If you haven't, read The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I just picked it up last year, and it is a very odd and unique ride. Formatting is unconventional, to the extreme on some pages, multiple perspectives (kind of?), and it is more existential horror. I absolutely loved it. I binged it in the course of three days and it's roughly 700 pages, so if that gives you an idea of how enrapturing that experience was for me, there you go! I highly suggest you give it a read.
I love love love the part in pet sematary where the main character is trecking the path to the cemetery and being followed/stalled by that windego type monster. So well done, such suspense, has stuck with me for years.
YES! Some of the descriptions in that part are amazing. I have this memory of one part where he mentions sticking your hand out into the darkness and i’m like AHHHG
American Psycho shocked the heck out of me. I bought it in the 90s when it came out and it was sold in a sealed plastic bag, so I didn't even know what it was about. I was a huge horror fan at that point (still am, just a little different), so I bought it based on the title. The violence and gore shocked me beyond anything I thought I could feel. It was weird the way Ellis devoted huge paragraphs to describing what everyone was wearing but I see now it was a reflection of the self involvement and status seeking of Patrick and his friends. I wouldn't read it again but the book remains in my collection to this day and I'll never get rid of it.
Camus was a nice name to see come up! Hes considered one of the founders of the absurdism philosophical movement. The idea is that life inherently has no meaning, there is no point to the individuals existence any consequence of ones actions really dont ultimately matter in the grand scheme of the universe. Its kind of a wild way to life your live but I imagine it to be pretty liberating. If you enjoyed Camus I'd strongly recommend either watching the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett or reading the transcript of the same. Its eerie and beautiful, absurd, and hilarious in a way thats got a little bit of sadness to it. We studied it in high school and it immediately was one of my favorite things to read ever.
My favorite book will have to be Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Exceptionally compelling stories.
Three suggestions for you: "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind. A short book but it has the feel of classic literature (Victor Hugo or Hawthorne). Every word is masterful. Next is absolutely everything by Jorge Luis Borges. You seem to like thoughtful and insightful writing and for this there is no author better. "Labyrinths" is a good starting point. Finally I'm surprised that you don't seem to have discovered Cormac McCarthy given your taste for the classics and love of deeper work. His writing is full of allusions to classic poetry and literature which gives it a weight that is largely lost in modern writing. If "Blood Meridian", which many would consider his masterpiece, is too daunting a start, you should try "Outer Dark". When I read TDATT, Donald Ray I could feel McCarthy's influence on every page.
Great picks. I think what makes Tender Is the Flesh and The Stranger so unsettling is the clinical manner in which they are written. It shows how divorced the characters are from human conmection. So for me, the dry narrative style enhances the themes.
Hard agree on themes in Pet Sematary, it's definitely one of the best examples of what King was trying to do with a lot of his works and deserves its status. Great video :)
You have some great books on here and more that I want to pick up. Tender is the Flesh is one I really enjoyed. The author herself is a vegetarian who researched the meat industry prior to writing the book, so that is definitely part of the messaging in there. I also appreciated that it was a commentary on misogyny, corrupt government, and humanity. The Devil All the Time was so gritty but realistically disturbing, brilliant. Happy reading.
You're absolutely right. I should have clarified that I didn't personally read it through the lens of being about the meat industry, probably because I'm not a vegetarian. There's so much to dissect in this book!
Great list! I agree with a lot of your opinions. Especially Pet Sematary and American Psycho. Read quite a few of these myself. Plus I picked up a few book suggestions, so thanks! May not be a 5 star book/series but you may enjoy the Octavia Butler Xenogenesis series or Kindered for some good sci-fi that makes you think about things differently, if you haven't read any of those.
My favorite book is The Library at Mount Char. I love it so much I have extra copies to pass out to others who may be interested. Is it Sci Fi? Horror? Fantasy? Or a mix of all? I was repulsed by the horror and I cried at the tenderness of this book. To me, a fabulous book❤❤❤
I don't think I've ever heard of this. I love that you have extra copies for people though. That's when you know a book is your favorite. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep an eye out for it.
i love this so much because i read it back around when it first came out and the second i finished it i flipped back to the began and read it again. To this day its the only book ive ever read twice in the same day 😂😂 But since then i've probably bought around 30 copies so that i could give them to people, and i REGULARLY post on my social media that if anybody goes out and buys it, reads the entire thing, and somehow doesn't absolutely love it i will buy it from them and pay for shipping if they're not local 😂😂 i still get random messages in the middle of the night from people i've given it to saying that it's their new all time favorite. sorry for the rambling mess but this book is so dear to me and i love it so much and i freak out whenever i see anybody else talking about it and im glad im not the only person that gives copies out 😭😭😭
I love so many of these books!! Black Mouth has been on my TBR for months.....maybe I'll dive in. I'm so curious about Haunted. Going to track down a copy. Cheers!
Some of my 5-star books would be Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible, Wally Lamb’s I Know this Much Is True, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, Stephen King’s The Shining, and Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs & Steel
I loved Albert Camus in high school, i was a weird kid lol 😅 but this just reminded me to re read his stuff. Anyway, i am just getting into reading again and your reviews are incredibly helpful.
Excellent list! Dante's Inferno is being added to my tbr as we speak as is The Martian, as my audience asks for more Science Fiction in addition to horror. If Fight Club is even half as amazing as the movie then I will read it. The Devil All The Time sounds right up my alley! The anti-war book I really want to get my hands on is Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. I heard that is an intense, disturbing read. I will definitely re-read Slaughterhouse Five after your review.
I hope you end up reading a few and enjoy them as much as I did! Johnny Got His Gun has been one I've wanted to pick up for a while but I'm a little nervous. One day I'll end up reading it.
I loved The Stranger. I’ve read it many times. A few months ago I had a dream that I was the narrator. I woke up horrified at the emptiness. It’s difficult to relate to the character, but I fear that subconsciously everyone does and just can’t admit it consciously. Definitely 5 stars!
Currently reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. A drama/mystery/sci fi book that is extremely hard to put down. Interesting take on first contact.
You had me at American Psycho. I will never recommend that book to anyone, it's horrifying, but my goodness it is capital L literary. It's incredible. Staple of horror and SO MUCH TO DIG THROUGH. I think some of his monologs are just incredible ❤
My all time favorite book is a Scifi Book called "The High Crusade". It's about an alien invasion that happens during the first crusade written from the perspective of a monk who was ministering the army. It's so cool and pretty funny at some times
For sci fi i would recommend anyone to read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. And if you're looking for something kind of horror and fantasy-ish i would suggest Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Read them both about a year ago and both have easily become top 5 for me. Couldnt put then down. Definitly check them out if you havent!
Just a few thoughts on your list. First, if you enjoyed "Dark Matter", you might also like his three book "Wayward Pines" series. Also, I hope you read "Knockemstiff" before you read "The Devil All the Time".
Shoot I should have see. This video first saw another one and started maeve fly but obsessed and getting my love of books again after years books really do make you happy feels like high school ty
Red, Green, and Blue Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Makes me wish Mars was inhabitable ( no magnetic fields, gets 100% of all sunlight. Gamma rays and all, ouch.)
The one book that was a great read but made me angry at the same time was Swamp Man by Donald Goines. Best love story was Like Water for Chocolat. Lightning by Dean Koontz..
Wow, very interesting video Anda! My favourite writer is J K Rowling, anything by her is automatically a 5 star for me! Everyone has read Harry Potter, so I highly recommend her Cormoran Strike mystery series as well. Stephen King is my 2nd fav writer. Again, everyone has read books like 'It' and 'The Stand', but I highly recommend 'Duma Key'. I need to check out some of these books you mentioned! 🙂👍
SPHERE by MIchael Crichton Endlessly rereadable for me. Book is incredibly good and although I dont mind the movie, the book is soooo much better and I read it at least once every 18months or so.
You should make a video where you talk about how you imagine characters in a book. Sometimes I imagine people as cartoon characters, others as actors, and others as friends of mine 😂 I hope this makes sense
Hey Anda, love the channel! I'm brazilian and would like to give you a recommendation of a book from perhaps the greatest author from my country: The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas. Hope you like it, the story is told by a dead unreliable narrator.
Tender is the Flesh was extremely underwhelming. The themes are too in your face and she writes without even the slightest hint of subtlety. The ending was rushed and not "fleshed" out.
My favorite horror books are The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky, Born Burning by Thomas Sullivan, and The Pen Name by David Jacob Knight. Have you read any of these?
Augustus borrows "dry" and "running with scissors" is brilliant if you want a weird read.
I bought pet cementary, american psicho and tender is the flesh because of your recomendations. Loving A P so far❤
I love your YT chanel. Period. Thank you for existing.
Such a nice comment. Thank you for watching!
"He's either a deranged serial killer, or somebody that's mentally unwell." ...
If you haven't, read The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I just picked it up last year, and it is a very odd and unique ride. Formatting is unconventional, to the extreme on some pages, multiple perspectives (kind of?), and it is more existential horror. I absolutely loved it. I binged it in the course of three days and it's roughly 700 pages, so if that gives you an idea of how enrapturing that experience was for me, there you go! I highly suggest you give it a read.
It’s boring 🥱
I love love love the part in pet sematary where the main character is trecking the path to the cemetery and being followed/stalled by that windego type monster. So well done, such suspense, has stuck with me for years.
YES! Some of the descriptions in that part are amazing. I have this memory of one part where he mentions sticking your hand out into the darkness and i’m like AHHHG
American Psycho shocked the heck out of me. I bought it in the 90s when it came out and it was sold in a sealed plastic bag, so I didn't even know what it was about. I was a huge horror fan at that point (still am, just a little different), so I bought it based on the title. The violence and gore shocked me beyond anything I thought I could feel. It was weird the way Ellis devoted huge paragraphs to describing what everyone was wearing but I see now it was a reflection of the self involvement and status seeking of Patrick and his friends. I wouldn't read it again but the book remains in my collection to this day and I'll never get rid of it.
Camus was a nice name to see come up! Hes considered one of the founders of the absurdism philosophical movement. The idea is that life inherently has no meaning, there is no point to the individuals existence any consequence of ones actions really dont ultimately matter in the grand scheme of the universe. Its kind of a wild way to life your live but I imagine it to be pretty liberating. If you enjoyed Camus I'd strongly recommend either watching the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett or reading the transcript of the same. Its eerie and beautiful, absurd, and hilarious in a way thats got a little bit of sadness to it. We studied it in high school and it immediately was one of my favorite things to read ever.
I'd add Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky.
My favorite book will have to be Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Exceptionally compelling stories.
I enjoyed tender is the flesh. But I wish it was longer. Would’ve loved to learn more about that world.
Three suggestions for you: "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind. A short book but it has the feel of classic literature (Victor Hugo or Hawthorne). Every word is masterful. Next is absolutely everything by Jorge Luis Borges. You seem to like thoughtful and insightful writing and for this there is no author better. "Labyrinths" is a good starting point. Finally I'm surprised that you don't seem to have discovered Cormac McCarthy given your taste for the classics and love of deeper work. His writing is full of allusions to classic poetry and literature which gives it a weight that is largely lost in modern writing. If "Blood Meridian", which many would consider his masterpiece, is too daunting a start, you should try "Outer Dark". When I read TDATT, Donald Ray I could feel McCarthy's influence on every page.
Great picks. I think what makes Tender Is the Flesh and The Stranger so unsettling is the clinical manner in which they are written. It shows how divorced the characters are from human conmection. So for me, the dry narrative style enhances the themes.
Absolutely! This style in which they are written is just as effective as what's being written about.
Hard agree on themes in Pet Sematary, it's definitely one of the best examples of what King was trying to do with a lot of his works and deserves its status. Great video :)
You have some great books on here and more that I want to pick up. Tender is the Flesh is one I really enjoyed. The author herself is a vegetarian who researched the meat industry prior to writing the book, so that is definitely part of the messaging in there. I also appreciated that it was a commentary on misogyny, corrupt government, and humanity. The Devil All the Time was so gritty but realistically disturbing, brilliant. Happy reading.
You're absolutely right. I should have clarified that I didn't personally read it through the lens of being about the meat industry, probably because I'm not a vegetarian. There's so much to dissect in this book!
Dissect was a poor word choice.
Your shirt is dope. I love it.
Great list! I agree with a lot of your opinions. Especially Pet Sematary and American Psycho. Read quite a few of these myself. Plus I picked up a few book suggestions, so thanks! May not be a 5 star book/series but you may enjoy the Octavia Butler Xenogenesis series or Kindered for some good sci-fi that makes you think about things differently, if you haven't read any of those.
Love the Octavia E Butler books!
My favorite book is The Library at Mount Char. I love it so much I have extra copies to pass out to others who may be interested. Is it Sci Fi? Horror? Fantasy? Or a mix of all? I was repulsed by the horror and I cried at the tenderness of this book. To me, a fabulous book❤❤❤
I don't think I've ever heard of this. I love that you have extra copies for people though. That's when you know a book is your favorite. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep an eye out for it.
i love this so much because i read it back around when it first came out and the second i finished it i flipped back to the began and read it again. To this day its the only book ive ever read twice in the same day 😂😂
But since then i've probably bought around 30 copies so that i could give them to people, and i REGULARLY post on my social media that if anybody goes out and buys it, reads the entire thing, and somehow doesn't absolutely love it i will buy it from them and pay for shipping if they're not local 😂😂 i still get random messages in the middle of the night from people i've given it to saying that it's their new all time favorite.
sorry for the rambling mess but this book is so dear to me and i love it so much and i freak out whenever i see anybody else talking about it and im glad im not the only person that gives copies out 😭😭😭
I love so many of these books!! Black Mouth has been on my TBR for months.....maybe I'll dive in. I'm so curious about Haunted. Going to track down a copy. Cheers!
Hopefully you enjoy these as much as I did. Black Mouth might still be my favorite that I've read all year. Happy reading!
Some of my 5-star books would be Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible, Wally Lamb’s I Know this Much Is True, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, Stephen King’s The Shining, and Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs & Steel
I loved Albert Camus in high school, i was a weird kid lol 😅 but this just reminded me to re read his stuff. Anyway, i am just getting into reading again and your reviews are incredibly helpful.
I love the devil all the time. Idk what it is about that book.. I really like a lot of these books. Great list!
Thank you! I keep coming back to The Devil all the TIme even though I know how gross it is 😂
Excellent list! Dante's Inferno is being added to my tbr as we speak as is The Martian, as my audience asks for more Science Fiction in addition to horror. If Fight Club is even half as amazing as the movie then I will read it. The Devil All The Time sounds right up my alley! The anti-war book I really want to get my hands on is Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. I heard that is an intense, disturbing read. I will definitely re-read Slaughterhouse Five after your review.
I hope you end up reading a few and enjoy them as much as I did! Johnny Got His Gun has been one I've wanted to pick up for a while but I'm a little nervous. One day I'll end up reading it.
I loved The Stranger. I’ve read it many times. A few months ago I had a dream that I was the narrator. I woke up horrified at the emptiness. It’s difficult to relate to the character, but I fear that subconsciously everyone does and just can’t admit it consciously. Definitely 5 stars!
Currently reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. A drama/mystery/sci fi book that is extremely hard to put down. Interesting take on first contact.
You had me at American Psycho. I will never recommend that book to anyone, it's horrifying, but my goodness it is capital L literary. It's incredible. Staple of horror and SO MUCH TO DIG THROUGH. I think some of his monologs are just incredible ❤
Fab list! Agree re American Psycho - it's not pleasant but soooo good! Love Fight Club too. Added Black Mouth 😍
My all time favorite book is a Scifi Book called "The High Crusade". It's about an alien invasion that happens during the first crusade written from the perspective of a monk who was ministering the army.
It's so cool and pretty funny at some times
The Devil All The Time is amazing. I loved it so much. It definitely does not get talked about enough. I always recommend it to people.
Great list ! Thank you !!
For sci fi i would recommend anyone to read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. And if you're looking for something kind of horror and fantasy-ish i would suggest Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Read them both about a year ago and both have easily become top 5 for me. Couldnt put then down. Definitly check them out if you havent!
I just recently purchased Hyperion but I haven't read it yet. I'll definitely have to get to it soon. Thanks for the suggestions!
Just a few thoughts on your list. First, if you enjoyed "Dark Matter", you might also like his three book "Wayward Pines" series. Also, I hope you read "Knockemstiff" before you read "The Devil All the Time".
Shoot I should have see. This video first saw another one and started maeve fly but obsessed and getting my love of books again after years books really do make you happy feels like high school ty
The description of tender is the flesh reminds me of the movie Soilent Green
Red, Green, and Blue Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Makes me wish Mars was inhabitable ( no magnetic fields, gets 100% of all sunlight. Gamma rays and all, ouch.)
Yooooooo it's Blanche lol I just finished Pet Sematary a couple nights ago and it was long overdue. Great read
It's such a great book!
i love your Blanche t shirt :)
Thank you!
Ronald Malfi is awesome. I need to read Black Mouth still, but I loved Bone White him.
If you like dantes inferno you should watch over the garden wall. Its an allegory for dantes inferno
I'm reading Pet Semetery right now ^_^ And oh! American Psycho!! So good!
Adding a lot on my To-Read because of you, now... ;-)
american psycho the book is insane in a good way, but I had to skip the parts with animals. my heart couldn't take it 💔
Im a 44 straight male and my nieces and nephews got me that same shirt and i wear it unironically and unapologetically
My favorite books are invisible monsters, the theif of always and the ruins.
Would love to hear who your favorite poets are 14:47
I got a tell ya. I agree with you on all of these.
The one book that was a great read but made me angry at the same time was Swamp Man by Donald Goines. Best love story was Like Water for Chocolat. Lightning by Dean Koontz..
Wow, very interesting video Anda! My favourite writer is J K Rowling, anything by her is automatically a 5 star for me! Everyone has read Harry Potter, so I highly recommend her Cormoran Strike mystery series as well.
Stephen King is my 2nd fav writer. Again, everyone has read books like 'It' and 'The Stand', but I highly recommend 'Duma Key'.
I need to check out some of these books you mentioned! 🙂👍
I've actually never read any J K Rowling book. I'll have to give her a shot one of these days.
SPHERE by MIchael Crichton
Endlessly rereadable for me. Book is incredibly good and although I dont mind the movie, the book is soooo much better and I read it at least once every 18months or so.
I'm glad you said this! I purchased the book a while ago but because I didn't love the movie, I haven't picked it up yet. I'll have to read it soon.
All I can say is that my favourite all time book 📕 that is six stars is WAR AND PEACE my one and only six star book 📚💚💛💚💛
I've actually never read this. I'll have to check my shelves and see if I have a copy.
@@AndaKent I hope you enjoy it if you do have it
You should make a video where you talk about how you imagine characters in a book.
Sometimes I imagine people as cartoon characters, others as actors, and others as friends of mine 😂
I hope this makes sense
Wow. This is so interesting. I don't know that my idea of a character is every fully painted in my head. Most of the time they're pretty vague.
The stranger is 60 cents on kindle. No brainer
I have 10 books I've picked out to read in october and american psycho is one of them 😊
That's a great disturbing read for October!
Hey Anda, love the channel! I'm brazilian and would like to give you a recommendation of a book from perhaps the greatest author from my country: The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas. Hope you like it, the story is told by a dead unreliable narrator.
Bruh… is that Blanche 😂
American psycho is a great book about consumerism
I can't stop staring at the shirt.
Tender is the Flesh was extremely underwhelming. The themes are too in your face and she writes without even the slightest hint of subtlety. The ending was rushed and not "fleshed" out.
You look just like haleyybaylee
Yay I was the 100th like
I’m having a really shitty time right now so I just decided to hop on RUclips and hearing you talk about books you love has helped a little 🤍
I'm sorry things are tough for you right now :/ I hope things get better. Sending positive thoughts your way.
My favorite horror books are The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky, Born Burning by Thomas Sullivan, and The Pen Name by David Jacob Knight. Have you read any of these?
I think the only one I've even heard of is Imaginary Friend. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely have to look into these.
The Silent Companions is fantastic!