Hi. I'm Adam, and I'm a dude who reads... just about anything. Fiction to non-fiction. Fantasy to philosophy. Classics to comics. Poetry to parenting books. And everything in between. I started this channel as a way to connect with other readers, and to share my passion for reading widely. So, whether you're a reader or just someone who wants to read more, check out some of the videos, and drop me a line. I'd love to chat and to discuss.
All great advice! I particularly agree with the "Invest in the Characters" part. That applies to all Tolstoy. His character writing is his greatest strength. You make me want to read it again.
I read Dune just a couple of years ago. I think Dune, like LotR, was genre defining. However, if you’ve already grown up with the genre and then read it for the first time 60 years after it was published, you lose out on so much of the originality because it’s been copied so much.
@@ADudeWhoReads You definitely see while reading it many areas where other books and movies took from it. I just thought it was amazing how detailed it was, from the landscape to the cultures and mythology and religion and politics and science. I couldn’t believe that one person could come up with so many unique ideas.
Interesting that you imply Marcel Proust's masterpiece is off-putting because of how long it is. It always amazes me how many people gobble up every novel in a series-not just trilogies, but series that are 5, 7, 10 books long. I have friends who have Kindle subscriptions on Amazon set to automatically download the next book out from their favorite authors, who already have 25 or more books out. But mention In Search of Lost Time, and they're like "What a tome! Way too long!" As for War and Peace, I reread it with great pleasure every five years or so. I don't think of such books as needing patience to consume, because when immersed in them, I'm always so impatient to turn the page. =grin= By the way, I admire your wanting to read it in French. I've read passages en français, but to read the whole thing from one end to the other, I chose translations-of which I've read two different ones. I do read a lot of poetry in French, German & Spanish (editions with facing pages in translation are the best), but that's because poetry is so dependent on perfection of the language. And poems are short. I hope soon to learn enough Russian to be able to read the poems of Anna Ahkmatova & others: the glimmers I get of how wonderful Russian poetry must be, from reading translations, are spurring me on. Speaking of Russian, a couple of Dostoevsky books to add to your TBR pile if you haven't read them yet: When I listed my favorite poets to you earlier, I inexplicably omitted Wallace Stevens. Wallace Stevens is my favorite recommendation for people who are bright & well-read, but unfamiliar with modern poetry. He's one of those poets, like William Butler Yeats, where not every poem will hit for you at one particular moment in time, but the ones that do hit will burn themselves into your brain & seem to define a whole era of your life. There's a reason Stevens gets quoted a lot in popular movies. Stevens & Yeats both have œuvres that are super high quality & also quite variable in style. And when I mentioned favorite short story writers, I left off Franz Kafka. DUH! He's one I'd say who didn't write a single mediocre story, & his sense of humor is much underrated. The Metamorphosis is funny AF. A fave Kafka you might check out quickly is "The Burrow." Joyce Carol Oates is also a very good short story writer: she's so prolific, her Greatest Hits are crème de la crème. Glad you got past Lolita's subject matter to how well-crafted & witty it is. Lolita is hands down my favorite road trip novel: Nabokov's outsider view of Americana, especially small motels in the midwest, is sweeeet. I've read pretty much all of Nabokov, who's a pre-eminent prose stylist, but my favorite work of his isn't fiction, it's his memoir: Speak, Memory. All I have to do is *think* of Speak, Memory to want to read it all over again. I haven't seen all your vids, so I don't know if you've mentioned these, but in case you haven't read these authors, do go for them: -Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano (always my top choice when people ask me for a stellar novel they may not have heard of) -all of Italo Calvino, especially Invisible Cities & Cosmicomics -N. K. Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy, widely considered to be the sine qua non of 21st century science fiction, the way that Isaac Asimov was in the 1970s -Middlemarch by George Eliot -Virginia Woolf, especially To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway & The Waves You've probably read some Cormac McCarthy (I've read every word he wrote & feel SO lucky to have him in my life) but here's one of his that doesn't get mentioned enough: Child of God. It's quite short & very, very funny. Do you read crime fiction? Elmore Leonard is an amazing writer, a unique stylist whose mark on the field is unparalleled. Michael McConnelly's Harry Bosch series is another top-notch read. (The Amazon TV series didn't do it justice.) Also the Swedish police procedurals by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Another genre I love is horror or dark lit: Thomas Ligotti, Robert Aickman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, H. P. Lovecraft, Angela Carter, Clive Barker's Books of Blood & Damnation Game. Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child, Alan Moore's graphic novel From Hell, & many more. Stephen King, who's obviously not just a horror writer, tends to be underrated as a prose stylist, because people either only know the movies based on his books, or only know his first 10 or so books. He doesn't credit for how much *better* a writer he's become in his later years: he's recently written quite a few brilliant short stories & novellas & has won the prestigious O. Henry Award for best short fiction. (His shorts appear in the New Yorker.) Recent long fiction of his that's very good indeed: the Finders Keepers trilogy & Billy Summers. I love Billy Summers so much, I've already read it three times, even though it only came out in 2021. I'm enjoying your videos more than most bookish RU-vidrs, because you strike me as having good taste. The only thing that's disappointed me so far is that you have yet to mention a book I haven't read. But I'll keep watching you in the hope of discovering a new gem. Here's a suggestion: read some of your favorite passages aloud to us. I always enjoy hearing what sections of their favorite books people especially enjoyed. Happy reading...
Oops, I didn't list the Dostoevksy books I meant to: Notes from Unerground & The Idiot. I was so taken with the main character of The Idiot, I named a cat after him.
Do you include plays in your best of all time lists: Mine top 25 or so would definitely include Shakespeare (natch) & the plays of Samuel Beckett-whose prose works Molloy & Malone Dies are also big faves. Samuel Beckett has dark humor like Kafka's. We're living through a very Samuel Beckett time, so I go back to him for companionship amidst the insanity of the 2020s.
Once again, thanks for a considered response with a treasure trove of recommendations (believe it or not, I do take note of all of them). I cracked a smile because just today I started The Fifth Season and a few hours later found it mentioned your note! I appreciate the compliment of having good taste, but as to your point about me not mentioning a lot of books you HAVEN'T read, that may not change for a while. Most of my reading this year has been focused on well-known classics that I've somehow never read, and I get the sense that's not going to unearth anything "new" for you. :) And then for 2025, I'm playing with the idea of making it the year of "re-reads." I'm always recommending that people re-read books, but need to take my own advice a bit more. Combine that with the fact that I'm a relatively slow reader compared to most of the people who talk about books on RU-vid, and my guess is it'll be a while before someone as well read as you finds a lot of "new" stuff on my channel (except perhaps my upcoming video about Graphic Novels...). Thanks again, and please don't stop with the recommendations :)
thanks for this - i loved many of the books you listed and never read #1 so just bought it! and maybe one day i'll muster up the courage to attempt War & Peace
Awesome. Let me know if you end up reading it what you think. As for W&P, I JUST released a video today about how to read it, so maybe that can help you out. :) Thanks for watching!
@@ADudeWhoReads I'm planning on attacking it at some point this summer. I'm reading Don Quixote right now. I'm enjoying it, I'm just having a hard time reading it for long stretches at a time.
Don Quixote is another one of those long classics that I keep meaning to get around to but always come up with a convenient excuse to put off… I think I’ll tackle it before the end of the year, though!
I’m glad I found your channel! I just joined the BookTube community. C’est intéressant que nous ne soyons pas de la même génération, mais j’ai lu Tintin aussi. 😊
Welcome to Booktube! I'm now subscribed to your channel. As for Tintin, two things: 1) Tintin transcends generations! I'm looking forward to getting my son his first Tintin book (I think he still needs a couple of years). 2) I don't think I'm as old as you think I am :P
I think for the sake of completeness, until Amazon resumes production of the series (in 10 years for the 30-year jump?), having all 9 novels to read is better. Though book-to-season comparison, I think the adaptation cut the fat from the books, Abaddon's Gate in particular, and removing the seams of the Protogen conflict that was separated by the gap between the first two books.
I was under the impression that just getting the last couple of seasons made was a challenge, so I really didn't think there was any chance that they would resume production. Don't get me wrong, I'd love if they did, but I didn't think it was in the cards. I did think that the end of season six served as a satisfying ending to the series (although it did leave a few rather strange hanging plot threads if you didn't read the books).
Aside from those mentioned in the video, I'm going to have to give this some more thought (perhaps worthy of a video of its own), because while many great works by many great writers jump to mind (Didion, Roth, Baldwin, Ellison, Capote, Thompson, Salinger), I know I'm probably going to be forgetting a ton of my favourites.
I think the point you raise at the end is so important for anyone trying to put together a list of the best books of all time: how a book affects us is as much driven by our familiarity with literature as it is what we are experiencing when we read a particular work. I know, for example, that Atlas Shrugged, Huckleberry Finn, the Foundation and Robot series, and all of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books are at the top of my list. This is not necessarily because they are in a top ten list. Instead, I rank them highly because they had such a profound a d joyful impact on me each time I read them.
Thanks! Where can I find these books? I don't usually make fun of books on this channel, but something tells me that given your handle, you'd actually LIKE that...
How come none of these top ten lists include collections of novellas or short stories? Edgar A. Poe, Flannery O'Connor, Anton Chekhov, Alice Munro, Lucia Berlin, Amy Hempel, Shirley Jackson... all are brilliant in the short form. And for that matter, why do all these lists use the word "book" as if it's synonomous with fictional works? If I were gonna choose my top 10 *books*-as opposed to novels or collections of shorts-I would inclide a couple poetry collections & a nonfiction book or two.
Also: my list of top 10 novels will always & forever include Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. I reead it every few years. In fact, every time I pick it up to look for a quote or something, I never fail to get sucked in & read it all over again. It's a fucking masterpiece.
I think the trouble with short story collections is that for most people to think of a collection as one of their all-time favourite books, every story needs to hit, and even the best collections I've read have some amazing stories and some mediocre ones. That said, I surely haven't read as many collections as you, so maybe I'm just missing some gems. As for nonfiction and poetry, there IS a nonfiction book in this list. Poetry, however, I confess I've read VERY little poetry (with the exception of ancient epic poems, but I don't think that's what you meant).
@ADudeWhoReads Hmm.... the notion that every story in a collection needs to "hit" for the book to be an all-time favorite strikes me as like saying every chapter in a novel needs to "hit" for it to be a top fave. Which maybe some people think, I don't know. But your unfamiliarity with short stories excuses you. Because you apparently don't know that the best-loved story collections by the writers I listed don't have any duds. Good short story writers publish hundreds of stories during their careers, so the collections everyone reads are like records of Greatest Hits. If all you know of poetry is ancient epic poetry (which is always in translation, so isn't a good example) boy have you got some treats in store! I would give real money to be discovering the likes of Elizabeth Bishop, T. S. Eliot, John Ashbery, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Philip Larkin & Sylvia Plath for the first time. Another category of favorite books you may be unfamiliar with is personal essays. Essay collections by Annie Dillard, Philip Lopate, Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace & George Orwell would definitely land in my list of Top 25 of All Time list. Happy reading... try swapping out every other book for something that's not a novel. I adore novel-length fiction, but there are many other fine fish in the sea.
P.S. There are also authors whose best works don't fit easily in any category at all. If I had to narrow my choices to a Top Ten list, a collection by Jorge Luis Borges would definitely make the grade. Does he write short stories, essays, lit crit, philosophical musings, humor pieces, or what? Who knows, & who cares? Nearly everyone who reads Borges becomes an instant fan. Ask around among your well-read friends, if you don't believe me.
@@fiwebster9814 Thanks for the great recommendations. I honestly can't say that my experience with short story collections has been like what you describe, but maybe it's because I've mostly read short story collections by authors who are primarily known as novelists... I'll look to branch out some more. With regards to your point about essays, you're right that I've loved pretty much everything I've read by Didion, Foster Wallace and Orwell (haven't read enough by Dillard, or anything by Lopate). However, I confess that when making this list, the idea of including essay collections didn't even occur to me. Maybe it's because, like you said, collections are usually "Greatest Hits" and my mind didn't think to put "Greatest Hits" up against standard "Albums." Regardless, despite how flawed my list may be, it achieved its purpose in triggering intelligent people like you to respond with some fantastic recommendations! :)
I haven't read The Trial yet, and I don't think I've read many of Kafka's short stories, but I can safely say that all of it is quite different from Kafka on the Shore. :)
Just finished Project Hail Mary. Great recommendation. Really enjoyed it. It was heavy on the sci but just dumb enough for me to wrap my head around. Weirdly plausible throughout. Just a fantastic read. Also wrapped up Before The Are Hanged. The Glokta storyline was once again the highlight for me. Such a compelling character. The whole Bayaz escapade to the end of the world, only to find... a rock... was much less compelling though. I'm giving Abercrombie the benefit of the doubt and hoping that was a one off, or it somehow ties into a larger more entertaining plot point, and shall read on.
So glad you liked Project Hail Mary. I agree with you that the science was dumbed down just enough so that the layman could still appreciate the novel. With Before They Are Hanged, I agree with you that the payoff to that story arc was anti-climactic (and I won't say whether or not it gets redeemed later). With Abercrombie, the plots of his novels get better the more of him you read (I think Best Served Cold might be my favourite), but the reality is if you don't love him for his style and his characters, it won't be his storylines that convert you.
My top 10, in no certain order and this could change tomorrow is: 1. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 3. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown 4. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank 5. The Outsiders by SE Hinton 6. King of the Hill by AE Hotchner 7. The Chosen by Chaim Potok 8. A Seperate Peace by John Knowles 9. Street Boys by Lorenzo Carcaterra 10. Sphere by Michael Crichton
I have! I thought it was a beautifully written book about the importance of discovering one's identity. I thought despite the overall morose tone of the book, the underlying message was uplifting. I also think Williams' writing is phenomenal. He doesn't try to dazzle with fancy prose, but he still leaves a lasting emotional impression. I talked about Stoner in greater length in a video called: "New Year. New Series. New Favourite? (Jan Reading Recap)" You can use the chapters to go directly to where I talk about Stoner, if the other books don't interest you. Stoner's also one of the books that was recommended to me the most, so it's also mentioned in the video: "I got 500+ book recommendations. These are the top 10." What were your thoughts on it?
Completely agree about War and Peace. I read it during a winter of unemployment 50 years ago. It would be inaccurate to say it “changed” my life. W.&P shaped my public life. My political and professional life. Often when I had to make a strategic decision, I thought, “what would General Kutuzov do?” He believed in letting matters work themselves out, as opposed to Napoleon’s inclination to intervene to shape events. Tolstoy deeply believed in Kutuzov’s philosophy. I do too.
I love this comment for so many reasons. Oftentimes, when people read great literature, they focus on the beauty and the art (which is great), but rarely do they talk about the very real, practical lessons there are to be gleaned from these masterpieces. Thanks for sharing!
I have read and loved the Stoner, Ana Karenina, The Hobbit, The Brother's Karamazov. Years ago, I read over half of Proust's first volume and I remember loving the writing, but parts of it were too difficult for me at the time. I'd like to restart it and see what I think now. Also, I think (I could be wrong on this) that in reading Proust the reader should not be expecting a normal plot structure. When I was reading that first volume, I thought I was reading see musings, reflections of a life, but not a novel with a plot, a problem, and a resolution type of thing. I had read Lolita too long ago also and I remember it as disturbing, but I don't remember it fully, so I'd want to reread it. I read The Count of Monte Christo (and The Iron Mask) by Dumas when I was in Jr. High School, but in my native language, Greek. I remember loving the books, but I don't know if I would feel the same now. I love The Brothers Karamazov, but I love everything I've read so far by Dostoyevsky. I also love Tolstoy's work. I agree with you as I think that Tosltoy and Dostoyevski are not comparable. I think they are different writers and both are masters in their own style and themes. I lean towards Dostoyevsky more, but I also have read more of him than of Tolstoy. Dostoyevsky's novella, The Double is also fantastic and I think is underrated. If you haven't read Nikolai Gogol, his short stories are excellent, and his novel Dead Souls is also great.
The Old Man and the Sea The Big Nowhere Asterios Polyp The Hobbitt Kitchen Confidential On The Road Kafka on the Shore War and Peace Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Barney's Version
@@ADudeWhoReads Anything Stephen King. I do not read horror but tried a few of his non-horror books and they are too slow paced, too detailed and just go on and on. I have him on permanent DNF. I do like him as a person and love watching him on interviews; his prose is just not for me.
The Lord of the Rings was my first introduction to real fantasy when I was 11, and I have absolutely loved it ever since. That being said, I completely understand why some people just can't get into it. It can be quite...wordy, at times. Not sure how else to put that.
If you haven't already read them, and if you like historical fiction, particularly WWII fiction, Herman Wouk's, The Winds of War, and the sequel, War and Remembrance, are wonderful! I'm generally not one for family dramas. I always say, I have enough drama in my real life. I don't need it in my books. But these two books don't feel like a soap opera. You're thrown into this time period of sweeping world events and you feel like you're right there. It's like a move in your head. Just thinking about it makes me want to read them again.
I am struggling my way through Brothers K. right now. I'M TRYING, PEOPLE! I'm not that far in. But I can barely keep track of what's happening. I'm starting to dread it every time I pick it up. But I don't want to give up. Sigh. Why is life so hard? ;)
Hah. I know you’re joking, but I will say a couple of things: first, there’s actually a pretty suspenseful plot that develop so that should help! Second, there is a lot going on in that novel, that frankly, I wouldn’t expect anyone to catch on the first read through, so I wouldn’t even try!! there are certain characters and subplots that appear early in the novel that you expect might reappear later. but they just don’t, and if you stop to ask yourself why each time, you’ll never make it to the end! In other words, I think the right way to read Bros K as a first read is for pure entertainment and not to try and analyze it too much (plenty of time for that later). lastly, and you don’t need me to tell you this, but if you’re really struggling… don’t finish it :). I’m sure there are 100 other great novels out there that you could spent that time reading AND enjoying more. Thanks for the comment and sorry for the wordy reply!
I remember liking some of The Pillars of the Earth. But there were some really gross sexual parts that caught me off guard. I can't even remember if I ended up finishing it.
I need to read Catch 22 again. In my younger years, maybe late teens/early 20s, it was one of my favorite books. But I can't remember a darned thing about it now.
I finished watching a few minutes ago. Thought you might like a recommendation of a book you might love based on your own top 10. I'm not a bot so I'm using my own non artificial intelligence to make this guess. It's probably in my own top 10. It's Don Quixote by Cervantes. There is a smile to be had on each page and often a belly laugh throughout. If you haven't read it then do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy.
ten great ones for me no particular order: 1) Orwell, "1984"; 2) Twain, "Huckleberry Finn"; 3) Cain, "Double Indemnity"; 4) McCullers, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"; 5) Stevenson, "Treasure Island"; 6) Defoe, "Robinson Crusoe"; 7) Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables"; 8) Wolfe, "The Bonfire of the Vanities"; 9) Burnett, "the Secret Garden"; 10) Rawls, "Where the Red Fern Grows"
One thing I didn't get it : what was the criteria? This top is wrong conceptual - it's just a random list of 10 books which could be in any order,it doesn't make any difference ; the only reason they are in this list is (as you put it ) because it's your top . "All time " of what? Sellings ? Readings? Most appreciated ?
I read Project Hail Mary first - which is as good as everyone is saying - then I read Artemis which was a huge step down and to be avoided at all costs. I was going to read The Martian next - but after the comments here, I think I'll start either The Dresden Files or Discworld.
All very different reads, but I highly recommend both the Dresden Files (although it takes a while to get going) and Discworld (which takes a while to go nowhere... but that's kind of the point).
Please show the book for more than a second or two. After you talk about the book for a minute, I've forgotten the title and author. The fleeting display is prevalent on YT. I don't have the patience to rewind the video to see the name of the item. Too many of the book channels do this. Thanks for the list that I didn't see to the end.
Thanks. You're not the first to give that feedback. In my newer videos, I include a picture in the book in frame. I appreciate you watching nonetheless!
