I've been loving my library reads recently! I picked up Brotherless Night and want to read that one very soon. I didn't love The Wren The Wren like I'd hoped, but I loved her writing so maybe I'll get on better with her backlist 🙂
I keep hearing good things about Brotherless Night. I hear Anne Enright has an excellent backlist so I’m definitely going to give her more chances if I don’t love The Wren The Wren. 😊📚
Oh me too! I love that. It’s all brand new and you feel like you are getting some kind of privilege for reserving it! 😂 You’ve maxed out your holds?! Impressive. I think you can place holds on 30 here but I’m not certain. I’ve never come close to the limit (that I’m aware of). 😂📚
@@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf the limit at my library is 20. It's because I've been freezing lots of holds and they just build up. Luckily I'm picking a book up tomorrow so then I can reserve another one. I keep trying to get my partner to get a library card so I can use it but she tells me that would be fraud lol.
Woman’s prize is so dangerous 😂 You have been so good at not getting books. I can’t wait to read soldier sailor 😊 I’m back at the library in April. Go for hangman as I want to know if I should get it from the library
Very very dangerous prize. I really want to stick to my only from the library or on audio rule though! I might try 8 lives before Hangman but I will get to it soon. 😊📚
I hope that you find some fiction that you enjoy from WP! I did like Dolly Maunder. I've just got the maiden and brotherless night from the library. I don't feel I've really seen any reviews of what people think yet but maybe I'm just missing the videos! Can't believe the NF shortlist is here already next week. I'm not going to pick my next one until I've seen what's on the list.
I don’t feel like I’ve seen any reviews yet either really, apart from Gem’s one of Soldier Sailor. I’ve not seen many of them talked about at all. I hope I do find some I enjoy! I’ve just picked up Thunderclap so hoping to finish that as my third prior to the shortlist. Then I’ll likely start picking from the shortlist, unless they don’t pick the ones I’m super interested in! 😂
I'm also more excited about the nonfiction list! I'd love for you to read even one chapter of Eve and let us know what you think. I can't really imagine how it's laid out, what it talks about, the style, etc. Some basic info would help a lot! I'm reading Young Queens, and it's very interesting and readable. I just finished Enter Ghost. Read it in three days, it's a fast read but really fascinating! I liked that it shows normal people trying to live under very abnormal circumstances. I'm not a literary fiction fan, but I highly recommend this one.
I will certainly bear that in mind if I don’t get all the way through Eve, I’ll try to include it in a video to give a better idea of it. I’d still like to get to Young Queens and Enter Ghost. 😊📚
I started Western Lane yesterday and am halfway through too. Oddly I am more excited by the Women's Prize this year than ever before, partly because they added nonfiction but also because the fiction longlist feels so fresh and varied. I won't get to read all of them though as People April plans will take precedence.
My review of Western Lane is coming soon, will be interested to hear what you thought as well. I am finding myself very excited by the non-fiction. I think maybe I am a reader who needs that push to read non-fiction even though I really enjoy learning new things and reading about different people and topics. I’m not as excited for the fiction as I was last year but that’s almost certainly a good thing as I won’t force myself to read everything. I do think it’s a very varied list with many places and experiences represented though which is always a good thing. I’m really looking forward to People April. Will definitely read I Am I Am I Am, and I think I will still have some left of Thunderclap and How to Say Babylon to add to my people based reads.
@@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf I look forward to hearing your detailed take on Western Lane. I can see why it provokes varied reactions. It suited me though. I instinctively turn to novels before anything else, despite loving nonfiction, poetry and drama. So yes it helps me to get an extra nudge too. That's one of the reasons I jumped at hosting People April when Elisabeth voiced the idea.
I can see why you didn’t get the other two WP books the other day😂 I hope you enjoy all the ones you get to. I am loving the WP non fiction longlist too!!Cant wait for the shortlist now❤
Now you see what I mean! Had I not been halfway through editing this I might have been less aware and might therefore have caved. 😂 Hopefully they will still be around when I’m ready. I’d like a bit longer to read some more nonfic before the shortlist! 😂📚
I’m going there next too! If you want to compare notes, we could! The temptation to start it now when I should read my Ulysses episode, finish The Stone Sky and generally get some stuff off my currently reading is massive! 😂
@@GemofBooks yeah I probably shouldn’t have even started Thunderclap today but I have an urge to be further along with the nonfic before the shortlist.
I really enjoyed Kate Grenville's novel, she is a favourite author of mine. I'm Australian and Kate's family had some similar experience to mine (my Grandmother also ran a couple of pubs back in the day). Her novel is based on her Grandmother's life. It's the fourth novel I've read from the Women's Prize, so far. I just finished Brotherless Night, which I'd highly recommend. Also thought River East River West was very good (audiobook) and Western Lane was well written but not really a favourite. Happy Reading 🙂
Thanks, I’m enjoying the reading so far. I liked Western Lane, probably not a favourite but a nice book. You’ve made me more interested in the Kate Grenville. I’ve just decided to DNF River East, River West because I don’t like any of the characters so I don’t think it’s for me at this point, but I can see its merit. 😊📚
The cover of a Guest in the House is amazing! 😍 Doppelganger has been slow going for me too. I have a few more from the non-fiction longlist that I will read, but no rush. For the fiction longlist I'm now on book 6, which is 8 Lives. I have only just started it though. Dolly Maunder I liked better than I expected, and it reads really quickly (but it's also fairly forgettable). Like you I am excited by climate-SF and I managed to snag both book 1 and 2 from the library 😅 I agree with your mum about The Wren The Wren vs Tom Lake. My main recommendation from the list so far is Brotherless Night if you can get hold of it.
It’s such a great cover! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has had to really take their time with Doppelganger. I finally finished it this morning. Impressed you’ve already got to your 6th book on the fiction, I’ve read one now and I’m halfway through Soldier Sailor on audio. Looking forward to seeing what the sci fi books are like. 😊📚
The four Womens Prize books I’ve read have been great and I highly recommend Enter Ghost The Wren, The Wren Solider Sailor Ordinary Human Failings ☘️👋🍀📖📕☕️📚💐🇮🇪
Excellent! I’m currently listening to Soldier Sailor and I really like the narrative voice. I’m halfway through on that, can’t believe I didn’t mention it. 😊📚
How nice to check YT and find a visit with you! I think you will enjoy the Becky Chambers book! I've only read 8 Lives. The prologue is wonderful! Brutal is a good word for the first 4 chapters. It's certainly an aspect of history that everyone should learn about, but it is not a pleasant read. Most of the fiction longlist do not appeal to me, but I may read Maiden if a copy becomes readily available. Have you read The Broken Girls by Simone St James? It's a mystery/suspense that you might enjoy. Hope your WP choices are enjoyable!! I look forward to your thoughts in a future video. 🙂
Thanks BJ, hopefully I will be posting more regularly after a very busy first half of March. I will have to see how I get on with 8 Lives, I’m thinking of starting it next. I also have The Maiden on audio so I could get to that soon too. Oh I’ve not read Simone St James at all, I’ll have to check that one out. Thank you. Hopefully more thoughts to follow as I have finished Western Lane ready to review it. 😊📚
Finished Thunderclap a few nights ago and really loved it. Now I'm reading Wifedom and The Dictionary People -- loving both of those, too. I hope they all make the shortlist. Like you, all of my WP books are coming from the library, too. Completely agree about only having standalone books on prize lists. Wren is the one I'm most interested in, too. (I enjoyed The Forgotten Waltz.) I need to do nothing but read for the next few weeks.
I’m really keen to pick up Dictionary People too, I have a reserve in for that one as well so one day soon… I can’t wait to get to Thunderclap now, I’ve heard so many good things. Completely agree, I feel like I need a solid few weeks of nonstop reading to fit these in! 😂
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee - I listened to the audiobook and really liked it 🥰 I do admit that it could benefit from a bit more editing.
I like 8 lives too, except the anti-chronological order confounded me. I say read the whole book tho, it’s quite the tale. I liked Thunderclap. I tried In Defence of the Act, hated it, dnf’d it. It is a love/hate book. I read Intervals, which is good, but I could have done w/ less constant interrupting references in the essay style format.
Like you, I was super excited my the fiction LL. I have many library copies, knowing I can’t read them all, but they are easier for me to decide if they’re in hand. The Wren put me to sleep immediately. No draw for me there. Ordinary Human Failings was meh for me. I’m still waiting for a stunner I guess!
Thanks, Alice!🌷Of the books you mention I’ve only read (and enjoyed) Thunderclap. It’s Laura Cumming’s very personal take on Dutch painters of the Golden Age and sharing memories of her father and his artistic production. I found it quite remarkable that the Dutch translation came out practically at the same time as the original English. I have now Restless Dolly Maunder, Ordinary Human Failings, The Maid (Katie Lumsden recommends it), River East River West and The Blue Beautiful World on my list of WPF novels I may want to read. The only one I’ve read so far (and before the list was announced) is Enter Ghost (totally worth it!). I’m now waiting for some more reviews on booktube before making up my mind. I actually may end up reading a totally different set of books (it has happened before 😂). Very much looking forward to hearing your opinion on The BB World and Dolly Maunders😊📚
