Thank you so much for the friendship and the inspiration and for highlighting my books and my videos on your channel! Cheers to a new year! Looking forward to sharing your YT journey and seeing you continue to blossom! Xx
I have to confess that I felt a proud kind of solidarity in hearing that what you call the best argument for free will that you've seen still failed to win you over. This is how I see it. The arguments against free will just seem more accurate than the arguments for. When I spend time reflecting on that, I feel more gratitude just to be part of this experience of life. You know what I mean?
Exactly. If you follow the arguments through, it feels unavoidable, and it becomes almost impossible to imagine how it could actually be otherwise. The only thing in favor of free will is the subjective feeling, but that isn't enough, as we can say for certain our subjectivity fails in countless ways to render what exists accurately, not just on the subject of free will. I find myself not particularly bothered by this, but I know it ends up bothering others quite a bit. The book that I mentioned, though, is still really, really good: it's filled with arguments and explanations that are fascinating, and it's just an impressive effort overall. It won't change your mind, but it will teach you a lot.
every time i watch your videos i end up adding at least 5 books to my list haha. The Decameron is a book that has always peaked my interest - mostly because the idea of light-hearted stories in one of the most bleak times in human history seems immensely compelling... what i didn't realize is that it was written during the actual time period, making these stories more authentic than i expected. i love stories like these that show how similar humans are and how the essence of humanity persists throughout ages. just so cool. and i remember your other video which mentioned Ducks, Newburyport. when you explained it the first time i was so intrigued by it, but now i'm unsure i'll be able to handle it hahaha. audiobooks almost never work for me, but maybe if i ever get to it that's how i'll try it. also have been wanting to read solenoid! i've heard too many good things. hope you have a great 2025 of reading man!
Ruben, I am always so glad when you return. I think you do a better job of talking about books than anyone else on RUclips. Loads if great books here. I know a lot of books about reasons, if you are interested in them specifically. And I would love to just talk to you about Keats someday. I hope you’ll treat yourself to Walter Jackson Bate’s biography of him and Helen Vendler’s study of his Odes-I’d love to send one of them to you (how does one do that, exactly? I should know; I will plead early-onset senility and decrepitude, though neither applies… yet.). I love Barthelme and Cortázar too. I am going to start reading Butterfly Stories in the next two weeks-I’m trying to read all of Vollmann. I am also planning to read The Romanovs in, I think, March-I have a little project I’m working on. (This list of coincidences and likenesses could easily be extended.) I always get the sense that you are a fellow traveler on the same vast and humble quest for some numinous and always-already unattainable something. I hope you don’t disappear completely-I think what you do on this channel is a good thing under the sun. It speaks to others who may be, in some sense, your intellectual tribe. You are valued by people you have never met, and I want you to know it. Seeing this pop up made my morning. Happy New Year! (Afterthought: Ducks, Newburyport kept making me think of the opening premise of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus-that the world is the total set of things which are the case. Of course, what is and is not the case in that litany of “the fact that” is fun to think about.)
You always spur me to expand my reading wishlist, and I love the subtle philosophical allusions here and there ("always-already"). All of Vollmann is a hefty task to place on yourself. Perhaps my video covering his works will coincide with your reading of him. If you aren't able to get a full copy of his Rising Up & Rising Down, I may have a digital one for you. Reach out to me by email (should be on the main description for my channel somewhere). We can share further there. Thank you-thank you immensely-for the kindness of your words. I've been in a slightly subdued, almost anhedonic-feeling state for months, probably from overworking, and your words awaken me at least delicately, especially coming from a long-time and attentive viewer like yourself. That final afterthought is a stroke of brillance. Immediately, I wish I had made the connection myself.
@ I’ll find your email and get in touch, then. I suspect I have more experience of something like that quasi-anhedonic feeling you describe than I’d like to admit; it follows intellectuals, I think, and always has. Not for nothing does Qohelet/“Ecclesiastes” say that “in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increaseth knowledge increaseth also sorrow”-though I suspect the problem isn’t the knowledge (and who among us is wise?) that causes the dysthymia, but whatever neurochemical cocktail it is that fuels wonder. Wonder, like magic in fantasy novels, always comes at a cost. I say this, mind you, with a little thrill in my heart at the mere rumor of a pdf of the full Rising Up and Rising Down, which would be a kingly treasure. I’ve seen that set fetch $10,000 and upwards, which is madness. I have only the Ecco abridgment-a piddling 700 or so pages. Will the whole leviathan and its moral calculus abridge the weary weight of the world? Of course not. But the wonder persists. Anyway, more very soon. Glad you liked the Wittgenstein idea! I haven’t a clue if Lucy Ellmann had any such thing in mind, but it struck me as a neat thought either way.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern I’ll find your email and get in touch, then. I suspect I have more experience of something like that quasi-anhedonic feeling you describe; it follows intellectuals, I think, and always has. Not for nothing does Qohelet/“Ecclesiastes” say that “in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increaseth knowledge increaseth also sorrow”-though I suspect the problem isn’t the knowledge (and who among us is wise?) that causes the dysthymia, but whatever neurochemical cocktail it is that fuels wonder. Wonder, like magic in fantasy novels, always comes at a cost. I say this, mind you, with a little thrill in my heart at the mere rumor of a pdf of the full Rising Up and Rising Down, which would be a kingly treasure. I’ve seen that set fetch $10,000 and upwards, which is madness. I have only the Ecco abridgment-a piddling 700 or so pages. Will the whole leviathan and its moral calculus abridge the weary weight of the world? Of course not. But the wonder persists. Anyway, more very soon. Glad you liked the Wittgenstein idea! I haven’t a clue if Lucy Ellmann had any such thing in mind, but it struck me as a neat thought either way.
Yep, I definitely have that PDF for you (and a few other obscure greats). I just now placed my email more prominently in the description for you. That way you don't have to find that little reveal-email button.
I really love this approach to recapping your year in reading! Having questions to answer gives a nice excuse to talk about all sorts of books, the sad, the frustrating, the ones that surprised you. I found this so much more engaging and informative than just a stack of “best” or “favorites.” So many criteria can make a book good; it’s not always so cut & dry. Listening to your thoughtful answers really inspired me to approach reading differently this year. I’m glad I waited until January to watch this because now I’m more motivated than ever to read deeply, widely, & for myself.
This is so kind of you to share. I love hearing any hint that I've inspired others with their reading. And I agree completely: books are various and discussions of them should encapsulate that variety. I had to practice some self control not to just expand the list perpetually with more and more specific categories. That was certainly a temptation.
Coincidentally, this video popped up just when I took a break from reading The Passion According to GH. She is the master at capturing the stream of thought as we grapple to make sense of ourselves and our place in the world. I'd highly recommend her other works too. The Hour of the Star is magnificent and so is Near to the Wild Heart.
My year wouldn’t have been the same without you - particularly how I finished the year reading 3 works by Krasznahorkai! Grateful that you’re here on booktube and to call you a friend. As far as these books, I’m wary of adding too many more books to my TBR haha, but I do plan to read some of Montefiore in the next year or so. I need to clear off some of Figes’ books first. I hope Solenoid is in your plans for Q1 2025! Edit: Commented mid-video and heard your mention of Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming. I’m about 1/2 through so you have me excited to see how the rest unfolds
It's been so nice to connect with you, my friend. The ending of Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming caught me at the right time. I found myself fully enthralled (precisely because it leaves room for interpretation), and I hope it reaches you at the right time, too. Man, I'm going to read the shit out of Solenoid next year!
A great time listening to your reading takeaways from this year. Your discussions on Vollmann only further stoke my excitement to finally start reading him in the new year. Thanks for your support of me and so many others in this community this last year. Here's to a year of reading just as fruitful in 2025!
Your thoughts on Ducks, Newburyport were interesting - I read it before an audiobook was available but loved it. I’m really not sure I could concentrate on an audiobook sufficiently to be able to get through it. I find sometimes that several sentences go by and I have tuned out (especially if driving!) and I have to keep rewinding. So I rarely do audiobooks but one that I thought was brilliant and changed my perception of a book was Jim Norton reading Ulysses (by Naxos I think).
It was my first experience seriously listening to an audiobook. I listened while working out and walking around. Maybe I got lucky with the speaker, but it somehow fully held my attention. I'm glad I managed to finish the book that way; it almost sticks in my memory like a film now.
Congrats on the year and everything you've built up, it's a great feat to look back I think and consider what you've crafted and put out into the world :) I enjoyed listening to this one while I was rearranging and logging everything on my TBR bookshelf, thanks for your suggestions and insights throughout 2024! Also Baron Wenckheim and Solenoid are two of my favourite books, glad they've made it into your world now. As a stray suggestion, I think Wise Blood by O'Connor would be a good pairing with Solenoid, might be worth giving that a go beforehand if it's on your radar
I've been curious about Wise Blood for a while, so I'll keep that connection in mind! Thanks for being here, for being helpful and kind, for your uplifting words, and I'll be here throughout 2025, and I hope to see you around, too. 🙏
I think you convinced me to buy Montefiore's books, I really liked Romanovs and I think I'll like the other too, but I leave off Young Stalin. I'm also reading Philip Hall and Bren Booth-Jones. You and the Active Mind made me want to read Infinite Jest -I hope to get to it. Yay to us reading Proust in 2025! Happy New Year Ruben xoxo
I love to inspire, and I'm glad you feel that bookish inspiration. The World is like The Romanovs if it were three times denser, five times crueler, and ten times more overwhelming, haha. Infinite Jest, too-that book is an intense commitment! With David Foster Wallace, his short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men might be a smoother starting point, giving you enough of a taste of his range to pique your interest. Happy New Year, Emily!
Great recap, Ruben! I've also got Solenoid on the table for 2025, and have also been trying to avoid reading other readers' comments on it because of how much it's sweeping through Instagram, Booktube, etc. Always excited to see what you do and am looking forward to more of your videos next year.
Welcome back - great way to end the year! Hope everything is improving on your end - it hasn't been a banner year for many of us, for a variety of reasons. Since you enjoyed the Decameron, you should also try Basile's Pentamerone (1636), although some of the tales are a bit on the dark side. But as for my reading year: Longest book - surprisingly, Europe Central. I was sure Don Quixote would take the ribbon, but Vollmann won by about 100 pages. Surprising Book - Craig Clevenger's The Contortionist's Handbook. Recommended by another RUclipsr. Never heard of Clevenger, but it turned out that we had a copy. Follows a young man through the seamy side of fraud of all kinds, with touches of Iceberg Slim and James Ellroy. New Favorite Author - Percival Everett. James is amazing, as is The Trees. Already have a copy of Erasure and hoping after Everett wins the Pulitzer his early works will be republished. Author Who Didn't Work Out - Philip K. Dick and The Man In the High Castle. I don't read much sci-fi but felt obligated to give this novel a try. Seemed to run out of steam toward the end, and I didn't find the narrative compelling. Saddest Book - Andrey Kurkov's Diary of An Invasion. His personal account of the war in Ukraine. I've read everything by Kurkov, and he's one of Ukraine's top satirists. But I had followed a couple of RUclipsrs based in Ukraine, and the last posting from them here was when Russia had invaded their territory. Nonfiction Most Like Fiction - The Gene: An Intimate History (one of your recommendations). The author made his topic understandable to this layman, and interspersing the narrative with his personal story worked. Most Personally Gratifying - Proust's Time Regained, as that completed In Search of Lost Time. Also read Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy, which somehow I'd neglected since grad school even though I was involved in the Faulkner Concordance Project. Most Frustrating - Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. I love 18th and 19th C literature, but Radcliffe goes off on so many tangents it was hard to keep track of who was who at some points. Plus too many silly episodes with a wishy-washy heroine. Most Lived Up To the Hype - Percival Everett's James. Engrossing and hard to put down. A difficult book in its way but also clever in its trope of a private language among the slaves. Favorite Scene - When Don Quixote discovers that someone has been writing and publishing his adventures without his knowledge. Very meta. Book I Thought I'd Love - Richard Powers' Playground. I've been a fan for years and have read all but two of his novels (although I just purchased Gain). I get his point, and he's focused on environmental issues lately, but this latest novel just didn't measure up to The Overstory. On the plus side, I attended a talk by him a few months ago. Most Unique Concept - H.G. Wells, The World Set Free. One of his lesser-known novels, but prescient in his depiction of the destructive forces of atomic warfare. Definite Reread - I have too many books that I haven't read, so a reread of anything is far down my to-do list. Books I Failed to Get To - Ilf & Petrov's The Golden Calf. I picked up our store's copy, but it's still sitting on top of the TBR pile on my nightstand. 2025 Priorities - Read more nonfiction. 2024 reads were overwhelming in the fiction category, and I have enough TBR nonfiction titles to keep me occupied for awhile.
This is such an awesome response. You had a lot of reading variety this year. I recently sent another BookTuber a list of nonfiction to check out for the coming year, and I hope this list turns out helpful for you, too (focused on history and philosophy): - Two-volume Carbon Ideologies by William T. Vollmann: essentially a letter to the future on how/why we failed to solve climate change from someone initially skeptical of its validity who then became wholly convinced and then wholly terrified at how massive the problem is once you get into the specifics, and the book is packed with specifics. - The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore: a history of the world through a chain of families; you'll be reading this at the pace of Infinite Jest; it's a history book that feels like a literary achievement. - Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit: an ethics philosopher eager to grasp an objective ethical foundation who starts by breaking down all the paradoxes or self-defeating qualities of each ethical system and as a result of that breakdown he discovers more and greater problems and ends up founding a whole field of population ethics; he explains in detail each ethical framework, so it could be a great first ethics books for you; just keep in mind it's dense; all the books I'm recommending are dense-sorry (but I feel you'll appreciate the higher expectations of the writing). - Conjectures and Refutations by Karl Popper: a series of essays on the demarcation problem between science and pseudoscience; really, it's a series of essays on the challenges of knowledge, how to know when one has knowledge versus becoming prey to the problem of induction; I suggest reading the online Stanford Encyclopedia entry on "the problem of induction" prior to diving into these essays; considering you're in the field of science, I think you will love either agreeing with or arguing with this book. (Also worth reading Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies.) - Slavery and Social Death by Orlando Patterson: perhaps THE work on slavery, covering its use and effects and function within over fifty societies; it ends up being a work on power and control and manipulation generally and will have you thinking on every page. - Christianity: The First Three-Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch: this is an incredible accomplishment; I'm pretty sure it's the first history book I ever read, and it taught me what history can be. - The Greatest Benefit to Mankind by Roy Porter: a history of medicine that manages not to drag because the author never falters in the flow of his prose and always finds the gems amidst the facts that makes each point in time feel meaningful (with all the horrors of medical history intact). - The World of Mathematics by James R. Newman: I'm slowly reading through this right now (gonna take a while); a collection of essays on mathematics selected by a non-mathematician, so the focus is history, elegance, influence, and philosophy-why mathematics matters. - Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant: this is not at all where you should start with philosophy, but I'm going to mention it here because I do think it is essential to read eventually, and I want to specifically suggest the Werner S. Pluhar translation, since that one feels more natural, in my view, than many of the more easily-attainable translations out there (and it is through Pluhar's translation that I suddenly GOT Kant in any meaningful way); prior to reading this essential text, read the overview by Roger Scruton in the Oxford Very Short Introduction series, as that's the one summation of Kant's works that I feel captures the relation and significance across Kant's arguments. - The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott: I'll discuss this in an upcoming video, but though it is essentially a textbook, I think it is a remarkably succinct and, most importantly, vital summation of narrative study; it removes the critical analysis that us English majors are used to, instead opting to describe the universal aspects of narrative play across art, film, literature, and even memory and life; it is a far better book than its title suggests that doesn't waste a single page.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Thanks for the list, and Happy New Year! We have the two-volume Carbon Ideologies in stock along with the Montefiores (plus a couple of his novels). I'm pretty sure we even have the Karl Popper - I know we have a number of his books. Already read MacCulloch's Christianity and Reformation, and I'm interested in some of his other works. I've read quite a few books on religious history, including The Bible: A Global History. Read Patterson's Freedom some time ago, and I'll give your recommendation a try this year. Haven't read anything by Roy Porter other than Quacks, so I'll add that suggestion plus another history of 19th C medical practice I've seen recently. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has been on my radar for years, and for classical history I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't read any Mary Beard, though I've read numerous books by Michael Grant and others. Most of my reading in history has been on the classical era, 18th & 19th C France, and US history up until WWII. I had a solid overview of philosophy as an undergrad, but I know it's time to take a deeper dive into that world. Sigh - too many books, too little time!
Inspiring as always, sir. This has certainly piqued my interest in Julio Cortazar, for I adore frantic outbursts of passion and mania. Here's to another good year.
Thanks for another provocative & engaging video, you share so much that requires a careful & considered response, I need time to ponder. Thanks for everything, Ruben - another video essay that needs to be filed away & not deleted: return, return, return...
I just learned of Krasznahorkai recently and saw his newly translated Herscht 07769 at my local bookstore. Really excited to check it out early in this year and read that sentence
Great video Ruben. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on all these books. I've been thinking about joining the Proust group Greg is doing but I am terrified of failure. I feel like I have been too much DNFing. I hope you have a happy new year!
Thank you, Jenny. I'm giving myself permission to only read the first Proust book if that's what feels best. I like the idea of spreading it out ten pages per day, making it a complement to other reading (and then if it woos me and I read more, I won't stop myself). One of the great things about BookTube is the bookish variety. You could be the reader telling us about all the other greats works out there while we tiptoe our way through Proust's musings. Have a Happy New Year!
Got the necessary push to start hopscotch. I didn’t know abt many of the books you discussed, but I read stalingrad and life and fate this yr lol(definitely worth a read)
That's great! Hopscotch is more about mood than plot (in particular the internally cycling suffering of seeking what is out-of-reach). There's a lot that's only pieced together fleetingly, and much left ambiguous. If you embrace the dreaminess of its presentation, you should love it.
For non-fiction that reads like fiction, I would recommend Ronald Hutton's ongoing biography of Oliver Cromwell, Andrew Scott Cooper's book on the Iranian Revolution and Christopher de Bellaigue'a biography of Mohammed Mossadegh. Diarmaid MacCulloch is also a brilliant historian for that kind of thing.
I agree wholeheartedly in regard to Diarmaid MacCulloch, so I will be picking up your other choices as well. Thank you so much for the recommendations.
Advance thanks for future videos on The Oxford Handbook Series. Those books are great treasure houses of wisdom but are quite challenging to navigate for the non-specialist reader.
Yes, I find in general they seem geared toward graduate-level or above readers. Though so far in my reading there are a couple that actually introduce and lay out their fields quite well.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern I am currently writing a book on misinformation in health and science from a multidisciplinary perspective - covering research in psychology, public health, information science , cognitive science, psycholinguistics, philosophy, deception studies etc. My book is for everyone so I am in the process of enriching it with scenarios ,thought experiments and ideas from all types of books . Anything that integrates and expands a point helps me gain more clarity on this complex topic. Your RUclips channel with its unique content and vast range of insights has helped me a lot in general and also more specifically in accessing books that I would not have otherwise discovered by myself. Thanks a lot.
@@DrGBhas Wow, that is a fascinating subject! Have there been books you've found especially insightful or helpful so far? Three that come to mind that might be of use to you: The Image by Daniel J. Boorstin (about event-making in media and the expectations that follow), The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology (covering social influence, representation, competing narratives, and much more), and The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative (breaks down how narratives form inherently as a means of parceling out time and perception, and how 'authorship' arises subtly in various forms of media, etc.-not what one would expect from a textbook with that title, but it is brilliant). I'm also now thinking of the essay "E Unibus Pluram" by David Foster Wallace, which articulates the voyeuristic view of some media consumption and the mimicry that follows. The above seems to connect-at least tangentially-with how misinformation can delicately integrate into our lives as an aspect of our identity. Hope that helps! And please let me know of any great books you discover!
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Some books that have helped me in clarifying my understanding on a range of topics are : 1.The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data by David Spiegelhalter 2. Deceit and Self-Deception Fooling Yourself the Better to Fool Others by Robert Trivers 3. A History of Philosophy by AC Grayling
Interesting as ever, but particularly _Reasons & Normativity._ It does sound a bit like philosophers ground their thinking in a human species without either human nature or natural human culture, formed by time and erosion, if you will.
Very interesting list, since our criteria and choices seem to overlap to a very large extent, but then you also mention two authors that I found and still find not engaging at all.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Vollmann and Proust. Both use too much space for too little content, but in different ways. Proust is refined French style without content. Vollmann in comparison...
Another request : For a future video please cover the topic of free will and determinism from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective : Philosophy, psychology, physics, cognitive science etc .
- I am just starting the Decameron, and it has already inspired me to write something with a similar structure. I also didn’t expect it to be as fun as it is honestly. - The poetry of Keats was one of my highlights of 2023, I plan to return to it on 2025.
@@materiagrix The fun-the fact that its humor still often resonates-is a pleasurable shock. I started The Decameron out of curiosity, finished it out of enjoyment. Keats feels like a kindred spirit: quiet, contemplative, curious, lost (and okay with the meandering of it).
I agree! I just finished your video: - I always thought you would really like Julio Cortazar but assumed you already knew him, now I regret not having recommended him to you. - I am planning to read a few one volume World histories and Philosophy Histories in 2025. I will add on Simon Sebag’s to the list. Also consider yourself invited to read with me Graeber’s ‘Dawn of Everything’ and Randal Collins ‘Sociology of Philosophies’. I would be delighted to be able to discuss them with you. - Same with Solenoid! I will also be reading it soon!
@@materiagrix That Sociology of Philosophies is new to me, and I find myself quite intrigued. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention! I'll have to keep you updated on my reading plans. I'm fairly sure I'm going to read at least one more Krasznahorkai, then at least the first two books from Proust, then To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (buddy read with a friend), then Solenoid should be in the cards, and after that the Sociology book might fit in. I know myself enough to know other books are going to slip in between those, too (still making my way through the Will & Ariel Durant books and The Oxford Handbooks). Whether we read them at the same time or not, I'd love to discuss those books with you. I'll let you know!
Favorite Reads of 2024: "The Enemy" short story by I B Singer The Demon of Unrest by E. Larson To the Lighthouse by V. Woolf A Game of Thrones by GRRM A Month in the Country by J. Carr A Moveable Feast by E. Hemingway In Cold Type: Overcoming the Book Crisis by L. Shatzkin The City and Its Uncertain Walls by H. Murakami I'm still reading Don Quixote (Grossman translation) and find it fascinating. I usually read more but early in the year my mother got sick and has struggled ever since, and I've had chronic vision problems. I'll keep reading as long as I can. (Audiobooks put me to sleep). Happy New Year.
I'm planning a buddy read of Woolf's To the Lighthouse soon. It's the last of her works I haven't read, and I think I've been avoiding finishing Woolf since I love her writing so much. I'm sorry to hear about the diminishing health of you (with your vision) and your mother. I hope that for as long as it can reading serves as a means out by heading deeply in.
My surprises (or discoveries) of 2024 were Anthony Trollope (I read the complete Barset series) and Karl Ove Knausgaard (I read the complete "my struggle" series).
That is a stellar reading year for you! I've yet to read both Trollope and Knausgaard, though I've heard much about both. With Trollope, would you recommend I try the series in release order, or would it be better to jump around and start somewhere else?
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Read the Barchesters in release order - they'll make more sense that way. And don't neglect the Palliser series, which I argue is better than the Barts.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Best to read them in order (IMHO). The characters come back in "later" books and it is good to know what happened to them before.
Ah, I was so happy to see William L. Shirer turn up in your review for the year. I have read his Berlin Diary and The End of the Berlin Diary and plan to read all his works in order. I like his presentation of life as it was happening around him which feels so fresh though I read it decades in his future. I still have the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to look forward to.
Yes, you can feel his passion and writerly sensibility across his every observation, and yet he also doesn't overstate or overembellish his experiences: he notices the vital details and pushes us to notice just those details, too, and then carries us along through the story he wishes to tell. There's a subtlety to his powers as a writer that I find impressive. You can tell he plans carefully.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern you are kind to respond so thoughtfully to my comment. I appreciate it and look forward to your future videos. Have a wonderful 2025. May it be filled with all good things.
No, I don't write summaries, but I do take careful notes. There's an older video, "My Evolution in Annotating Books-With Examples!"-that discusses my process and includes footage of my annotations. If your goal is to remember what you read, organized notetaking is helpful, but most helpful of all is to find someone who is curious and to explain what you've been reading to them. You'll discover immediately as you talk about the book where the gaps are, and then you can go back and review your notes to fill in those gaps. I work as a teacher, so often my students become sounding boards for my learning.
Yes, he absolutely dumps information onto the reader. I find his artistry in structure and how he laps motifs over one another (and there is a care in his diction that I appreciate), but that's something one has to go out of their way to notice. If you check out my video on "My Evolution in Annotating Books" you will see footage of how I take notes, and that might help you see why I appreciate what he does in his prose. I read slowly and am almost neurotically careful.
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Thank you for watching, and Happy New Year! 🎊
You too, Ruben - everything exciting & full of hope.
Thank you so much for the friendship and the inspiration and for highlighting my books and my videos on your channel! Cheers to a new year! Looking forward to sharing your YT journey and seeing you continue to blossom! Xx
I have to confess that I felt a proud kind of solidarity in hearing that what you call the best argument for free will that you've seen still failed to win you over. This is how I see it. The arguments against free will just seem more accurate than the arguments for. When I spend time reflecting on that, I feel more gratitude just to be part of this experience of life. You know what I mean?
Exactly. If you follow the arguments through, it feels unavoidable, and it becomes almost impossible to imagine how it could actually be otherwise. The only thing in favor of free will is the subjective feeling, but that isn't enough, as we can say for certain our subjectivity fails in countless ways to render what exists accurately, not just on the subject of free will. I find myself not particularly bothered by this, but I know it ends up bothering others quite a bit. The book that I mentioned, though, is still really, really good: it's filled with arguments and explanations that are fascinating, and it's just an impressive effort overall. It won't change your mind, but it will teach you a lot.
every time i watch your videos i end up adding at least 5 books to my list haha.
The Decameron is a book that has always peaked my interest - mostly because the idea of light-hearted stories in one of the most bleak times in human history seems immensely compelling... what i didn't realize is that it was written during the actual time period, making these stories more authentic than i expected. i love stories like these that show how similar humans are and how the essence of humanity persists throughout ages. just so cool.
and i remember your other video which mentioned Ducks, Newburyport. when you explained it the first time i was so intrigued by it, but now i'm unsure i'll be able to handle it hahaha. audiobooks almost never work for me, but maybe if i ever get to it that's how i'll try it.
also have been wanting to read solenoid! i've heard too many good things. hope you have a great 2025 of reading man!
My first year on book tube. Nice to make your acquaintance this year! Best wishes with what you choose to read in 2025. Happy reading!
Ruben, I am always so glad when you return. I think you do a better job of talking about books than anyone else on RUclips. Loads if great books here. I know a lot of books about reasons, if you are interested in them specifically. And I would love to just talk to you about Keats someday. I hope you’ll treat yourself to Walter Jackson Bate’s biography of him and Helen Vendler’s study of his Odes-I’d love to send one of them to you (how does one do that, exactly? I should know; I will plead early-onset senility and decrepitude, though neither applies… yet.). I love Barthelme and Cortázar too. I am going to start reading Butterfly Stories in the next two weeks-I’m trying to read all of Vollmann. I am also planning to read The Romanovs in, I think, March-I have a little project I’m working on. (This list of coincidences and likenesses could easily be extended.) I always get the sense that you are a fellow traveler on the same vast and humble quest for some numinous and always-already unattainable something. I hope you don’t disappear completely-I think what you do on this channel is a good thing under the sun. It speaks to others who may be, in some sense, your intellectual tribe. You are valued by people you have never met, and I want you to know it.
Seeing this pop up made my morning. Happy New Year!
(Afterthought: Ducks, Newburyport kept making me think of the opening premise of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus-that the world is the total set of things which are the case. Of course, what is and is not the case in that litany of “the fact that” is fun to think about.)
You always spur me to expand my reading wishlist, and I love the subtle philosophical allusions here and there ("always-already").
All of Vollmann is a hefty task to place on yourself. Perhaps my video covering his works will coincide with your reading of him. If you aren't able to get a full copy of his Rising Up & Rising Down, I may have a digital one for you. Reach out to me by email (should be on the main description for my channel somewhere). We can share further there.
Thank you-thank you immensely-for the kindness of your words. I've been in a slightly subdued, almost anhedonic-feeling state for months, probably from overworking, and your words awaken me at least delicately, especially coming from a long-time and attentive viewer like yourself.
That final afterthought is a stroke of brillance. Immediately, I wish I had made the connection myself.
@ I’ll find your email and get in touch, then. I suspect I have more experience of something like that quasi-anhedonic feeling you describe than I’d like to admit; it follows intellectuals, I think, and always has. Not for nothing does Qohelet/“Ecclesiastes” say that “in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increaseth knowledge increaseth also sorrow”-though I suspect the problem isn’t the knowledge (and who among us is wise?) that causes the dysthymia, but whatever neurochemical cocktail it is that fuels wonder. Wonder, like magic in fantasy novels, always comes at a cost. I say this, mind you, with a little thrill in my heart at the mere rumor of a pdf of the full Rising Up and Rising Down, which would be a kingly treasure. I’ve seen that set fetch $10,000 and upwards, which is madness. I have only the Ecco abridgment-a piddling 700 or so pages. Will the whole leviathan and its moral calculus abridge the weary weight of the world? Of course not. But the wonder persists. Anyway, more very soon. Glad you liked the Wittgenstein idea! I haven’t a clue if Lucy Ellmann had any such thing in mind, but it struck me as a neat thought either way.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern I’ll find your email and get in touch, then. I suspect I have more experience of something like that quasi-anhedonic feeling you describe; it follows intellectuals, I think, and always has. Not for nothing does Qohelet/“Ecclesiastes” say that “in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increaseth knowledge increaseth also sorrow”-though I suspect the problem isn’t the knowledge (and who among us is wise?) that causes the dysthymia, but whatever neurochemical cocktail it is that fuels wonder. Wonder, like magic in fantasy novels, always comes at a cost. I say this, mind you, with a little thrill in my heart at the mere rumor of a pdf of the full Rising Up and Rising Down, which would be a kingly treasure. I’ve seen that set fetch $10,000 and upwards, which is madness. I have only the Ecco abridgment-a piddling 700 or so pages. Will the whole leviathan and its moral calculus abridge the weary weight of the world? Of course not. But the wonder persists. Anyway, more very soon. Glad you liked the Wittgenstein idea! I haven’t a clue if Lucy Ellmann had any such thing in mind, but it struck me as a neat thought either way.
Yep, I definitely have that PDF for you (and a few other obscure greats). I just now placed my email more prominently in the description for you. That way you don't have to find that little reveal-email button.
I really love this approach to recapping your year in reading! Having questions to answer gives a nice excuse to talk about all sorts of books, the sad, the frustrating, the ones that surprised you. I found this so much more engaging and informative than just a stack of “best” or “favorites.” So many criteria can make a book good; it’s not always so cut & dry. Listening to your thoughtful answers really inspired me to approach reading differently this year. I’m glad I waited until January to watch this because now I’m more motivated than ever to read deeply, widely, & for myself.
This is so kind of you to share. I love hearing any hint that I've inspired others with their reading. And I agree completely: books are various and discussions of them should encapsulate that variety. I had to practice some self control not to just expand the list perpetually with more and more specific categories. That was certainly a temptation.
Coincidentally, this video popped up just when I took a break from reading The Passion According to GH. She is the master at capturing the stream of thought as we grapple to make sense of ourselves and our place in the world. I'd highly recommend her other works too. The Hour of the Star is magnificent and so is Near to the Wild Heart.
I'm glad you're embracing it! I'll definitely be making my way through her other works in time.
Oxford handbooks are amazing
My year wouldn’t have been the same without you - particularly how I finished the year reading 3 works by Krasznahorkai! Grateful that you’re here on booktube and to call you a friend.
As far as these books, I’m wary of adding too many more books to my TBR haha, but I do plan to read some of Montefiore in the next year or so. I need to clear off some of Figes’ books first.
I hope Solenoid is in your plans for Q1 2025!
Edit: Commented mid-video and heard your mention of Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming. I’m about 1/2 through so you have me excited to see how the rest unfolds
It's been so nice to connect with you, my friend. The ending of Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming caught me at the right time. I found myself fully enthralled (precisely because it leaves room for interpretation), and I hope it reaches you at the right time, too.
Man, I'm going to read the shit out of Solenoid next year!
A great time listening to your reading takeaways from this year. Your discussions on Vollmann only further stoke my excitement to finally start reading him in the new year. Thanks for your support of me and so many others in this community this last year. Here's to a year of reading just as fruitful in 2025!
Your thoughts on Ducks, Newburyport were interesting - I read it before an audiobook was available but loved it. I’m really not sure I could concentrate on an audiobook sufficiently to be able to get through it. I find sometimes that several sentences go by and I have tuned out (especially if driving!) and I have to keep rewinding. So I rarely do audiobooks but one that I thought was brilliant and changed my perception of a book was Jim Norton reading Ulysses (by Naxos I think).
It was my first experience seriously listening to an audiobook. I listened while working out and walking around. Maybe I got lucky with the speaker, but it somehow fully held my attention. I'm glad I managed to finish the book that way; it almost sticks in my memory like a film now.
Congrats on the year and everything you've built up, it's a great feat to look back I think and consider what you've crafted and put out into the world :) I enjoyed listening to this one while I was rearranging and logging everything on my TBR bookshelf, thanks for your suggestions and insights throughout 2024!
Also Baron Wenckheim and Solenoid are two of my favourite books, glad they've made it into your world now. As a stray suggestion, I think Wise Blood by O'Connor would be a good pairing with Solenoid, might be worth giving that a go beforehand if it's on your radar
I've been curious about Wise Blood for a while, so I'll keep that connection in mind! Thanks for being here, for being helpful and kind, for your uplifting words, and I'll be here throughout 2025, and I hope to see you around, too. 🙏
I think you convinced me to buy Montefiore's books, I really liked Romanovs and I think I'll like the other too, but I leave off Young Stalin. I'm also reading Philip Hall and Bren Booth-Jones. You and the Active Mind made me want to read Infinite Jest -I hope to get to it. Yay to us reading Proust in 2025! Happy New Year Ruben xoxo
I love to inspire, and I'm glad you feel that bookish inspiration. The World is like The Romanovs if it were three times denser, five times crueler, and ten times more overwhelming, haha. Infinite Jest, too-that book is an intense commitment! With David Foster Wallace, his short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men might be a smoother starting point, giving you enough of a taste of his range to pique your interest.
Happy New Year, Emily!
Great recap, Ruben! I've also got Solenoid on the table for 2025, and have also been trying to avoid reading other readers' comments on it because of how much it's sweeping through Instagram, Booktube, etc.
Always excited to see what you do and am looking forward to more of your videos next year.
Welcome back - great way to end the year! Hope everything is improving on your end - it hasn't been a banner year for many of us, for a variety of reasons. Since you enjoyed the Decameron, you should also try Basile's Pentamerone (1636), although some of the tales are a bit on the dark side. But as for my reading year:
Longest book - surprisingly, Europe Central. I was sure Don Quixote would take the ribbon, but Vollmann won by about 100 pages.
Surprising Book - Craig Clevenger's The Contortionist's Handbook. Recommended by another RUclipsr. Never heard of Clevenger, but it turned out that we had a copy. Follows a young man through the seamy side of fraud of all kinds, with touches of Iceberg Slim and James Ellroy.
New Favorite Author - Percival Everett. James is amazing, as is The Trees. Already have a copy of Erasure and hoping after Everett wins the Pulitzer his early works will be republished.
Author Who Didn't Work Out - Philip K. Dick and The Man In the High Castle. I don't read much sci-fi but felt obligated to give this novel a try. Seemed to run out of steam toward the end, and I didn't find the narrative compelling.
Saddest Book - Andrey Kurkov's Diary of An Invasion. His personal account of the war in Ukraine. I've read everything by Kurkov, and he's one of Ukraine's top satirists. But I had followed a couple of RUclipsrs based in Ukraine, and the last posting from them here was when Russia had invaded their territory.
Nonfiction Most Like Fiction - The Gene: An Intimate History (one of your recommendations). The author made his topic understandable to this layman, and interspersing the narrative with his personal story worked.
Most Personally Gratifying - Proust's Time Regained, as that completed In Search of Lost Time. Also read Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy, which somehow I'd neglected since grad school even though I was involved in the Faulkner Concordance Project.
Most Frustrating - Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. I love 18th and 19th C literature, but Radcliffe goes off on so many tangents it was hard to keep track of who was who at some points. Plus too many silly episodes with a wishy-washy heroine.
Most Lived Up To the Hype - Percival Everett's James. Engrossing and hard to put down. A difficult book in its way but also clever in its trope of a private language among the slaves.
Favorite Scene - When Don Quixote discovers that someone has been writing and publishing his adventures without his knowledge. Very meta.
Book I Thought I'd Love - Richard Powers' Playground. I've been a fan for years and have read all but two of his novels (although I just purchased Gain). I get his point, and he's focused on environmental issues lately, but this latest novel just didn't measure up to The Overstory. On the plus side, I attended a talk by him a few months ago.
Most Unique Concept - H.G. Wells, The World Set Free. One of his lesser-known novels, but prescient in his depiction of the destructive forces of atomic warfare.
Definite Reread - I have too many books that I haven't read, so a reread of anything is far down my to-do list.
Books I Failed to Get To - Ilf & Petrov's The Golden Calf. I picked up our store's copy, but it's still sitting on top of the TBR pile on my nightstand.
2025 Priorities - Read more nonfiction. 2024 reads were overwhelming in the fiction category, and I have enough TBR nonfiction titles to keep me occupied for awhile.
This is such an awesome response. You had a lot of reading variety this year. I recently sent another BookTuber a list of nonfiction to check out for the coming year, and I hope this list turns out helpful for you, too (focused on history and philosophy):
- Two-volume Carbon Ideologies by William T. Vollmann: essentially a letter to the future on how/why we failed to solve climate change from someone initially skeptical of its validity who then became wholly convinced and then wholly terrified at how massive the problem is once you get into the specifics, and the book is packed with specifics.
- The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore: a history of the world through a chain of families; you'll be reading this at the pace of Infinite Jest; it's a history book that feels like a literary achievement.
- Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit: an ethics philosopher eager to grasp an objective ethical foundation who starts by breaking down all the paradoxes or self-defeating qualities of each ethical system and as a result of that breakdown he discovers more and greater problems and ends up founding a whole field of population ethics; he explains in detail each ethical framework, so it could be a great first ethics books for you; just keep in mind it's dense; all the books I'm recommending are dense-sorry (but I feel you'll appreciate the higher expectations of the writing).
- Conjectures and Refutations by Karl Popper: a series of essays on the demarcation problem between science and pseudoscience; really, it's a series of essays on the challenges of knowledge, how to know when one has knowledge versus becoming prey to the problem of induction; I suggest reading the online Stanford Encyclopedia entry on "the problem of induction" prior to diving into these essays; considering you're in the field of science, I think you will love either agreeing with or arguing with this book. (Also worth reading Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies.)
- Slavery and Social Death by Orlando Patterson: perhaps THE work on slavery, covering its use and effects and function within over fifty societies; it ends up being a work on power and control and manipulation generally and will have you thinking on every page.
- Christianity: The First Three-Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch: this is an incredible accomplishment; I'm pretty sure it's the first history book I ever read, and it taught me what history can be.
- The Greatest Benefit to Mankind by Roy Porter: a history of medicine that manages not to drag because the author never falters in the flow of his prose and always finds the gems amidst the facts that makes each point in time feel meaningful (with all the horrors of medical history intact).
- The World of Mathematics by James R. Newman: I'm slowly reading through this right now (gonna take a while); a collection of essays on mathematics selected by a non-mathematician, so the focus is history, elegance, influence, and philosophy-why mathematics matters.
- Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant: this is not at all where you should start with philosophy, but I'm going to mention it here because I do think it is essential to read eventually, and I want to specifically suggest the Werner S. Pluhar translation, since that one feels more natural, in my view, than many of the more easily-attainable translations out there (and it is through Pluhar's translation that I suddenly GOT Kant in any meaningful way); prior to reading this essential text, read the overview by Roger Scruton in the Oxford Very Short Introduction series, as that's the one summation of Kant's works that I feel captures the relation and significance across Kant's arguments.
- The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott: I'll discuss this in an upcoming video, but though it is essentially a textbook, I think it is a remarkably succinct and, most importantly, vital summation of narrative study; it removes the critical analysis that us English majors are used to, instead opting to describe the universal aspects of narrative play across art, film, literature, and even memory and life; it is a far better book than its title suggests that doesn't waste a single page.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Thanks for the list, and Happy New Year! We have the two-volume Carbon Ideologies in stock along with the Montefiores (plus a couple of his novels). I'm pretty sure we even have the Karl Popper - I know we have a number of his books. Already read MacCulloch's Christianity and Reformation, and I'm interested in some of his other works. I've read quite a few books on religious history, including The Bible: A Global History. Read Patterson's Freedom some time ago, and I'll give your recommendation a try this year. Haven't read anything by Roy Porter other than Quacks, so I'll add that suggestion plus another history of 19th C medical practice I've seen recently. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has been on my radar for years, and for classical history I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't read any Mary Beard, though I've read numerous books by Michael Grant and others. Most of my reading in history has been on the classical era, 18th & 19th C France, and US history up until WWII. I had a solid overview of philosophy as an undergrad, but I know it's time to take a deeper dive into that world. Sigh - too many books, too little time!
@@aadamtx The fact that your bookstore has a couple Karl Popper lying around means you've got a stellar place (I never find Popper in bookstores).
Inspiring as always, sir. This has certainly piqued my interest in Julio Cortazar, for I adore frantic outbursts of passion and mania.
Here's to another good year.
Julio Cortazar is perfect for you. His collection Blow-Up and Other Stories is a great starting point. Then Hopscotch if you wanna go big.
Thanks for another provocative & engaging video, you share so much that requires a careful & considered response, I need time to ponder. Thanks for everything, Ruben - another video essay that needs to be filed away & not deleted: return, return, return...
Interesting books, as always! Happy New Year, Ruben! 😊
I just learned of Krasznahorkai recently and saw his newly translated Herscht 07769 at my local bookstore. Really excited to check it out early in this year and read that sentence
I find myself addicted to the stretching of his sentences. Beware! 😁
Richly rewarding as always. Thank you.
Great video Ruben. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on all these books. I've been thinking about joining the Proust group Greg is doing but I am terrified of failure. I feel like I have been too much DNFing. I hope you have a happy new year!
Thank you, Jenny. I'm giving myself permission to only read the first Proust book if that's what feels best. I like the idea of spreading it out ten pages per day, making it a complement to other reading (and then if it woos me and I read more, I won't stop myself). One of the great things about BookTube is the bookish variety. You could be the reader telling us about all the other greats works out there while we tiptoe our way through Proust's musings. Have a Happy New Year!
Got the necessary push to start hopscotch. I didn’t know abt many of the books you discussed, but I read stalingrad and life and fate this yr lol(definitely worth a read)
That's great! Hopscotch is more about mood than plot (in particular the internally cycling suffering of seeking what is out-of-reach). There's a lot that's only pieced together fleetingly, and much left ambiguous. If you embrace the dreaminess of its presentation, you should love it.
I feel that Ducks N. would be much improved by a single text search-and-replace of "the fact that" with either a semi-colon or an ellipsis.
Absolutely. Had a very similar thought.
For non-fiction that reads like fiction, I would recommend Ronald Hutton's ongoing biography of Oliver Cromwell, Andrew Scott Cooper's book on the Iranian Revolution and Christopher de Bellaigue'a biography of Mohammed Mossadegh. Diarmaid MacCulloch is also a brilliant historian for that kind of thing.
I agree wholeheartedly in regard to Diarmaid MacCulloch, so I will be picking up your other choices as well. Thank you so much for the recommendations.
You didn't like Ducks? Every time I put it down it called me back. It's a siren song. Great channel. Here's to a fabulous 2025 of reading.
Ducks is one I struggled with reading but am glad to have read, if that makes sense.
Advance thanks for future videos on The Oxford Handbook Series. Those books are great treasure houses of wisdom but are quite challenging to navigate for the non-specialist reader.
Yes, I find in general they seem geared toward graduate-level or above readers. Though so far in my reading there are a couple that actually introduce and lay out their fields quite well.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern I am currently writing a book on misinformation in health and science from a multidisciplinary perspective - covering research in psychology, public health, information science , cognitive science, psycholinguistics, philosophy, deception studies etc.
My book is for everyone so I am in the process of enriching it with scenarios ,thought experiments and ideas from all types of books . Anything that integrates and expands a point helps me gain more clarity on this complex topic.
Your RUclips channel with its unique content and vast range of insights has helped me a lot in general and also more specifically in accessing books that I would not have otherwise discovered by myself.
Thanks a lot.
@@DrGBhas Wow, that is a fascinating subject! Have there been books you've found especially insightful or helpful so far? Three that come to mind that might be of use to you: The Image by Daniel J. Boorstin (about event-making in media and the expectations that follow), The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology (covering social influence, representation, competing narratives, and much more), and The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative (breaks down how narratives form inherently as a means of parceling out time and perception, and how 'authorship' arises subtly in various forms of media, etc.-not what one would expect from a textbook with that title, but it is brilliant). I'm also now thinking of the essay "E Unibus Pluram" by David Foster Wallace, which articulates the voyeuristic view of some media consumption and the mimicry that follows. The above seems to connect-at least tangentially-with how misinformation can delicately integrate into our lives as an aspect of our identity. Hope that helps! And please let me know of any great books you discover!
@@ToReadersItMayConcern
Thanks a lot 🙏
@@ToReadersItMayConcern
Some books that have helped me in clarifying my understanding on a range of topics are :
1.The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data
by David Spiegelhalter
2. Deceit and Self-Deception
Fooling Yourself the Better to Fool Others by Robert Trivers
3. A History of Philosophy by AC Grayling
Interesting as ever, but particularly _Reasons & Normativity._ It does sound a bit like philosophers ground their thinking in a human species without either human nature or natural human culture, formed by time and erosion, if you will.
Yeah, that's sort of the trouble isn't it?-The more you dissect something, the less alive it becomes.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Intention has that similar effect!
Very interesting list, since our criteria and choices seem to overlap to a very large extent, but then you also mention two authors that I found and still find not engaging at all.
Oh, out of curiosity, who are those two?
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Vollmann and Proust. Both use too much space for too little content, but in different ways. Proust is refined French style without content. Vollmann in comparison...
Those bookshelves are intense. It's like you live in a book store!
It's a dream.
Another request : For a future video please cover the topic of free will and determinism from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective :
Philosophy, psychology, physics, cognitive science etc .
This is a great idea. Thank you!
Oh I have been waiting for this video!
- I am just starting the Decameron, and it has already inspired me to write something with a similar structure. I also didn’t expect it to be as fun as it is honestly.
- The poetry of Keats was one of my highlights of 2023, I plan to return to it on 2025.
@@materiagrix The fun-the fact that its humor still often resonates-is a pleasurable shock. I started The Decameron out of curiosity, finished it out of enjoyment.
Keats feels like a kindred spirit: quiet, contemplative, curious, lost (and okay with the meandering of it).
I agree! I just finished your video:
- I always thought you would really like Julio Cortazar but assumed you already knew him, now I regret not having recommended him to you.
- I am planning to read a few one volume World histories and Philosophy Histories in 2025. I will add on Simon Sebag’s to the list. Also consider yourself invited to read with me Graeber’s ‘Dawn of Everything’ and Randal Collins ‘Sociology of Philosophies’. I would be delighted to be able to discuss them with you.
- Same with Solenoid! I will also be reading it soon!
@@materiagrix That Sociology of Philosophies is new to me, and I find myself quite intrigued. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention! I'll have to keep you updated on my reading plans. I'm fairly sure I'm going to read at least one more Krasznahorkai, then at least the first two books from Proust, then To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (buddy read with a friend), then Solenoid should be in the cards, and after that the Sociology book might fit in. I know myself enough to know other books are going to slip in between those, too (still making my way through the Will & Ariel Durant books and The Oxford Handbooks). Whether we read them at the same time or not, I'd love to discuss those books with you. I'll let you know!
@ You have a deal! Oh nice to hear about the Durants too. I am half way through Will Durant’s ‘Story of Philosophy’ at the moment :)
Favorite Reads of 2024:
"The Enemy" short story by I B Singer
The Demon of Unrest by E. Larson
To the Lighthouse by V. Woolf
A Game of Thrones by GRRM
A Month in the Country by J. Carr
A Moveable Feast by E. Hemingway
In Cold Type: Overcoming the Book Crisis by L. Shatzkin
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by H. Murakami
I'm still reading Don Quixote (Grossman translation) and find it fascinating. I usually read more but early in the year my mother got sick and has struggled ever since, and I've had chronic vision problems. I'll keep reading as long as I can. (Audiobooks put me to sleep). Happy New Year.
I'm planning a buddy read of Woolf's To the Lighthouse soon. It's the last of her works I haven't read, and I think I've been avoiding finishing Woolf since I love her writing so much.
I'm sorry to hear about the diminishing health of you (with your vision) and your mother. I hope that for as long as it can reading serves as a means out by heading deeply in.
My surprises (or discoveries) of 2024 were Anthony Trollope (I read the complete Barset series) and Karl Ove Knausgaard (I read the complete "my struggle" series).
That is a stellar reading year for you! I've yet to read both Trollope and Knausgaard, though I've heard much about both. With Trollope, would you recommend I try the series in release order, or would it be better to jump around and start somewhere else?
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Read the Barchesters in release order - they'll make more sense that way. And don't neglect the Palliser series, which I argue is better than the Barts.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Best to read them in order (IMHO). The characters come back in "later" books and it is good to know what happened to them before.
@@aadamtx Palliser is on my 2025 reading list. I found a 2nd hand hardback copy of the complete cycle. looking forward to it!
Ah, I was so happy to see William L. Shirer turn up in your review for the year. I have read his Berlin Diary and The End of the Berlin Diary and plan to read all his works in order. I like his presentation of life as it was happening around him which feels so fresh though I read it decades in his future. I still have the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to look forward to.
Yes, you can feel his passion and writerly sensibility across his every observation, and yet he also doesn't overstate or overembellish his experiences: he notices the vital details and pushes us to notice just those details, too, and then carries us along through the story he wishes to tell. There's a subtlety to his powers as a writer that I find impressive. You can tell he plans carefully.
@@ToReadersItMayConcern you are kind to respond so thoughtfully to my comment. I appreciate it and look forward to your future videos. Have a wonderful 2025. May it be filled with all good things.
That's a lot of books... Do you write summaries of the books you read?
No, I don't write summaries, but I do take careful notes. There's an older video, "My Evolution in Annotating Books-With Examples!"-that discusses my process and includes footage of my annotations. If your goal is to remember what you read, organized notetaking is helpful, but most helpful of all is to find someone who is curious and to explain what you've been reading to them. You'll discover immediately as you talk about the book where the gaps are, and then you can go back and review your notes to fill in those gaps. I work as a teacher, so often my students become sounding boards for my learning.
Check out Digging for God, by Tom Hillman
Just discovered you. Just at the point of being bored with booktube
Thanks for being here. I hope I can offer some angles you've yet to hear.
If you want to read Proust, learn French first! It's really worth it.
Can't put my finger on it, but Montefiore's writing feels quite boring to me. He's usually a fact spiller, without much engagement :(
Yes, he absolutely dumps information onto the reader. I find his artistry in structure and how he laps motifs over one another (and there is a care in his diction that I appreciate), but that's something one has to go out of their way to notice. If you check out my video on "My Evolution in Annotating Books" you will see footage of how I take notes, and that might help you see why I appreciate what he does in his prose. I read slowly and am almost neurotically careful.