Oh my, I totally agree: the counterintuitive answer to whether or not I want to let the BookTube community govern some of my own precious reading time is overwhelmingly YES - for the very reason you mention: we’re all mucking in together, which is just so much fun.
It is counterintuitive, isn't it? And yet once you find a bookish community, it feels so obvious that "mucking in together" is what we are meant to do!
I don't fear death. I do fear the process of dying. My own father's death from pancreatic cancer fifteen months ago was blessedly quick and fortunately his pain could be mitigated. But he still had long hours to think about what was happening and would happen and he did still have to go through the indignities that go along with dying. I doubt that I can handle it with the strength and grace he showed, but I hope that can manage some part of it.
Thank you so much, Elisabeth. I am always amazed by how important specific books are in my memories of important parts of my life. Tess is in two of those moments.
Thank you so much for tagging me, Heather. I also appreciate your sensitivity when you mentioned that it might not feel like the right time; that was very kind.
Thank you for this video, Hannah. Yes, yes, on your interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ poem. I’m crying now, but that’s not a bad thing. Thank you again for sharing so much of yourself here. ❤
I knew you would have given this much thought over the past few years, and I appreciate how you make this topic seem less depressing. I have given thought to the fact that our last book may be well before our death. I think of my 104 year old grandmother who stopped reading when her macular degeneration progressed to the point she could no longer read about 10 years ago. Now she has dementia so even if she had chosen audiobooks after she stopped reading, she wouldn't be able to enjoy those either. We can't know when and why we may no longer read so we need to enjoy our books today.
Oh yes, Laurie--you are so right that our reading might end from dementia or other issues--and even from a choice to devote time to something else. And that is absolutely reasonable! My thoughts are with you as you spend time with your grandmother. It is so hard to go through this sometimes...
Thank you for this Hannah. So many of your thoughts and answers mirror my own. I'm 71 and and have a 40 year old special needs son, who has been close to death more than once. Also my sister (66) has multiple disabilities. I'm not alone. My daughter lives in NYC (44), and Iam in North San Diego County. But yes!!! How many more books will I get to read??? ❤💚💙📚📚📚🤗
Having people who depend on us--and on whom we depend--is such a wonderful part of our lives, but it is also what makes this mortality thing so incredibly hard, isn't it?
As usual, another very thought-provoking video. I watched this earlier in the day and it's been on my mind ever since. I'm so glad I found your channel. You really make me think and feel, and I'm so very grateful to you.
We live with mortality. And grief. I too saw David's video, but I'd already answered some of his questions via my videos. I only read and discuss books I very much enjoy. So there won't be a "tbr" of random books I bought. Those days ended years ago. I'm a slow reader. Sometimes I even read out loud passages I like, and re-read them. I also re-read books, who are like intimate friends who know me better than I understand them. Mortality is a common theme in Hardy. Maybe you are correct about your husband's unwillingness to finish Tess. If he is like me after I read something impressionable and close my eyes to rest, the words that produced those images take a life of their own in my mind and into my dreams. It's likely your husband had good company when he closed his eyes for the last time.
What a beautiful comment. I so agree with you about rereading and rereading again the books that are like our intimate friends. I suspect those books will be the ones that mean the most to us at the end of our lives.
I think often about what will happen to us as we age or become ill; I hope I have the same grace about it all as you have shown, Hannah. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I'm so sorry for your loss Hannah. You and your husband were so young when diagnosed with your cancers, and when he passed. While we know life can be wonderful, it can also be cruel. 💔My dad was diagnosed with a terminal, very rare, brain degenerative disease in 2019 (when he was 64) and passed in 2022. His disease impacted his cognitive and bodily functions so it felt especially cruel - the decline day after day. Our only solace was he was home the entire time and with me and my mom all the time. If I'm really honest with myself, death terrifies me, but I try not to think about it too much and instead try to focus on the present - at least for now. Not sure what I am trying to say anymore. Praying for you and your family. ♥
Thank you so much, Christina, for your beautiful comment. I am so sorry you went through such hard days with your father. And I am so glad you could all be together. Lots of love to you. (I am terribly behind on my comments. My apologies.)
Thank you so much, James. I can imagine you might really enjoy Hardy. Many of his books are actually rooted in English folk music. (Under the Greenwood Tree is the one most rooted in music, I guess, although it is pretty much nobody's favorite Hardy.)
Thank you for your version of this tag and the video that resulted. With the loss of your husband and dealing with your own health issues I hope it was a healing experience to answer the questions. Death has been on my mind as my younger brother (62) took his own life this past Saturday. It forces one to take stock of our own mortality. Many in my family have experienced sudden cardiac death so the lingering in an state of suffering has not been an experience in my personal life. Although in a way I have watched my brother suffer with severe mental illness most of his life, so I guess in someway I have. I have witnessed prolonged end of life suffering in my professional life as a nurse and it is tough to watch. I do think sometimes that life is short for my reading life as I am 65 yo and I have just came back to reading regularly since finding booktube a few years back. I have collected many of the books I would like to read but it may be impossible to read them all. I would like to pass on the books I own as I read them as part of the Swedish Death cleaning project I hope to complete as I go along. I would like to lovingly pass them on before I die to people I think would like them. Thank you again for your thoughtful answers to these tag questions. It was comforting to me.
Oh, Marcia... I am so very sorry for your loss. As hard as it is to watch someone decline slowly, I can't even imagine the sudden and unexpected death of loved ones. Sending you so much love and peace...
Beautiful job with this tag Hannah. I think we need to talk about grief more. I wonder if and how I can fit that into my project. I guess biographies might work. I haven't generally participated in very many reading events. I wondered whether I should try, especially as a new channel, but I think it's okay to do my own thing.
Dear Hannah, thank you so much for the very thoughtful, profound and personally touching response to my little tag. You've given me a lot of inspiration for further reflection. Thank you!
Great job w this tag, Hannah, and thank you, very much, for tagging me, especially since--as you mentioned--I'm in a bit of a video making slump. Next time youre on the Monday Night Live Show, we'll all talk more about the books you and David loved. 😊 My son's middle name is Dylan Thomas; yes: named by me.
Crazy thing, I enjoy hearing you talk about David. (I had listened to that interview you pointed to and liked him.) Death - in the abstract - is ever present before my partner and me (and often enough not in the abstract), so I find it very relatable. I’ve read _Tess_ so I suppose his setting it aside seems right to me; how much better to spend time with the Wife of Bath. 😂
Thank you so much, David. I am sorry that death has to enter your lives so often. I love Tess--and Hardy in general--very much, but I hear you that not everyone will want to wallow in misery all the time. Wife of Bath did bring us both a lot of joy--and the Marion Turner book about her is fantastic.
Hi Hannah, this was a wonderful video. It really provided some solace as I am dealing with my father's (who is in hospice) health situation. He was a reader, but he has probably read his last book, a few days ago. Thank you for sharing.🥰
Oh, Jorge... I'm so sorry. I know this is an especially hard time. That step from reader to nonreader is just one on that string of changes and declines. All my love to you and your family.
"a large majority of people have from time IMMEMORIAL felt the need of believing in a continuance of life. In spite of the fact that by far the larger part of mankind does not know why the body needs salt, everyone demands it none the less because of an instinctive compulsion. It is the same in things of the Psyche...and therefore we are thinking correctly with respect to the meaning of life, even though we do not understand what we think." "Shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose. I therefore consider the relegious teaching of a life hereafter consonant with the standpoint of psychic hygiene" "it is a question neither of beliefs or knowledge " Carl Jung to read more see MODERN MAN IN SEARCH OF A SOUL this man is the real deal
Thank you, Chris. I love the comment that "shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal." Personally, I don't take comfort in an afterlife, but at least from this quote I really want to go read Jung now!
@@HannahsBooks No, thank you. Started out my day watching this (had it on my watch-later list) And it really set the tone for today. I felt a bit gloomy waking up in the morning, but after watching it sort of told me that that's ok. Hugs ❤️
Oh my, I totally agree: the counterintuitive answer to whether or not I want to let the BookTube community govern some of my own precious reading time is overwhelmingly YES - for the very reason you mention: we’re all mucking in together, which is just so much fun.
It is counterintuitive, isn't it? And yet once you find a bookish community, it feels so obvious that "mucking in together" is what we are meant to do!
I don't fear death. I do fear the process of dying. My own father's death from pancreatic cancer fifteen months ago was blessedly quick and fortunately his pain could be mitigated. But he still had long hours to think about what was happening and would happen and he did still have to go through the indignities that go along with dying. I doubt that I can handle it with the strength and grace he showed, but I hope that can manage some part of it.
It is so hard to lose people we love, even when suffering can be mitigated. I know you must miss him...
Emma Thompson’s performance in the HBO adaptation of “Wit” has stayed with me.
Absolutely! That Runaway Bunny scene…
This was very thoughtful. The story about Tess of the D’Ubervilles was particularly moving. ❤
Thank you so much, Elisabeth. I am always amazed by how important specific books are in my memories of important parts of my life. Tess is in two of those moments.
Thinking of you, Hannah! I felt pain listening to this but hearing about David and your loving voice was a solace.
Thank you, Maria, for all of your support. I so appreciate your kind words and generosity.
I knew you would make an incredible video. Yours is my no.1 tag response so far - thank you
Thank you so much for tagging me, Heather. I also appreciate your sensitivity when you mentioned that it might not feel like the right time; that was very kind.
Sending love and hugs Ms. Hannah.
Thanks, Kaye. It is so wonderful to have you all here on booktube!
Hannah, thank you for having this conversation.
Thank you so much. I am so glad all of you are here and part of the booktube community!
Thank you for this video, Hannah. Yes, yes, on your interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ poem. I’m crying now, but that’s not a bad thing. Thank you again for sharing so much of yourself here. ❤
Thank you so much, Pat. I love your comment that crying is not a bad thing!
Really enjoy listening to your memories and books that hold space within them.🥰
Thank you so much, Deea. I love the way you word that!
I knew you would have given this much thought over the past few years, and I appreciate how you make this topic seem less depressing.
I have given thought to the fact that our last book may be well before our death. I think of my 104 year old grandmother who stopped reading when her macular degeneration progressed to the point she could no longer read about 10 years ago. Now she has dementia so even if she had chosen audiobooks after she stopped reading, she wouldn't be able to enjoy those either. We can't know when and why we may no longer read so we need to enjoy our books today.
Oh yes, Laurie--you are so right that our reading might end from dementia or other issues--and even from a choice to devote time to something else. And that is absolutely reasonable! My thoughts are with you as you spend time with your grandmother. It is so hard to go through this sometimes...
Thank you for this Hannah. So many of your thoughts and answers mirror my own. I'm 71 and and have a 40 year old special needs son, who has been close to death more than once. Also my sister (66) has multiple disabilities. I'm not alone. My daughter lives in NYC (44), and Iam in North San Diego County. But yes!!! How many more books will I get to read??? ❤💚💙📚📚📚🤗
Having people who depend on us--and on whom we depend--is such a wonderful part of our lives, but it is also what makes this mortality thing so incredibly hard, isn't it?
Hannah, thanks so much for this thoughtful conversation.
I’ve read Gawande’s Being Mortal twice; it left a deep impression.
Thank you, Lindy. Yes, Being Mortal is such an important and moving book.
Hannah, thank you for yet another thoughtful and thought-provoking video. You never disappoint. May you be well. xo
You are very kind, Nina. Thank you!
As usual, another very thought-provoking video. I watched this earlier in the day and it's been on my mind ever since. I'm so glad I found your channel. You really make me think and feel, and I'm so very grateful to you.
Thank you so much, Mike. What a kind comment!
We live with mortality. And grief. I too saw David's video, but I'd already answered some of his questions via my videos. I only read and discuss books I very much enjoy. So there won't be a "tbr" of random books I bought. Those days ended years ago. I'm a slow reader. Sometimes I even read out loud passages I like, and re-read them. I also re-read books, who are like intimate friends who know me better than I understand them. Mortality is a common theme in Hardy. Maybe you are correct about your husband's unwillingness to finish Tess. If he is like me after I read something impressionable and close my eyes to rest, the words that produced those images take a life of their own in my mind and into my dreams. It's likely your husband had good company when he closed his eyes for the last time.
What a beautiful comment. I so agree with you about rereading and rereading again the books that are like our intimate friends. I suspect those books will be the ones that mean the most to us at the end of our lives.
I believe they will, and thank you. Best to you from Texas. @@HannahsBooks
I think often about what will happen to us as we age or become ill; I hope I have the same grace about it all as you have shown, Hannah. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Thank you so much, Sonya. That is incredibly kind of you to say.
I'm so sorry for your loss Hannah. You and your husband were so young when diagnosed with your cancers, and when he passed. While we know life can be wonderful, it can also be cruel. 💔My dad was diagnosed with a terminal, very rare, brain degenerative disease in 2019 (when he was 64) and passed in 2022. His disease impacted his cognitive and bodily functions so it felt especially cruel - the decline day after day. Our only solace was he was home the entire time and with me and my mom all the time. If I'm really honest with myself, death terrifies me, but I try not to think about it too much and instead try to focus on the present - at least for now. Not sure what I am trying to say anymore. Praying for you and your family. ♥
Thank you so much, Christina, for your beautiful comment. I am so sorry you went through such hard days with your father. And I am so glad you could all be together. Lots of love to you. (I am terribly behind on my comments. My apologies.)
Beautiful responses Hannah - thanks for sharing ❤
Thank you so much for dropping by and for your kind comment. I'm thrilled to have found your channel, too!
Thank you for this episode , your thoughts and comments. Very special for me. Also, hello from Delaware .
Thank you so much, Robin, for your kind words. Hellow to you, too!
Thank you for this thoughtful talk Hannah. David sounds like a great guy and I'm sorry for your loss. Maybe I'll move Tess up in my TBR.
Thank you so much, James. I can imagine you might really enjoy Hardy. Many of his books are actually rooted in English folk music. (Under the Greenwood Tree is the one most rooted in music, I guess, although it is pretty much nobody's favorite Hardy.)
This is such a thoughtful discussion. Thank you, Hannah 💛
Thank you so much, Katja. So lovely to have you here!
Thank you for your version of this tag and the video that resulted. With the loss of your husband and dealing with your own health issues I hope it was a healing experience to answer the questions. Death has been on my mind as my younger brother (62) took his own life this past Saturday. It forces one to take stock of our own mortality. Many in my family have experienced sudden cardiac death so the lingering in an state of suffering has not been an experience in my personal life. Although in a way I have watched my brother suffer with severe mental illness most of his life, so I guess in someway I have. I have witnessed prolonged end of life suffering in my professional life as a nurse and it is tough to watch. I do think sometimes that life is short for my reading life as I am 65 yo and I have just came back to reading regularly since finding booktube a few years back. I have collected many of the books I would like to read but it may be impossible to read them all. I would like to pass on the books I own as I read them as part of the Swedish Death cleaning project I hope to complete as I go along. I would like to lovingly pass them on before I die to people I think would like them. Thank you again for your thoughtful answers to these tag questions. It was comforting to me.
Marcia, I am so sorry to hear of your brother and for your loss. ♥
@@anenthusiasticreader thank you
Oh, Marcia... I am so very sorry for your loss. As hard as it is to watch someone decline slowly, I can't even imagine the sudden and unexpected death of loved ones. Sending you so much love and peace...
Beautiful job with this tag Hannah. I think we need to talk about grief more. I wonder if and how I can fit that into my project. I guess biographies might work. I haven't generally participated in very many reading events. I wondered whether I should try, especially as a new channel, but I think it's okay to do my own thing.
Thanks. Tags and booktube events are both ways to participate in the booktube community, but there is never any requirement to join in!
Dear Hannah, thank you so much for the very thoughtful, profound and personally touching response to my little tag. You've given me a lot of inspiration for further reflection. Thank you!
And thank you, David, for putting together this wonderful tag. It means a lot to me.
Great job w this tag, Hannah, and thank you, very much, for tagging me, especially since--as you mentioned--I'm in a bit of a video making slump. Next time youre on the Monday Night Live Show, we'll all talk more about the books you and David loved. 😊 My son's middle name is Dylan Thomas; yes: named by me.
Really? Your son is Dylan Thomas? How wonderful!
@@HannahsBooks Zane Dylan Thomas (then my last name) ☺
@@bighardbooks770 ♥️
Crazy thing, I enjoy hearing you talk about David. (I had listened to that interview you pointed to and liked him.) Death - in the abstract - is ever present before my partner and me (and often enough not in the abstract), so I find it very relatable. I’ve read _Tess_ so I suppose his setting it aside seems right to me; how much better to spend time with the Wife of Bath. 😂
Thank you so much, David. I am sorry that death has to enter your lives so often. I love Tess--and Hardy in general--very much, but I hear you that not everyone will want to wallow in misery all the time. Wife of Bath did bring us both a lot of joy--and the Marion Turner book about her is fantastic.
Hi Hannah, this was a wonderful video. It really provided some solace as I am dealing with my father's (who is in hospice) health situation. He was a reader, but he has probably read his last book, a few days ago. Thank you for sharing.🥰
Oh, Jorge... I'm so sorry. I know this is an especially hard time. That step from reader to nonreader is just one on that string of changes and declines. All my love to you and your family.
Thank you Hannah! @@HannahsBooks
"a large majority of people have from time IMMEMORIAL felt the need of believing in a continuance of life. In spite of the fact that by far the larger part of mankind does not know why the body needs salt, everyone demands it none the less because of an instinctive compulsion. It is the same in things of the Psyche...and therefore we are thinking correctly with respect to the meaning of life, even though we do not understand what we think."
"Shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose. I therefore consider the relegious teaching of a life hereafter consonant with the standpoint of psychic hygiene"
"it is a question neither of beliefs or knowledge "
Carl Jung
to read more see MODERN MAN IN SEARCH OF A SOUL
this man is the real deal
Thank you, Chris. I love the comment that "shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal." Personally, I don't take comfort in an afterlife, but at least from this quote I really want to go read Jung now!
Thanks, David.
@@HannahsBooks No, thank you. Started out my day watching this (had it on my watch-later list) And it really set the tone for today. I felt a bit gloomy waking up in the morning, but after watching it sort of told me that that's ok. Hugs ❤️
@@davidmiranda4745 💜
Very poignant.
Thank you, Greg.