My name is Gretchen and I absolutely adore reading and collecting books. I primarily lean toward classics, literary/contemporary/translated fiction, but I always like to have at least one romance or lighthearted book in progress as well. I am also a huge fan of literary prizes, especially the Booker, International Booker, and Women's Prize and always try to read their longlists.
I really enjoyed this beautiful little book, and your thoughtful review Gretchen, I also really enjoyed Western Lane which you mentioned. I was disapointed Clear by Cerys Davis wasn't on the longest as I felt it was incredibly well written and a wonderful story, however not every brilliant book can be long listed, and I feel sad and frustrated when I hear book tubers being ungenerous and unduly negative about books they didn't enjoy- that said, I think the inclusion of American writers for the booker has made the prize less diverse, which is disappointing, and I don't mean any disrespect to the many wonderful American writers who are eligible, only that smaller commonwealth countries are less evident on the list which is a real shame, as the U.S has several prestigious book prizes already.
Hi Gretchen I read Orbital at the weekend. I thought it was beautifully written, but wanted a bit more. Made me think about the guys who are stuck on the ISS until 2025. It had a claustrophobic feel to it.
I enjoyed Orbital. It was slow and meditative, but quite lovely. It did get repetitive in the second half, but I think that reflected life for the astronauts on the space station.
i read this a few months ago, without any expectations or predispositions, and certainly without comparing it to any other books. i thought it was absolutely magical, immersive, sort of life-affirming. whenever i read, i look and listen for the way language rolls off the tongue. Harvey's language is almost musical, songlike, which as a musician, was a great pleasure to read. It's also meant, I think, to be savored slowly. To your point about prize lists, I think attacking the list with a begrudging sense of obligation has a negating effect on the pleasure of reading. Also, I had a similar empathic reaction as you -- I felt like I was on the station with them, just pondering our place on the Earth. It honestly shook my soul a bit! On the topic of Praiseworthy, I enjoy it, weirdly, in a similar way to Orbital. The language of Praiseworthy rolls off the tongue, in a weird and unfamiliar, but still pleasing way. It's also very light on plot; you could read the blurb on the back and understand the entirety of what it's trying to do. But it's the reading experience that sets these novels apart for me.
❤ not yet read it, but, yes I'll definitely like this book seeing the blue dot earth from space station cupola... 'Western Lane', did not like it at all.. 200 times word 'Papa' repeating😂😂 Keep inspiring Gretchen ❤🤗
I love your reviews and your joyous spirit, Gretchen!! Personally, I’m more of a Western Lane girlie than an Orbital girlie, but hearing your romantic defense of this novel was welcome and helped balance my experience with the book. I love Booker longlist discussion and look forward to your reviews to come!!
I agree with your excellent review of Orbital. I have finished 9 of the long list books and so far Orbital is my favourite. It's a beautiful, lyrical work worthy of attention. Safekeep and James are also excellent. Overall, however, this is not a great collection of books, at least not for me. I did not enjoy Wild Houses or Wandering Stars because of the depressing emphasis on substance abuse and addiction. Seen enough of that, thanks. This Strange Eventful Journey was neither strange nor very eventful. Held did not hold my attention. I am more than half way through both Headshot and Enlightenment and so far they are ok, but we will see. I DNF'd My Friends earlier this year but am going to give it another try since it made the list. The other three books are not yet available in Canada. Hopefully at least one gem in there.
I expected to love this book for all the reasons you describe. But I didn't. I found certain snippets compelling, but as a whole, I found it hard to get through. I thought much of it was repetitious, and yet the book didn’t hold together for me- which is odd to say about a book that takes place over such a short time period and in such a small space. I am not, however surprised to see it on the Booker longlist - and I like to see a wide variety of books on the list. And I totally enjoy seeing that every book has lovers and haters (although I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone hate James yet).
See, your reasons for enjoying this book are all the reasons I'm excited to read it. I'm nostalgic, sentimental and am obsessed with outer space, esp our own little blue dot called earth. It's just so majestic and mysterious! Well done on this video! Edit: I'm so curious: have you read Milkman by Anna Burns. This book won the Booker in 2018. I'm reading it now and am absolutely blown away by how good it is. Not an easy read for a number of reasons, but worth it!
Oh my gosh I totally agree with your comments on Long Island. There was a certain poignancy to the way that Brooklyn ended & I found Long Island to be a little unnecessary, unfortunately🥲
I read this one prior to the longlist being announced (or the leak), but like you, I already had a feeling it might be a Booker book. I didn't hate it, but I found it a bit mediocre and disappointing (it's a bit like your experience with Western Lane, which I also found mediocre). I really sympathize with what you say about why you enjoyed that book, and I think that's what really counts, so I don't want to take anything away from it with my criticism. I think this novel relies heavily on a sense of wonder, but my issue is that it didn't do anything for me that countless Science Fiction novels I’ve read in the past haven't already done. I know the author wanted to write a realist novel about people in space, so maybe she was trying to make something accessible to the literary reader that isn’t as available in non-genre fiction. However, I thought it was a bit easy to rely on the reader's sense of wonder about the vastness of space or the feeling of looking at Earth from space. I don't feel the actual book did anything particularly interesting in addition to these very common observations or found any unique language (yes, the Earth is beautiful and blue, but I already knew that).
Those are all wonderful points! I’m not really a sci-fi reader so I am not exposed to this type of content very often. I agree that she wasn’t saying anything new and I have certainly contemplated all of those things before, but it has sadly been ages for me. This book was a nice reminder for me to revisit those feelings which is probably the real reason why I enjoyed my time with it, as well as all the happy childhood memories it triggered for me. I bet if the judges took a good camping trip a couple weeks before they made their final decision, we might have a very different list 😂
I totally agree about the new release shelf from the library. I loved Lanny too. I haven’t re read though so I definitely need to as it’s sat on my shelves ❤Such a great mix of books as always. 📚
Lanny! Yes! I agree that this book should be taken in with the audio and the hard copy simultaneously. That is the only way to read it! It makes such a rich experience and brings out the true beauty of this book. I'll stop gushing now.
New follower here. I’m Kelly, and we must be kindred book souls. I also loved Lanny and Pet. I kept staring at all those NYRB classics on your shelf. They are my latest obsession.
Hi Kelly! Thanks for following and welcome! I’m so glad you loved Lanny and Pet. They were so good!!!!! And you noticed my obsession, too!!!! I love NYRB books so much! The stories are always hidden gems and I just love the look of them. I recently went to a garage sale and found about 12 brand new ones (not on the shelf yet). The lady only wanted a quarter for each of them!!!!!! I felt like I was stealing them but she said she just wanted rid of them. So I gathered them up like Gollum and got out of there as fast as I could 😂🤣😂
Some books I’ve read you might like too Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly Wild Houses by Colin Barrett The Coast Road by Alan Murrin The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes ☘️👋🍀📕📚📖☕️
Thanks for the recommendations, Jacqueline! I read Greta & Valdin earlier this year and enjoyed it. I think my next Booker longlist title I pick up will be Wild Houses. It sounds really good! I will also hopefully be reading The Coast Road soon. I wanted that one to get longlisted so I could prioritize it but will still try to squeeze it in. Lastly, The Alternatives definitely sounds like a me book so I will see about getting a copy of that one. Happy reading!!!!
While my reading plan is disrupted , waiting for someone to return The Safe Keep to the library ( now 4 days overdue..arrg..a pet peeve of mine is people not returning books when due and there is a hold list..lol) , I am pivoting to some short books since some other Bookers are also coming @ the end of the month. I'd like to read a couple books you mentioned that are new to me and Lanny sounds intriguing and right up my alley at the moment. Will let you know my experience when done:) I'm only reading @ 9 (5 down) of the longlist, unless the ones I am ditching (hmmm..Strange Eventful History, Wild Houses and Head Shots make it to short list or enough people rave about one to make me feel FOMO:) Happy reading and thanks for the book ideas!
Oh that’s the worst!!!! I hate when that happens to me too. I hope their next 20 reads are 1⭐️!!!! 😂🤣😂 If you do pick up Lanny, let me know what you think. I can definitely see it being a polarizing book but it’s so short I think it’s at least worth a shot.
New subscriber, so enjoyed you today and all the books you spoke about - some are on my list like Long Island, (I did Brooklyn years ago) but some in the finished list are on my look at with library list - also, love the Booker prize picks but not all - will pick a couple to read🎉
You did a superlative review of this book. Point bt point you laid out why this book is not worth the Pulitzer. I also agree with you about the rape scene. This is my first visit but i will look forward discovering more from you.
I really liked this book and I thought i got the message until the end at the church. Like what? I was very confused, and sadly did not understand what was going on. Also what was the thing she discovered about her brother? Like he was trying to contact the villagers but for what??
Wow! I've now have so much more on my TBR pile! Thanks for the great roundup. I am very excited to read the Elif Shafak novel as I have not read her before and I like the sound of this one.
I reviewed Messud's book in my last video. I listened to the audio, but I also found it too long and slow. The history that involved this family was so interesting. Being displaced from "your" country must be difficult, but as I reader, I never got emotionally invested. I'm very surprised to see this on the Booker longlist. Its not a Booker book IMO.
I agree with you that it’s not a Booker book. I don’t think there was enough edge or nuance to it. The story was interesting enough, but she needed to either give me more juicy bits to jazz it up, or pare it back to a 300 page book. I really hope this one gets cut from the shortlist.
I’ve said for years that the first Tuesday in August is the most expensive day of the year for me. In fact, I just found a Facebook memory from 4 years ago that said this exact thing! 😂💸
Just FYI "Time of the Flies" is a sequel to Piñeiro's novel "All Yours"! Idk if you need to read one to appreciate the other, since I've only read "All Yours." It's funny that the synopsis in English doesn't reference that at all because the Spanish synopsis definitely does!
I’m definitely going to check out Time of the Flies. A book I’m excited to read that I didn’t see on your list is The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia on August 6th.
These are some wonderful recommendations for August. I will be on the lookout for many of these on my Libby. That Librarian and your WIT recommendations are at the top of my radar. Thank you
Yay!!! So excited about that one. It’s usually so hard to get books from Charco Press in the States but thankfully for some reason Piñeiro’s books are easier. Hopefully I can get it soon.
So glad to hear that! It sounds like something I would enjoy. I am making a trip to my local indie bookstore today and I might have to preorder this one.
You are really getting me excited about the whole festival of book prizes - wow! I love your thoughtful & careful enthusiasm - quite contagious. Thank you for another great video.
I love Booker season. I read Wandering Stars a couple of months ago, but I feel like I should read There There to get the full context. There are a couple it looks like won't be available here until September so I guess that helps me pace myself. Happy to see an Aussie author on the list.
It’s so annoying that we have to wait! I only have 7 to left read from the list and I can’t get 2 of them until September. This is going to be the most chill Booker season ever for me 😂🤣😂
Congrats on getting three correct. This is my first year following the Booker Prize. I’m disappointed not to see Martyr!, Praiseworthy, or The Road to the Country on the list. I was able to grab or hold all but two from the library.
I loved Martyr! and I agree with you about Praiseworthy and The Road to the Country. I am still going to read them though. They sound too good to pass up.
Happy Booker season for you too, have a good shopping and congrats for your predictions. I’m also happy James made it and also My Friends. Have a nice reading Gretchen!
This basically almost ream time video is SO FUN! When I saw Orbital, I knew that was your pick. 3! 3! Yay! I’ve reserved the Rachel Kushner. It’s on order at the library.
