Books I most recommend

[@MelodyAnnHM]

I've been looking for a booktuber who has read The Friend. I think about this book every day, but I never saw anyone mention it. I'm so glad that not only another person read it, but another person loved it as much as me! Subscribed!

[@whatpageareyouon]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, too! I hope to read Nunez's latest work soon too

[@MelodyAnnHM]

@@whatpageareyouon her new book, What Are You Going Through, is great! It's very similar to The Friend so I'll think you'll enjoy it!

[@stephanierenee7655]

I read Interpreter of Maldadies earlier this year and I agree with everything you said in your review. It was a really beautiful book and I felt myself caring about each of the characters in each of the stories. I really loved each of the stories, which is rare for me as I normally have a few that I'm ambivalent towards. I really want to read more of Lahiri's works and see if what I felt for this book translates to those as well.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Stephanie Linnell I read Lahiri’s other collection,Unaccustomed Earth, and I don’t know why, but the Magic was lost in me there for some reason. Have you read it? It felt a bit one-note for me. If you haven’t read it and end up doing so hopefully you make of it differently than me! I soon read a few stories after from IoM to re-cleanse my Lahiri palette 🎨

[@stephanierenee7655]

@@whatpageareyouon I have not read Unaccustomed Earth yet. I was going to read The Namesake first as I picked it up at a used bookstore and that is currently the only other book from Lahiri that I own.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Stephanie Linnell I hav the Namesake too! Interested how Lahiri will dazzle in the form of a novel

[@DeliciousReads]

'...and I'm just some guy on the internet'. Made me LOL.

[@ceciliac5765]

It is so interesting how you talked about the Convenience Store Women. I thought it was less about the work and more about how people treat people they don't understand and to let people do what they want to do withou judging them. I think keiko Was a really interesting character, because most people live for the free time, the time they spend with loved ones, build a family and so on, but she don't want 'more' in life, but everyone expected that from her. I think it is a social critism on the society criticize everyone that is not 'fitting in'. It is definitly worth reading.

[@rose_and_thorns]

"books that are sad where people think a lot" - I want to see this as a genre sign in Barnes & Noble. Also, Dear Life is the best short story collection I've ever read and I really want to read more of Munro's work!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Alison Rose oh I’d love to see it. I think Dear Life is my best too! Have you ever heard of the collection How To Breathe Underwater? It’s not by Munro but it kind of gave me glimmers of her work, maybe my second favorite story collection I’ve read!

[@rose_and_thorns]

@@whatpageareyouon I have it on my (miles long) TBR! But that's quite a strong recommendation, so I'll definitely try to get to it soon.

[@pauwoolf4672]

Oh, I loved your smooth voice! I'm currently reading The friend and I'm really loving it. Have a nice day!

[@ChaoticBibliophile]

Hi! I just came across your channel and really enjoyed this video. I also recommend Convenience Store Woman a lot because I think it’s great food for thought and everyone gets out of it what they need, and the voice is so engaging too! You are so right about The Friend. I myself read it because I heard it described as the most bookish book, and it didn’t disappoint. I have yet to read the three short story collections you mentioned but all are in my radar so hearing your thoughts was great.

[@BookishTexan]

_Nine Stories_ is a great collection and I think you are right about Salinger.

[@meghnadas4267]

Haha can't wait to pick up Convenience store woman this year. Heard so much about it already!

[@nikkivenable3700]

My husband doesn't understand why I love and consume sad literature. It's my favorite. I told him that my experiences throughout life have often been very difficult(child abuse, abandonment, divorce, chronic illness and cancer) and that that is the lens in how I often see the world. I wish I had had a happier life(although I'm grateful for all of it, tbh), but I haven't and so I read literature that allows me to connect with a world I know and understand. I envy those who read all the other "happier" forms of literature and can enjoy it. I've tried but it just falls flat for me. I'm so glad, Alex, that you enjoy sad literature as well! My husband still doesn't understand my tastes in books, but I bet a lot of your readers will. I loved this list, btw. Thank you!

[@whatpageareyouon]

nikki venable thank you for sharing! I don’t know what it is either-but when I try reading the types of stories you described similarly straying from, I somehow lose focus and can’t concentrate on those kinds of stories. It’ll be funny to assess my reading maybe, 10yrs from now and maybe I can find out why I like the kind of stories I like now by then!

[@Chrisralonso]

As a bookseller, I find it difficult to recommend favorite books. There are a few favorites I do recommend, Alexander Chee's Edinburgh and Aimee Bender's The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, because of what they do with language and tone and the sense of wonder they gave me. The Mere Wife by Maria Dahnava Headley, a retelling of Beowolf from the perspective of the marginalized and overlooked voices--very weird and challenging and smart. Some non-favorites but high recommendations are The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg, unsettling and disorienting, The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell, amazed by genre mashing to the point that I don't think it fits into any "box."

[@whatpageareyouon]

Christopher R. Alonso Oh! I can’t imagine the task of being a bookseller, I hadn’t even thought of the idea of favorite books from that perspective. The way you’ve described the books here, it would seem pretty effective to me! Has a customer ever recommended you a favorite book, or do booksellers ever get asked that questions?? Maybe as a test of bookish knowledge, hmmmmm

[@Chrisralonso]

@@whatpageareyouon Oh yeah, I'm asked that pretty often what my favorite book (singular) is, but that's so intimate, and if they don't like it, that's on me for recommending it. I try to recommend books like across different genres and keep a balance of old and new.

[@HannahsBooks]

I wish I had seen this before my library closed for the pandemic! I read a review of Uncanny Valley and really enjoyed the review, although I didn't intend to read it. I keep hearing things that make me want to change my mind--especially in this new world of teleworking, teleshopping, etc etc.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Hannah's Books it’s a very light and breezy read! I thought it was so refreshing to read a first point of view of what will undoubtedly become a new writing perspective on the beginnings of the early 2010’s app scene and its influence on daily life ! Doesn’t hurt the memoir was written with some chops too (so basically, for me, judging it that it doesn’t read like it’s the writer talking to themselves haha)

[@HannahsBooks]

whatpageareyouon I just put it on hold through my library’s e-system. There is quite a wait, but it sounds like the kind of thing that is sort of working for me right now, in this crazy life we are living.

[@SixMinutesForMe]

Pachinko and Know My Name are two that I probably recommend in real life the most, and I definitely have a recency-bias too (I think I lean towards recommending books I’ve also loved)

[@whatpageareyouon]

Six Minutes For Me interesting! Often if I love a book I equate it must mean others may not like it lol. But I suppose with “recommending to booktube” vs. “recommending in real life” could be different for me with my choices now that I think about it-I feel like people in real life first consider why the reader chose to read the book being recommended vs. why the reader’s reaction to the book that they’re now recommending is causing them to want others to read it. Know My Name and Pachinko, of course, are wonderful choices I can get behind!

[@SixMinutesForMe]

whatpageareyouon yes definitely a distinction between booktube reccs and real life reccs 😊

[@lucyrutherford]

The Friend has been on my tbr for so long I have to get round to reading it! I don't really have a set few titles that I recommend to people, as the few I know who do read have such diverse tastes. Though very proud that I recommended My Year of Rest and Relaxation to a work colleague and she loved it!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Lucy Rutherford funny because I often recommend MYoR&R to colleagues too! Seems like a nice one I like to suggest because of its warping of professionalism.....I wonder if my boss ever picked it up since my recommendation lol-a weird suggestion in hindsight

[@kirillkhvenkin6001]

I find your explanation very valuable- now I know which of these books I should read and which avoid.

[@wavaleebranch]

❤️❤️❤️

[@jamieiguess4757]

hope you’re doing well 💕

[@RadicalRappodcast]

I didnt understand Uncanny Valley to me it just a privilege person complaining about changing professions. I sympathize with the perspective of women trying to navigate in a male dominated work space. But Overall I thought it was underwhelming I tried this book just to read some new a different and it wasn’t what I was expected it to be

[@whatpageareyouon]

I agree, I didn't connect so much with her citing her professional experiences or personal upbringing, but loved her confusion citing a time where she didn't realize how the startup/tech boon was going to revolutionize an micro era of young professionals craving to carve a space in something no one (at least anyone I personally knew at the time) took seriously to think would be so commonplace now, at least as far as apps go