10 Books I Bought This Month
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
- I'm back with another haul of new and used books I've picked up over the past month. I like to imagine I'm maintaining an acceptable ratio of read to bought books...but who's to say?
Have you read any of these? If so, let me know what your thoughts are!
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - Dead Souls + Short Stories, Gogol
4:05 - Resurrection, Tolstoy
4:49 - Jude The Obscure, Hardy
7:53 - Moby Dick, Melville
8:27 - Book Editions: How Much Do You Care?
9:35 - A Question of Belonging: Crónicas, Uhart
11:45 - The Joyful Song of the Partridge, Chiziane
12:06 - In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, Gass
12:55 - Life and Fate, Grossman
13:34 - The House of Government, Slezkine
14:58 - Wrap Up
Thank you for the recommendations @HannahsBooks @ToReadersItMayConcern @saintdonoghue
My Instagram: / brockcovington
My Goodreads: / brock-c
My Substack: brockcovington.substack.com
#bookhaul #literature 
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Sixty eight year old bibliophile here. I'm hopelessly addicted to both books and coffee. You do a great job and are a pleasure to watch and listen to while drinking a strong black Java. I have subscribed and look forward to getting your take on more books.
Books and a well brewed black coffee? Hard to beat it! Happy to have you along!
I love the deckled edges. It makes it funner to rapidly fan through the book
Some great books there. Happy reading!
Honestly, I'm really into finding the right cover. For classis I usually go for the black penguin editions as they seem to be simple and aesthetically pleasing. If i end up buying a cover that i dislike i will 100% unconsciously delay or not end up not reading the book. There's just something about the cover art that has to be attractive to me for me to pick it up🤷♀
Can totally relate with the obsession for neat cover arts, like the Penguin Classics editions! Even though I feel that the paper quality is better with certain other publishers, just the elegance of the cover makes up for it🙌
I used to collect Penguin Classics with the black borders and Vintage books back when they were numbered.
I too love the covers and editions. Yes, do read more Hardy.
Great finds! I can't wait to get to Dead Souls, I'm hoping to read Resurrection this month, and House of Government may happen next March of the Mammoths. Happy Reading!
Finally subscribed. Apologies for not doing so earlier. Your material is all my interests and you share it both articulate and friendly. Thanks!
Grateful for the support!
Currently reading Dead Souls, and it's indeed a great one! ✨
Some very interesting pick ups. I've heard of a few, but not all. I picked up Sartre's "Existentialism Is a Humanism" yesterday at a small local bookstore based off of your recommendation and am enjoying it so far. My copy of Michael Katz translation of TBK also arrives today so i'm very excited to dig into that over the next month.
good stuff
What a wonderful haul! I do hope you will try another Hardy. Jude is a tough place to start. Tess is my personal favorite-and Far from the Madding Crowd. Archipelago is an interesting press! I’ve only read one of theirs so far.
I certainly will! Perhaps starting there means I’m only working my way up from here!
@@TheActiveMind1 If you fall in love with Hardy, you might love Jude after you’ve read his earlier novels and fallen under his spell. I did! And I totally changed my mind about Faulkner when I finally read “the right first book”-which for me was Light in August.
1) This video reminded me of books I need to go back and read. Especially now that I'm back with the reading momentum I had during my English degree.
2) Life and Fate is the second most impactful book I've ever read. I did my senior thesis comparing Viktor and Alyosha from Brothers Kamazov. It was a wild ride. I actually recently discovered that there's a prequel to it, and it's also a TOME.
3) House of Government is a book I started and sits at the top of the guilty "DNF" pile. Simple because life as a teacher gets crazy. However, the second or third chapter is one of the best pieces of writing I've ever read. So good!
That makes me even more excited to read Life and Fate! Maybe we can both get to reading House of Government around early 2025
@@TheActiveMind1 Can't wait to see your review of Life and Fate! Everything Flows by Grossman (also by NYRB) is a great short novel by him as well. Gives you the essence of his philosophy and writing style. If your philosophy oriented and have read Brothers Karamazov, you have to read Emanuel Levinas' Otherwise than Being!
A recent subscriber, I'm hopping back and forth through your back catalog as the algorithm demands (Ha ha). I appreciate your opinions and analyses and varied tastes very much. Your concentration on Russian literature is getting me excited to start on the copies of Crime and Punishment and War and Peace sitting on my shelves. I had Russian Lit as an undergrad; I loved Chekov the most, but the gem of the entire semester was a book of short stories by Fyodor Sologub, Kiss Of The Unborn. The title story was both sad AND hopeful. The edition I had was a hardback edited by my professor, Murl Barker (don't you love when professors do that?). As for Moby Dick, I have no edition preferences per se, but I do dislike deckled pages, they're a PITA to turn. I also prefer that any book have a good 'hand-feel', rest in my hand easily, have generous inside margins, and an attractive cover is a plus but not a deal-breaker. If you see this before you read it, try to pick out the Bible allegories you come across. That was the challenge put to us by my American Lit professor when I read it. No skipping the middle section on cetology. 😆
Grateful for the support! I still need to read War & Peace and Chekhov myself!
Jude the Obscure is my least favourite Hardy of those I've read. I would definitely give him another go though when you're ready. I loved Tess of the D'Urbevilles.
My son was reading The Series of Unfortunate Events as they were being published. My sister was in the US for two years about 20 years ago, and she bought him the latest (they were published earlier in the US). I thought the book was faulty, but I didn't say anything because, after all, it was a gift. It is literally only this year I have discovered that was intentional! I can't imagine why anyone would find deckled edges attractive.
Re book editions: I try to get hardbacks made of acid free paper, but I will buy a book because it goes with others I have. The introductory essay on Italo Calvino's "If On A Winter's Night A Traveller" talks about our reasons for reading, or buying, certain books. It's a fun read.
Glad to know I’m not the only one!
It's called deckled edges and you're right they do look like a rat chewed on them 😂 They're also hard to turn the pages with it too. I loved your book haul as well.
I've been collecting different versions of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I like having the various covers and translations.
Per the Penguin Classics book, the cream-bordered (butterscotch) Penguins were launched in 1985. The next redesign was in 2003
New subscriber here...hola 👋 . Great haul. I love the Deluxe Penguin Classics for that very "chewed up" pages look lol. As far as publishers...I just started collecting black spines Penguin Classics and Barnes and Noble classics. I just like the way they look together...plus the ocd kicks in 😂.
Great vid...in search of Moby Dick at the moment I've never read it.
P.s. I prefer 2nd hand books...well loved books 📚 😊. Currently reading Dracula Penguin Deluxe Edition...loving it!
I actually picked up Grossman's Stalingrad when browsing a local shop out my way. I got it because Life & Fate is on my list and apparently Stalingrad acts as a sort of precursor to the novel. It's a beefy boi, though. So I gotta carve out the time for it. I'm interested to see what you have to say about Life & Fate once you get through it, though!
Will do! I doubt I'll squeeze it in this year....but one never knows! Early next year at the latest
For editions I don't particularly care how they look, but I always try to find whatever the best annotated version of it is. This matters more for classics and philosophy.
I have the Norton Critical version of Moby Dick, and it has footnotes for references to the Bible, Shakespeare etc. that really help.
Very true! For classics I do look for editions with good end or footnotes. For example Kauffman’s Nietzsche translations
@@TheActiveMind1 On the topic of Nietzsche (and since you like him a lot and have made many videos on him) I recommend picking up the new Stanford editions of his works, if you don't have any of them yet. They're publishing his complete works, including all his unpublished work. Crazy detailed annotations and based on what's considered the most scholarly editions of his corpus. They aren't done yet, but most of it has been released.
@@diamonddust3518 That sounds enticing! I'll have to check those out
Life and Fate blew me away- I think about it a lot!
I can’t wait to dig in!
Agreed. Life and Fate is one of the very few books I’ve read that have profoundly changed my worldview. Reading it will bring you through an emotional rollercoaster. You’ll cry tears of joy for how inspiring and compassionate people can be when their backs are against the wall, as well of tears of sadness at how pointlessly cruel and base humanity can be when intoxicated with totalitarian ideologies.
When reading, be sure to refer to the character chart extensively and mark it up however you need to. There are a ton of characters, and some have multiple names. Also, read about Grossman’s life on Wikipedia before you start and you’ll fully appreciate how raw and personal Life and Fate is to him. Lastly, look out for a character named Ikonnokov in a German POW camp. There’s a section like 3/4 in that uses his words to beautifully explain Grossman’s true world view-the “so what?” of the novel.
Have fun reading! I’m somewhat jealous you’re gonna experience that one for the first time haha.
When buying books, I always follow the Mexican rule of "the Three B's" Bueno, Bonito y Barato. (good quality, beautiful, and cheap )
I like that rule!
Love Thomas Hardy, especially The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the Durbervilles, The Return of the Native, Two on a Tower, Life's Little Ironies and Far from the Madding Crowd. Can recommend them all.
I’ll be sure to give him another chance in the future! Many people have recommended his other works
I drove 24 hours from New Orleans and went camping right outside Buena Vista a few years ago. Beautiful place!
Also- I recently spent like $20 extra to get the cover of Demons I wanted
@@SLMDNKAHO I bet that cover was well worth it, I'd do the same! And I hope you enjoyed your trip around Buena Vista
It’s the pages for me. If they feel chalky, heavy and cheap then the whole book doesn’t really turn pages well and is more likely to have rips in the binding if you open a certain page too wide. My book peeve is if I flip through a book and it automatically opens to a certain page that someone must have laid flat on and expanded the binding on….yeah thats what does it for me lol
Good points! I feel the same
As long as I’m not looking for a certain translation, I always look for an aesthetically pleasing hardcover!
I haven't read Jude The Obscure but thinking about people on booktube I watch who have read and talked about it, I'd say it's the least liked of Hardy's major work. I've read Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D'Urbervilles from him. Tess is one of my favorite books and I did like FFTMC but I think it was the wrong time to read it. I don't exactly know how to explain it, I just think it didn't line up with my mood and what I maybe wanted to read more. I'd like to give it another read, probably after reading other titles by him.
I like deckled edges but they can be annoying and just look bad if it or the binding is done poorly. As for covers and editions- I'm so particular about which to get! Cover art and matching editions to lines/collections I already have is a huge factor. I like getting same editions of an author's work if I can and find a preference. But I also take the extra content, translation (if applicable), and book & text sizing into account. And I like cover designs that I think more so align with the book's style, tone, and content. These are the things I think about when getting a book, obviously more specifically a classic because there can be so many editions.
That seems to be the consensus, I'll give Tess of the D'Urbervilles a try next!
Those page edges you dislike are called "deckle-edged".
Nice. New subscriber.
Glad I found your channel. I'm also considering re-learning Russian to pick up where I left off in college. Is there a particular language program you are using? Thanks.
Rocket Russian. It’s given me a good base but Tandem and speaking to native Russians has given me far more grammatical practice and real life practice
as a European I was shocked when I got Hunger of the Gods, I didnt know those ripped pages existed! So I contacted support and they gave me a full refund and they said I can keep the book. After that I actually found out that the book is supposed to look like that but it was a US edition.
Haha that’s great you got to keep the book on top of the refund! I guess it’s just a matter of preference with the pages
@@TheActiveMind1 I had to cute most pages because they were still held together by the paper so it was mildly annoying. But atleast I got my 20euros back.
I have the same copy of Resurrection, it’s definitely a gut wrenching book. Overall not my favorite from Tolstoy, but certainly worth reading. It is very engaging. In fact my friend from Moscow prefers it over War and Peace. Also good luck with your Russian studies. I have been learning the language for a year and a half- it’s a tough one!
Also I will add, I am Argentine and we have a great dark book for you- check out ‘The Tunnel’ by Ernesto Sabato. It’s a novella, maybe 130 pages long.
I’ll add it to my list! Thank you!
@@TheActiveMind1 Great!
We want a video of your bookshelf
In due time!
I have not tried Golgol but you made me want to try. I have read Tolstoy, Dostoevsky (both, not all but most) and Solzhenitsyn's abridged Gulag Archipelago. That one was so very depressing as I precieve America is headed that way despite what we should have learned from history. Dostoevsky is my favorite of the three with such intriguing character development-you don't forget his characters. Like Dickens, he develops all his characters, even somewhat minor ones, so well that you don't forget them (Uriah Heep-Dickens, Father Ferrapont-Dostoevsky). I hate short stories so you lose me on those. I mean, I really hate short stories. I don't know why, but I hate them. And you google alongside the book! I do too! I started doing that with DaVinci Code, LOL. My best recommendation is the number one best seller in the world... the Bible. I have been studying it for YEARS and learned so much and it's so much deeper than most people realize. It includes different times, authors and genres and yet the same theme. I have studied it with historical and cultural context and WOW! Then I've studied it with life application and WOW! I've studied it as character development (not characters but they were real life people but their lives) and WOW! Then I've studied it with Christ as THE central figure and WOW! As literature, as life coaching, as spiritual depth, as character development or maybe I should say biography, it just can't be beat! I enjoyed your video!
The cover is so important given that all these works are legally free online. So if you're going to pay for it then it better look good.
I cannot afford to buy new books so look for ones in the charity shops or in book exchange kiosks (i leave the one i have just read and take another) - So I dont get to choose exactly what I read but love to read certain topics -
Nice video per usual! I don't know if it was mentioned in the Q and A or in another video, but are you religious at all? I don't mean to be judgmental or weird or anything, I was just curious. Thanks!
I’d say I’m agnostic, but I grew up/was raised Christian
@@TheActiveMind1 Ok, thanks for the reply.
9:16 wait this is a thing? I ordered a book once and thought it was a misprint/paper cutting mistake, lmao.
Haha yes unfortunately it was done on purpose
im american and currently in russia, if you have any questions about stuff id love to be your specialist))
Mate seriously what have you done to your teeth? They look creepy. Reminds me of friends when ross whitens his teeth and phoebe shouts NO!! DEMON!!! Lol. nah seriously though they look like they're about to dissolve.
Stop the criticism and enjoy the nonpretentious relatings of his reading journey.