Of the Shortlist I’ve only read James and Orbital, but loved them both and look forward to reading the rest 📚💚

It's spring here in Australia, but I'll add these to my tbr for autumn next year. Love your work.

Stoneyard devotional is my favourite on the shortlist

Awe thanks for the shoutout! <3

I’ve added Whether Violent or Natural to my wish list - sounds brilliant. 🍂🍄‍🟫🍁

I’ve enjoyed the couple David Grann books I’ve read! They somehow feel really fast-paced even though they feature slowly developing stories.

Reading Stacey Halls The Household and listening to Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers, really enjoying both

Booker Shortlist? Of course! Wandering Stars is a good book, but it has one problem: it's not There There. To the question of whether you have to read There There to enjoy Wandering Stars, I may have a somewhat opposite position to what people usually say. I think you may enjoy Wandering Stars more without having read There There, so if it's only about reading Booker books, I don't think you have to. If it's just about reading good books, absolutely prioritize There There and consider Wandering Stars optional bonus material.

Hi! Ive not read any Stephen King so thanks for the recommendation of where to start. What would you recommend for a first novel? ☺️ x

📖 🪱 💚

Heckit!!! What a legend. And glad to hear you loved Soldier Sailor and The Bee Sting. Two of my favourite reads from last year!

I love the ending of The Bee Sting, and have lots of thoughts about it, but I have no Instagram ;)

For me the best French book I have read its “the elegance of the hedgehog”

Thanks for sharing, some interesting books in there, most I’d not heard of. Happy reading!

Thank you so much for the kind words! It's funny because I think I did this tag when I first joined BookTube years ago and said that I wanted to be more eloquent. Maybe we do better than we think we do! 🥂

This was fun! I wish I had space / willingness to do more tags 😂 I do like The Storygraph stats, but actually mainly just at the end of the year! Stresses me out too much the rest of the year 😂

Oh my god a bookish calendar girls has to happen!!! 😂😂😂

Yes, that controversial ending of The Bee Sting. It felt right, and I loved it. It’s almost impossible to go into more detail without spoilers. If you haven’t watched it, @EricKarlAnderson did a fantastic video about his theories on the ending.

I am really enjoying your videos and book reviews. I found the comment interesting about the video just to get views. I retire shortly, read roughly about 100 fiction books a year and have thought about starting a KZbin channel, but have not got a clue how to go about it. I also follow Ben and think he is brilliant

I hated this video. Ok, I didn’t. Actually I loved it. Wanted to write your first hate comment, but failed.

I’m also reading The Bee Sting at the moment and, while I had no problem picking up the book in the beginning, because there is a sense of things spinning out of control and I have no idea what is happening next, I find that the more I get attached to the characters, the more nervous I get to find out what happens too them…so sometimes I put it off. I’m absolutely loving it though! I just finished both Prophet Song and Pachinko and this book far outshines both of those for me as far as my favorite book I’ve read of late.

I love There, There and read it just before Wandering Stars came out. Our book club is reading There, There and we meet next week. I’ll be listening to the book this time. Great way to get the authentic voices. Monstrillo sounds like it would be a one of a kind story - very creepy.

I'm sold! I need to read the lost city of zed 😂

The Lost City of Z is great! I’ve been meaning to read The Wager ever since (name drop clang) Alan Carr recommended it to me. You’ve reminded me I need to get to it. I’m soooo excited for Monstrilio. Same with Supplication. I bought There, There recently cos Wandering Stars is on the Booker longlist. Ps. Don’t beat yourself up about buying books… your money, your choice and you’re supporting authors and the industry.

Supplication sounds great. I'm not a huge horror reader but used to love it. Decided to pick up Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle and loving it so far.

I’m listening to There, There now and it’s very good.

I enjoyed your reviews. Giovannis room is on my wish list. I have read soldier sailor, I will be interested to see what you think of it

I've really enjoyed Valerie Perrin books. Ive read Fresh Water for Flowers and just finished Forgotten on a Sunday.

Great recs. I’ve read At Night All Blood is Black and Heatwave and loved them both. One of my fav books is French, The Mad Woman’s Ball. Merci Lydia. A bientot! 🥖🇫🇷👨‍🍳🍮🍾

I read There There before Wandering Stars & would’ve said definitely read There There first, but based on what you read from the NYT, they gave big plot points away so maybe you’ll be okay just reading Wandering Stars. But if you can do There There first I don’t think you’ll regret it.

I just wish Orbital had been as great as your reaction to its longlisting. Yes, it's about astronauts rotating and rotating, looking out of their windows, and then rotating some more... Was also hoping for Martyr! but otherwise an interesting list.

Hiii, this was so exciting to watch even though I knew the list

Agree it looks like a more accessible list (for want of a better word). Lots on here I’d be interested in reading.

Ooh I really want to read Girls now, sounds just my unhinged summer vibe. Body Friend I’ve had my eye on, with my love for those Aussie books. Could be a purchase for Aussie August. Speaking of which I’m so thrilled you had Charlotte Wood on your list. She’s one of my absolute favourite authors. You’ll love You Are Here, it’s brilliant. Brilliant. You’ll need a cagoule though ☔️

I’m dying to read You Are Here. I have it on hold at my library but still have a 7 week wait. Now that I know it’s a great summer book I might need to suck it up & buy it. I also added Body Friend & The Weekend to my TBR. Thanks for the great recs!

I loved You Are Here and it's definitely a summer book, especially as there's lots of wet weather in it 😉. I'm currently reading Welcome to Glorious Tuga which is also a great summer read about a beautiful community on a fictional Caribbean island.

I really enjoyed You Are Here and, yes, it certainly has summer reads vibes (as well as any season vibe!). Just a lovely book ❤. Thanks for the recommendations.

Would love to see a weird fiction video 🙀✨

I loved You Are Here. My first David Nicholls book.

I am very excited for the eyes are the best part too and got my hands on a copy recently! I hope all of these will be five stars for you 💫

I am reading You Are Here right now and really enjoying it!

The Eyes Are The Best Part was given to me, put in my literal hands, the other week and I’m very excited for it. I loved Clytemnestra so very excited for Costanza’s new book. Evenings and Weekends is brilliant. You Are Here is brilliant. Loved it.

Thanks for the recommendations I am really interested to read The borrowed hills😊

Hello! I am one of those who arrived here via Ben Reads Good and I’m so glad of his recommendation. I have been absolutely loving your videos. You’re like a breath of fresh air and I can quite literally feel my mood lift as soon as I press play 😊 I am currently reading Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin. It’s so very good and so very heartbreaking. Thank you so much for your channel - it’s a joy.

You convinced me!

I loooove your channel! And thank you for the music rec, now I'm also obsessed 🪄

Great haul! Blackouts sounds amazing.

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story sounds intriguing. Added it to my neverending list!

I like your thought process. Essentially, more books = yes 😂