The Most Difficult Books I've Read

[@esmayrosalyne]

Oooh how I feel you on Fifth Season, I forced myself through that trilogy and it was so not worth it lol. And I am super eager to read The Road but I keep not doing it because I keep feeling like I am not in the right headspace. For me, To Ride Hell's Chasm is a book that I was just not ready for, and I honestly don't know if I will ever be ready for Janny's writing. And on an emotional level, I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy hit really close to home with her brutally raw depiction of her eating disorder journey. Loved this video!

[@TomOrange]

Wurts writing is very unique and while I really enjoy it I can totally see how it does not work for others

[@esmayrosalyne]

@@TomOrange yeah I respect the hell out of her writing, but as a non-native English speaker, it's extra challenging and I just don't have the mental energy most of the time hahahah

[@coffee_cookies_books]

I will agree with you about N.K. Jemison's books. Now I did try, but I ended up DNFing the first book. It just wasn't for me. Interestingly I also took her writing Masterclass and found it about the same as her book. I'm not saying she isn't well-spoken and seemed like a lovely person, but I left it the same, getting nothing from it. So sometimes there are just some books and the way people communicate that isn't for everyone. Doesn't mean it's good or bad, at all!

[@TomOrange]

Thats a perfect way to put it. I always say just because it didnt work for me dosent mean it wont work for someone else!

[@Johanna_reads]

I enjoyed this video and the different categories of difficult you created! So funny how you created a “I was bored by them” difficulty section 😂. I see a lot of people weighing in about Circe, so I’ll just say I was very mid it. My husband enjoyed it more than I did. So far, I’ve had mostly negative experiences with 2nd person narration, which is why I’ve not gotten to The Fifth Season 😅

[@TomOrange]

Boring books are especially hard since I wont just DNF them lol. I always love seeing what people think of the Fifth Season. It seems that the longer its out the more polarizing it is

[@jan2bratt]

I love the variety of books you have named here. Nice to see someone reading in many different genre's, as do I. You gave good descriptions of your books and why you did or didn't enjoy them and I agree with many of them. I liked the 5th season books but didn't love them and haven't yet gotten to book 3 because I don't care that much about it. Circe, I finished it but didn't understand all the love it gets. I haven't read the Jungle and I ought to. Thanks for a good list. I'm glad you keep making videos. So many of the book tubers that started about the same time you did have dropped out which is understandable, I'm sure it takes a lot of time and energy to produce these videos, leaving less time for reading. Oh, also I'm happy to see Fredrik Backman getting a little love. He is in my top tier of favorite authors. Did you read the free short story by him in this months Amazon free books? It was very funny and I needed a laugh.

[@TomOrange]

I appreciate everything you said in this comment. I think a lot of people under estimate the effort that goes into everyone's videos and I have so much respect for anyone who makes content. I did not read the short story from him but im going to look for it now.

[@NikiDawson-eo9eu]

I feel the same about Circe. I DNF'd it so hard. It has turned me off to any books w/ the same subject matter.

[@tbc907]

Yes! My least favorite book. I haven’t been able to read a book about ancient Greece because of it.

[@TomOrange]

its nice to find some solace with people on that

[@gigglingchicken8444]

I am reading it now. I am enjoying it, but I don't know why people love it to the degree they do I think it falls a little flat in emotion as I see how much she loves her son and what she does for him to live, but I don't feel it. I would call it a solid book, imo but nothing outstanding.

[@BookishChas]

Awesome video Tom! I still have yet to read any Bachman. You and I had the same issue with Deadhouse Gates lol.

[@TomOrange]

Bachman is top tier. His character work is in a tier of its own.

[@paperpagespossibilities]

I'm on the bandwagon of fans for Fifth Season but I can understand your reasoning for not liking it. The 2nd person narration was a bit confusing and strange for me at first but I was interested enough in the world building to push through until it got easier. Thanks for your thoughts!

[@TomOrange]

Im glad you liked it!

[@LaughingStockfarm1]

It’s been great watching you grow in your range and depth. 😁 I think any book with characters you don’t connect with are just going to be difficult. I could never relate to the women in Pride and Prejudice, so I basically hate that book. Well, most of the hate comes from people gushing about it; without the gush, I think I’d just be massively bored. And I liked the Broken Earth trilogy in part because I could relate to so many aspects of the relationships in the book. Circe I listened to, so that may have impacted my response, but I loved that book. And again, it was because I personally connected with so much of what the main character experienced.

[@TomOrange]

thats a good point. Characters can really carry a story

[@NevsBookChannel]

I suspect I will not like The Fifth Season either. Always nice to hear dissenting opinions!

[@TomOrange]

Im always happy when someone likes a book I didnt.

[@ChanelChapters]

The road is emotionally draining and depressing but very well done

[@TomOrange]

perfectly said!

[@StoryGirl1128]

A difficult book that I read recently (and still loved!) was The Three Body Problem. There’s a great story there, it just felt buried under a very heavy dose of science that I couldn’t always follow.

[@TomOrange]

I love that trilogy its actually my favorite but it can be difficult with some of that hard science that's going on.

[@dqan7372]

Have been (sporadically) slogging my way through Pride and Prejudice for more than a year now. Led me to picking up a social history of the time and THAT is interesting (except the sections on clothing). Emma I enjoyed studying in college. But I can't get into P&P.

[@TomOrange]

yeah the real history would be cool to learn

[@mbearrism]

Never read The Master and the Margarita but read his novella The Heart of a Dog for a Soviet Russia history class I took in my undergrad. I just remember it as that weird Soviet dog book that I liked.

[@TomOrange]

sounds kind of interesting

[@benja6902]

I got the graphic novel of War & Peace so I could get the gist of why it's a classic, without having to actually read such a massive tome. I also got the graphic novel of The Road. The Keanu Reeves BZRKR comics are pretty good - thats why i got that book, though I haven't read it yet.

[@TomOrange]

ive never read a graphic novel of a novel but it sounds like a cool experience

[@mrlately]

And Every Morning had me BAWLING. It was literally hard to read through the tears.

[@TomOrange]

I feel that!

[@radudumanovschi3387]

I find that the way it is formatted makes it a difficult book. As an example I give you Rafa de Rafael Nadal, John Carlin. Although the book was short, the way it is laid out on the page makes it tiring.

[@TomOrange]

Ive not read many books with strange formatting but I can totally see how that could be hard.

[@bartsbookspace]

I agree with you on Circe (didn’t like it) and on One Flew & The Road (loved it but emotionally drained). On the great but emotionally difficult to read front, I’d add Toni Morrison’s Beloved.

[@TomOrange]

I looked that book up and is sounds like a very different read from anything ive probably read.

[@thegreatwaugh]

I haven’t read any of these books. I need to step my game up.😂 I’m making my way through The Farseer Trilogy now though.

[@TomOrange]

I have not read Farseer so I need to step up my game lol

[@KlingonPrincess]

Just finished "Midnight Cowboy." I'm glad I read it for the ending. But, man, it was gritty and dark. Sorta like watching a train wreck. I can't decide if I was more sympathetic or repelled by the protagonist. It will stick with me though.

[@TomOrange]

Ive not heard of that one but it sounds interesting

[@ReadtoFilth]

Well books that gave me a hard times are usually very old English book. Like Emma by Jane Austin. I love the book but the language is hard for me as a non native speaker

[@TomOrange]

Even as a native speaker they can be difficult

[@morbidgirl6808]

For me, most difficult book i ever read was Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. It's filled with full of postmodernist aspects, speculative metaphysics, shifts between narrative methods and confusing arrangements of sentences. It was hard for me to read so I've dropped it but i picked it up again and enjoyed torturing myself. I finally finished reading it last year but I'm still analyzing it even after a year. 😅😂 Then there's harder stuffs from that era before Shakespeare. Shakespearen English is technically modern English (in early stage) but before him, all works were...oh man...so challenging "old English." I'm gonna stick to fantasy anyways. My classical literature era is officially gone 😂

[@TomOrange]

Ive heard that Gravity's Rainbow is something else lol

[@strombolibones]

First time I've ever seen The Jungle mentioned on BookTube. Crazy depressing book lol

[@TomOrange]

It really is. Like just so much trauma in that book

[@SamNot-so-wise]

Difficult books that spring to mind for me are Neuromancer, Excession (The Culture) and Satanic Verses. I love a challenge though! I also didn’t care for Circe.

[@TomOrange]

I really want to get to the Culture books

[@SamNot-so-wise]

@TomOrange I'm always banging on about the Culture with it being my favourite sci fi series, so I will always highly recommend it - starting with the second book Player of Games.

[@booknerd8610]

I loved Circe. Then again I love Greek Mythology.

[@TomOrange]

I feel like its the worse version of Greek Myth

[@lisaowens7304]

Tom, please re-think "The Master and Margarita" in the context of the atheism of the Soviet Union, the ambiguity of good and evil, and the absuridsm of Soviet society. Irs a very political book was very dangerous for the author. In fact, not published on his lifetime, and initially in a highly redacted form. But i can see if magical realism isnt your thing, this book would be a struggle.

[@TomOrange]

I would need to re read it at this point. I know it was an important book. Just was not ready for it at the time.

[@SeaninsShelf]

Something about The Road didn't do it for me but I should probably reread it. I like Pride and Prejudice but have not read War and Peace. I've read a little bit of Tolstoy but I definitely prefer what I've read from the other great Russian writer, Dostoevsky. I haven't read a lot of these because I'm not sure I would like them but thankfully it's okay to not share the majority opinion lol.

[@TomOrange]

I have found in general I slightly struggle with the Russian writing but its something ill keep working on

[@TF-lk6co]

Totally agree about Circe (hot take: some books will appeal more to women). Scorching hot take: The praise and awards showered on The Fifth Season are not entirely due to the quality of the books.

[@TomOrange]

Im always just happy for the people that do end up like those books.

[@medomai]

ho. lee. shit.

[@jaxpk2669]

wheres that Malazan update bro?

[@TomOrange]

My last Malazan video was my Memories of Ice vlog. I have not started book 4 yet

[@jaxpk2669]

@TomOrange stop fucking around ma man x

[@Chance.Dillon]

Gooooood choice on the road… to be honest I think that’s the only one I’ve touched on this list😂 but I’m pretty sure that means I need to challenge myself. War and peace and pride and prejudice for sureee I need to get to Okay Deadhouse gates-yeah I get the criticism of it. Cause i kinda share all those sentiments but somehow it landed as my favorite 😂 ah gates of fire. I remember us discussing your dislike for it before And I’m finally now seeing your book of elsewhere thoughts Broken earth is one I keep putting back on my list for everything I hear about it 😬

[@TomOrange]

I know so many people love Deadhouse Gates and I can totally see how its someone's favorite. War and Peace is a masterpiece you just have to go in expecting to take it slow I think

[@Chance.Dillon]

@ Roger that

[@Paaseliten]

I hated War and Peace. Not one single sentence was engaging to me. I forced myself through it only to be able to say that I have read it. I have started The Road twice. Couldn't finish. The language is fantastic. But there is something about the monotony of the world that was unbearable.

[@TomOrange]

The world in the Road is very unforgiving

[@booknerd8610]

I didn’t like the broken earth series. DNF’d every single one of them. I had the same experience as you.

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Show me what you got

[@TomOrange]

hope you enjoyed!

[@darthandy6161]

Gates of Fire was one of my most disappointing books ever. I don’t get what people see in it.

[@TomOrange]

I think its well done. Just did not work for me