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AUGUST BLOG POST: https://www.sunbeamsjess.com/blog/august-2023-books
AUGUST BOOKSHOP.ORG LIST (affiliate links): https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/august-2023-books
——NEXT MONTH’S BOOK CLUB——
September’s Book is: The Fawn by Magda Szabó https://bit.ly/3Oxeh5J
October’s Book is: Poor Things by Alasdair Gray https://bit.ly/3QBp1mi
——TIMINGS——
1:01 In Ascension by Martin MacInnes https://bit.ly/3rvyrF4
5:48 The Shipping News by Annie Proulx https://bit.ly/3Pk31tO
10:01 Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer https://bit.ly/461zGew
15:31 If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin https://bit.ly/46c6z7Z
18:07 Annals of the Western Shore by Ursula Le Guin – link to Gifts https://bit.ly/3PhXpjD
23:05 Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb https://bit.ly/466T0qy
24:31 Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler
25:51 Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake https://bit.ly/3sSjUUS
27:51 Joker, Joker, Deuce by Paul Beatty
28:54 At the Mouth of the River of Bees https://bit.ly/3ZiMpa8
30:39 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather https://bit.ly/48eM6kT
32:50 Yellowface by R. F. Kuang https://bit.ly/3r58Inp
——SOCIAL MEDIA——
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/sunbeamsjess
——WHAT AM I WEARING——
Top: COS
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I absolutely adore hearing you talk about books! You’re constantly making me add more books to my TBR 😅
I had a similar reaction to Veniss Underground! His inklings of brilliance were so fun to read from a POV of loving his later work. This felt more straight-up horrifying but with profound moments of gut wrenching emotion.
will definitely be picking up The Shipping News on your recommendation!
also, it would be so interesting to see a "guide to jeff vandermeer" video from you or even like a dedicated video about the best weird fiction. i don't really see anyone else on booktube talking about that genre or digging as deep as you do
Hi, congratulations for your reviews. I have always followed your advice. I was really struck by the beauty of "Motion Detection", a thriller book that I found by chance on Amz while looking for a new book. The cover intrigued me, it's an unusual book with a spectacular ending, I highly recommend it!
Can you pls do a bookshelf tour
I need to get to Assassin's quest but the size has been putting me off I can't lie 😅
I totally agree with you that Hobb is a master at character work but Lord are her books long lol
I have the same exact problem with Kuang's books. I expect too much nuance from her which is clearly not her style (which is fair) but I feel the way everyone praises her led me to think her books were something that they're not in reality (which is partly my fault).
Lovely Jewellery, maybe she has been to Bletchley Park and Found the Alan Turing Treasure…!?! 🤔🤔
About to start the video but always excited when I see you uploaded. Hope you and the family are doing well.
I read In Ascension and really enjoyed it. I felt like the book could have been more emotionally deep, but overall I did care about the mother-daughter relationship and I was impressed by the author’s use of language to elicit specific feelings like being confused or jarred at various points in the book. Thanks for recommending it!
Also, I look forward to one day reading Robin Hobb’s books – they sound amazing.
I felt the same way about Yellowface! I tried reading other work Babel too but it fell so flat for me… Don’t think RF Kuang is for me as well despite her hype
What other R F Kuang have you read? I don't remember you talking about any of her books, could you point me to the video if you have?
I was really interested to hear what you thought about Assassin's Quest. I absolutely love Robin Hobb but was a little bit disappointed by this one – it was overly long, like you said but my biggest gripe was the villain, I thought Regal was the weakest part of the whole series, he felt completely 2D to me, a one-note "fantasy baddie", with no real arc or progression across the trilogy. It kind of blows me away because all the other characters are so unique and well-realised!! However, even RobHobb at her "worst" is better than many at their BEST and I will definitely be continuing on in the series, especially because I feel I HAVE to meet Fitz and The Fool again ❤
Please try The Mushroom at the End of the World if you liked your mushroom book! It describes and analyzes the globalized commodity chains of matsutake mushrooms and weaves in anthropology (colonialization, etc.)!
You should read Coco Mellors I was surprised by her first novel.