January Reading Wrap Up | 2021

How to help BLM: blacklivesmatt...
-- Books mentioned --
Memorial / Bryan Washington
The Prettiest Star / Carter Sickels
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out / Jeremy Atherton Lin
Invisible Cities / Italo Calvino
Hamnet / Maggie O'Farrell
Fake Accounts / Lauren Oyler

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Good to get your thoughts as I'm really looking forward to reading Gay Bar. I think I need to reread Calvino. Really interesting to hear your reflections on Hamnet and Fake Accounts. Thank you!

[@whatpageareyouon]

I would love to hear your thoughts on Gay Bar! Some of the bars cited share a space with being based in London, so maybe there's a bit more familiar territory there for you than it was for me, but I do think you'd like the book! Fake Accounts on the other hand, hmmmm I feel like it could go either way for you! haha, but that in itself being that I think you'd also find it an interesting read : )

[@TheREADhead]

Hey I read the first dozen pages of Invisible Cities while visiting a friend but never had a chance to finish it and i totally forgot about that! I'm glad you mentioned it here! Your review of Hamnet is really excellent. I think your correct that it is a character driven novel and just great story telling. Well said.

[@BookishTexan]

Great point about _Invisible Cities_ restoring joy of reading. I think it’s because it is kind of about story telling. I am really looking forward to _Hamnet_

[@whatpageareyouon]

I think you’ll like Hamnet Brian! I will particularly be interested in what you think happens in a certain scene....but overall, looking forward to your thoughts on Agnes herself!

[@Emmareads15]

It's really interesting, your perspective on The Prettiest Star. I have it on my TBR as Russell over on Ink and Paper books absolutely loved it and raved about it. It just shows we're all different with different tastes.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Hearing Russell talk about it was what gave me the plunge to pick it up!! Haha, Russell’s enthusiasm for books is too hard not for me to feel persuaded by, but unfortunately this one was a dud. But you’re right, I think different perspectives of books can only help boost a rounded perception of a work thanks to booktube!

[@Emmareads15]

@@whatpageareyouon Haha, yes, he's like infectious when he has so much enthusiasm for a book, I catch it and have to buy them! I agree, it's great to have so many diverse and disparate voices on here, so we can get a diverse range of opinions on the same book. Both of your views I value.

[@JasmineReads]

Latest comment ever I'm so sorry!! So lovely to hear you chat, as always. Hamnet is beautiful. Hope you're well, Alex x

[@whatpageareyouon]

No problem at all Jasmine!! Always good to hear from you! x

[@somebenfen]

I loved If on a winters night and I'd love to read invisible cities now! Now have to add fake accounts to my list of alex recs too.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Ah Ben you reading Fake Accounts I think would be a romp! Would love to hear your thoughts on it when you get to it 🙂

[@MargaretPinard]

Interesting commentary on Fake Accounts--diving deep into the artifice!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you! The narrator's observations are so relentless, I couldn't help but find her ambition to dissect the digital landscape of media completely mesmerizing

[@thegrimmreader3649]

This was excellent! Invisible Cities is going right back on the tbr. Hamnet too for sure. You made the Oyler sound really interesting. Thanks Alex!

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thank you Cathie!! 😊

[@MikeS]

Invisible Cities is so good. I actually liked the in-between prose between Marco Polo and the Emperor a lot more than the cities parts.

[@whatpageareyouon]

It will definitely be a reread book for me! Maybe something annual every January since it does feel so year-starty to me

[@user-iu4ws6vh5s]

I love Italy Calvino. He work encapsulates both postmodernism and classic storytelling in an otherworldly way. I’m intrigued by Fake Accounts but not pressed to read it. I suspected it’s trope would cause it to fail as a novel and if the observational aspects are not utterly wise and razor sharp in a way that supplants the loss of a story I worry that I will be disappointed.

[@whatpageareyouon]

A very fair assessment of Fake Accounts! I do think it sort of lacks entirely conscious steam to make it completely worthwhile from an objective perspective working as a novel, but I was surprised by its consistent moral rearing questioning by the narrator as media becomes so overpowering for her. I think overtime if I do re-read it I may find its luster more so lackluster having now gotten my initial reaction to it, but would be an interesting re-read nonetheless! haha

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I know this might sound mean but I was glad to hear your thoughts on The Prettiest Star. I didn't think it was v good but it has such glowing reviews! I chuckled when you mentioned the marine animal metaphors - that did my head in too! At one point she said she felt like a killer whale down the school corridors and I was like 'oh, fuck off!' 🤣

[@whatpageareyouon]

Hahah NO that sounds apt to me! 😂 I think it’s even that very killer whale bit I have underlined in my copy! Haha 🐋

[@popposterboy]

Wow I was looking forward to reading the Prettiest Star 😩

[@whatpageareyouon]

One less book on the TBR 😉 haha

[@camposmurilloalejandra3838]

You were not the one

[@bookishshenanigans4769]

I've been putting off reading Hamnet because I'm not sure I'm emotionally ready but that was a great review and I hope to pick it up soon.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Thanks Jenny! I think you'll like it, I think it's a perfect dose of gut-punching plot with nice pacing for a compact story!

[@petermorgan202]

So jealous you got to read the Oyler in advance. Can’t remember the last time I’ve been so excited to read something with ambivalence. (I think it probably mirrors the experience of her book criticism, which often provokes you into a more thoughtful position-even if it’s opposed to hers.)

[@whatpageareyouon]

I started binging her reviews (also her stunt doing video for a company on KZbin?? Haha). But you’re absolutely right, regardless, I really love her review mentality of sticking to being critical as a symptom of reading something carefully and with intent. Curious what she’ll do next after this!

[@HannahsBooks]

I am so sorry to hear that The Prettiest Star wasn’t a better hit for you. I have been waiting for it to move up my library list-but your specific comments suggest to me that I am going to have issues with it as well. (Aquatic animal metaphors? Nope.) Gay Bar sounds tremendously more interesting. (Any chance you’ve read Slumming by Chad Heap? Very different, but...) And I still have not read Hamnet but am really looking forward to it. As always, your thoughts on your reading are so fascinating and thoughtful. Thanks.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I have not read Slumming by Chad! 👀 but will look into it. And yeah, in a funny way I’m kind of glad to get a reading dud every once in a while to remind me what I don’t want to look for in a book vs what does work for me! A painful exercise for my wallet haha but it’s a type of value that’s priceless 🙂

[@HannahsBooks]

@@whatpageareyouon Chad’s academic book is only tangentially related-but there are definitely some elements that seem like they might speak to each other. (He was a close friend in college and is now a professor at GW. When the world opens up and we get to meet in person, perhaps I will introduce you two.)

[@wonderfulkitty]

I found Fake Accounts unreadable. The stream of consciousness made it difficult to keep track of the narrative. She should’ve just written a book of essays IMO. Interesting ideas alone aren’t enough to make compelling fiction.

[@sebastiancastillo8704]

Hello, I am a fan of your videos and have watched many of them but have noticed that the volume on all of your videos is quite low. Even with everything up at 100%, the videos are much lower than other KZbin videos. I wish you success, but would also like it if your videos were somewhat louder, if that is not too much to ask.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Hi! I just now posted a new vid with a mic! Hopefully it works better now with audio for future vids. Thanks for watching! : )

[@venticoldbrewser5593]

More underwhelming gay fiction, yay! Unfortunately, I've felt underwhelmed by all the gay fiction I've read thus far. Waiting for Real Life but the library waitlist is moving so slowly. *insert crying emoji*

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha oh no!! But yeah hopefully Real Life is the finish line! 🏁 🏃‍♂️🙂

[@CJReads]

OYLERRRRRRRRRRRRRR