"You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favor of the 'best' people, the 'right' food, the 'important' books."---Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.
Hi Anne! This is a fun tag. I have to say A man called Ove is a wonderful book and worth the read. I don’t think of it as hyped, it is, but it’s also a kind of quiet book that really can touch your heart. No pressure though 😊 I get what you said about obligation, I get reluctant to read the books I choose for my own book club sometimes! 😅 Just because of the obligation itself. I’ve been thinking of mixing it up with prompts too, I might try that next year!!
Massive books are always hard to pick up for some reason, even though I know I usually enjoy them. I don't own War and Peace yet, but I do have Shogun by James Clavell and it's over 1,000 pages!
Hi @Coffe, Awwwwwww! Shogun is a lousy slog! Leave it on the shelf! It's historical fiction on the order of John Jake's or Michael and Jeff Shaara. If you're into that kind of thing, then be further advised that an accompanying recorded book is helpful (Ralph Lister is excellent). Clavell introduces a huge cast of characters all with difficult Japanese names that are hard to keep track of. Save yourself while you still can and read War and Peace instead! Good luck!
Yes, I do usually end up loving a long book. There are times when I feel like a book can be TOO long (like, let's be real, Victor Hugo didn't need to include all his tangents and rants in Les Mis, and we'd love several hundred pages there without missing anything), but the actual stories are almost always well worth it.
@@insearchofwonderLes Mis is way too long. Hugo makes it up to you though. Hard to get into all that politics of long ago and far away. Dante's Inferno has the same problem.
I just finished Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini and other reviews said the second half of the book would be much more captivating than the first half, but I found the opposite to be true. I loved the early life years info about John Wilkes Booth. I totally agree about avoiding clubs that assign too many specific books if they do not at all appeal to me. I like prompts that result in a variety of reader choices.
I think you would enjoy Hanging Mary by Susan Higginbotham, which I just finished. I just saw that Sarah Miller also has a book about Mary Surratt that I am interested in reading. I will give Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker a try, for sure!
This was fun to watch --- thank you for tagging me! I will do this tag soon. I'm like you as far as getting over the feelings of obligation. Years ago I hosted a monthly book club but we all read what we wanted and then got together to talk about it. That was so fun!
I finished War and Peace this year. It was very hard to get into so it took me six months (on Libby in Audio). But, at the halfway mark I was sucked in and saw exactly what all the hype was about. The war scenes seemed to be more about the ppl fighting rather than the fighting. I will be reading it again with my eyes. I did appreciate listening because of the non English words.
Thankfully, I speak Russian (to an extent) so the foreign language part doesn't bother me. I think honestly it's the topic of war combined with the number of characters (from what I've heard) that keeps me intimidated. But I'm glad you ended up enjoying it. I'm sure I will as well, once I get into it.
@ I cannot remember any Russian, but there was a smattering of French. It really was more in line with the relationships, aristocracy, and the customs of the day. Little of the plight of common folk. There are many characters, but Tolstoy seemed to organize the novel in a way that was easier to follow. I’ve not followed your channel long enough to grasp your preferences, but I was able to follow without any foreknowledge. Blessings for when you pick it up!
I think you must have an abridged version of War and Peace. The two editions I have are both over 1300 pages... And no, it isn't all about war. In fact, even the war parts are more about the internal struggles of the characters.
Oh you know what I didn't even think about that. I'll have to look at my edition and see what's up. I definitely will read it eventually, but the "war" part is what is holding me back the more I think about it. I really don't like war stories lol.
@insearchofwonder I do like war stories, but I still think this doesn't put so much of the focus on the actual war parts and is more philosophical than anything.
I don't like those kinds of book clubs either. I like the Classics Reading Lounge discord that i'm in, but I do buddy reads more than the monthly reads. I was in a book club at the library too, which was fun, but I didn't like the books being chosen.
Love these tag questions! Totally relatable. I loved A Man Called Ove! When it comes to hype, I can sometimes be all in, especially if it’s a book in a series I’m caught up on. But I also sometimes give hyped books the side eye 🤨 lol
In January I started an American history project. I'm starting to lose my motivation. I've been reading about the colonial period, which was more terrible than I'd realized. It put me into a reading slump for a good while. I have so many books about various wars on my project list that will be intense. I'm worried about reading them.
@MargaretPinard Yeah. It's not that bad. I've just been thinking about how I was raised to read to educate myself, not to enjoy myself, so I need to start learning to enjoy reading.
I love to read for both reasons - I grew up mostly reading for enjoyment, but I also love to read to learn. But if it's all just for learning, it gets to feeling like a burden really fast.
Hi Anne, O Boy! Where to start!?! Gilead…I loved this but I admit that was kind of owing to my personal experience in the ministry a long time ago and in a galaxy far far away (God bless George Lucas!) As a work of literature it is a little niche and some people didn't care for the whole Jack thing in the last quarter or so of the book, they found it jarring, but as a old black man myself, I loved it. Mrs. Lincoln's Dress Maker…I was trying to make up my mind on this one too. I was fascinated by the idea, Elizabeth Keckly had been a slave and the whole thing sounded right up my alley. But after an entire antebellum summer I feel a little done with it, so, thanks you made up my mind for me. War and Peace…Awwwwwww!!! There is a reason so many of us call this our GOAT! It is fairly well delineated into ‘war’ chapters and ‘peace’ chapters. The latter read a lot like Anna K. The former are an excellent mix of For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Longest Day. C.S.Lewis once quipped that he liked a war story in direct proportion to the number of combatants involved, the fewer the better. Bilbo Baggins and his buds whipping some Trolls under a bridge…good…The Middle Earth Allies on the plain of Armageddon against an army of Orcs…whatever! War and Peace also has the advantage of being a true history, at least as far as the ‘war’ goes, and even though the ‘peace’ actors were not historical figures they certainly were pretty good stand ins for the real Czarist nobility. Cover to cover it's a good education as well as a good read. Plus, on a personal tip, if you are raising boys, this is a story that dudes can engage with easier than Anna K. and of course carries major street cred with high school English teachers the world over. As with other Russian literature, an attendant audiobook with a professional narrator will help with pronunciations. Also @courtnyreads might be right about your physical copy, 696 pages sounds pretty short to me too although I do not have my copy in front of me at the moment, make sure it's all there including the rather lengthy epilog where L.T. explores the whole ‘free will’ and ‘great man’ in history thing. The Road…I'm with you on this one. I didn't care too much for Blood Meridian, but a few of your other subscribers swear Road is totally different. Goes to show just how important it is to make good reading choices. I cringe when I think of all the people who missed out on To Have and Have Not, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls because some well meaning high school English teacher handed them a poorly curated list of ‘classics’ to choose from and they picked that damn fish story because it was the shortest! Awwwwww! Milton and Dante…yeah they suck…”There are two motives for reading a book: one that you enjoy it: the other, that you can boast about it.”- Bertrand Russell. The Inferno and Paradise Lost definitely fall squarely in the latter category! “Out of obligation”...LOL! When I get to the pearly gates I plan on presenting as my credentials for admittance not the blood of Jesus, not my decade and a half of ministry, not my life time of devotion and good works, not all the girls I could have kissed (Santa Baby, 2015AD, long live The Boss) but instead the first dozen or so installments of the Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Awwwwww! In his 1987 (God am I that old!) stand up comedy routine live in New York, Raw, Eddie Murphy famously asked the question ‘why would anyone want to shoot the Pope?’ He concludes that Mehmet Ali Agca must have just figured that he wanted to go to Hell, but didn't want to wait in line with everybody else, he wanted to take the Hell Express! That's how reading Left Behind has got to be for Heaven…’damn son, you must have REALLY loved the Lord! You just go right in now, I see your cloud assignment is number 9, well done my good and faithful reader!’ In fairness to Tim & Jerry, I did live to see that reading buddy of mine who got me into that literary Slough of Despond baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost a few years later…PTL! So sometimes these “obligated reads” pan out! “A book that hasn't come out yet” I don't have a crystal ball so I can't tell you the name of Donna Tartt's fourth novel, but as soon as it hits the press I'll let ya know! She's been publishing at the same rate as J.R.R.T's tree Ents so I'm waiting with bated breath…should be any day now just like that darn nove T Coronae Borealis, every 80 years or so. No problem if you happen to be a tree Ent! ENJOY!
Thanks for your thoughts! I will say, while I've never read Dante so I can't speak to him, I have recently read Milton and really loved it. But he's on the Protestant side of the coin so I may not feel the same about Dante. However, I think Dante's work is foundational so it's one I DO want to read....... eventually. 😂
Not saying not to read Dante, he's not Clavell! I preached my first sermon off the Inferno, it was naturally a flop, but one never forgets their first. Just be ready for a slog when you do it.
Pamela is on my shelf also and after being told some things about it I’m reluctant! 😂
Run away, Deea!!
Same, Deea, Same! Ugh I just don't know if it will be worth it.
Interesting tag. Sometimes it’s so hard when you feel like you need to or should read something, but you just don’t feel like it!
Absolutely. Being pressured to read something sucks out all the joy of it.
I am ALLERGIC to hype. 😆
Ha! I'm going to steal that because it's so true for me.
"You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favor of the 'best' people, the 'right' food, the 'important' books."---Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.
Hi Anne! This is a fun tag. I have to say A man called Ove is a wonderful book and worth the read. I don’t think of it as hyped, it is, but it’s also a kind of quiet book that really can touch your heart. No pressure though 😊 I get what you said about obligation, I get reluctant to read the books I choose for my own book club sometimes! 😅 Just because of the obligation itself. I’ve been thinking of mixing it up with prompts too, I might try that next year!!
Yes, I do think I will enjoy it once I read it. But hyped books always make me skeptical so hopefully I can get past that.
I would think again about Mrs. Lincolns Dressmaker. I loved it and found it so interesting❤
Good to know! I will definitely give it a try.
Massive books are always hard to pick up for some reason, even though I know I usually enjoy them. I don't own War and Peace yet, but I do have Shogun by James Clavell and it's over 1,000 pages!
Hi @Coffe, Awwwwwww!
Shogun is a lousy slog! Leave it on the shelf!
It's historical fiction on the order of John Jake's or Michael and Jeff Shaara. If you're into that kind of thing, then be further advised that an accompanying recorded book is helpful (Ralph Lister is excellent). Clavell introduces a huge cast of characters all with difficult Japanese names that are hard to keep track of. Save yourself while you still can and read War and Peace instead! Good luck!
Yes, I do usually end up loving a long book. There are times when I feel like a book can be TOO long (like, let's be real, Victor Hugo didn't need to include all his tangents and rants in Les Mis, and we'd love several hundred pages there without missing anything), but the actual stories are almost always well worth it.
@@insearchofwonderLes Mis is way too long. Hugo makes it up to you though. Hard to get into all that politics of long ago and far away. Dante's Inferno has the same problem.
The Road is really good
Good to know! I have it in my bag to start today!
I just finished Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini and other reviews said the second half of the book would be much more captivating than the first half, but I found the opposite to be true. I loved the early life years info about John Wilkes Booth.
I totally agree about avoiding clubs that assign too many specific books if they do not at all appeal to me. I like prompts that result in a variety of reader choices.
I think you would enjoy Hanging Mary by Susan Higginbotham, which I just finished. I just saw that Sarah Miller also has a book about Mary Surratt that I am interested in reading. I will give Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker a try, for sure!
This was fun to watch --- thank you for tagging me! I will do this tag soon. I'm like you as far as getting over the feelings of obligation. Years ago I hosted a monthly book club but we all read what we wanted and then got together to talk about it. That was so fun!
That would be fun! My sisters and I do that very loosely in an online group.
I finished War and Peace this year. It was very hard to get into so it took me six months (on Libby in Audio). But, at the halfway mark I was sucked in and saw exactly what all the hype was about. The war scenes seemed to be more about the ppl fighting rather than the fighting. I will be reading it again with my eyes. I did appreciate listening because of the non English words.
Thankfully, I speak Russian (to an extent) so the foreign language part doesn't bother me. I think honestly it's the topic of war combined with the number of characters (from what I've heard) that keeps me intimidated. But I'm glad you ended up enjoying it. I'm sure I will as well, once I get into it.
@ I cannot remember any Russian, but there was a smattering of French. It really was more in line with the relationships, aristocracy, and the customs of the day. Little of the plight of common folk. There are many characters, but Tolstoy seemed to organize the novel in a way that was easier to follow.
I’ve not followed your channel long enough to grasp your preferences, but I was able to follow without any foreknowledge. Blessings for when you pick it up!
@insearchofwonder WOW! Whose your favorite Russian author? Have you read them in the original? I'm told Pushkin can only be appreciated in Russian.
Thanks for tagging me! I feel the same about War and Peace!
I hope you get a chance to do it, and I'm glad I'm not the only one. 😂
A man called ove is one of my favvvv
I think you must have an abridged version of War and Peace. The two editions I have are both over 1300 pages... And no, it isn't all about war. In fact, even the war parts are more about the internal struggles of the characters.
Oh you know what I didn't even think about that. I'll have to look at my edition and see what's up. I definitely will read it eventually, but the "war" part is what is holding me back the more I think about it. I really don't like war stories lol.
@insearchofwonder I do like war stories, but I still think this doesn't put so much of the focus on the actual war parts and is more philosophical than anything.
I don't like those kinds of book clubs either. I like the Classics Reading Lounge discord that i'm in, but I do buddy reads more than the monthly reads. I was in a book club at the library too, which was fun, but I didn't like the books being chosen.
Yeah, it's no fun reading a book that you don't really want to just because you feel like you have to.
Love these tag questions! Totally relatable. I loved A Man Called Ove! When it comes to hype, I can sometimes be all in, especially if it’s a book in a series I’m caught up on. But I also sometimes give hyped books the side eye 🤨 lol
LOL the side eye. Yes that's mostly what I do. 😂
LOVE Mimi Matthews!!! 💙🔥💚
Meeee, tooo!
In January I started an American history project. I'm starting to lose my motivation. I've been reading about the colonial period, which was more terrible than I'd realized. It put me into a reading slump for a good while. I have so many books about various wars on my project list that will be intense. I'm worried about reading them.
Hi TimeTravelReads, maybe you need a palate cleanser. Have you tried that new James by Percival Everett? A great read! Enjoy!
@dougirvin2413 Thanks. It's on my list. Maybe I should prioritize it.
Gee, can't imagine why!!! 😂 Hope you get that motivation back soon! There are hopeful stories, not about war... ;D
@MargaretPinard Yeah. It's not that bad. I've just been thinking about how I was raised to read to educate myself, not to enjoy myself, so I need to start learning to enjoy reading.
I love to read for both reasons - I grew up mostly reading for enjoyment, but I also love to read to learn. But if it's all just for learning, it gets to feeling like a burden really fast.
I’ve read War and Peace and it isn’t focused on the war. I wouldn’t let the title sway you from reading it.
That is very good to know and makes me feel better about digging into it.
Hi Anne, O Boy! Where to start!?!
Gilead…I loved this but I admit that was kind of owing to my personal experience in the ministry a long time ago and in a galaxy far far away (God bless George Lucas!) As a work of literature it is a little niche and some people didn't care for the whole Jack thing in the last quarter or so of the book, they found it jarring, but as a old black man myself, I loved it.
Mrs. Lincoln's Dress Maker…I was trying to make up my mind on this one too. I was fascinated by the idea, Elizabeth Keckly had been a slave and the whole thing sounded right up my alley. But after an entire antebellum summer I feel a little done with it, so, thanks you made up my mind for me.
War and Peace…Awwwwwww!!!
There is a reason so many of us call this our GOAT! It is fairly well delineated into ‘war’ chapters and ‘peace’ chapters. The latter read a lot like Anna K. The former are an excellent mix of For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Longest Day. C.S.Lewis once quipped that he liked a war story in direct proportion to the number of combatants involved, the fewer the better. Bilbo Baggins and his buds whipping some Trolls under a bridge…good…The Middle Earth Allies on the plain of Armageddon against an army of Orcs…whatever! War and Peace also has the advantage of being a true history, at least as far as the ‘war’ goes, and even though the ‘peace’ actors were not historical figures they certainly were pretty good stand ins for the real Czarist nobility. Cover to cover it's a good education as well as a good read. Plus, on a personal tip, if you are raising boys, this is a story that dudes can engage with easier than Anna K. and of course carries major street cred with high school English teachers the world over. As with other Russian literature, an attendant audiobook with a professional narrator will help with pronunciations. Also @courtnyreads might be right about your physical copy, 696 pages sounds pretty short to me too although I do not have my copy in front of me at the moment, make sure it's all there including the rather lengthy epilog where L.T. explores the whole ‘free will’ and ‘great man’ in history thing.
The Road…I'm with you on this one. I didn't care too much for Blood Meridian, but a few of your other subscribers swear Road is totally different. Goes to show just how important it is to make good reading choices. I cringe when I think of all the people who missed out on To Have and Have Not, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls because some well meaning high school English teacher handed them a poorly curated list of ‘classics’ to choose from and they picked that damn fish story because it was the shortest! Awwwwww!
Milton and Dante…yeah they suck…”There are two motives for reading a book: one that you enjoy it: the other, that you can boast about it.”- Bertrand Russell. The Inferno and Paradise Lost definitely fall squarely in the latter category!
“Out of obligation”...LOL! When I get to the pearly gates I plan on presenting as my credentials for admittance not the blood of Jesus, not my decade and a half of ministry, not my life time of devotion and good works, not all the girls I could have kissed (Santa Baby, 2015AD, long live The Boss) but instead the first dozen or so installments of the Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Awwwwww!
In his 1987 (God am I that old!) stand up comedy routine live in New York, Raw, Eddie Murphy famously asked the question ‘why would anyone want to shoot the Pope?’ He concludes that Mehmet Ali Agca must have just figured that he wanted to go to Hell, but didn't want to wait in line with everybody else, he wanted to take the Hell Express! That's how reading Left Behind has got to be for Heaven…’damn son, you must have REALLY loved the Lord! You just go right in now, I see your cloud assignment is number 9, well done my good and faithful reader!’ In fairness to Tim & Jerry, I did live to see that reading buddy of mine who got me into that literary Slough of Despond baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost a few years later…PTL! So sometimes these “obligated reads” pan out!
“A book that hasn't come out yet” I don't have a crystal ball so I can't tell you the name of Donna Tartt's fourth novel, but as soon as it hits the press I'll let ya know! She's been publishing at the same rate as J.R.R.T's tree Ents so I'm waiting with bated breath…should be any day now just like that darn nove T Coronae Borealis, every 80 years or so. No problem if you happen to be a tree Ent! ENJOY!
Thanks for your thoughts! I will say, while I've never read Dante so I can't speak to him, I have recently read Milton and really loved it. But he's on the Protestant side of the coin so I may not feel the same about Dante. However, I think Dante's work is foundational so it's one I DO want to read....... eventually. 😂
Not saying not to read Dante, he's not Clavell! I preached my first sermon off the Inferno, it was naturally a flop, but one never forgets their first. Just be ready for a slog when you do it.