definitely my favorite book from the series after my 6th reread. maybe second is book 5 and third is book 14. Favourite scenes in the books are the falling into the garden scene, this rhuidean terangeral scene in this book, and the flicker scene in book 2 there are a deluge of somewhat important characters with hard to remember names and a lot of them are aes sedai haha, every reread ive remembered a few more

I know it's not based upon the biblical Babel, but that comparison would be apt: Unity disrupted by diversity. Maybe why this one didn't is because of Kuang's prejudice. The end conclusion of the biblical narrative is one of restoring unity while Kuang is like, "White bad."

Thanks for the review, seems like a hard pass for me based on your review. Thanks!

I strongly disagree. It's rare to find a book that so viscerally captures the experience of coercive control, emotional and sexual abuse. Doug is complex, as a well written character should be, abuser or otherwise. I think Annie being a bot is a terrific metaphor for how certain men perceive women as less than human and treat them accordingly.

It took me 3 months to read it 😂

Three is the best book for a while in that series, that's why

Hi! New subscriber to the channel :) I just finished reading this one as well and really enjoyed it! I was so sucked in during the last 200 pages and could not put it down.

I read the book recently. I do agree with you that I find how the book deals with Philip's attraction is interesting. One thing that I noticed is that his mental monologue is much more likely to compliment men's attractiveness rather than women's (Remember how, while he is working as an artist in Paris, the special project he has where he decides to use a model uses a male model? Additionally, he is extremely uncomplimentary to characters such as Miss Wilkinson, Fanny Price, and Mildred Rogers in terms of their physical appearance). Philip's relationship with the boy Rose while they are in boarding school can also be very easily read in a romantic lens as well, especially given how complimentary Philip is towards Rose's appearance and the jealousy which he feels at other boys interacting with Rose. The (rather prominent) undercurrent of self-hatred that he often feels in his relationships with Miss Wilkinson and Mildred could also result from his disgust at how he is conforming to the norms of the heteronormative society in which he lives. I seriously doubt that any sort of queer reading of Philip was in any way intentional by Maugham's part (whether consciously or subconsciously), but it is interesting to see how viewing books through a modern lens can result in interpretations that are very different from how people would have read the book just a century ago.

I'm not entirely sure about the quality of this summary, but at least it was discussed, which unfortunately seems to be quite rare for this particular book. So thanks for that.

The entire royal family have served in the armed forces. The book's plot was based on the actual assassination of Lord Baton Powell by the IRA.

I read the book years ago when I was 16 and not going anywhere in life. It was the opposite for me than it was for you. After the first 50 pages or so of boring set up, once the action started, I couldn't put it down. It sparked a love for reading in me that really did turn my situation around. I went from C student to an A student. I ended up going to a good college and have had a successful life. I give the much of the credit for this to reading this book.

Ignatius is an over-educated, unambitious, lazy white-savior who is enabled by his long abused mother. He views everything through biased and bigoted opinions that he inflicts on everyone around him in a society that doesn't care until they are forced to deal with Ignatius. Hate watching movies in the theater Ignatius is like the loons screaming about wokeness in Marvel films and everywhere else. Today, he'd be a blogger or ranting loon on Tumblr, Twitter, or Reddit. Or KZbin. Ignatius is utterly hilarious and given the culture online, seemingly timeless.

Interesting concept I'll have to pick it up

Girl. It's 3 for 3. This is the third month I've come looking for a BOTM review, and you pop up. We are on the same wavelength. Lolz this book was SO GOOD. I love the different perspectives.

You feeeel meeee

I'm halfway through the third book now but I started last year so I'm going much slower. I've heard some of the later books are slow so I'm a little nervous about that. But I've been enjoying listening to the audiobook before bed and during my drive to work.

This is my book pic! I can't wait to get into. I'm finishing up my June one which was the The Lion Women of Tehran and it's ok. Kinda slow. Then the one I read before that was the Real American and omg that was a slow read so I'm excited to get into a good page turner! :)

Ahh, I can definitely say that I've tried to not but more and more books, but the URGE. I can't help it! Also very nice book hall, and for such a low price, there was no way you could say no!

I've always wanted to read the lonesome dove :P I had no idea there was a sequel 😮. Also would you ever switch over to digital books?

Zodiac is a fun intro to Stephenson's work.

If you want some more time with Lilly 'A Talent for Murder' is actually one out of two or three books. Your book review is awesome btw!! ☺️

Either we're all together or we're all alone

This was one of my all time favourite novels. Read it once a month for a whole year when I was 16. Read it again recently, and while I prefer it to 1984, I recognise that there are better books.

If you haven’t read “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin you should. Orwell was a better essayist than fiction writer.

Animal Farm got me an A in AP English!!

It can feel at times like once you get Murakami there's not much else to get, the substance not being particularly deep beyond surreal emotion. Another great review!

I read Erasure in college and felt the premise exceeded the execution. The film accomplishes the aim with more emotional cohesion and a smoother pace. Great review!

That's the problem with this author. All his books are the same. It can be comforting if you like the book, but if you don't it can be grating and predictable, making it boring. Have you read the other Murakami? Ryu Murakami. His books are crazy, in a more perverse way than Haruki.

All the characters in WH being loathsome is part of what makes that novel so fascinating. It takes place in a completely malign universe. There’s nothing quite like it. It predicted surrealism

I think your review is spot on. This may sound strange; I'm glad Haruki Murakami exists, but I don't think he's for me. I absolutely adore Norwegian Wood. It's one of my favorite fiction novels of all time. But I hated 1Q84. I think if it had been 4 million less pages, I wouldn't have disliked it so much. But after getting done with it I immediately had the thought, "That wasn't worth it." I haven't read "His Years of Pilgrimage," but "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" was definitely closer to 1Q84 for me than it was another NW. In fact, other than NW, I don't think I've like anything I've read by him except for "Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche" which is a non-fiction work where he interviewed survivors of the 1995 terrorist chemical attack. I still think of those stories often, and it has permanently unsettled me.

The first three books were originally supposed to be one book, but it became too long. I think that's why they were all published so close in time. He didn't finish one, then start the next. He had already written part of the story. But the whole series was supposed to be a trilogy. And Brandon Sanderson was supposed to write the last book, the twelfth, but there were so many ends left to gather that he had to split the last book into three. I hope you enjoy the fourth book. It's one of my favourites.

My opinion on it, spoilers for anyone that hasn’t read yet: I had to dnf after Martha got killed cuz she was the only character a gave a single care about and for that to be followed by four chapters of “teehee im a psycho killer and I killed so many people”

If you think Book 3 is short on plot, I've got to warn you that it's action-packed compared to some of the later ones. The good thing is that you have a few very good ones coming. But it really starts dragging at about Book 7-8. "Egwene" = "Eugene" is hilarious. BTW, all the female characters are based on Robert Jordan's wife. Well, at least the younger ones who are love interests. It _really_ gets tiresome after a while. And there are more to come!

thanks for the review, I just ordered this book for my mom

He needs to fulfill several prophecies in order to truly become the Dragon Reborn to all people's of the world if not they'll say he's false, I know it sounds counter intuitive but that's the way it is until all prophecies are fulfilled. Trust me you don't want to skip any books because everyone has a part to play.

My takeaway is that the book had a lot of "wish fulfillment," reflecting the 1980s obsession with princes and princesses. At times, it was almost unbearably cringeworthy, but overall, I liked it. One particularly well-executed scene in the novel was Miller's escape from custody during transport to prison. It was well written and so ominous. Despite its strengths, the book is definitely a product of its time. Currently working my way through the Jack Ryan novels

I agree completely, book two was a significant improvement. I suspect especially the beginning of the series shows that it was published in an era when the audience still expected the usual Lord of the Rings plot beats. And for the most part the first book is really just that (down to the secret kingship); the second book is at least more original. I also remember that the ending was very confusing... or maybe not confusing, more like under-described. You are probably right in what you said in your first review, this is probably true for other moments, too. Now it's more than two years since I've read the second book and somehow never continued. Actually, I picked up the third book just last week. I started to read summaries online to refresh my memory, but frankly, that too was kind of confusing. I think I'll have to re-read the second one. I won't go through the first one again, though! It's refreshing to have a channel that focuses on good reviews, rather than name-dropping floods of books.

They all go to the glow sword , that’s a pretty good recap lol Keep the videos coming

Great review! This one is on my TBR!

I have been a fan of John Irving AND The World According to Garp ever since I first saw the movie in 1982 at the age of sixteen. I connected very much with Garp in many ways. And, from this point forward, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I've read the book twice, and plan to read it many more times. And I own several editions, including a 1st Edition, 1st Printing of it. I loved your review!

your impression of Joan Didion made me laugh so hard. She was self-important in a way that isn't accepted, in fact, it'd be pathologized and therapized, in our time.

I think this book is becoming increasingly relatable as technology advances and integrates into social life. If you want to feel like the main character, watch a 4K video of the metro station in Shnezhen China. One can feel incredibly alone, insignificant, but in a sweet, melancholic sort of way. IT brings to mind a passage by the NYC poet Edward Hircsh: I am disappearing so far into the dark I have vanished from sight. I am a tiny seashell that has secretly drifted ashore and carries the sound of the ocean surging through its body. I am so small now no one can see me. How can I be filled with such a vast love?

And the famous 1965 film is a huge gloss that reduced the entire thing to a soap opera - with two lousy performances at the center of it (Omar Shariff and Julie Christie). fwiw Pasternak may be the single greatest translator of English poetry in to Russian. Shakespeare, the Romantics etc.

Had this book in my personal library for at least a decade. By your description of ... well, the 'description', or lack thereof, I have decided to cast it out. Characters come first in my eyes. Without a clear idea of them, then what's the point? Thank you kindly, and have a lovely Sunday.

Great review!I have read the shadow of the wind and the Angels game and now I have to read The prisoner of heaven after seeing your review.Have you read the fourth book in the series called the labyrinths of the spirits?

Girl in on page 283 (ch 38) and I'm over it. I've been sluggish in reading it. It was getting my attention in a few Parts like the evil husband and her being rich or when she meets Bohai. Her getting a divorce from Amos and going to Denver to try to find what's his face but I'm not interested in finishing it. I want to put it away and pick up a different book but I can't leave a book unfinished 😒. I'm frustrated. Ps this book was so bad that I didn't find many reviews on it on KZbin.3

Listened to the audio book of this and it was just so inspirational. Left me in tears! Another good memoir I recommend is "When Breath Becomes Air". That's good too.

A Great Book (and Film). My Dearest Friend & I often used "Ya Ya" when normal language couldn't express what we felt in our lives. Now I am old woman and hopefully my new (and only) Granddaughter will call me: Granny Ya Ya OR just "Ya Ya". Fingers crossed 🤞!

Love John Irving, especially A Prayer for Owen Meany, though in his later books he does get a bit preachy.