Bookish Chat 🐛 Literary awards, late winter TBR and one epic book I PROMISE to finish this year!

[@Kristy.Reads.2024]

My husband was much more of a reader than me in the past. I'm a slow reader & I think I have a touch of ADD so I get very frustrated with reading & rarely finish a book. In the past, I would make an annual goal to read 10-12 books in a year & I never met that goal & in fact, I rarely finished even one. Then, last year I got back into listening to audiobooks. So this year I made a crazy goal of 52 books...I just started book 99 last night! Now I'm the bookworm of the family. LOL My husband & I do read books (audiobooks) together now but we choose books we both are into, mainly sci-fi.

[@AngelasBookcase]

99! Wahoo! Well done Kristy!

[@janeaustenliteracyfoundation]

I also mood read. Thank you for sharing your reading with us!

[@imeldaherrera5669]

Greetings from Los Angeles, California! I’m currently reading War and Peace. I’m 15% in and still have a long way to go, but I’m confident that I’ll finish it by the end of the year…😅😂

[@AngelasBookcase]

You can do it!! ;)

[@robin-tainebrownell1491]

My husband is also not a reader. I also sometimes wish we were more aligned reading wise. But, I will say he is happy to accommodate my reading addiction both by encouraging my buying books and occasionally insisting on new bookshelves.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Wish me luck - I'll be requesting new bookshelves soon ;)

[@robin-tainebrownell1491]

@@AngelasBookcase 😁😅

[@readingbytheriver5752]

I enjoyed the Agatha Christy book both for the subject and author. I like all things Lucy Worsley. My husband and I would do reading retreats. When our children were older and we could get away for a weekend we would go somewhere in New England in beginning of the off season (prices lower and no crowds) where we spent a leisurely time reading and taking walks and of course eating. We lingered over morning coffee and a pastry while we read our chosen books. It was wonderful, peaceful, rejuvenating, and enjoyable time. Yes, my husband was a reader. Our reading usually didn’t overlap. The All Creatures Great and Small books was one time it did.

[@AngelasBookcase]

That is like a dream weekend! What incredible memories you made!

[@novelideea]

I read This Other Eden before the Booker list was put up too! I did the same thing with James by Everet this year… it is always a surprise when I have read something that ends up on a prize list!

[@kiyajade7]

I hadn’t heard of Praiseworthy; it sounds fantastic! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

[@novelideea]

James is not a reader& to be honest, I’m glad! I don’t know if our apartment could handle double the bookshelves and books! 😂 He goes to movies by himself or takes a friend or our son. The same when he golfs. He loves that I have a hobby. If we ever talk about a book it’s because he is interested in the movie 🤣 We love one another not because we do so much together but because of what we bring together- he’s really good with people, I’m not; he can reach tall shelves I’m too vertically challenged for 😁… one skin/flesh that covers the whole bod;, not every part does the same thing though encased in that same skin❣️

[@kimswhims8435]

I love Praiseworthy, I think Alexis Wright is our best Australian writer and we have some exceptional writers. I'm normally daunted by her work and it took me 12 months to pick up the book, I was keen to read it when it first came out. It's actually a very approachable novel and darkly funny. If you are struggling try the audiobook to get you through but it's also very worthwhile to read from the page. James is a really easy read, and is also darkly funny. Stoneyard Devotional is fairly contemplative. Orbital wasn't for me, but worthwhile trying if you can get it from the library. My Friends is my favourite from The Booker so far this year. I hope to read quite a few on the list, but not buying any, all will be from the library. Happy Reading!

[@allisonryder4781]

My hubby isnt a reader but a music man! His record collection and music k owledge is extensive . He made me built in bookcasesas he also is skilled at carpentry. We are definitely counterparts ❤

[@gabrielaspaull6238]

Hi, My husband is also not a reader, but he respects my hobbies the same way I respect his. I don’t have a particular book that I want to have read by the end of the year. I am also a mood reader. I love your channel. Thank you for the videos. Greetings from Gippsland, Victoria ❤

[@lizh9497]

I decided last year that I was going to tackle 1 big book per year. Last year it was War & Peace. This year it is meant to be Les Miserable but I still haven’t started it! Hopefully I’ll get to it by September which will still give me 3-4 months to conquer it.

[@AngelasBookcase]

You can do it!

[@thelefthandedreader6632]

I feel like Perth is the place for me!! How absolutely beautiful. Oh My Cousin Rachel. I’m really glad to be reminded of it. I’ve been meaning to get to it. I’m going to take a look at it when I’m at the library this week! I loved hearing about your husband’s dabbling in reading. We all have our loves and interests, don’t we? I too would like to try Praiseworthy. Who knows!

[@AngelasBookcase]

Ask me how wonderful Perth is in December when its 44 degrees celcius for a week straight ;) But thankfully I can read in the pool! :)

[@eyesonindie]

My husband walked in the room when you started asking the question about partners reading! He said, "How can anyone not like to read??" LOL. Needless to say, he's a big reader, but we have absolutely different reading tastes. So it's almost the same problem. We can't really read books together!! I do like to hear about the books he reads, but his eyes glaze over every time I try to tell him about what I'M reading. Oh well! Thanks for a great video!!

[@Bookworm_Bron]

I can understand your fear or reluctance to tackle big books, I am a little the same! I was very proud of myself to have recently finished Gone with the Wind (1079 pages 😵‍💫) It took most of June but I did it, and really enjoyed the saga of it, although I did find Scarlett O'Hara to be frequently frustrating!. Another biggish book I have on my tbr shelf is 'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café' so I hereby pledge to read it this year!! I absolutely love the movie so thought I'd like to read the book and bought it a few years back and once it arrived in the mail and I saw how thick it is, my enthusiasm waned. You have spurred me on so I'm going to have it read by Christmas!!! ♥📚 Thanks for your great videos!

[@AngelasBookcase]

Well done!!!

[@Justine_S]

Vowing to complete David Copperfield. Just over halfway through now. I’m determined to finish it!

[@AngelasBookcase]

Excellent! Good luck!!

[@joyceredman2136]

We had had the hottest summer in recorded history in the state of Maryland in the US so far, record breaking temperatures with very little actual rainfall. Very unusual. Just a heads up. Also loved reading the Agatha Christie biography, just finished reading The Pale Horse by Agatha for a library book club. You can read a big book chapter a day while reading a smaller book to help you get through those big books. Wouldn't you know that most of the big books are from libraries. I am reading Kate Morton's The House of Riverton at lunchtime while reading The Art Thief at night.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Great tips!

[@bookishbgg]

I've been in a reading slump since coming back from summer vacation but I want to finish the books I started and loaned from the library which will most likely keep me occupied for the next two months due to my current slower pace. Other than those books I want to read "I Who Have Never Known Men" by Jacqueline Harpman by the end of the year. There's a book I really want to finish that I put down two months ago (which is unusual for me because I usually finish books in a couple of days but I had to borrow my Kindle to my partner and so I kind of forgot to get back to that book once I had my Kindle back) and that is "We Are The Ocean" by Epeli Hau'Ofa. I'm more than halfway through with that one and it's been educational and interesting. There's 6 books I've got from the library, some of which don't have English translations but the two that do are "Shuni" by Natalie Fontaine and "Enter Ghost" by Isabella Hammad.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Sometimes we just have to acknowledge the slumps and muddle our way through. You'll find that book that will pull you back into a reading flow before you know it - you have some wonderful books on your list!

[@bookishbgg]

@@AngelasBookcase Thank you for replying. :) You're so right, it just is what it is. Sometimes life gets in the way or other hobbies just seem more appealing. Thank you! I hope I'll love the books I've got. If all else fails, I'll just reread a favorite. Which reminds me! Have you heard of Wendell Berry? I feel like you might like his poetry, I read Selected Poems and absolutely love his book "The Peace of Wild Things", I've reread it a lot. I read his "That Distant Land" and really enjoyed it and I'm hoping to read the rest of his books about the fictional town Port William and I first heard about him because of his essay "Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer" which was published as a little blue Penguin book. I definitely recommend his poetry to you. The themes and images are often rural, agrarian but also activist and political particularly in regard to environmentalism and anti-war. Of course, a lot of nature imagery and even some religious poems which didn't feel "preachy" but profound.

[@sherylmorris9646]

Thanks you, Angela. Note you went to a book for a relative quote. Book friend you are!🤗

[@AngelasBookcase]

You are so welcome! x

[@insearchofwonder]

My husband is not a reader. It takes him months to read a book. But he's dyslexic, so it's difficult for him to read, more like work than fun. We've discovered he enjoys audiobooks, though!

[@LouiseReader]

I'm SO intimidated by Praiseworthy, and Alexis Wright more generally actually. Carpentaria was everywhere back in the day too. I don't think I'm brave enough to dip my toes in just yet. I've been following the booker for 25 years or so. I'd only read James before the longlist came out. But have since listened to Wild Houses, which I just loved, and am currently listening to The Safekeep which I'm not loving. I'm about to start Orbital too, and hope to get to a few more. My EXhusband wasn't a reader... 'nuff said.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Right?! Something about Wright is so intimidating! I read that summary and was still “What the heck did I just read?” No time like the present!

[@Tetsujin-28]

I'm currently reading The Coast Road (Alan Murrin) and for a read-a-long Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman). Alex (frankfiction) is one of the hosts.

[@AngelasBookcase]

The Coast Road looks like a great read. I hope you're enjoying it!

[@AnnaShuk]

Hey. Just found your channel. I'm happy to find you 💛 I don't have a partner, so my reading buddies are my family members, mainly mom with her love for detective stories. I've made End of Summer tbr for August and September, but then we read The Guest List by Lucy Foley together and all my plans exploded, because now I want detective stories and thrillers 😑. I'd love to read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke before 2025, but I also have this fear of big books, I can't tackle 🙈. But I'll try. Book by Alexis Wright sounds so fascinating, same with Graft. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to find Australian books in Ukraine (don't worry, family and me are holding on and fighting), where I live, but I'll try ebooks or audiobooks. Some are unavailable due to publisher's restrictions, but I'm not worrying to much. I'll buy them someday for sure. Happy reading! Hope you'll read Praiseworthy this year.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Stay safe Anna! I am so glad you're finding solace in reading and I hope you are able to find some of the Australian ones. I highly recommend Graft if you can get hold of it x

[@Ali-AvidReader]

I really want to read Stone Yard Devotional too. I’ve read Orbital but found it boring to be honest, I was surprised it made the Booker list, could just be me though.

[@nanimaonovi2528]

Sitting my partner down with a book puts him to sleep. My cat/accomplice sits warmly in his lap purring and that's it. I come here for book commentary.

[@AngelasBookcase]

Sounds like my husband 😉 Glad you’re here!

[@janethansen9612]

If you want to read Praiseworthy before the end of the year I recommend you start now and do it slowly. It took me months and it is impressive, but for me at least I don't know that it was worth the effort.

[@novelideea]

I think I’m the minority here but I disliked Overstory. It wasn’t nearly as much about the trees as the people. Ended up being more political and lifestyle than nature, which is why I hesitate to pick up Playground.