Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout || Booker Prize Longlist 2022 Review

[@PageTurnersWithKatja]

Wow! 8 so far? Great review 😊

[@SpringboardThought]

Yes, well I was reading eligible ones before it was announced, so I came in with 7 done. Though one I dnfd and may try and read again. We’ll see.

[@PageTurnersWithKatja]

@@SpringboardThought I've only read 2 on the longlist - holding out for the shortlist before I dive in 😂

[@bookinwithdebra]

You are doing a great job of reading all the Booker books. I've never been drawn to Elizabeth Strout. Thank you for reading all of these and giving great reviews. It helps me to identify any books that might be for me.

[@SpringboardThought]

Thank you very much! Glad they’re helpful! Strout is an interesting writer. Reminds me of Backman sometimes, with attempting to infuse a lot of empathy into characters.

[@shawkitty2524]

I have read the Lucy Barton series and I was NOT impressed with the writing--it just irritated me.

[@FreshlyReadBooks]

The comparison to Fredrik Backman, is so spot on! Like a more literary version of one of his books. Love it :)

[@SpringboardThought]

Thanks! It’s the only thing that makes me think of her writing, I think. Off the top of my head anyway.

[@CharlieBrookReads]

I have the reservation of this from the library having not read the first two. I think I will try and audiobook the others not sure which order I will read them time dependant 😊

[@SpringboardThought]

Yeah makes sense!! I hope you like it!

[@lindysmagpiereads]

I read My Name Is Lucy Barton and liked it well enough (4 stars) but haven’t felt the urge to continue in this series. I probably won’t pick up Oh William unless it actually wins the Booker. Although now that you’ve assured me that I could listen at 2x speed or faster… hmmmm… maybe.

[@SpringboardThought]

Yeah I wasn’t particularly enamoured by the first one. I did like the second one more, the third I really thought landed. But yeah, even at 2.9x there’s natural pauses in the narration. You really can get one done in the space of a movie, should you want to, and the experience isn’t strained, imo.

[@dancingam]

I didn’t read “My name is LB” because it sounded way too sad for me. I read “Oh William” and enjoyed it immensely. It refers to previous books, but you get the context. Like a diary, it’s Lucy’s personal view of events, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, it reads so honest. You will be moved. I couldn’t put it down and was sad to finish it.

[@GemofBooks]

Nice review. It sounds fine, but I don’t think I’ll bother unless it gets shortlisted. You’ve already read 8!!! Mate - that is a bloody good effort 🙌🏻

[@SpringboardThought]

Yeah I wonder what the shortlist will look like. I think there’s more 5 star reads for me this year than last, but I also couldn’t get 2? Of them last year to round it out anyway. Yeah my eligible reading came in handy! I had 7 done already and then this was the 8th and on audio I had to wait like 4 days for it only.

[@CharlieBrookReads]

I spot Memphis in the background!! Have you read it? I loved this book xx

[@SpringboardThought]

I LOVED Memphis. I’ll have a review of it. My recent reads are a couple behind still haha. But yeah, I liked it more than Love Songs of DEB Du Bois, with their overlap in theme.

[@shawkitty2524]

Fraser: I read the series on Kindle, which I had bought with a Christmas gift certificate, so I can't judge the books from the audio perspective, BUT many of the sentences drove me nuts, like "And then I thought this: xxxx", "Yes, I thought that"; "I think I will do xxx", "Yes, I think so. Yes I will". "And then there's this: xxx". And so on. Not exactly Dostoevsky! Please kindly tell me why the books were "good" from a writing standpoint--- Thank you!

[@SpringboardThought]

Hm, yeah! I think on audio that all felt quite natural! I could see why it would be very annoying on the page, though.

[@angiethebookaholic]

Great review, Fraser!

[@SpringboardThought]

Thank you very much!

[@vanessappp5672]

Great review, as always! 🎉🤗🤩😍🙂😘🌟 I read all her books and I really enjoy everything that she does. They are books that I will reread and I want to have the physical copy - but, that being said, it sounds weird to me that her book was listed for the booker prize, you know. I don't know if you agree or understand 🙂

[@SpringboardThought]

Thank you! Mm I’m not sure I do understand? You mean, because it’s part of a series? Wasn’t Lucy Barton also listed when it came out?

[@Paromita_M]

Hello, found your channel through this review and first comment here. Great review. I am interested in reading this series. Just read Olive Kitteridge and liked it.

[@SpringboardThought]

Hi! Thanks for coming by, I think if you like Olive, this is something you’d like quite a bit as well. Same treatment of characters in a very empathetic way and similar themes, in some ways. I hope you like it, if you try it!

[@Paromita_M]

@@SpringboardThought Thank you, I'm excited to read it next. Just need a break after A Little Life so I'm rereading the quirky 'Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine' before starting Lucy Barton 😊.

[@kiranreader]

i read this w/out reading the other two and i just really loved it! glad we both are fans of it :)

[@SpringboardThought]

Yeah I wonder how it would hit me as a stand alone. I was going to skip the second book but they’re so short anyway!

[@michaelconnolly1691]

I read books. I don't consume content. Left the video after a minute.

[@SpringboardThought]

Nobody cares