Greg, I've been watching your videos for a while, and I think this is one of your very best! You have excellent skills at being well prepared in your videos as well as a heartfelt discussion about things that book loving people want to discuss and react to! Such a valued member of the book tube community. I read Night Watch soon after it won its Pulitzer because it was short and I got to my local library quicker than anyone else the day it was announced as the winner. My reaction was very similar to yours. How did this win the Pulitzer? The writing felt purposely obscure, as though Phillips wanted to keep the reader at a distance. The sexual assault is harrowing, and if it hadn't been a Pulitzer winner, that might have finished me off from reading. Many of the characters felt underdeveloped. Weed is supposedly an important character, but what did he do besides climb trees? Hexum is described as "the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen" on the book jacket, but I don't recall her doing anything to invoke fear. Papa was such a contrived character, I knew he would come back at the end to further spread his stink, and he did-ugh!! I'm reading through all the Pulitzers, and Night Watch isn't the worst. I ranked it 32nd out of the 37 that I've read so far. It is better than A Fable and Tales From the South Pacific for sure. But after watching your video, I may have to re-evaluate the others that I ranked it ahead of, maybe I ranked it too high. I did like the list of reasons why people from the time might be admitted to an asylum, such as "novel reading" or "political excitement", that was funny to me. Keep up the good work. You are a treasure!!

I absolutely loved The Guncle and I had a good time with The Guncle Abroad but it didn't blow me away. It was a nice palate cleanser though. 🙂

what’s spooky about October… it’s as good as April

Such a great video and throwing the book at the end made me howl with laughter 😂

Thank you so much for your mentions! It really does make a huge difference to a little channel like mine. Your videos are so brilliant and one day we must collab! If I say it, it will happen haha!

I would like to see Michael B. Jordan cast as the lead in James. Also, although I have not finished The Guncle Abroad, I am enjoying it. I don’t expect it to be better than The Guncle, because that’s a bit of a high bar.

💯 agree on Gunckle abroad review. 1st half I was rolling my eyes. I love the central characters so much I pushed on. I would have liked more time with new characters

I loved In Tongues so much! Best of the month for me.

Beautyland didn’t feel like an “alien book” to me. I liked it, but didn’t love it. To me, it felt like one of those movies that tug at your heartstrings where a “special” character who is different in some way influences all the other characters to look at life differently.

Well, I'll probably pass on "The Guncle Abroad" unless I manage to find it in a Little Free Library. Sounds like I might be too disappointed with the story (considering how much I loved the first book) to willingly spend my money on it, LOL.

You go ahead and say you hate something! I mean if people have trouble with that, they don't "get it". 😛

Beautyland is much more about alienation than aliens. I liked it and her previous book in the same way but beautyland was less madcap and more sad. Both are surreal and literary. The aliens only exist in the abstract

I'm currently reading "The Table Comes First" (NF) by Adam Gopnick. Almost finished. Its good. 3.5-4 stars. I like Gopnik's writing. This book is about the history of obsessing on food. However, its a mashup of 8 college theses, a memoir, a cookbook and a humor book. Gopnik reads the audiobook. If you go that route, have a paperback and highlighter handy. You'll want to Google some things afterwards. He introduces complex ideas, interesting characters, and foods, very quickly and then they are gone. Also, I've wanted to capture a couple of his turns of phrase. I think Joel might enjoy it but its not an audiobook for the car. Its one to listen to while looking at the words on the page. Next up? Look Homeward Angel, Thomas Wolfe. For pride month, I WROTE a short story with a gay protagonist, 1985 in a small NC town. Love is love is love. Thank you for your videos. marjorieapple.substack.com

I've not read The Guncle (but have it in my TBR) or TGA, but I think a parent remarrying after the death of the other parent is next level compared to divorced parents remarrying. Which is not to say that divorced parents remarrying is nothing, but feel that there is a fairly large, quantifiable difference between the two experiences, especially if the kids are fairly young, as they look to be from the cover illustration of The Guncle. Homebody sounds interesting, I'll check it out.

“First, a shoutout to my tee shirt…” 😂😂

Oh my word! I read Angela’s ashes and ‘Tis but Teacher Man was my absolute favorite!!! I may be biased tho because I read in my second year of teaching 3rd grade 10 years ago!!! He is such a great storyteller!!!!!

I'm so behind I'm only now watching reviews on this book. I agree I wanted the structure and plotting to be handled better. I will definitely read more of her work, but I think Anthony Doerr (especially in Cloud Cuckoo Land) uses a similar storytelling technique and structure with much more grace and refinement. Thanks for the review!

I live in NJ and my local library has a copy of Amongst Women. Excited to read it!!

I have the audiobook of The Guncle Abroad and will get to it at some point. Yours isn’t the first somewhat disappointed review I’ve seen. Kind of a bummer. I’ve got no real impetus to listen to it right now. As soon as you mentioned the religious angle, In Tongues was an immediate no for me. There are few things that anger me more than religion being used as a weapon. I’m not religious, but if someone else is, it’s fine if they keep it to themselves and don’t use their “values” to judge others. Way too much of that happening in this country and around the world today. Homebody sounds great. I will definitely listen or get it from the library! I got three great books this week, one at my local and two from the UK. I finished The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley at 3:15 AM. I loved it. Just a really fun thriller. About to start The Chamber by Will Dean. Another thriller. I’ve read a bunch of his books. Last is Private Rites by Julia Armfield, who wrote Our Wives Under the Sea, which I loved. It sounds very different from that one but still great. I enjoyed the lengthy video. It really helps me understand what you’re reading and why you react the way you do to what you read!

I adore “the way” you are 💚

I'm so glad that I did it all backwards and read the Guncle Abroad before the Guncle. I really had fun with the Guncle Abroad and now I'll have an even better experience with the Guncle 😊!

The Guncle was sweet and genuine, the Guncle Abroad was an artificial sweetner!

I'm on the fence about In Tongues. I'm curious enough that I may check it out. I have really been loving graphic memoirs lately, so I will definitely check out Homebody.

You're a bit of a literary elitist, but nice video. Informative and entertaining.

Hypothetical: would you read The Guncle In Love? I feel like this book could end with a third.

Greg! I have so many thoughts! First, I was very skeptical when I heard that The Guncle was getting a sequel and your review has solidified my fears. I’ll not prioritize that one. I did place a hold on In Tongues at my library so looking forward to that. Lastly, I watched Lindy from Lindy’s Magpie Reads yesterday and she spoke about the production excellence of the audiobook for Gender Queer (I loved the physical book.) It sounds just like what you said about Homebody - sounds of footsteps, bird song, etc… I will now plan to listen to both! Hugs to you and Joel as you honor and remember Guinness. Be well. ❤

In Tongues 🥰🥰🥰. Thanks for the shout out, darling ❤

The castle is Dunluce (I assume at least that's what you are talking about)

IDK Greg. I get the feeling that you didn't like the Gungle Abroad. I'm going to trust the vibe I get from your review and pass on it. I loved The Guncle so much that I don't want to be disappointed.

I agree that “In Tongues” 👅had many interesting observations. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed this book if you hadn’t showed it to us previously so thanks for that. I’ve just placed a hold on an audio copy of “Homebody” so thanks for that, as well. I’m currently reading “Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI” and it’s freaking me out a little.

Yay! So glad you enjoyed Homebody. It is such a sweet little book. I also listened to it on audiobook but I would love to see the graphic novel as well. I gave up on Caledonian Road. I might try it again sometime but it is not a priority. Sad because I did love Mayflies so much. Listened to “The Unboxing of a Black Girl” yesterday (another very short audiobook) and started “The Friday Afternoon Club” by Griffin Dunne. I’m not a huge fan of celebrity books but it’s pretty good. Of course the son of Dominick Dunne and the nephew of Joan Didion is bound to have some interesting stories.

When you said that Patrick from “The Guncle Abroad” had “dropped caftans completely,” I yelled, “Revoke his gay card!”🤣

Love the T-shirt as a tribute to Guinness. I totally understand parasocial relationships with content providers, but I found myself in this parasocial relationship with the dogs too! Mostly with Jaimie but now with Teddy! I feel so weird! Love the snores❤

I’ve read lots this month but finished nothing. I’m doing a Shawn Mooney month. Too many books all at once.

Our spice levels must differ considerably, when you said spice level for In Tongues, my first thought was, oh it didn’t really have much of anything, and you said high, lol.

Perceival Everett hinted at the movie in an interview I saw from Politics and Prose. I am eager to see that. I finished My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. I enjoyed the story. I think that there were actually two stories. I was shocked that it actually mentioned Fred Trump. Did you hear that Barnes and Noble bought out Tattered Covers? Enjoy your reading.

I think I first learned about the best book I’ve read this year from you, Greg, quite awhile ago: Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt! Thanks! I think the one that made me cry the most was Brotherless Night. I always look forward to books by Louise Erdrich, so I’m looking forward to The Mighty Red, coming this Fall. You’ve really made me want to read Small Joys and Mrs Quinn!

My favorite videos are the monthly wrap-ups with Joel and Teddy.

I would not want to talk to you. You can be harsh.

I'm currently reading Doppelganger right now and it isn't really triggering my anxiety. Of course, I'm not finished with that, so I can't say that with certainty. I will say that eye-reading it was not working for me as I couldn't really settle in with it, so I had to switch to audio, which has been working. I'm not sure if that is because of the material or my reaction to it.

I really liked Fruit of the Drunken Tree. Funny that you unhauled it twice!

Thanks for recommending Amongst Women. I never heard of him or the book. I got it from my library. So enjoyable.

My #1 is "Godspell BHHS" .. was #2 on Amazon for a while. read it like 5 times. Wonderful channel.

I always love this tag. It's so fun! -I pick and choose the questions that I answer and added a few of my own over the years. It's been around long enough it's in the public domain and we can adapt as need be 😂

I just got into reading last year so first year I can do this. Here is my Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag for 2024: 1. Best book you’ve read so far - When We Cease To Understand The World 3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to - Parade & All Fours 5. Biggest disappointment - The Secret History 6. Biggest surprise - Fishing For Little Pike 7. Favorite new author - Rónán Hession 10. Book that made you cry (Saddest book you have read) - Minor Detail 11. Book that made you happy - The Foxhole Court series 14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received) - I Who Have Never Known Men (Vintage Edition) 15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year - Martyr 13. Favorite video you have done so far in this year - Bracing for Emotional Devastation & Do I Still Want to Read These Books? In general, I have really appreciated you talking about how your expectations didn’t match the reading experience by telling us about some aspect of the book that’s not normally discussed in reviews (e.g., Biography of X, Milkman, North Woods). It’s just very interesting to hear about this from someone who knows their own reading tastes very well. I have also loved seeing Joel & Teddy.

Can you please check your mail Greg? There's a recommendation lying in there for you😊 I too don't understand the question " fictional crush?"Don't have any....

I’m glad you didn’t skip this. Looking forward now to the tandem video.

I loved Greta and Valdin and thought it was quite witty but I’ve recommended it to almost no one. The plot is very thin/almost non existent until the end of the book which makes me think the people who didn’t find it funny may have been bored, and it’s why I hesitate to recommend it to people. I think plot driven readers would probably appreciate it (the writing is perfect and she pulls off the comedy effortlessly) but struggle to stick with it

Greta & Valdin is LOVELY! I can see how some readers would find it just weird though, so I hope it works for you. The author said she wrote it for "hot autistic people, people from the city, people who have been mistaken for a different ethnicity, queer and trans people who are tired of being strong and just want to do jokes, tall girls, and haters.” I found it both absurd and poignant and just an all-round wonderful read.

2 fav videos: Pulitzer prediction since its a wonderful recap of a lot of the heavy hitter books of the past year and the other one definitely your vacation talk. Such a cosy video. And i really would recommend Frankenstein. It is such a wonderful book with themes relevant even today. I’m part of a feminist book club and we recently had an entire meeting dedicated to motherhood and themes of that in books and we then talked about Frankenstein since it talks about sort of parenthood and what it means to have created something in a very unique and special way