Answering your questions! 💭 (Bookish Q&A)

[@iloveenglanguage]

13:43 I think I can say the same about English language. I truly love my native language, but I feel drawn to reading in English much more than when I read in my native language; like you said it feels more natural. The same goes for movies and songs. I'm glad to have come across a person who feels similar about this concept :)

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Exactly! I hear people say this all the time. Indeed, same for songs and movies...

[@DeadNetCord]

Q&A hurray!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Weren't you the one who asked for a Q&A?! :D

[@DeadNetCord]

@@ProseAndPetticoats I did. The answer I liked the most today was the quoted definition of a classic. Incredible.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@DeadNetCord It's a great answer, right? I recorded this video because you asked me to! ;)

[@MaleniaArtHoarder]

Hi Emmelie! Congratulation again on reaching 6000 subscribers! Glad to see not only your satisfying answers to the different questions, but also the questions themselves which were varied and intriguing. Take care and see you next week!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

All the questions were so interesting and thought provoking! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@ToReadersItMayConcern]

What you said about language in books is fascinating. As a native English speaker, I'm curious what it is about English that resonates so distinctively to you. Of course, I imagine that's a tough question to answer. In philosophy, I often hear complaints about German-to-English works in translation, how so much of the meaning is lost, and so in my mind I've assumed English is second-rate somehow in terms of nuance. You're actually the first person who's pointed out to me that there might be something special about English for the beauty of literature. That's so interesting!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Aww Ruben, you are so lucky to have English as a native language. It is beautiful. I even prefer some French authors in English over their original, just because it sounds so much more poetic...

[@13tuyuti]

Part of it is the fact that people outside of the Anglosphere grow up steeped in English language music, movies and TV shows. English is also the first foreign language most of us learn so those of us who get the itch of reading foreign literature in the original often go to English literature first. About the nuance thing: English does not lack nuance. It has a very large vocabulary which makes it great for nuance. It's just that every language has its own particular way of conveying nuance and maybe the German way translates poorly to English. Or perhaps it's the translators who lack nuance...

[@mandiflame]

This is my first video from you, and I'm so excited to follow your journey! I also love Laini Taylor's work, and I'm having a really fun time following her patreon as well. She shares playful writing exercises and snippets from her creative life and also weekly zoom calls! It's so fun. Side note: I DIE for your wallpaper!!!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Oh I didn't know! That's lovely 🤭 I'm glad you found me & I'm looking forward to seeing you around 🥰

[@asteri9847]

I can understand what you said about preferences regarding reading in English instead of your native language. As a german, I now too only read books in English. As I enjoy Classic Literature, I guess it has to do that in my opinion it is for many classics I read the original language, or(As while I can read Russian somewhat I can't speak it, and while I am learning French, as I visit Paris with my Creative Writing course next January, I can't read such works yet😅) the fact that it seems a bit more poetic, perhaps even exotic. As we are normally always surrounded by our native language, reading in a Different language gives us kind of an escape, an outlet with a different, to us perhaps more beautiful language. I feel like I can express myself/write more beautifully in english than I can in german. Much love from Germany❤

[@gidgetgrlreading9603]

Yes, I Love Crimson Peak, and yes we had to buy the book and movie as soon as we could. It is like a love story to Gothic fiction.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

I love it!

[@tarareads23]

I absolutely love Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Queen’s Gambit. I still have yet to see Crimson Peak but happy to know it’s a book now. I’m going to have to read it. I haven’t seen Legends of the Fall in years. But I remember it being a really good movie. Thanks so much answering my questions. 😊 And all the other questions. Loved hearing your answers.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Ooh then we have the same taste in movies as well 😍 Good to hear from you again!

[@DarrenRosenow]

Hi Emmelie... Thank you so much for the hard work doing 2-3 hours worth of video editing for a KZbin posting. Much appreciated. Mr. Toulouse is so majestic!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Aww that's really kind of you, thanks. And yes, he really is!

[@martindiaries]

I was waiting for this one and had the greatest smile when I saw you've posted it 😂 Thank you for answering our questions and I must say you have won me over even more with the LoTR - favourite classic youtuber 🍀📓💯

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Aww what a kind comment. Thank you so much!

[@MartinDSmith]

If I was on a desert island the only book I would wish to read would be How to build a ship with limited resources.😂Great questions and answers and a very beautiful quote about Classics!❤

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Wow, that is smart! I would never have thought of that haha. ;)

[@richardfairley9882]

If you haven't already read it, may I strongly suggest an addition (!) to your reading list? Samuel Richardson's massive novel and masterpiece, 'Clarissa'. Many regard it as the first modern novel in the English language and I rather think you might love it... I'm reading it now and am totally addicted! ❤

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@richardfairley9882 YES! I really want to read it, and perhaps tackle it next year 🥰 Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

[@Yesica1993]

More kitty, please! He's so beautiful. How do you keep his fur off all your books? Also, did you design your room to match the cat? Or did you get the cat to match the room? LOL! He's so perfect!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Haha. Most of my books don't attract hair, and they're always on my shelf anyway! I did not match the decor, just a coincidence lol. I guess I like blue, orange, and white 😂

[@davidmccalip5759]

Hello Emmelie! I hope you are doing well. Great video! I always enjoy Q&A type videos with booktubers b/c it gives us a chance to get to know them better outside of that particular week's video content. Just gives it a bit of a personal touch. Congrats again on reaching 6K which is a testament to your hard work and dedication. I look forward to your next video. Have a great week! 😀

[@paivishaw1163]

Thank you for answering our questions. Your channel is so inspiring and informative. ❤I hope many more subscribers find your channel too😊

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@paivishaw1163 Thank you so much! I'm glad to have you here 🥰

[@binglamb2176]

Congratulations on 6 thousand subscribers and best wishes for many more. You had such fascinating and interesting answers to the questions which really gave insight into your literary and booktube career. And yes, Legends of the Fall is massively underrated!😄

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

I'm glad you loved the conversation! Oh I'm so happy you are a fan of Legends of the Fall. What. A. Movie.

[@Maeve_Ever_Books]

Loved hearing all your answers!! Love your channel and all your content! 💕

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Thank you so much! 🥰

[@MariaVivian-z5n]

Thank you for this Q&A Emmelie! Like you I am also a great lover of JRR Tolkien. He wrote at such great depth partly because of his background as a philologist. Also his books were enriched by his deep faith. If I may plug an Australian author in the fantasy/sci-fi area I would recommend the works of Isobelle Carmody, especially her Obernewtyn Chronicles. This is a series of eight books set in a post-apocalyptic world. They are very engaging reads and an example of great world building. Once again, thank you for your channel and as always- happy reading!😊

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

I have written down your recommendation - never heard of this author. Thank you so much for watching & commenting. Happy reading!

[@cesar_rojasbravo]

The last samurai! Wow I love this one too! It inspired me to leave to somewhere far away, and explore the world 😅! Oh definitely, to me, books originally written in Spanish are much much better in Spanish! Without a doubt. I think always original language is better: Italian, Portuguese, etc Great video, thanks for answering so many questions. I know you a bit better now 😜

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

You are lucky to have great authors in your native language. I can imagine they're much better in their original.

[@filipcamerman3473]

Glad to hear some love for Spartacus!

[@mjagzzz]

Congrats on 6K, so well deserved for all your hard work and time you put into your community! 🥳

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Thank you. I'm so glad to have you here, my friend 🤎

[@GladysHunnam]

Yes! The big bang theory is 💯. I don't usually gravitate toward sitcoms, but yeah... BAZINGA! 🤣

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Haha same here. 😂

[@nicolycoutinho9338]

Hi 👋🏻 Congrats on the 6000 subscribers!! I loved this video. It’s so great to get to know you more. I recently read a book from the 1800s called The Epitaph of a Small Winner (which I loved) and it referenced Candide by Voltaire a couple of times. And I was only able to understand it because I read it, thanks to your suggestion. Your channel is making me (and all 6000 of us) better readers. ❤

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

I always think people will find such videos boring, so I'm glad you have enjoyed watching it! Thank you so much for your lovely compliment. Yay for Voltaire ;)

[@SheanaJo]

I just received your book today and added to my TBR 😊

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Oh my, how exciting! Thank you so much for your support!

[@FourEyedFrenchman]

13:47 I've heard this a surprising amount of times. The first time was a Russian saying Dostoevsky sounds better in English than in his native Russian. That made me balk as a native English speaker, and I was surprised to find out it happens quite a bit. Maybe it has something to do with how English relies on word order to convey meaning, as opposed to languages that rely much more on inflection, like German and Russian. English has also largely forgotten things like gendered nouns and cases that change the form of nouns. Compared to other European languages, English grammar is very stripped down and conjugation is borderline non-existent, and the reliance on word order means prose can be more concise without losing any precision. Compare the Spanish and English editions of almost any classic text, and 9/10 times, the English edition has the lower page and word count. Still, English has its strange little quirks, like pronunciations and spellings, but these things don't have much impact on a writer's ability to write prose, and they can even present opportunities for wordplay.

[@Nicole-s1x]

Not into King Solomon's Mines either. But 'The Brethren' by H. Rider Haggard... Probably in my top 5!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Hm. Maybe I should give him another chance. Will be writing it down.

[@Montie-Adkins]

I would pick Rivendell also. I wonder, what the restroom situation is like.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

See you there! ;)

[@iloveenglanguage]

@@Montie-Adkins Same thought!

[@ArthurKain]

I speak how I write and write how I speak. And I do see words spoken to me as reading a book. I literally get confused when someone starts saying something to me and doesn't finish the sentence, or starts speaking to me in fragments. A person who speaks to me in correct grammar and spelling I understand fully. Seriously.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

It's special that you see spoken words as if they're written!

[@Yesica1993]

Remind me what is your native language? Wow, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that they prefer to read in a language other than their native language. Such an idea had never even occurred to me. How fascinating!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

I speak Flemish (Belgium) and my second language is French. I work in Brussels, where they should speak both languages, but in reality it's mainly French... What is your first language?

[@Yesica1993]

I really wanted to love The Pillars of the Earth. I don't remember specifics because it was many years ago and I also had to stop reading, but I do remember one sexual scene that was very vulgar. If that was the only instance of this sort of thing, I could see myself trying again and skipping that portion. But if something like that is repeated, it's not for me. (Which again, makes me sad because I wanted to love this!)

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

It is repeated, so you may want to skip all his books. It's always a sad thing when we dislike a book we really wanted to fall in love with.

[@OrangeSun55]

Strangely enough ım the same about english, its not my native language and ı love writing in it. I wasnt a reader before ı started reading in english (after becoming fluent) now ım majoring in eng lit. İts strangely my comfort language, maybe cause ı dont speak it with others, ı have never argued or felt bad in english, thats just my theory tho😄😅😄

[@severianthefool7233]

LOTR are my favorite movies too :)

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

They're brilliant!

[@oaks.at.sunrise]

Hi Emmelie, I want to read more but get tired very quickly when reading. Do you have any tips? Thank you!

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Do you mean tired as in falling asleep? I'd say don't get too comfortable (like reading in bed) and sit up. Change locations, have something to eat or drink while reading, pick another book when you lose focus... These are just the first things that I can think of. I hope it helps. :) Perhaps you could also do your reading in the morning / during the day (for example during lunch break). Happy reading!

[@oaks.at.sunrise]

@ Thank you for your quick reply. Will try.

[@jdraze9321]

I've seen you read more classical/period fiction, but would you ever review more alternate universe/modern era inspired fiction ?

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Yes! I would love that. 🤎

[@jdraze9321]

@@ProseAndPetticoats alright then, how do we send you recommendations ?

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@jdraze9321 You may always leave me a comment with your recommendations. Perhaps I can find some of them in my local library! 😊 That's your question, right?

[@ellawilkenharp]

I find it so odd that people like reading in English best as it has such a conglomeration of linguistic influence. As a native English speaker who doesn't know any other language, I wouldn't have much of an idea :) But I've always wanted to read Irish and have heard that its very different and more poetic than English.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

You're so lucky to have English as your native language! Will you learn to speak Irish?

[@natalied3279]

What is your native, first language?

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@natalied3279 Flemish (Belgium)

[@Yesica1993]

I appreciate that you really do seem to love reading! Your channel is not full sponsorships pushing products on us with every video. I know many people now have YT as their full time job, so I know they have to do that. Bills have to be paid. I understand that. But, as a viewer, I am burned out. I also am never quite sure if people like that are making videos truly because they want to or because they have to. I've seen so many people (not just Booktube but YT in general) share about illnesses, personal issues, etc., but they're still smiling and making videos even when they don't seem to really want to. That's hard for me to watch. I feel like I'm somehow... using people or taking advantage of them when they are having a hard time. I'm not explaining this well. I just mean that if someone is doing this as a hobby and not as a job, then I know they're here because they geninely want to be.

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@Yesica1993 I know what you mean. Trust me, if you are on KZbin because you want to make money, you don't pick the BookTube niche... 😂 I've been noticing how angry people get about "influencers" earning money online, and everyone is so tired of them trying to sell stuff. This leads to frustration, but also extreme sensitivity. I only have a Patreon Book Club and I'm an author (no sponsorships, no ads), and when I talk about those two, people get furious and I always lose subscribers because of it. I sometimes feel like I can't talk about things I'm passionate about if I earn money from it. And now I wonder if I explain this well! 😜 It's lovely to get something small in return for all those hours of work, you know! 🤎 But I agree, those sponsorships and 5 ads breaking up a video are horrible!

[@Yesica1993]

@@ProseAndPetticoats I understand!

[@iloveenglanguage]

@@ProseAndPetticoats You lose subscribers just because of mentioning earning money from it? I had no idea people are so exhausted and fed up with the influencer-type of content. It's obvious to me that you need to invest A LOT to make a single video (all the equipment and time needed to make it happen), so making money off of it sounds the most reasonable. I hope you will continue making videos, I love them!!! 🙂 Like you said in the video, I feel like a friend is talking to me 😊 What I love most about your content is that your choice of books is genuine, you talk about the works that you read and love (or not) and why. There's no "popular hype" - just a genuine choice. Oh and you mention the language and the style of writing, and what specific quotes made you think. I appreciate that a lot! 📚🙂

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

@@iloveenglanguage To give an example: my unboxing video of my new novel apparently angered a lot of my subscribers. But why leave because of one video you dislike if you enjoy the overall content? 🤔 I don't force anyone to buy my novel or even watch the video. When I announced my Patreon Book Club, I got accused of being on BookTube for the money. 😂 I think they don't realise how much money the big KZbinrs make just by inserting ad-breaks into their videos. Anyway, I'm still very small and I love seeing this community grow. It's nice to talk to the camera, knowing someone is actually watching and enjoying my content! Thank you for your kindness and support. The "talking to a friend" and intimate feeling is exactly what I wanted to achieve.

[@Yesica1993]

@@ProseAndPetticoats You are THE least pushy person as far as your book or anything else! Sheesh. You can't please everyone. Just keep doing what you're doing. Those who want to watch you, will. Those who don't, won't. That's really all anyone can do. No sense making yourself crazy over it!

[@AlbertAlbertB.]

Ik vind het zeer triest om te horen, dat je zo avers bent van het Hollands. Het spijt me om na de q&a nog een vraag te stellen, maar welke Nederlandse schrijvers, dichters, heb je desondanks graag gelezen?

[@ProseAndPetticoats]

Ik vind het ook spijtig! Ik ben trouwens van België, dus daar heb je nog minder auteurs die van invloed zijn geweest. Een klein landje dat van iedereen is geweest! ;) Heb jij aanraders? Ik kan namelijk geen werken opnoemen die ik graag heb gelezen.