Books #43

[Mamacita]

I don't think so. When I'm reading a book I can picture the scenery, rooms, what people are doing and wearing, I just don't really picture their faces in detail? No idea why

I think faces are very hard to picture. I'd say i have a really good imagination but to picture faces, i really need to spend a lot of time thinking about it and putting it together in my mind with what i know about faces in real life. Like AI making a photo out of existing photos and then it's not easy to keep what i imagined in my mind

Wondering if it in any way links to face blindness when some people struggle to recognise faces. I sometimes struggle with recognising people out of context!

 

[Also_smoke_and_mirrors]

Delurking for a second. Hello book people. Does anyone have any recs for good youtubers to follow? I've recently got back into reading and need some people to follow for reviews and recommendations. I'm not too fussy about what I read, but tend not to like horror. So, it could be people who review drama, romance, ya, thrillers etc. I'll give most of it a go.

TIA

 

[AllieBee]

Delurking for a second. Hello book people. Does anyone have any recs for good youtubers to follow? I've recently got back into reading and need some people to follow for reviews and recommendations. I'm not too fussy about what I read, but tend not to like horror. So, it could be people who review drama, romance, ya, thrillers etc. I'll give most of it a go.

TIA

Keep yourself unlurked and follow along here, theres loads of recommendations. Tbh I trust the recommendations on here more than YT or TT, just because I think booktokkers anyway mostly go for hyped books which always seem to fall flat for me! But thats personal experience and sure someone else can throw a few names your way to follow!

 

[Carapop]

Keep yourself unlurked and follow along here, theres loads of recommendations. Tbh I trust the recommendations on here more than YT or TT, just because I think booktokkers anyway mostly go for hyped books which always seem to fall flat for me! But thats personal experience and sure someone else can throw a few names your way to follow!

I was disgusted when I found out that a LOT of book influencers on social media don’t actually read the whole thing. Some have admitted it and others have been found it. And they are often incentivised to post positive reviews. I only use bookstagram to put books on my radar because I don’t have any other readers in my real life and don’t visit bookshops or libraries. I don’t care so much about any one individual opinion.

 

[TheStrawberryThief]

I find it really sad that people are pretending to read books/skim read books to review. They are just cheating themselves at the end of the day, as they are missing out of the full experience of reading a story.

Some of them are doing it for money, but i am sure some of them are doing it to just show off how many books they can read or own.

-----

I am currently reading an old Sci-fi book called 'The Crystal Singer' By Anne McCaffrey.

It is about a women who was trained as an Opera singer. She fails the final exam at her music school and changes careers to mine Crystals on a strange and dangerous planet.

I like how McCaffrey writes, but i don't always like what she writes. She has very influenced by older romance tropes, so you get really strong women who instantly fall in love and now the man gets to be in charge of everything. Or men being borderline rapists, but it is okay as it shows how manly and strong they are.

 

[AllieBee]

I find it really sad that people are pretending to read books/skim read books to review. They are just cheating themselves at the end of the day, as they are missing out of the full experience of reading a story.

Some of them are doing it for money, but i am sure some of them are doing it to just show off how many books they can read or own.

-----

I am currently reading an old Sci-fi book called 'The Crystal Singer' By Anne McCaffrey.

It is about a women who was trained as an Opera singer. She fails the final exam at her music school and changes careers to mine Crystals on a strange and dangerous planet.

I like how McCaffrey writes, but i don't always like what she writes. She has very influenced by older romance tropes, so you get really strong women who instantly fall in love and now the man gets to be in charge of everything. Or men being borderline rapists, but it is okay as it shows how manly and strong they are.

I think its sad too. I dont really follow any of them, I dont trust any influencer anyway knowing they are being paid so will always be positive. But reading to me is special, I would hate to be paid to read and review a book.

 

[Katykatykaty]

I’ve just raced through Steph McGovern’s Deadline in two sittings over the last 24 hours and loved it! Is it the best book ever written? No. Do you need to suspend belief at times? Yes. Did I devour every single plot twist and reveal? Yes, absolutely!

So many of the aspects of a book I need in order to enjoy it were ticked along the way during Deadline and it got me thinking about what everyone else needs and looks for in a book? I’m not talking genre but things like style, pace, length etc.

So my question is, if an author said they’d write your dream book what are the five aspects they must include for you?

For me it’s….
1) Short chapters that make me easily think “oh I can squeeze another one before I close my book for the night” and before I know it I’ve added on another twenty chapters.

2) Plot driven - make it quick and snappy with no unnecessary meandering or waffle and certainly no wishy washy prose just for the sake of it.

3) Easy to pick up, distinctive characters that I will actually care about - don’t give me twenty characters who are carbon copies of each other that I’ve got no chance of remembering as it goes on. Whether it’s to love them or hate them, just make me feel something for them! Don’t make them bland and unlikeable (unless that’s the absolute intention).

4) Some great twists - throw some spanners in the works, if I don’t have to suspend belief then even better but I don’t mind a little of it.

5) Keep it to around 300-350 pages - if it’s 500+ then I just can’t be bothered. I want to rattle through and devour every word. Unless every sentence of the 500 pages is gripping then it’s just unnecessary.

So, what are yours?

 

[Itchy of Itchington]

Hello. I don't know if I've ever posted on the book threads but I love reading them and getting recommendations. Was very excited to see three people who had A Tree Grows In Brooklyn on their top 10. It is one of my favourites too and not many people seem to have heard of it. Loads of other books I loved too in the lists. Going to have to go back to the Tree Grows fans and see what else you enjoyed to add to my TBR pile.

My ultimate comfort read is The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice. I must read it once a year and the description of clothes is absolutely gorgeous.

Last book I read was The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary. Got in from the book swap in our hotel last week and it's an easy read, managed most of it on the flight back from Ibiza. Nothing ground breaking or especially memorable, good for on the sun lounger or plane

 

[ahkrin]

I have aphantasia and prosopagnosia (face blindness). In a way I think that's why I love reading so much more than visual media because I'm interested in the characters not the appearances.

Best thing I read last week was A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius was so OTT but also believable a a caricature.

 

[murphao]

regrettably, and at risk of revealing too much about myself, that sounds right up my street

Then you might enjoy Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff!

 

[Also_smoke_and_mirrors]

I was disgusted when I found out that a LOT of book influencers on social media don’t actually read the whole thing. Some have admitted it and others have been found it. And they are often incentivised to post positive reviews. I only use bookstagram to put books on my radar because I don’t have any other readers in my real life and don’t visit bookshops or libraries. I don’t care so much about any one individual opinion.
View attachment 4009878View attachment 4009879

I did hear about how those influencers who claim to read hundreds of books a year, a lot of the time only read a chat gpt summary of the books.

 

[AllieBee]

Isn't it so frustrating when you start a book and then think hang on ive already read this! I just know ive read The Hearts Invisible Furies before but couldnt find it on my Goodreads. So I searched on here and posted about it in July 2023! I will read it again now ive started lol

 

[Carapop]

I’ve been going through the rest of the new kindle deals and this looks like it would appear to fans of Song of Achilles and @LaBlonde especially!

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Harlot O'Scara]

I keep telling myself I won't look at the monthly deals so I can work on decreasing my unread books but then I get a notification telling me that three books on my wishlist are reduced. So that's three more on the Kindle

 

[Carapop]

I keep telling myself I won't look at the monthly deals so I can work on decreasing my unread books but then I get a notification telling me that three books on my wishlist are reduced. So that's three more on the Kindle

I have never in my life bought so many books in one day. And I haven’t so much as picked up a book in the last week. I’ll never in my lifetime read half the books I have. But I cannot stop buying.

 

[Carapop]

I can’t sleep so chatting to chat gpt. Shared my top ten books, asked for a summary of my reading preferences from that selection and some future must reads. Had a lot of fun appraising the recommendations, b insisted I’d love Piranesi! But also mentioned many already on my tbr (shuggie bain and great believers) and some interesting wildcards (the offing and crossing to safety). Defo recommend as a fun way to spend a few mins.

 

[LaBlonde]

I’ve been going through the rest of the new kindle deals and this looks like it would appear to fans of Song of Achilles and @LaBlonde especially!
View attachment 4010270View attachment 4010271

Amazon.co.uk

you know me too well as i bought this last night

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I’ve just raced through Steph McGovern’s Deadline in two sittings over the last 24 hours and loved it! Is it the best book ever written? No. Do you need to suspend belief at times? Yes. Did I devour every single plot twist and reveal? Yes, absolutely!

So many of the aspects of a book I need in order to enjoy it were ticked along the way during Deadline and it got me thinking about what everyone else needs and looks for in a book? I’m not talking genre but things like style, pace, length etc.

So my question is, if an author said they’d write your dream book what are the five aspects they must include for you?

For me it’s….
1) Short chapters that make me easily think “oh I can squeeze another one before I close my book for the night” and before I know it I’ve added on another twenty chapters.

2) Plot driven - make it quick and snappy with no unnecessary meandering or waffle and certainly no wishy washy prose just for the sake of it.

3) Easy to pick up, distinctive characters that I will actually care about - don’t give me twenty characters who are carbon copies of each other that I’ve got no chance of remembering as it goes on. Whether it’s to love them or hate them, just make me feel something for them! Don’t make them bland and unlikeable (unless that’s the absolute intention).

4) Some great twists - throw some spanners in the works, if I don’t have to suspend belief then even better but I don’t mind a little of it.

5) Keep it to around 300-350 pages - if it’s 500+ then I just can’t be bothered. I want to rattle through and devour every word. Unless every sentence of the 500 pages is gripping then it’s just unnecessary.

So, what are yours?

All of yours.

And not having eleventy billion characters just for the sake of it. If they are in the book make them relevant to the story and not just some background name that serves no purpose other than to take up space and perform a random background move that isn't part of the actual plot.

No one needs 45 characters to try and keep track of when only 16 of those are actually plot driven.

And can we stop with this kind of naming -
Alexa/Alexis/Alix/Alexandra
Alex/Alfie/Alonso

etc..

 

[tarahalls]

I can’t sleep so chatting to chat gpt. Shared my top ten books, asked for a summary of my reading preferences from that selection and some future must reads. Had a lot of fun appraising the recommendations, b insisted I’d love Piranesi! But also mentioned many already on my tbr (shuggie bain and great believers) and some interesting wildcards (the offing and crossing to safety). Defo recommend as a fun way to spend a few mins. View attachment 4010357View attachment 4010361

I’ve just done this & it’s so interesting…& now I’ve got lots of new titles to look up, just what I need Thanks for sharing!

 

[LaBlonde]

I can’t sleep so chatting to chat gpt. Shared my top ten books, asked for a summary of my reading preferences from that selection and some future must reads. Had a lot of fun appraising the recommendations, b insisted I’d love Piranesi! But also mentioned many already on my tbr (shuggie bain and great believers) and some interesting wildcards (the offing and crossing to safety). Defo recommend as a fun way to spend a few mins. View attachment 4010357View attachment 4010361

as a huge great believers fan, i can personally co-sign this - it’s an absolute heartbreaker knockout of a book and i adored it

crossing to safety by wallace stegner? also a gorgeous book! i would recommend it to the many other stoner fans in this thread as they’re very similar in vibe.