I can honestly say I enjoy listening to you speak about books almost as much as I enjoy reading itself. I am absolutely sold on Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, but also Crow and Grief and now can only think of them as a trilogy. Thank you for this amazing vlog!
I am sooo happy that you loved Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies! It's my favourite read of the year and made me think of you as well during my read. Based off my own experiences as a cancer-survivor ánd caretaker of my family members during their palliative phase, it's one of the best books on the topic I've read, and I don't say that lightly. I love how it's a book about Lia and her body as a whole. About the marks her LIFE has left on her, rather than just the ones that cancer left. That's what palliative care should be all about: not about death and disease, but about reflecting, remembering and celebrating the life that in every day that's left.
Yay! Let me get a big cup of tea and settle in for this. 😄🫖📚 Love the dramatic music to accompany Wordle! 😂 I've almost finished reading Karunatilaka's excellent novel so I'm glad (future you) got a copy and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it later in the video.
I’ve just finished Maps of our Spectacular Bodies and had to come and watch some more of your vlog. I loved this book so much, the wordplay really appeals to me and I thought the way it was written was wonderful, although devastating too. Thank you for telling me more about other books it links to, I will now be looking out for those. 😊📚
Yeeey! Comfort video! I love these videos even if they elongate my tbrb list and empty my wallet. I think your reviews are very clear and useful. Have a great week Jen! 🍰
ohhhhh noooo, I did not know octordle was a thing until I watched this...if my family comes looking for me, tell them I'm Octordling!! 🤣 Case Study, Trust, and The Trees were the three that stood out to me the most based on premise alone, but I might need to brave Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies. Would you recommend reading Poor Things and Grief is a Thing with Feathers (which is on my TBR) first to get the full intertextual effect that you so enjoyed? (And Nightcrawling sounds like a no-brainer TBR addition!)
I’d recommend them because they’re fabulous, ha, but it’s not essential. Grief is very short, though, so I’d definitely recommend reading that first if you can. x
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about intercontextuality so often. I’m tempted to do a reading vlog of all the non booker books you mentioned here as they’ve all crept onto my tbr anyway. It has also reaffirmed my desire to read maps, night crawling and small things.
Very much agree with you on Maps, that is clearly the best book on the longlist. I loved Glory too, I quite liked the parrot later in the novel, who was similar to Squealer in animal farm, and would just squawk the same meaningless slogans. Nightcrawling was fantastic too. I said the same thing as you did, I can't wait to see what she writes next, it's exciting to see somebody so young and so talented, which is exactly how I feel about Maddie Mortimer too.
Jen, you are an absolutely joy. I am in the middle of a house move at the moment and very stressed, but watching your videos soothes me. As soon as I get settled in my new home I’m buying Night Crawling and MofOSB.
Have you ever thought about doing a video on your cooking books? The glimpses we see in vlog sections always look very interesting :) This video was a delightful thing to watch over the evening!
I don't use a huge amount of them, to be honest. My favourites are definitely the Roasting Tin cookbooks by Rukmini Iyer and Dumplings and Noodles by Pippa Middlehurst x
Hi Jen what a full and concise reviewing! Loved the format of interspersing your comments with rural, foody and doggy interludes. Not read any, but noticed nightcrawling at work. Just secured Unsettled Ground from the library which i'll get to after Bill Browder''s second book, Freezing Order, which Tom Stoppard says is compulsory reading. As was his first book.
Lovely hearing your thoughts on the long list. I’ve read 8 so far and plan to read them all, top picks have been The Trees and Trust. Trust was one that I really wasn’t looking forward to but it really surprised me with how good it was! Just reading The Colony right now and enjoying the start, very atmospheric.
I'll be reading Trust and The Trees in the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to that, especially as so many people seem to have a lot of love for Trust x
I stopped this video part way through and ordered 3 of them! (I’m attending an event on After Sappho tomorrow so will get my copy then!). The idea of cancer as a narrator sounds fascinating! I remember you being one of the official 2015 Man Booker Book tube reviewers - that’s how I discovered you. I shall be reading 4 of them with you!
Very excited to watch this tomorrow i was looking for your book 'The beggining of the world in the middle of the night' in waterstones and unfortunately the one i went to didnt have it in stock so i will be ordering it tomorrow from amazon instead! I'm so excited to read it xx
I ordered your two faves during your review-can’t wait to read them! I’ve discovered a few writers through you and they have become favorites-Max Porter, Sarah Moss, Daisy Johnson. Our tastes are not 100% aligned (whose are?), but I’ve learned to discern which of your recommendations over the years of following you will probably resonate with me-thank you!🙏✨
Having already been interesting by Case Study, I think I’ve been won over and I will definitely be reading it. I’m intrigued by The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida and After Sappho. I’ve already read and loved Maps of our Spectacular Bodies (after reading ‘itch of ink’ there was no way I was going to not read it). I loved hearing your thoughts - you picked up on more of the intertextual elements than I did, and they were interesting to think about! I somehow have yet to get around to Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, and I think I’ll have to remedy that soon.
Of the long list, I’ve only read The Colony. I liked it a lot. I am a sucker for the separate frame that islands present in life and in fiction. Although I read the print copy, the deadpan of the Irish dialogue truly came through. It had me laughing out loud. Although the English fellow was an @$$ from beginning to end, I was reeled into his drive to draw and paint. I read and write so much that I feel the need to practice drawing to broaden my perspective, but my drive is behind reading and writing! So, I’m jealous and admiring of the drawing/painting in this novel. I loved the four generations of Irish family members on the island. The French dude was completely disconnected from his self. The Troubles. I agree with you that they lacked transitions but of course were as abrupt as the events they described. Overall, even with the creative topics in the story, the book reads like an intellectual exercise for the author. It reeled me in and it repelled me, yet somehow I loved it despite its imperfections!
Great to hear your thoughts on these books as most of them are ones I had my eye on. Only read Small Things Like These so far and had a 'stare-at-the-wall' moment, as Dakota Warren calls it, after I'd finished, so rated it highly. For me I think it helped that I didn't know about the laundries.
I absolutely love this Jen - thank you, have been rewatching some of your old reading vlogs so this was great timing! Thank you for sharing! Also do you have any tips for DNFing? X
Nightcrawling is so stunning. I am reviewing the audiobook for work and Joniece Abbot-Pratt did such a stellar job performing it. I was already looking for Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies when you came back and mentioned Virginia Woolf. Sold me x2 😄
i was instantly sold on maps of our spectacular bodies when you said it's what virginia woolf would be writing today. they should've asked you to blurb the book!!
Oh I hadn't realised Maps of our Spectacular Bodies was about cancer - the blurb was so confusing. It's been great hearing your thoughts on these! I definitely agree about Treacle Walker, and I'm currently listening to The Colony, great narrator. I need to pick up Case Study, you've convinced me. Not sure I can brave Nightcrawling though...
Deep into my own Booker quest - ten books down now, three to go! - and dying to hear some other reactions, I found your channel. It's fantastic - so warm and friendly and welcoming! Thank you! I've just finished Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies which is, as you say, quite magnificent. It's so rich, so bursting with ideas and heart - I know some of it probably passed me by, but that felt absolutely my fault not its, it's just such a *big*, such a *personal* piece of work that it shouldn't squeeze itself down so one stranger can understand all of it. Gorgeous and profound. I've also loved Trust, Case Study, and Small Things Like These. I can respect (in an increasingly qualified way) Booth, Glory, and The Colony - I found Glory's style very annoying for the longest while, and its half-hearted treatment of the animal concept confusing, but by the end in its passion I thought maybe that all, somehow, had been the point. And I found things to admire in The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, while struggling with it as a whole, found myself bemused and irritated by Treacle Walker, and genuinely disliked the repetition and cold satire of The Trees. On to Night Walking next - I'm especially excited to read it after your enthusiastic review (and since our views so far have very largely been in sync!) Anyway, sorry to splurge. I really just wanted a chance to set down my own reactions so far! All the best to you, and cheers again for such a smashing video.
I read Small Things Like These (right before Christmas) last year and I loved it. It has definitely not faded from my memory ;) and I was happy to see on the longlist. I bought Nightcrawling and Glory, and after watching this I will read Nightcrawling next. I’m hearing nothing but amazing things about it from everyone. I have a weird thing about the C word (lots of anxiety there), but your review of Maps makes me think I would love the book, I need to think about it… :). I got Trust and The Trees on audio, but didn’t get around to either of them yet. I actually really liked The Colony, and hoping to enjoy Glory. Thanks for your thoughts, Jen, I enjoyed the video very much!
So reading the crow poems, then maps of our spectacular bodies and them grief is the thing with feathers will give one the ultimate reading experience? 🤔 I'm intrigued 😏
So glad to hear your opinion on Case Study - I flew threw the first half and haven't picked it up since then. It's been a few months and I think I might just give it away now.
Must order maps of our spectacular bodies and Night Crawling. Those dumplings look amazing Jen ,looks like you need a lot of space to spread them all out. Hope they tasted as good as they looked 😊
I have Nightcrawling and hope to get to it this month. I thought the premise of Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies sounded a bit gimmicky, but you made it sound fantastic. I'm also very intrigued by The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. It sounds like something I could really get on with.
The two that interest me most are the two you really loved. I'd already picked up Nightcrawling before it was longlisted and I have Booth too, though I know that one didn't interest you. I'm very excited to get to Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, which I'd seen floating about on Bookstagram but hadn't paid much attention to, and then ran out and bought as soon as you said it reminded you of Grief is the Thing With Feathers! x
Thanks for making this video. The only longlisted book I've read so far is Glory. Before reading it, I read House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tschuma so that I would know at least something about the modern history of Zimbabwe going into it, and I am glad I did. I found Glory to be informative and thought it was written in an interesting way, but you are right that the animals are more human than animal-like, which is a drawback. The other book I really want to read is Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, and now, I am even more enthusiastic about it after watching your video.
Love to hear your thoughts on these - I've put a reserve on Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies at the library (but I might get a copy of my own before that....)
I’ve just started Glory, and find it to be good so far. I like how playful it is so far, but can see that not being for everyone. I have Trees as well, and would like to get to others from the list like the Claire Keegan novella. You’ve really sold me on Night Crawling too!
I am also trying to read the Longlist and have had similar feelings to you on most of the books I’ve read so far! I looooooved Maps! It’s stunning, isn’t it? There’s so much in it and despite it being such a bleak topic, I didn’t find it that bleak at all. I have the audiobook of The Colony from my library but haven’t got into it yet. I’ve heard it’s great, but just not getting that atm. Dunno if that’d be different if I was reading it physically? I’m so excited (would that be the right word? 😅) to get to Night Crawling. I used to support women who’d been in similar situations so really intrigued read it. I don’t think you’ve missed much by skipping Oh William! or Booth, though. Fab hearing your thoughts as usual.
I think the layout in the book itself (the Colony) it interesting, but I still preferred the audio version. Glad to hear you think I haven't missed much with the Strout and Fowler. I am going to read Everett and Diaz soon. xx
I really need to read Night Crawling,it sounds so good. When you compared it to a scream it made me think of Maryland the short film broadcast on BBC recently,it deals with abuse of power within the police and sexual assault.I highly recommend it if it's something you think you can handle watching.
Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on them all!! I absolutely loveeed Nightcrawling, it broke me in so many different places. DNFed Case Study, just not my kind of book and the format of the ebook version of Maps.. was too difficult to read :(
I agree with you on Treacle Walker. All this while I thought is it weird that I did not like it? But then I read a very interesting review by Maureen K. Speller and agreed wholeheartedly with her critique. I am still making my way through Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies; I am reading and listening to it as an audiobook as well. Hope to read The Trees, Case Study soon. And I loved Small Things Like These and Oh!William. Loved watching your way through the list.
I have read 6 of the longlist so far and currently well into Nightcrawling which is the 7th. My favourites so far are The Colony and Booth. I hadn't expected to like Booth so much but found it a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable reading experience. Trust is the one I liked the least. Maps of our Spectacular Bodies is currently in the post!
I have read Case Study on which I fully agree with you. I was immersed for 2/3rds and then it lost me. I enjoyed the audio of The Colony a lot. I am listening to Booth which is ok but I am not drawn to getting back to it. I am halfway through Nightcrawlung which could be my pick to win. I have Maps and The Trees on order. Your the 2nd person I have seen dnf Glory so I think I will miss that one along with a couple of others that don’t interest me. Your top two were the two I was most interested in so I am looking fwd to reading them.
This was such a great reading vlog. Really interested in Maps but the subject matter is a bit close to home atm so may leave it a while. After Sappho is my next r
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies sounds great, yet I don't think I can handle reading it, sadly. I'm sorry about Glory -- I've been planning on reading it. The only book on this list that I've read is Small Things Like These, which is very quiet, and yet it has stuck with me, which is more than I can say for most books I read. I will skip reading The Colony, but I just requested a Tana French audiobook narrated by Stephen Hogan based on your review. :)
I wasn't really interested in any of the books tbh. I have picked up a few while browsing books in bookshops, and read a few pages, but none of them seemed my cup of team. So thanks or doing the difficult part, and reading so many of them. The top two do seem more interesting based on your description of them, so thanks for that. I am curious what will end up winning in the end, but also slightly afraid that one of the longer ones will, just because it's long. That seems to be a trend with book prizes.
I read Small Things Like These and though I did know the background from reviews was less aware of the overall history as a Canadian and I am curious if the Colony will also work better for me as I know about the Troubles but not in great detail. Love hearing your thoughts as always
it does seem, on the whole, that those who didn't know a lot about the Magdalene laundries enjoyed Small Things more, so perhaps that would be true for The Colony. x
Loved this video! I'm halfway through Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies and really loving it too. I find your comment that people with close experience of cancer should avoid Maps interesting - my sister died by suicide recently and I find suicide and death are all I want to read about since it's all I'm thinking about anyway. Not a criticism, it's good to warn people when these themes are dealt with intensely! I suppose different people's responses in the wake of tragedy is just interesting to me at the moment. Also interesting that Trust didn't appeal to you. From what I've heard about it it addresses the kinds of questions of what is fiction, how do we construct narratives about ourselves and others etc which you felt Case Study didn't engage with as well as it might have. It really leapt out to me!
I suppose it’s just my own bias; it’s not a book I could have read a few years ago. You’re right, we all deal with these things differently. Sending big love to you x
Ps I have actually just purchased Trust as well; as a friend messaged to say it’s her favourite from the longlist, so I guess I’ll be reading that one too 🙈 x
I’m sorry that I’ll probably never be able to read Maddie Mortimer’s book because it sounds excellent. But even while Jen was reading an excerpt I just wanted it to end, it gave me cold shivers and I’m not usually easily triggered. So that’s probably a forever no for me, sadly. However what I appreciate is knowing what it’s about from the start because I sometimes start reading a book only to find out I have to DNF it later when it turns about to be about… that.
The one run by Graywolf Press? It's great for the person who wins, but it's a prize for a manuscript-in-progress, so it's not a prize that you could follow as a reader; there's no public shortlist etc - the winner gets a publishing deal. x
I appreciate your thoughts on Maps, but it just sounds horrifying and painful to me. I wouldn’t go anywhere near that book. On a happier note, I’m thrilled to hear how much you loved Nightcrawling. It’s one of the books I have here to read and I’ll get to it soon, I hope. (I’m in a mini-funk at the moment and treating my condition with fun crime books on audio.) The other books I have here are Glory, The Colony, Case Study, and Treacle Walker. I’m waiting for Seven Moons to arrive in the post and I have a 7 week wait for Trust at my library. I picked up Case Study last night, read the preface, was confused by what he was telling us (was it the real author talking or the author of the book within the book?) Too meta for my current mood, but I’ll go back to it. Picked up Treacle Walker, looked at the first page, and went off to listen to a wonderfully fun Ruth Ware book. I do hope to read all of these. I’ve already read Small Things. I actually read it on Christmas Eve and Christmas last year. I knew nothing of the laundries going in. I quite liked this book, but I didn’t get any sort of Christmas feeling about it. 🤷♀️ I actually listened to The Trees this year and was blown away. I can’t recommend it more highly. I went and bought a physical copy after listening to it. The narrator is very good with the southern male voices, but hysterically bad at the one British accent. I enjoyed listening to it but probably would have enjoyed reading it more. Definitely try to get a hold of this one. It’s brilliant. My #2 book this year so far. Not going to read the rest. Great video!
I've found a copy of The Trees available online with the London Review Bookshop, so that's on the way to me now, along with a copy of Trust. I giggled at reading the first page of Treacle Walker and instead reading a Ruth Ware. Understandable. x
I just finished After Sappho the other week and as someone who loves to research historical lesbians and sapphists I loved it and found it a joy to read. I was really curious though how someone who does not come to the book from this perspective and isn't as biased as I am would view it, so I was really excited to hear what you had to say about it! Loved the video and I'm now curious to pick up Nightcrawling too
karen joy fowler first book: i took it as a vegan activist treatise, which i felt it worked. Can't stand eliz strout, don't know why she's very popular, one of the few genuinely popular authors. Trust sounded so boring, it sounds like an Amor Towles book (middlebrown middleschool, great for what it is). I fear Evidence isn't as good as you make it sound
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I can honestly say I enjoy listening to you speak about books almost as much as I enjoy reading itself. I am absolutely sold on Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, but also Crow and Grief and now can only think of them as a trilogy. Thank you for this amazing vlog!
Oops, sorry Priscilla, my last reply was meant for the comment below yours. Thank you for your very kind words ♥️ I hope you enjoy Maps! x
they sound the best but they sound teary and intense and i'm like, i want a good book but not to be depressed
I am sooo happy that you loved Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies! It's my favourite read of the year and made me think of you as well during my read. Based off my own experiences as a cancer-survivor ánd caretaker of my family members during their palliative phase, it's one of the best books on the topic I've read, and I don't say that lightly. I love how it's a book about Lia and her body as a whole. About the marks her LIFE has left on her, rather than just the ones that cancer left. That's what palliative care should be all about: not about death and disease, but about reflecting, remembering and celebrating the life that in every day that's left.
Yay! Let me get a big cup of tea and settle in for this. 😄🫖📚 Love the dramatic music to accompany Wordle! 😂
I've almost finished reading Karunatilaka's excellent novel so I'm glad (future you) got a copy and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it later in the video.
Haha, thank you. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on some of the ones you've haven't got to yet, as well. xx
I’ve just finished Maps of our Spectacular Bodies and had to come and watch some more of your vlog. I loved this book so much, the wordplay really appeals to me and I thought the way it was written was wonderful, although devastating too. Thank you for telling me more about other books it links to, I will now be looking out for those. 😊📚
Yeeey! Comfort video! I love these videos even if they elongate my tbrb list and empty my wallet. I think your reviews are very clear and useful. Have a great week Jen! 🍰
Have a lovely week, too. x
ohhhhh noooo, I did not know octordle was a thing until I watched this...if my family comes looking for me, tell them I'm Octordling!! 🤣 Case Study, Trust, and The Trees were the three that stood out to me the most based on premise alone, but I might need to brave Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies. Would you recommend reading Poor Things and Grief is a Thing with Feathers (which is on my TBR) first to get the full intertextual effect that you so enjoyed? (And Nightcrawling sounds like a no-brainer TBR addition!)
I’d recommend them because they’re fabulous, ha, but it’s not essential. Grief is very short, though, so I’d definitely recommend reading that first if you can. x
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about intercontextuality so often. I’m tempted to do a reading vlog of all the non booker books you mentioned here as they’ve all crept onto my tbr anyway.
It has also reaffirmed my desire to read maps, night crawling and small things.
I’m saving this for tomorrow but I’m very excited!
Very much agree with you on Maps, that is clearly the best book on the longlist.
I loved Glory too, I quite liked the parrot later in the novel, who was similar to Squealer in animal farm, and would just squawk the same meaningless slogans.
Nightcrawling was fantastic too. I said the same thing as you did, I can't wait to see what she writes next, it's exciting to see somebody so young and so talented, which is exactly how I feel about Maddie Mortimer too.
Jen, you are an absolutely joy. I am in the middle of a house move at the moment and very stressed, but watching your videos soothes me. As soon as I get settled in my new home I’m buying Night Crawling and MofOSB.
Have you ever thought about doing a video on your cooking books? The glimpses we see in vlog sections always look very interesting :) This video was a delightful thing to watch over the evening!
I don't use a huge amount of them, to be honest. My favourites are definitely the Roasting Tin cookbooks by Rukmini Iyer and Dumplings and Noodles by Pippa Middlehurst x
I loved the piano music on your first walk! And such an interesting video
Thanks Barbara x
I always love your vlogs so much, Jen! 🧡
Thank you Lindsey; I hope you're having a good summer. x
My niece nugget bday is coming up and I’m all over that book you’ve gotten yours! Thank youuu for sharing 💚
I LOVE Liz Strout! I met her in St. Louis and sat across the aisle from her husband. Love love love!
You sold me on Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Case Study, and Poor Things! Can't wait to get a copy of these books
Hi Jen what a full and concise reviewing! Loved the format of interspersing your comments with rural, foody and doggy interludes. Not read any, but noticed nightcrawling at work. Just secured Unsettled Ground from the library which i'll get to after Bill Browder''s second book, Freezing Order, which Tom Stoppard says is compulsory reading. As was his first book.
Happy reading! x
Lovely hearing your thoughts on the long list. I’ve read 8 so far and plan to read them all, top picks have been The Trees and Trust. Trust was one that I really wasn’t looking forward to but it really surprised me with how good it was! Just reading The Colony right now and enjoying the start, very atmospheric.
I'll be reading Trust and The Trees in the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to that, especially as so many people seem to have a lot of love for Trust x
I stopped this video part way through and ordered 3 of them! (I’m attending an event on After Sappho tomorrow so will get my copy then!). The idea of cancer as a narrator sounds fascinating! I remember you being one of the official 2015 Man Booker Book tube reviewers - that’s how I discovered you. I shall be reading 4 of them with you!
Ha! Happy reading, and thanks for being here all this time! x
Very excited to watch this tomorrow i was looking for your book 'The beggining of the world in the middle of the night' in waterstones and unfortunately the one i went to didnt have it in stock so i will be ordering it tomorrow from amazon instead! I'm so excited to read it xx
I hope you enjoy the stories. x
@@jenvcampbell thank you so much! X
Loved this vlog, I really want to read Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies - it sounds so heart wrenching and brilliantly written
I ordered your two faves during your review-can’t wait to read them! I’ve discovered a few writers through you and they have become favorites-Max Porter, Sarah Moss, Daisy Johnson. Our tastes are not 100% aligned (whose are?), but I’ve learned to discern which of your recommendations over the years of following you will probably resonate with me-thank you!🙏✨
Having already been interesting by Case Study, I think I’ve been won over and I will definitely be reading it. I’m intrigued by The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida and After Sappho. I’ve already read and loved Maps of our Spectacular Bodies (after reading ‘itch of ink’ there was no way I was going to not read it). I loved hearing your thoughts - you picked up on more of the intertextual elements than I did, and they were interesting to think about! I somehow have yet to get around to Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, and I think I’ll have to remedy that soon.
Of the long list, I’ve only read The Colony. I liked it a lot. I am a sucker for the separate frame that islands present in life and in fiction. Although I read the print copy, the deadpan of the Irish dialogue truly came through. It had me laughing out loud. Although the English fellow was an @$$ from beginning to end, I was reeled into his drive to draw and paint. I read and write so much that I feel the need to practice drawing to broaden my perspective, but my drive is behind reading and writing! So, I’m jealous and admiring of the drawing/painting in this novel. I loved the four generations of Irish family members on the island. The French dude was completely disconnected from his self. The Troubles. I agree with you that they lacked transitions but of course were as abrupt as the events they described. Overall, even with the creative topics in the story, the book reads like an intellectual exercise for the author. It reeled me in and it repelled me, yet somehow I loved it despite its imperfections!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Julie :) x
Great to hear your thoughts on these books as most of them are ones I had my eye on. Only read Small Things Like These so far and had a 'stare-at-the-wall' moment, as Dakota Warren calls it, after I'd finished, so rated it highly. For me I think it helped that I didn't know about the laundries.
That does seem to really change people’s reading experiences, and I am glad it means that more people know about them x
I absolutely love this Jen - thank you, have been rewatching some of your old reading vlogs so this was great timing! Thank you for sharing! Also do you have any tips for DNFing? X
It depends why you’re reading it in the first place but, on the whole: trust your gut. Life’s too short x
Nightcrawling is so stunning. I am reviewing the audiobook for work and Joniece Abbot-Pratt did such a stellar job performing it. I was already looking for Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies when you came back and mentioned Virginia Woolf. Sold me x2 😄
I predict you will love it! x
i was instantly sold on maps of our spectacular bodies when you said it's what virginia woolf would be writing today. they should've asked you to blurb the book!!
I hope you love it, too! x
Oh I hadn't realised Maps of our Spectacular Bodies was about cancer - the blurb was so confusing. It's been great hearing your thoughts on these! I definitely agree about Treacle Walker, and I'm currently listening to The Colony, great narrator. I need to pick up Case Study, you've convinced me. Not sure I can brave Nightcrawling though...
Enjoyed you as always.Bless you and take care..
Case study has just come in on my library reservations! So excited to read it now!
I hope you enjoy it ☺️ x
Lol @ wordle music 😆 hahahahaha it’s on right now and I am really tickled by it!
Deep into my own Booker quest - ten books down now, three to go! - and dying to hear some other reactions, I found your channel. It's fantastic - so warm and friendly and welcoming! Thank you! I've just finished Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies which is, as you say, quite magnificent. It's so rich, so bursting with ideas and heart - I know some of it probably passed me by, but that felt absolutely my fault not its, it's just such a *big*, such a *personal* piece of work that it shouldn't squeeze itself down so one stranger can understand all of it. Gorgeous and profound. I've also loved Trust, Case Study, and Small Things Like These. I can respect (in an increasingly qualified way) Booth, Glory, and The Colony - I found Glory's style very annoying for the longest while, and its half-hearted treatment of the animal concept confusing, but by the end in its passion I thought maybe that all, somehow, had been the point. And I found things to admire in The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, while struggling with it as a whole, found myself bemused and irritated by Treacle Walker, and genuinely disliked the repetition and cold satire of The Trees. On to Night Walking next - I'm especially excited to read it after your enthusiastic review (and since our views so far have very largely been in sync!) Anyway, sorry to splurge. I really just wanted a chance to set down my own reactions so far! All the best to you, and cheers again for such a smashing video.
Thanks Robert, lovely to hear your thoughts, too ☺️
Such a great run through of the longlist!! I think I'm looking forward to nightcrawling and seven moons of maali almeida - they sound interesting
I hope you enjoy them. x
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies seems like really good. I really, really love intertextuality.
❤️
I’ve read The Colony and Small Things Like These and they both felt just… ok.
I read Small Things Like These (right before Christmas) last year and I loved it. It has definitely not faded from my memory ;) and I was happy to see on the longlist. I bought Nightcrawling and Glory, and after watching this I will read Nightcrawling next. I’m hearing nothing but amazing things about it from everyone. I have a weird thing about the C word (lots of anxiety there), but your review of Maps makes me think I would love the book, I need to think about it… :). I got Trust and The Trees on audio, but didn’t get around to either of them yet. I actually really liked The Colony, and hoping to enjoy Glory. Thanks for your thoughts, Jen, I enjoyed the video very much!
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the books you decide to pick up. x
So reading the crow poems, then maps of our spectacular bodies and them grief is the thing with feathers will give one the ultimate reading experience? 🤔
I'm intrigued 😏
So glad to hear your opinion on Case Study - I flew threw the first half and haven't picked it up since then. It's been a few months and I think I might just give it away now.
It's such a shame when that happens, but plenty of other fabulous books out there. x
Must order maps of our spectacular bodies and Night Crawling. Those dumplings look amazing Jen ,looks like you need a lot of space to spread them all out. Hope they tasted as good as they looked 😊
They are my go-to dumplings. Very delicious. x
Audio is always my first wordle word too!
Ha, snap. x
I have Nightcrawling and hope to get to it this month. I thought the premise of Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies sounded a bit gimmicky, but you made it sound fantastic. I'm also very intrigued by The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. It sounds like something I could really get on with.
I hope you enjoy all three if you decide to pick them up. x
The two that interest me most are the two you really loved. I'd already picked up Nightcrawling before it was longlisted and I have Booth too, though I know that one didn't interest you. I'm very excited to get to Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, which I'd seen floating about on Bookstagram but hadn't paid much attention to, and then ran out and bought as soon as you said it reminded you of Grief is the Thing With Feathers! x
really enjoyed this vlog 🙂
Thanks Milena x
I have a dream of understanding and writing poetry. Looking forward to viewing this videos! Perhaps #inspirations! Cheers.
Thanks for making this video.
The only longlisted book I've read so far is Glory. Before reading it, I read House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tschuma so that I would know at least something about the modern history of Zimbabwe going into it, and I am glad I did. I found Glory to be informative and thought it was written in an interesting way, but you are right that the animals are more human than animal-like, which is a drawback.
The other book I really want to read is Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, and now, I am even more enthusiastic about it after watching your video.
I hope you love Maps, too! x
Love to hear your thoughts on these - I've put a reserve on Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies at the library (but I might get a copy of my own before that....)
I hope you love it, too x
I believe Leila Motley turned 20 right about the time Nightcrawling was published. She started writing it when 17.
Wow, that's incredible!
I thought that was the case but couldn't remember in the moment, ha. Thanks :) x
@@jenvcampbell I thought it was a really good novel, but that added information makes it stunning.
I thought she is 19 now, when I googled her it said she was born in 2003
@@braincabbage even more impressive then!
I’ve just started Glory, and find it to be good so far. I like how playful it is so far, but can see that not being for everyone. I have Trees as well, and would like to get to others from the list like the Claire Keegan novella. You’ve really sold me on Night Crawling too!
Thanks for sharing your plans :) x
I am also trying to read the Longlist and have had similar feelings to you on most of the books I’ve read so far!
I looooooved Maps! It’s stunning, isn’t it? There’s so much in it and despite it being such a bleak topic, I didn’t find it that bleak at all.
I have the audiobook of The Colony from my library but haven’t got into it yet. I’ve heard it’s great, but just not getting that atm. Dunno if that’d be different if I was reading it physically?
I’m so excited (would that be the right word? 😅) to get to Night Crawling. I used to support women who’d been in similar situations so really intrigued read it.
I don’t think you’ve missed much by skipping Oh William! or Booth, though.
Fab hearing your thoughts as usual.
I think the layout in the book itself (the Colony) it interesting, but I still preferred the audio version. Glad to hear you think I haven't missed much with the Strout and Fowler. I am going to read Everett and Diaz soon. xx
I really need to read Night Crawling,it sounds so good.
When you compared it to a scream it made me think of Maryland the short film broadcast on BBC recently,it deals with abuse of power within the police and sexual assault.I highly recommend it if it's something you think you can handle watching.
Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on them all!! I absolutely loveeed Nightcrawling, it broke me in so many different places. DNFed Case Study, just not my kind of book and the format of the ebook version of Maps.. was too difficult to read :(
Oh that’s such a shame! x
I agree with you on Treacle Walker. All this while I thought is it weird that I did not like it? But then I read a very interesting review by Maureen K. Speller and agreed wholeheartedly with her critique. I am still making my way through Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies; I am reading and listening to it as an audiobook as well. Hope to read The Trees, Case Study soon. And I loved Small Things Like These and Oh!William. Loved watching your way through the list.
Thanks, Rahul. x
I have read 6 of the longlist so far and currently well into Nightcrawling which is the 7th. My favourites so far are The Colony and Booth. I hadn't expected to like Booth so much but found it a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable reading experience. Trust is the one I liked the least. Maps of our Spectacular Bodies is currently in the post!
Interesting! Since filming this, Trust is the one that seems to get the most love, which has intrigued me. I hope you like Maps. x
@@jenvcampbell This is partly why I love reading prize lists, to see how different readers see and love different things in books.
Maybe do with door turn to a free libraries?
I really want your thoughts on Trust! It’s been one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.
I actually have bought it, as my friend messaged to say it’s her favourite from the list. So I will be reading it ☺️ x
I have read Case Study on which I fully agree with you. I was immersed for 2/3rds and then it lost me. I enjoyed the audio of The Colony a lot. I am listening to Booth which is ok but I am not drawn to getting back to it. I am halfway through Nightcrawlung which could be my pick to win. I have Maps and The Trees on order. Your the 2nd person I have seen dnf Glory so I think I will miss that one along with a couple of others that don’t interest me. Your top two were the two I was most interested in so I am looking fwd to reading them.
Thank you for sharing, Tracey ☺️ Seems like we've had a similar experience! x
This was such a great reading vlog. Really interested in Maps but the subject matter is a bit close to home atm so may leave it a while. After Sappho is my next r
read & looking forward to it.
❤️
Foster by Claire Keegan has been made into an Irish language film called The Quiet Girl and tipped for Oscar nomination.
I’ve read
The Colony by Audrey Magee
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Trees by Percival Everett
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies sounds great, yet I don't think I can handle reading it, sadly. I'm sorry about Glory -- I've been planning on reading it. The only book on this list that I've read is Small Things Like These, which is very quiet, and yet it has stuck with me, which is more than I can say for most books I read. I will skip reading The Colony, but I just requested a Tana French audiobook narrated by Stephen Hogan based on your review. :)
Enjoy! He really was a fab narrator x
Claire Keegan is so underrated, why is she not famous?
I’d advise audio & text combo for The Colony.
I wasn't really interested in any of the books tbh. I have picked up a few while browsing books in bookshops, and read a few pages, but none of them seemed my cup of team. So thanks or doing the difficult part, and reading so many of them. The top two do seem more interesting based on your description of them, so thanks for that. I am curious what will end up winning in the end, but also slightly afraid that one of the longer ones will, just because it's long. That seems to be a trend with book prizes.
I do love an excellent short book; it's a shame that the ones on this year's longlist didn't fall into that category for me. x
I read Small Things Like These and though I did know the background from reviews was less aware of the overall history as a Canadian and I am curious if the Colony will also work better for me as I know about the Troubles but not in great detail.
Love hearing your thoughts as always
it does seem, on the whole, that those who didn't know a lot about the Magdalene laundries enjoyed Small Things more, so perhaps that would be true for The Colony. x
Is Maali an nod to A Christmas Carol?
Loved this video! I'm halfway through Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies and really loving it too. I find your comment that people with close experience of cancer should avoid Maps interesting - my sister died by suicide recently and I find suicide and death are all I want to read about since it's all I'm thinking about anyway. Not a criticism, it's good to warn people when these themes are dealt with intensely! I suppose different people's responses in the wake of tragedy is just interesting to me at the moment.
Also interesting that Trust didn't appeal to you. From what I've heard about it it addresses the kinds of questions of what is fiction, how do we construct narratives about ourselves and others etc which you felt Case Study didn't engage with as well as it might have. It really leapt out to me!
I suppose it’s just my own bias; it’s not a book I could have read a few years ago. You’re right, we all deal with these things differently. Sending big love to you x
Ps I have actually just purchased Trust as well; as a friend messaged to say it’s her favourite from the longlist, so I guess I’ll be reading that one too 🙈 x
Trust is absolutely wonderful
I’ve since bought it as a friend messaged to say it’s her favourite from the longlist, so I’ll be reading it ☺️ x
I’m sorry that I’ll probably never be able to read Maddie Mortimer’s book because it sounds excellent. But even while Jen was reading an excerpt I just wanted it to end, it gave me cold shivers and I’m not usually easily triggered. So that’s probably a forever no for me, sadly. However what I appreciate is knowing what it’s about from the start because I sometimes start reading a book only to find out I have to DNF it later when it turns about to be about… that.
Definitely not a book for everyone. Lots of love x
Is the Graywolf Prize significant? I got a random email about it.
The one run by Graywolf Press? It's great for the person who wins, but it's a prize for a manuscript-in-progress, so it's not a prize that you could follow as a reader; there's no public shortlist etc - the winner gets a publishing deal. x
I appreciate your thoughts on Maps, but it just sounds horrifying and painful to me. I wouldn’t go anywhere near that book.
On a happier note, I’m thrilled to hear how much you loved Nightcrawling. It’s one of the books I have here to read and I’ll get to it soon, I hope. (I’m in a mini-funk at the moment and treating my condition with fun crime books on audio.) The other books I have here are Glory, The Colony, Case Study, and Treacle Walker. I’m waiting for Seven Moons to arrive in the post and I have a 7 week wait for Trust at my library. I picked up Case Study last night, read the preface, was confused by what he was telling us (was it the real author talking or the author of the book within the book?) Too meta for my current mood, but I’ll go back to it. Picked up Treacle Walker, looked at the first page, and went off to listen to a wonderfully fun Ruth Ware book. I do hope to read all of these.
I’ve already read Small Things. I actually read it on Christmas Eve and Christmas last year. I knew nothing of the laundries going in. I quite liked this book, but I didn’t get any sort of Christmas feeling about it. 🤷♀️
I actually listened to The Trees this year and was blown away. I can’t recommend it more highly. I went and bought a physical copy after listening to it. The narrator is very good with the southern male voices, but hysterically bad at the one British accent. I enjoyed listening to it but probably would have enjoyed reading it more. Definitely try to get a hold of this one. It’s brilliant. My #2 book this year so far.
Not going to read the rest.
Great video!
I've found a copy of The Trees available online with the London Review Bookshop, so that's on the way to me now, along with a copy of Trust. I giggled at reading the first page of Treacle Walker and instead reading a Ruth Ware. Understandable. x
There’s a great interview with Leila Motley on The Stacks podcast if you’re interested!
Thanks! x
I just finished After Sappho the other week and as someone who loves to research historical lesbians and sapphists I loved it and found it a joy to read. I was really curious though how someone who does not come to the book from this perspective and isn't as biased as I am would view it, so I was really excited to hear what you had to say about it! Loved the video and I'm now curious to pick up Nightcrawling too
I hope you enjoy Nightcrawling, too x
I thought Treacle Walker was awful. I felt like he wrote it as a child and found it in the attic and thought he might publish it.
Yup! x
😊💕🌞
Hi
karen joy fowler first book: i took it as a vegan activist treatise, which i felt it worked. Can't stand eliz strout, don't know why she's very popular, one of the few genuinely popular authors. Trust sounded so boring, it sounds like an Amor Towles book (middlebrown middleschool, great for what it is). I fear Evidence isn't as good as you make it sound
Treacle Walker was such slog to read and it’s the shortest book.
The premise had me but reading it was so hard . Disappointed
Yup. I don't mind a book that's hard to read at all, but when the pay-off isn't there... not the one. x