TBR Update and Recent Reads | August 2018
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2024
- Feel free to purchase these books using my Book Depository link to help me make more videos:
Bel Canto: www.bookdepository.com/Bel-Ca...
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Euphoria: www.bookdepository.com/Euphor...
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Evicted: www.bookdepository.com/Evicte...
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Florida: www.bookdepository.com/Florid...
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The Valley at the Centre of the World: www.malachytallack.com/the-val...
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Follow me on Goodreads at: tiny.cc/xnyaay
Email me with business enquiries @ mm461@kent.ac.uk
Oh, lovely girl. I hope you’ll forgive my bluntness, but, seriously, I could care less how many books you have on your shelf, how many you think you should have read or whether you’ve followed your self-imposed rules that, again, bluntly, never made sense to me. Honestly whenever I see a booktuber set these kind of goals I cringe because I know the outcome will be at best a reading slump and at worst falling out of love with reading. All I want to see - and I venture to say many viewers will agree - is your honest reflections on what you’ve read and what books have captured your imagination and fueled your passion for our shared love of reading. Look back at your review of The Clay Girl for inspiration-your emotion and love of that book inspired me to read it and declare it my favorite read last year and I’m grateful to you for that rewarding experience. The numbers don’t matter, Mercedes, the words matter, the passion for books, that’s all that matters!💕
Hi Gina, thanks for your lovely comment. It wasn't blunt at all! You're right - I think as I'm a lover of lists and challenges as well as reading I dive right into them and forget the pressures that come with them. My plan for the rest of the year is to read whatever I want whenever I want and to talk about it however I want :D xx
I would love to see book halls and wrap ups again😊 I don’t mind longer videos either. Love your channel btw!
Johanna Homme Benettsson I would really like you to to back to hauls too, even though you've not read them they give us an idea of what is out there
Omg not halls. HAULs! 🤦♀️
I really enjoy your reviews and I miss your book hauls. The reason I looked forward to your book hauls is that you showed me a lot of books I wouldn’t have known about other wise. One of the books you showed last year ended up being one of my favorite books of last year and I wouldn’t have even known about it if it wasn’t for your haul.
I already have Evicted on my tbr, but this is the first I've heard of Bel Canto. It sounds right up my alley!
I like wrap ups. I'm not concerned about your shelf goal. I hope you can just enjoy reading what you want.
YESSSS I've really missed your videos such as wrap-ups & bookhauls, so I'm glad you're getting back to those
Thankyou Mercedes, you look beautiful in that color! I definitely want to read the valley at the center of the world!
I really don't see why the prospect of longer videos would bother you. You are always very concise and eloquent, no matter how long the video is. And I think I could say for most of your viewers that your long reviews and discussions are the best quality content ❤
Aww, thank you so much. That's such a kind thing to say :) xx
Euphoria and Evicted are two top books for me. I do enjoy a good book haul or wrap up video. Whatever content you create I am here for it!
Yeay, I have missed your old videos so much! And I have missed your long videos
I mean, so many exciting things. I love a good reset, just as a thing I find really interesting. I hope we get to see the tattoo once it has healed! I'm thinking I'm going to get another to fill out my arm, but likely in the winter. That dramatic pause before your feelings on Euphoria - I maybe held my breath. I LOVED it so much.
The thing I found so clever about Bel Canto was the effect of isolation on the group.The things in the outside world that separate people such as cultural differences, economic class and language barriers didn't really exist for them. They created their own little micro society and the music was what connected them and allowed them to hold onto their humanity. It became their common language. I thought it was so beautiful. I also loved Euphoria. The setting and atmosphere in that book is such an integral part of the reading experience. I love to hear that other people have enjoyed it as much as I did. Loved your video Mercedes.
I’d not heard of Euphoria before but now I’m excited to check it out. I’m super into anything set in the ‘30’s at the moment
I am so excited to see wrap ups again. I love hearing you talk about what you've recently read and the more casual feel to those videos :)
Also, I'm really bummed to hear that about Florida! I just read the first story and loved it, and Delicate Edible Birds is one of my favorite collections. I was hoping to love Florida just as much, if not more. I didn't find the stories or characters in her earlier collection to feel repetitive, so I'm curious to see what I make of these stories.
I’m really excited to hear you’ll consider doing book hauls and wrap ups in the future, I have had so many good books recommended to me this way! And I’m glad you’re letting go of the numbers and allowing yourself to read 📚
I felt the same way about Florida. Brilliant writing but I can't remember a single story.
I'm so glad that you posted a video - I've missed these longer videos :) I hope you enjoy your reading and filming videos for your channel. It brightens my day when I see a new video from you
I like your long videos! I knit while watching them.
Thank you for your thoughts on Bel Canto. It is on my tbr.
Yay for kicking it old school. I'm happy for however you like to do it, but am glad for more videos :)
I've been meaning to read Evicted. I live about an hour away from Milwaukee, and it's amazing how even living so close by no one really talks about the housing situation or racial segregation in Milwaukee. It's the most racially segregated city in the entire United States!
I enjoy your reviews a lot; for me you are someone who can put feelings- and atmospheres in words really well. I have to say that one of the reasons I watch you now is exactly because you are not doing bookhauls - for me they are more an ungoing recital of things I can never read all anyway. They make me want to buy books without reason instead of critically analyzing which books I will really like to buy and read. One of the reasons why I don't have a TBR of more than 3 books is because I don't watch bookshauls... but that, of course, is my personal feelings towards them.
I'm always happy to see a new video from you, be it a haul, review, general update, or anything else! With all the book unhauls from this year and new books coming in all the time, your shelves must look so different now from when we saw your last bookshelf tour :) I definitely relate to the neverending quest to lessen my TBR.
You're one of my favourite youtubers and seeing your videos always makes me so happy! I really enjoy listening to you talk about all the things you want to and you seem like such a great person! I miss your hauls and wrap ups a bit because I always found new books and your wraps up always were so well put and interesting. But I don't want to put pressure on you and would always say go with what feels right for you. Really enjoyed this video :)
Well, you'll be pleased to know there are both hauls and wrap ups coming this week :) Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my videos - I really appreciate it xx
Your videos are fab, whatever they're about. I think you're right, mix it up as per your mood & see what you fancy.
From this list I want to get my hands on the valley at the centre of the world, and euphoria, they sound really interesting.
Honestly I don't know how this helps but I enjoy to hear you talking about books in whatever format or length and of course I miss you being more "active" on the platform but even if you provided a video a year I'm still watching the hell out of it so yeah keep it up as it's more convenient for you 💕
Thank you so much for your lovely comment :)
I echo everyone else and would be happy to have more videos from you, especially regular wrap ups that have you talking about books again! And that last book you reviewed sounds super up my alley too so I will need to look that up!
Hope you enjoy it :)
Looking forward to your old school videos. Change is good as it gives you a chance to see what works and what doesn't. Glad you decided to give something new a go for the most of the year before dipping back into your preferred style for your channel
You picked great books to read I may check some of them out 😻 I am currently reading the upside of unrequited and I love it so much 🙈
I haven't read the books which I bought ..need to finish those
Lovin your makeup here! Xx flawless!! Xx
The danger of watching one of your videos: my TBR just got longer! Lol. Great video, as always :) The review of Florida was especially helpful because I only read one or two short story collection a year and...I think I'll skip that one. I assumed the same thing you did: that the book would reflect the diversity of that quirky state.
I’m excited to see your hauls again! I appreciate your taste in books so much and I’ve missed hearing about interesting new ones from you.
I haven’t yet read any of the books you mentioned, but they all appeal to me. Euphoria in particular sounds fascinating!
Oh The Valley at the Centre of the World sounds beautiful, it feels like the sort of novel I'd like as I love nature writing and have been reading through the Wainwright shortlisted books lately. Several of them have taken place in the coastal parts of the UK or its surrounding islands, which I've really enjoyed. His nonfiction books sounds fantastic as well!
Gosh unhauling 28 books. I wouldn't know how to do that! Honestly I like your longer videos! Please do books hauls and wrap-ups again. They are some of my favorites to watch.
I love your long videos!❤️
I’m so happy you might be kickin’ it back old school! I always enjoyed your hauls because I discovered so many books and publishers I hadn’t heard of. You’re one of those channels that really enhanced my love of reading and made me excited! I almost feel I went into I reading slump along with you just because I didn’t feel that joy anymore without you!... can’t wait to see more of you!!
OK, that paragraph from Florida? YES.
I don’t mind the long videos because I enjoy your reviews. I feel like I really understand what a book is about after you talk about it, which I like better than when people are really vague and I don’t feel like I know what to expect from the book.
Ann Patchett is on my radar for quite some time now but haven't read anything by her yet. I need to start with her novels! :) Very intrigued by The Valley at the Centre of the World, sounds like something I might enjoy. Thank you for the recommendations. :) And, I love your videos, I've been watching them for a few years know and never wished they were shorter. :D The more, the merrier. :D
yay for hauls and wrap-ups! Anything for more videos from you. :D
I love that you tried to break with tradition with your video format but if I’m honest I miss the hauls etc. I think because I basically read vicariously through booktube so felt like I was reading less!
Yeah ... believe me, no one here (in the States) thinks it makes sense either, except for the super rich who aren't affected by rising cost of living or slashed benefits or anything. I live in a very expensive part of the country too, and it's really maddening because I'm trying to look for work and no one pays anything close to a truly livable wage ... but we as a nation have just decided that's totally fine, and if you can't manage to get by, well tough shit for you. Siiiiiiigh.
Great video, I've not read any of these so have a few new books added to my TBR. I feel like Evicted sounds amazing and the most intriguing out of all the books mentioned x
When you posted that first video about your reading challenge for this year, I was really excited. I like the numbers game, and I thought that the way you had it planned out sounded so interesting + the hauled/read/reviewed and catch ups on how the challenge was going (and how many books you’d managed to get to of the 9) sounded so cool. I think if it had gone how you’d planned it would have been really great, but what kind of ended up happening was just that as the challenge got away from you we just ended up getting fewer and fewer videos, which was really sad! I’ve missed your videos a lot this year, I couldn’t care less if you scrapped the challenge altogether, I just want more videos because I like hearing your thoughts on books/reading :)
Raleigh thanks so much for your lovely comment :) I think you’re completely right! Xxx
Great video! I’d love a good book haul every now and then. I really trust your taste. Maybe try Friday Reads if you wanna do more chill videos?
One is better than none, ha! I like your new thoughts and plans, chilled yet organised, lovely. Bel Canto was one of my gran's favourite books, that and The Poisonwood Bible. Shame about Florida. I have had the Malachy Tallack on my shelves for a while. I will have to get to it, sounds quite me maybe.
Yay for old school!
I loved the bit you read from "Florida". Really makes me want to read the rest of the story. I appreciate your feedback on the lack of diversity in the characters. I would have expected the same, given how rich in culture Florida seems to be (I haven't been, so that's an assumption on my part based on films I've seen).
"The Valley at the Centre of the World" - now this sounds really amazing. Thanks for sharing that one. Two more for the TBR list on Goodreads. :)
Glad to see you back in my feed :)
Ah! I want to talk about all these books, but I’ll stick with Florida. I would probably agree with you about the length of the collection. I think it was the first five that I loved and then there was one in the middle that was a complete dud. Then the end ones were ok. The first five though. That first one was really breathtaking. So many things I loved about it. I didn’t mind that the first five were similar. It really felt autobiographical to me as she was so connected to her main characters, like they were her or she had become them as she was writing. Then the nature writing just made me so happy. I was so pleased that it was North Florida’s swamps and woodlands that she was writing about instead of the beaches. It felt like home to me. Ok, I’ll stop now ... 😂😂😂
I think you should do what you enjoy with your channel! I too worry about making longer videos but I also watch longer videos, even if I don't watch them in one sitting I always come back and finish them off. Bel Canto sounds like it's interesting in terms of the relationship aspect you spoke about. I find what you said about Florida so interesting, first I'm surprised there's a short story collection about it but I've never been so I don't know the allure. But also what you said about the stories being about the same person - I felt the exact same about Ali Smith's 'the first person and other stories' but couldn't quite express that - but you made me realise that's exactly what I meant!
Oh the story by Lauren Groff you mentioned is “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners”, isn’t it? It was featured in the Best Short Stories anthology of 2013 and it was my favorite story from that book.
I love the way you talk about Florida as a border between worlds, totally reminded me of “Swamplandia!” 😍
I recently read her collection “Delicate Edible Birds” and some of it was excellent, some of it was just good, but her writing style is always glorious.
I loved this video - you had a real bookish spark about you and it was so good to see how much you enjoyed some of the mentioned books. The Shetland based book sounds just like me cup of tea- thanks for bringing it to my attention 💛
Excellent video! I’m glad that you’ve chosen to be lax with yourself in regards to your rules. There’s no point stressing yourself out over something that’s supposed to be fun.
I’m on quite the Ann Patchett kick. I’ve yet to read Bel Canto, but I really want to. There’s something about her books that makes them such page turners, while still being beautiful and character focused. Just adore her.
I’ve had Euphoria on my shelves for ages and still haven’t gotten to it. I really like books about anthropologists or people who go to study in the tropics for any reason really. There is something quite tension building and dramatic about putting people in a hot stifling environment and then putting them under pressure.
I’m actually currently reading Florida, and I have read the first two stories which are the ones you mentioned in the video. And I agree they are excellent.
Great video! Happy reading 😊
I just checked out Bel Canto from the library on my grandma’s recommendation and I’m excited to get to it! And I agree wholeheartedly about anthropologist-centric books! I know this may sound strange, but I loved Speaker for the Dead (sequel to Ender’s Game) for exactly that reason. It’s all about human xenologists, who are basically anthropologists but they study a sentient alien species. Do you have any other anthropologist recs? Would love to read more!
Talia Reads State of Wonder by Ann Patchett is close to anthropolgy. A pharmaceutical team has discovered a group of people in the Amazon where the women can give birth well into their seventies and researchers are trying to figure out why and how to make a drug product to allow for this. One of the researchers is reported dead and you follow one woman who is sent down to discover what happened and bring one of the other researchers home. It’s super good. Very character focused and beautifully written.
Also The People In The Trees by Hanya Yanagihara is really good. A team of anthropologists have discovered a group of people whose bodies can live on forever, but their minds deteriorate at normal speed. So that as they get older, they don’t age physically but they weaken mentally to the point that they can’t even feed themselves. The story is told through the memoirs of one of the medical researchers who is now in prison after being accused of child molestation. As you read you try to uncover whether or not he is guilty, and why people choose to respect him even after the allegations come forward. Beautifully written. I actually much prefer this book to her more popular A Little Life.
I have never read any Orson Scott Card but that’s a really interesting premise. I will have to check it out 😊
With regards to Evicted , similar things are happening here. In the past if you became unemployed the gov would pay the interest on you mortgage until you got work. Now you get a loan you have to pay back.
YES LONG VIDEOS
The main thing is you enjoy your reading and your channel. I would be miserable if I didn't haul books. Happy to watch however you decide to work it c
I’m with you, I can’t read winter books in summer! Recent examples: Good People by Hannah Kent and Winter by Ali Smith - I had to wait months. #booknerdproblems ... I loved Bel Canto.
You should feel free to do with your channel. I loved your videos before and I love them now. 🙂
I live in Florida, and i was thinking about picking up Lauren Groff's collection. However, I assumed the book would cover the diversity of the people here. There's huge communities of immigrants here (espcially from the Caribbean) and there people who are extravagantly wealthy and desperately poor (often within miles of eachother). It seems like a wasted opportunity to share those experiences.
I'm disappointed, but glad i heard your review!
Yes! I felt so similarly about FLORIDA. Pretty disappointing overall, with glimpses of brilliance.
Could you please make a video about what you like about short story collections and what in your opinion is needed to make a great collection.
I’m excited you read bel canto! I don’t know if I even thought about that aspect of that relationship, but that is an excellent point. And yeah that epilogue really was unnecessary.
Would love to see your monthly wrap ups again! :) But just do whatever makes you happy ❤ ps- what's your new tattoo of? X
haha your thoughts on Florida being weird and borderlandish had me rolling. It's not...it's rather meh really.
I was amazed that you were interested in Evicted. The situation in the US is probably much worse than you know because most new housing is upward of $250,000 and rentals are almost unattainable for families with only one income. If you can afford a mortgage, the property taxes are generally > $5,000 per year for a small property with low assessment value. The homelessness and lack of affordable healthcare is just totally unacceptable, however our current President continues to push for less social services while cutting back on taxes for big business. The situation is totally despicable. Sorry for the rant, what can I say?
Yay, a video from Mercedes! For the sake of seeing from you more often, I would love to get wrap ups and book hauls back. That last book seems right up my alley: since I've read Elmet I've been so obsessed with books set in a rural setting! Do you have any more suggestions of books like that? (I know you're also a fan).
I'm hoping to do a recommendation video for books in rural settings soon :)
Brilliant! Looking forward to it. :D
I'd been curious about Florida, but that had also been based on an assumption that the book would reflect the bizarreness of the state and the diversity of people living there. Will check out some of the others you did enjoy, though. I've not been disappointed by anything you've recommended so far.
Have you read Come Let Us Sing Anyway by Leone Ross? It's a short story collection published by Peepal Tree. I liked the mix of genres she included and the focus on Black British / Caribbean voices.
Oh, no I haven't - thanks for the recommendation!
I'm thrilled that you liked Euphoria!!
It was you that pushed me to pick it up - so thank you!!
How about doing a 'Read, Reviewed" one book at a time? Maybe right after you read them? That way there isn't as much pressure about filming a potentially longer video and it won't take as much time to prepare AND we get more videos from you? Just an idea, I don't mind longer videos at all, but I do understand how sometimes we can lose interest in our channels because of time/overthinking/pressure/etc, I'm kind of going through that right now.
Sounds like a good idea :) I think I need to just forgo structure and do whatever I feel like doing on the day. It's odd because I really enjoy when people don't have structures do their uploads but yet I force myself to do it!
I consider it a crime that I haven't read any Ann Patchett yet.
Yes, many people work 2 or more jobs in order to pay all the bills...even in dual income homes. Sadly, incomes don't match the cost of living for many in the States.
Scheduling ... very nice and difficult to do, comply with ...
hi! this is a random question, but where do you find and listen to audiobooks?
I use audible :)
I read Evicted awhile ago, it is a good book. Did not touch me in a way it did you.
I love you Mercedes, you are cute and great reviews!
I have a vague notion that Bel Canto is based on a real incident? A siege at an embassy in South America? Maybe I'm wrong but I think it was a Japanese embassy?
I had the same feelings about the focus on love in Bel Canto - it was a bit melodramatic at times - and then I thought, but of course, it is an opera :) I'm glad you liked Desmond's book - I thought it was a great example of narrative journalism. Is there a similar British book you know of? Tallack's book sounds like my type of book. How was the Shetland's dialect?
Kay melodramatic is exactly the right way to describe it! I’ve heard good things about Estates: An Intimate History - it’s a focus on social housing rather than renting but has a similar socio economic focus. I’m hoping to get to it soon. My knowledge of the Shetland dialect is awful but there is an authors note regarding it and a glossary. The author mentions that he wrote it phonetically so any reader could sound it out so I don’t think it’s literal but as close as he could get it and still be easy for a non Scottish person to read.
Thanks for the "Estates" recommendation, Mercedes. Always looking forward to comparing how bad the American system is to other places. And good to know about the language in The Valley at the Centre of the World - I saw someone complain about it on goodreads ("should have been written in English") so I was taken aback :)
Everyone is different I know but a passing thought while watching this video was .... why are my favourite British booktubers so weather dependant in their reading? A good book is a good book and I don’t understand why the weather seems to have such a huge impact on its enjoyability. I’m in Australia where it is regularly 35 - 40 degrees or 8 - 12 degrees and I will happily read some ‘cosy’ books from say Sarah Waters in either climate and the weather won’t have impacted my enjoyment. I know you guys have had a really hot summer but .... it’s reading not running a marathon..... 🤷♀️
Jennifer Brown haha, I think you’re misunderstanding. I can’t talk for anyone else but it’s not that the heat makes me too tired or sweaty to read, it’s that it’s not the right atmosphere. I’m a lover of cosy and gothic books set in cold seasons and/or counties. So reading a book set in a snowstorm in Canada is sort of spoilt by clear blue skies and sunshine in the summer. I know some people can read any book at any time of year but my enjoyment is very affected by the situation I read a book in. So if I read a gothic book during a dark winters evening with candles lit and a storm outside I’m likely to enjoy it way more than if I read it sitting on a beach on a warm summers day.