I’m also making space on the shelves-for new buys. Sold some on eBay, charity shopping some others. My tactics are ‘will I ever read it again?’ and ‘would I recommend it to my kids?’ I have made mistakes in the past tho’-giving away my old horror paperbacks was one such 😬
Not completely sure, but The Ice Princess may be the book that taught me how critical translators can be. The US editions have the translator's name in the front, and there is one female Nordic crime writer I almost gave up on because the language was so poor. I gave the next book a glance, and it was as if there was a whole different writer. It finally clicked that maybe it was translation, and sure enough, there had been a change. The rest of the series was really solid.
Totally understand the need, especially for space, but for me I can't consider something on my Kindle as something I own. They can update it (for those who might want the original texts of books that are getting revised by author's estates and publishers) and ultimately they can remove it unless you fill your Kindle and then put it in airplane mode forever. I've gotten to where I enjoy reading on the Kindle most of the time since I can basically read in the dark in bed before I go to sleep but I still want that physical copy of the books I want to own.
Asking us to enable you holding on to your books. Nope. They're in the bag and need to be donated. Maybe you should put a RUclips bookplate in them before they go to see if anyone finds their way to your channel?
Hello, Ollie. Maybe, if one day you change your opinion on Adams, you could try The Plague Dogs. Moving, well written, a cry for our better treatment of animals, and an ending that will stay with you if you give it a chance. Not a "happy ending" at all, but you don't seem to have a problem with that. Happy readings.
I read Wolf Hall and also struggled to understand it’s popularity Thank you for reassuring me it’s not only me. I DNF’d after about 25%. I found it stuptifyingly boring, if I’m honest
Good job! The Girl with the Dragon Tatto series is excellent. Only bother with the ones not written by Larsson if you love the originals - they're markedly less good sadly.
I cull my books occasionally, but I almost always regret it! However, I don't consider a kindle copy the same at all. I prefer the Kindle for genre fiction that I don't expect to read again.
Defo read the Pillars of the Earth, it was my second favourite read of 2023. It’s very fast-paced and very fun and satisfying to read. Plus it’s perfectly fine as a stand-alone too if you don’t feel like committing to the whole series. The sequels are set centuries after one another, so they all need to be self-contained stories.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an odd book. I thought the first two thirds or so were brilliant, and then the last act was just... bizarre. I've kept it, but I might unhaul it myself eventually.
I set out to unhaul them many times, but I still have my editions of Watership Down and The Plague Dogs because I just can't manage to let them go, even if they weren't for me. But my brain and heart are saying that I should keep them, maybe I'll one day magically change my mind. I guess they'll be staying for now. 😬
I've read all three of the 'his dark materials' books, and while I did like the concept I never really fell in love with it. I know it's adored and loved by so many, but for me, I thought it was okay, but not something that really grabbed me. Don't know why, everyone seems to love it so much! I didn't really connect with any of the characters a lot, except maybe Pan. But if anyone here has read them, please let me know what you love about them :)
In the long run I have always regretted unhauling books. Maybe not the one I have on Kindle. The ones I always thought would be available at used bookstores. I didn’t see any keepers in that bunch.
A good translator is fundamental here. As another comment points out, maybe with Lackberg you got a bad translation, or one that simply did not click with you. I detest Burton Raffel's translation of Don Quijote because he took many liberties in his translation and produced "Burton Raffel's Quijote, based on a text by Cervantes." From then on, I have avoided all of Raffel's translations, from any language (he dabbed in many). Same thing with a book on the Complete Poems by Baudelaire, bilingual edition: checked one poem, could follow it in French no problem; looked at the translation and I choked: absolute, unwarranted liberties by the translator (don't remember his name). In The Canterbury Tales (penguin edition), Nevill Coghill decides to censor the language and removes most of Chaucer's bawdiness, replacing it with euphemisms; but the Oxford edition, translated by David Wright, is more faithful to the original and thus, for me, preferable. And, sometimes, I may not know the original language (or know barely enough to read some lines, as in French), but the translation flows better with this or that translator: Judith Hemschemeyer for Akhmatova, Robert Fitzgerald for Virgil, Julie Rose for Victor Hugo. Maybe, if you were to try the same author (Lackberg in this example, a complete unknown to me) with a different translator, your perspective might change.
I remember The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle being a bit hard to get into, but picking up once I started wrapping my brain around what was going on. (I think that was about 3 deaths in) Depending on how far you got before dnfing, it might be worth another shot.
I asked abt unhauling a couple of weeks ago. You really looked like you needed it! I try to do small unhauls semi-regularly esp since we don't have a lot of space & we've been planning to move for awhile. I want to read Pillars of the Earth as well. I'll probably get the audiobook from my local library.
I´ve wonder what you do with the books that you might not have given 5 stars to or saw yourself read again. Or what you do with the books you DNF. I do unhauls sometimes but it´s hard
I Love several subgenres of fantasy, but did not like The Blade Itself at all! There was never a plot! Hundreds of pages of gore with no reason for it. I totally don't understand why people like it so much!! The Evelyn Hardcastle one was just confusing with a dud ending, IMHO. The Karin Slaughter Grant County books are good! Start with Blindsighted.
I heard great things about the trilogy but I don't think I got past chapter two. The first chapter was great and got me interested than it jumped to some grumpy cripple guy who torture people for a living which is fine, what wasn't fine was that it took him like a page and half to get up the damn stairs. While I will let King get away with worse like in The Gunslinger he does two massive flashbacks and pages of pages or Roland walking through the desert, he has earned that leeway with me but Mr. Ambercombie has not. Also thanks to how boring Fellowship of the Ring I have little trust when it comes to fantasy.
It's a risky business. A couple of years ago, I took my collection of Jerry Ahern's 'Survivalist' books that I'd bought in the 80's to the charity shop. I'd read a couple, and didn't think I go back to them (I have the same series-buying affliction). Then I watched your, and Michael K Vaughan's videos on them and thought 'Oh, they sound good, I've got them somewhere...' That said, I doubt that you'll ever regret disposing of bloated fantasy novels.
My friend had most of the Survivalist and I loved them. He since pasted away sadly and his family most likely through them away. I have thought of picking the series up on the Kindle.
I settled down with a cup of tea to watch my comfort RUclipsr, and you began by talking smack about one of my favourite ever books 😂
😂😂😂😂😂 sorry! Pretend it was a bad dream or something
Watership Down is the most traumatic books I ever read. I will never forget Richard Adam’s.
_Books of Blood_... NO! That edition is a perfect summer beach read.
I loved Watership Down and Shardik 😂
That edition of Books of Blood is quite collectible, I’ve seen it go for £30.
I’m also making space on the shelves-for new buys. Sold some on eBay, charity shopping some others. My tactics are ‘will I ever read it again?’ and ‘would I recommend it to my kids?’ I have made mistakes in the past tho’-giving away my old horror paperbacks was one such 😬
Watership Down is great!
Not completely sure, but The Ice Princess may be the book that taught me how critical translators can be. The US editions have the translator's name in the front, and there is one female Nordic crime writer I almost gave up on because the language was so poor. I gave the next book a glance, and it was as if there was a whole different writer. It finally clicked that maybe it was translation, and sure enough, there had been a change. The rest of the series was really solid.
Totally understand the need, especially for space, but for me I can't consider something on my Kindle as something I own. They can update it (for those who might want the original texts of books that are getting revised by author's estates and publishers) and ultimately they can remove it unless you fill your Kindle and then put it in airplane mode forever. I've gotten to where I enjoy reading on the Kindle most of the time since I can basically read in the dark in bed before I go to sleep but I still want that physical copy of the books I want to own.
My biggest unhaul was over 3500 books when I moved over 1500 miles. I still had 2000 books to move though.
Whoever finds that edition of "Books of Blood" will be very lucky indeed. 😎📚👍
I'll never get rid of books. If it comes to that, I'll start living in the back yard to make more room for books. :)
Asking us to enable you holding on to your books. Nope. They're in the bag and need to be donated. Maybe you should put a RUclips bookplate in them before they go to see if anyone finds their way to your channel?
Hello, Ollie. Maybe, if one day you change your opinion on Adams, you could try The Plague Dogs. Moving, well written, a cry for our better treatment of animals, and an ending that will stay with you if you give it a chance. Not a "happy ending" at all, but you don't seem to have a problem with that. Happy readings.
I read Wolf Hall and also struggled to understand it’s popularity
Thank you for reassuring me it’s not only me. I DNF’d after about 25%. I found it stuptifyingly boring, if I’m honest
Good job!
The Girl with the Dragon Tatto series is excellent. Only bother with the ones not written by Larsson if you love the originals - they're markedly less good sadly.
Did Lackberg sell 7 Million copies of that book?? Or 7 Mill of all her titles ??
Huge unhaul! Your wife must be ecstatic 😅. Shame that Joe Abercrombie didn’t work for you 🙈.
I cull my books occasionally, but I almost always regret it! However, I don't consider a kindle copy the same at all. I prefer the Kindle for genre fiction that I don't expect to read again.
Defo read the Pillars of the Earth, it was my second favourite read of 2023. It’s very fast-paced and very fun and satisfying to read. Plus it’s perfectly fine as a stand-alone too if you don’t feel like committing to the whole series. The sequels are set centuries after one another, so they all need to be self-contained stories.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an odd book. I thought the first two thirds or so were brilliant, and then the last act was just... bizarre. I've kept it, but I might unhaul it myself eventually.
With you on Caravel, really wasn’t for me at all and I thought I was the only person who didn’t enjoy Richard Adams. But The Amber Spyglass! Oh dear 😊
I was amused to see The Amber Spyglass because thats my all time favorite book 😂 I admit that second book drags a bit though
I set out to unhaul them many times, but I still have my editions of Watership Down and The Plague Dogs because I just can't manage to let them go, even if they weren't for me. But my brain and heart are saying that I should keep them, maybe I'll one day magically change my mind. I guess they'll be staying for now. 😬
I've read all three of the 'his dark materials' books, and while I did like the concept I never really fell in love with it. I know it's adored and loved by so many, but for me, I thought it was okay, but not something that really grabbed me. Don't know why, everyone seems to love it so much! I didn't really connect with any of the characters a lot, except maybe Pan. But if anyone here has read them, please let me know what you love about them :)
In the long run I have always regretted unhauling books. Maybe not the one I have on Kindle. The ones I always thought would be available at used bookstores. I didn’t see any keepers in that bunch.
I will pay the shipping for those Joe Ambercrombe books if you send them to me.
The Dread Nation book too.
Olly is turning over a new leaf with this unhaul business.
Gotta make room for more books!
A good translator is fundamental here. As another comment points out, maybe with Lackberg you got a bad translation, or one that simply did not click with you. I detest Burton Raffel's translation of Don Quijote because he took many liberties in his translation and produced "Burton Raffel's Quijote, based on a text by Cervantes." From then on, I have avoided all of Raffel's translations, from any language (he dabbed in many). Same thing with a book on the Complete Poems by Baudelaire, bilingual edition: checked one poem, could follow it in French no problem; looked at the translation and I choked: absolute, unwarranted liberties by the translator (don't remember his name). In The Canterbury Tales (penguin edition), Nevill Coghill decides to censor the language and removes most of Chaucer's bawdiness, replacing it with euphemisms; but the Oxford edition, translated by David Wright, is more faithful to the original and thus, for me, preferable. And, sometimes, I may not know the original language (or know barely enough to read some lines, as in French), but the translation flows better with this or that translator: Judith Hemschemeyer for Akhmatova, Robert Fitzgerald for Virgil, Julie Rose for Victor Hugo. Maybe, if you were to try the same author (Lackberg in this example, a complete unknown to me) with a different translator, your perspective might change.
Yeah I am sure you’re right. The problem with modern fiction versus classics is that you usually only have one option.
Funny, I'm working on a massive unhaul this weekend myself. I'm not going to video it, but a lot of stuff is leaving the building!
I love fantasy and I just couldn't get into The Blade Itself either, despite two tries.
I remember The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle being a bit hard to get into, but picking up once I started wrapping my brain around what was going on. (I think that was about 3 deaths in)
Depending on how far you got before dnfing, it might be worth another shot.
As far as I can tell you have pruned your collection wisely sir😅
One word: Giveaways 😂
🖤💚
I asked abt unhauling a couple of weeks ago. You really looked like you needed it! I try to do small unhauls semi-regularly esp since we don't have a lot of space & we've been planning to move for awhile.
I want to read Pillars of the Earth as well. I'll probably get the audiobook from my local library.
Good job, Olly lol. : ) I feel less bad about also not liking Watership Down.
Hi. Would you ever consider doing a challenge of reading books outside your comfort zone?
For example, more 'literature' type books
I´ve wonder what you do with the books that you might not have given 5 stars to or saw yourself read again. Or what you do with the books you DNF. I do unhauls sometimes but it´s hard
I struggle to get rid of and unhaul stuff as well but instead of books it’s blu rays.
I Love several subgenres of fantasy, but did not like The Blade Itself at all! There was never a plot! Hundreds of pages of gore with no reason for it. I totally don't understand why people like it so much!! The Evelyn Hardcastle one was just confusing with a dud ending, IMHO. The Karin Slaughter Grant County books are good! Start with Blindsighted.
I heard great things about the trilogy but I don't think I got past chapter two. The first chapter was great and got me interested than it jumped to some grumpy cripple guy who torture people for a living which is fine, what wasn't fine was that it took him like a page and half to get up the damn stairs. While I will let King get away with worse like in The Gunslinger he does two massive flashbacks and pages of pages or Roland walking through the desert, he has earned that leeway with me but Mr. Ambercombie has not. Also thanks to how boring Fellowship of the Ring I have little trust when it comes to fantasy.
It's a risky business. A couple of years ago, I took my collection of Jerry Ahern's 'Survivalist' books that I'd bought in the 80's to the charity shop. I'd read a couple, and didn't think I go back to them (I have the same series-buying affliction). Then I watched your, and Michael K Vaughan's videos on them and thought 'Oh, they sound good, I've got them somewhere...' That said, I doubt that you'll ever regret disposing of bloated fantasy novels.
My friend had most of the Survivalist and I loved them. He since pasted away sadly and his family most likely through them away. I have thought of picking the series up on the Kindle.
I wish we could swap some books to be unhauled! I would like to give the Abercrombie series a shot.
If you’re in the UK drop me a mail