30 books in 6 months is not that a bad result. Don't be discouraged. You're doing great. The most important thing is that you're giving the books enough of your attention and time. Reading is not supposed to be a competition, even though sometimes it can feel like one with social media these days.
30 is not a small number! The mean (average) in the UK is only 10 books read in a whole year, and the numbers aren't so different in other parts of the world. :) Plus, it seems like you tend to read really long books! The Tanizaki book is one I've been hearing of more and more recently, so I think I need to check it out soon. "Him being fictional is a major downfall." Lol, yep. I think it's so strange when adults talk about having fictional crushes.
It's true actually. It just so happened that this year I've been reading quite a few big books because of the BBB (my book club), but I have no regrets on that account. The books I've read were great. The Makioka Sisters is a wonderful story! It's quiet and just a book about the life of one Japanese family, but it's very good and fascinating. I'd highly recommend it! I hope you're having a lovely day.
I'm also a slow reader, so you're not alone! Like you, I'd rather take longer and really engage and enjoy the story, instead of rushing through it and missing things along the way. To me reading is kind of like sitting in a cafe - it's not about how many cups of coffee we can chug, it's about the good time spent there, and savouring each cup! (Well, unless I'm not enjoying the book, in which case I do sometimes try to speed it up to get it over with, lol)
I feel like classics tend to do more for me than contemporary novels do too. Some modern novels are great but I tend to be happier with classics 😊. Love hearing your answers for this tag!
Yes, I really can't put my finger on it why that is. There're a few modern novels that I really love like Han Kang's Human Acts or Miracles of the Namya General Store by Keigo Higashino, but it's not often that I come across such impactful books in modern lit. Maybe it's because classics offered a more filtered variety, you know books that survived through the ages, and modern lit is much less filtered. Maybe that's why :)
@@bookishtopics That's very possible. I feel like also maybe the older, writing style and the themes that are regularly explored in classics just check more boxes for me personally.
by the end of the year i want to finish Clear and Muddy Loss of Love novel, i have started it a while ago and i need to get back to it. also yay to quality over quantity, i am a fast reader but i've recently acquired a bunch of other hobbies and now i dont have as much time for reading.
dying to start a suitable boy!!!!!! and i have the same edition of klara and the sun (still need to get to it though)!! also so many big books and too little time to dedicate to them
I can't wait to start A Suitable Boy too. I'm very excited about it. Need to finish the Aeneid and the Idiot first though :D True! So many books but so little time!
I too am on a big classics kick right now. I read the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey…I think it is the first translation by a woman…anyway, having tried the Odyssey many times, that translation just got me engrossed in the book. I totally loved the count of Monte Cristo and didn’t expect to love it so much either. What a treat that book was. I read slow too…and by reading slowly I feel I take more in and think more about it..so I don’t mind being slow..
I decided to read all 3 The Iliad and The Odyssey and the Aeneid in a few translations because I really enjoyed them all, so I'll definitely try Emily Wilson's translation. I've been hearing so much praise for it! I'm glad you also enjoyed it! And yes to slow reading. I am also trying my best not to concentrate on numbers but rather on taking as much from a story as I can.
I agree with you quality over quantity. I am also a slow reader and I am learning to appreciate the time I spend with my books. One book that I hope to read this year is Crime and Punishment even though I am intimidated 😱
I really hope you'll love Crime and Punishment I need to re-read it myself. We read it in school and I remember really enjoying all the conversations in class about it. The best of luck!
I am only on question #4, but I have to stop and make this comment. I hear and feel your excitement when you discuss reading classics! It sounds like such an exciting adventure so I hope you don't feel discouraged by any numbers or comparison. I can relate because I am enjoying my journey through the Golden Age of Crime. I don't care to keep up with any new releases 🤩😁
I really try not to concentrate on numbers. It's not really numbers I'm worried about, but just the fact that there are so many books I want to get to :D and it would help if I could read faster. But it's okay, I just need to learn to better organize my day instead to dedicate more time to reading :) I hope you end up loving your book! Have a beautiful day!
Me too! I'm looking forward to reading A Place of Greater Safety with you! It's going to be great! I have so many fun books planned for the second half of the year I'm really excited for them all! I hope you have a great reading too and I'll be looking forward to your Dostoyevsky series!
I'm curious what your reaction to Virginia Woolfe's novels will be.I really liked"To the Lighthouse"& I couldn't t stand "Mrs. Dalloway".My professor for my 20th century intellectually history course in my last year at university did his P.H.D. thesis at Harvard on Virginia Woolfe& he thought "Mrs. Dalloway" was one of the great modernist text of the 20 the century.For me, reading this novel was like sitting in a bad movie thàt you can't wait to end.It was like your experiance with " The Leopard".I'm more inclined now to end a novel& not go back to it than I was when younger.The exceptions are Joyce&Proust. You know at the beginning the modernist texts are going to be demanding.I mentioned last time that I dnfed " Dead Souls"I think it's just too rooted in the Russia of the 1830's to say anything to the modern reader.I like to know if you see it different when you read the novel
Reading is not a competitive sport, 30 books is still a good number... probably more than the vast majority of people... I am not sure what the average for Booktubers is ...I've read 28 books so far.... The Cancer Ward is a great read, as you liked that, I would recommend the First Circle by Solzhenitsyn, about a scientific community prison in the Moscow suburbs, whose inmates work on technical projects for an increasingly paranoid Stalin.
Yes! I'm about to start The First Circle :) so excited about it! I have a good feeling about this novel. I think I'll love it. Thank you for your encouragement! The best of luck with your reading goals as well :)
30 books is really good! I am at 22 but only because at the beginning of the year I was at home so much. Also: There is a new book out that seems a bit like Circe. It is called Ariadne.
Yes I've heard of Ariadne. I've been eyeing it. a few people from the book club are about to read it, so I'll see what they think of it before I buy it for myself. I've been also meaning to get and read 1000 ships which is also a feminist re-telling of the Iliad I think. Would be interesting to read it since I loved the Iliad.
Favourite books I have read this year are 2 jenni fagen books luckenbooth and the sunlight pilgrims, the makiota sisters, the art of losing by alice zeniter, piranesi by susanna clarke, lean fall stand by jon mcgregor, when we cease to understand the world by benjamin labatut and the book smuggler by Omaima Al-Khamis
Among the books I want to read this summer is one book that I heard about though your channel, in your video “New Translated Japanese Books to Read in 2021”. It is “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” by Natsuko Imamura. After that, I want to read a book that I had as a child but have never read. That is “The Abandoned” by Paul Gallico, which is about a little boy who turns into a cat.
Ohh I really want to read The Woman in Purple Skirt too. But I don't own it yet. Let me know what you think of it once you read it! Have a great second reading half of the year! :)
@@bookishtopics I just finished reading The Woman in the Purple skirt. It was quite an interesting tale. The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan (our narrator) is lonely, without family or friends, and wants to arrange a situation where she can become friends with The Woman in the Purple Skirt, whom she knows only from the latter’s habits around the neighborhood. The narrator becomes, in her efforts, both a stalker and a guardian angel. The situation escalates even as the friendship the narrator seeks remains out of reach. I really enjoyed this novel, and I’m sure to revisit it sometime.
@@mediumjohnsilver ohh sounds heartwarming and it seems to be a kind book! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It does sound like something I would enjoy as well! Thank you for getting back to me and letting me know! I need to get a copy for myself! :)
I actually tried an experiment recently where I read a Russian book for an hour and it turned out I don't really read significantly faster in Russian. In English, I usually read around 20 pages an hour and in Russian, at that time I read like 25. But it would also depend on the book, the size of fonts, and how much text is on the page. So I think it's just safe to say that my reading speed doesn't really differ too much. Though reading in Russian is definitely less brainpower :D
Oh my god Tanya 🤭 how will u read the tiny font of middlemarch 🤦♀️ u love big fonts and this one is really tiny 🤦♀️ I don’t like black cover of penguin classics but no matter the volume of book their fonts are just perfect 🥰😊🤩
True! I was so disappointed when I received this edition. My other Nortons were not as bad. But luckily I have also a Penguin English Library edition of it, so I'll read the novel from there and then read the additional material from Norton edition. This way there will be less amount of tiny font I'll have to deal with :D
30 books in 6 months is not that a bad result. Don't be discouraged. You're doing great. The most important thing is that you're giving the books enough of your attention and time. Reading is not supposed to be a competition, even though sometimes it can feel like one with social media these days.
Quality over quantity, yes absolutely!
The way you are holding the books shows your love for them. It’s so delicate and tender and full of respect. I love it so much.
30 is not a small number! The mean (average) in the UK is only 10 books read in a whole year, and the numbers aren't so different in other parts of the world. :) Plus, it seems like you tend to read really long books!
The Tanizaki book is one I've been hearing of more and more recently, so I think I need to check it out soon.
"Him being fictional is a major downfall." Lol, yep. I think it's so strange when adults talk about having fictional crushes.
It's true actually. It just so happened that this year I've been reading quite a few big books because of the BBB (my book club), but I have no regrets on that account. The books I've read were great.
The Makioka Sisters is a wonderful story! It's quiet and just a book about the life of one Japanese family, but it's very good and fascinating. I'd highly recommend it!
I hope you're having a lovely day.
I'm also a slow reader, so you're not alone! Like you, I'd rather take longer and really engage and enjoy the story, instead of rushing through it and missing things along the way. To me reading is kind of like sitting in a cafe - it's not about how many cups of coffee we can chug, it's about the good time spent there, and savouring each cup! (Well, unless I'm not enjoying the book, in which case I do sometimes try to speed it up to get it over with, lol)
I love your comparison of reading with time spent in a cafe. So true. It's absolutely about savoring and enjoying it!
I feel like classics tend to do more for me than contemporary novels do too. Some modern novels are great but I tend to be happier with classics 😊. Love hearing your answers for this tag!
Yes, I really can't put my finger on it why that is. There're a few modern novels that I really love like Han Kang's Human Acts or Miracles of the Namya General Store by Keigo Higashino, but it's not often that I come across such impactful books in modern lit. Maybe it's because classics offered a more filtered variety, you know books that survived through the ages, and modern lit is much less filtered. Maybe that's why :)
@@bookishtopics That's very possible. I feel like also maybe the older, writing style and the themes that are regularly explored in classics just check more boxes for me personally.
by the end of the year i want to finish Clear and Muddy Loss of Love novel, i have started it a while ago and i need to get back to it.
also yay to quality over quantity, i am a fast reader but i've recently acquired a bunch of other hobbies and now i dont have as much time for reading.
Great video! I was surprised by The Count of Monte Cristo too. This has to be my favorite tag 😊
I love this video and this tag. It's always interesting people's results with their reading. You're doing great!
Really excited to hearing your opinion on all these huge books 😆💕
I really enjoyed watching this! Loved hearing your thoughts on the different things you read - The Odyssey is one I hope to conquer one day :)
Love ur channel!😍 I bought so many books thanks to ur recommendations. Best of luck!
Thank you very much! The best of luck to you with your goals as well! :)
@@bookishtopics Thank you! Stay healthy and safe! :)
dying to start a suitable boy!!!!!! and i have the same edition of klara and the sun (still need to get to it though)!! also so many big books and too little time to dedicate to them
I can't wait to start A Suitable Boy too. I'm very excited about it. Need to finish the Aeneid and the Idiot first though :D True! So many books but so little time!
I too am on a big classics kick right now. I read the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey…I think it is the first translation by a woman…anyway, having tried the Odyssey many times, that translation just got me engrossed in the book. I totally loved the count of Monte Cristo and didn’t expect to love it so much either. What a treat that book was. I read slow too…and by reading slowly I feel I take more in and think more about it..so I don’t mind being slow..
I decided to read all 3 The Iliad and The Odyssey and the Aeneid in a few translations because I really enjoyed them all, so I'll definitely try Emily Wilson's translation. I've been hearing so much praise for it! I'm glad you also enjoyed it! And yes to slow reading. I am also trying my best not to concentrate on numbers but rather on taking as much from a story as I can.
I agree with you quality over quantity. I am also a slow reader and I am learning to appreciate the time I spend with my books.
One book that I hope to read this year is Crime and Punishment even though I am intimidated 😱
I really hope you'll love Crime and Punishment I need to re-read it myself. We read it in school and I remember really enjoying all the conversations in class about it. The best of luck!
@@bookishtopics Thanks 😊
I am only on question #4, but I have to stop and make this comment. I hear and feel your excitement when you discuss reading classics! It sounds like such an exciting adventure so I hope you don't feel discouraged by any numbers or comparison. I can relate because I am enjoying my journey through the Golden Age of Crime. I don't care to keep up with any new releases 🤩😁
I really try not to concentrate on numbers. It's not really numbers I'm worried about, but just the fact that there are so many books I want to get to :D and it would help if I could read faster. But it's okay, I just need to learn to better organize my day instead to dedicate more time to reading :) I hope you end up loving your book! Have a beautiful day!
So excited for our buddy read!! You’ve had such a great reading year so far. I hope the second half of the year is even better!
Me too! I'm looking forward to reading A Place of Greater Safety with you! It's going to be great! I have so many fun books planned for the second half of the year I'm really excited for them all! I hope you have a great reading too and I'll be looking forward to your Dostoyevsky series!
Excellent, VERY GOOD, CONGRATULATIONS.
Thank you very much!
I hear your cry for me to make them happen and I ENSURE now, that they shall… indeed… happen.
I am preparing :D Looking forward to both of them.
In my case,. my plan for the summer is to read the trilogy oj North and Soyth written by John Jakes
I didn't expect the title North and South to be linked NOT to Elizabeth Gaskell :D I hope you enjoy the trilogy! The Best of luck with your goals! :)
I'm curious what your reaction to Virginia
Woolfe's novels will be.I really liked"To the
Lighthouse"& I couldn't t stand "Mrs. Dalloway".My professor for my 20th century
intellectually history course in my last
year at university did his P.H.D. thesis
at Harvard on Virginia Woolfe& he thought
"Mrs. Dalloway" was one of the great
modernist text of the 20 the century.For me, reading this novel was like sitting in a bad movie thàt you can't wait to end.It was like
your experiance with " The Leopard".I'm
more inclined now to end a novel& not go back to it than I was when younger.The
exceptions are Joyce&Proust. You know
at the beginning the modernist texts are going to be demanding.I mentioned last
time that I dnfed " Dead Souls"I think it's
just too rooted in the Russia of the 1830's
to say anything to the modern reader.I
like to know if you see it different when you
read the novel
Reading is not a competitive sport, 30 books is still a good number... probably more than the vast majority of people... I am not sure what the average for Booktubers is ...I've read 28 books so far.... The Cancer Ward is a great read, as you liked that, I would recommend the First Circle by Solzhenitsyn, about a scientific community prison in the Moscow suburbs, whose inmates work on technical projects for an increasingly paranoid Stalin.
Yes! I'm about to start The First Circle :) so excited about it! I have a good feeling about this novel. I think I'll love it. Thank you for your encouragement! The best of luck with your reading goals as well :)
Greetings and blessings from San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Perú.
30 books is really good!
I am at 22 but only because at the beginning of the year I was at home so much.
Also: There is a new book out that seems a bit like Circe. It is called Ariadne.
Yes I've heard of Ariadne. I've been eyeing it. a few people from the book club are about to read it, so I'll see what they think of it before I buy it for myself. I've been also meaning to get and read 1000 ships which is also a feminist re-telling of the Iliad I think. Would be interesting to read it since I loved the Iliad.
Favourite books I have read this year are 2 jenni fagen books luckenbooth and the sunlight pilgrims, the makiota sisters, the art of losing by alice zeniter, piranesi by susanna clarke, lean fall stand by jon mcgregor, when we cease to understand the world by benjamin labatut and the book smuggler by Omaima Al-Khamis
I love your videos, but I'm hard of hearing. Captions would be so helpful!
Among the books I want to read this summer is one book that I heard about though your channel, in your video “New Translated Japanese Books to Read in 2021”. It is “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” by Natsuko Imamura. After that, I want to read a book that I had as a child but have never read. That is “The Abandoned” by Paul Gallico, which is about a little boy who turns into a cat.
Ohh I really want to read The Woman in Purple Skirt too. But I don't own it yet. Let me know what you think of it once you read it! Have a great second reading half of the year! :)
@@bookishtopics I just finished reading The Woman in the Purple skirt. It was quite an interesting tale. The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan (our narrator) is lonely, without family or friends, and wants to arrange a situation where she can become friends with The Woman in the Purple Skirt, whom she knows only from the latter’s habits around the neighborhood. The narrator becomes, in her efforts, both a stalker and a guardian angel. The situation escalates even as the friendship the narrator seeks remains out of reach. I really enjoyed this novel, and I’m sure to revisit it sometime.
@@mediumjohnsilver ohh sounds heartwarming and it seems to be a kind book! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It does sound like something I would enjoy as well! Thank you for getting back to me and letting me know! I need to get a copy for myself! :)
@@bookishtopics In truth, I would not call this book heartwarming or kind, but I felt sympathy toward both characters.
Tanya, You always say you're a slow reader. Do you think you read faster in Russian? I love your enthusiasm for your books! JaneX
I actually tried an experiment recently where I read a Russian book for an hour and it turned out I don't really read significantly faster in Russian. In English, I usually read around 20 pages an hour and in Russian, at that time I read like 25. But it would also depend on the book, the size of fonts, and how much text is on the page. So I think it's just safe to say that my reading speed doesn't really differ too much. Though reading in Russian is definitely less brainpower :D
can anyone tell me what’s the name of the first book again? Madora?
It's Farewell to Matyora by Valentin Rasputin. :)
@@bookishtopics thankyou!
Oh my god Tanya 🤭 how will u read the tiny font of middlemarch 🤦♀️ u love big fonts and this one is really tiny 🤦♀️ I don’t like black cover of penguin classics but no matter the volume of book their fonts are just perfect 🥰😊🤩
True! I was so disappointed when I received this edition. My other Nortons were not as bad. But luckily I have also a Penguin English Library edition of it, so I'll read the novel from there and then read the additional material from Norton edition. This way there will be less amount of tiny font I'll have to deal with :D