Ooooh, goody! 🎉 You're back ( ish)....and with a goodie!! 😂 Sunday evening, post supper chill sorted, ta Simon. Hope all is good with you and accompanying menagerie 🥰 🌻😎 back after 🍽️
My top 5 for the year, so far, are: “The Coast Road” by Alan Murrin “Christ on a Bike” By Orla Owen “Whale Fall” by Elizabeth O’Connor “Clear” by Carys Davies “How to Say Babylon” by Safiya Sinclair. Book tingle really is a thing.😁
Hooray! Two mutual favourites. I am really keen to read The Coast Road very soon and have Christ on a Bike and Whale Fall on the TBR. So now all the more excited to read them.
What a fantastic list. I think Clear is Davies’ best novel, which is saying something, and I also thought the ending was unexpected and incredibly well done. Definitely the mark of a great book is how long it stays with you. Favorite reads this year so far include The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek Miller, Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan and You Are Here by David Nicholls. So glad to have your Sunday videos back to brighten up the end of the weekend!
I absolutely loved the ending of Clear, in fact it may be one of my favourite endings of a book ever. There, I have said it. I loooooved David Nicholls You Are Here, read it in July though ;)
Great video - fantastic list! Hope you've had a good break and looking forward to some more content when the time is right for you. Top 5 books of the year - 1. I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman 2. England is Mine - Nicolas Padamsee 3. Soldier Sailor - Claire Kilroy 4. The Echoes - Evie Wyld 4. Brotherless Night - VV Ganeshenanthan
Well, my favorite this year is I Who Have Never Known Men! My god, what a book! I have Clear on my nightstand, and I'm ordering Stoneyard Devotional, Echoes (I adore Evie Wyld,) and Pity next! 💚
So many books I've not heard of, which is why I love your channel! I'm so glad you loved I Who Have Never Known men, its one of my all time favourite books! And well done for calling Stone Yard Devotional for the Booker, it's head to the top of my TBR now!
Oooh I hope you enjoy Stone Yard Devotional as much as I did when you get to it. I think it’s quite special. I think I Who Have Never Known Men is such a brilliant book. Soooooo good.
This is my first time watching you, and you cannot imagine how glad I am that I’ve found your channel. It’s definitely going to be one of my go-tos for book recommendations, especially literary fiction! ^^
I picked up Glorious Exploits after hearing you and your mum talk about it, and THANK YOU because I think it's the best thing I've read this year. Totally took me by surprise, I've can't think of a book that balances enjoyment and emotional impact as well as it. So wonderful. I also loved I Who Have Never Known Men and Pity. So many of the rest are going on my TBR!
You’re Back!!!! Some of my favorites…The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Still Life, The House of Doors & JAMES! I’m putting The Echoes on my radar(not out in US)…just started There There by Tommy Orange and also picked up Wandering Stars by him as well! Anticipating Jennifer Saints new book Hera, out this month!
I’m sort of back. Like back… but maybe not quite as often as in previous years. Still Life is an absolute fav of mine since it came out. I loved The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store last year. I’ve recently got There There and want to read it and see if I want to read Wandering Stars.
Top five books I've read so far this year (in no particular order as it keeps changing): Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck The Bee Sting - Paul Murray Soldier Sailor - Claire Kilroy Two Years before the Mast - Richard Henry Dana
I read “I Who Have Never Known Men” thanks to you…loved it! My recommendation to you would be Remarkably Bright Creatures. A “pallet cleanser” as you say, but oh so good for your heart. Speaking of hearts…Shark Heart was a good ride too ❤
Yes, I have Shark Heart to read and am very much looking forward to it, hope to read it over the summer - though summer here is being a really patchy minx. More grey days than sunny ones so far. So pleased you loved I Who Have Never Known Men and thrilled I pointed you in the direction of it, woohoo!
Clear was my most surprising read in the mid year freak out tag because of that ending! So many of these books in common which is good but also rely on your videos to explode my TBR! 😂
My top five this year (in no particular order): Cleopatra and Frankenstein, The God in the woods, All the colours in the dark, Brotherless night, Weyward (closely followed by In Memoriam - sorry, Simon!)
We all love what we love! And lots of you are in that In Memoriam cult, though I can't believe you had to mention it to me when it wasn't even in your top five, hahahaha. I am very much looking forward to The God in the Woods. I haven't heard of All The Colours in the Dark so I shall look that up.
I am not quite back, I am sort of back, we will see. I want to make sure real life is getting priority and so far this summer has been too much travelling and the return of covid, gah! So I am trying a slow return, we will see how we go.
Ha. The break isn’t over quite yet. I might be back for a bit and then disappear, or be less regular on here. Depends if any content creation takes my fancy.
I haven’t read any Cary Davies but picked up West in a book haul on holiday look forward to reading it with all the other books I picked up! A few of my favourite reads this year have been Black Butterflies, The Storm We Made, This is not a Pity Memoir, The Women and A little Liar. I have been enjoying a good story this year and a bit of nonfiction too.
West is a very, very good Davies. I hope you enjoy it. I think she such a great writer. I enjoyed Black Butterflies when I read it last year, the same year The Storm We Made was one of my very favourites 🥳
Just finished Jaded by Ela Lee which I loved very viscerally. Very interesting if it’ll be in the top ten at the end of the year - which I feel quite confident it will be. But excited to find out! Auē by Becky Manawatu with its nz setting has a special place in my heart, and so does Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald but for different reasons. And just started Evenings and Weekends today! Glad to hear you’ve had a cracking reading year so far (and not so meh after all 🥰) Happy to have you back, Simon! (In whatever capacity ofc)
I know a few people who have really loved Jaded so I must get to it at some point. Thank you for the reminder. Auē I have on my TBR, will make sure I don’t box it up when I start storing books while the library is done, Glasgow boys too!
I loved Brotherless Night too. Thanks again for my copy of ordinary human failings! It feels like everyone has read and loved I who have never known men this year 😊 I am definitely up for reading Clear, as I read West last year and thought it was fantastic.
Carys is soooo good and Clear is my favourite of her novels, West is probably my second favourite. The short story collections are fab. I Who Have Never Known Men is just brilliant. Hope you enjoy Ordinary Human Failings. I lived Brotherless Night but I do wonder if by the end of the year it’ll be in my top ten. Gasp!!! 😮
It's weird, but I feel just the same about Brotherless Night! It was 5* at the time, but it's faded quite a lot and I'm not sure it would make my list at the end of the year either. Funny we both feel the same!
Hi Simon 👋🏻 good to see you on here & with a super fave books so far roundup 📚🤗 I’ve read & really enjoyed those by Safiya Sinclair, Megan Nolan & Carys Davies 👍 I’m going to have a ponder about my top 3/5 📚😘 TC X PS - one of them will be The Weekend by Charlotte Wood 😌
Excellent video in all respects !Very entertaining and also very informative. I also adored CLEAR and several of the others on your list. I just ordered GLORIOUS EXPLOITS as I have not read that one. Thank you! You are adorable. 😊
Awww, that is very kind of you to say. I hope you enjoy Glorious Exploits as much as I did, I think it is an absolute corker. Clear is a wonder of a book, just sooooo good.
Great video Simon, so many books to add to my tor 💕 I loved Blue sisters by Coco Mellors and Ordinary Human Feelings by Megan Nolan. I also thought Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy and The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes were excellent I can’t wait to pick up The Wren The wren and Evenings and weekends 💕
I discovered a proof of The Alternatives just the other day when I was 'partly' sorting some of the library. I met her at an event recently and she was lovely and had seen Mercedes saying lovely things about the book too... so it seemed like fate and now you have mentioned it and reminded me to boost it up the TBR. Hope you enjoy the Enright and the McKenna when you get to them!
What a fab list! I think my top 3 of the year so far (in no particular order) - North Wood by Daniel Mason, Foster by Claire Keegan & The Offing by Benjamin Myers. Thought all three were wonderful!
The Offing is such a fabulous book. I am a big fan of Benjamin Myers, that said I don't think I have read his last three books which is very naughty of me.
@@SavidgeReads it's a really intoxicating read, I felt v emotional when I finished it. There's something about it that really reminds me of A Month in the Country, which I also love. I know that's one of your faves too! Both feel like healing books & are really powerful.
I have wanted to read This Motherless land after seeing Nikki and you talk about at the WPL. Just sounds so good!! Looking forward to Charlotte Wood’s latest too. Great list Simon 📚❤️ My number 1 book of the year at the moment is Far From The Madding Crowd. 2 is Brotherless Night & after that I am not sure.
Ooh that’s a lovely eclectic pairing at your top two Charlie! This Motherless Land is soooo good. Cannot recommend enough. Also, sorry we didn’t get to speak at the WPL. I saw you in the audience at the event and then we had that quick hello when I was talking to Susanna with Mum, but couldn’t find you before the final readings.
@@SavidgeReads Myself & Gem weren’t our best selves that day anyways as Alice was super sick in hospital. We only went because we knew she wouldn’t have wanted us to miss out. That being said it was was nice to say hi to you & your mum ❤️xx
Thanks for sharing your list! I too was disappointed Clear did not make the Booker Longlist. My top 5 of 2024 So Far: 1. James - Percival Everett 2. The Heart in WInter - Kevin Barry 3. Clear - Carys Davies 4. Blue Ruin - Hari Kunzru 5. (tie) Brat - Gabriel Smith / The God of the Woods - Liz Moore / The History of Sound: Stories - Ben Shattuck
Clear was ROBBED! Hahaha. I was thrilled to see Charlotte Wood on the list though. I have some very strong opinions on Brat in my next wrap up 👀 I’m very keen to read The God of the Woods, that’s in my next haul.
My top 5 are: 5. Tib Street Ballroom by Keira Willis, 4. There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak, 3. The Trouble With Goats & Sheep by Joanna Cannon, 2. Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom, 1, The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. I've been loving Agatha Christie too but she probably deserves her own list.
Ooh what a fab mix of books, I am treating myself to a few days with There Are Rivers in the Sky soon. I want to have nothing else planned so I can get really lost in it. Love Joanna Cannon, every one of her books is brilliant.
Yes!!! You know how I feel about I Who Have Never Known Men. In my top 5. I also loved Clear. A few other favs: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. My nonfiction pick is brother. do. you. love. me. By Manni Coe. It’s a story about Manni and his brother who has Down syndrome. He was in a care home when Covid hit and this is the story of his recovery from that experience.
Oooh Manni's book was one of my mums absolute favourites last year, I am definitely going to get to it at some point. Thrilled Clear and I Who Have Never Known Men Are in your top 5 too. I really, really need to read The God of the Woods. I need to find a time when I can just get lost in it... well not so lost I never come back out. Tom Lake I might actually do on audio just for Meryl, even though I am not the biggest Patchett fan. And Chris Whitaker is getting a few recommendations so maybe I need to try him out too.
@@SavidgeReads the audio of Tom Lake made it such a better book 😂. I was listening the Liz Moore while I was visiting my daughter in Maine and staying in the woods 😳
Well this made my day after a shocking day at work - pjs on and a cuppa, saying to myself “you can buy one of Simon’s top books” to cheer myself up. I picked This Motherless Land 😊
Five favorite novels so far this year (this is a difficult assignment Simon) Two by Hernan Diaz, In the Distance and Trust, The House by Teresa Waugh, Stephen King's Elevation and Holly. Okay, extra credit, other favorite reads, The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning, somehow missed that one when first published, The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West, The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams, Operation Heartbreak by Duff Cooper, Magnificient Rebel Nancy Cunard in Jazz Age Paris by Anne de Coucy, who is responsible for William Carlos Williams and other books like the Green Hat by Arlen being read currently. Clear is going on my list.
It is a tricky one, makes it all the more fun. I like how you did your top five and then the ‘extra credit’. I’m using that term in the future. It’s so much nicer than ‘honorary mentions’. Hope you enjoy Clear if you get to it!
Love your videos. Just a note though- characters in The Wren The Wren and Acts of Desperation are both Irish so name would be pronounced Carmel with the emphasis on CAR.. like Carmen but with an ‘L’ 😊
My top 5 of the year so far are: 1. Mongrel by Hanako Footman (exploring the life of a 'hafu' half-Japanese half British teen and 2 other women, very evocative) 2. Mrs S by K Patrick (what if Hannah Gadsby worked at a boarding school with a Gothic feel to it) 3. Catherine the Great and the Small by Olja Knezevic (I wanted to read a book from Montenegro and both the country and the book are hidden gems) 4. Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary (it's Irish, it's soul-crushing, what more can I say?) 5. God's Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu (short stories about being gay in Nigeria, but also about class and ethnicity)
I loved Mrs S when I read that last year and think about it a Loy. I also have the Footman, the Geary and the Ifeakandu on my TBR so will have to move them all higher up it.
Top 5 so far? Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan How To Build A Boat by Elaine Feeney Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Haworth
You only asked for a couple top books, but you’re getting the full 15! Still have Glorious Exploits here to read. I’ve just put a couple from your list on mine (Joshua Jones, Jon Ransom). As for your #1, here’s what I said about it in March when I read it: “Ultimately, a gorgeous book. It took a while to hook me, but once it did, I wanted more. What happened when two became three, I wonder? I was intrigued by the description of the history of the period found in the Author’s Note that I was completely unaware of. It’s an ambitious little treasure of a book.” 1. My Government Means to Kill Me - Rasheed Newson 2. Strangers - Taichi Yamada 3. Three Fires - Denise Mina (do on audio!) 4. Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson 5. The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle - Matt Cain 6. The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden 7. Lie With Me - Philippe Besson 8. Clear - Carys Davies 9. Blizzard - Marie Vingtras 10. Eastbound - Maylis De Kerangal 11. The Reformatory - Tananarive Due 12. Helle & Death - Oskar Jensen 13. The Excitements - C J Wray 14. Over My Dead Body - Maz Evans 15. The Collapsing Wave - Doug Johnstone
The brief was 3… or 5. Oh dear you’ve gone on my naughty list. Actually no with Newson on the top of your list you’re forgiven. The other 14 don’t even need acknowledging hahaha. Well Clear does.
My top 5 of the year so far are River East River West by Aube Rey Lescure, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (!!!), Housemates by Emma Copely Eisenberg, To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, and Bunny by Mona Awad. I did read Clear and loved it as well! Have you read anything else by Carys Davies that you'd recommend? (PS Hope you've been enjoying your time off!)
I may do a whole video on Carys Davies’ books as they’re all so good. Her short story collection The Redemption of Galen Pike is amazing. A near perfect collection. I also loved West. I must get to some Mona Awad, I think I would like them. I also have Housemates on my TBR. Thrilled to see I Who Have Never Known Men on your list. And I really liked River East River West, another book that’s grown and grown on me since I read it.
I was so so happy and relieved by the ending of Clear, I read this recently, just before the booker announcement and was disappointed not to see this one on the list too. I also would put Ordinary Human Failings in my top 5, along with Clear, My Friends, by Hisham Mitar, The New Life, and at no.1 Cuddy, by Benjamin Myers- this book is so unique and wonderful, I'm sad that it didn't make the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize, and missed out on other prize recognition. I think the Booker List is too American heavy, and as a consequence of Americans eligibility other countries are missing out which is a shame.
Yes, I agree about your Booker thoughts, no offence to all the lovely Americans I know but it has really shifted the focus and I think lessened the diversity. Mercedes was talking about this on her channel too and I completely agree. I loved The New Life when I read it last year, such a good book. You have me intrigued for My Friends, I think I recycled the proof in a moment of madness months ago, what a plonker. Cuddy is a book I am super surprised I haven't read as I love Ben Myers writing, and him as a person, and he has a new book out now that I also want to get my mitts on.
I've only got two Books of the Year so far as it's not been a great reading year for me, the two books are The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey and The Husbands by Holly Gramazio.
I am looking forward to getting to James and Pet. Sadly In Memoriam just isn't for me but I am very much in the minority. sooooooo many people love it and I am thrilled for them, hahaha.
Another good book I started reading is called North woods by Daniel Mason, it's set in new England over four centuries, it's a beautiful story and is a very interesting book to read
What I loved about The Wren, The Wren was how the three voices were so completely different on the page they could've been written by three different authors. Phil's chapter was definitely my favourite. I have I Who Have Never Known Men on my shelves but I'm a bit scared to pick it up...🫣
It isn't a scary book, well I didn't think so anyway ha. Interesting about Phil's being your favourite chapter, I thought that was my least favourite part (though I still loved it) as kind of didn't want his viewpoint, just Carmel and Nell's.
@@SavidgeReads I know, it surprised me too, but I think it was because it wasn't what I was expecting. I'd built up a totally different image of him from Carmel and Nell's chapters.
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Stoneyard devotional and Echoes are still on my TBR. Hearing you talk about them just bumped them up to the top
Hooray!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Ooooh, goody! 🎉 You're back ( ish)....and with a goodie!! 😂 Sunday evening, post supper chill sorted, ta Simon. Hope all is good with you and accompanying menagerie 🥰 🌻😎 back after 🍽️
He is back, ish. Well maybe back just with one video a week like the olden days. We shall see!
Really love listening to you discuss the books you’ve read! Thank you for your candid and real reactions.
Awwww that is very kind of you to say! Thanks Holly!
SIMON! Your videos are killing my bank balance as that’s another ton of books I need to buy 😂
Whoops. If it helps they’re going to be less regular so the damage won’t be so often 🤣
@@SavidgeReads 🤣🤣
So true!!
My top 5 for the year, so far, are:
“The Coast Road” by Alan Murrin
“Christ on a Bike” By Orla Owen
“Whale Fall” by Elizabeth O’Connor
“Clear” by Carys Davies
“How to Say Babylon” by Safiya Sinclair.
Book tingle really is a thing.😁
Hooray! Two mutual favourites. I am really keen to read The Coast Road very soon and have Christ on a Bike and Whale Fall on the TBR. So now all the more excited to read them.
THANK YOU - your support for TML means so much. And now my TBR is even bigger xx
A pleasure, such a wonderful book, thank YOU for writing it. And always a joy to add books to other peoples TBR’s. Hehehe. 🦜
What a fantastic list. I think Clear is Davies’ best novel, which is saying something, and I also thought the ending was unexpected and incredibly well done. Definitely the mark of a great book is how long it stays with you. Favorite reads this year so far include The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek Miller, Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan and You Are Here by David Nicholls. So glad to have your Sunday videos back to brighten up the end of the weekend!
I absolutely loved the ending of Clear, in fact it may be one of my favourite endings of a book ever. There, I have said it. I loooooved David Nicholls You Are Here, read it in July though ;)
Great video - fantastic list! Hope you've had a good break and looking forward to some more content when the time is right for you.
Top 5 books of the year -
1. I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman
2. England is Mine - Nicolas Padamsee
3. Soldier Sailor - Claire Kilroy
4. The Echoes - Evie Wyld
4. Brotherless Night - VV Ganeshenanthan
Oooh we’ve some mutual favourites and I know mum really loved England is Mine so I’m doubly intrigued for that now!
Well, my favorite this year is I Who Have Never Known Men! My god, what a book! I have Clear on my nightstand, and I'm ordering Stoneyard Devotional, Echoes (I adore Evie Wyld,) and Pity next! 💚
What a book indeed. It was my favourite by a country mile… until I read Clear. Ha. Hope you enjoy that when you get to it. And the Wyld and the Wood.
So many books I've not heard of, which is why I love your channel! I'm so glad you loved I Who Have Never Known men, its one of my all time favourite books! And well done for calling Stone Yard Devotional for the Booker, it's head to the top of my TBR now!
Oooh I hope you enjoy Stone Yard Devotional as much as I did when you get to it. I think it’s quite special. I think I Who Have Never Known Men is such a brilliant book. Soooooo good.
This is my first time watching you, and you cannot imagine how glad I am that I’ve found your channel. It’s definitely going to be one of my go-tos for book recommendations, especially literary fiction! ^^
Thank you so much! That’s so lovely to hear. Hope some of the recommendations are big bookish hits with you when you get to them!
Loving the t-shirt! I have Clear coming through the door tomorrow, can't wait Thanks
I hope you love it as much as I did!
I picked up Glorious Exploits after hearing you and your mum talk about it, and THANK YOU because I think it's the best thing I've read this year. Totally took me by surprise, I've can't think of a book that balances enjoyment and emotional impact as well as it. So wonderful.
I also loved I Who Have Never Known Men and Pity. So many of the rest are going on my TBR!
I’m soooooo pleased you loved Glorious Exploits. That makes me very very happy!
You’re Back!!!! Some of my favorites…The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Still Life, The House of Doors & JAMES! I’m putting The Echoes on my radar(not out in US)…just started There There by Tommy Orange and also picked up Wandering Stars by him as well!
Anticipating Jennifer Saints new book Hera, out this month!
I’m sort of back. Like back… but maybe not quite as often as in previous years. Still Life is an absolute fav of mine since it came out. I loved The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store last year. I’ve recently got There There and want to read it and see if I want to read Wandering Stars.
Totally agree re Brotherless Nights - it was a great read !
A fabulous book indeed.
So many books I NEED to get to on this list. God I LOVED The Slap so much, need to pick up The In-Between.
You do you do you do. It’s 🌶️
Yes! The ending of Clear was unpredictable to me, but lovely
Yes, that was my experience too and I loved it for that all the more.
Yay ❤ Missed seeing your lovely face! Thank you for that reviews!
Glad you enjoyed them. I’m making a very slow return to BookTube but you should see me around these parts again in the next week.
Top five books I've read so far this year (in no particular order as it keeps changing):
Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Bee Sting - Paul Murray
Soldier Sailor - Claire Kilroy
Two Years before the Mast - Richard Henry Dana
Hooray for Glorious Exploits, what a brilliant book! 🏺
I read “I Who Have Never Known Men” thanks to you…loved it! My recommendation to you would be Remarkably Bright Creatures. A “pallet cleanser” as you say, but oh so good for your heart. Speaking of hearts…Shark Heart was a good ride too ❤
Yes, I have Shark Heart to read and am very much looking forward to it, hope to read it over the summer - though summer here is being a really patchy minx. More grey days than sunny ones so far. So pleased you loved I Who Have Never Known Men and thrilled I pointed you in the direction of it, woohoo!
Clear was my most surprising read in the mid year freak out tag because of that ending! So many of these books in common which is good but also rely on your videos to explode my TBR! 😂
Hahaha. I hope this causes an explosion on your tbr. I’ve a haul and a wrap up coming soon so they may well help! Maybe. Ha.
My top five this year (in no particular order): Cleopatra and Frankenstein, The God in the woods, All the colours in the dark, Brotherless night, Weyward (closely followed by In Memoriam - sorry, Simon!)
We all love what we love! And lots of you are in that In Memoriam cult, though I can't believe you had to mention it to me when it wasn't even in your top five, hahahaha. I am very much looking forward to The God in the Woods. I haven't heard of All The Colours in the Dark so I shall look that up.
I have your #2 and can’t wait to read it. Your #1 sounds really good too. Love that your list has several books I’ve never heard of. 😊💙
Glad you enjoyed the list and hope you enjoy my first and second choices when you get to them!
Hi Simon - it's good to have you back! Hope you are enjoying your summer. 😃
I am not quite back, I am sort of back, we will see. I want to make sure real life is getting priority and so far this summer has been too much travelling and the return of covid, gah! So I am trying a slow return, we will see how we go.
@@SavidgeReads That's the beauty of being self-employed - you get to set the pace. I enjoyed getting a new video to tide us over in the meantime. 😉
Yay! Simone sighting!!! Woohoo!!! Hope you had a lovely break.🩷🩷🩷
Ha. The break isn’t over quite yet. I might be back for a bit and then disappear, or be less regular on here. Depends if any content creation takes my fancy.
I haven’t read any Cary Davies but picked up West in a book haul on holiday look forward to reading it with all the other books I picked up! A few of my favourite reads this year have been Black Butterflies, The Storm We Made, This is not a Pity Memoir, The Women and A little Liar. I have been enjoying a good story this year and a bit of nonfiction too.
West is a very, very good Davies. I hope you enjoy it. I think she such a great writer. I enjoyed Black Butterflies when I read it last year, the same year The Storm We Made was one of my very favourites 🥳
Just finished Jaded by Ela Lee which I loved very viscerally. Very interesting if it’ll be in the top ten at the end of the year - which I feel quite confident it will be. But excited to find out!
Auē by Becky Manawatu with its nz setting has a special place in my heart, and so does Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald but for different reasons. And just started Evenings and Weekends today!
Glad to hear you’ve had a cracking reading year so far (and not so meh after all 🥰)
Happy to have you back, Simon! (In whatever capacity ofc)
I know a few people who have really loved Jaded so I must get to it at some point. Thank you for the reminder. Auē I have on my TBR, will make sure I don’t box it up when I start storing books while the library is done, Glasgow boys too!
@@SavidgeReads Jaded is a really gut-punching and confronting read but so worth it imo. Thought it was exquisite. Really hope you enjoy all three!
Lovely to have a video from you, Simon! Just want my Sunday needed ❤ hope you’re well 😊
Awwww I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve actually been quite ill (this was filmed at the start of last month) but am on the way to recovery hopefully.
I loved Brotherless Night too. Thanks again for my copy of ordinary human failings!
It feels like everyone has read and loved I who have never known men this year 😊
I am definitely up for reading Clear, as I read West last year and thought it was fantastic.
Carys is soooo good and Clear is my favourite of her novels, West is probably my second favourite. The short story collections are fab. I Who Have Never Known Men is just brilliant. Hope you enjoy Ordinary Human Failings. I lived Brotherless Night but I do wonder if by the end of the year it’ll be in my top ten. Gasp!!! 😮
It's weird, but I feel just the same about Brotherless Night! It was 5* at the time, but it's faded quite a lot and I'm not sure it would make my list at the end of the year either. Funny we both feel the same!
Hi Simon 👋🏻 good to see you on here & with a super fave books so far roundup 📚🤗
I’ve read & really enjoyed those by Safiya Sinclair, Megan Nolan & Carys Davies 👍
I’m going to have a ponder about my top 3/5 📚😘 TC X
PS - one of them will be The Weekend by Charlotte Wood 😌
Ah, The Weekend. Another Charlotte Wood banger. She’s sooooooo good. Lovely we’ve some mutual favs.
I forgot to add Brotherless Night d’oh 🙄 👏🏻
You must take credit for introducing me to many (new-for-me) authors 🤗👍😘 X
ahhh i need to stick with my contemporaries and get to Evenings and Weekends! and WHY is that cover so stunning! need it!
It's soooooooo good. I think I love the American cover more though, maybe, I think.
Excellent video in all respects !Very entertaining and also very informative.
I also adored CLEAR and several of the others on your list.
I just ordered GLORIOUS EXPLOITS as I have not read that one.
Thank you! You are adorable. 😊
Awww, that is very kind of you to say. I hope you enjoy Glorious Exploits as much as I did, I think it is an absolute corker. Clear is a wonder of a book, just sooooo good.
Great video Simon, so many books to add to my tor 💕 I loved Blue sisters by Coco Mellors and Ordinary Human Feelings by Megan Nolan. I also thought Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy and The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes were excellent
I can’t wait to pick up The Wren The wren and Evenings and weekends 💕
I discovered a proof of The Alternatives just the other day when I was 'partly' sorting some of the library. I met her at an event recently and she was lovely and had seen Mercedes saying lovely things about the book too... so it seemed like fate and now you have mentioned it and reminded me to boost it up the TBR. Hope you enjoy the Enright and the McKenna when you get to them!
What a fab list! I think my top 3 of the year so far (in no particular order) - North Wood by Daniel Mason, Foster by Claire Keegan & The Offing by Benjamin Myers. Thought all three were wonderful!
The Offing is such a fabulous book. I am a big fan of Benjamin Myers, that said I don't think I have read his last three books which is very naughty of me.
@@SavidgeReads it's a really intoxicating read, I felt v emotional when I finished it. There's something about it that really reminds me of A Month in the Country, which I also love. I know that's one of your faves too! Both feel like healing books & are really powerful.
My Monday will be better now I have this for a Sunday evening! thank you
Awwww that is a lovely thing to say, thank you!
Needed a bookish video tonight, Simon, after so much depressing news. Thank you.
Sorry that you have had some depressing news, hope things are brighter sooner.
@@SavidgeReads I just meant the general news in the UK right now. Grim.
@@carolewatson2113 yes it is. Sorry, I thought you meant some personal news. Glad it wasn’t, what’s going on here is awful.
Patrick Leigh Fermor's 'A Time Of Gifts' and 'Between The Woods and The Water'.
I have wanted to read This Motherless land after seeing Nikki and you talk about at the WPL. Just sounds so good!! Looking forward to Charlotte Wood’s latest too. Great list Simon 📚❤️
My number 1 book of the year at the moment is Far From The Madding Crowd. 2 is Brotherless Night & after that I am not sure.
Ooh that’s a lovely eclectic pairing at your top two Charlie! This Motherless Land is soooo good. Cannot recommend enough. Also, sorry we didn’t get to speak at the WPL. I saw you in the audience at the event and then we had that quick hello when I was talking to Susanna with Mum, but couldn’t find you before the final readings.
@@SavidgeReads Myself & Gem weren’t our best selves that day anyways as Alice was super sick in hospital. We only went because we knew she wouldn’t have wanted us to miss out. That being said it was was nice to say hi to you & your mum ❤️xx
@@CharlieBrookReads totally understandable 💜
Yep, I think that was a decent summary of the Charlotte Wood. It was a bit of a slog but by the end it was totally worth it!
I dint find it a slog, sorry you did though glad overall you liked it.
Clear is so good. Will probably be in my top 5.
Of the whole year, wowsers - I feel the same.
❤ Hi 👋 ya Simon. Missed you. Hope you had a good break away. 🥰
I did. I’m not back back, back-ish is what I’m calling it for now. Ha!
I love the cover of Glorious Exploits!
That's the US one, it is a corker.
Thanks for sharing your list! I too was disappointed Clear did not make the Booker Longlist. My top 5 of 2024 So Far:
1. James - Percival Everett
2. The Heart in WInter - Kevin Barry
3. Clear - Carys Davies
4. Blue Ruin - Hari Kunzru
5. (tie) Brat - Gabriel Smith / The God of the Woods - Liz Moore / The History of Sound: Stories - Ben Shattuck
Clear was ROBBED! Hahaha. I was thrilled to see Charlotte Wood on the list though. I have some very strong opinions on Brat in my next wrap up 👀 I’m very keen to read The God of the Woods, that’s in my next haul.
My top 5 are: 5. Tib Street Ballroom by Keira Willis, 4. There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak, 3. The Trouble With Goats & Sheep by Joanna Cannon, 2. Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom, 1, The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. I've been loving Agatha Christie too but she probably deserves her own list.
Ooh what a fab mix of books, I am treating myself to a few days with There Are Rivers in the Sky soon. I want to have nothing else planned so I can get really lost in it. Love Joanna Cannon, every one of her books is brilliant.
Yes!!! You know how I feel about I Who Have Never Known Men. In my top 5. I also loved Clear.
A few other favs:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.
My nonfiction pick is brother. do. you. love. me. By Manni Coe. It’s a story about Manni and his brother who has Down syndrome. He was in a care home when Covid hit and this is the story of his recovery from that experience.
Oooh Manni's book was one of my mums absolute favourites last year, I am definitely going to get to it at some point. Thrilled Clear and I Who Have Never Known Men Are in your top 5 too. I really, really need to read The God of the Woods. I need to find a time when I can just get lost in it... well not so lost I never come back out. Tom Lake I might actually do on audio just for Meryl, even though I am not the biggest Patchett fan. And Chris Whitaker is getting a few recommendations so maybe I need to try him out too.
@@SavidgeReads the audio of Tom Lake made it such a better book 😂. I was listening the Liz Moore while I was visiting my daughter in Maine and staying in the woods 😳
Well this made my day after a shocking day at work - pjs on and a cuppa, saying to myself “you can buy one of Simon’s top books” to cheer myself up. I picked This Motherless Land 😊
Oooh you have picked an absolute treat there Lee. How lovely to join you in what sounds like such a cosy environment, sorry about the shocking day!
Five favorite novels so far this year (this is a difficult assignment Simon) Two by Hernan Diaz, In the Distance and Trust, The House by Teresa Waugh, Stephen King's Elevation and Holly. Okay, extra credit, other favorite reads, The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning, somehow missed that one when first published, The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West, The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams, Operation Heartbreak by Duff Cooper, Magnificient Rebel Nancy Cunard in Jazz Age Paris by Anne de Coucy, who is responsible for William Carlos Williams and other books like the Green Hat by Arlen being read currently. Clear is going on my list.
It is a tricky one, makes it all the more fun. I like how you did your top five and then the ‘extra credit’. I’m using that term in the future. It’s so much nicer than ‘honorary mentions’. Hope you enjoy Clear if you get to it!
Stoneyard and Ordinary Human Failings would be in mine too ❤ I reeeeally need to read I who have never known men
You do it is fabulous, thrilled we have some favourites in common.
Love your videos. Just a note though- characters in The Wren The Wren and Acts of Desperation are both Irish so name would be pronounced Carmel with the emphasis on CAR.. like Carmen but with an ‘L’ 😊
Ah ok. I thought I did. Ha.
Thank you! Great video!
Pleasure 📚
I love love loved Clear!!
Hooray! So lovely to hear so many lovely people have been fans of it too.
adds the top 2 in my tbr
Hooray… though obviously would recommend requesting all 18 from your library. Hahaha.
My top 5 of the year so far are:
1. Mongrel by Hanako Footman (exploring the life of a 'hafu' half-Japanese half British teen and 2 other women, very evocative)
2. Mrs S by K Patrick (what if Hannah Gadsby worked at a boarding school with a Gothic feel to it)
3. Catherine the Great and the Small by Olja Knezevic (I wanted to read a book from Montenegro and both the country and the book are hidden gems)
4. Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary (it's Irish, it's soul-crushing, what more can I say?)
5. God's Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu (short stories about being gay in Nigeria, but also about class and ethnicity)
I loved Mrs S when I read that last year and think about it a Loy. I also have the Footman, the Geary and the Ifeakandu on my TBR so will have to move them all higher up it.
Clear is my top read of this year also!
@@rebeccamaclean6242 whoop whoop 🥳📚
Top 5 so far?
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan
How To Build A Boat by Elaine Feeney
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Haworth
Oooh we have one the same in our top 5, woohoo 🥳
@@SavidgeReads if more than 5 were allowed it would be more. I’ve added Clear and Echoes to my wish list
Enjoyed Evenings and Weekends
Glad to hear it!
You only asked for a couple top books, but you’re getting the full 15! Still have Glorious Exploits here to read. I’ve just put a couple from your list on mine (Joshua Jones, Jon Ransom).
As for your #1, here’s what I said about it in March when I read it: “Ultimately, a gorgeous book. It took a while to hook me, but once it did, I wanted more. What happened when two became three, I wonder? I was intrigued by the description of the history of the period found in the Author’s Note that I was completely unaware of. It’s an ambitious little treasure of a book.”
1. My Government Means to Kill Me - Rasheed Newson
2. Strangers - Taichi Yamada
3. Three Fires - Denise Mina (do on audio!)
4. Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson
5. The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle - Matt Cain
6. The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
7. Lie With Me - Philippe Besson
8. Clear - Carys Davies
9. Blizzard - Marie Vingtras
10. Eastbound - Maylis De Kerangal
11. The Reformatory - Tananarive Due
12. Helle & Death - Oskar Jensen
13. The Excitements - C J Wray
14. Over My Dead Body - Maz Evans
15. The Collapsing Wave - Doug Johnstone
The brief was 3… or 5. Oh dear you’ve gone on my naughty list. Actually no with Newson on the top of your list you’re forgiven. The other 14 don’t even need acknowledging hahaha. Well Clear does.
This Life was awesome!
Wasn’t it just a brilliant show… well apart from the reunion one lol. We won’t think of it!
My top 5 of the year so far are River East River West by Aube Rey Lescure, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (!!!), Housemates by Emma Copely Eisenberg, To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, and Bunny by Mona Awad. I did read Clear and loved it as well! Have you read anything else by Carys Davies that you'd recommend? (PS Hope you've been enjoying your time off!)
I may do a whole video on Carys Davies’ books as they’re all so good. Her short story collection The Redemption of Galen Pike is amazing. A near perfect collection. I also loved West. I must get to some Mona Awad, I think I would like them. I also have Housemates on my TBR. Thrilled to see I Who Have Never Known Men on your list. And I really liked River East River West, another book that’s grown and grown on me since I read it.
@@SavidgeReads Ooh a Carys Davies video would be lovely! Thanks for the recs Simon! ☺️
I preach to every fellow book lover I know about Clear by Carys Davies! It's my top novel of the year so far. Absolute perfection!!!
Hahahaha, this is what I like to hear.
I need that shirt
I'm definitely a proponent of the Savidge book charts
Hahahaha. I think a weekly chart might be too much. Hahaha. A monthly chart though…
It’s from ASOS!
I was so so happy and relieved by the ending of Clear, I read this recently, just before the booker announcement and was disappointed not to see this one on the list too. I also would put Ordinary Human Failings in my top 5, along with Clear, My Friends, by Hisham Mitar, The New Life, and at no.1 Cuddy, by Benjamin Myers- this book is so unique and wonderful, I'm sad that it didn't make the shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize, and missed out on other prize recognition. I think the Booker List is too American heavy, and as a consequence of Americans eligibility other countries are missing out which is a shame.
Yes, I agree about your Booker thoughts, no offence to all the lovely Americans I know but it has really shifted the focus and I think lessened the diversity. Mercedes was talking about this on her channel too and I completely agree. I loved The New Life when I read it last year, such a good book. You have me intrigued for My Friends, I think I recycled the proof in a moment of madness months ago, what a plonker. Cuddy is a book I am super surprised I haven't read as I love Ben Myers writing, and him as a person, and he has a new book out now that I also want to get my mitts on.
I've only got two Books of the Year so far as it's not been a great reading year for me, the two books are The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey and The Husbands by Holly Gramazio.
I have not read either of those but I do have both, so they’ve just gone a little higher up the TBR!
I have not read either of those but I do have both, so they’ve just gone a little higher up the TBR!
Some great books to put on my list! Oh, and what book are you reading Simon? 💕📚
Hahaha I can’t remember what I was reading when I wore that. Actually was early July so was read secret things for a prize. Ha!
My top books so far
James by Percival Everett
Pet by Catherine Chidgey
In Memoriam by Alice Winn, I think this will be my book of the year
I am looking forward to getting to James and Pet. Sadly In Memoriam just isn't for me but I am very much in the minority. sooooooo many people love it and I am thrilled for them, hahaha.
I know what you mean I felt like that about Hamnet and A Little Life
@@karenshann ha. I loooooved those two.
Hi Simon love the tee shirt
Thank you!!
@@SavidgeReadsyou're welcome Simon.
Simon I started reading yellow face by Rebecca f. Kuang, it's a very good read
Another good book I started reading is called North woods by Daniel Mason, it's set in new England over four centuries, it's a beautiful story and is a very interesting book to read
try warm hands of the ghost no one is hyping it and they should
Oooh who is it by?
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added a bunch of these to my [misshapen] tbr - thank you! i think i'll start clear today, actually :)
ooooh I hope you love it as much as I did, no pressure obvs ;)
What I loved about The Wren, The Wren was how the three voices were so completely different on the page they could've been written by three different authors. Phil's chapter was definitely my favourite. I have I Who Have Never Known Men on my shelves but I'm a bit scared to pick it up...🫣
It isn't a scary book, well I didn't think so anyway ha. Interesting about Phil's being your favourite chapter, I thought that was my least favourite part (though I still loved it) as kind of didn't want his viewpoint, just Carmel and Nell's.
@@SavidgeReads I know, it surprised me too, but I think it was because it wasn't what I was expecting. I'd built up a totally different image of him from Carmel and Nell's chapters.