Hello Welcome to Gunpowder, Fiction and Plot, a channel about books.
Hi I'm Scott, I make videos about books, sometimes they're silly; but I always aim to either create conversation or let you know if you would like or dislike a book regardless of my opinions.
What sort of Books do I read? I like miserable sad books, I like books that make me laugh or that talk about anything interesting and new. I like to read from a variety of different cultures. I love books by Women, African & Indian novels, LGBT authors, emotionally nuanced or complex books, political satire, classics, new releases and anybody writing from a POV that isn't my own. I also read a fair bit of basic popular stuff, because I don't want to be left out.
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Excellent! I can’t imagine that Everett won’t be a tremendous contender for the Pulitzer, and I hope you are right that the Booker will take it seriously, too. What a book! That Shafak cover is so much better than the American version! So glad to hear Whale Fall is on your list.
I struggle to see how anything other than James else can win the Pulitzer next year. It just seems so perfect for that prize. I'm sure the Pulitzer will string a surprise and we will all be disappointed or excited depending on the quality of the book they do go for, but if I were a bookie I wouldn't be taking bets on James winning Pulitzer right now.
New subscriber. Thanks for this video - a nice list I think! Have you read Martyr! ? I persoally haven't, but based on where I've been sitting this year it seems like that's going to be an inevitable long list nominee. Actually, I should pry figure out if it's elligible because perhaps it's not and I didn't know that and that's why you didn't mention it lol.
I have read Martyr! It is eligible, it is good too, but I didn't pick it. For me, it was just good, like 4 stars, very happy I read it, but I was not amazed. I certainly wouldn't be upset if I got that one wrong.
Thanks, Scott!🌷I do hope The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store makes the longlist and I’m curious to see whether Tell Me Everything, the new novel by Elizabeth Strout expected in September, will make it. I look forward to your Booker reviews!😊📚
With Strout it depends on the judges tastes, I guess that's true for everybody, but I think Strout seems to have her super fans who adore her work and people who don't understand the fuss.
❤️📖 I do hope your predictions are close to the mark🤞. You make such good choices, Scott, and this is just the list I want to read! I've already read and loved both The Safekeep and James and put on hold The Coast Road, which I heard about first on Savidge Reads, and Whale Fall - interested to see if I also like it better than Clear 😊 😮 I think I may try Boysie Singh on audio.
James is certainly the standout most likely to be on the longlist. Listening to your predictions I feel like I haven't even been reading this year, so many titles I haven't heard of but would like to get to. Naturally, I would like to see an Australian writer, perhaps Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko. I'm still plodding through Praiseworthy but struggling. I actually hope it's not on the list.
I'm currently reading The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh and it's whew! Really good! Great list! I picked out a few the same as you but you've introduced me to some titles I haven't heard of. this should be a very interesting long list. I think there's a possibility that Brotherless Night could be on the list.
I really enjoyed all of this well researched speculation. I loved James and Blackouts. I'd also love to see Heaven & Earth Grocery Store make it in there, too. I want to read The Safe Keep!
I haven’t watched yet but I’m soooo excited to see prediction videos popping up! I am trying to finalize my list so I am holding off on watching others so I’m not influenced but I’m sure your list is fantastic. Not only that, your prediction lists always damage my TBR! it’s Booker season, baby!!!
With Wandering Stars I agree with your assessment on his choice to have so much of the novel about a school shooting, but just one small step forward I’d say this: As an American I often hear when we talk about the “first” masa shooting, or the numbers, and this crushing phenomenon, that these aren’t really the first, the first are what was done to the indigenous people, the highest numbers were what was done to them, how this issue of gun violence has been prevalent way before. I haven’t read the book yet, but I would imagine that conversation piece that I often see inspired that choice. And it absolutely breaks my heart thinking of any indigenous person also seeing that.
That's a great list. I'd like to add in My Friends by Hisham Matar. And I really hope they don't hit us with a book that doesn't release until after the shortlist is announced, because looking at the dates that would actually be possible 🤪
You rascal! Several of your honorable mentions were previously unknown to me, and it might have been best if that had remained the case. Because I don't need another excuse to go to the bookstore. ;-) I'm so glad you predicted The Safekeep. It's probably going to be my favorite of the year. I think it's brilliant, for all the reasons you said. I'm holding out for The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston. I'd love to see an Australian author (other than Alexis Wright, though I concede she's the most likely. The Great Undoing by Sharlene Allsop is my hope. Also - Passiontide by Monique Roffey to rep the Caribbean.
Why is it that I feel like your predictions are going to end up being better than the actual list? There has to be at least 1-2 books where everyone is like “How the hell did this make the bookers?!” I would love to see Everett, McBride, Emezi, Obioma, Shafak, and Gonzalez make the list…but sadly I don’t think the Bookers would put out a list that diverse. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong though.
I’d love Greta & Valdin and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store to be long listed. I’m currently listening to Evenings and Weekends The In Between I finished Enlightenment by Sarah Perry It was a very disappointing book. I should have DNFd it 20% in but I kept reading hoping it would improve.
Whale Fall was a surprise 5-star for me! I haven’t read Clear yet, but this gave me huge The Colony by Audrey Magee vibes. Give me a quiet little novel set on a remote Irish or UK island and I’m a happy girl. Also, Dominoes has been on my radar for a while and I kept deciding against it. Thanks for the review and I’m off to put a hold on it at my library!
Hi Scott, I'm surprised you didn't like Poor Things better, particularly as it was a pointedly socialist book from a socialist country's highly-esteemed (socialist?) author. The movie took all of that out and more. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Maybe the audio made a difference? It was a clear 5 stars. As someone who is well-versed in film and did watch the whole movie, I'm confident in saying there was a lot to dislike. I gave it 2.5 stars on Letterboxd.
It might be a case of the movie setting expectations that the novel didn't meet. I did like the book, and my criticism isn't about the themes but too many genes. I've basically given up on movies, and the only time I enjoy them now is when the comedy works for me and that was definitely the case for this one, but just to be clear, I did walk out of the room for large chunks on my viewing, so I'm not thinking about it how I do my books when I review them.
As a lover of literary fiction, I am so happy to have found this channel. I would subscribe ten times over if I could. Keep the content coming! I predict that in a year, you'll have at least ten times more subscribers. 🤞
☠️😅 Oliviera wins for book description. #teamhaterichpeople As always, so many books added to the TBR. Glad to hear that you liked How Beautiful We Were. I really like Mbue’s writing and I hadn’t really read any other books at the time that dealt with that specific issue.
Talking of slavery, I just finished reading Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim which was a great book... It's book #1 of the Freedman/Johnson series... Have you read it?
I still have An Orchestra of Minorities on my shelf. I’m due to read his works soon. Solid review. I will temper my expectations a bit, but expect I will probably like the book. Btw…I saw you are experimenting with thumbnails and I got the one with the author only. It didn’t affect my desire to watch the video, but I didn’t initially realize it was your video.
Orchestra is an amazing book, but you need to be in the mood for something horrible. Yeah, I'm using the new thumbnail testing youtube has brought in. My face is definitely getting more views than Chigozie's, but interestingly the longer this video stays up the less that is the case.
She has, Pulse Point and Our Magic Hour. I've not read them, and they were published before Bodies of Light, so I'm not sure the quality, but let's face it, they're probably amazing.
I’m going to check out Tony Birch. Maybe for Straya September if I can’t get to them before that. I loved your analysis of Lean Your Lonliness. That was another great Patreon discussion. Love my lil nerd gang, and thank you so much for moderating those insightful meetings!
It’s always a pleasure to hear you talk about your reading. You reminded me of the powerful emotions I felt when I read How Beautiful We Were. I’m currently reading (and loving ) Clear and I have Whale Fall on my TBR so I look forward to seeing whether I agree that the latter is better. Would you say they both have similarities to Audrey Magee’s The Colony?
I think they are, especially Whale Fall, with one difference in The Colony I think the mention of the deaths in the Troubles bring the island closer to the mainland, while in Whale Fall WW2 demonstrates how isolated it is.
@@GunpowderFictionPlot Are you familiar with the podcast Reading Envy? Our comparisons of these novels reminds me that Reading Envy’s host Jenny was particularly drawn to island settings. Now that I am living on an island, I think more about that aspect in fiction.
I think island settings are fascinating in the hands of a quality author. Doesn't even need to be lit fic, And Then There Were None springs to mind too... I'm not a podcast listener, but I've never given them a chance.
I noticed you mentioned the Walter Scott prize, which I had to look up. We hear about Booker, Stella, and the women's prize but It l'd love it if you'd do a video on prizes which aren't often discussed on booktube.
Hey, I made a video at the end of last year on just that. There's literally too many prizes to talk about in one video, but I named as many as I could. 😊
I haven't seen Poor Things but I read the book and I think the main part of the book (Archibald's insufferably accurate Victorian ramblings) isn't the main part at all - it's all the 'historical' para text and that part was impeccable. It really made me think about how we approach historical sources. Apparently the movie doesn't even feature Victoria's side of the story (nor Glasgow, socialism, reproductive rights activism?) so isn't it missing the whole point of the book? It sounds fun but I'm too much of a feminist killjoy to watch it lol
I confess to missing large parts of the movie, Nelle watched it while I was in the same room. I did noticed some reproductive rights stuff, but unless it's also in another spot in the movie, it's very much watered down, I can't say I noticed the socialism or the challenging of how history is written. I'm glad you're loving James. It's fantastic isn't it.
Yes, the movie deliberately misses many of the book's points. If there are things about the movie that disturb your feminist sensibilities, I don't think it's because you're a "killjoy," but because their choices might kill your viewing joy in parts of the movie, if you do watch it (making them a potential killjoy). I did like the aesthetics and Mark Ruffalo's performance, as well as some added comic lines, so it wasn't all bad. Doesn't hold a candle to the book, though.
So per your suggestion I read, “Body Parts,” and you’re right, it makes “Eileen” PG. I have a suggestion for you in the same vein as both books, but takes place in Nigeria. “Little Rot” by Akwaeke Emezi. You have to hang with it for a minute, it’s not what it appears to be. Darkly profound. I enjoy your channel.
I’ve just finished the audio of Henry Henry. I liked the writing but I think it should have had a trigger warning. I wonder what the writer was trying to say.
