My favorite books of the year so far

[@coconutmilch2351]

One thing I really appreciate about your videos is that you explain what books are about and why you like them. A lot of booktubers-who are charming and lovely in their own way-unfortunately tend to say “I love it it’s so good it’s just super good writing” telling me nothing, leaving me to have to look that shit up myself. Especially with books that are already on everyone’s radars, there’s little value to the viewer when they say “it’s so good” and leave it at that. Like, if I wanted to look it up, I would’ve already. Anyway I like that you actually explain!

[@bibliosophie]

@@coconutmilch2351 thank you for that feedback! i love to hear it! (especially since i can get overwhelmed trying to find a short but accurate description of a book’s contents + my experience of reading) also, your comment made me chuckle

[@coconutmilch2351]

@@bibliosophie you do a really good job!!! :D glad i made you chuckle lol

[@casskrug]

so many incredible books on this list, as always - your taste is unmatched!!

[@bibliosophie]

🤍👼

[@booksluggg]

I picked up Art Monsters after you talked about it in a previous video. I had so much fun with it and was introduced to a whole crew of visual artists I was previously unaware of. I bought another copy for my best friend’s birthday and instead of trying to fit all my thoughts in marginalia, just tucked in hand written papers throughout the book. In turn, she has been sharing her (much more knowledgable and articulate than mine) thoughts with me as she reads through. It has been such a lovely experience- and we have you to thank!

[@bibliosophie]

@@booksluggg that’s wonderful! thank you for sharing this with me!

[@joelharris4399]

I love your shirt Sophie, how it's worn loosely, like a comfy interior curtain, the olive green bright as the sun🌻

[@bibliosophie]

aww, thank you! 🫒 it gives me early nineties tv show design vibes

[@apocalypsereading7117]

i went thru a phase of being obsessed with "archive" mysteries so super happy to see a bunch of ones i've never heard of, thanks! just the cover of My Death is enough to make me go for it tbh ✨

[@bibliosophie]

i think my death will probably appeal to you! it’s got letters and twists and everything!

[@nathansnook]

honestly, seeing some of my favorites on this list makes me so happy to be so in tune with you! and so happy that finally!!! we've found a Heti that worked for you! also much glee to see Dictee on this list. knew you would love it! need to know how much your heart aches with Szabó...The Door will be my first from her!

[@bibliosophie]

@@nathansnook i must remain adamantly curmudgeonly about heti - i’m still pretty dubious, but i think the sheer weirdness of the exercise of alphabetical diaries made me more generous. also, now that i’m thinking about it, i wonder if this worked more because the thoughts are necessarily truncated and chopped/screwed. maybe i don’t like her method of burrowing? the door is an excellent first szabó!

[@kiranreader]

i'm so happy to be so many books on this list!! its so great to see that you've had so many enjoyable reads

[@bibliosophie]

ya! not so bad so far this year! i feel like i’m not reading very much at times, but i’ve had some excellent experiences :)

[@TKTalksBooks]

What a gift this is! Mmm Hmmm! Thank you! I have read and loved about half of these and can’t wait to read the others! XOTK

[@bibliosophie]

thank you! happy reading! 💖🥂 (so, which ones have you read? 👀)

[@jameskatie]

best list i've seen. every single book i was like YES. most of these are want-to-reads for me already so, hearing you praise them highly is a good sign. and big yes to archive-related writing!!! x

[@bibliosophie]

💜😈 may my list push you to reading them!

[@r.enee.morris]

What a list. So many I want to get to Art Monster, My Death, Alfred Hayes, Martyr! Soooooo many.

[@bibliosophie]

@@r.enee.morris ooh i want to get yr take on alfred hayes!

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Great reviews Sophie. Have a great summer.

[@bibliosophie]

thank you!!

[@HH-zb5ul]

Another great video ❤ Thank you for sharing

[@bibliosophie]

thank you!

[@thelefthandedreader6632]

Oooh Alfred Hayes. 🥰🥰🥰. I looked through Ordinary Notes at the library. What a stunning, smart book. I’ve got the Olivia Laing new book coming my way. I’m looking forward to it!

[@bibliosophie]

have you read the third hayes? (that is, the one that isn’t in love) i can’t remember. will be interested to know what you think of the new laing!

[@rebareads]

So many wonderful books so far this year! As always, great recommendations and I have been encouraged and influenced to finally read some others that have been on my list for too long! Looking at Szabó particularly!

[@bibliosophie]

@@rebareads do it do it do it 📣🤍💖

[@camicarreno]

I loved this list and how you describe books! I might have to add Magda Szabó to my TBR. This year I've really enjoyed Just kids by Patti Smith, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and a couple of novellas by Claire Keegan :)

[@bibliosophie]

ooh yes! very good 🖤

[@robotnic]

I also read and loved My Death early this year! I read it twice. The Door is a banger, I just gave it to a book club friend, every time it comes up I want to reread it. One of my other favourites of the year is The Details by Ia Genberg. I can’t recall you mentioning reading it, if you haven’t, it definitely has elements we both enjoy and I hope you will!

[@bibliosophie]

@@robotnic i haven’t read the details, and actually it’s not really been on my radar - thanks for mentioning it! i think you’re right that it’ll probably appeal to me

[@pastorytime2683]

Such a good list!

[@bibliosophie]

@@pastorytime2683 👼

[@MrBookaholic99]

I haven’t read that many books this year but if I had to name my so-far favorite this year I would definitely say “Jazz”. I‘m happy to hear that you enjoyed it as well. Great list!

[@bibliosophie]

@@MrBookaholic99 very nice! have you read a lot of morrison?

[@MrBookaholic99]

@@bibliosophie only “The Bluest Eye”but I would love to read more of her work 😊

[@bibliosophie]

@@MrBookaholic99 you have so many more wonderful novels ahead of you! 🖤

[@floortjepeace]

Thank you ❤

[@bibliosophie]

you’re welcome! thanks for watching :)

[@mildrumpus]

I loved Olivia Laing's "Garden Against Time." You're the second person that I've seen today that has recommended the book, "My Death." Gotta check it out soon! Hope you are staying cool and hydrated out there!

[@bibliosophie]

@@mildrumpus my death is so short that it’s quite easy to try! i’ve been in london and now in bretagne, so i’m actually cold most days 🤣

[@clara_mars]

Just finished The Door - absolutely stunning. Have you read Lote by Shola von Reinhold? One of my favorite recent archivey books

[@bibliosophie]

ha, i have read lote! it was one of my fave reads a couple of years ago! do you also watch nathan’s channel? he just described lote as bibliosophie coded, and i have to agree 💀

[@Sean_neaS]

Clarice Lispector (The passion according to G.H.) has been in my TBR for exactly a year and a day. I have high hopes though, both for getting to it and enjoying her writing.

[@bibliosophie]

oooh, it’s one of my absolute faves of hers. 🖤 have you read any of her writing otherwise?

[@Sean_neaS]

@@bibliosophie No, I haven't ready any of her writing. Not yet. Soon! Soon! :)

[@gabrielmiller4176]

lisa tuttle wrote windhaven, i believe w gearge rr martin

[@bibliosophie]

@@gabrielmiller4176 yes, have you read it? i’m not usually drawn to sci fi and fantasy, so i haven’t

[@TheLinguistsLibrary]

Adding Martyr! to my wishlist*

[@bibliosophie]

@@TheLinguistsLibrary woohoo!

[@tj-wn8ye]

All Fours knocked my sox off. I’m tangentially curious about the reading demographic of this particular novel. I’m a mid 50s man but the gender/biologcally specific elements in it didn’t detract in the slightest. My 50-something year old girlfriend does NOT want to read it. To be fair she’s not a big fiction person. But the chatter I’ve seen around the web regarding All Fours is that it’s appealed especially to women older than 30? I have no Data to back that up. Also: Clarice Lispector doesn’t seem just great to me she seems otherworldly. A beyond-human entity who happens to write. And that’s my impression from the translation! I can’t imagine what reading her as a Portuguese speaker is like. Cheers to you and your channel. I’ve started Malina.

[@bibliosophie]

from my personal vantage and the people around me, all fours (and miranda july) seems to appeal to people in their latter 20s-30s, especially women/queer. but that’s also just the majority of people i follow in the bookspace, so i’m not getting many data points myself! i’m really happy to hear that you had such a strong reaction to it even though it wasn’t “about you” otherworldly is definitely a good term for lispector! which of her works have you read?

[@bibliosophie]

and thank you! happy to know you’re joining in on malina, too!

[@Slothreadersclub]

I am yet to find someone who dislikes Sheila Heti. I read her novel Motherhood and I thought to myself - What kind of a bourgeois BS is this?!

[@bibliosophie]

i was also not a fan of motherhood, nor overly of pure colour. i think i’m in a similar situation as you, where i kind of don’t quite see what there is to adore. but i also think i’m overall more positive on her than you are - there are glimmers of things i like. alphabetical diaries surprised me bc i thought it would be the most insufferable version of heti, and ultimately it kind of won me over

[@Slothreadersclub]

@@bibliosophie I was so put off by Motherhood that I am reluctant to pick up anything else. Maybe I will give it a go. I have the same problem with Cusk. I am so reluctant to start reading her work because I am very much sure that it will be a very bourgeois experience. As far as I am aware her female protagonists all live in suburbs and suffer from what I like to call bourgeois boredom leading a reader to develop some kind of sympathy for every day problems of the class that detaches itself willingly from the rest of society.

[@bibliosophie]

@@Slothreadersclub that’s a very apt description! i like cusk much more, but she is extremely bourgeois. honestly, i’m not entirely sure either heti or cusk will appeal to you. who are your favorite authors?

[@Slothreadersclub]

@@bibliosophie My new favorite author is Alba de Céspedes and for nonfiction is Silvia Federici. I also enjoyed Claudia Piñeiro and Fatima Bhutto. I guess when I read fiction I would like to read what I find in nonfiction - important socio-political topics. Not interested in reading about the bourgeois woman's midlife crisis.

[@bibliosophie]

@@Slothreadersclub makes sense to me! (even if i can gobble bourgeois thinky crisis up myself ha ha)