My 5 Favorite Books of 2017

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  • Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024

Комментарии • 132

  • @agujadenavegar3988
    @agujadenavegar3988 6 лет назад +105

    "When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus

    • @Bloodavenger3200
      @Bloodavenger3200 6 лет назад +1

      Do you review submitted books? I'm a new author looking to have my book reviewed. Gliese Online is my book and it is fiction similar to the ready player one genre amzn.to/2zpNNhc if anyone wants to review the book please message me.

  • @asderc1
    @asderc1 6 лет назад +41

    The Brothers Karamazov is the best book I read in 2017. And the best book I've ever read.

  • @Craw1011
    @Craw1011 5 лет назад +13

    I know this is an older video but thanks for all your content. It's really nice to find a place that gives high quality book recommendations that I wouldnt have otherwise known about

  • @lalitborabooks
    @lalitborabooks 5 лет назад +9

    Please continue making these superb videos man...👍....your channel is criminally underrated but always remember that all the subscribers you have (43k) look upto you for these awesome recommendations...try picturing them in a single space...that’s a huge number
    Love from India 🇮🇳

  • @monowill8314
    @monowill8314 6 лет назад +21

    Gosh that was a long intro man haha

  • @Mr1Largo
    @Mr1Largo 6 лет назад +7

    The Russians are watching you! Keep up the good work!

  • @lattanzioval
    @lattanzioval 6 лет назад +5

    What a list!
    Thanks for the great books and the discovering of beauty.
    Happy new year. I hope it will be great for you (and your reading).

  • @CarlosRiveraFernandez
    @CarlosRiveraFernandez 6 лет назад +8

    Favorite book last year was Grapes of Wrath. What a profound book. Many times where I just felt angry. And hopeful.
    In the next year I hope to read the following:
    Blood Meridian
    The Plantagenets
    For Whom the Bell Tolls
    President McKinley
    All the Light We Cannot See
    Night
    Homage to Catalonia
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    Lord Jim
    Death on the Nile
    Artemis
    Don Quixote Part II
    Thoughts? Recommendations?

    • @miguelhernandez4975
      @miguelhernandez4975 6 лет назад +4

      The Possessed by Dostoevsky, and On a Winter Night's a Traveler by Italo Calvino

    • @pjr5913
      @pjr5913 6 лет назад

      laughter in the dark by nabokov, blood meridian is truly epic.

    • @crippleized
      @crippleized 6 лет назад

      Dude blood meridian is so good. Read it yet?

  • @phoenixproject7
    @phoenixproject7 6 лет назад +4

    I received a copy of Confessions of a Mask for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to reading that one!

  • @SuperStrangSshadow
    @SuperStrangSshadow 6 лет назад +11

    You should come to Norway cause it's really freezing cold here. :)

    • @sanderallstar6765
      @sanderallstar6765 6 лет назад +1

      SuperStrange Shadow I can confirm ;)

    • @SuperStrangSshadow
      @SuperStrangSshadow 6 лет назад

      Hello fellow norwegian. :-)

    • @BetterThanFoodBookReviews
      @BetterThanFoodBookReviews  6 лет назад +7

      I seem to have a growing following there. Maybe there can be some sort of meet-up at a bookstore one day.

    • @SuperStrangSshadow
      @SuperStrangSshadow 6 лет назад

      Wouldn't say no to that. :-) Love your honest reviews and your taste in dark books. :)

  • @yusufayaz2356
    @yusufayaz2356 6 лет назад +3

    I recently read up Absalom Absalom and boi o boi this is a monumental work.

  • @nachoo9774
    @nachoo9774 6 лет назад +2

    hey! thank you for the amazing reviews all through 2017!
    i recommend you The invention of Morel by Bioy Casares.

  • @awesomo845
    @awesomo845 6 лет назад +5

    You live in Florida??! no way me too! Been watching your channel for a couple of months now, good stuff. I'm in the Winter Park area (near Orlando) what part of Florida are you living in?

    • @awesomo845
      @awesomo845 6 лет назад +1

      And yea... it is quite cold here these last few days...

    • @IsoMorphix
      @IsoMorphix 6 лет назад +1

      His website puts his mailing address in St. Petersburg.

    • @IsoMorphix
      @IsoMorphix 6 лет назад

      Which is where ya boy is from!

  • @abbymeyer5604
    @abbymeyer5604 6 лет назад +3

    I would highly recommend Masks (Onna men) by Fumiko Enchi. It's a really great novel, about female sexuality, ageing and jealousy. It's interwoven with the motif of Noh masks, critical commentary of The Tale of Genji, and the Shinto concept of the woman as shaman. I really think you'd like it.

  • @tinafromadelaide2073
    @tinafromadelaide2073 6 лет назад +2

    I was just saying recently that I need to read something by Faulkner...you've definitely convinced me. Woman in the Dunes sounds great too.

  • @rosmariebjertnes1978
    @rosmariebjertnes1978 6 лет назад +3

    The tin drum gunter grass

  • @vladradulescu6113
    @vladradulescu6113 3 года назад +1

    Woman in the dunes is a great movie!

  • @faltrax
    @faltrax 6 лет назад +1

    I haven't read 'Absalom Absalom' yet but my first venture into Faulkner was from 'The Sound and the Fury' which made me feel the exact 'HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS POSSIBLE IN LITERATURE' feeling that you aptly described in the video. Faulkner truly is a treat for the soul, and really matures you as a reader. If you loved Absalom Absalom, I strongly suggest you give 'The Sound and the Fury' a try too.

  • @niriop
    @niriop 6 лет назад +1

    Favourite novel of 2017 was Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night. What an incredibly opaque complex protagonist whom you have no idea is good or evil or amoral or what (even though he’s the narrator).

  • @gloriathompson423
    @gloriathompson423 5 месяцев назад

    I love your channel I am growing as a reader because of you. and at 65 that is a great thing. Slowly going back in your videos. Probably wont live long enough to get through my list lol.

  • @socratesandstorybooks1109
    @socratesandstorybooks1109 6 лет назад +14

    Have you ever read The Name of the Wind? It's adult fiction and it's so well written.

    • @nefkasa
      @nefkasa 6 лет назад +2

      True. I just can't get enough of it. Do you have any recs with similar writing style? :)

    • @hrishikeshparab1236
      @hrishikeshparab1236 5 лет назад +1

      Dope shit

  • @stamatisgiallolover9713
    @stamatisgiallolover9713 5 лет назад +1

    I'm so lame, I have for years in my book collection 3 out of 5 of your 2017 favorites but never managed to read them yet. Man, the Faulkner one gave me headaches from the first page! It seems that I have to give it a second chance.

  • @neerajsinghchouhan4947
    @neerajsinghchouhan4947 5 лет назад

    What the fuck you gave spoilers about number 2.

  • @jase180
    @jase180 6 лет назад +1

    really loving your content, was perusing via your review of knut hamsun's hunger....I have a suggestion, i don't know if you've read or heard of him, but Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square is something I think you'd enjoy based on what I've seen of your content. Anyway really enjoying the vids and look forward to more.

  • @tonybennett4159
    @tonybennett4159 6 лет назад +1

    Great list of books. You obviously choose from something that interests you, rather than chasing after new releases only.

  • @christianman73
    @christianman73 6 лет назад +2

    Love your reviews and your channel so much, man! I *highly, highly* recommend that you check out the novels of Walker Percy. He's thought-provoking and existentially challenging, he's hilarious, he's perceptive-- and he also just happens to be one of the best American writers of the 20th century. In 1962, his first novel, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award. I read it in college, and it changed me forever. I do not think you will regret reading it.

    • @SofDiane
      @SofDiane 3 года назад +1

      Is there anyway to see if BTF has read Percy in the last 3 years? Our book club is going to read Love in The Ruins.

    • @christianman73
      @christianman73 3 года назад

      @@SofDiane I have done searches on RUclips to see if Cliff has done any videos on Percy and his books, but I've come up empty. Percy was an *amazing* writer of fiction, and an author of very thoughtful philosophical books as well, and I think Cliff would love his works on both counts, but I can't find any evidence, thus far, that he has read any of Walker's books-- unless he tried and just didn't like them? To me, Percy is one of the greatest 20th-century authors, period, but some people just don't care for his work.

  • @aaronhenderson1625
    @aaronhenderson1625 6 лет назад +1

    If truly interested, watch the brilliant Maya Deren's "Divine Horsemen: Living Gods of Haiti."

  • @Boggsy.
    @Boggsy. 6 лет назад +2

    This is random, but: I like that jacket. It'd be cool to know where I could find one, if it's not too much of an imposition. Thanks, man.
    Loved the list, too- I've been meaning to check out Faulkner for forever, now. This seems like just the excuse to finally do it.

  • @silverblue73
    @silverblue73 6 лет назад +1

    One of my favorite channels, thanks for doing what you do

  • @mandr3w329
    @mandr3w329 6 лет назад +9

    read Dostoyevsky, yeh or ney?
    if not try the idiot, is my favourite

    • @Boggsy.
      @Boggsy. 6 лет назад +6

      Mandr3w3 The Idiot was my first time reading Dostoevsky, and somewhere along the line, I unwittingly abandoned it. Later on, I picked up Crime & Punishment; I couldn't put that one down, one of my favorite novels of all time. Now that you say it, though, I've got to give it another try. Thanks for the reminder!

  • @valvarexart
    @valvarexart 6 лет назад +1

    Are you planning to read Mervyn Peake's books sometime?

  • @billypilgrim1
    @billypilgrim1 6 лет назад +7

    Any William T Vollmann in your reading schedule?

    • @brandongacer1850
      @brandongacer1850 6 лет назад +1

      I love your profile picture. Factory Records!

    • @tboss8157
      @tboss8157 6 лет назад

      Dying Grass would take 6 months to read lol

    • @billypilgrim1
      @billypilgrim1 6 лет назад +1

      Thanks Brandon, I'm a huge Factory Records fan and Peter Saville's artwork is sublime!

    • @billypilgrim1
      @billypilgrim1 6 лет назад

      T Boss, haha yes, to be honest I still haven't read any of Vollmann's books but I'm curious. So maybe Cliff can be my guinea pig first.

    • @boerenkool
      @boerenkool 6 лет назад

      Butterfly Stories is pretty short (relatively speaking) and well worth reading.

  • @dashlamb9318
    @dashlamb9318 5 лет назад

    "I like it when people get straight to the point." Yea, don't we all. It took Better Than Food over 4 min. to get "straight to the point" for fucks sake! Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don't be like a preacher that says, "And in conclusion..." and a half hour later we get to go to lunch. But thanks for your "5 Favorite Books of 2017"...finally.

  • @samd819
    @samd819 6 лет назад +1

    Did no one notice the major spoiler he said?

  • @hrishikeshparab1236
    @hrishikeshparab1236 5 лет назад +1

    When I have no money I torrent books

  • @matheusdemoura3579
    @matheusdemoura3579 4 года назад

    Tho I sometimes disagree with your opinions, especially the ones about PC culture, I love this channel. Your reviews are intense, deep and poetic, but not in a childish way, like some youtuber addicted in young adult, and as so: poor in language. Also, your book choices are incredibly mature. You not only look for the classics but for that that may become one.
    Ps: pardon my English, as my name exposes, I'm Brazilian.

  • @BuckyBrown-lt4ry
    @BuckyBrown-lt4ry 6 лет назад

    One of the most humorous books I have read in a long time - THE HUMOR ABOUT HILLARY You need not be a Hillary-hater to enjoy. Pee-in-your-pants funny!

  • @evanrman8048
    @evanrman8048 6 лет назад

    Cliff, have you had the opportunity to read The Power Broker by Robert Caro? It's a monolith, for sure, but I'm reading it currently and it's a fascinating nonfiction chronicle of 20th century New York and NYC politics, focusing on this one public official who ended up with unilateral power over almost all public works projects in the city. It's a fascinating read, and I recommend it.

  • @mayamaldonado8883
    @mayamaldonado8883 6 лет назад

    Just curious, are you going to be reading Fire and Fury? If so, will you be reviewing it?
    Also, review some of Zadie Smith's work. I've read On Beauty and am currently reading White Teeth and I love it so far. I'll be reading Swing Time after.

  • @AleksandarBloom
    @AleksandarBloom 6 лет назад

    Strolling through other youtube channels dedicated to books; and their stupid smiles and empty cheering - nevermind the shit they read; with you, at least for this site, literature, and those seriously interested in it, struck gold.

  • @classicnovice9916
    @classicnovice9916 6 лет назад

    I would argue that an audiobook completely depends on the reader and the listener. I love listening to them, I'm dyslexic and have a tough time reading fast enough to piece everything together at the speed my brain understands. Sometimes when I want to pick up the overarching plot better, listening helps. Especially with a good story teller. I listened to a YA novel called Ready Player One and since it was written as though the main character was telling you the story, and because the nairator was so great with his intonation, it was a whole experience that actually probably improved the story.

  • @Cypress1600
    @Cypress1600 2 года назад

    Video start at 4:52

  • @softyhard7854
    @softyhard7854 6 лет назад

    As I was browsing in the internet, I found three very interesting photographers that got my attention. I want to share them for anybody interested: Ralph Meatyard, Francesca Woodman, and Todd Hido.
    Joel-Peter Witkin is another photographer people might want to check out if your into transgressive art.

  • @melissaadamson7626
    @melissaadamson7626 6 лет назад

    Can’t recommend these books enough!
    getBook.at/CarreroSeries
    @#teamarrickcarrero
    Let me know what you think 😃😃

  • @throckmorton3705
    @throckmorton3705 6 лет назад +1

    oh yeah . . . you like the coffee at the ihop?

  • @waynejenski
    @waynejenski 3 года назад

    Thank you

  • @fishshark2009
    @fishshark2009 6 лет назад

    So glad to have found this channel once again. The most memorable video that I had watched on this channel was the E-book Vs physical book video, calling millennials like me "degenerates". XD
    Love your channel,subscribed.

  • @henryh1620
    @henryh1620 6 лет назад

    I have subbed to your channel for over a year now, watch the majority of your reviews yet havent finished a book in the last two years hah. I should really start

  • @TheMediaQueer
    @TheMediaQueer 6 лет назад

    I will be reading Confessions of a Mask soon. A friend gave it to me as a birthday gift a few months back. I'm more excited to read it now.

  • @jeffreyrozier2943
    @jeffreyrozier2943 6 лет назад

    I saw the film adaptation of The Serpent and The Rainbow back in the 80's. I did not know it was based on a book - apparently a good book at that.

  • @BetweenLinesAndLife
    @BetweenLinesAndLife 6 лет назад

    Got Absalom, Absalom! because of you and put the rest of it on my wishlist, since they all sound amazing!

  • @alexcross5
    @alexcross5 6 лет назад

    Have you read any Tim O'Brien, Mr. Sargent? I keep hearing that he writes the best fiction about war and it's psychological impact on men.

  • @valpergalit
    @valpergalit 6 лет назад

    I expected this to be a list of books published in 2017, but of course you never disappoint. I’m excited to see what 2018 presents for you and the channel, Cliff. Here’s to another year of incredible reviews!

  • @roryalexanderm
    @roryalexanderm 6 лет назад

    Great list, I’m sure it’s a book you’ve heard of, but I think you’d really enjoy The Sisters Brothers

  • @lilo19951995
    @lilo19951995 6 лет назад

    oh i am so happy to see you love absalom! absalom! i just read the sound and the fury this past year. i am super excited to check it out. i’d like to read about 15-25 books this year, knowing my habits with school/work

  • @OjaswiShxrma
    @OjaswiShxrma 6 лет назад

    You're amazingly brilliant. Once I'm done with my book, I'm going to send it to you.

  • @JachMehoff42069
    @JachMehoff42069 6 лет назад

    Can you do a review of Dimityr Dimovs 'Tiutiun'? I have a feeling you'll like it

  • @dashbustour3647
    @dashbustour3647 6 лет назад

    It would be so easy to tip you if you put a Dash address up there! I would certainly do it!

  • @lmlaceeauthor
    @lmlaceeauthor 6 лет назад

    Thank you for your reviews, I love hearing positive reviews as they help the author so much as I still go by what my Grandma told me, "If you can't say something nice then say nothing at all."

  • @Adamptorres235
    @Adamptorres235 6 лет назад +2

    As I Lay Dying > Absalom, Absalom!

    • @skygeneralmonkey1856
      @skygeneralmonkey1856 6 лет назад

      As I Lay Dying is my favorite book. Absolute masterpiece.

    • @13tuyuti
      @13tuyuti 6 лет назад

      I beg to differ. As I Lay Dying was the first Faulkner I read and I thought: Hey, this guy is onto something, let´s read some more of him, and then I read Absalom, Absalom and it blew me away. Then I read Requiem for a Nun which was a bit of a disappointment but thanks to Absalom, Absalom my faith in the mighty Faulkner was unshaken.

  • @TheInteriktigt100
    @TheInteriktigt100 6 лет назад

    Is that Fanged Noumena on your shelf?

  • @user-sh11
    @user-sh11 6 лет назад

    I subscribed just for the channel name😀

  • @tathagatbanerjee2912
    @tathagatbanerjee2912 6 лет назад

    Brilliant video. Please review Andrew miller's Pure

  • @edddybravos7327
    @edddybravos7327 6 лет назад +1

    Usted sí que sabe

  • @freeri87
    @freeri87 6 лет назад

    Monsieur Teste by Paul Valéry, please...

  • @covekyes
    @covekyes 6 лет назад

    Just a few weeks ago i tried reading Pedro Paramo, but I was reading it too fast and couldn't get anything from it. So I gave up, and postponed reading it. I really wanna give it attention that this book deserves.

    • @BetterThanFoodBookReviews
      @BetterThanFoodBookReviews  6 лет назад

      Exactly, SLOW - SLOW - SLOW
      Read it out loud. Realize what's happening. It's expansive, it doesn't ignite, it blooms.
      Get in the same headspace you'd approach a Tarkovsky film. Good luck!

  • @ArctaProductions
    @ArctaProductions 6 лет назад

    Review The Legend of the 10 Elemental Masters

  • @kevinedwardthurston
    @kevinedwardthurston 6 лет назад

    What do you think about Murakami?

  • @savenacatamani9609
    @savenacatamani9609 6 лет назад

    Awesome
    ..Better than food

  • @JCloyd-ys1fm
    @JCloyd-ys1fm 6 лет назад

    Absolom, Absolom! Tough book. I tried reading it twice and only finished reading it on the third attempt. You’re right. You gotta take your time with that one.

  • @voyagetoart3115
    @voyagetoart3115 6 лет назад

    Hey man you are great, fan from India.

  • @phoebemarsh3660
    @phoebemarsh3660 6 лет назад

    Hi there, just happened upon your channel and wanted to ask if you ever read books written by women? All the best :)

    • @nachoo9774
      @nachoo9774 6 лет назад

      a book is a book. it doesn't matter who wrote it

    • @jasbirkaurvillaschi8019
      @jasbirkaurvillaschi8019 6 лет назад +1

      @@nachoo9774 that attitude removes many voices from the possible conversation pool.

    • @nachoo9774
      @nachoo9774 6 лет назад +1

      Jasbir Kaur Villaschi i dont think so. Why?

  • @AndalusianIrish
    @AndalusianIrish 6 лет назад

    Little feedback. For some people like me who would be keen to support you having it be a set amount per video is beyond us. Why not allow us to give a set amount every month?

    • @BetterThanFoodBookReviews
      @BetterThanFoodBookReviews  6 лет назад

      That is an interesting idea Andy, I may change that, thank you.

    • @AndalusianIrish
      @AndalusianIrish 6 лет назад +1

      Better Than Food: Book Reviews I hadn't thought about it from that perspective. I still love what you do bro.

  • @StankPlanks
    @StankPlanks 6 лет назад

    Thanks for the list mate!

  • @PseudoMystic
    @PseudoMystic 6 лет назад

    Is that Fanged Noumena on your bookshelf?

    • @13tuyuti
      @13tuyuti 6 лет назад

      It sure looks like it. Nice.

  • @nikolous4213
    @nikolous4213 6 лет назад

    Giuseppe di Lampedusa - The Leopard

  • @ecioran1
    @ecioran1 6 лет назад +1

    Great content! some books I think probably you would like:
    "El silenciero" Antonio Dibenedetto
    "Rabia" Sergio Bizzio
    "Glosa" Juan José Saer
    "Class Trip" Emmanuel Carrere
    "The Adversary" Emmanuel Carrere

  • @andreitarkovsky3214
    @andreitarkovsky3214 6 лет назад

    Mishima made a book?! I just knew he also was an actor, off to get it!

    • @thepatient89
      @thepatient89 6 лет назад +1

      andrei tarkovsky I didn't know he was famous for acting; I knew he was famous for leading a small militia insurrection in seeking to lead a cultural return to traditional Japanese values which ended with his hari kari an multi-strike beheading after taking over a station.
      And that he wrote books too.

    • @tonybennett4159
      @tonybennett4159 6 лет назад

      Yes, he's definitely better known for his writing, and I doubt that many of his films were seen outside of Japan. Go to his profile on imdb and you will see that there appears to be only five films shown, all of them in the 60s, so it's possible that you might be confusing him with somebody else. What films do you know him from?

    • @muckadeezy
      @muckadeezy 4 года назад

      Good Paul shrader movie of him too

  • @mirzawardahbeg6948
    @mirzawardahbeg6948 6 лет назад

    beaaardoooo

  • @komal8633
    @komal8633 6 лет назад +1

    I love your videos but can you not give so many spoilers.

  • @PreppinShootinLivin
    @PreppinShootinLivin 6 лет назад +1

    Jordan Peterson is awesome! I just got his 12 Rules for Life.

  • @MrCozmo121
    @MrCozmo121 6 лет назад

    Clifford could read me a supermarket catalogue and I would be satisfied for the next 3-6 hours

  • @pinfilm4653
    @pinfilm4653 6 лет назад

    Saw your list of uploads and subbed enthusiastically. Clicked on this video. After four minutes of patreon promotion, merch placement and empty talk, you mention the first book: aaaaand it's intellectual imbecile Jordan Peterson. Woah. Fastest unsub ever.

  • @brandonsullivan9544
    @brandonsullivan9544 6 лет назад

    Sick, sick sick dude.

  • @anyavanwyk
    @anyavanwyk 6 лет назад +18

    I enjoy your reviews but can't help noticing the absence of female writers. Why is this? Which female writers do you count as your favourites?

    • @folksurvival
      @folksurvival 5 лет назад +5

      Are there any good ones? I can't think of any.

  • @dashlamb9318
    @dashlamb9318 5 лет назад

    "On to the New Year. How many books ya gonna try and read? I'm gonna try and read 50." Sounds like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. "I can eat 50 eggs!" Same thing. Gorging one self on eggs or books for the sake of the act in itself is fucked up. At least Cool Hand Luke was only a movie. l don't doubt Mr. Better Than Food will try it.
    .

  • @recoveringknowitall1534
    @recoveringknowitall1534 6 лет назад +1

    Dude, I'm not paying you to read books! What the heck is the patreon thing about?

  • @masturaabdullatif8662
    @masturaabdullatif8662 6 лет назад +3

    Read the Quran

    • @bauhausa6933
      @bauhausa6933 6 лет назад +2

      Mastura Abdul Latif and after shit on it

  • @teeniebeenie8774
    @teeniebeenie8774 4 года назад

    again, cant watch the 'beard' shows....pass.