absolutely nothing about it. John Irving’s novels are always interesting…A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favorite. Love your background…including kitties.
Hamnet has been on my list and last week I saw it at a library book sale and snatched it. Looking forward to reading that. I didn't know about Paris Trout, I'd never heard the title but your description is good enough for me to know I would not want to read it. TY!! and yes. Kingsolver and I have never gotten along but preachy is always the word I use when friends who enjoy her books say I should give her another try. She's just not for me.
Hi Kim. Great video with lots of things to think about! You know, I really liked The Overstory when I was reading it, but now, a couple years later, I can't remember it in any detail at all. I don't think that's just a function of my age or the state of my memory. I completely agree with you about The Testament. I felt at the time that it was winning awards because of the popularity of the tv series on Handmaid. I adored Bernadine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other. Like you, Garp was my introduction to John Irving, when I was 18, I think, and he would go on to become one of my favorite authors. I also haven't loved all of his books, but the ones I love, I really adore. Hamnet will always be a really important book in my life. I'll tell you about why in another venue. It made me cry too. I did love Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. I hear what you're saying about it, but it spoke to me on a very deep level, again something I'll discuss with you elsewhere. I suspect I will revisit it at some point. I have never read Now in November or Milkman, and you have certainly made me want to read those two. Thanks for doing this video, Kim. Really thought-provoking.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 thanks Pat! We have so many bookish things in common. I’d urge you to read Now in November. I’d love to hear your reaction to it. ❤️
I agree with so many of your choices. I think I liked The Overstory and Demon Copperhead more than you but we seem to have similar tastes in books. The Pulitzer book I really hated was The Netanyahus. I finished it but for the life of me I couldn’t see why it was even published let alone a prize winner. I look forward to your book reviews every week. Thank you.
I had a difficult time getting through Demon Copperhead. I wanted to read it for several reasons. Mainly because I was employed by a public school system in North Georgia - right in the foothills of the Apalachian Mountains. It was another world and I told a friend that the children I was working with reminded me of little waifs out of a Dickens novel. I did think that Kingsolver captured Apalachia and the people to perfection. The book was depressing and difficult reading. I also think that the author's structuring of the novel after Dicken's great novel made this modern day attempt somewhat contrived.
You had me at cowboy. OMG, the Testaments, only the second time in my life I lost faith in how useful book prizes are. Your granddaughter is cute as a button. Go well Kim.
Ah, Now in November and Lonesome Dove again! My haul justified.😊 I need to reread Remains of the Day and Hamnet. James is riding high on my top ten this year. We diverge on our opinion of Demon Copperhead! This was a great idea for a video.
I hate read Demon Copperhead, too depressing. Barbara Kingsolver and I do net get along. Loved Now in November. Still haven’t read Lonesome Dove, but the opening sentence is just one of the best ever. I have seen the movie The remains of the Day, so now I don’t want to read the book anymore 😊 I started the audiobook of the Milkman and I loved it, but reading it is more difficult, so I’ll go back to listening to it. I really loved the World according to Garp. The driveway scene is just… Absolutely loved Hamnet.
What a great idea for a video, Kim! Our tastes align pretty closely. I didn’t like Demon Copperhead at all. It felt over the top and bordered on trauma porn in my mind. I’ve never read Garp - have added it to my list. Good to see you and be well. ❤
Interesting topic. Book prizes are quite hit or miss with me and, I suspect, the entire reading public. I have loved some of the books you mentioned (Hamnet, Lonesome Dove, and Milkman) and I disliked others (The World According to Garp and The Testaments). I haven't read James yet but I will read it this month and I hope to love it too. I haven't read Paris Trout and I'll definitely avoid it. I am on the fence about reading Demon Copperhead. It was quite polarizing so I don't know if I want to bother.
What a brilliant video idea! I agree 100% with your opinion on The Overstory, although I skipped around two hundred pages in the middle. I don't know how to feel about Lonesome Dove. I read it last month, and I wonder how indigenous Americans feel about it. But I haven't found any opinions online.
Lonesome Dove is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I pre-ordered The Testaments and to this day it sits unread on my shelf. Book prizes are mostly in the miss category of hit and miss for me, which is why I generally don’t partake in the prize list reading that goes on here on Booktube, but sit back and see how opinions fall on the books I like the sound of. I have yet to read Demon Copperhead as I suspect I won’t enjoy it but will be buddy reading it with Jolene in memory of Alice next year as she loved it so very much. But I suspect, for the reasons you stated, that I may not enjoy it!
@@spreadbookjoy I hope you do enjoy it more than I did. I am very skeptical of most book prizes. But I do pay attention to the winners and will pick up a book I may be unfamiliar with if it sounds like a “Kim” book. 🥰
Hi Kim! For the Women's Prize, I think Demon Copperhead was indeed overrated. I like Kingsolver, but... Copperhead just felt too safe and predictable. I haven't read her entire oeuvre but The Poisonwood Bible remains her best for me. That said, I DNF Bel Canto because I thought that book was too mid 😂 My most favorite Women's Prize winner so far would be How to Be Both ❤
I do not get the love for Demon Copperhead. I wound up DNFing it about 2/3 of the way through. Lonesome Dove is such a masterpiece. I love both the novel and the miniseries. The Remains of the Day is in my Top 5 of all-time favorites.
I guess I could look back in your archive, but I'm supposed to be teleworking right now (lol). Have you read Lolita? Nabokov, like Ishiguro, isn't even an anglophone, and yet... such beauty.
_First!_ Well, Kim, we're in agreement (altho I have _not_ read _The Testament,_ which I won't, upon hearing your take). _James_ is my favorite novel of the year (along w _North Woods)._ _Paris Trout_ is pretty horrendous. Still need to read Madeline Miller. 😮 Good one, Kim! 🎉
Really fun exercise with the most loved and most hated prize-winning books. Always been intimidated by Lonesome Dove, but one of the days, I should just get on with it and finally read it. I have a nice copy shaming me on my bookshelves, so there's no excuse. Great choices, but the Demon Copperhead one hurt lol. Adored it and didn't find anything "preachy" about it. Kingsolver won the Pulitzer and Women's Prize, not NBA. She wasn't even longlisted, which was considered a major snub at the time. However, she won the Lifetime Achievement Award from them this year and gave a beautiful and rousing acceptance speech about not giving in to hatred and despair over Trump's win. Love her, but I've been a biased stan since Poisonwood Bible.
I loved The Overstory (audio version). Two of my favorite booktubers now did not get along with it! (Greg from Supposedly Fun) Perhaps if I read it instead of listen? I read Paris Trout years ago mainly because it was mentioned in Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell. The serial killer left a page out of the books at a crime scene or something like that. I remember being disturbed by the story but don't remember hating the reading experience as I went on to read The Paperboy by the author. Great list of loves though... I have copies of James, Milkman and Remains of the Day to get to. I have only watched the film adaptation of The World According to Garp which was delightful. Perhaps I should try reading it. I have enjoyed other books by John Irving and loved A Widow for One Year and the last line of the book wrapped it nicely for me! Be safe driving today! Just heard the plow go by!
@@marciajohansson769 I loved the movie Garp! Definitely delightful. Also loved Widow for One Year, Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules. The snow isn’t bad here. Just a dusting but I’m going into work a little late to be safe. 🥰
@MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH I meant to say that I also read most of the list of your loves and enjoyed them quite a bit. Hamnet crushed my heart in parts. It was so beautifully written.
I'm the same, I do much better with the Pulitzer books, a lot of them are my favourite all time reads, no other award gives me such a great success rate. I feel they're the best at finding books that are a stamp of what will become a future classic (although them giving it to Demon Copperhead I really disagree with)
Interesting selection. I actually have Demon Copperhead on my December TBR, I don't like child characters that don't think or act like children, this is why Oliver Twist is my least favorite of Dickens' novels (and David Copprfield is my favorite). I wasn't so enamoured with Song of Achilles as you, but that might be because I didn't warm to Achilles' character he seemed such a jerk. I haven't read The Testaments, but I generally love Margaret Atwood's work and from what you say and what I've heard elsewhere it sounds like it would taint my love of The Handmaid's Tale should I read it, I won't read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee for similar reasons. .
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff The Testaments didn’t affect how I felt about The Hanmaids Tale but did kill any credibility I thought the Booker committee had. 🫤
It only took you two weeks to read The OVERSTORY? You must be a speed reader!! 🤣. It took me more than a month! Like you, I oved it in the beginning-but I got lost sooo many times and had to backtrack to remember who was who! That said, I wanted to love it, but I did not.
I had a similar response to Demon Copperhead as you did, Kim, which I only recently read it; it was also my first Kingsolver. To a degree, I think I was expecting it to blow my socks off and it just didn't live up to the hype tsunami surrounding the book. 100% agree that the author's preaching was off-putting. I will disagree about Demon's voice. My interpretation is that it was the young adult (early 20s?) Demon looking back and writing down his story as his therapist encouraged him to do as part of his recovery. But, yeah. This is the exact reason that I tend to avoid the BIG books everybody and their dog raves about.
I felt EXACTLY how you feel about “Demon.” It was too much, and by the end, I was glad that it was over. I haven’t thought about the book since. “Hamnet” was good, although I found it too “literary,” if that makes any sense. It was pretentious. I can tell when writers are writing for writers and not readers.
One of my all time favorite books is The World According to Garp. Like you, I think it's time for a reread.
The World According to Garp needs a re read by me as well. I last read it in the early 80s as a young adult too. I loved it.
I hope I love it again!
When someone says, about a subject they don’t think they’re interested in, 'why would I want to read that? ' I remember the words of film critic Roger Ebert. “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it's about it.” I find that applies equally to books, as you found with Lonesome Dove.
I am a microbiologist and that chapter about the flea and the microbe it carried in Hamnet was just so good - as was the entire book. I also cried Kim. I thought "The Remains of the Day" was beautiful prose and I found it interesting to see how the butler was forced to reexamine some of the choices his employer made before and during the war. Another prize winning book I loved was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - I enjoyed all three books she wrote about Thomas Cromwell - but that first one captured my imagination. I always enjoy your booktube content - Thank-you for another interesting episode.
@@DarcyRussell-x1o thank you so much! I like your taste in books. 😊🥰
Hi Kim, I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts today. Thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed “Milkman”. Anna Burns created such a sense of claustrophobic surveillance from not only the “state” but also from neighbors and family. Because her prose style was so unusual it enhanced the uniqueness of the reading experience. [I did have to suspend my disbelief that you could actually walk while reading a print version of a Victorian novel.]
“The Remains of the Day” is another favorite of mine. I read it after seeing the movie. As I read it, I could not imagine Stephens personified by anyone other than Anthony Hopkins.
I read “The World According to Garp” (in my 30’s) around the time it was released. You can’t imagine the massive publicity around it in NYC. I can’t remember any other books that were promoted to that degree. The two things I remember when I recall Garp are roasted green peppers and the infamous scene of the car rolling down the driveway.
Much more recently I read “A Prayer for Owen Meaney” by Irving which I enjoyed more.
Having read quite a few prize winning novels, I am definitely aware that a prize is no guarantee that I will appreciate reading the book. Oftentimes the prizes seem to be awarded to reflect the social politics of the time.
@@mame-musing books that are listed in book prized are entered by publishers and the industry. How objective can the prize board stay and the pool is very small.
this is a fantastic video idea! i've had great luck with the Booker prize winners/shortlist the last few years, they usually match my tastes really well, which makes the years that they miss the mark for me all that more striking. of the books you mentioned, Remains of the Day, James, Song of Achilles, Hamnet are all faves for me as well, I need to get to Milkman -- it's been on my radar for a while. i liked Demon Copperhead well enough but was also surprised by the hype it got, agree with a lot of your points on it. fantastic video, happy holiday season!
@@AlexATheEngineer we have great taste in books! 🥰🤣
You've reminded me I need to get to Hamnet. I should also reread The World According to Garp. Great video!
@@ariannefowler455 thanks! 🥰
What a great idea for a video. Loved this Kim, really interesting to hear your views on the prize winners, especially your thoughts about Demon Copperhead, which I haven’t read yet. 😊
@@RaynorReadsStuff thanks Debs. 🥰
Hi Kim, I'm also having a hard time filming, but I can't blame it on a job or anything industrious, just feeling blah. I loved "The Remains of the Day" and want to read "Now In September." I loved the Pulitzer Prize Winner, "The Emporer of All Maladies, a biography of Cancer. It was so readable and I learned so much about this terrible disease. Aloha friend.
@@MarilynMayaMendoza The Emperor of All Maladies was excellent. Thanks Maya! 🥰
What a fun topic! I haven't read any of the books to speak of but want to read Milkman at some point. Also, cute kitties! Loved seeing them playing around in the background.
@@tealorturquoise they were an unexpected treat. 🐱
Your house looks so pretty. It’s been a big year of change and I hope you’re proud of the progress you’ve made and the way you’ve embraced change!!
*Lonesome Dove=awesome!
*Count of MC = awesome
*Now in Nov = now on my list
*Remains of the Day = now on my list
*James= now on my list
Loved this concept for a video! Very creative. Thanks for all you do for us. Merry Christmas to you and your family !
@@jillwhitneybirk thank you so much for your comments and your friendship. ❤️
What a great video. I’m a sucker for award winners. I disagree about The Overstory, but I love the shoutouts to Gary, The Song of Achilles (cried), and especially Hamnet (cried in that one too). As for Demon Copperhead, I sort of felt the same way you did, maybe it was a bit overpraised. However, the audiobook finally opened my eyes to what so many others see in the book. I highly recommend that version. Anyway, again, great video. 🙂
@@shelfexpression thank you very much! 🥰
The only one I differ with you on is Demon Copperfield. I loved it ! Great video 😉
Remains of the Day is one of the most beautiful and complex works of fiction I have ever read. Parts of it can move me to tears. Middlemarch is about 30 hours of my life I wish I could get back.
Oh no! 🤣 Poor Middlemarch. I completely understand. Every book isn’t for every reader. That’s what makes reading so interesting.
Ok you've earned my sub with your take on Remains, and on Atwood. : ) Cheers from Canada
@ yay! Thank you! 🥰
Lonesome Dove…a masterpiece for sure. Read Paris Trout 30 years ago and remember absolutely nothing about it. John Irving’s novels are always interesting…A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favorite. Love your background…including kitties.
@@kristinmarra7005 thanks! 😊
Hamnet has been on my list and last week I saw it at a library book sale and snatched it. Looking forward to reading that. I didn't know about Paris Trout, I'd never heard the title but your description is good enough for me to know I would not want to read it. TY!! and yes. Kingsolver and I have never gotten along but preachy is always the word I use when friends who enjoy her books say I should give her another try. She's just not for me.
@@krc5210 I did love The Poisonwood Bible and would like to reread it but most of her other books don’t sit well with me.
Really great video Kim. I’m with you on so many of your choices, loved Milkman and Hamnet.
@@Ali-AvidReader thanks! 😊
Hi Kim. Great video with lots of things to think about! You know, I really liked The Overstory when I was reading it, but now, a couple years later, I can't remember it in any detail at all. I don't think that's just a function of my age or the state of my memory. I completely agree with you about The Testament. I felt at the time that it was winning awards because of the popularity of the tv series on Handmaid. I adored Bernadine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other. Like you, Garp was my introduction to John Irving, when I was 18, I think, and he would go on to become one of my favorite authors. I also haven't loved all of his books, but the ones I love, I really adore. Hamnet will always be a really important book in my life. I'll tell you about why in another venue. It made me cry too. I did love Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. I hear what you're saying about it, but it spoke to me on a very deep level, again something I'll discuss with you elsewhere. I suspect I will revisit it at some point. I have never read Now in November or Milkman, and you have certainly made me want to read those two. Thanks for doing this video, Kim. Really thought-provoking.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 thanks Pat! We have so many bookish things in common. I’d urge you to read Now in November. I’d love to hear your reaction to it. ❤️
@@MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH I have added it to my list of books to find.Thanks, Kim.
I agree with so many of your choices. I think I liked The Overstory and Demon Copperhead more than you but we seem to have similar tastes in books. The Pulitzer book I really hated was The Netanyahus. I finished it but for the life of me I couldn’t see why it was even published let alone a prize winner. I look forward to your book reviews every week. Thank you.
@@vickiepfost8629 I HATED the Netanyahus too!!! I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🤣
I had a difficult time getting through Demon Copperhead. I wanted to read it for several reasons. Mainly because I was employed by a public school system in North Georgia - right in the foothills of the Apalachian Mountains. It was another world and I told a friend that the children I was working with reminded me of little waifs out of a Dickens novel. I did think that Kingsolver captured Apalachia and the people to perfection. The book was depressing and difficult reading. I also think that the author's structuring of the novel after Dicken's great novel made this modern day attempt somewhat contrived.
@@lindawalker2451 contrived is the perfect word.
You had me at cowboy. OMG, the Testaments, only the second time in my life I lost faith in how useful book prizes are. Your granddaughter is cute as a button. Go well Kim.
@@nathanfoung2347 🥰🥰🥰
@@nathanfoung2347 have you watched Yellowstone??? 🤠😍🤠
Ah, Now in November and Lonesome Dove again! My haul justified.😊 I need to reread Remains of the Day and Hamnet. James is riding high on my top ten this year. We diverge on our opinion of Demon Copperhead! This was a great idea for a video.
@@readandre-read thanks Angelia! 🥰
Co-signing every nuance of your hatred of The Overstory. ❤❤🎉🎉🎉
@@shawnbreathesbooks yes!!! 🥰
I hate read Demon Copperhead, too depressing. Barbara Kingsolver and I do net get along. Loved Now in November. Still haven’t read Lonesome Dove, but the opening sentence is just one of the best ever. I have seen the movie The remains of the Day, so now I don’t want to read the book anymore 😊 I started the audiobook of the Milkman and I loved it, but reading it is more difficult, so I’ll go back to listening to it. I really loved the World according to Garp. The driveway scene is just… Absolutely loved Hamnet.
Milkman was amazing on audio. I wonder if Lonesome Dove would be too. That one would be harder unless they had different cast members.
@ I do have an audio of Lonesome dove. Maybe I’ll try that 🙂
What a great idea for a video, Kim! Our tastes align pretty closely. I didn’t like Demon Copperhead at all. It felt over the top and bordered on trauma porn in my mind. I’ve never read Garp - have added it to my list. Good to see you and be well. ❤
@@lisaedwards8505 thank you! 🥰
Widely agreed with your reviews especially Demon Copperhead- also a DNF for me as well as The Testaments
@@debraprivate8281 The Testaments was regrettable. 😖
Interesting topic. Book prizes are quite hit or miss with me and, I suspect, the entire reading public. I have loved some of the books you mentioned (Hamnet, Lonesome Dove, and Milkman) and I disliked others (The World According to Garp and The Testaments). I haven't read James yet but I will read it this month and I hope to love it too. I haven't read Paris Trout and I'll definitely avoid it. I am on the fence about reading Demon Copperhead. It was quite polarizing so I don't know if I want to bother.
@@LaurieInTexas so many people loved Demon. May be worth a second look for you if you have any interest. 🤷♀️
I think I need to reread Milkman.
@@myreadinglife8816 the audio is excellent!
What a brilliant video idea!
I agree 100% with your opinion on The Overstory, although I skipped around two hundred pages in the middle.
I don't know how to feel about Lonesome Dove. I read it last month, and I wonder how indigenous Americans feel about it. But I haven't found any opinions online.
@@azu_rikka I think so many Westerns definitely stereotype indigenous people. I also hope we’ve learned from our mistakes both in reality and fiction.
Lonesome Dove is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I pre-ordered The Testaments and to this day it sits unread on my shelf. Book prizes are mostly in the miss category of hit and miss for me, which is why I generally don’t partake in the prize list reading that goes on here on Booktube, but sit back and see how opinions fall on the books I like the sound of. I have yet to read Demon Copperhead as I suspect I won’t enjoy it but will be buddy reading it with Jolene in memory of Alice next year as she loved it so very much. But I suspect, for the reasons you stated, that I may not enjoy it!
@@spreadbookjoy I hope you do enjoy it more than I did. I am very skeptical of most book prizes. But I do pay attention to the winners and will pick up a book I may be unfamiliar with if it sounds like a “Kim” book. 🥰
Interesting video. Can't dispute anything you said as I haven't read any of those books
Hi Kim! For the Women's Prize, I think Demon Copperhead was indeed overrated. I like Kingsolver, but... Copperhead just felt too safe and predictable. I haven't read her entire oeuvre but The Poisonwood Bible remains her best for me. That said, I DNF Bel Canto because I thought that book was too mid 😂 My most favorite Women's Prize winner so far would be How to Be Both ❤
@@SluggishReader I’m not a big Ali Smith fan but she is a brilliant writer. I do know that much. 🤣
Lomesone Dove agree good book. Happy Holiday to you and yours.Take care b safe..
@@theresepazell7875 thank you! 🥰
I do not get the love for Demon Copperhead. I wound up DNFing it about 2/3 of the way through. Lonesome Dove is such a masterpiece. I love both the novel and the miniseries. The Remains of the Day is in my Top 5 of all-time favorites.
@@reginalemoine5809 Lonesome Dove miniseries is great!😊
I liked _Garp_ but hardly remember it now.
I guess I could look back in your archive, but I'm supposed to be teleworking right now (lol). Have you read Lolita? Nabokov, like Ishiguro, isn't even an anglophone, and yet... such beauty.
@@trishemerald2487 I tried Lolita but did not get on with it. It disturbed me too much even though rationally I understand its intelligence.
_First!_ Well, Kim, we're in agreement (altho I have _not_ read _The Testament,_ which I won't, upon hearing your take). _James_ is my favorite novel of the year (along w _North Woods)._ _Paris Trout_ is pretty horrendous. Still need to read Madeline Miller. 😮 Good one, Kim! 🎉
@@bighardbooks770 thanks Alan! 🤓
Always enjoy this unexpected content. I especially wanted to see what you hated or DNFed😂
@@eviewilliams5100 🤣🤣🤣
Really fun exercise with the most loved and most hated prize-winning books. Always been intimidated by Lonesome Dove, but one of the days, I should just get on with it and finally read it. I have a nice copy shaming me on my bookshelves, so there's no excuse. Great choices, but the Demon Copperhead one hurt lol. Adored it and didn't find anything "preachy" about it. Kingsolver won the Pulitzer and Women's Prize, not NBA. She wasn't even longlisted, which was considered a major snub at the time. However, she won the Lifetime Achievement Award from them this year and gave a beautiful and rousing acceptance speech about not giving in to hatred and despair over Trump's win. Love her, but I've been a biased stan since Poisonwood Bible.
@@ht6743 I read several of her books now and the only one that I loved was Poisonwood Bible. But as I said, every book isn’t for every reader. 🤓
I DNF’d Demon Copperhead after 134 pages for all the reasons you mention as well as there were so many cliches! It didn’t grab my interest at all.
I loved The Overstory (audio version). Two of my favorite booktubers now did not get along with it! (Greg from Supposedly Fun) Perhaps if I read it instead of listen? I read Paris Trout years ago mainly because it was mentioned in Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell. The serial killer left a page out of the books at a crime scene or something like that. I remember being disturbed by the story but don't remember hating the reading experience as I went on to read The Paperboy by the author. Great list of loves though... I have copies of James, Milkman and Remains of the Day to get to. I have only watched the film adaptation of The World According to Garp which was delightful. Perhaps I should try reading it. I have enjoyed other books by John Irving and loved A Widow for One Year and the last line of the book wrapped it nicely for me! Be safe driving today! Just heard the plow go by!
@@marciajohansson769 I loved the movie Garp! Definitely delightful. Also loved Widow for One Year, Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules. The snow isn’t bad here. Just a dusting but I’m going into work a little late to be safe. 🥰
@MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH I meant to say that I also read most of the list of your loves and enjoyed them quite a bit. Hamnet crushed my heart in parts. It was so beautifully written.
I'm the same, I do much better with the Pulitzer books, a lot of them are my favourite all time reads, no other award gives me such a great success rate. I feel they're the best at finding books that are a stamp of what will become a future classic (although them giving it to Demon Copperhead I really disagree with)
@@Emmareads15 🤣🤣🤣
Interesting selection. I actually have Demon Copperhead on my December TBR, I don't like child characters that don't think or act like children, this is why Oliver Twist is my least favorite of Dickens' novels (and David Copprfield is my favorite). I wasn't so enamoured with Song of Achilles as you, but that might be because I didn't warm to Achilles' character he seemed such a jerk. I haven't read The Testaments, but I generally love Margaret Atwood's work and from what you say and what I've heard elsewhere it sounds like it would taint my love of The Handmaid's Tale should I read it, I won't read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee for similar reasons. .
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff The Testaments didn’t affect how I felt about The Hanmaids Tale but did kill any credibility I thought the Booker committee had. 🫤
It only took you two weeks to read The OVERSTORY? You must be a speed reader!! 🤣. It took me more than a month! Like you, I oved it in the beginning-but I got lost sooo many times and had to backtrack to remember who was who! That said, I wanted to love it, but I did not.
@@vickicoleman2474 🤣🤣🤣
@ pardon my constant typo-s🤣🤪
Your grandaughter is the image of you!
@@spreadbookjoy so is my daughter! 🥰🥰🥰
@ how lovely when the resemblance is so strong! She is also very cute in the glasses! 😅
I had a similar response to Demon Copperhead as you did, Kim, which I only recently read it; it was also my first Kingsolver. To a degree, I think I was expecting it to blow my socks off and it just didn't live up to the hype tsunami surrounding the book. 100% agree that the author's preaching was off-putting. I will disagree about Demon's voice. My interpretation is that it was the young adult (early 20s?) Demon looking back and writing down his story as his therapist encouraged him to do as part of his recovery. But, yeah. This is the exact reason that I tend to avoid the BIG books everybody and their dog raves about.
@@Nina_DP everybody and their dog raves about. 🤣🤣🤣
I felt EXACTLY how you feel about “Demon.” It was too much, and by the end, I was glad that it was over. I haven’t thought about the book since. “Hamnet” was good, although I found it too “literary,” if that makes any sense. It was pretentious. I can tell when writers are writing for writers and not readers.