Best Books of 2023!

[@nikkivenable73]

Dear sweet baby Jesus, you need to narrate aidiobooks. Your voice is just too much but in the best way. 😅

[@grantlovesbooks]

Thanks a lot Nikki! Did you see my very happy review of 'The Custom of the Country?' I haven't read Ethan Frome yet, but I am really looking forward to it. Hope you are well! (I would like to try the audiobooks, but I heard Jeremy Irons reading Brideshead Revisited, and that intimidated me a little.)

[@nikkivenable73]

@@grantlovesbooks I did see it and now it’s the one book I absolutely must get because when you said it does what Gatsby does but even more so, well, I was sold. I’ve read Summer by Wharton as well, and enjoyed it. But Ethan Fromme blew me away 5 years ago when I first read it and I’ve never been the same since. It is bleak upon bleak upon bleak BUT it rewards the reader greatly. Yes, sure, Jeremy Irons is great BUT your voice, imo, is just as good! I’m not kidding! Librivox allows for volunteers….I think…They have a ton of audiobooks here on YT and sometimes I’ll listen if I’m trying to get into a huge classic, like Moby Dick which I just finished. Many of the voices are good to great but others aren’t at all. Yours, though? Yes please, and may I have another. 😅 Also, yes, please do a video on your time at University. I’m very curious although I know perhaps what you’d say because for those of us who went in the late 90’s(I’m really dating myself here), I was there before the Wokeness and all the safe space bs…,the coddling. Colleges have always been very liberal but I didn’t see any of that myself. These days it’s infected everything where it used to just be relegated to higher education, imo. But, I’d love to hear more from your experience!

[@grantlovesbooks]

@@nikkivenable73 Hello Nikki, Congratulations on Moby Dick, that one really defeats a lot of people. I was extra lucky that a friend of mine leant me 'The Heart of the Sea' which is about the true story of Moby Dick that became the novel. It made all the boring bits much more interesting. I will look in to the audiobooks, it could be a lot of fun, and I could start with some short novels to test the water. I will make a university video. But I will really try to collect my thoughts so that it is not too rambling and disjointed. If I'm going to upset people, at least I can be erudite. I'm glad you are well!

[@debpalm8667]

Thanks for your content. Don't get in trouble with the faculty until you have 50,000 subs.😂

[@grantlovesbooks]

Oh my! That should only take another 20 years! But don't worry. Many, MANY, times I've gone on long rants about my school, teachers and other students. Thankfully I have always had the wherewithal to realize it would be better if I cut those bits out.

[@MichaelCRush]

Simenon rocks!

[@grantlovesbooks]

Absolutely!

[@TheSalMaris]

Yes, I would like to hear what you say about English Literary Departments. I imagine, judging from how you review books thus far, that our opinions are most likely very close. And yes, I think they teach that same old warn out stuff there because it is safe and they appear superior in knowledge, when in fact deep down they feel they've failed to produce literature of equal or better quality themselves. It's just a simple human trait--if you're too lazy to be the best then you become a critic instead. Thank you for this. You have an interesting list and I'm going to find some of them to read. Happy New Year.

[@grantlovesbooks]

Thanks a lot for this. I will take some time and really organize my thoughts so I can make a concise comprehensive video. Because I don't think studying Eng. Lit, has to be a joke degree for aimless kids who don't know what else to study. I have really made an effort over the last 30 years to read as much as I can. To find good lists of "The Best Literature..." and try to read broadly, different countries, some modern and some classic. And I don't feel the professors are even remotely interested in doing the same. They seem to have specialized in one small area, and because their job demands constant repetition, they can't escape from their tiny area of expertise. I hope you will find some interesting books to read from my videos. The best of 2023 is a really great place to start, all those books are amazing.

[@heidi6281]

Grant just ordered Levy’s Periodic Table from my library. You sold it!! Do you think you will finish the List? I loved those videos, I liked how you put the author’s bio first too. They are very unique videos too, no one else has done it, and if they have, not as good as you!!!

[@grantlovesbooks]

Thanks a lot Heidi! I am working on one right now, #43, which is really a big one. I got stuck for a long time on the previous entries on the list. Even though I think it is cheating a bit, I'm going to skip those for now. I hate to make a video where I say, "Yeah, I read this such a long time ago, I can't really remember..." It feels like I've cheated anyone who really wanted to hear some thoughts about that book. Thanks for the encouragement. A few people have asked me to keep going with the list. I've been busy with school, but I will make it a priority to get working on it. Hope you are well!

[@heidi6281]

@@grantlovesbooksThank you Grant for taking the time and being a new dad too! We will be here watching whenever you can find the time. I got spoiled and was able to binge them all at once.😀

[@grantlovesbooks]

@@heidi6281 My pleasure Heidi! I'm still having fun with making videos. It is a time constraint, but I still manage to find the time! All at once! Yipes! I hope you went from the oldest to newest so the quality of the videos got better. I'm too embarrassed to watch the first 10 videos I made. I'd like to go back and remake them one day. Thanks for all the support!

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

Perhaps you can don a false beard with glasses of some sort if you choose to make that video so that you are not recognized. I would hate to see you have to take flak for spilling the down low on studying English lit in the U. I liked _The Truce_ by Primo Levi very much, but I figured I’d never read him again; you make me reconsider. I’ll try to get to _Makioka Sisters_ this year; it’s been waiting in the wings for some time, I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

[@grantlovesbooks]

Hello David, thanks for writing. I will consider very carefully what I say, I want to be diplomatic and try to be unbiased and really present the good and the bad. However, these days my feelings are mostly bad. I haven't heard of The Truce, I will look it up. Please let me know how you get on with the Makioka Sisters. I loved it, but I can understand if people say they can't get into it.

[@radiantchristina]

Great books 😍

[@grantlovesbooks]

Yes they were!

[@annekennedy7753]

I'm so glad I found you.

[@grantlovesbooks]

It's my pleasure Anne, I'm happy you like the videos.

[@nikkivenable73]

I bought Primo Levi because of you!!!!

[@grantlovesbooks]

Please let me know what you think when you get round to reading it! I am happy if I can recommend something you enjoy!

[@maryoneil8221]

The Periodic Table is an amazing book but only one chapter on Auschwitz. Need to read his trilogy as well -- Survival in Auschwitz; The Drowned and the Saved; The Reawakening.

[@grantlovesbooks]

@@maryoneil8221 Yes, I have them on my list to look for the next time I go shopping for books!

[@debpalm8667]

Primo Levi was in my crossword today. I had no context. Thanks.

[@grantlovesbooks]

Really? What a happy coincidence!

[@timhrklittimothyherrickvid169]

The Accomplices is my Favorite Simenon. I forgot how funny the Periodic Table was, Levi had his day, it was a book everyone was reading it seemed. Your comparison of Shylock & Barabas was quite astute, reminded me of Bloom who somewhere writes about about Shakespeare transcended his own anti-Semitism, like his talent overwhelmed it despite his ow feelings. Cheers! Happy New Year!

[@grantlovesbooks]

Hello Timothy, Happy New Year to you as well, always nice to hear from you! I think someone has mentioned The Accomplices to me when I made my Blue Room video. I had a lot of recommendations coming in for Simenon. I can't believe I am so old and still discovering new authors. Levi was another one I only just read for the first time two years ago. I was really glad I took that Marlowe vs Shakespeare class. The plays, individually, I am not too crazy about. But the comparison was what really made the class great. We also looked at Dr. Faustus against The Tempest. I wanted to talk about that in the video, but it was already so long. On day I will learn to make shorter videos. I hope you are well and have a wonderful 2024!

[@timhrklittimothyherrickvid169]

Simenon is consistently amazing, although I like the novels better than the Magriat series. I never thought of Faust & the Tempest together but the comparison sounds fascinating. The Tempest has so many levels, such a bizarre play & we are all Calaban are we not, but I bet there's many layers t o Faust not apparent on my initial read & comparing him to Prospero sounds like a fine way to reveal those layers. @@grantlovesbooks

[@kolya727]

Happy New Year! If you're in your first year keep at it. Literature degrees get better as you gradually get more choice over your modules and then greater freedom over your essays' arguments

[@grantlovesbooks]

Happy New Year to you as well! I'm nearly done, in fact. I think that's my trouble, I kept imagining that the classes would get really amazing as I got into third and fourth year classes. But they seem to get rather stupid. I think my school has more than one Children's Lit. class, there are at least two Graphic Novels classes, and I think we have an English/Film class called Zombies in Film/Lit. I suppose that is fun stuff when you're 22-24, and I have to keep telling myself that as a mature student I don't really have a right to complain about classes that are catered to immature young people. But, it just rubs me the wrong way. I don't think the teachers are making the effort to really broaden the horizons of what these students are exposed to.

[@kolya727]

@@grantlovesbooks Ah I retract the above then. I had a very different experience in which I didn't have to contend with anything like that (although there was a children's lit module at some point, which I avoided). That said, I saw your video in which you talked about people hypothesising about lesbian undertones, and agree the subject has become insanely politicised throughout the Western world. I once debated another student who was reading some feminist point into a novel because it reminded her of an (irrelevant) event in her life, and explained the essay The Affective Fallacy to her, which the professor seemed to enjoy! In any case, I wish you luck with the remaining exams/essays!

[@grantlovesbooks]

@@kolya727 Thanks a lot Kolya. Hopefully I have learned well enough to keep my mouth shut and keep my opinions to myself (and my KZbin audience, which helps). Currently I am having a dilemma wondering if I really have any right to complain. Being twice as old as the other students, and with a fair bit of literary knowledge... I start to feel like I've walked into a children's movie and am complaining about the lack of dramatic tension, mise-en-scene, and deep underlying psychological development. University, especially the English department, is geared towards its customer base; 20 year old, Canadian children. Maybe I don't have a real basis to complain that they are not teaching Saul Bellow and Faulkner. Thanks for the encouragement though. Much appreciated!