I started to feel old in my twenties. Still remember the sting of being addressed as 'sir' by a teenage girl. [Not dissing her politeness; that impressed me.] -- 52 yr old (I think)
It is a good one! Alas, my whole life I couldn't even conceive of reading two books simultaneously. Right now I am actively reading FOUR books at once! I don't believe it myself. On Kindle app I'm very slowly reading Leaves of Grass aloud. I may never finish it. In paper I'm reading The Collected Stories of Colette (600+ pages with each story being 2-5 pgs). Audio with hardback I'm highlighting, Mayflower Stories. And just audio, The Goldfinch. I don't know what's gotten into me. Bizarre and wicked.
Thank you for showing the book spines in the thumbnail and being forthright in the books discussed, thank goodness for transparency and connection with fellow readers instead of gimmicks! ❤
Love everything about your plans for next year. The idea of delving into slightly older books (even if its only a year or two after release) sounds really exciting. So many creators accounts are starting to feel homogeneous as they all review the same advance copies at the same time. Will love to hear about some oldee gems that Ive forgotten about or never heard of!
Thank you - this is the kind of encouragement I need to stick to stick to these plans 😅 I don't know how, but I have been coming across so many recommendations for older books lately, and I feel so much more invigorated to get stuck into those. And while I do love a good advance copy, every one is a bit of a gamble in terms of whether you're going to have a good time (vs. an older book someone has assured you is great), and I'm bogged down by them to the point that I've (for now) stopped asking for them, unless I *really* want the book, or I really trust the publisher.
Thank you Charlie! I think what I'm learning is to recognise my neuroses (getting caught up with numbers, getting fixated on staying up to date with new stuff) and learning how not to give into them.
Watching this post-election - this week has been so bloody depressing. Also genuinely shocking. Gemma and I are reading Cloud Cuckoo Land for FOMO book club over November and December as it was one of Alice’s favourites and she was always pushing us to read it. I’m with you on reading from lists - that is a sure fire way to put me in a slump which is why I don’t do tbrs but I love making lists of possibilities for reading events as that feels like window shopping. My aim for the end of this year is also to just pick stuff off my shelves and be swept into it. Also to stop buying books as the last few weeks have been ridiculous for that! 😂 I am all about the quality over quantity when it comes to reading. Happy reading for the rest of the year!
It was such a downer of a week 🫠 I was chatting to Gem about the FOMO picks at the meet-up, and I think there are a few I'm keen to join in with. Cloud Cuckoo Land first for sure! 🥰 And my plans to buy less quickly went south (latest video attests to that 🥲) but the ban is on now FOR REAL.
There’s a buzz about Hum building. Hahaha. I’m intrigued for Isaac, agree it’s got a STUNNING cover. I’m behind with all the prompts! My own, yours, Kayla’s… all of them. Lol. Ps. Older guy… in their forties… is this why I’m starting to get called Daddy now? Hahaha.
Daddy please! 😂 I am, somewhat unfathomably, up to date with my own prompts, and only like 2 behind on yours! This month's Savidge Prompt is an easy one though, so hoping I can get back up to date 🤞
Milkman for November is my choice too! And it’s my “surprise” book hopeful for question 5 along with The Coast Road, haha🤞 Happy for you that you’re reading Mr. Loverman soon 🥳
Your comments about Great Expectations made me want to tell you that, on the suggestion of another RUclips reviewer, I started listening to 1984, which I had never read. Did some research, found the favorite narrator (Simon Pebble), found the audiobook through my library, and began. I had to stop pretty early on. Just too close for comfort. Yes, I'm in the US.
Ooh some of my favourites here, Frankenstein and Milkman. I'm with you on backlist, I've just started reading Never Let Me Go which I've had on my kindle for about 7 years!
Never Let Me Go is such a treat - hope you love it! And yeah I've just realised so much lately how many amazing-sounding books I have on my shelves, and have been recommended so many backlist titles by people that I trust, that I want to turn to them more rather than just the latest shiny thing.
Great to see you Ben! Your videos always feel so cosy and also so well thought through. Feel inspired to do the tag myself, I've been meaning to do it for about a month so this is the push I need! 😅
Thanks for the heads up about 'A Room Above a Shop'. I've added it to my tbr. I'm starting to explore more Welsh literature (in English) - children's, YA and adult - and this one sounds very promising.
It does sound so great! And the author is also a film-maker and woodworker so I think it's going to be strong on the craft. Excited to see what it's like.
In Taiwan, Taiwan Travelogue got some buzz because people thought it was a Japanese retranslation at first and then realized it’s actually a novel. I think that’s the brilliance of this book.
Love this tag too and great answers. I would love for you to do an NBA shortlist ranking video. Here are my quick fire answers to the tag: 1. Q, A Voyage around the Queen by Craig Brown, which is very vignette-y and great to dip in and out of; 2. The new Inspector Gamache mystery by Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf: 3. A new large-format edition of Bel Canto with Ann Patchett’s handwritten annotations; 4. Shy Creatures by Claire Chambers, The Voyage Home by Pat Barker and Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane; 5. Time of the Child by Niall Williams, because his 2019 This Is Happiness is my favorite novel of the last many years; and 6. Very similar to your 2025 goals (I’d love to participate in your reading prompts next year) but I am going to hope to have read many of the WP for Fiction longlisted titles before the longlist is announced and try to read the whole longlist before the shortlist comes out. Whew!
Thank you for sharing your answers. That Bel Canto edition sounds so cool! I loved Tom Lake this year, and Bel Canto is one I very much want to get to. Also hearing so many good things about the Fiona Macfarlane, but I think it's one I'm likely to wait until the paperback (or later) for. And I would be thrilled if you joined in with the prompts for 2025! ❤️
I think it sounds really great! Tbh sometimes the negative reviews on Goodreads make me want to read something more - some of the things people complain about are things I love!
ok, i'm very intrigued by conquest... i feel that there's a moment about a year or so into being a booktuber where one decides, "i should read... less actually?"
I'm so excited for it! It just sounds like a 'me' book through and through. I wonder if the expectation (and risk of disappointment 😅) is what has been holding me back. But I will 100% be reading it soon.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is the FOMO book club choice for Nov-Dec with Gem and Jack, so I’ll also be reading it before the end of the year and joining the group discussion. It’s a big chunky book so the perfect motivation to get it read 😀
I was chatting to Gemma about that in the pub the other weekend 😅 I think there are a few FOMO book club books I'm planning to join in with, which is exciting!
I just filmed my version of this yesterday 😊 I’m with you on goals, I don’t see a lot of virtue in reading a high number, other than wanting to read ALL the books (!), I’m more just wanting to have fun and feel good with my reading. It is hard though, balancing the fomo and the new shiny things and what you have a genuine interest in. We’re all discovering I think. I would like to read more of the women’s prize though, but I wouldn’t set a time limit on it. Also, lots of backlist on that as well! Totally relate to the election stress even outside of the US. Ugh. I’d say wait until the results are in to pick up that dystopia! 😅
Yeah the thing that has led me to this high number is definitely the FOMO of wanting to read *everything*! Looking forward to hearing your answers to the tag questions 😊
Hi Ben 👋😊 I was wondering, would you someday be able to step out of your comfort reading zone of literary fiction and read some fantasy novels? Maybe an interesting New Year resolution? 😉
Definitely not against it! I have read and loved fantasy in the past - The Broken Earth trilogy is absolutely fantastic - but I do tend to dip into sci-fi more often when I do genre fiction. Will ponder this stuff some more as the end of the year approaches 👀
Oh Ben. Can you imagine how it feels to be American right now? I can hardly sleep. Gah. I can't think about it. Okay, books: Overall I've had a good year. I've finished 30 books so far, aiming for 35. I think that's a good number for me. Of course I'm always, always excited about upcoming publications. I can't help it. I do have several older books I want to read. Right now, for example I'm reading Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. I'm loving both of them. It does pay to shop. your shelves. I'm thrilled you're going to do your challenge again in 2025. I think it would be fun to have all new prompts. One of my personal goals is to read a lot more queer fiction, so that could be a fun prompt. Not necessarily in June, but any month at all because why the hell not? But it's your project, so you do as you want and I'll join anyway. :) I think several of my best books of the year will have come from the Women's Prize long list, but there's never a chance that I'll read 16 books during the long list period, so I don't even try. But it's still my absolute favorite prize, hands down.
I had hoped we'd be here with a good outcome, but... 🫠 But on a less doomy note I hope you're still loving Girl, Woman, Other, I think it's really fantastic. On the prompts, this year I tried to avoid anything that was too focused on representation, because I like the idea that you can thread representation into any prompt. I would hope that you could probably do (almost) every prompt with a queer book, or a book by an author of colour. I think if you set a specific month for that, there's a temptation just to do that one to check it off when that doesn't need to be the case!
Great video. I often think I'm book monogamous too until I start hunting through book piles around the house and find evidence of abandoned "affairs." 1.Are there any books you've started this year that you still need to finish? The End by Karl Ove Knausgaard. I hit the essays bit in the middle and couldn't proceed. But I want to finish it. Alsoba non fiction book on the history of chairs. There's only so much I can read of it at once. 2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? In Australia it's spring and I'm hunting for v that perfect hot weather read. 3. Is there a new release you're still waiting for? No 4. What are three books you want to read before the end of the year? Some more from the 2024 booker prize short-list. 5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year? The safekeep 6. Have you already started making reading plans for next year? Yes
Love the idea of the book "affairs" 😂 Thank you for sharing your answers! I think the Booker list is really strong this year so hopefully you'll enjoy the ones you pick - Stone Yard Devotional is flying the flag for Australia 🇦🇺
I'm with you on the fewer new releases reading challenge. There's just not enough life for it. I am going to read more classics, books by authors that I already love and non fiction books in 2025.
'Not enough life for it' - love that. Seems like we're having some of the same thoughts for next year... although I don't know how much I trust myself not to waver. If I can read just a few more backlist and classics though, I'll be happy.
Same 2025 goals! I just did a cataloging of my bookshelves (because I bought a really cool log for books!) and when I counted how many unread books are on the shelves, I need a plan!
In the US Barnes and Noble has that hardcover sale after Christmas except they made it complicated last year with discounts and points to use later, blah blah. I loved Cloud Cuckoo Land; I've been meaning to reread it for awhile.
Hi Ben, AI have a question about the November Read Good challenge on Storygraph. Is it still a text block if you listen to an audiobook? Is there a list of recommended titles, or should I just Google it? I wouldn't want to fail to find a book for this month's challenge when the year is so near the end! Cheers 😊
My general steer with the prompts is: do it however you like! It's really just a bit of fun so if you ever need to bend a prompt to suit your needs, that's absolutely fine. For my own sense of pride and conquering my no-paragraph fear I am going to read Milkman physically, but totally fine if people want to do audio. In terms of recommendations, if you go to the Storygraph page linked in the video description, you should be able to see all the books people have added to the channel. I don't think you need an account to see that.
Frankenstein. I hope you like it. I was surprised by how much I didn't like it, but still felt like I had to finish it. I'm glad I read it but not sure if recommend it.
I hv been sticking to my 24 books in a year for the past 3 yrs and on track to complete. Just can't seem decide on book #24. I hv 3 books that I have started and not finished yet. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Covenant of Water. All great books that I started at the wrong time. Will get to them eventually but it won't be this year for sure. Next year I absolutely intend to join the Read Good reading challenge. Even if I can't do for every month, I love the process of selection. No specific reading list in mind yet but hopefully read more from physical tbr, more Indian authors, finish the pending one's and maybe extend to 25 for 2025...
Ooh, that's interesting. Hope you manage to pick a winner for book 24! And those are some heavy books (2 of them quite literally!) you've got on the go. Hopefully the right time to come back to them will pop up for you. And yay for joining the Read Good Challenge - very happy for people to even just participate in a few. The joy is in it sparking some reading ideas!
"self confessed monogamous reader" is great :D i am a very polyamorous reader, so i have quite a few books to finish. i really hope you will join the Frankenstein love club!
For me I need to finish Mr Loverman (which keeps getting interrupted by other books), The Echoes, The Betrayal of Thomas True, and possibly The Sleeping Car Porter. I’d also like to start and finish Martyr!, Selamlik, and Private Rites. For next year, maybe try to get out of my whim-zone and participate in some prompt reading. And maybe more library and fewer purchases as I am retiring at the end of March. Or maybe because I just don’t have space. Probably the latter.
I'm super intrigued by The Sleeping Car Porter - you'll have to let me know what you make of it! Whim reading is lots of fun so don't move too far away from it unless you really want to! 😅 But mixing it up with prompt reading is a good way to keep things fresh. Happy retirement (when it gets here)!
I have heard a lot about All Fours recently on booktube it does seem to be getting good reviews from what I have seen . I watched Charlie's York vlog, and it looked like you all had a great day .
Hoping All Fours lives up to the hype! The first page is really fun so I do think I'm going to like it. And it was so nice to see everyone at the meet-up! A really lovely day.
I’ll be reading Cloud Cuckoo Land for FOMO bookclub before the end of the year and I am somewhat nervous. I didn’t like All the Lights and then you referenced Cloud Atlas which I really really didn’t like 😬 hopefully CCL shocks me and isn’t like either of those 😂
I *have* to read it in time for FOMO Book Club for sure! Now and again we do have a book we love in common, so there's a glimmer of hope... but I won't hold my breath 😂
I had planned on reading Milkman this year, but I wasn't aware of the "wall of text" thing. I've read both Prophet Song and Ducks, Newburyport this year (and didn't like either of them), so I feel like I'm above my wall-of-text threshold for now. No more SoC or experimental lack of punctuation until 2025. 😅
That's great to know! I didn't expect that it would be a super quick read, but if it's one you can do in one sitting, maybe my chances of reading it before the NBA ceremony are looking pretty good 😅
Loved Milkman yet I read in audio. Don't know if that would still fit your prompt. I also had Cloud Cockoo land on my shelf and have not read it. I tried the first few pages and didn't read enough to get into it and its been months now. I too want to get it read. Currently reading Kate Atkinson new Brody mystery and it is so so good. Hate to put it down.
Tbh I'm happy for people to interpret the challenge however they like, but for my own personal sense of accomplishment I'm going to read it physically. I do love an Irish narrator though so I imagine it's great! Hope you manage to come back to Cloud Cuckoo Land, but great to hear that you've got an unputdownable book on the go at the moment! 🎉
i've really gotten into no paragraph novels this year so unfortunately what i've got left for November are the bigger, scarier ones lol. i might just read the László Krasznahorkai short story that New Directions put out recently (which isn't cheating because i did pay full book price for it 😤🥴)
Just checking I understand: are these suggestions for next year's Read Good Challenge? If so - thank you for sharing! And keep an eye out on the community tab, as I'll be sharing a survey for everyone's input soon ❤️
All Fours: Fortunately I grabbed a copy of ALL FOURS before you mentioned it on the channel. The audiobook is on Sp0tify too. It would be my favorite title of 2024 if I hadn't read I Who Have Never Known Men (Jacqueline Harpman). I added My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Ottessa Moshfegh) to the Nov challenge. New release: The City and Its Uncertain Walls (Haruki Murakami). Nov 29th? Maybe?
I really need to read I Who Have Never Known Men - people give it such high praise. Ah yeah, the new Murakami is on the way! I actually need to read a Murakami this month for my book club - we're doing his story collection Men Without Women.
I would like to clarify that when I say ‘when I think older I think 40s’, I am not saying 40 is old!!! I’m talking more about the age gap 😅
😂😂
Well! I’m glad you clarified!
- 60 yr. young reader
I started to feel old in my twenties. Still remember the sting of being addressed as 'sir' by a teenage girl. [Not dissing her politeness; that impressed me.] -- 52 yr old (I think)
😅
Ben backpedaling like he's doing the moonwalk. No offence taken. Love from someone who's older than dirt.
"Now, I am a self-confessed monogamous reader. One boy, one book." My favourite Benism to date.
It's nice to hear someone enjoys my nonsense 😅
It is a good one! Alas, my whole life I couldn't even conceive of reading two books simultaneously. Right now I am actively reading FOUR books at once! I don't believe it myself. On Kindle app I'm very slowly reading Leaves of Grass aloud. I may never finish it. In paper I'm reading The Collected Stories of Colette (600+ pages with each story being 2-5 pgs). Audio with hardback I'm highlighting, Mayflower Stories. And just audio, The Goldfinch. I don't know what's gotten into me. Bizarre and wicked.
Yes for slowing down and reading back list! (Those shiny new books always look so lovely though 🙈)
Unfortunately for me, backlist books can also look shiny and new in the shops 😅
Thank you for showing the book spines in the thumbnail and being forthright in the books discussed, thank goodness for transparency and connection with fellow readers instead of gimmicks! ❤
You're very welcome! I mostly just try to make the sort of content I'd watch myself, and the sort of thumbnails I'd click on!
Love everything about your plans for next year. The idea of delving into slightly older books (even if its only a year or two after release) sounds really exciting. So many creators accounts are starting to feel homogeneous as they all review the same advance copies at the same time. Will love to hear about some oldee gems that Ive forgotten about or never heard of!
Thank you - this is the kind of encouragement I need to stick to stick to these plans 😅 I don't know how, but I have been coming across so many recommendations for older books lately, and I feel so much more invigorated to get stuck into those.
And while I do love a good advance copy, every one is a bit of a gamble in terms of whether you're going to have a good time (vs. an older book someone has assured you is great), and I'm bogged down by them to the point that I've (for now) stopped asking for them, unless I *really* want the book, or I really trust the publisher.
Being gentle on yourself is always a good thing. Loved hearing your answers to this.
Thank you Charlie! I think what I'm learning is to recognise my neuroses (getting caught up with numbers, getting fixated on staying up to date with new stuff) and learning how not to give into them.
I'm so glad the prompts will be back for 2025, I'd love to give it a proper go next year! 🤍
I'm so excited to put together another batch! 🙌
Watching this post-election - this week has been so bloody depressing. Also genuinely shocking. Gemma and I are reading Cloud Cuckoo Land for FOMO book club over November and December as it was one of Alice’s favourites and she was always pushing us to read it. I’m with you on reading from lists - that is a sure fire way to put me in a slump which is why I don’t do tbrs but I love making lists of possibilities for reading events as that feels like window shopping. My aim for the end of this year is also to just pick stuff off my shelves and be swept into it. Also to stop buying books as the last few weeks have been ridiculous for that! 😂 I am all about the quality over quantity when it comes to reading. Happy reading for the rest of the year!
It was such a downer of a week 🫠
I was chatting to Gem about the FOMO picks at the meet-up, and I think there are a few I'm keen to join in with. Cloud Cuckoo Land first for sure! 🥰
And my plans to buy less quickly went south (latest video attests to that 🥲) but the ban is on now FOR REAL.
There’s a buzz about Hum building. Hahaha. I’m intrigued for Isaac, agree it’s got a STUNNING cover. I’m behind with all the prompts! My own, yours, Kayla’s… all of them. Lol.
Ps. Older guy… in their forties… is this why I’m starting to get called Daddy now? Hahaha.
Daddy please! 😂
I am, somewhat unfathomably, up to date with my own prompts, and only like 2 behind on yours! This month's Savidge Prompt is an easy one though, so hoping I can get back up to date 🤞
Milkman for November is my choice too! And it’s my “surprise” book hopeful for question 5 along with The Coast Road, haha🤞
Happy for you that you’re reading Mr. Loverman soon 🥳
Oooh looks like there's a few of us going to Milkman. I'm so excited about it! The Coast Road is fab so I am confident you will love it 🙏
@ 🙌
Your comments about Great Expectations made me want to tell you that, on the suggestion of another RUclips reviewer, I started listening to 1984, which I had never read. Did some research, found the favorite narrator (Simon Pebble), found the audiobook through my library, and began. I had to stop pretty early on. Just too close for comfort. Yes, I'm in the US.
I can totally understand not wanting to spend too much time in an authoritarian world at a time like this! Fingers crossed for Tuesday 🤞
@@benreadsgood Well, it didn't quite work out for us. Thanks for your good wishes though.
Ooh some of my favourites here, Frankenstein and Milkman. I'm with you on backlist, I've just started reading Never Let Me Go which I've had on my kindle for about 7 years!
Never Let Me Go is such a treat - hope you love it! And yeah I've just realised so much lately how many amazing-sounding books I have on my shelves, and have been recommended so many backlist titles by people that I trust, that I want to turn to them more rather than just the latest shiny thing.
Great to see you Ben! Your videos always feel so cosy and also so well thought through. Feel inspired to do the tag myself, I've been meaning to do it for about a month so this is the push I need! 😅
Nice to hear from you too! It's been a while, so I'm guessing things are busy in Bali 🇮🇩
Looking forward to hearing your answers to the questions!
Thanks for the heads up about 'A Room Above a Shop'. I've added it to my tbr. I'm starting to explore more Welsh literature (in English) - children's, YA and adult - and this one sounds very promising.
It does sound so great! And the author is also a film-maker and woodworker so I think it's going to be strong on the craft. Excited to see what it's like.
In Taiwan, Taiwan Travelogue got some buzz because people thought it was a Japanese retranslation at first and then realized it’s actually a novel. I think that’s the brilliance of this book.
Love this tag too and great answers. I would love for you to do an NBA shortlist ranking video. Here are my quick fire answers to the tag: 1. Q, A Voyage around the Queen by Craig Brown, which is very vignette-y and great to dip in and out of; 2. The new Inspector Gamache mystery by Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf: 3. A new large-format edition of Bel Canto with Ann Patchett’s handwritten annotations; 4. Shy Creatures by Claire Chambers, The Voyage Home by Pat Barker and Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane; 5. Time of the Child by Niall Williams, because his 2019 This Is Happiness is my favorite novel of the last many years; and 6. Very similar to your 2025 goals (I’d love to participate in your reading prompts next year) but I am going to hope to have read many of the WP for Fiction longlisted titles before the longlist is announced and try to read the whole longlist before the shortlist comes out. Whew!
Thank you for sharing your answers. That Bel Canto edition sounds so cool! I loved Tom Lake this year, and Bel Canto is one I very much want to get to.
Also hearing so many good things about the Fiona Macfarlane, but I think it's one I'm likely to wait until the paperback (or later) for.
And I would be thrilled if you joined in with the prompts for 2025! ❤️
Conquest sounds really fun and intriguing - looking forward to your review! The Goodreads rankings are making me nervous!
I think it sounds really great! Tbh sometimes the negative reviews on Goodreads make me want to read something more - some of the things people complain about are things I love!
Milkman is my pick for the November prompt, too. Super exited to finally get to it.
Great minds think alike! Look forward to seeing how we both feel about it - hopefully it's a hit 😊
Oh I bet you'll love 'Milkman' Ben. Fantastic book.
I'm looking forward to getting hold of a copy of 'Isaac'.
I have such high hopes for it - the way people describe it has absolutely won me over, and Irish fiction has such a high hit rate for me. So excited!
ok, i'm very intrigued by conquest...
i feel that there's a moment about a year or so into being a booktuber where one decides, "i should read... less actually?"
Buddy read?! 👀
And absolutely agree - the conveyor belt feeling is real, and I need to slow down.
@ i can’t seem to find it easily around me, but conceptually yes!
Cloud cuckoo land took a long time to get into but then it was worth it! Enjoy end of year reading!
I'm so excited for it! It just sounds like a 'me' book through and through. I wonder if the expectation (and risk of disappointment 😅) is what has been holding me back. But I will 100% be reading it soon.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is the FOMO book club choice for Nov-Dec with Gem and Jack, so I’ll also be reading it before the end of the year and joining the group discussion. It’s a big chunky book so the perfect motivation to get it read 😀
I was chatting to Gemma about that in the pub the other weekend 😅 I think there are a few FOMO book club books I'm planning to join in with, which is exciting!
I just filmed my version of this yesterday 😊 I’m with you on goals, I don’t see a lot of virtue in reading a high number, other than wanting to read ALL the books (!), I’m more just wanting to have fun and feel good with my reading. It is hard though, balancing the fomo and the new shiny things and what you have a genuine interest in. We’re all discovering I think.
I would like to read more of the women’s prize though, but I wouldn’t set a time limit on it. Also, lots of backlist on that as well!
Totally relate to the election stress even outside of the US. Ugh. I’d say wait until the results are in to pick up that dystopia! 😅
Yeah the thing that has led me to this high number is definitely the FOMO of wanting to read *everything*!
Looking forward to hearing your answers to the tag questions 😊
@@benreadsgood There are so many good books (and pretty covers), it's hard not to get greedy! 😄
I loved Hard By A Great Forest. Interested to see what you make of it.
It sounds like the sort of book I'd love, so I'm excited to get to it! Hoping I can squeeze it in 🤞
Hi Ben 👋😊 I was wondering, would you someday be able to step out of your comfort reading zone of literary fiction and read some fantasy novels? Maybe an interesting New Year resolution? 😉
Definitely not against it! I have read and loved fantasy in the past - The Broken Earth trilogy is absolutely fantastic - but I do tend to dip into sci-fi more often when I do genre fiction. Will ponder this stuff some more as the end of the year approaches 👀
Cool 😎👍 I’m looking forward to it 🙌😃
Oh Ben. Can you imagine how it feels to be American right now? I can hardly sleep. Gah. I can't think about it.
Okay, books: Overall I've had a good year. I've finished 30 books so far, aiming for 35. I think that's a good number for me. Of course I'm always, always excited about upcoming publications. I can't help it. I do have several older books I want to read. Right now, for example I'm reading Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. I'm loving both of them. It does pay to shop. your shelves.
I'm thrilled you're going to do your challenge again in 2025. I think it would be fun to have all new prompts. One of my personal goals is to read a lot more queer fiction, so that could be a fun prompt. Not necessarily in June, but any month at all because why the hell not? But it's your project, so you do as you want and I'll join anyway. :)
I think several of my best books of the year will have come from the Women's Prize long list, but there's never a chance that I'll read 16 books during the long list period, so I don't even try. But it's still my absolute favorite prize, hands down.
I had hoped we'd be here with a good outcome, but... 🫠 But on a less doomy note I hope you're still loving Girl, Woman, Other, I think it's really fantastic.
On the prompts, this year I tried to avoid anything that was too focused on representation, because I like the idea that you can thread representation into any prompt. I would hope that you could probably do (almost) every prompt with a queer book, or a book by an author of colour. I think if you set a specific month for that, there's a temptation just to do that one to check it off when that doesn't need to be the case!
Great video. I often think I'm book monogamous too until I start hunting through book piles around the house and find evidence of abandoned "affairs."
1.Are there any books you've started this year that you still need to finish? The End by Karl Ove Knausgaard. I hit the essays bit in the middle and couldn't proceed. But I want to finish it. Alsoba non fiction book on the history of chairs. There's only so much I can read of it at once.
2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? In Australia it's spring and I'm hunting for v that perfect hot weather read.
3. Is there a new release you're still waiting for? No
4. What are three books you want to read before the end of the year? Some more from the 2024 booker prize short-list.
5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year? The safekeep
6. Have you already started making reading plans for next year? Yes
Love the idea of the book "affairs" 😂
Thank you for sharing your answers! I think the Booker list is really strong this year so hopefully you'll enjoy the ones you pick - Stone Yard Devotional is flying the flag for Australia 🇦🇺
@benreadsgood I'm excited to be starting Stoneyard Devotional today. Loved Orbital (despite its loud critics) and The Safekeep so far.
I'm with you on the fewer new releases reading challenge. There's just not enough life for it. I am going to read more classics, books by authors that I already love and non fiction books in 2025.
'Not enough life for it' - love that. Seems like we're having some of the same thoughts for next year... although I don't know how much I trust myself not to waver. If I can read just a few more backlist and classics though, I'll be happy.
God, I loved The Milkman. It was so weird and claustrophobic in the best way.
That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I'm going to love!
Same 2025 goals! I just did a cataloging of my bookshelves (because I bought a really cool log for books!) and when I counted how many unread books are on the shelves, I need a plan!
We're in this together! Shopping your shelves is the new shopping for new books 😅
In the US Barnes and Noble has that hardcover sale after Christmas except they made it complicated last year with discounts and points to use later, blah blah.
I loved Cloud Cuckoo Land; I've been meaning to reread it for awhile.
They're bamboozling us into buying more books (and it works 😂).
Looking forward to Cloud Cuckoo Land!
Hi Ben, AI have a question about the November Read Good challenge on Storygraph. Is it still a text block if you listen to an audiobook? Is there a list of recommended titles, or should I just Google it? I wouldn't want to fail to find a book for this month's challenge when the year is so near the end! Cheers 😊
My general steer with the prompts is: do it however you like! It's really just a bit of fun so if you ever need to bend a prompt to suit your needs, that's absolutely fine. For my own sense of pride and conquering my no-paragraph fear I am going to read Milkman physically, but totally fine if people want to do audio.
In terms of recommendations, if you go to the Storygraph page linked in the video description, you should be able to see all the books people have added to the channel. I don't think you need an account to see that.
Frankenstein. I hope you like it. I was surprised by how much I didn't like it, but still felt like I had to finish it. I'm glad I read it but not sure if recommend it.
I have now finished it! Will be sharing my thoughts in a wrap up soon 👀
I hv been sticking to my 24 books in a year for the past 3 yrs and on track to complete. Just can't seem decide on book #24.
I hv 3 books that I have started and not finished yet. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Covenant of Water. All great books that I started at the wrong time. Will get to them eventually but it won't be this year for sure.
Next year I absolutely intend to join the Read Good reading challenge. Even if I can't do for every month, I love the process of selection. No specific reading list in mind yet but hopefully read more from physical tbr, more Indian authors, finish the pending one's and maybe extend to 25 for 2025...
Ooh, that's interesting. Hope you manage to pick a winner for book 24! And those are some heavy books (2 of them quite literally!) you've got on the go. Hopefully the right time to come back to them will pop up for you.
And yay for joining the Read Good Challenge - very happy for people to even just participate in a few. The joy is in it sparking some reading ideas!
Milkman is so good you hardly notice the walls of text. Hope you enjoy it.
I'm so excited about it! Thank you Tilly 😊
"self confessed monogamous reader" is great :D i am a very polyamorous reader, so i have quite a few books to finish. i really hope you will join the Frankenstein love club!
Poly book lovers welcome here - I'm actually jealous of the ability to keep multiple books straight in your head at the same time.
For me I need to finish Mr Loverman (which keeps getting interrupted by other books), The Echoes, The Betrayal of Thomas True, and possibly The Sleeping Car Porter. I’d also like to start and finish Martyr!, Selamlik, and Private Rites.
For next year, maybe try to get out of my whim-zone and participate in some prompt reading. And maybe more library and fewer purchases as I am retiring at the end of March. Or maybe because I just don’t have space. Probably the latter.
I'm super intrigued by The Sleeping Car Porter - you'll have to let me know what you make of it!
Whim reading is lots of fun so don't move too far away from it unless you really want to! 😅 But mixing it up with prompt reading is a good way to keep things fresh.
Happy retirement (when it gets here)!
I have heard a lot about All Fours recently on booktube it does seem to be getting good reviews from what I have seen . I watched Charlie's York vlog, and it looked like you all had a great day .
Hoping All Fours lives up to the hype! The first page is really fun so I do think I'm going to like it.
And it was so nice to see everyone at the meet-up! A really lovely day.
I’ll be reading Cloud Cuckoo Land for FOMO bookclub before the end of the year and I am somewhat nervous. I didn’t like All the Lights and then you referenced Cloud Atlas which I really really didn’t like 😬 hopefully CCL shocks me and isn’t like either of those 😂
I *have* to read it in time for FOMO Book Club for sure! Now and again we do have a book we love in common, so there's a glimmer of hope... but I won't hold my breath 😂
I had planned on reading Milkman this year, but I wasn't aware of the "wall of text" thing. I've read both Prophet Song and Ducks, Newburyport this year (and didn't like either of them), so I feel like I'm above my wall-of-text threshold for now. No more SoC or experimental lack of punctuation until 2025. 😅
They can be hard-going, especially on the eyes and brain 😅 But it's definitely going to be my next (or next but one) book.
Enjoyed All Fours. The kind of book you want to read in a single sitting. Interested to hear what you think.
That's great to know! I didn't expect that it would be a super quick read, but if it's one you can do in one sitting, maybe my chances of reading it before the NBA ceremony are looking pretty good 😅
Loved Milkman yet I read in audio. Don't know if that would still fit your prompt. I also had Cloud Cockoo land on my shelf and have not read it. I tried the first few pages and didn't read enough to get into it and its been months now. I too want to get it read. Currently reading Kate Atkinson new Brody mystery and it is so so good. Hate to put it down.
Tbh I'm happy for people to interpret the challenge however they like, but for my own personal sense of accomplishment I'm going to read it physically. I do love an Irish narrator though so I imagine it's great!
Hope you manage to come back to Cloud Cuckoo Land, but great to hear that you've got an unputdownable book on the go at the moment! 🎉
Monogamous reader! I love that! Which makes me a polyamorous reader I suppose haha
Love as many books as you like at once - we're a broad church here on Booktube 😂
i've really gotten into no paragraph novels this year so unfortunately what i've got left for November are the bigger, scarier ones lol. i might just read the László Krasznahorkai short story that New Directions put out recently (which isn't cheating because i did pay full book price for it 😤🥴)
These publishers doing full price for a short story are driving me nuts! But maybe it's ok if it gets used for the challenge 😉
I really enjoyed Hum. It was hard to put down.
Oooh that's good to know - hadn't heard from anyone who had actually read it. Thank you!
Enjoy Milkman, Ben!
I'm very excited for it! One or two more ahead of it in the queue, but it's a must-read by the end of the month 🍼
Books I’ve read that I highly recommend on audio
Milkman
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Mr Loverman ❤
Thanks for the recommendations! Maybe I’ll do a physical/audio combo for one of them. Mr Loverman is probs the most tempting.
@@benreadsgood you’ll get more out of Milkman on audio
I do love an Irish narrator! But for the sake of my prompt and overcoming my no-paragraph fears, I think I have to do this one solely with my eyes 😅
I did not like Milkman. (There's always that one person....) 😂
Well it's always good to have at least one differing opinion! 😅 Still need to get around to it - aiming for the last week of the month.
A classic written by a female? A shortlisted that didn't win?
Just checking I understand: are these suggestions for next year's Read Good Challenge?
If so - thank you for sharing! And keep an eye out on the community tab, as I'll be sharing a survey for everyone's input soon ❤️
All Fours: Fortunately I grabbed a copy of ALL FOURS before you mentioned it on the channel. The audiobook is on Sp0tify too.
It would be my favorite title of 2024 if I hadn't read I Who Have Never Known Men (Jacqueline Harpman).
I added My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Ottessa Moshfegh) to the Nov challenge.
New release: The City and Its Uncertain Walls (Haruki Murakami). Nov 29th? Maybe?
I really need to read I Who Have Never Known Men - people give it such high praise.
Ah yeah, the new Murakami is on the way! I actually need to read a Murakami this month for my book club - we're doing his story collection Men Without Women.